Tēnā koutou katoa,
Nau mai haere mai to our three brand new 5 year olds who joined Rimu with Hannah and Meagan this week. Labeebah is the first of her family to join us here at Turitea and Ben and Hazel are both the younger siblings of Harry and Lily in Mataī. It is always a special time when we have whānau at school together like this.
Last term we asked for your voice around six key questions about our kura. These were: what you love about our school, what opportunities we should consider, what cultural values and beliefs you’d like to see reflected, what property development you’d like to see, how we could enhance our rural character and what we should commit our energy into changing. Your responses have been ‘analysed’ by the staff and the Board of Trustees and we’ve compiled the main themes of all of your responses and I’d love for you to have a look at these and let us know if there is anything that we are missing. Hopefully you see some of your suggestions reflected in our kura already.
Cluster Speech Finals:
Yesterday we hosted the annual Cluster Speech Finals where we had Year 5-8 students from Linton Camp, Aokautere, Ōpiki and Tokomaru schools share their speeches on ‘The Thing About Life Is…’ Callum and Ruby were our participants and represented our school with mana (pride). They both did extremely well and Ruby came first out of the ten Year 5/6 students who presented – Ka mau te wehi Ruby! (Awesome)
School Production:
We have decided to name our school production Past, Present, Future and we will draw inspiration from the popular whakataukī (proverb) ‘Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua – I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past.’ It will be on Wednesday 13th September at the Regent on Broadway and start at 6pm and should run for just over an hour. Tickets will go on sale through Ticketek or the Regent ticket office on Friday 11th August at 9am. Adults – $20, Children (5-18 years) – $5, Family (2 adults, 2 children) – $45, Senior Citizens – $10. We can’t wait to share our pūrakau (story) with you all.
Maths Week 7-11 August:
We love Maths at Turitea School and next week across New Zealand is Maths Week. We will organise a range of maths activities in and out of class for our students to engage in, as well as for you to hopefully interact with at home. One thing I miss most about being in the classroom is teaching maths. An activity I used to always use with kids to encourage mathematical conversations is ‘Which One Doesn’t Belong.’The great thing about this activity is that any answer can be right, so everyone can engage with it. I found the concept here if you are interested in looking at other ideas for this. Here is one that I’ve made for you at home to do with your children. Now I’m sure most of you know that I love the NBA and have been given various Funko Pop characters over the years from colleagues or kids I’ve taught. So in the picture below I’ve made my own WODB question. Which one do you think doesn’t belong? I’d love to hear your or your child’s answer.
Pre Enrolments for 2024 and Beyond:
In the coming weeks, I will need to look at the projections for our school roll for next year. This is an important process as I try to keep our roll stable each year, as this determines how much money the Ministry of Education (MoE) gives us to run the school, but more importantly how many teachers I am able to put in classrooms and how in turn this will affect where your child is placed. I know we have a few potential younger siblings who might like to join the Turitea Whānau once they turn 5. Just so you know, it is never too early to get them in our system, so we know how many students we have arriving throughout each year. Please can you do this by filling out the following form and you can view our information about the transition to school process too.
Safer Speeds Around Schools:
You may have seen this article on Stuff on Wednesday that Council met to discuss the Safer Speeds proposal. I was able to fly the Turitea flag at the submission hearing to get them to hopefully reduce the speed limit on Old West Road to 60km per hour. Although I didn’t get a mention in the article, I tried to keep it very positive about why we need this speed limit reduced. Thank you to those who made one of the 378 submissions, I did see a bunch of Turitea whānau on the list. Here’s hoping we get our zone changed to make the road safer for all, not just our tamariki.
Kind Hearts Trip:
Next week on Tuesday, Mataī and Pōhutukawa go on their Kind Hearts Kids Conference at the Awapuni Events Centre. Kind Hearts is a local based, not for profit organisation that has a vision of creating a kinder world. Their kaupapa (focus) links beautifully to our school uara (value) of manaakitanga. Thanks to the parents who have volunteered to help on the trip. We hope you have a great day and share the love! Aroha atu, Aroha mai – Give love to get love.
From the PTA:
Thanks to those who came on Wednesday night to the PTA meeting and a huge shout out to Aokautere New World for donating three yummy platters for those in attendance. Hopefully that might encourage some new members to come to the next meeting in 6 weeks time…
Activity Fee:
We still have over half of the Term 2 Activity Fee outstanding. Please could you check on your Hero Finances to see if this is still owing and arrange payment ASAP please.
From the Community:
- Te Whatu Ora have issued a letter to all schools to distribute to whānau about the delay in their child oral health services, with many children waiting more than two years between examinations.
- If anyone needs lambs for Lamb, Calf and Pet Day, Maria Hoskins is willing to donate some, please get in touch with her on 027 554 5589.
- Have a go at Orienteering this Sunday 6th August. Red Kiwi are running an event at Waterloo Park from 10.30am – 1pm. $3 per child and $5 per adult. More information here.
- The City Library is running their Beanstack Reading Challenge for those keen readers aged 4-19. See the flyer for more information. This is to celebrate the NZ Book Award finalists.
- Got any shed space free at your place that is going unused? Check out Heybarn which is a local initiative designed to be ‘Tinder, but for Sheds’ and they want to support our school. More info here.
- St Peter’s College open evening is Thursday 10th August from 6-8pm in the school gym. Their prospectus is housed in our office if you are interested in looking at it.
- Monrad Tirohanga Intermediate has their open evening on Thursday 18th August from 6-8pm. Their prospectus is found online here
Ngā manaakitanga (Best wishes)