May newsletter

Since my last newsletter column we have had some amazing assemblies where we have celebrated many different aspects of school life.

• In academic areas we awarded scholar badges to our successful 2008 NCEA students.


• In sport a number of our students gained cups and certificates for performances in swimming and cricket in the first term. Our netball tourists to northland reported on their adventures.


• In cultural activities senior students have spoken of ANZAC day and the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival that took place at school.


• Our student council recognised staff with an appreciation award to Mr McGeoch.


• Mrs Potter revealed the House winner for term 1 - The mighty McAllister

As the community will remember, the S in our Stratford acronym is for SAFETY. We are very conscious of the need to maintain a safe learning environment for our staff and students. In term one we practised our fire safety drills and we recently practised our lock down procedure. The Mexican swine influenza scare that is currently happening in the world is obviously a concern for schools. Our pandemic plan is not activated until we get an instruction from the Ministry of Health or the medical officer of health. At the moment the ministry is indicating that New Zealand is at 'code yellow' (a standby phase). If the code changes to red - the school will continue to operate until further instruction from our local medical officer of health or until we have insufficient staff to operate the school safely. For more information please go to the ministry website - http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/mexican-swine-influenza-update-270409 or contact me at the school. The outlook appears to be improving but it is always best to plan for the worst case scenario.

Finally I wish to make a plea for more parents to consider joining the Parent Teacher Association. We have a small, dedicated group of parents who would love to see more parents at their meetings. Our PTA is not a fundraising group. Instead it is a useful way for parents to find out more about the school and to advise the school on parent needs. Please contact my P.A., Diane Lithgow, at the school to find out more or come to the next meeting - June 2.