HILLCREST NORMAL SCHOOL
BOARD OF TRUSTEES NEWSLETTER
SEPTEMBER 2009
On behalf of the Board of Trustees I'd like thank you all for your patience with the building process that has been intrusive for many at school. The fruits of that labour are obvious. We are all delighted how well the new extension to C Block fits into the school, neither looking out of place nor crowded. As we move into the second half of the project refurbishing the end three rooms of C Block, there will obviously be more classroom relocations and disruption. The hassle will be worth it. Of course we have high expectations of the new rooms and look with pride at what we are achieving. In keeping with our aim to move our school to be current with IT savvy all the rooms in C Block will have interactive Smart boards. This refurbishment and build mark a further step in what has been a 10 year redevelopment of the school and completion of this section deserves to be celebrated. Plans are underway how we might best do that with a projected opening on the 19th of November.
Our satisfaction with what is new in school should not diminish care for the rest of the campus. You are probable aware that vandalism is increasing. It has been a point of discussion at recent Board meetings. We have increased the surveillance provided for by security firms and are reviewing options for a surveillance system. One of our best defences is an involved community who take ownership of their surrounds. We all want a school that remains openly available to walk through and be apart of, not apart from the community. Please be vigilant around the school and don't hesitate to report suspicious goings on.
I would like to acknowledge Mrs Jan Dearlove our librarian at HNS for the last 19 years. She has resigned and is leaving us this week. Her contribution has been extensive but quiet and unassuming. We can easily overlook just how precious our library is, and for those who haven't looked, take some time one day to do so. Our library is very well resourced and I hope that this will continue. This is in no small way due to Jan's love and knowledge of books and their content, her ability to source carefully chosen books and maintaining older books that are no longer in print. Despite the tidal wave of IT in our daily lives, books remain fundamental to literacy and I suspect will continue to do so. Our thanks and best wishes go to Jan and her husband in their new endeavours.
I would also like to acknowledge the work that has been going into the school's website (www.hillcrestnormal.school.nz). Like many websites this will continue to be work in progress but its core is based around feedback from you. It will become increasingly interactive as it is developed. Again if you haven't looked at it, spend a little time browsing – I think you will enjoy it. Whether you like it or not, we become more dependent upon the support IT gives us. An example is the requirement for the school to move to an electronic roll next term. Whilst it won't change things for you at home it will streamline administration at school. It is worth dropping in that there do have to be valid reasons for a child's absence from school (it is an Act of Parliament). The electronic roll will allow careful monitoring of absences and the reasons for them and is open to scrutiny by the Ministry of Education. There is a policy on managing unjustified absences that has significant teeth to it should there be a problem and we are given the impression that the Ministry has this in their sights as a potential issue for schools in general (not specifically us!).
The term of office for this Board of Trustees expires in Term 1, 2010. Several members of the Board including myself will step down at the end of this three year term of office. I would strongly commend to you to consider putting yourselves forward for election to the next Board. The Board's role is to provide governance. We don't manage the school, for that we have a highly skilled management team led by our Principal, Mrs Cooper. The Board's role is to provide guidance in the direction we want our school to head and monitoring achievement of those goals within the framework given to us by the Ministry of Education. We don't profess to educational expertise (we have that in our teaching staff) but we do have common sense and a desire to see Hillcrest Normal School be a place of excellent education and learning for our children as well as leadership of learning for teachers. Feel free to ask any of the Board to ask us what it involves, it isn't onerous and we would like to pass the reigns on to good hands.
The Education Review Office (ERO) will be reassessing the school in Term 4. It's three years since our last review which was an extremely positive endorsement of HNS. Maintaining these high standards is implicit and meeting the specific target areas of ERO is ongoing. Of course this puts quite a bit of pressure on the staff to ensure that i's are dotted and t's crossed but I have confidence that the process will run smoothly.
Lastly I wanted to briefly discuss the Enrolment zone. Whilst this has been in effect this year until now it has not had any practical impact on enrolment. Our figures suggest that to keep within our target role and maintain appropriate staffing ratios, for the remainder of 2009, enrolments and school entry will only come from within zone (for details of the zone go to the school's website, School Information – School Zone). Parents seeking out of zone enrolments for 2010 should notify the school by 23 November 2009. A ballot will be held should there be more requests than spaces.
Best wishes for the end of term break.
Fraser Maxwell
Chairman
Board Of Trustees