By Nick Leith | Posted: Wednesday May 4, 2022
Term Two is underway at Casebrook and that means opportunities for our students to set new goals and experience Intermediate life to the full.
Kia ora koutou, we hope that our whānau and community took time out together over the Easter and Anzac long weekends. Term One was a particularly unique one. We were really proud of the perseverance our students demonstrated around the challenges of Covid. They were able to transition nicely into the new school year and are perfectly set up for a successful Term Two.
Life in Term Two will see Covid with us for a while longer. We are seeing numbers continue this week and as we did in Term One, we will do our very best to ensure things stay in the 'business as usual' category. Rest assured we will reassess mask wearing as soon as we see the Covid numbers drop away.
Orange light setting does enable us to reconnect more as a community. We are looking forward to hosting our EOTC thank you evening on Thursday 2nd June as a way of thanking our parents & caregivers who gave up time in Term One for camps and trips. More info will be sent your way about that soon. As will more opportunities to connect as a community during cross country, sporting and cultural events that are all big parts of our school calendar.
We also look forward to getting underway with winter water polo, basketball and Hagley sport seasons in the coming weeks. Intermediate School life is all about such sporting opportunities and to have the go-ahead for the full range of sports is great for the culture of our school. Tom Straker, our sports coordinator, is flat-out getting everything ready for this. It has been wonderful to see sporting trials at lunchtimes and the numbers of students attending these. It demonstrates the students' pride in representing our school and getting involved in something familiar or new.
For our students, Term Two is all about moving ahead in their learning goals and making the most of new opportunities that are offered across the curriculum. Our recent school reports and parent & whānau interviews have set our students up with clear next steps on which to focus. Combined with the ongoing expectation to extend their engagements outside of the classroom will make for a busy and interesting term ahead.
We officially welcome Cassidy Rae as a classroom teacher to our team this term. Cassidy worked successfully in the highly demanding role of Covid cover for teachers and has done an amazing job keeping class programmes running. She will continue in this role for Term Two.
Finally, we move into the third phase of our refurbishment with the 'back block' renovations well underway. Our students in the newly finished front block are loving their new spaces and the smell of a brand new classroom! A new room smell that should last longer than usual with the windows open and well circulated autumnal air flowing through the block.
Thanks for your continued communication with us around covid and household contact cases. We are closing in on getting as back to normal as possible with life in schools. We look forward to a highly successful Term Two.
Ngā mihi nui
Nick Leith
Deputy Principal