Update 15 July

He mihi nui ki a koutou katoa.

We have made it to the end of a long and eventful term. At least the weather has played its part for us lately; having sunny days at least means that our childrn have been able to get on to the grass and enjoy participating in sport each Thursday afternoon.

Whilst we have had difficult time I have been amazed by the generosity of so many people and organisations who have contacted our school wanting to help us.

GUMBOOTS

Today every child in the school has been given a pair of gumboots. They are theirs to keep and we hope that this initiative will help to preserve their other footwear and enable them to get out and about in our new, muddy and often water logged environment. Our sincere thanks to those who have made this possible. We have had a number of smaller sponsors but I have to mention Kris Webster of Sandford Industries who have provided the gumboots at cost, and Steve Armstrong (one of our Freeville parents) whose company Total Plastering Solutions donated $1100 towards the cost of the gumboots. If you are looking for a plastering company, look no further. Stick it on the fridge.

JUST AMAZING

Yesterday I received an email from Lisa Henderson who is a Board of Trustees member and PTA member at Ngaio School in Wellington.

They decided that they would donate 75% of their school fair profits to Christchurch, and they have donated $25000.00 (yes, that is the correct number of zeroes) to Freeville School.

We are just amazed and humbled by the generosity that the Ngaio School community is showing towards us. We are well on the way to purchasing our school vans.

This morning I received a phone call from Karen Fulton. Karen lives in Hope just out of Nelson and is a cyclist and fitness instructor. Karen ran a spin class to raise funds for our school and believes that she has raised around $900. For more information and to see some photos of this event go to http://www.shuttersport.co.nz/a-spin-charity

We are so thankful to Karen for her initiative and thoughtfulness. The money that Karen and her clients have raised will go towards sports equipment for our children.

Property

At our Project Team meeting today it was confirmed that three more relocatables have been allocated to our school. We hope that these will all be on site by the end of the holidays and in use by about week 4. This will enable R3&4 to move out of the hall, and enable us to get our teaching resources out of the containers.

It is likely that we will set the library up at the back of the hall as the shelving is already there. The hall will be available for assemblies again (yay!) and classes will be able to book a library time!

This is great news for our school and it is a really good sign that the Ministry of Education is continuing to invest in our school.

Ngā mihi ki a koutou katoa. Kia pai o koutou wā whakatā.

Have a great holiday break.

John

Update 9 July - Good News

Kia ora koutou

It has been a great week this week.

It was really good to have our whole school together on Monday for our "Coats for Kids" thank you assembly. On Tuesday we were able to give out the thermals that were very generously donated by Vulcan Steel. On Friday we had another meeting with our Project Team and received more good news from the Ministry of Education.

The Ministry has agreed that we will be given three more relocatable classrooms. Two will be for our Year 5 & 6 classes who are currently housed in the hall, and the third will be for storage of library books and resources. We will need to think about how this space can be best utilised but I think that the provision of three more classrooms is a very positive piece of news for our school.

I am aware that there are a number of rumours circulating about which schools will stay, which will shift, which will merge and which will close.

Nothing has been decided.

I can tell you that:

1. At this point no school, regardless of where they are located is in a better or worse position than anybody else. I am sure that the Ministry's focus will be wide, not focussed on a small number of schools.
2. Any decisions will not be made for a while yet.
3. Ministry officials consistently speak of the high esteem in which Freeville School is held within the Ministry of Education. They do not want to lose the characteristics that make Freeville special; our caring approach, excellent academic results, quality teaching and the community support that distinguishes Freeville from other schools.
4. The Ministry of Education would not be giving us more classrooms if it was all doom and gloom for Freeville School.
5. You should tell anyone who says that they know what is going to happen to go and buy a Lotto ticket because they are obviously gifted with an extraordinary ability to look into the future in a way that most mortals can only envy.

I noted in the Press today that Shirley Boys' and Avonside Girls' will both be back on their sites for at least two years. This is good news for the families of our Year 8's as they can now look forward to the start of 2012 and their Year 9 with some certainty. My best wishes also to the principals and staff of those schools. I am sure they will be relieved to have a pathway in front of them after a time of great uncertainty.

We will be starting to contact the parents of our Year 6 students this week so that we can have a chat about Year 7 & 8 at Freeville during the first weeks of next term. We look forward to catching up and talking to those parents about the fantastic programmes that are provided for our senior students. We are very proud of the quality teaching and excellent opportunities that all our Year 7 & 8 students receive.

Nga mihi, keep safe and warm.

John

Red Cross Grants - Don't be shy

Kia ora koutou

The Red Cross Grants Processing Team would like to notify you of a new grant that was launched on the 1st July; the Winter Assistance for School Aged Children Grant.

The aim of this grant is to assist people with school aged children aged 5 to 18 years who are living in their significantly damaged homes caused by either September, February or June earthquakes. The significant damage must include serious compromise to the insulation of the home or significant damage to the main heating source. This grant assists households with their electricity bills over the winter months. This grant is for $400 in total and will be made up of three monthly payments, the first payment will be $200 and the subsequent ones for $100 each which will be paid directly to their electricity retailer.

For the most up to date information on our grants visit the grants website http://www.redcrosseqgrants.org.nz/Overview/Information/Available-Grants.htm or call the grant line on 0800 754 726.

If you are unable to print the grant forms we can print them for you at the school office.

Keep safe and warm

John

Coats for Kids Assembly

He mihi matakuikui ki a koutou. (A joyous greeting to you all)

We had a great day yesterday and really enjoyed being able to gather together as a whole school for our 'Coats for Kids' thank you assembly.

We are so grateful to the friends of Freeville School who worked together with us to make this initiative successful. In particular our thanks goes to Kate Twigg, our friends at Macpac, Todd and Pam from King's Swim School, Duncan Clarke from Cafe Roma who helped with accessing publicity and sponsors, and all the individuals, schools, and groups who contributed towards the sponsorship costs.

Our quote of the day comes from a conversation between Pierre from Macpac and one of our children who when asked if he liked the jacket responded, "It's like wearing a hug."

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi. Engari he toa takitini. (Success is not the work of one, but the work of many.)

Nga mihi ki a koutou katoa.

John