FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK
Kia ora Koutou for the very last time in 2021!!
I want to thank every single parent/caregiver for helping us make school workable through the pandemic!!! Everyone has been incredibly supportive every time we have had to make a directed change, all I can say now is what a year it has been!! We can all turn off the ZOOM /Google Meet, not worry whether we are in School A or B, and of course, switch off that alarm clock and pop the lunch box away for 6 weeks. I promise we will inform you in good time to what next year’s school expectations (from the Government of course) will be. We all return to the classroom on the 3rd February. The teachers and office staff will be back from the 1st of February.
Thank you to the amazing FOWS (Friends of Wainui School) not only did they exceed the target of raising $35,000 but they did this in only half a year as we could not have any more events after Cross Country day. The final total of funds raised was approx $45,000 – just fantastic. The core group of Leslie Ann Linn, Tania Cummack-Ledger, Nikki Ellis, Nikki Browne, Mel Mayes, Nadine Phillips, Emma Coupe, Kylie Allen, Annaliese Hewitt, Vanessa Gulik, Brenda Dixon, Dee Robinson plus teacher Wendy Taylor did an amazing job. Farewell to Dee and Brent Robinson for 14 years of fundraising and supporting the school – thank you. Vanessa Gulik and the Gulik family for 17 years and many fundraisers – thank you. We will miss you all very much, thank you for everything you have done. Thank you to the Ledgers for our wonderful curtains and tiebacks in the hall – Fantastic Effort!
WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING
Graduation Picnic on Friday night what a success that was – The class of 2021 all celebrated with a wonderful BBQ dinner, a few speeches, and even Secret Santa. A massive thank you to Mr. Irvine for all the organisation, Miss. Stevenson and Miss. Ludwig for their help with serving, set up and clean up. Mr. Irvine live-streamed some of the night to all the parents very successfully (usually the parents all join for the night, but of course with the COVID requirements this was not to be). Lastly, a thank you to parents Bron Smith for the amazing desserts, Dee Robinson for the stunning flowers, ballon arch and theme ideas, and Nikki Browne for her continual support and organisation.
Water – We ran out of water last week as we had filled the swimming pool (it was a risk we took and now, of course, it is raining!!!!). We just want to give a shout-out to a new water company that came to our rescue with not just one tank, but a free extra tank of water!!! Rob and Elaine have a newish company in Upper Waiwera – Water by Nature. A huge thank you.
THIS WEEK
Four “AWARDS ASSEMBLIES” – Will be all over by the time you read this. We have enjoyed celebrating with each team our wonderful students. Our 5R’s have been well celebrated with each child receiving a values certificate with the number of values they have demonstrated acknowledged.
Some of the traditional cups and trophies were able to be awarded, sports achievements celebrated, Ag Day participation ribbons for our students that raised an animal or chicken. Congratulations to the following students:
Iziah Brown and Charlotte Robinson – Student Council Cup
Bella Browne Hale, Phoebe Walker & Lehi Greening – Living Values Cup
Bella Browne Hale – Principals’ Cup
Phoebe Walker – House Leadership Cup
Jurgen Bezuidenhout, Morgan Keller, Riley Purdie & James Wallace-Pram – Kaitiakitanga Trophy (Environmental)
Iziah Brown – Manatangata (Cultural) Cup
Bella Browne Hale, Olly Smith & Shiva Sivakumaran – The Young Entrepreneur Trophy
To celebrate further we need to thank Simone du Bernard from Harcourts Cooper & Co and her team in the Coffee and Cone Van for giving every child and staff member an ice cream over the last two days. What an amazingly generous thing to do. We even had seven flavours to choose from!!
FINALLY
Christmas Report Card & Values Certificate – All children have been given a special Christmas Report Card and a Values Certificate over the last 2 days. if you have not been at school, please pick yours up from an alphabetically arranged table at the drop off zone undercover. You are invited to come in the gate and pick these up in a contactless way and any other belongings that may be yours e.g books etc. We will not be posting any of these out due to time restraints. Please let us know if you need to arrange another pickup time.
Chocolates – Almost there, we are $5,000 in profit – well done Tania! But, there are still families (only a very few) with outstanding monies. Can you please make payment for these ASAP. Many thanks.
Farewell to Mrs. Taylor for 26 years of the most amazing service to Wainui School. Mrs. van Dyk and her family are off to Taranaki, we wish you all the very best, we will miss you!!
To all the students and families leaving us, all the very best, please come back and visit Wainui. Merry Christmas, enjoy the freedoms New Zealand will experience with borders opening up and holidays about to begin!!
Gillian Bray
FOR YOUR CALENDAR
- Wednesday 15th December – Last day of school for 2021! Finish time 1.00pm.
- Thursday 3rd February – First day of Term 1, 2022.
OTHER
2022 Calendars – Due to the recent lockdowns the school was unable to participate in calendar art this year, which has resulted in disappointed families and Kids Art Works’ warehouse full of 2022 calendars and diaries.
To help cheer up the Grandparents, save the product from being thrown out, and give everyone super cost-effective gifts for Christmas during this tough time, we’ve arranged some exclusive product bundles, some well over 50% below the retail rates, all including a level of fundraising for the school. The attached flyer outlines the great options available.
Each product is made from an uploaded photo – be that either a family photo, a scan of a picture a child has done or something they created using a PC.
To shop, click on our unique link: https://www.kidsartworks.com/
Christmas delivery – to ensure a pre Christmas delivery, we recommend you order products by 17th December.
