Board of Trustees Term 4 Newsletter

Kia ora tatou!

2018 has been quite a year! The school and its community has had a lot of challenges to overcome but with that we've seen the best of our students, teachers and wider-school whanau come to the fore! Thanks to you all for your support, hard work, and especially, patience.

What is amazing is that even with all the changes that have gone on throughout the year, student achievement overall remains above average for the majority of our students and the school has been able to work with the community in getting a number of its long-standing projects off the ground including the redevelopment of the sandpit and shading area, new bike track and the French bilingual unit.

And then, of course, is the soon-to-start property development project...it's been a long time coming and it took some truly awful conditions and a strong push from Kathryn and the teaching staff (and a little parental intervention) to finally force action but thankfully the school community can now feel confident that our long-term property issues are going to be addressed. We look forward to your continued engagement on the project and your ongoing patience as the development progresses.

We'd like to thank everyone who has been actively involved in our school projects and events - especially the numerous volunteers who have given up their time - you've been amazing! We'd also like to acknowledge those who have or are about to move on - you will be missed and will no doubt be wonderful assets to your new communities.

Finally, thanks to our Principal, Mrs Smith, and the Ridgway staff who work so tirelessly for our tamariki. We're very lucky to have you at our school.

On behalf of the Board, have a fantastic Christmas and New Year's break. Be safe and we hope to see you in the New Year. Kia manahau!

Richard Ngatai

Ridgway School Board of Trustees, Chair

Building update

It's been a big year for Ridgway with the MOE approving $8.4M for capital redevelopment of our school buildings. $6.16M of this is for construction costs, the rest covers the associated project costs such as architects, consents, furniture etc. Designgroup Stapleton Elliot (DGSE) have been appointed as the architects and have begun the Master Planning process. Looking ahead to 2019, we expect DGSE to be sharing the first architectural drawings with us in term one, and builders to be turning the first sod in the construction work by the end of the year. It's going to be an exciting year.

Sandpit and Shade area

As mentioned above, it was awesome to have the sandpit and shade area completed this year. This was a much larger job that ever expected due to a number of complicating factors, but it is now done and looks great. A huge thank you has to go to Ewan MacMaster and Fiona Christie who provided so much assistance in getting this project over the line.

Bike Track

Along with the sandpit and shade area, another significant addition to the school this year was the bike track. This has been a great community initiative, and a big thank you to Jason Eady for his energy in driving this project. Thank you too to all the families who supported the fundraising efforts. It is great to see so many using the track.

French Unit

We are very excited to have the French unit opening in 2019. We have a strong foundation group of students for the first year of this programme which is very pleasing to see. Remember this is an option that is open to all Ridgway students, but you are required to make a commitment to the programme for at least three years and students will need good support at home.

Farewell

We have three of our teachers leaving this year and the Board would like to take this opportunity to thank them for all they have given to Ridgway school and students. Tina Sturland, Caerwyn Morgan and Sophie Weren will be finishing with the school at the end of the week and taking up new roles in the new year. We extend our thanks to them and wish them all the very best in their next endeavours.

Board Elections

May 2019 will see the next cycle of board elections. If you have an interest, and skills that you think will be valuable to the governance of the school, please have a think about putting your name forward. If you would like to find out more about what is involved, have a chat to one of the current board members. In particular we are interested in people with skills or background in finance to join the board.

Thank You to our amazing teachers and support staff

A huge thank you to our wonderful teachers and support staff who once again this year have worked tirelessly to teach and support our children and keep the school running so effectively. We know how hard you have all worked during the year and we wish you all the best for a relaxing break over the summer.

Have a fantastic break with your tamariki over the summer holidays, and we look forward to seeing you all in 2019. To those students and families who are leaving Ridgway this year, best wishes for your next adventure!

Nga Mihi

Board of Trustees