Wellington Here We Come

Thanks to the generous heart of  a West Spreydon School benefactor, twelve children and four teachers were flown to Wellington to spend the day at Weta Workshop and Te Papa.
We had an amazing day.
Tricia worked with Air New Zealand to make sure that the children had a truly amazing day with the Airline and by golly we did.
Our special thanks to Sharon Cocker Operations Process Manager, Captain Brian Vallance and Liz and Lagi Cabin Crew and Di Ballard Cabin Crew Development Manager, Chantelle at Transit Coachlines, Graham the bus driver, Kate Adolph from Te Papa, Franki and Dayna from Weta, Darren Milson and Zak Willis at the Te Papa cafe  and Kerry Kulpinski from Wishbone at Wellington Airport.

The children got to sit in the cockpit of the ATR and wear the airline hats. Thank you Captain Brain.

What a fantastic day. Everything was laid on and it was such a treat to be a part of that adventure.
Did you know that Weta Workshop makes the miniature sets for Thunderbirds from recycled material like toilet roll inners, lemon squeezers, old printed circuit boards, material from acquarium and old mattresses.
The technicians use every day things like PVA, glue guns and superglue. They also hide things on the mini sets that have a special Kiwiana flavour to them.
The Gallipoli exhibition  at Te Papa was also created by Weta. Jared and I took a group of children for a brief tour. It's a place where you need to spend a half day on your own so you can see it all and think about what you are reading and seeing.

This was an incredible privilege for us all and we are very thankful for the opportunity.

New Bikes

A small group of children were chosen to be recipients of brand new bikes. They were built as part of a Meridian business leadership challenge day for the company and then presented to the children. It was a big surprise to the business leaders that real children were there to receive the bikes. The children were taken to lunch at The Tannery with the business leaders and treated to lovely food and company.
Thank you so much for the generous kindness of Meridian and the leaders who made such a special contribution to the children.

School Cross Country

As always the children and staff do so well to prepare for this gruelling event. It's not my idea of fun and I know it is a very big challenge for many children. It was so lovely to see the ways in which the children cheered on their classmates who were determined to complete the course, even though it was  such a tough race.