Teenaa koutou e te whaanau,

Nau mai, haere mai ki Term 2 at Glenbrook School.

We hope you all enjoyed a restful and refreshing term break, with time to reconnect with family and friends. As we begin a new term together, we look forward to the learning, growth, and opportunities ahead. Term 2 is always a special time in our school calendar, with many moments that bring us together as a community such as ANZAC, speeches and Matariki. We are excited to welcome everyone back and to continue building on the strong sense of belonging, care, and pride that makes Glenbrook School such a special place. We also welcome our new whaanau to our school. 

Staff
We warmly welcome Mrs Amar Kaur to our staff this term. Mrs Kaur is teaching our newly formed Year 2 class, Whetu. We are delighted to have her join our team.  We also eagerly await news of the arrival of Ms Greenstock’s baby as she begins her maternity leave.

This term, Ms Buchanan is our Acting Deputy Principal. She has also taken on the role of SENCO while continuing to teach our Year 8 class. Please note that our SENCO role is now administrative. This change has enabled us to open another class and continue to support the needs of our growing school.

ANZAC
This Friday we will hold our school ANZAC service. We warmly invite our whaanau to join us in the hall for a 10.00am start.

On Saturday, Glenbrook School will attend the Waiuku town ANZAC service, and we encourage our students to take part. All students attending are expected to wear clean and tidy school uniform, including shoes. We will meet at 10.00am outside St Andrew’s Church. Students will then march in the parade to the town cenotaph for the service. At the conclusion of the service, students will march back with our school group. Once the parade marshal has officially declared the march over, students may then leave with their families.

A reminder also that school will be closed on Monday 27 April for the public holiday.

Home Learning Projects
We absolutely loved the effort, care, and personal stories shared by our tamariki in their Home Learning projects last term around Whakawhanaungatanga. There were many special moments, and we appreciated each and every one of them.

This term, our teams are focusing on our school value of Mana. Home Learning projects are a wonderful way to encourage time together as whaanau, while also giving tamariki the opportunity to share their thinking, passions, culture, and identity in the classroom. Thank you for the support you give at home. We are proud of what our students created last term and look forward to seeing this term’s projects.

Teacher Only Day
Please note that we have a Teacher Only Day on Tuesday 2 June. School will be closed on this day while our teachers take part in professional learning focused on the new reporting requirements for schools outlined by the government.

Pool Keys
Our school pool is now closed for the season. Pool keys are now due back to the school office. Thank you for your support with this.

Property
During term break we had heat pumps installed in Te Kauri, Te Moana and Te Rakau Nui. We have purchased another van to assist with EOTC. Thank you to our Board of Governors for supporting these initiatives.

We would love to have a pataka (Food pantry) built outside our school fence under the school sign. If there are any builders who are able to donate their time to assist us with this project I would love to hear from you. 

EOTC
We are always very grateful for the wonderful support our whaanau give with transport and supervision for the many learning opportunities we provide at Glenbrook School. These experiences are a valuable part of school life and help bring learning to life for our tamariki.

We do recognise that it is becoming increasingly difficult to secure enough parent support for trips, particularly in Years 5–8, and we are also very mindful of the ongoing pressures many families are facing with fuel and living costs.

We remain committed to providing these off-site opportunities wherever possible. However, in order for trips to go ahead safely, we do need sufficient help with transport and supervision. If we are unable to secure enough support, we may need to postpone or cancel an event.

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini. My strength is not mine alone, but comes from the strength of many. Everything we achieve is through working together in partnership, tamariki, staff, and whaanau, for the good of all together. Welcome back Glenbrook School whanaanau and we look forward to another successful term together. 

Ngaa mihi nui,
Ms Lysandra Stuart
Tumuaki | Principal
Glenbrook School