Matamata Primary School
Board of Trustees Newsletter
December 2013
Debbie Nowell – Chairperson
Tena koutou katoa
The new Board has settled in well and are comfortable in their new roles.
We have been looking at issues regarding the governance of the school
and also matters around parking issues facing the Hearing Association
who lease part of our property from the Ministry of Education.
During our meetings we are continually asking ourselves, “Is our
discussion focussed on supporting our staff to further raise student
achievement and/or providing conditions to help learners to be better
learners?” We believe that if we achieve over 75% of our discussion
focussed in these areas then we will be paving the way forward for a
successful and well effective environment for our children.
Throughout our term as trustees we will be consulting with our school
community regarding issues so that we can make informed decisions
through this consultation process. Consultation may come in the form of
surveys, forums or community meetings. Already we have conducted a
feasibility study looking at the need within our community for an afterschool
care programme to be implemented, and also a survey looking at the way
in which Religious instruction is implemented within the school.
Further consultation will be occurring as the Board look towards developing
a new strategic plan which is to be implemented in 2015 and will take us
through the next 5 years to 2020. For this consultation process to work it
requires feedback from the community. We appreciate the time, effort and
comments you forward. These surveys only take a couple of minutes to
complete and provide extremely valuable information.
A feasibility study into the implementation of the Milk in Schools
Programme has been conducted. Before implementing this we need to
look at how this could work for our school and students. With a role of
around 445 it is important that we do our homework and set in place good
systems. A number of similar sized schools have been contacted, with
discussions taking place around their systems and the pros and cons of
the programme. We are pleased to advise that Matamata Primary will be
implementing the Milk in Schools Programme for a trial period of two
terms. As yet a start date for this is still to be determined. Further
information regarding the programme will be distributed in due course
I wish you well for a safe and enjoyable holiday season and I am sure
children and teachers alike are all looking forward to a little relaxation time.
Louise Trower – Property, Health and Safety
2013 has seen a few changes around our school, some more obvious than
others. We have enjoyed a rest from major building projects after
completing the new administration block and junior classrooms in the last
few years.
A huge thank you needs to go out to all involved in the extensive
landscaping projects that have been undertaken this year – the results are
fabulous! And there is more landscaping planned for 2014 to further
enhance our school environment.
There is a lot planned for 2014 to ensure all our teaching spaces are up to
the newly released Ministry of Education MLE (Modern Learning
Environment) standards, including a refurbishment of Blocks A (Rooms 15) and C (Rooms 10 and 11), refurbishment of the toilet block between the
junior and middle school, and the reroofing of several buildings.
There are other important projects that you won’t necessarily notice but will
be providing support from behind the scenes such as replacing existing
switchboards and upgrading earthing systems. As a Board we not only
strive to meet the minimum standards but to ensure that Matamata Primary
provides excellent learning environments for both students and staff.
Wishing all our school families a very merry Christmas and a safe holiday
season.
Heath Tapper – Finance
As the 2013 school year ends, the Board is planning ahead to 2014.
The 2014 budget is due to be approved at the next Board meeting. We
plan to allocate extra funds towards teacher resources to improve literacy.
Literacy is a school focus next year.
Thanks to the support of the PTA and through the school staff’s financial
management, we have managed to purchase a number of significant
assets this year. These include: junior sandpit doors, blinds and tinting on
classroom windows, senior hard court, photocopiers and laptop computers.
The PTA has also donated significant funds which has been spent on the
landscaping of the school this year.
The school ends the year in a sound financial position.
Enjoy the summer break.
Kathleen Duncan – Community
Over the last few months the Board has considered a broad range of
matters from Religious Instruction and Milk in Schools to the feasibility of
providing an After School Care Programme.
The Board would like to thank all the families who took the time to respond
to our surveys. Your feedback and comments are appreciated.
We would also like to take this opportunity to feedback on the Religious
Instruction (RI) Survey sent out in October. We had a good return rate with
167 surveys returned. The Board notes that there is a diverse range of
views amongst parents on this topic.
Of the families surveyed 32% would like RI kept as is and 23% would like
RI changed ie. either discontinued or changed to outside of regular class
time on an opt in basis. There were 45% of families who did not respond.
The Board has given considerable thought to RI at our school and is still in
the process of making a decision, the survey results being one factor
among others that we are considering.
As another year draws to a close we would like to thank the many
volunteers within the school community who have generously given their
time. From school camps, school lunches and the Gala Day, to providing
transport for school trips – thank you! Without you, these activities would
not be possible.
Many thanks also to the PTA which has done an excellent job running
events throughout the year to raise funds to enable the school to purchase
extra resources for our children to enjoy and learn from.
Have a happy and safe Christmas and New Year!
Helen Brown – Personnel
On behalf of the Board, I would to thank the teachers and support staff of
Matamata Primary for their dedication, enthusiasm and commitment to the
ongoing learning of our students. 2013 has certainly been a busy year for
our teachers and students; our school wide inquiry programme, ‘Explorer’
has provided an exciting platform for many diverse class trips and school
wide projects.
The last term of year is often action packed and this year has proven to be
no different. To name but a few, we have seen Agricultural Day, Gala
Day, Rainbow Ball, Middle Syndicate Dance, Swimming Sports, Junior
Syndicate Picnic , and the much anticipated end of year camps for children
in Years 4, 5,and 6.
We say farewell to only two of our teachers this year, Miss Stevenson and
Mrs Underwood. We would like to thank them for the many years of
teaching they have given to our children at Matamata Primary and wish
them all the very best for the future. We would also like to extend our best
wishes to Mrs Baigent who will enjoy a years’ leave and return to our
school in 2015.
After such a busy year I wish our children, teachers and school families a
VERY merry Christmas, and a well deserved break over the summer
holidays.
Carolyn Osborne – Principal
We continue to build on the strong foundation at Matamata Primary, in
which a commitment to improving student learning permeates the daily
work of our school. 2013 has been an exciting year for Matamata Primary.
Our school roll started the year at 392 and ends on 446 students. Since the
beginning of the year we have had 103 new children enrol at our school.
We have continued to make significant progress in the achievement of the
school’s strategic goals which included:
 Upgrade of photocopiers with one in each resource area of the school
 Landscaping of the junior and staff area by PTA community working
bees which included developing gardens and paved areas.
 Installation of the senior hard court area.
 Netball, padder tennis and playground games lines marked on hard
court and courtyard areas.
 Delivery of a community newsletter each term to in-zone houses in
the Matamata township.
 Continued growth of the Springboard orientation programme for
pre-schoolers and their parents.
 Installation of sandpit doors to secure the sandpit area.
 Newly formed Board inducted and took up duties from 6 June.
 New sun filter roller blinds installed in all classrooms.
 Completion of the Ten year Property Plan and Five Year agreement
for 2013-2017 signed.
 New furniture for junior reception classes.
This year has seen each teaching team provide a full educational
programme which embraced a number of key schoolwide activities:
 ‘Explorer’ theme with focus units ‘Team Extreme’, ‘On the Move’,
‘Space the Final Frontier’ and ‘iconnect ‘icommunicate’ taught.
 ‘Space Odyssey’ Drama Production performances chronicling the
history of space exploration written by Mr Mair.
 Grasshopper Tennis coaching programme and Footsteps Dance
workshops introduced.
 Matamata District Digi Awards entered with Miss Stevenson’s and Mrs
Juma’s groups winning their age group categories in Television
Adverts and overall Supreme Award winners Year 1-3 and Year 4-6 .
 Piako Gymnastics Festival winners in each division entered.
 Waikato Regional Gymnastic Finals Competition Top School winners.
 Bi-annual Art Exhibition with the theme ‘Out of this World’ - selected
artworks also displayed at the Matamata Art Society exhibition.
 Electives programme offered 27 different discovery-based options.
We appreciate the support you, our school community, provide us by way
of practical help, time positive affirmation of the work we do, financial
contributions, attendance at school activities and following up student
learning at home. Working in partnership like this benefits all of our
children, motivates staff to achieve their personal best in providing a
stimulating learning environment for children.