HBT - The Year That Was 2020

T HE

S WA

T H R A A T E Y

2020

2

Building strong children

his is an annual project Hawke’s Bay T Today supports with enthusiasm. It’s a rare opportunity for schools in the Bay

to brag about their achievements and take stock of the many goals reached by students and staff throughout the academic year.

This publication helps our schools tell the public about their stories and also gives readers the opportunity to learn about the wider community and the exceptional children, and their teachers, who represent our future.

This year has been like no other what with Covid and its aftermath. Routines were severely disrupted and families adapted to children studying at home. It was unsettling but, by and large, children and caregivers coped. Here you’ll learn about how schools managed with the adverse conditions.

School has gone way beyond the 3Rs, although reading, writing and maths are still a major focus, with curriculums designed to encourage excellence, innovation, inquiry and curiosity along with diversity, equity and integrity. It’s a tall order to instil such values and, at the same time, have children learn to express themselves, develop empathy and make ethical decisions.

Ultimately children are learning to develop the competencies they will need for study, work and lifelong learning so hopefully they will go on to realise their full potential.

Outdoor learning is part and parcel of the complete learning experience whether at the beach, at camp, at the local reserve, cross country or on the ocean. Children are encouraged to be active explorers and there’s plenty of fun incorporated into the curriculum and fun generally equates

to learning. Activities these days include canoe polo, Mathletics, triathlon, hip hop, camps, art deco activities and a range of learning in action activities.

This year, more than ever, interactive technology has been embraced to support learning and the results are quite astounding with children happily accepting technology as a learning resource which has opened up even greater avenues for structured learning and fun.

There’s also a great focus on developing meaningful, respectful and caring relationships and taking responsibility for self. Communication skills, once largely ignored, are part and parcel of a child’s life from the time they start

early childhood education and throughout their school life.

We hope you enjoy reading the success stories. This publication would not have been possible without the support of local businesses that have sponsored their local schools in this publication. These businesses have made a contribution to the region, and its future leaders, and deserve our continued custom.

Kowhai Special School Staff: 95 Students: 111 Principal’s message Kōwhai Special School is a leading specialist school in Hawkes Bay, educating 5-21 year old students who have ORS funding. Our growing school community is spread around the greater Hastings and Central Hawkes Bay districts.

Base School and 11 satellite classes in local mainstream schools. This allows our students to have a supportive pathway throughout their education according to their age and ability. Come and visit us and meet our amazing tamariki and see for yourself all the opportunities that happen for students at Kōwhai!

We have a fantastic set up that allows our students to have a supportive, inclusive education between our

Sarah Roil - Principal www.kowhaispecial.school.nz

Even with the interruption of Lockdown earlier this year, it has still been a year filled with fun and learning. All of our classes go on regular outings in the community, which may include Riding for the Disabled, going shopping, visiting playgrounds or visiting places of interest around Hastings and Napier. Our satellite classes based in Mainstream schools also participate in schoolwide activities alongside their host schools....athletics days,

swimming sports and Polyfest, to name a few. This term we have also had a wonderful visit to Te Aranga Marae in Flaxmere.

Within school, our students have all the same opportunities as students in Mainstream schools, plus many more. Individualised programmes of learning ensure any barriers to learning are removed so that they can achieve success at their own level.

St Josephs School Wairoa “LEARNING TO LOVE AND LOVING TO LEARN”

Principals statement: We are a small special character (Catholic) school with a roll of 87 in the heart of the Wairoa Township where we light the path – learning to love and loving to learn - T ramatiateara! Akohiate aroha, Arohatia te ako.

The school is a hive of activity with numerous rich and engaging learning opportunities always on the go to motivate, challenge and grow our young learners.

The collaborative effort of the staff and BoT ensure that what is best for tamariki is always at the fore front of all they do – as they approach each day with Faith, Love, Service and Hope.

The Year that Was. This year has been quite a unique year – Harold and the Life Education truck visited early in the year and sparked lots of excitement... learning was around keeping ourselves safe. The junior classes completed the Fire Wise programme and how to keep themselves safe in an emergency. Little did we know Covid19 was about to disrupt our lives.

Earlier this year we had 4 teams complete in the Epro 8 challenge with surrounding schools around the district. Our Year 5 & 6 team went through to Gisborne for the finals and won the challenge.

They brought the trophy back to our school.

Covid hit at the end of March and we moved into distance learning. We were fortunate enough to get some of our devices and learning packs out before we went into lockdown.

The transition was seamless as our students were already using multiple learning platforms with their learning. These were unusual times and it was exciting to see the children in their daily Google Meet video conference each morning. Everyone returned back to school when we went to Level 2.

Due to the restrictions in Level 2 we had to cancel a lot of our events we usually do. We were able to still hold our School Cross Country at Tracey and Andrew Powdrell’s farm. We had a beautiful day and the children enjoyed getting our there and running over the hills. We finished off with a sausage sizzle that was kindly prepared for us by our local community Police Officers.

happen. Being a small school, we would not be able to do these events without the help from our parents. We have an amazing school community that come together to make things happen.

Wairoa College held an Art Festival this year and each class contributed work to be displayed for our local community to come and view.

We were excited to join the Free Healthy School Lunches Programme in term 4. We have a local provider Mohaka Kingz who prepare our lunches for our 87 students daily. The children are enjoying trying new foods. It is great having the provider so close so the food is delivered warm when they have a hot lunch.

Our Catholic Curriculum is integrated into all we do at St Joseph’s. Each class takes turns presenting the weekly liturgy, and it is exciting to see childrens confidence and faith growing each time they come to the church. We celebrated St Joseph’s Day with fun games outside led by our seniors (Year 7 & 8) and each child had fish and chips for lunch.

We have a new project that brings our threefold faith community together, St Peter’s Parish, Tawhitia-Maru. We are repurposing our old school pool into a Maara Kai for our faith community.

This project brings our experts the older generation, who hold the knowledge, the how to, and the techniques to share with their mokopuna and younger generation. A Maara kai is a great way to live off the land and use traditional self-sufficiency. Our senior students took measurements of the area and presented it to the our community at a whanau hui. This project is in the beginning stages and next year we will have a lot of learning wrapped around it. It is great to see the three branches of our faith community come together on this project.

We supported Cure Kids and Red Nose Day this year on Friday 31st July. The senior class Room 1, held a Bake Sale at school and everyone dressed up in Red to celebrate the day. The children raised over $400 for Cure Kids.

Each year our school and Parish run a Gala.

It is usually on a Saturday, this year we trialled a Twilight Gala – Food Festival on a Friday evening.

It was a beautiful evening and lots of families came out to enjoy the evening. We had lots of delicious food available such as burgers, chicken chow mein, curry and rice, american hot dogs, sausages, hot chips, chicken nuggets, cakes stall, nachos and a hangi. It was a successful evening and we raised $7000 on the night for our school and St Peter’s Parish

Early term 4 we had our school Athletics Day. It was a beautiful day with all the children participating in events throughout the day. There was lots of cheering and laughter heard throughout the day. Every one had fun. We are thankful for our parent volunteers that make all these events

Another highlight this year, was St Joseph’s Day. St Joseph is our patron Saint of our school so on his feast day 19 March. Our room ran fun events for the day. We organised games and the best part was we all had yummy fish and chips for lunch.

It was a great celebration.

ART FESTIVAL

We had a visit from four Magpie players with the Ranfurly Shield. The children had lots of questions for the payers and were excited to have players from the Hawkes Bay Magpie Rugby team here at our school. We have two students Ella and George Powdrell whose great grandfather cut the slab for the original Ranfurly Shield. It cracked so they cut another piece off the slab for shield which is the one we have today.

Highlight of the Year from Cjay Ramsay-Jury One of the highlights for this year for me was Red Nose Day. This was to raise funds for children with illnesses to help find a cure. Our class, Room 1 had to bring sweet treats to sell at a Bake Sale and the whole school dressed up in red. We brought a gold coin for wearing mufti. Everyone dressed up and it was a fun day. We raised over $400 for the Cure Kids Red Nose Day. Highlight of the Year for Jayden Thompson-Perston The Highlight of my year is when me and my close friends and family went to Tawhiti-a-Maru Marae and had a Noho for the night for our preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation. I enjoyed spending the night with my friends and family at the Marae.

Another highlight was the Twilight Gala. We helped our teacher Mrs Tanu with her stall curry and rice.

I had fun with my friends and some of our old students turned up from last year and it was great to see them. It was a fun evening.

Highlight of the Year Anatea Caviale Delzescaux The highlight for me was the fact that even though we were in the middle of a pandemic, we still had an opportunity to learn and talk to our teacher and friends. We did our normal school work at home and posted our work on Seesaw. We had fun days on Friday’s where we did science experiments.

It was good to come back to school and see our friends.

ATHLETICS DAY 2020

FREE HEALTHY SCHOOL LUNCHES BEGAN TERM 4 2020

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TWILIGHT GALA 2020

FUNDRAISING FOR RED NOSE DAY

DISTANCE LEARNING DURING LOCKDOWN

We light the path learning to love and loving to learn.

Turamatia te ara! Akohia te aroha, Arohatia te ako MAGPIES AND RANFURLY SHIELD VISIT

Quality Roading and Services staff

congratulate

SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY AT POWDRELL’S FARM.

ROOM 1 LEARNING MEASURING AREA FOR MAARA KAI

Proudly supporting the local community

ST JOSEPH’S SCHOOL

We are proud supporters of our awesome Wairoa community!

on another great year!

Congratulations to the pupils and staff of St Joseph's school for another great year.

AFFCO NZ Ltd - Wairoa Hunter-Brown St, Wairoa

06 838 8139

Openinghours:Mon -Fri 7:00am -5:00pm Saturday 8:30am -12:00pm 19- 21MahiaAve, Wairoa T:06 838 6948 www.eastlandbfs.co.nz E: info@eastlandbfs.co.nz

T AHO

PRIMARY SCHOOL

We all know that 2020 has presented lots of challenges! For Tiaho Primary School, 2020 also represented a year full of opportunities to reflect on who we are at the very heart of our mahi and why we do what we do - to grow and learn from the challenges, and to make sure everything we do helps to nurture and protect our tamariki mokopuna and their whanau.

Here are some of our highlights for 2020: • Welcoming new staff and students for the new year, as well as huge amounts of enrolments at New Entrants (the most ever in one year!)

• Getting 100% return rate for our whanau survey relating to your child’s experience at Tiaho

• Amazing school and district events (the ones that did go ahead!) such as Swimming, Athletics and the Science Fair • Incredibly moving and powerful Kapa Haka performances at the Lake • Ma Te Huruhuru - our marae based learning programme for seniors to foster identity, language and culture • Welcoming manuhiri from St Johns, NZ Police, the Air Force, HB Arts Festival and the Royal NZ Ballet to inspire our kids about the world we live in • Undertaking long overdue future proofing work on our amazing pool • Trips to Morere Hot Pools

• Purchasing our food trailer, doing up the canteen and being able to provide our tamariki with free and healthy school lunches

• And last but not least, finally getting the green light on our amazing re-build project!

• Receiving a huge donation from a member of the public to purchase almost 90 Chromebooks for every student in Years 4, 5 and 6

So whilst 2020 had challenges, there were so many occasions where our staff, students and their whanau had the opportunity to embody the true meaning of T-iaho - to shine brightly amongst all stars. I am so proud to be the principal of a school that lives and breathes its values on a daily basis - Ako, Manaakitanga, Kaitiakitanga and Whanaungatanga - in order to achieve Te Hiringa i te Mahara. “Whāia te iti kahurangi, whātorohia ngā whetu” - Look to the stars of Ranginui to be grounded in Papatu- anuku.

T-iaho Stars - our stars for today and tomorrow!

Nga- mihi nui,

• Adding to our kete of resources for Ako Rotations 24 ukuleles, a sewing machine and engineering supplies • Knowing exactly where all our tamariki were during COVID-19, checking in regularly to see how everyone was doing and providing personalised resources for tamariki for the entire lockdown period • Tuakana Teina Thursdays, where we created our amazing creations for the District Art Festival

Whaea Zac Anderson

ANGUS GEMMELL LTD We proudly keep Tiaho Primary School clean During term we do the daily cleaning and in term break we spring clean, clean windows and maintain hard floors.

Thanks for the opportunity

CHECK OUT OUR RANGE OF BICYCLES FOR CHRISTMAS Proud to support the Tiaho School 176 Marine Parade, Wairoa 4108

24 Hour Hotline 0800 253 263 www.paraserve.com

(06) 838 7577

TAYLORS POOLS & SPAS The Pool & Spa Professionals

Proudly supporting the local community

FOR ALL YOUR POOL AND SPA NEEDS

PROUD TO SUPPORT TIAHO PRIMARY SCHOOL 70 Taradale Road, Napier www.poolman.co.nz • 06 835 3065

AFFCO NZ Ltd - Wairoa Hunter-Brown St, Wairoa

06 838 8139

NAPIER MUSIC ACADEMY GROWING YOUNG The Westshore Way

Located in beautiful Napier, Hawke's Bay Our school

Westshore Primary school is located in the suburb of Westshore, Napier, looking out over the Pacific Ocean. Our school’s unique environment boasts beach, surf lifesaving, our own Rocky Shore, estuary, cycling paths, walking trails, and sailing pond. Our environment allows us to provide learning in real contexts through a place-based curriculum.

Our motto, Growing (Tipu), Sharing (Tuari Haere), Learning (Ako), Together (Kotahitanga) reflects our culturally diverse school and strong community feeling. We are an inclusive school, currently unzoned and catering for students from all suburbs of Napier.

We believe in building strong relationships demonstrating care for our learners and community. We are supported by a hard working Board of Trustees and PTA who ensure our students take advantage of all opportunities to further their learning and experiences.

Our Westshore kaupapa believes all people have the right to a sense of belonging, ownership, pride and achievement, in a place where we grow, share and learn together. We think it’s important to help students to make positive choices about learning. Our professional teaching staff introduce innovative ways to ensure our students are engaged and happy to learn.

Learning extends beyond the classroom and is incorporated in the many extracurricular activities our students participate in both within and outside the school environment. Kapa Haka, school sports days and inter-school competitions and our recently established hands-on programme of learning - STEAM are examples of rich learning opportunities.

We value our small class numbers, our warm, inviting environments and strong Teacher Aide support.

We are a small, caring and nurturing school set in a beautiful environment with a wonderful outlook.

The children are at the heart of everything we do.

MUSICIANS IN THE BAY!

I took over management of Napier Music Academy in January of this year ready to hit the ground running in a firmly established and succesful business. I knew that the future would be exciting and challenging, but I didn’t expect the roller coaster ride that would soon occur. The NMA teaches over 250 students in 13 schools around Hawke’s Bay and our own studio in Napier.

We teach people who have never touched an instrument or sung in their lives, we mentor bands and those who want to make a career in the music industry and we help to guide established musicians to follow their own journey. We pride ourselves on a fresh, dynamic and fun outlook to teaching music, and it’s this optimistic attitude that got us through what has been one of the most challenging times in NZ history.

When the first lockdown hit our first priority was to keep music lessons going so that our students could have some stability and structure in what was an uncertain time. Contacting hundreds of parents and managing 8 teachers to negotiate and set up online lessons was always going to be a challenge, and as a team we took it in our stride and made it work.

Sometimes the connections would drop or cameras wouldn’t work, but these were all counterbalanced by every pet dog, or baby brother we would meet. We were welcomed into people’s homes, chatted with their parents and formed strong bonds with people who we might have only previously talked to via email or phone call.

(The pictures in this article were all given to us by students/ parents during lockdown showing the ways they were keeping music alive)

EPro Pro 8 E

Jump Jam J ump Jam

I’m extremely lucky to be working with an amazing team who let very little phase them, and to have the support of hundreds of amazing Hawke’s Bay families.

Now that the year is coming to an end, I look back with amazement and immense pride at what we’ve achieved in the last 9 months, and look to the future with increased optimism.

It’s already becoming an old cliché that 2020 has been a crazy year. But music, community and friendship can triumph over anything.

Police dog visitt

Safe walking

Wheels W heels day

Year Ski Y earr 6 S ki camp

Ar Art rt D Deco eco

ROB FRANKS Managing Director

admin@napiermusicacademy.co.nz 021 305197

Our team of professional and dedicated Support Staff, Teachers, and Specialists work together to design quality educational programmes for students who have a wide range of learning needs which may include a sensory, a physical or an intellectual disability.

We teach the New Zealand Curriculum with a focus on the Key Competencies, to provide a holistic programme which is centred on the individual strengths and needs of each student. Our students are aged 5 – 21 years and are mainly from Napier City, Taradale and surrounding areas. Our school is currently comprised of a Base School with 2 primary classes, and 5 satellite units. The satellite classes are located at Nelson Park School, Tamatea Primary, Tamatea Intermediate, Tamatea High School, and we are also privileged to have a transition centre, called Te Rangimarie at Bridge Pa. Our class sizes range between 6 - 10 students, with one specialist teacher and teacher aides.

Our FAST Team

Fairhaven School provides quality specialist services to our students and their whanau, to support successful educational outcomes.

Our FAST team consists of a Speech and Language Therapist, Occupational Therapists, a Physiotherapist, a Music Therapist and an Educational Psychologist. Fairhaven staff and specialists work closely together and alongside whanau and families to provide a seamless service for our students. Specialists align goals with the New Zealand Curriculum and the Key Competencies, supporting teachers to embed programmes into the students’ day.

Personalised Learning

Each student has a Personalised Learning Plan. These contain goals linked to Literacy, Numeracy and the Key Competencies and are incorporated into lessons and every student’s daily programme. Therapeutic goals are carefully woven through each plan and are supported by our FAST team.

Our Kaupapa & Guiding Principle -

Whanau Ako - Learning Together. For all students to be proud of who they are; learning, achieving and successfully participating in their community.

2020 Learning…

Our overarching inquiry this year has been ‘What keeps us healthy?’

Term 1 - What inspires us to move?

Term 2 - How do we communicate our imagination to others?

Term 3 - How do we express what is important to us?

Term 4 - How do materials inspire art?

In addition to work in the classroom our learning has happened out and about in the community, with visits out for swimming, hydrotherapy, making hangi, flax weaving, visits to Anderson Park and Marine Parade, supporting local recycling initiatives, work experience at The Leg Up Trust, trips to the local Libraries, shopping trips to the supermarket, using public transport, TaeKwon Do competitions, Waka Ama on the Clive River, SNAG Golf, taking part in our local Kapa Haka Festival as well as The Special Olympics. Wow! Our students have been busy.

Diane Whyte Principal

www.fairhaven.net.nz

The amazing part of 2020 and every other year are our tamariki. Flaxmere Primary School students continue to make staff and whanau proud by being tamatiki TOA. Together we strive to meet our school expectations/values.

Kia TOA – Be our best Kia ORA – Be well Kia AKO – Be a learner. We are truly blessed to have the support around us. A big thanks to all of the wonderful people that have supported us throughout the year. We celebrate the year that was and look forward to 2021.

It takes a village to raise a child and this is a village we are all am very proud to be a part of.

Taking enrolments for 2021 now.

Samoan Immersion class Y1-3 opening in 2021.

Robyn Isaacson ( p ) (Principal)

The amazing part of 2020 and every other year are our tamariki. Flaxmere Primary School students continue to make staff and whanau proud by being tamatiki TOA. Together we strive to meet our school expectations/values.

Kia TOA – Be our best Kia ORA – Be well Kia AKO – Be a learner. We are truly blessed to have the support around us. A big thanks to all of the wonderful people that have supported us throughout the year. We celebrate the year that was and look forward to 2021.

It takes a village to raise a child and this is a village we are all am very proud to be a part of.

Taking enrolments for 2021 now.

Samoan Immersion class Y1-3 opening in 2021.

Robyn Isaacson ( p ) (Principal)

Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Wānanga Whare Tapere o Takitimu Kia ora Tātou. 2020 will forever be remembered as the year that Covid-19 swept through the world and put Aotearoa into a national lockdown. With a days notice, our Kaimahi were quick to make a plan that enabled our tamariki to continue their learning by moving their class online with zoom lessons, phone calls, youtube tutorials, Facebook groups and apps. Hard copy resources were also sent home.

As Tūmuaki, my focus at that time was to make sure that our staff, students and their whānau stayed safe and had access to resources that allowed them to keep connected and engaged while maintaining a covid-free environment. Upon entering level 2, weekly kai deliveries and more hard copy resources were delivered. We held online karakia every day at the same time so that whānau could be uplifted.

This year being our 25th Anniversary, we continue to be blessed with staff who go above and beyond, whānau who lead our interschool hakinakina and support all curriculum areas. This is an amazing place to work, learn, teach and be inspired. We cater for all immersion Māori learners and encourage kohanga reo graduates to come for a tour. We pay respects to all of our loved ones who passed on this year, gone but not forgotten. Moe mai rā.

He mihi aroha, Fleur Wainohu

Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Wānanga Whare Tapere o Takitimu Tumuaki: Fleur Wainohu Kaimahi: 24 Akonga: 145 Tau: 1-13 Our tamariki know who they are and where they are going. Kia Tū Rangatira, hei raukura mō tōku iwi, hapu, whānau, marae. We are producing leaders who stand proud in both tikanga Māori me whakapapa. Seamless education from the womb to the tomb. Takitimutanga, Kahungunutanga, Ti Hei Whare Tapere!

Our Take Away from 2020 is that our lives will never be the same but our unity against Covid-19, was and is strong. He kura te kainga, he kainga te kura.

As we look towards 2021, our new kura build will be taking shape on Bennett Road, Hastings.

It will accommodate up to 600 students from Kohanga reo, Kuratahi, Wharekuri and Wānanga (tertiary). Mai te kopu o te whaea ki te kopu o te whenua.

NEXT ISSUE OUT MARCH 2021

Leaders in their

Schools 2020

Representatives of our Hawke’s Bay Secondary schools with Chris Hipkins Minister of Education

Be part of this brilliant publication that is representative of our outstanding Hawke’s Bay Secondary Schools.

Seniors students are our next leaders and we celebrate their achievements with our community.

Make sure you book your space for 2021!

Contact the NZME Features Department 06 873 0834

A year that was meant to be such a great year has been one of challenges and changes. It has made us look at the way we do things and what we can do better in this ever-changing world.

We started 2020 with a bang celebrating Ebbett Park School turning 60 years on the 19th February. Our whanau were invited to join us, and the kids took part in pool events, field events and a massive chocolate cake that feed us all and more!

Staff and some of our learners put their backs into painting and revitalizing our playground equipment that took it from drab and dull to bright and colourful. The colours connect with our house colours to ensure continuity.

Then COVID hit! Staff and learners were sent home to work and learn in their own spaces. This could have gone one of two ways!

We could not be prouder of our community: they got stuck in, worked online, had zoom meetings, and worked to maintain a high standard of teaching and learning that is expected at Ebbett Park School.

The creativity of the staff of Ebbett Park surpassed expectations – the development of online learning and virtual classrooms strengthened the engagement of learners and their whanau.

Upon the reopening of school in level 2 we were so proud to see our learners all returning to school. The resilience our tamariki demonstrated around the changes to the structure of the school is something that will remain with us for some time yet. Kids were happy to be back at school, talked about who and what they missed when they had to work at home. They shared their learning and their struggles and being happy and safe became our main school focus.

In the final two terms of the year we were able to do a few more things: a sports extravaganza was held as a way to get our tamariki playing the sports that they had missed out on during lockdown, senior camp took place in a slightly different form that previously organized and there was a trip to Guthrie Smith to celebrate conservation week.

So, while it has been a very different year than normal, we have been able to achieve some great learning, experience many firsts and overcome odds On a personal note I want to say a massive THANK YOU to our tamariki for being so understanding and resilient in a year that has seen them miss out on opportunities that they would have had in any other ‘normal’ year, to the staff: THANK YOU for your hard work and flexibility to work in and around the unprecedented events we have had to endure this year and last and by no means least to our Whanau and community: THANK YOU for your trust, faith and belief in Ebbett Park School. We care for your children as if they are our own and will continue to ensure that our tamariki are at the forefront of everything that we do.

Here is hoping for a much improved 2021: Meri Kirihmete

Principal’s Message.

Our vision is to develop active and empowered learners.

We believe the primary school years are a special time.

We aim to provide the best possible start in literacy and numeracy. We ensure the skills of thinking, creativity, collaboration are nurtured and children are ready for the future.

Napier Central School is a key hub for the Napier Hill community. We have a strong partnership with parents and family. They are involved in a wide range of school activities throughout the year. We value and encourage this participation.

To all our senior students who are now moving on to Intermediate; we hope you take away many happy

memories of your primary school years. All the best for the future.

We are welcoming enrolment enquiries for 2021 and are happy to make a time for you to visit our school.

Ross McLeod Principal Napier Central School

Digi Awards

This is a popular showcase for the students to participate in and this year, Year 3 - 6 children were creating, problem solving collaborating over several weeks to produce some excellent Digital Animations. A huge well done to all the students, we know you were very proud of what has been created.

2020 Whakatauki Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini.

My success is not mine alone, but it is the strength of the collective.

Our Whakatauki for this year reminded us to be successful, to achieve, is the result of many others helping, supporting, and encouraging us.

Lockdown

We organised quickly when lockdown was announced.

Class websites were formed and zoom meetings organised. Activities were set up so we could keep some reading, writing and maths learning continue. Active learning and challenges were set to keep everyone moving.

Art activities, cooking and baking, construction was encouraged so there was a range of tasks to choose from. We could set our own timetables during the day or do a little at a time.

Whatever suited the family.

Zoom meetings were arranged, sometimes with a theme - like hats, teddy bears. We could tune in with our teacher and understand what to do or what to choose. We could also see friends, say hello and have a laugh again. Lockdown was strange but we got through it OK. Back at school after lockdown. Just about everyone turned up so it was nice to see everyone. In the first couple weeks we did a lot of art and talking about lockdown. Then we slowly got back into routines and normal programmes. Thanks, teachers, for all your work over the lockdown period.

Science Alive Programme

Students participated in the Science Alive Programme throughout this year. There have been some excellent interactive experiments raising questions, wonder and curiosity across the board. Many teachers decided to use the science experiments as a motivator for writing.

“Our Earth – The world is made of rock, lava and crust.

The earth is a sphere. There are 3 layers of the earth.

The inner core is the hottest bit of the earth. It is hotter than any other thing in the world.” – Siena Age 6

Modernised Classrooms

2020 saw us modernising the interior of 5 classrooms.

We retained the wonderful classic exterior of our school’s main block main block and completely modernised the internal learning spaces. We are pleased with now having more flexible, transparent, bright colourful and warm spaces for learning. I’m sure children and teachers will enjoy these environments.

World Cultures Day

We have an increasingly diverse student population at Napier Central School and we celebrated this cultural diversity again this year. It was a time we could all learn a little more about each other and the range of different cultures. And there is a big range. We also had the opportunity to learn more about ourselves and the story of our families. Knowing the story of our families can help provide an anchor and help build resilience during tough times as they grow older. We also spoke about our school values of Respect, Integrity, Perseverance and Empathy. These values help us accept and embrace differences.

Our Frasertown School Motocross team took out 1st place in the Primary Schools Motocross Championship for 2020.

Harvey and his learning team interview our Superstar mum, Amy Pearse, about her Muay Thai Title.

Well there isn’t much that 2020 hasn’t thrown at us. Despite all the challenges, we have had another fabulous year at Frasertown School.

Covid-19 certainly highlighted what is important and also demanded our resilience and ability to pull together as a learning community. When we work together, we all succeed.

Our students have enjoyed some wonderful learning experiences within our school and across our region and we have continued to build on the successes from previous years. There were a couple of events that couldn’t go ahead but others we modified to ensure

Exploring the world with VR an exciting journey!

Oscar and his group worked as a team to design, plan and build a chair using driftwood.

Julian Eyles and Luke Kopilovic help to steer the Waka Hourua in Gisborne. A fabulous experience!

that our students got the best opportunities.

I am very grateful for the team that ensures our school is the best that we can be. Our Board of Trustees support the leadership, staff, students and community and have the vision to set goals and achieve. The staff continue to go above and beyond for our students and their whanau. Our whanau and community continue to support the school wholeheartedly, there are always people ready to help out, be it through fundraisers, school trips and or learning adventures. Most importantly our students, work hard

Mana and Kyra check out the Turtle at the Napier Aquarium during their overnight camp.

These boys have been learning all about bush and outdoor survival. Here they are trialling their bamboo fishing rods.

and strive to do their best. Challenges are expected but we navigate the rapids together.

Thank you.

We look ahead to 2021 with excitement and energy - to continue our awesome learning adventure.

Come and join the fun!

Kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui!

Tangi Geary Tumuaki

Our Year 5&6 team finished 1st equal in the Tairawhiti Epro8 Regional Final this year.

Greer and Te Aopare spent some time with Suni, a local Native plant expert, to look over our native plants

Louise Thompson-Gray navigates the water hazard at the finish line during this years School Cross Country.

Riley Kapene takes a moment to share a smile before putting together her floral exhibits in this years Pet and Flower Show.

Year 5 student Izzie Powdrell and her sister, ex student Maggie made it through to the finals for the Edible Fashion Awards. Amazing!