Sumner School Board Talk
15 December 2015
Dear Parents/Caregivers
Welcome to the latest edition of the Sumner School Board of Trustees' Board Talk. It is hard to believe that the year is almost over already! It has been a very busy but a good year at Sumner School. A big thank you to all the staff for their energy and commitment to our children’s education and for providing them with so many opportunities to flourish. And a huge thank you also to Senior management and the administrative staff who work so hard to maintain the smooth running of Sumner School.
Learning for Change Website
Many of you will be aware that this year the Board has launched a website called ‘Learning for Change’ which has a lot of interesting links looking at ways to best equip our children for their future. This can easily be accessed through the school website. We intend to continue updating and adding to this next year as many parents have expressed to us how helpful they have found it.
We have also run a number of evenings for parents with speakers discussing relevant topics such as Cyber Safety, the development of character strengths for our children and the importance of flexible learning spaces in order to enhance collaborative teaching and learning. We intend to hold more of these education evenings in 2016 and welcome suggestions of material that parents would like to see covered.
School-wide Parent Consultation Survey
Thank you to the many parents who filled out the school wide survey that we put out at the beginning of Term 4. We have collated and published these responses here. These have helped us to begin framing what we believe is an exciting vision for us to aspire to as a school for the next 3-5 years. This strategic plan guides the management and planning of the school’s programmes. As you can appreciate, this is an involved and time-consuming process and one into which we are putting a lot of thought. You will see this on the school website when it is completed early next year.
PTA
This year marks something of a changing of the guard in the Parent Teacher Association with many long term members moving on. The PTA does a fantastic job of organising school events and doing an incredible job each year of raising funds. Wonderful facilities for our children such as the Years 3-4 playground and the Astroturf have only been possible with the huge commitment and effort of the PTA. Special thanks to Kirsten Wylie who is stepping down as Chair of the PTA, a position that she has held for the past four years. We are fortunate to have a number of very committed and energetic newer members to take the PTA forward.
Learning for Change Website
Many of you will be aware that this year the Board has launched a website called ‘Learning for Change’ which has a lot of interesting links looking at ways to best equip our children for their future. This can easily be accessed through the school website. We intend to continue updating and adding to this next year as many parents have expressed to us how helpful they have found it.
We have also run a number of evenings for parents with speakers discussing relevant topics such as Cyber Safety, the development of character strengths for our children and the importance of flexible learning spaces in order to enhance collaborative teaching and learning. We intend to hold more of these education evenings in 2016 and welcome suggestions of material that parents would like to see covered.
School-wide Parent Consultation Survey
Thank you to the many parents who filled out the school wide survey that we put out at the beginning of Term 4. We have collated and published these responses here. These have helped us to begin framing what we believe is an exciting vision for us to aspire to as a school for the next 3-5 years. This strategic plan guides the management and planning of the school’s programmes. As you can appreciate, this is an involved and time-consuming process and one into which we are putting a lot of thought. You will see this on the school website when it is completed early next year.
PTA
This year marks something of a changing of the guard in the Parent Teacher Association with many long term members moving on. The PTA does a fantastic job of organising school events and doing an incredible job each year of raising funds. Wonderful facilities for our children such as the Years 3-4 playground and the Astroturf have only been possible with the huge commitment and effort of the PTA. Special thanks to Kirsten Wylie who is stepping down as Chair of the PTA, a position that she has held for the past four years. We are fortunate to have a number of very committed and energetic newer members to take the PTA forward.
Some of the long-standing members of the PTA who are stepping down
SOSCARS
This year also marks the end of an era for the parent-managed after school care organisation SOSCARS. Thank you to the parents who have been so involved in SOSCARS over many years. Thank you also to Molly and her team who have run the SOSCARS programme so well in more recent times. SOSCARS will be replaced by MASH (My After School Home), a privately run After School programme which will begin operating on December 18th.
Interim Decision to Close Redcliffs School
As you will all know from media coverage, on November 25th, 2015, the Minister of Education Hekia Parata made the interim decision to close Redcliffs School by the end of 2016. This is still an interim decision with the final decision to be made after a further period of consultation with the Board of Trustees of Redcliffs School. As it stands at the moment, this final consultation phase will end in mid- March after which the Minister will further deliberate before reaching a final decision. Obviously, if the final decision is to close Redcliffs School, this will have implications for Sumner School and the Education Renewal Programme for our school which is currently due to come into effect in 2020. We will keep you updated as we are informed of developments. In the meantime, we continue to support Redcliffs School in their wish to return to Redcliffs and are committed to working with Redcliffs School and the Ministry of Education moving forward from this point.
For all the families that we are saying goodbye to this year, we wish you and your children all the very best for the future. And we wish the Year 8’s every success as they leave Sumner School – we know that you will do us proud!
Safe and happy holidays to everyone and Merry Christmas!
Sumner School Board of Trustees
Yvonne Hall
Sumner School Board Chair
SOSCARS
This year also marks the end of an era for the parent-managed after school care organisation SOSCARS. Thank you to the parents who have been so involved in SOSCARS over many years. Thank you also to Molly and her team who have run the SOSCARS programme so well in more recent times. SOSCARS will be replaced by MASH (My After School Home), a privately run After School programme which will begin operating on December 18th.
Interim Decision to Close Redcliffs School
As you will all know from media coverage, on November 25th, 2015, the Minister of Education Hekia Parata made the interim decision to close Redcliffs School by the end of 2016. This is still an interim decision with the final decision to be made after a further period of consultation with the Board of Trustees of Redcliffs School. As it stands at the moment, this final consultation phase will end in mid- March after which the Minister will further deliberate before reaching a final decision. Obviously, if the final decision is to close Redcliffs School, this will have implications for Sumner School and the Education Renewal Programme for our school which is currently due to come into effect in 2020. We will keep you updated as we are informed of developments. In the meantime, we continue to support Redcliffs School in their wish to return to Redcliffs and are committed to working with Redcliffs School and the Ministry of Education moving forward from this point.
For all the families that we are saying goodbye to this year, we wish you and your children all the very best for the future. And we wish the Year 8’s every success as they leave Sumner School – we know that you will do us proud!
Safe and happy holidays to everyone and Merry Christmas!
Sumner School Board of Trustees
Yvonne Hall
Sumner School Board Chair
