20 May 2004

A school is as strong as its community

Dear Parents, 

Wow! The Year 3 & 4 classrooms really are taking shape. Much of the framework is now in place and the shapes of all the rooms are now evident. Teachers are beginning to dream about the joy of having good-sized classrooms, their own office, resource rooms and a new learning support centre! It’s fantastic!

But, buildings don’t make a school, people do! My wife and I (and more recently our children as well) have travelled to Nepal and India a number of times. We have visited many schools in these two countries. I have learnt many things about education during these trips (including how to teach English to a class full of Buddhist monks … but that’s another story). One visit to a Nepalese school, in the shadow of 8000m Mt Annapurna, has really stayed with me. My wife Belinda and I had packed exercise books, pencils, rubbers, rulers, etc. in our packs to donate to a school. We came around a corner of the track, after a number of days tramping, and there was the school. We met the head teacher who spoke a little English and we gave him the pencils and books. He was overwhelmed and cried, giving us profuse thanks. When we looked at the little school we knew why - dirt floor, stone walls, iron roof, glassless windows, bare forms, easel blackboard, a book or two, no electric lighting. But amazingly, the children were full of smiles and the teacher full of enthusiasm.

This experience, and many others I have had, reinforce to me that the facilities of a school do not reflect it’s ‘health’ necessarily. It is not the corporate colour scheme, or the number of computers, or the fantastic technology block or new classrooms which are the most important factor in a school. It’s the people who make a school.

On open afternoons I stress this point as I take people around the Primary School - people who are looking to get their children into Middleton Grange. I say to them that we are blessed with good provision of resources at Middleton Grange, but I ask them to look past the nice environment and resources at the people in the school - the children, staff, the parents, the wider community. I also ask them to get into contact with people associated with the school and so gain an impression of the health of the school by how we relate and the atmosphere that’s created.

We are very fortunate that God has not only blessed Middleton Grange with very good physical resources, but also with an excellent community. I don’t take either of these aspects for granted.

So, enjoy what God has provided for Middleton Grange from its beginnings 40 years ago to what we have today. But we also need to realise that to be a healthy school, Middleton Grange relies on the positive input of everyone associated with it to build it up for the future. We all need to keep being active in our support.

John Stackhouse, Head of Primary School

GALLIPOLI …

Did you know that before 25 April 1915, only one New Zealand soldier had been killed in World War One? He was Private Ham of the Canterbury Regiment killed by the Turks near the Suez Canal in Egypt.

Did you know that New Zealand’s finest hours on Gallipoli were at the Battle for Churnuk Bair on 8/9 August 1915? The Wellington Regiment reached the highest point of Gallipoli but in doing so the regiment was almost wiped out.

Did you know over 2,500 New Zealanders died on Gallipoli and over 10,000 died in World War One?

Did you know over 100,000 New Zealanders served overseas in World War One out of a population of only around 1 million?

Did you know New Zealand had around 58,000 casualties during World War One? (Around 10,000 killed, 48,000 wounded.)

New Home for Years 3 & 4 As I mentioned, the new classroom block is really taking shape, as you can see by the pictures below.

School Notices

"In thy light shall we see light." 
                                        Psalm 36:9

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