Intermediate, one year on
One year after a devastating fire decimated their school, Hawera Intermediate School staff and students are celebrating their strength and resilience.
Principal Craig Simpson said he was proud to have watched the students and teachers push forward during uncertain times and come out of the ordeal smiling.
They will commemorate the occasion on Thursday, October 13 when Simpson said he would remind the students how much they had impressed him with ’’how awesome they have been through times of change’’.
‘‘The kids carry on well,’’ he said. ‘‘The future is still unknown, the Hawera High School and Intermediate boards are still exploring options and that’s all I really know at the moment.’’
While the future was unknown, Simpson said their focus would continue to be on student achievement and engagement.
The upward trajectory of student achievement has continued despite a move to the Hawera High School in the days following the fire and a move to temporary classrooms at their own South Rd site during term one of 2016.
‘‘Our focus is keeping our staff and our kids enjoying the school here,’’ he said.
‘‘The kids are settled and we can do all the things we would normally do except host other schools.’’
The Ministry of Education is still reviewing a number of options related to the rebuilding of the school or merging it with Hawera High School.
Simpson said the current makeshift classrooms worked well and the layout was great but they did miss having a hall to focus whole-school activities in.
‘‘I’m full of admiration for the staff and the kids having coped with two shifts. It’s bigger than having to shift a house and getting back into school routine and learning quickly. They made it a priority.’’
Deputy principal Trish Careswell said teachers found it harder to cope than kids but had coped exceptionally well.
‘‘The projected outcomes for learning are the same, they’re still on that rising pathway so that’s really good,’’ she said.
‘‘The teachers have carried on and they’re still doing all the things they need to do to improve the outcomes for students.
‘‘This year particularly they’ve really soldiered on for students.’’