Marriene Langton Principal/Tumuaki

Marriene Langton Principal/Tumuaki
Tēnā koutou e te whanau. This is my 17th year as tumuaki of our lovely kura. I am one-eyed when it comes to providing the very best education for all of our tamariki, strong connections to whanau and applying Attachment Psychology so every child has a champion adult at our school who believes in them unconditionally. I just can’t see past it. Our kaiako and kaiawhina go the extra 50 miles to give our children the best chances to succeed. My family is number one. After 20 years of camping holidays in Kaiteriteri, Graham and I are recidivist “glampers “ and ready for new adventures in our latest caravan. It’s brilliant when our family joins us too. I've had the privilege of being part of the design team so we could build a new school after the earthquakes and now we are full-on working with architects to design a new hall. That's a dream we never thought that we would see. Watch this space.

Sunday, October 12, 2025

Middleton Grange Dance troupe and Disco

Thank you, thank you , thank you,  to the PTA who organized a fantastic lunchtime disco with all the trimmings on Friday. It was planned to coincide with our annual visit from the Middleton Grange Dance Troupe who dance for us then run workshops. It is  a fantastic event for our tamariki. Lunchtime there were balloons, sausage sizzle, iceblocks and much much more. What a brilliant end to our first week of term.

We have some wonderful dancers and it was such fun to watch them bust a move. Thanks Tam for your DJ work. Always rockin'
























Year 5 and 6 camp

 Wow. It was  brilliant to spend 3 days on camp with the teachers, parent volunteers and tamariki at Woodend Christian Camp. I went home to my own bed every night and the adults on camp were on duty all night and all day. Now that is dedication.

It is a lot to ask of teachers to spend 5 days away from their own families and to have no breaks in their day (or nights). I will survey parents and staff again this year as the demands on teachers have gone crazy on top of unreasonable.

I love seeing the children flourish on camp, and it is nearly always someone that we don't expect to see shine.

Some children have to learn to face disappointment and failure and not being the best , and other children realize that they are far more adaptable and courageous than they ever imagined. That's exactly what I saw again this year.

There were many unexpected moments of brilliance and success. I saw quiet achievers absolutely smash some very difficult challenges, without drawing attention to themselves or making a fuss.

Thank you to the parent volunteers who gave up work time to be there to help the children have have a fantastic experience.

Special thanks to our kaiako who really do make a tremendous sacrifice over and above the call of duty and their pay scale to provide and plan such an amazing annual experience for the children.