Dear parents and caregivers,
Congratulations to the children who have been awarded a PRIDE certificate in the last week. It is always lovely to see our school values being used around our school. In the last little while, these children have been awarded a certificate: Indi Kennedy, Evie Williams, Indi McTague, Mila Holmes, Patrick Hooper and Nicole Wong.
Camp 2023
I was lucky enough to be able to get out to Camp Adair in Hunua last week to share a day with our amazing kids during their camp experience. I am so pleased that we continue to give our children these wonderful experiences. I saw children taking controlled risks, facing fears, climbing, balancing and most importantly, enjoying facing challenges. It is vital that children are moved out of their comfort zones, in a safe and supportive environment. I was so proud of the teamwork and perseverance I observed. I was most proud of the encouragement and support they gave each other, as they climbed a pole, abseiled (they gave me lots of support as I abseiled!) or worked collaboratively on a team challenge.
Firstly I’d like to thank the amazing parent volunteers. They were so supportive and their kindness and enthusiasm helped the children to face challenges and have a great time.
I’d also like to offer my gratitude to Zara Fletcher and the Year 6 team, for the hours of organisation, careful planning and taking time from their families to ensure our tamariki had an amazing experience that I know will be a highlight of their time at Greenhithe School.
New Playground
We opened our new Waka playground last week. It was lovely to see our kids (and big kids!?) enjoying the new facility. I spent a bit of time out there with the year 2 and 3 children as they came to have their first turn on the playground. It is a great design and I know our tamariki will love the new facility.
Athletics Day
It was lovely to see the Year 3 children have their athletics day this week and the Year 4-6 children had theirs down at Wainoni Park on Tuesday. A big thank you to the teachers responsible for the organisation of these events and to our parent community for coming along to support the children.
While in the Year 4-6 event the highest placed children can go on to another cluster event and have their achievements celebrated, I loved seeing everyone participate, compete and enjoy the whole day. The key is participation and perseverance, while not every child can win or place in an event, every child can try their best, encourage others and give everything a go! I was very proud to see how hard our children tried, how determined they were to do their best and the volume of encouragement they supported each other with!
Ngā mihi
Stephen Grady
Tumuaki/Principal
Greenhithe School