Principal News

I hope your child had an enjoyable break and has settled back into the routine of school life.

There was an excellent buzz around the school as the students arrived excited about reconnecting with friends and peers and seeing their teachers.  I was particularly impressed with the activities the teachers prepared to get your child excited about science, which will be the focus for the next 4-5 weeks.  The Year Group news will have more specifics about what they are focusing on, but from what I saw in the classroom, the students thoroughly enjoyed using scientific skills to try and solve a problem.   A big thank you to David Warren and his team from the Otago University Chemistry Department for getting this topic off to a real bang.  Once again, there are some great pictures in the Year Group News.

Year 8 camps have continued this term at Warrington and Camp Columba, and I really enjoyed visiting Rooms 16, 14 and 12 at Camp Columba.

The purpose of the camp is to develop a range of skills that link closely with the school values and provide an outdoor experience. The focus is on strengthening relationships, building resilience, and overcoming challenges. These skills will be transferable to school and help equip students for the remainder of their time at Tahuna and in the future.

I recently received this email from a parent who attended a camp, and I think they sum up our students best when they said this:

"Kids are much better than they are made out to be… (or maybe it’s just the Tahuna kids?)… most of them seemed surprisingly willing to engage in all activities without questioning (even if some activities appeared to be a little of not much…)… they work together, appear to be nice to one another, sat down and kept quiet in assembly if asked so, got dirty, were extremely excited during spotlight and campfire… pushed to their limits on leap of faith (facing cold rain and freezing hands on the metal handles…)"

I am extremely grateful to students, teachers, and parent helpers for all their contributions to making this adventure worthwhile and memorable. Good luck to Room 15 and Room 9, who are heading away this coming week.

Ngā mihi nui koutou,

Simon Clarke