Parents & Friends of Dio

from Dio Today August 2020

Our NZ reps

Pictured at the opening of the Norfolk pine playground on 22 June, are the P&F Executive team, from left to right, Tina Tsui, Robin Bell, Lisa Manks and Jacinta Chow.

Reconnecting in 2020

Parents and Friends is taking time to focus on reaching out to the Dio community in 2020.

It is difficult to reflect upon the past term, with the lockdown and pandemic, knowing that we are in a very different position from other nations at this time. Maintaining global awareness and compassion is at the forefront of many minds, adults and children alike. We also sympathise with the strife and stress felt nationally and locally. Nonetheless, we must also remember to appreciate and share positive outcomes and small successes, both to learn from and to keep our mental well-being healthy. Sharing experiences of lockdown learning has brought about many funny and endearing stories within the parent base of Dio, and an even greater gratitude for our teachers. For many, this intense time spent with family was a vast change from a normal week. Early morning drop-offs, long days on school campus and late-night sports or arts activities were all exchanged for lingering breakfast conversations, long walks and a lot of baking. Good, bad or ugly, we all spent time with our family. Alas, in turn, the speed with which our busy lives has returned has many doing a double-take, wondering when the 20kg bag of flour will in fact be finished, while the walking shoes gather dust. So we ask ourselves, how do we hold onto those precious moments, while still moving fast forward?

Within P&F, we have adapted our focus for 2020, in part due to circumstances and in part due to a desire to look inward. As events have had to be postponed, cancelled or limited in size, our plan for the remainder of the year

“With our focus shifted now to friend-raising, our Committee is working on ways to bring the Dio community together. P&F will look to help maintain and build on those chances for parents, students and staff to spend time together under the School umbrella.”

has been adapted. As a committee, we have decided to use this year to focus, in particular, on friend-raising rather than fund-raising, and the development of the Dio community.

We were incredibly pleased to be able to re-open the Dio Café in Term 2 as soon as the strict lockdown was lifted. P&F was especially happy to be able to bring many student volunteers into the café immediately upon opening, plus parent volunteers later in the term. With the understandable restrictions in place for health and safety purposes, the café staff worked hard to ensure the utmost adherence to them. At the same time, we recognised the importance of providing the student body with a warm and welcoming centre to the School, so we were thrilled to have many friendly faces (both students and parents) serving breakfast, morning tea and lunch with smiles and plenty of laughter.

We were also thrilled to join in the opening of the new and very spacious Norfolk Pine playgrounds, donating our second pledge of $100,000 to the school in June. The various pockets of play and recreation spaces that have been created are quite amazing. To stand at the woodlands play area and look across this large development makes one realise just how much more outdoor space has been given back to the students. Our special thanks go to past committee member Melissa Brady. Melissa spent years tending to the Shrewsbury gardens and spearheaded the redesign of our own food technology gardens. She has since worked within the School, giving beautiful and caring oversight to the development of the Norfolk Pine playgrounds. We look forward to seeing many students enjoying, sharing and interacting on and with these new grounds.

With our focus shifted now to friendraising, our committee is working on ways to bring the Dio community together. As security and health and safety concerns give cause for parents to step further away from the Dio campus, we want to ensure that parent contact is not lost altogether. From the youngest age, our children learn from how we treat and interact with others, and this learning does not stop in the teen years! Therefore P&F will look to help maintain and build on those chances for parents, students and staff to spend time together under the School umbrella.

We look also to re-connect with our past committee members, inviting people back to celebrate the successes of the School and to see the amazing growth and development of the School grounds and wonderful student body. Furthermore, we hope to work closely with other school associations, including Dio Arts, Dio Sport and the Old Girls, to help strengthen the Dio community and continue to foster an environment of service and giving back.

In today’s world, we see more than ever the need to demonstrate to our daughters the importance of the School motto Ut Servimus and being thankful for having the ability to give back in any way possible.