Kia ora Whānau – Greetings everyone.

Year 7-8 Information Evening

The Year 7-8 Information Evening went off without a hitch last week. We are very privileged to have such a strong senior teaching team ably led by Jarad Pateman, while Nicky Pateman is on maternity leave (Nicky will be returning at the start of next Term).  Anita McGowan, Brittany Turnbull and Jordan Engen, all equally stunning teachers, form the Year 7-8 teaching team. 

This is an important time of the year as parents and caregivers are making those important decisions around Full Primary, Intermediate and Secondary School options for their children.

The evening showcased the many varied and exciting opportunities that the year 7-8 students participate in. Each teacher spoke specifically about responsibilities they manage and how the team as a whole support all students in their learning and social and emotional development. The parents and caregivers who attended also heard from students about leadership opportunities and the highlights of being part of this team.  I believe the programme offered by our school is of a very high calibre and this view is supported by the very strong feedback given by Cashmere High School.

St Martins School’s Rebuild

A number of interesting questions came up at the Year 7-8 Information Evening. Many parents felt they needed more information about the progress of our school rebuild. There were questions around students having to leave our school site for lessons, possible loss of playground and use of the school hall. I do feel it is important to give a brief idea of where we are up to in this process.

The design team and our school Board of Trustees are still in the early stages of the design and planning process.  As such, it would be too early to discuss the actual detailed plans without further design input from all the stakeholders. Term 4, our school Board of Trustees, along with the Professional Design team will run a variety of events that will provide much more detailed information about the rebuild. We do thank you for your patience and understanding.

However, I can assure you that all students will remain on our school site for lessons. We are one of the very lucky few schools that are able to achieve this for our learning community.  Our very able Project Manager is working to implement a build process that will maximise the use of as much playground as is possible and also limit the interruptions to the use of our school hall.  Our design team is also focused on making sure we have “flexible” learning spaces that allow use to organise students learning in a variety of ways. If you would like to get a feel for what your child’s learning would be like within a flexible collaborative space, I would be very happy to take you on a tour around our school.  To make a time to see me, please contact Michele Stephens in the school office.

Once the actual build starts we will make sure that we communicate all changes to school organisation.

Kind regards

Bernadette May