Message from the Principal
Kia ora, Hello, Talofa Lava, Malo e lelei, Ni hao, Ahn nyung, Wei ho ma, Namaste, Hola, Kee haal hai, Vannakkam, Jomreep sua, Sawat dee, Privet, Kumusta, Nabad!
We have finally come to the end of 2024! The last week has seen all of our Teams enjoy their end of year events: Folk Dancing Display by our Juniors and their trip to Staglands, EOTC for our Year 3 and 4s and the Year 4s enjoying a sleepover at school! The Seniors are proud of their highly successful Christmas Gala where they have been able to show off their entrepreneurial skills! They made $4150.50 which has contributed to the cost of the Year 6 Camp to Makahika and a smaller contribution to the Year 5 EOTC. Thank you everyone for your generosity.
Farewell to all our students finishing their time at Primary School. Most have been here for all of their 6 years and some joined along the way. They can feel rightfully proud of their achievements and how they have contributed to the school and helped out other students in many of their leadership roles. As they head off to their new schools, we wish them all the very best and hope they take with them all of the Eastern Hutt Values and many happy memories!
Congratulations to the children who were awarded a Principal Award in Term 3. I have enjoyed having morning tea and a chat with the Junior, Middle and Senior team children.
The Junior Team children who received an award were Jay B1, Emma B2, Aayan B3, Ara B4, Beau B5, Divija B6, Ezra C1, Arthur C2, Archer C3, Hanni D1, Ashvith E4, Evie E6 and Taylor E7.
The Middle Team children who received an award were Ellie A1, Grace A2, Aleena A6, Elena A7, Jade E1, Liam E2 and Ryder E3.
The Senior Team children who received an award were Kiyaan A8, Myesha A9, Eric A10, Helena G1, Asma G2, Nicole G3 and Aria G4.
We farewell Jane Cox, Jules Hunt, Chris Pullan and Nikita Chhagan who have taught the New Entrant classes as they began each term. They have given their tamariki a great start to their schooling and we wish them all the very best.
Rosa Conway has been with us for 3 years and we congratulate her on becoming fully certificated during her time here. Rosa has taught Year 4s and is now heading off to teach at Mt Cook which is much closer to home. We thank Rosa for her contribution to Te ao Māori including kapa haka and teaching our Kaiako some new pūrākau (Local stories) after learning them with Kura Ahurea.
Bex Barkla has taught at Eastern Hutt for 9 years since starting as a beginning teacher and becoming fully certificated. Bex has taught in the Middles, helped out at a camp with the Year 6s, and spent the last several years teaching in the Juniors. Bex has contributed to the Enviro Team and the eLearning Team during her time here as well as being on the Gala Committee in 2023. Bex is now ready for a change and is heading off to Maungaraki School to teach Year 7 and 8. We wish Bex all the best for this exciting new challenge in her career.
We also farewell Deb Wilson and Jayne Chatfield who have been part-time release teachers and given much to the tamariki in their classes.
We will miss our teachers who are leaving and have appreciated all they have done during their time at Eastern Hutt. We wish them all the very best in their new ventures.
We are pleased to appoint Valerie Archer from Maungaraki School who will be teaching in Year 6 and Deirdre Reeves who is currently at Belmont and will be teaching in Year 2. Tarryn Harrison and Katie Walker will be teaching a Year 1 class and are already teaching at EHS in a part-time capacity.
We look forward to all our new staff joining the Eastern Hutt Team!
Thank you to the Board; Helen Gerrie (Presiding Chair), Kate Fairbrother, Michael Lin, Gee Dennis, Aaron Wing, Sue Fennell and Jacqui Graham, for their governance and support. They have continued to provide much guidance with their knowledge and experience. They have all given many additional hours of work in their roles of Presiding Chair, Finance, HR and Property.
There is always much discussion at our meetings as to how we can resource and provide the right learning environment that supports the progress and achievement of your tamariki. EHS is very fortunate to have such a professional, experienced and committed Board!
A special thank you goes to Lisa May (Chairperson) and the Home and School Committee members for all the time they have committed to fundraising throughout the year. They all give many hours of their time but always enthusiastically and in the best interests of the children. They also organise the fun events such as the Pool Night and Disco for the children and we can look forward to the Christmas Carols this Thursday at 5.30pm for us all to enjoy. A special thank you goes to Jane McColl who was our secretary and involved in many events. We also thank Sarah Ross who has given much help over the years helping in lots of events and you can all be thankful for the pie fundraiser which Sarah initiated and managed the sales! Thank you Jane and Sarah!
Thank you to all our staff, Ann Gwilliam and Hayley Walshe in their Senior Management roles, and for the excellent leadership they have provided as part of the Senior Management Team and the support they have provided for students, staff and whānau. Thank you to our Team and Curriculum Leaders, our classroom kaiako, our wonderful support staff and all our teacher aides. They have all been very committed to providing the best learning environment they can in which your child can learn. They have been diligent and worked tirelessly to find the right strategies to make learning interesting and fun! All these people make an excellent Eastern Hutt Team!
Thank you to everyone who has given their time to help out the school in so many different ways this year. It is always appreciated!
Meri kirihimete – have a safe and happy Christmas and enjoy time relaxing and having fun with family and friends. We look forward to seeing you all again in 2025!
Ngā mihi nui
Julie Henderson
Titiro whakamuri, kōkiri whakamua
Look back and reflect, so that you can move forward
