Kia ora whanau,

On Monday we were lucky enough to work with a Year 9/10 P.E. class from Westland High School on our Touch Rugby skills. This is an opportunity for the high school students to experience coaching and for our students to learn to work with peers.

Wow this term is really flying by! We have been fortunate to have a number of exciting learning opportunities, inside and outside the classroom. These have included Halloween Disco, Athletics, Wearable Arts Fashion Show and the WHS Orientation Morning. Our students have represented themselves and their school with great pride. Congratulations to the students that have qualified for the Hokitika District Athletics. All the best and we look forward to many placings in the Regionals. Coming up soon is the Year 6 Leavers Dinner. This is being held at Hokitika Primary in the Hall on Thursday 7th December at 7pm. Family are warmly invited to attend. If you have any photos of your child and their time at Hokitika Primary that you would like included in the leavers slideshow, can you please email them to me at latham@hokitika.school.nz or send them into the school with your child. We were fortunate enough to receive a grant for a number of devices that will allow our Year 5/6 learners to be using more Google Tools in their learning. This is an interim measure before we launch into full digital immersion in 2018. Swimming is just around the corner, so please remember to ensure your child is coming with togs and a towel from Week 6.

The first two weeks at school this term have been really exciting. Together as a group we are getting to know each other better. We are continuing to develop our work ethic and raising the standard of expected behaviours. Take the time to ask your child what they are currently working on in class. Everyone has access to their class work through their Google Drive account and the students would benefit from being able to share their learning with you and are able to complete work from home. We have participated in first aid training run by St John covering DRSABC. This term is looking incredibly busy for our Year 5/6 learners. We have a number of additional learning activities planned to help support and develop leadership skills. This includes planning and running the halloween disco, designing and building Christmas floats, plus taking a greater leadership roles within the day to day running of the school. We have a number of students working with RTLB on a transition plan to Westland High School. The hope is that by developing stronger transition programmes our learners will be set up for success at the start of 2018.