Schools start year with full staff

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 8, Issue 371, 29 January 1991, Page 3

Schools start year with full staff

School starts this week for most pupils in the area, with most principals reporting a full complement of staff.

Ruapehu College starts the year with two new teachers, Carole Chapman as a typing and economics teacher and Kai Hageneri teaching physical education and mathematics. Principal Harry Cast said the school's pupils achieved pleasing results in last year's external examinations. He said there were some excellent grades in School Certificate, Bursary and Sixth Form Certificate. He cited Moreen Sue who scored 2 per cent off the highest mark in the country in Seventh Form Bursary Accounting. Mr Cast said the school was starting the year on a financially sound footing. Raetihi Raetihi School starts next week with a new person on the staff, year-one teacher Bridget Heffernan in a standard two class. Two long term releivers have won full time positions, said Principal Doug McLean. They are Monica Jones and Alison McGregor. Mr McLean said staff have been attending refresher courses while the children have been on holiday. Five teachers attended a course on the Maori dimension in ac-

cess to the curriculum, two attended a Beginning • School Maths course and two attended an art and music course in Wanganui. The teacher:pupil ratio starts at less than one to twenty for the year, said Mr McLean. Starting soon at the school is a $300,000$400,000 remodelling programme for the Junior block, which will take until July or August. Jones Construction of Wanganui won the contract. Ohakune Ohakune Primary School is starting the year with 16 full time staff with no long term releivers - the first time in about 10 years, according to principal Ellen Gould. A year-one teacher starting this term is Deana Wilson who is an ex-Ohakune pupil. She will be attached to the bilingual unit. Another local person, Christine Wallace, has returned to the area and is teaching at Ohakune and Marie Milne returns to Ohakune Primary School as a senior teacher after two years as principal at Rangataua. A permanent full time

speech therapist, Sarah Booth, starts this year and a new visiting teacher is to be appointed but may or may not be based at Ohakune. Mrs Gould said she was disappointed with the funding for the school but that they would manage without detracting from anything the children need, and staff development will not suffer, but the school's maintenance programme was some cause for concem. Pupil numbers at

Ohakune are up on the expected number, with about 255 to 260 starting as opposed to 245 expected. Waiouru Waiouru School starts the year with seven new teachers, plus one more to join the staff within the month. Principal Tauri Morgan said the school had had problems for years in filling all vacancies, so this year was "quite a turn around". New to Waiouru this

year is a school uniform which the Board of Trustees decided to introduce following requests from parents. The uniform is not compulsory for pupils. Mr Morgan said he expected the roll for this year to be about the same as last year. Rangataua Rangataua School starts the year with the area's mobile reserve teacher, Craig McDonald in charge. The school is yet to appoint a new sole-charge principal.

National Park National Park School starts this year with a new teaching principal, John Roder, a new teacher, Ray Green and a new release time teacher Christine Green. Mr Roder said the school's main news for this year is the move to provide computers at all levels through the school and an emphasis on language arts and Maori. Pipiriki Pipiriki School starts the year well with a roll

the same as last year, said teacher Horiana Hema. She said there were 14 pupils and that there may be more in future as some families were thinking of moving back to the village. Ngamatea Ngamatea School's roll is down slightly for the start of the year but is fully staffed said teacher principal Sheryl Allen. She said there was lots of parent support at the school. The Bulletin has been unable to contact Orautoha School.