Term 1
2024
Our Goal - Growth (to increase or develop)
Kia ora koutou (Hello everyone)
Term 3 is at its end and it's with teary eyes and big emotions that we have to say farewell to one of Marlborough Primary's pillars, Jodine Watts.
Mrs. Watts has dedicated over 30 years of life as Office Manager at MPS and has decided to broaden her horizons.
ReignAnn Dela Cruz from Room 2 did an interviewed with Mrs. Watts and reports as follows:
"We all have to say goodbye to someone because they have to go even if you don't want them to go, but sadly, here in Marlborough, we have very saddening news. One of our staff for over 30 years in Marlborough is retiring by the end of this term. So today, we will be hearing about her experience at Marlborough and her thoughts about working here.
Mrs. Watts has been working at Marlborough for 30 years and 6 months from being offered a job because someone had recently retired at that time. At the time when she came to Marlborough, they didn't have devices back then and they used the hand bell, the swimming pool that you see near the garden has been there for a long time, without any changes added, Mrs. Watts explained that the swimming pool there was there when she arrived at the school for the very first time.
Mrs. Watts said that she loved coming to school, she enjoyed seeing the children come happily and energetically to school and she described that Marlborough was a pretty and beautiful environment to work at. Before Mrs. Watts started to work at Marlborough, she had a full time job as a mother to her children, but way before that, she was a proofreader, fixing grammar and punctuation mistakes, she said that “if you wanted to become a proofreader, you had to learn it all in school first” and this is why learning things at school is important.
Way back, there used to be running races out on the field and food festivals where the delicious food melted on your tongue, it was the most fun experience Mrs. Watts had ever experienced at Marlborough. The food and events must have been delicious back then for it to be the most enjoyable experience she had ever experienced at Marlborough.
Additionally, Mrs. Watts learnt things about herself at Marlborough, she learnt that she was a competent first-aider, successfully aiding the children in need, Mrs. Watts knew that she was very much capable of aiding the children when they were hurt, sick, etc. Everything was new to her, she had to learn everything herself, emails, computers and things about technology, “I’ve just been learning as I go, everyday brings a new challenge.” she said. There will always be a challenge everyday but it will always be easy to achieve if you’re resilient.
Mrs. Watts will come back to visit the children and the teachers / staff but sadly, she will not be coming back to work (unless catering is needed! haha!), but we should be glad that this lovely woman will be coming back to see us, she made it very clear that she wouldn’t come back to work here but to come back to visit everyone instead.
Her opinion about the students of Marlborough is that they all have a big melting pot of personalities and interests; but for the teachers, she said that they have skill sets, the teachers all have different abilities and qualities which makes the teachers very unique in their own way. In her opinion, this is meant in a good way, Mrs. Watts will not miss working at Marlborough, however, she will miss the people of Marlborough, which is a good thing. We should be glad that she will miss us all, it would feel sad if she didn’t. Everyone in Marlborough should know the values, but Mrs. Watts memorizes it from the top of her head, she said that: before it was "respect surroundings", it was "respect my surroundings". We should keep the values in mind and bring them in school and out of school to reflect on your actions. She named them all in a couple seconds which means she will most likely never forget the values ; in or out of school.
The most important thing about being at Marlborough is to be included and involved with the close-knit community. Marlborough is a safe place so we should all feel welcomed in this environment. When Mrs. Watts leaves the school, she will be traveling overseas, having some time to herself, do some community work, continue with her love of cooking and spend quality time with her family.
We all should be happy for Mrs. Watts because she finally get to have the break she needs from working for 30 years straight, she hopes that Marlborough continues to have a good name out in the large community and it's the school that people choose for their children, the last message she says is that: “Remember the past in order to embrace the future.” So remember to reflect on your past mistakes and then worry about the future. I think that we should all be grateful that we got to have Mrs. Watts working at our school, she is a wonderful woman and feel happy that we got to experience her aiding us and her exciting personality. We should all be pleased with the fact that Mrs. Watts prioritized Marlborough for over 30 years despite the long period of time. The last message I want to say about Mrs. Watts is that we will all miss her and we appreciate all that she's done for us. So thank you to Mrs. Watts.
INTERVIEW
Question 1: How long have you been working at Marlborough?
Answer: 30 years and 6 months
Question 2: How do you feel about working at Marlborough?
Answer: Love coming to school, enjoy seeing the children come happily, it's a pretty environment to work in
Question 3: What’s the most important thing in your opinion about being at Marlborough?
Answer: Being apart of close-knit community
Question 4: What made you choose to work at Marlborough?
Answer: Got offered a job.
Question 5: What’s the most fun experience you’ve had at Marlborough?
Answer: Running races out on the field and food festivals.
Question 6: What’s your opinion about the people at Marlborough? Including the teachers.
Answer: Big melting pot of personalities, interests, skill sets (teachers)
Question 7: Will you ever consider coming back to Marlborough or coming back to visit?
Answer: Will come back to visit but not to work (unless catering is needed! haha)
Question 8: What will you do when you leave?
Answer: Having some “Me” time, travel (going overseas), do some community work, continue with my love of cooking, spend time with my grandchildren
Question 9: What has changed the most in the 30 years you’ve worked here?
Answer: Roll has grown by a couple of hundred, didn’t have devices / computers in 1994, used to ring the hand bell.
(Also the only thing that hasn't changed is the swimming pool)
Question 10: Can you name the Marlborough values?
Answer: Respect myself, respect people and respect surroundings
Question 11: Will you miss working in Marlborough, if so, why?
Answer: I’ll miss Marlborough but not working. I’ll miss the people but not the work.
Question 12: What is something that you’ve learnt about working at Marlborough
Answer: Competent first aider, everything was new to me and I’ve had to learn it all myself, like computers, emails. I’ve just been learning as I go, everyday brings a new challenge.
Question 13: Did you have a different job before working at Marlborough?
Answer: A full time mum, before that I was proofreader.
Extra: I hope Marlborough school continues to have a good name out in the community and it's the school that people choose for their children.
Message: Remember the past in order to embrace the future.
- ReignAnn Dela Cruz
In the garden in front of the office 3 Dandelion Sculptures will be placed for Mrs. Watts, where she will be given a legacy instead of a gift. A farewell was held for the community and parents to wish
Mrs. Watts well with her new season in life and thank her for all the differences and impacts she made during her time here at MPS. Staff and students sent her off with a heart warming kapa haka performance, knowing that her footprints will remain here and she leaves behind big shoes to be filled.
Portia Woodman - Olympic Gold Medalist
Portia Woodman, the daughter of one of our MPS teachers, Whaea Kathryn Woodman, was a member of the New Zealand Women's Sevens team that won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and gold medals at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
She came to talk to our akonga about leadership, their current inquiry topic at that time, and her journey as an international sportswoman.
Bridges to schools
Fletcher Construction visited our Year 5 and 6 students in the hall where they ran a "Bridges to schools" programme. Here our akonga saw a child-sized cable bridge broken down into sections. Engineers then explained the bridge and some engineering basics to the kids, before helping them to put the bridge together. It was a fun and engaging way to spark the interest of civil engineering in our tamariki.
French Cafe
- Megan Shoebridge
Mathex
Congratulations to our Mathex teams who placed 1st, 3rd and 6th against 15 teams from schools in our Kaipatiki area, leading MPS to first place overall!
Mathex is a fast-paced race to solve difficult problems as quickly as possible, but with accuracy too. Once the team knows the answer the ‘runner’ takes their answer to the judges for checking and they’re given the next question.
Have a look at the example given to get an idea of the high level of the questions.
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
- Megan Shoebridge
Maori Language Week
“Ake ake ake - a forever language”
“It represents the resilience, adaptability and endurance of our language. It also reflects the commitment New Zealanders have to embracing and learning te reo Maori long into the future. … ”
… (Te Reo Maori.co.nz)
Victorian State Youth Brass Band
The Victorian State Youth Brass Band is open to young brass and percussion musicians up to the age of 25 and promotes and inspires young people to develop their musical talents to their fullest ability.
They paid MPS a visit and entertained our akonga with music from movies, musicals and shows.
FOS
Friends of the School (FOS) would like to extend a big thank you to all the families who supported our Donut Day fundraiser! The children loved their delicious jam donuts, and thanks to your generosity, we raised an amazing $427!
Your contributions truly make a difference, and we appreciate your continued support of our school. You’ll soon see the bikes arriving from our earlier fundraiser, with other exciting school projects currently in the pipeline.
Also, stay tuned for details on our end-of-year fundraiser coming up in November!
Spare change of clotHes
Quite a few of our akonga have various types of accidents during the day where they need a change of clothes. We kindly request that caregivers remember to place a clean change of clothes in their children's bag in case it may be needed. It doesn't have to be the school uniform, any clean shirt and pants / shorts will do. Though we do have some spare uniforms on hand, the sizes are restricted and it is sometimes hard to find a good fit.
Stay safe and be kind.
🌿Your Marlborough Primary Team 🌿
