Our cover stars this week are all from Room 6. They’re out enjoying reading in the sunshine underneath the new Shade Umbrellas that have been donated by the PTA. Thank you very much PTA! We love them!

Unfortunately the Primary Teacher contract negotiations with the Government haven’t yet been resolved and Teachers and Principals (via the NZEI union) have announced another one day strike on Thursday 15th November. As a school we are certainly aware and concerned about the disruption that this will cause, as the school will need to be closed. However as a profession we feel strongly that a stand now needs to be made. Firstly, this is not about pay but about the quality of education that your child receives. There is a serious crisis occurring in Education. We have teachers leaving the profession in droves; a large percentage of our workforce about to retire (with others postponing retirement), lessening numbers of people entering training and graduates leaving the job in the first 5 years of teaching. We call this the 40% problem.

Significant groups of teachers are leaving in the first 5 years of teaching

40% of teachers are due to retire in the next 10 years

40% less teachers are being trained

We feel strongly that we need to be encouraging more people into the profession, and ensuring that those already in the profession feel supported valued and want to stay. We are hoping that families and whanau will support teachers in this action.

I’m really looking forward to the school disco this Friday evening! Woohooo! Good times for all.

Congratulations to all those who received Principal Awards at our assembly last week.

Steve Zonnevylle

Principal

Gleniti School

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Our cover stars this week are Ella and Parker who both won brand new scooters as part of the PTA ColourWalk fundraiser. Ella and Parker were among another 20 students who also won Movie Max tickets as part of the fundraiser. And what an amazing fundraiser it was! The PTA raised $8,800 for the school. What a fabulous effort by everyone, including all those who sponsored children during the walk. WOW!

Congratulations to Libby Simpson who represented Gleniti at the National Chess Championship in Auckland over the weekend. Libby played nine games throughout the day competing against students from all around the country. What a great effort.

It’s this time of year that we find out our staffing entitlement from the Ministry of Education and then appoint teachers as a result of this information. Last week we interviewed for two positions, one in Yr 3-4 and one in Yr 0-2. We are delighted to announce that Angela Fitzgerald will be joining Learning Team 2 as the fifth teacher in Yr 3-4. We are also delighted to announce that Mel Heath will continue in Learning Team 1, sharing the role with Helen Zonnevylle.

It is with sadness however that we will have to say farewell to Inge Dirkzwager at the end of the year. Inge has taught at Gleniti for the last two years and we are all very appreciative of the great job that she has done and we all wish her all the best.

Just a reminder that the Board of Trustees are currently looking to co-opt a new Board member as Sara Carter has resigned. If you are interested in becoming a Board member and would like more information please email me at stevez@gleniti.school.nz

Congratulations to all those who received Principal Awards at our assembly last week.

Steve Zonnevylle

Principal

Gleniti School

Read the full publication

Our cover stars this week are students from Learning Team One enjoying playing the musical instruments as part of Discovery! They looked like they were having a great time.

We’re very excited about the property developments in Room 9 and 10 at the moment. The insides of the two rooms are currently being gutted out, and the old cloak room is being changed into an excellent learning space. The builders, Aoraki Homes, tell us that we can plan to move back in during the week of November 7th, which is not too far away at all!

Congratulations to Hunter Leggett, Matthew Tocker, Bronte Lewis, Corban Sprague, Sam Hogan, Ashton Dawbin, Hunter Tarrant and Oliver Grant who all represented South Canterbury in Football during the school holidays. Ashton played football in Queenstown for the 13th Grade team and the other boys all headed to Blenheim to play in the 12th Grade competition.

The Board of Trustees are currently looking to co-opt a new Board member as Sara Carter has resigned. If you are interested in becoming a Board member and would like more information please email me at stevez@gleniti.school.nz

It was with sadness that the Board accepted the resignation of Denise Hutchison last night. Mrs Hutchison has decided that after 25 years of teaching at Gleniti School that it’s time to retire. This is definitely very sad for the school, but we’re all very happy for Denise and Colin who wish to travel the world and get the most out of their retirement. The good news is that Mrs Hutchison will continue teaching until the end of the term! The school is now advertising for a great teacher to replace Denise … and unenviable task for us!

Congratulations to all those who received Principal Awards at our assembly last week.

Steve Zonnevylle

Principal

Gleniti School

Read the full publication