Kia ora Parents/Caregivers
When I look back on my time as a student at school there is no doubt that Mrs Matkin, my Standard 4 teacher at Murrays Bay Primary, is the one who stands out the most in my mind. She helped me with my handwriting, sent me things to do when I was in hospital that year, and I got brownie points for being able to thread a needle when we were making string pictures. If you ask me there is no doubt Mrs Matkin was my favourite teacher. I don’t remember having a bad one, it is just you click with one particular person and everything comes much easier than it seemed to before.
Primary school is the place where these connections are felt most strongly. Your child’s teacher probably spends more time during the week with them than you do as a parent. The older you get, the more teachers you have and the further your loyalty is divided.
We are blessed with an amazing group of teachers. They work hard, put your children first, and at this stage of the year deserve the mental and physical break they are about to enjoy. At the Year 6 leavers evening on Monday it became apparent that I am not the only one who shares this viewpoint. Each class had a speaker who spoke from their point of view about their time at Long Bay Primary. What struck me was the number of times teacher’s names were mentioned. While Year 6 teachers featured prominently, so did lots of teachers throughout the school. It really does take a village to raise a child and our village is full of people who enjoy helping.
Behind the scenes keeping the village working, caring for your children and making sure everyone is safe, healthy and ready for the day are the staff members that really run the school. The next time you see our Learning Assistants Lisa, Christiane, Sabine, Ruth, Katie or Susannah they are the ones who quietly ensure the children are working to the best of their ability with a smile on their faces. Without Lorna, Ennva, Sandy and John there would be no Long Bay Primary. They make everyone else in the school look good, keep us organised and most importantly on task. Should you see them over the last couple of days of this year please say thanks, I do daily, and it never seems quite enough for the job they do.
While we farewell our Year 6 students we also say goodbye to Steve Anderson. After 7 years at Long Bay Primary Steve is off to live and work at Mount Maunganui. His love of surfing and sport will be well looked after at the Mount. His football boys miss him already and we wish Steve, Jana and Cooper all the best for their new adventure.
Also leaving us is Kaylee McDonald, one of our valued Learning Assistants. Kaylee has been at Long Bay Primary for 3 years and is returning to Canada to be closer to her family and make use of the PhD she recently completed. We look forward to Kaylee coming to visit us when she returns to New Zealand for a holiday and wish her and Troy well for their upcoming wedding and move.
It has been quite a year. We started by asking all of our parents to wait outside the gate to collect their children and ended it with assemblies, water sliding and a return to ‘normal life’. I have thoroughly enjoyed 2022 and can’t wait to see what we can achieve as a community in 2023.
For many of your children they have already met their Mrs Matkin, some are yet to do so but they will know when they do. I am sure that in 50 years time when they reflect back on their time at school there will be a name that instantly comes to mind just like Mrs Matkin does for me. Even more importantly I am sure that name will be one of the teachers here at Long Bay Primary.
Rob Hutton
Tumuaki/Principal
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