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Newsletter ~18 December 2024
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From the Principal
Tena koutou ngā whānau, ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa,
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I hope everyone has had a lovely last few weeks of the term. Our kura has been a real hive of activity over the last couple of weeks with assessments, report writing, end of year events, and celebrations of all the wonderful mahi that has gone on this year.
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We had our Year 8 dinner last week and this is always a wonderful event. It is a highlight of the year for me to hear the year 8 students reflect on their time at Diamond Harbour School, and it is always interesting to learn about the key people and events that they remember. On Tuesday night we had our annual End of Year Celebration / Prizegiving and while congratulations must go to all the ākonga, a special mention to the students who were awarded prizes.
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Over the summer you will have a break from Hero updates, but I hope, before too long to send out a summary of events for 2025, so you can get these in your family calendar nice and early. Have a wonderful summer break, stay safe and enjoy the summer with friends and family.
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Kei te mihi ahau ki ngā atua Māori
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E mihi ana ki ngāti Wheke, te mana whenua o tēnei rohe
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Ko te ahu Pataki te maunga whakaruruhau
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Ko whakaraupō te moana o te rohe
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Nō Ingarangi, nō Waihopo ōku tīpuna
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I whānau mai au i Ōtautahi
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Kei Ngā Kohatu Whakarakaraka o Tamatea Pōkai whenua tōku kāinga
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Ko Pears tōku ingoa whānua
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He tumuaki au ki te kura o te Waipapa
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Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tenā koutou katoa.
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Thank you to everyone who has joined us this evening to celebrate 2024.
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My name is Jill and I am privileged to be the tumuaki of Diamond Harbour School. Reflecting on 2024, now that we are in the final days of the school year, it has been an incredibly busy year, both for kaiako and ākonga. Sports events, music events, and curriculum and social events all provide opportunities for ākonga to shine in a variety of ways, and to enrich their educational experience. Kaiako have also dedicated a substantial amount of time to deepen their understanding of the new curriculum. This updated curriculum builds on the fabulous work that kaiako all across the motu are doing, increases the focus on a structured approach, ensures that learning builds sequentially, and supports all our learners to achieve. This curriculum development is a massive piece of work and this will continue into 2025 as we explore the use of structured approaches in additional curriculum areas and continue to refine our practices including how we report to parents about ākonga progress and achievement.
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Ensuring we have these opportunities and fostering a culture of success is a team effort. To our teachers: Phillipa, Karen, Shannon, Helen, Sarah, Karen, Kat, Anna, Belinda, and Jo, thank you for your dedication. You all make an amazing contribution to the lives of the ākonga we work with.
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To Lorna, Ursi, Helen, and Anna Squires who work in support roles with our ākonga, thank you so much for everything you do, providing additional support and opportunities for our students. Your mahi is greatly appreciated.
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To our librarian Lorna. You ensure our library is a happy and vibrant space, where ākonga are encouraged to develop their love or reading and literature.
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To the property support staff: Mark, Vicki and Amanda thank you for ensuring our school is a safe and pleasant environment for students. This is sincerely appreciated.
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Last, but not least, Gabe, our school office administrator. You do the most amazing job with your ability to do multiple things at once. You complete many tasks that are not technically on your job description, but you do them because you realise it makes our kura run smoothly. You are a true team player and I appreciate your support and dedication, ensuring our wonderful school runs smoothly.
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This year we farewell Mark who has done a wonderful job as school caretaker over the last three years. Thank you for all you have done over this time.
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We also farewell, Anna Squires, you have been an amazing youth worker and this was particularly evident when listening to the Year 8 speeches. Thank you also to Anna Roberts for her teaching this year. We hope to continue to see you next year, bringing your wonderful teaching skills in a relieving role.
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To the Diamond Harbour School Board: Henry, Hilary, Karen, Owen, Nick, and Lisa; thank you for the time you dedicate to the school in your governance role. We are fortunate to have such a skilled Board overseeing the governance of the school.
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To our Diamond Harbour School Education Trust, thank you for the incredible number of hours that you have put in supporting our school. I am sure we don’t really understand the amount of hours you do in the background, but we do appreciate how your mahi enables us to provide additional resources and opportunities for our ākonga.
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Our Parent Hub, thank you for your core support of the school, the coffees, baking and running of events to both raise money and support our sense of community.
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To our parents and the wider community, thank you for the multitude of ways in which you provide support, from helping on school trips, camps, supporting classroom programmes and painting library picture book boxes and concrete walls. We are extremely grateful for the generous donation of your time and energy.
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There is also another large group of people I need to thank, the ākonga. It is a privilege to be part of your lives from when you enter school, ready and eager to learn, to when you leave, all grown up and ready for the next stage of your education. I imagine I speak for most of the staff when I say you help to make coming to work each day a pleasure. You are the reason why we are here this evening.
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Shortly we will award the 2024 prizes. This gives us the opportunity to celebrate both high levels of achievement and effort. Kaiako spend a lot of time considering who the recipients of these awards will be. It is rarely an easy decision as to who the recipients will be as many students are deserving in one way or another.
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Congratulations to the recipients of our special awards. To achieve at such a high level means you have demonstrated grit and perseverance as well as ability and you should be proud of your achievement.
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We also celebrate students who consistently demonstrate our school values. Values are recognised at each assembly with values certificates for children who have demonstrated a particular value to a high standard. At the end of the year, one student from each class is chosen by the class as being the student who best exemplifies the school values. These students receive the Class Values Certificates.
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2024 is now coming to a close. It has been a busy year, and we have had much to celebrate during the year. Thank you everyone again for all your contributions, and support over this year. From myself and all staff, we wish everyone a wonderful summer holiday, and a happy festive season.
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Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa
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Speech from Board Representative - Owen Mansfield
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Kia ora koutou. Ko Owen tōku ingoa. I have been on the Board of Trustees at our school for nearly two years now, and in doing so I have gained a great insight into the time, effort, and care that the teaching and support staff put into our tamariki, to ensure that they get the best experience they can at our school.
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As a high school teacher, people often tell me that they couldn't do my job, but I regularly marvel at how our teachers and support staff work tirelessly, not just during the school day, but during the many events that go beyond those hours, often at the end of a busy term, when to be honest, I am exhausted. So, on behalf of the Board of Trustees, thank you, teachers and support staff, for everything that you have done this year for the tamariki of Diamond Harbour School.
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Jill has mentioned, and under-stated, the work that has been taking place this year to embed the new curriculum and to prepare for further changes to the school curriculum. These changes are significant, and will hopefully result in very positive learning outcomes for our tamariki, so the Board would like to take this opportunity to thank Jill, and the rest of the teaching staff for the effort they have put into preparing for and implementing these important changes.
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But it’s not just the teaching and support staff that deserve our thanks at the end of another busy year. We are a small community school that relies on the community to help facilitate many of the amazing activities our tamariki enjoy. Our Parent Hub has been busy again this year organising our school discos, boat races, bake sales, Friday morning coffees, to mention just a few of their fundraising activities. We have a wonderful set of road patrollers that have seen our tamariki across the road each morning. Many of you help us to run school trips and residentials - and without this help these activities would either not run, or be significantly more expensive for our whanau. Many of you have helped at our working bees in order to keep our expansive school grounds looking great and safe for our children to play in. And, as Jill has mentioned, the Diamond Harbour Educational Trust has worked tirelessly to raise and provide funds for many of the resources that we simply cannot afford with the budget we have from the Ministry of Education.
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I am worried that there are others that I have not mentioned, but on behalf of the board, thank you to all of you that have given time to our school this year. We greatly appreciate what you have done, and hope that you will continue to do so.
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As you all know, we are a very busy school – there are so many extracurricular opportunities, clubs, and competitions that our children can participate in. So, well done to all of you that have managed to keep pace with our communications that come out through Hero. The sheer volume of messages that do come out is a great indicator of the health of our school – it is not always possible to reduce our messages to a quick and easy soundbite, so we do appreciate the time you put into keeping informed about what’s happening at school. We will continue to use Hero as our primary means of communication with you, so if you’ve not yet joined the party, please download the app ready for next year.
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One more piece of house-keeping: As the board of trustees, we are always seeking feedback from the whanau we serve, in order to improve your experience at Diamond Harbour School. Thank you to all of you that have given us feedback through this year’s community surveys. As a board we look at your responses very carefully, and reflect on what it is you’re telling us, and endeavour to make changes that address your concerns. Please continue to participate in these surveys so that we can continue to reflect and improve on what we do as a school.
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Finally, the Board would like to congratulate all the tamariki of Diamond Harbour School. Congratulations on the successful completion of another important year of learning. From the perspective of a high school teacher, I know the value of an excellent primary education, and just how well it will prepare you for future successes. Keep working hard, keep trying, and keep asking questions to further your learning and understanding.
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There is just one more congratulations I need to share with you. Over the past seven years Jill has been working towards a doctorate in education, and this was awarded to her a few weeks ago. Jill is now a doctor of education, and to have achieved this on top of continuing to commit a huge proportion of her life and energy to this school is incredible. Congratulations Dr Pears.
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Ngā mihi nui. Thank you everyone, and have a wonderful summer break.
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Tough Kids
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Tough Kids
First we came to school at 8.15 for tough kids 2024. Then we got in cars to go to tough kids. We went to the Diamond Harbour School flag. We waited for like 20 minutes, then we went to the starting line. Then we began.
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The first obstacle was a big mattress that we had to jump over. At the end there was a foam cannon and a fire truck that would shoot you with water. Then some people went to a mini obstacle course; that wasn't that fun though. And we went back to school and had lunch.
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First we arrived at school at 8.15.We got into cars to go there.It was about 45 minutes to get there.There were 13 other schools there.We had about 30 minutes.Then we had to run to the start line.
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There was another school in front of us.Then they honked the horn to start.First we ran for a bit. Then we went to the bouncy castle.When we finished the bouncy castle we arrived to a long wooden bridge.We could choose to go under the bridge or over.If you go under bridge you get your shoes muddy.I went under the bridge.
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Then we got to go in the water and it came up to my waist.Then we went through 5 little play pools.Next we went through a bubble machine.Finally we we went down the slippery slide and we got sprayed by the firemen.
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Wellington Year 8 Camp
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On Monday the 25th of November, all the Year 8s went to Wellington for camp.
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Everyone had to be at the airport at 6am for an 8:45am flight. We landed in Wellington at 9:45am and caught a bus to Cumberland House where we stayed for 4 days Monday-Thursday. The house had a Common Room with a pool table, ping-pong table and a movie room.
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That afternoon we went to the Zoo. At the zoo a lady gave us a talk about animal adaptations of lizards, monkeys and red pandas. We then got to look at all the other animals in the zoo. I really liked the sun bears, penguins and giraffes. After the zoo we all cooled down with an ice block as it was really hot. When we got back to Cumberland House we had tacos for dinner and went to sleep.
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On Tuesday we went to Weta Workshop. In the tour we got to see costumes and props that had been used in movies. My best part was getting to hold some of the props. After the Weta Workshop we went to a park and had lunch by the harbour. Then we walked to Te Papa, a really cool museum. We looked at the war, earthquake and history exhibition’s. I really like the realistic army soldiers in one of the exhibitions. After Te Papa we went back to Cumberland House and had baked potatoes for dinner and fish and chip ice cream then we watched a movie and went to bed.
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On Wednesday we caught the cable car up to Space Place. We got to sit in like a movie theatre room but the screen went over our heads and we got to see really cool planets.
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After Space Place we went to the Botanic Gardens and had lunch and then moved on to
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the Beehive where the Prime Minister is. After we had finished at the Beehive we caught a bus to a Laser Tag place, we played a couple of games of lazer tag but they couldn’t get the machine to work, so they let us play a game like paint ball but it was little like orbey balls that didn’t hurt as much, after the games we played at the arcade.
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On Thursday it was our last day we got up early and packed our bags ready for when we got back from our activities, our first activity was an Escape Room. It was really fun, we did go a bit over the time but that doesn’t matter.
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After the escape room we caught a bus to a bird place called Zealandia. We went on a walk and saw some keas and went over a big bridge. After that we got our bags from Cumberland House and went to the airport. At the airport we got Subway and then caught a flight back to Christchurch.
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Can Sail Trips
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On Monday the 2nd of December, Pātiki went Cansailing. We drove over to Lyttelton Marina. Students were sorted into cars with their friends. When we arrived, we were introduced to the captain (Roy) of the Fox ll. He ran us through the rules around the boat and then we boarded the Fox ll.
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We used the motor to get out into the harbour. Once we were out of the 5 knot zone, Ollie and Emily raised the sails. There were four groups, one group used the main sheet ( a piece of rope which controlled how far the sail was in). Our job was to control the speed of the boat. Whenever we turned we had to adjust the main sheet. When the second group called “Stand by to tack!” We would adjust the main sheet and swap sides.
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The second group got to steer. Now, I’m going to use language like ‘port’ and ‘starboard’; port means left and starboard means right. Everyone got a turn at steering. Roy would shout something like “Two to Port (Left)”. This meant that the person at the wheel had to turn the notches two to the left. Every so often we would all have to yell, “Stand by to tack!” We spent two hours or so tacking and gybing around the harbour. When we went in everybody was tired. We arrived at school at around 4:00.
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Run, Jump and Throw
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On Monday morning it was cloudy and it had been raining! Luckily it had stopped and we got to do our Run Jump Throw day. We all did sprints, discus (quoits) shot put (beanbags), high jump and long jump. Most of our class gave it two thumbs up as we enjoyed it.
Next some people got given values certificates. Karen read us a story while we ate an iceblock.
After lunch we had out Water Fun Day. We got to swim in the pool and slip and slide. Right before home time we had a water fight and squirted each other with our water guns. The whole day was great fun!
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What's Coming Up at Diamond Harbour School
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- Wednesday, 29 January - School Office Opens
- Monday, 3 February - First day of Term 1, 2025
- Wednesday, 5 February, Learning Conferences, School closed for regular instruction
- Wednesday, 5 February, 5:30 - 7:30, Community Picnic and Meet the Board
- Thursday, 6 February, Waitangi Day, School Closed
- Thursday - Friday, 13-14 February, Orton Bradley Camp - Year 5
- Monday - Wednesday, 17-19 February, Waipara Camp - Year 6 & 7
- Thursday - Friday, 20 - 21 February, Living Springs Camp - Year 4
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Lunch programme $3:00 per week - Thursdays
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After School Care: Contact Ursi - ursina.riederer@diamondharbour.school.nz
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What's Coming Up in Our Local Community
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We’d like to hear what you think about the Stoddart Point Reserve and Kirk Park play space renewals. Additionally, we'd love for you to share this consultation through your networks to spread awareness about the project.
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The current play equipment has come to the end of its useful life and is being replaced with modern, fit for purpose play equipment. This is mostly a ‘like-for-like’ renewal, so we plan to select the modern equivalent of the existing equipment.
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You can find out more about this project online until 17 February 2025.
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If there is a community meeting you would like us to attend, please let us know.
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If you have any questions or would like to discuss this project, please get in touch.
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Kiran Skelton – Engagement Advisor
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What's Coming Up in the School Holidays
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Art Classes for Children:
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Is your child passionate about art? Would they like to extend their creativity through learning a range of new art skills and techniques? Maybe Kat's holiday painting workshops or after-school art classes are just what you've been looking for. Kat's Art Studio is located at 171 Waltham Rd. Art tutor Katrina is a professional artist and qualified teacher who has over 10yrs experience teaching children art. For more details, please visit www.katsartstudionz.com
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