Kia ora e te whānau,

Country School Closure :Thank You
A sincere thank you for your support and understanding during our unexpected school closure last Friday. Power has now been fully restored, along with water, phones, and Wi-Fi. As a rural school, we not connected to town services.  Power cuts significantly impact our ability to pump water, provide drinking water, and flush toilets, making it a health and safety risk. We appreciate your swift response and support.

Tirohanga Assembly
We’re pleased to confirm that Tirohanga will be holding their class assembly this week, following the missed opportunity due to Friday’s closure. We look forward to celebrating their learning.

Staffing Update:  Nau mai, haere mai Mrs Stowers
We are delighted to welcome Mrs Suzanne Stowers to our Glenbrook School team. Suzanne has joined us earlier than expected and will be taking on the role of SENCO (Special Education Needs Coordinator).

Mrs Stowers brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and passion for inclusive education, and we are thrilled to have her expertise supporting our learners and kaiako. The Stowers whaanau are familiar faces to Glenbrook, having been part of our school community in the past, and it is a pleasure to welcome them back to our kura.

In addition to her SENCO role (working three days per week), Mrs Stowers will also be teaching in Te Rā on Fridays for the remainder of the year. This term she will be working closely with staff and whānau as she transitions into her new role.

Nau mai, hoki mai ki te kura, Suzanne, we are so glad to have you on board.

Term 2 Disruptions and Curriculum Update
We acknowledge that this term has included a number of interruptions, including teacher-only days, our Akonui Hui, public holidays, and the shorter nine-week term. Thank you for your continued support and flexibility.

Our Akonui Hui in Terms 2 and 4 are a key part of our parent reporting process, and our teacher-only days are scheduled based on facilitator availability and alignment with our Franklin cluster schools. These days are essential for high-quality professional development, particularly with the nationwide roll-out of the refreshed curriculum.

Last week, we were proud to host 275 teachers as we launched our learning journey into the new Mathematics Curriculum. Over the coming weeks, we’ll share newsletters outlining what the refreshed curriculum will look like here at Glenbrook.

At this stage, we have no planned Teacher Only Days in Term 3. However, we are awaiting confirmation from the Ministry regarding a second day for Mathematics PLD in Term 4. We’ll keep you informed as soon as we receive updates.

Matariki Concert: Thursday 19 June
Our tamariki are working hard in preparation for our Matariki celebration. The concert will take place on Thursday 19th June at 11.00am, with doors opening at 10.30am. All students will be performing as part of our Arts Curriculum.

A sausage sizzle will be available for purchase. If you are able to support your child’s class in any way, please reach out to your child’s teacher.  We greatly value your involvement.

Sports Camp:  Best of Luck!
We are proud to send 39 of our Year 7 and 8 students to represent Glenbrook School at Sports Camp this week, a first for our kura! We are excited about this opportunity and hope to make it an annual event.

Special thanks to Mr Green and Mrs Howell for leading this initiative, and to Mr Buckingham and Mr Tuaiti for supporting as parent helpers. Best of luck to all our athletes. We know you will make us proud!

Speech Finals:  Ka rawe, aakonga!
A huge congratulations to all our students who submitted speeches for both competitive and non-competitive categories. We are so proud of the creativity, courage, and care each of you demonstrated.

The Speech Finals will take place on Monday 16th June in Te Rangi, and all whaanau are warmly welcome to attend. Due to Friday’s closure, not all our Year 7 & 8 semi-finalists could present their speeches. After careful discussion and due to the large number of students away at Sports Camp,  teachers selected the top three speeches from each year level to proceed to the finals. Finalists will be announced later this week.

External Examinations
Students who have registered for the CEM Kiwi Exams will sit these from Monday 16th June. Information regarding ICAS Exams has also been shared with families this week. Please ensure your child is prepared if they are participating.

Looking Ahead: Curriculum and Change
We are in the midst of unprecedented change in education across Aotearoa. At Glenbrook, we are taking great care to ensure that learning is of high quality, that no essential content is left to chance, and that assessment and curriculum design align thoughtfully and purposefully.

We are fortunate to have a dedicated and experienced teaching team, and we are working collaboratively with our local schools as part of our shared professional journey.

As we begin to share more information with you about curriculum changes, we encourage you to read it and stay connected. We’ll be seeking your voice in a survey at the end of Term 3 to help shape our local Glenbrook Curriculum.

“Mā te huruhuru, ka rere te manu.”
Adorn the bird with feathers so it can fly.Ngaa mihi nui,
Ms Lysandra Stuart
Principal  Glenbrook School