Welcome to Wakefield School

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

A number of projects are nearing completion around the school:

•  The new rugby posts have been installed on the playing field and will be operational later this week.  They look pretty smart, thanks to the Board of Trustees for giving the go ahead and to Bruce and Robert Andrews for seeing the project through.

•  The new girls toilet block has been completed and will be available for our girls to use as soon as the Tasman District Council issues codes of compliance.  It is expected that in time the school will close both toilets in the Room 1 & 2 block and the toilets in the Room 5 cloakroom.  Then all our toilets will be modern served by hot water, soap dispensers and paper towels.  Now all we need is for the all our students to treat them just like they treat their toilet at home!

• The entrance way is taking shape with the fence being erected this week and a site meeting on Friday to finalise planting and seating.  The school is certainly looking quite smart!

Massage in Schools:

Parents will be well aware that Wakefield School has joined hundreds of schools worldwide in introducing the Massage in Schools programme to most classes.  This is a new programme to New Zealand, but is used widely in the United Kingdom, United States
of America, Sweden, Canada and Australia.  Many of these schools report that:

•  Children are calmer and happier and have increased concentration

•  There is less aggression and bullying evident

•  Healthy self esteem and emotional development are promoted

•  Children have better tools to better manage their emotions and relationships

• Children with difficulties tend to perform better

•  There is a noticeable flow on effect in all areas of life

Some comments from other teachers include:
“At the end of six weeks the children in this class played better with each other than before and left nobody out.”
“Children are more willing to sit next to each other. They relate better to each other.”

So against this background of information, Wakefield school’s participating teachers will monitor their students over the coming weeks to evaluate the effect of this programme.


PTA Quiz Night:

The fabulous PTA group is preparing for the third annual quiz night. Those that have attended in the past will know what a fun evening this event is.  So please gather five other people and register your team while tables are still available.  Check out the list of fantastic sponsors for this event on our website.  I look forward to meeting you all there.

Kind Regards
Peter Ross
Principal