18 March 2011

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

With only a few weeks until the end of the term I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for the incredible support you have given our school in 2011 and let you know it is much appreciated.

I also wanted to give you an update on After School Care. There seems to be some inaccurate information circulating around this issue so the Board would like to clarify the school’s position.

As many of you will be aware, After School Care (ASC) is a privately owned and run business catering to the needs of students whose parents are not always in a position to collect them at the end of the school day.  Our school has done its utmost to support the business to provide this service for our community for a number of years.

Last year we were directed by the Ministry of Education that the school would be losing the old hall and with ASC being directly affected the Board of Trustees immediately began looking for alternatives.

After a public meeting at the end of last year, a letter was sent to those parents using the ASC service outlining the reasons for the decision to terminate the contract from the end of Term 2.  There has been no change to the circumstances around this decision and it still stands.

We have contacted the owner of the ASC business to see what alternatives are planned, but as yet we have received no formal response. 

The Board has considered a number of alternative venues but none were deemed suitable. Since our focus must be on meeting the needs of all students and staff during our core school hours, we can no longer provide a venue for this business.

With the prior notice given at the end of 2010 no doubt some parents have already been exploring other options for their children. Those who have not yet done so still have more than a term to make other arrangements. 

Our building programme, which enters the Master Design Stage very soon, is going to impact on the school in many ways – this is just one of them.

It is likely the old school hall will be used as a temporary library, resource room, teaching space – or all three.

Like all schools in the Central Auckland area we are experiencing unprecedented growth and are working with the Ministry of Education to deal with this as quickly as possible.

On behalf of the Board I thank you for your understanding and patience at this time.

nga mihi,

Richard Green, Board Chairperson

For and on behalf of the Board of Trustees