4 minute read
Opaki School
34 Opaki School
200
STUDENTS
21
STAFF
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
Dave Finlayson
Wow what a year. I would like to thank all of the Opaki teachers, administrators, support sta , parents, and students in our community who worked incredibly hard to once again adapt to the new reality of remote learning during the covid-19 pandemic. This change presented challenges for many — parents working and balancing home life, teachers developing remote lesson plans to t di erent students’ needs, and students looking for new ways to stay connected to their friends.
So many met these new demands with grace and compassion. We all know how adaptable and resilient parents and educators are in the best of times, and through these di cult times you have shown this in more ways than ever before. We are so proud of our educators, parents, and students who are teaching us all lessons in resiliency and community. This year has shown me why I enjoy working with children and to be working alongside such a dedicated sta who go beyond the call of duty to develop programmes that inspire children to want to learn.
It has been a busy year and due to covid many school events either were cancelled or postponed to later in the year. We still have managed to provide a wide range of activities crossing academic, sporting and cultural elds.
On the cultural and academic scene our students have been involved in a variety of their passions. • Jump jam • Otago Maths Problem Solving • Kapa Haka • Masterton and Wairarapa speech competitions. • Matharapa • Dance Curriculum
• Dance Splash • School Choir Students, sta and parents have worked extremely hard over the past years to develop environmental programmes. Opaki is a Silver level enviro school with the aim of achieving gold in the near future. We have been super proud of our achievements so far with the way that we have worked to improve our own environment and students’ understanding and learning as well as working as part of community projects. We have a very passionate enviro group made up of 16 students who range from 6 years old to 13 years old. On the sporting front, we have been pleased again with the huge numbers participating in sport. For the size of our school we punch well above our weight and we are lucky that we have the sta and community help in supporting our students in a huge variety of sporting adventures. Also seeing the successes of past students within the Wairarapa sporting fraternity has brought us immense pride. This year we have had a focus on sta and student well-being due to the e ects of covid over the past two years. We’ve set up a student council who run many activities throughout the school with the most recent being Gumboot Day in aid of raising funds for resources for mental health in students. As term 4 progresses towards the end of the school year, we nd ourselves re ecting on another year like no other. We were all excited with the completion of Tipu syndicate. This will leave the school with all syndicates working in collaborative spaces. This year has been particularly tough for our year 8’s with many of the events they look forward to having to be cancelled. We want to wish all our year 8’s the very best as they head o in the next stage of their education. A big thank you to the Opaki community for your continued support and input into making our school what it is today.
School cross-country races.
Yr 7 / 8 MiCamp - Students enjoying the Spa Walk to the Huka Falls.
School Enviro garden. Gumboot Day in support of mental health resources for students.
Our Masterton speech winners.
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