37.8076° S, 174.8662° E
37.8076° S, 174.8662° E. These coordinates lead you to our whare.
Te Kura a Rohe o Whaingaroa. Under the shadows of Karioi and along the shorelines of Whaingaroa you will find we are a place of community. In a year that has raised many challenges for us through change, it is the belief that we are part of, that we add to, and that we are community, that has carried us through.
Muka is the flax fibre we extract from harakeke and forms the base of most kaakahu (cloaks). One fibre on its own is brittle and breaks easily. However, when these fibres are woven together their strength is insurmountable. When we explore the estuary and you come along, when you give your time to provide lunches every week for our moko, when you drop in for a chat with us, when we share kai and make a hangi, when we cook for one another, when we celebrate through assemblies, when we talk on the phone with each other, when our rangatahi volunteer around town, when we sit and laugh together, and when we gather in sad times, we weave ourselves, our brittle selves, as one, to show a strength that is insurmountable. We become community.
This year we can celebrate many great successes, from university scholarships to national surfing competitions, to regional theatresports, to social actions, to winning film awards. However the celebrations of everyday successes where our moko can make a new friend, can tie their shoelaces, can manage their feelings, can walk away from conflict, can show empathy, can take responsibility for their belongings, can organise their time, can share their lunch, can solve problems with each other, can communicate effectively, can be silly, can laugh and share joy, are the successes that really help shape our moko. We know, what our children become, so too will our community.
To extract the muka you have to scrape, pound, roll and wash. It is not a gentle process, however, care must be taken to ensure the integrity of the fibres. Education and life can also be quite demanding on our moko, so we too have acted with care to ensure the integrity and uniqueness of each moko. We do this by meeting our moko where they are at, not where the world expects them to be.
As we move forward into 2019 it is this binding of us, our community, that will ensure the changes we face together will take us past limitations towards new possibilities. We will continue to elevate our practices. We will continue to illuminate our moko. Through the celebration of small and grand successes, we will continue to weave together as a community. Here’s to us. Te Kura a Rohe o Whaingaroa.
As the year comes to an end, we would like to acknowledge all those who have contributed to making Raglan Area School an exceptional place to work in.
A special thanks to all our whanau who have fundraised and supported school events, functions, trips, and camps this year. Without you, many of these activities would not have been possible. Feed The Children crew, you have been a lifeline for us all.
To the generosity of the community and its members including local businesses who have come to the aid of the school during this past 12 months, thank you for your koha.
To our staff, thanks for all you do, all the energy you give and the passion you have for working with young people. Please take a well-deserved break.
To our students, for all that you bring to kura each day, we acknowledge you and wish you a safe holiday and we eagerly await your return in the new year.
We look forward to 2019, to a new year, a new Principal, and new opportunities.
The office will be open from Monday 28 January. The first day of school is Thursday 7 February, beginning with a powhiri in the hall at 9am. Class introductions at the conclusion of the powhiri, for Years 1-10, and course confirmation for Years 11-13.
Aroha Hohepa and Quenten Browne
Spring Clean – Preparing for 2019
As you may be aware, Raglan Area School is a buzz with our Spring Clean. This means we are decluttering and refreshing spaces. Due to the increase in our roll we have been required to create another classroom. This has meant a need to review current spaces to allow for the best environments for learning.
Part of this Spring Clean also involves a review around current systems and structures. This means we will be announcing classes for 2019 in January. These will be on the website in late January with stationery lists.
While we appreciate this is an unusual situation for Raglan Area School, we would prefer to give accurate information once, rather than estimations with the possibility of change.
We want to assure you that all of our decisions moving into 2019 are very considered and have your moko as our priority.
Naaku iti nei,
Aroha and Quenten
Board of Trustees
Koa Kirihimete
Seasons greetings whanau
One foggy winter morning I, along with other principals and board chairs from the Waikato was invited to a talk by Jeremy Kedian ex Waikato University. Amongst a lot of interesting discussion Jeremy made one particular statement, that if we concentrate too much on preparing our students for life after school we might miss the point that school is life for our students.
This time last year the Board of Trustees led our most accessible and comprehensive school and community wide survey for sometime. This helped us to review where we were at, reinforced our values, helped to develop our Annual plan and Charter and was integrated with the strategic objectives and work ons from our mid year 2017 ERO review.
At the same time we were managing the recruitment of our new and current deputy principal/co principal Aroha Hohepa following the resignation of Bronwyn Haitana. Aroha started with us at the beginning of term 2.
By the end of term 2 our long term principal Malcolm Cox retired and so we began the process that has led to the appointment of Louisa Barham from Peachgrove Intermediate who officially starts Term 1 2019.
Meanwhile our teachers have been working extremely hard on their professional development as well as managing and developing student achievement and wellbeing within our Kura and its environment. It’s not plain sailing. There are always challenges and this has been a busy year full of them.
The Board of Trustees is committed to supporting and developing opportunities for our students, improving student achievement and wellbeing, and is grateful for all the work put in this past year by all staff members and parents who co-contribute in all sorts of ways.
Our kura has so many cool attributes we can build on. I’m really excited about 2019.
On behalf of our hard working Board of Trustees team I wish you all a holiday break that is full of happiness, relaxation, recharging, family, friends and surf.
See you at Louisa Barham’s powhiri, first day of school 7 February.
Ngaa mihinui
Chris Banks
BoT Chair
Year 9 and 10 Raranga Exhibition
To celebrate the Year 9 and 10 Fiber Technology option of 2018, we had on display, our inaugural exhibition “Nga hua o Hine te Iwiwa” in our school Foyer. We acknowledge the absolute contribution and commitment to the kaupapa, of our tutors Whaea Annie and Whaea E Rangi.
From the Sports Corner
Kia Ora WhanauWe have had a fantastic term with lots of things happening at school and in the community. Congratulations to all of those students who have been part of a RAS sports team this term. We are proud of you all.If you and your whanau haven’t been a part of sports team, perhaps it is something to think about for 2019. It is a fantastic opportunity for a wealth of learning – it’s not just about getting out and running around.
SOME OF THE SKILLS LEARNT AND THE BENEFITS OF SPORT
- Learning the importance of being in a team
- Commitment to training
- Being on time
- Encouraging teammates
- Winning and losing graciously
- Cooperating with others
- Forming friendships
- Working towards a common goal
- Challenging yourself physically and mentally
- Think strategically
- Improving concentration
- Developing positive lifestyle habits
So keep an eye out in the newsletter, on the app or even a notice that may make it home and crawl out of the bottom of a school bag about a sporting opportunity next year. Please encourage your whanau to get involved as sport teaches so many life skills whilst being active.
Any questions or queries, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Cheers
TJ Pemberton
sport_coordinator@raglanarea.school.nz
Cricket Gala
On Friday 23 November, RAS hosted the Western Clusters cricket gala. We had 14 teams from various schools playing on our field. All teams got three games over the day. It was an awesome, sunny day with some awesome skills being displayed. Thank you to Reene Hetherington who did a fantastic job helping our school teams. We had three year 5/6 teams and one year 7/8 team representing our school. There was some fantastic teamwork and team spirit out there. Congratulations to everyone who took part. Hamilton Cricket did an amazing job and we’d like to thank them for their efforts.
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