WAITATI SCHOOL

 by Antony Deaker

 

2006 must have been a busy year for midwives in Waitati: the school roll has continued to grow at an exciting rate, certainly beyond our expectations at the start of this year.

 

The final report from the recent Education Review Office (ERO) visit was received last month. Most pleasing was a return to the three-year cycle for future reviews indicating that the school is back to a 'regular' position. You can see the full report on our website.

 

We also received our financial audit for the last financial year, which confirmed a small surplus in the operating budget and noted the high standard of financial control and documentation maintained by our secretary Helen Shaw.

 

The last element of work for the refurbishment of the classroom interiors has been completed with the ordering of snazzy, new, ergonomically-sound chairs for all the classrooms. This was made possible by the generous support of our PTA.

 

The senior class will be starting art projects under the guidance of Janet de Wagt this month. The children will be continuing our community's predilection for teapots with new art works that express their findings about 'What Makes Waitati Wicked'.

 

The schools enviro-Fridays have focused on lantern-making in preparation for an event to celebrate Matariki on 2 June. A pot luck meal featuring food harvested from the school garden will be followed by a lantern procession and some storytelling. Later in the month we will mark Arbor Day with further planting around Ko-te-awa-wi (Dons Creek), the stream at school. Heidi has started working with Jenny Neilson, Regional Co-ordinator for Enviro-schools, to review and plan the work the school is doing towards a silver award.

 

Our Year 7 and 8 children recently completed a walk over Mt Cargill with a group from Macandrew Intermediate. This was a fun outing on a cold day that built some new networks with kids from over the hill.

 

We have three soccer teams playing every weekend through the winter. The teams are special because they include kids who used to be at Waitati and have moved to other schools but want to stay engaged with their old friends.  They include children from Warrington School and it's great to build closer relations with our friends across the bay; we never stop working hard for each other. The 9^th grade team has had only one loss this year and is playing some great soccer. Big thanks to Phil, Brad, Kerri and Frances for their commitment to coaching.