I'm not sure there's a better way to round out a term than a whole school camp. On Monday 12 April the students, staff and some parents piled into the school buses and cars to head out to Bridge Valley Camp near Wakefield. Although the weather forecast was poor, spirits were high with a lot of fun activities to look forward to, and whew, by the sounds of it they certainly had a fantastic time. Camp was packed with activities including, archery, shooting, rock climbing, abseiling, kayaking, luging, swimming, team building games, water activity course and a toasty woodfire to warm up in front of afterwards. I'm sure every child came home with exhausted smiles on their faces (I'm not sure I can say the same for the teachers and parents...they may have just come home exhausted).

There was a lot of excitement at school with Emirates Team New Zealand successfully defending the Americas Cup. Although we couldn't watch the final race at school most kids watched it while at home last Wednesday afternoon and spent the rest of the week at school Buzzing about it.

A big card of congratulations was created and sent off to Emirates Team NZ and we once again made it into the local news.

​Click below to see the card the kids made.

On Wednesday 17 March, Bonnie, Jessica and Nina represented the school at the Waimea South Swimming Championship where they completed in the Year 5 25m Freestyle Event. Although they didn't gain a place in the finals Bonnie and Jessica each came third in their heats and they all swam very well.

Thank you everyone for joining us for swimming sports. The kids loved having parents there to cheer them on as they competed in their races and they had even more fun trying to beat the parents in the parents vs kids races.

Well done to all the children who competed in the races. It's fantastic to see such strong swimmers at school and congratulations to those that placed first, second and third.

The kids had a chance to play with an underwater camera today and had some fun taking candid shots.

What an unbelievable opportunity for the kids. Dive Kaikoura came all the way here to run a Bubblemaker SCUBA course for the senior class. They got to experience the thrill of breathing underwater and learn new skills all in the safety of our pool. The kids had an absolute blast with the common question being "When can we do it again?". I think we may have future SCUBA divers on hand.

What a great way to spend the afternoon! Rotoiti Lodge Outdoor Education Centre took the Senior Class for a paddleboarding experience on the lake this afternoon. After a few wobbly starts the kids were up and away getting the hang of standing and paddling. Of course then the fun really began as the kids were given challenges such as sitting at the very front or back of their board and trying to paddle, making a paddleboard stack and walking the plank.

A big hit was the Big Tahuna paddleboard - yes it is possible to get the entire (15 kids) senior class on to it. Moving it while standing on it was asking a bit much!

Thank you Anita, Alex and Ben from the Rotoiti Lodge for your time and enthusiasm with the kids, it was an awesome experience.

Welcome back to school for 2021. We're looking forward to a great year and have some fantastic activities planned. While the weather is good this term we'll be spending as much time as possible in the swimming pool and enjoying our new lane ropes (thank you Alan Basalaj).

Thursday evenings from 6pm you can find most of us down at the lake for sailing. Bring some meat and bread for the bbq and come and enjoy a nice casual evening by the lake.

We'll be keeping our calendar on our Up and Coming Events page updated as well as keep you informed through SchoolStream of what's happening at school.