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Our principal of 21 years Graeme Trist retired at the end of the year with many celebrations of his long period of leadership at Tai Tapu. Staff, past and current parents and old colleagues attended a great night of dining and dance at Addingtom Raceway. Amy Adams and others made speeches outlining Graeme's lomg career. There were some great moments remembered. Just to crown the night we all watched the TV coverage as Graeme's horse won a major race in Auckland.

 A surprise trip to school in a helicopter was a highlight  and the whole schoo;l waited and waved enthusiastically as Mr Trist and his wife Heather landed, accompanied by the BOT chairperson Grant Miller. Tthe day continued with a school lunch for all, prepared by the Enviro Team and helpers, from produce out of the school vege garden . The weather was damp which prevented a picnic atmosphere but was still enjoyed. Graeme unveiled a sculpture in his honour  and CTV showed the events on the news programme that night.

The final celebration was at the school concert and prizegiving as each class had prepared an item based around a decade of Graeme's career of almost 50years in education. There were a few moist eyes at the special Tai Tapu haka performed for the first time.

Grame will be missed by all after his long and happy tenure at Tai Tapu and we wish him all the best for his retirement

We welcome Andrew Barker, our new Principal in 2012 and know that he will enjoy leading our school as we educate our children in the digital age in which we now exist. Many interesting developments will be ahead as we look forward to a new era.