Ka nui te mihi mahana kia koutou,
If you are reading this via Hero, you might have noticed that the Hero interface has been freshened up and looks a little different. They haven’t changed where things are though, so hopefully you are still able to navigate this easily enough. Today we welcomed Lihmé (said La May) to Pōhutukawa. Her whānau have moved from Cape Town, South Africa to Palmerston North via Auckland first. It is a delight to have you join us here at Turitea, we know you will love the community feel we have here.
Interschool Athletics:
Today we sent our team of 17 Year 5/6 athletes to the Interschool Athletics competition at the Massey Athletics Track. We had some great results: Juliette came 2nd in Year 6 Girls Long jump, Grace came 2nd in Year 6 Girls 80m Sprints, Cassius came 2nd in Year 5 Boys Shot Put, Sophia came 3rd in Year 5 Girls Discus and Natalie came 3rd in Year 5 Girls Long Jump. Thanks to Cameron for running the Shot Put event, Janelle/Niki for helping with supervision and all the parents who helped with transport.
Pool Keys:
Our resident pool parent/expert Ben James has been working hard to get our pool ready for the summer months now that the weather is starting to improve. We hope to have this ready on Monday where we will have pool keys available to hire for $40. We’d prefer you pay online and send Julie a screenshot of this, as opposed to bringing in cash. We have a limited number available so get in before the end of the year. One unwritten agreement that comes with being a pool key hirer is that you have to water our vegetables in the garden beds between Kauri and the pool. Meryl will leave the hose out.
Life Ed:
We have had the most incredible four days at Turitea School – the kindness, excitement, energy and warmth we have been afforded has been truly overwhelming – there have been so many wonderful ideas shared both in and out of our mobile classroom – the vibrant feeling of your school is quite breathtaking. Thank you so much for your extremely generous support of our Harold merchandise – it is so very much appreciated – it has been an absolute pleasure being amongst you all and we can’t wait to see you again in the future! Love from Tim & Harold @ Life Ed Manawatū!
Kapa Haka Performance:
Next Wednesday, the tamariki from Kahikatea and Tōtara are showcasing their Kapa Haka bracket at Linton Camp School. Whaea Tūrehu is working with LCS next year for Kapa Haka, so we arranged a performance giving our kids an opportunity to share all the new waiata they have been learning this term. Karawhiua! (Give it heaps)
Garden Club:
As you can see in the pictures above and below, Meryl and her team of ‘kaitiaki’ have been pretty busy creating their own compost with the bokashi bin (fermented organic matter) and spreading this onto our garden beds. They have also grown plants from cuttings and have planted these behind the hall in our microforest area that we are trying to grow. Many thanks to Kathy (Neve’s mum) who supported today and Anne (Ivor/Philip’s mum) who donated tomato plants that we planted in our gardens. We look forward to harvesting these next year.
End of Year Reports:
Teachers are in the process of finalising report comments and updating graphs. Once comments are proofread and ready to go we will publish them for you to access in Hero. The timeframe for this to happen around the middle of the last week of school.
Class Placements for 2024:
We are aiming for class placement information to be confirmed with you in the last week of school. Like last year, this will be via the Hero app.
Turitea Sports Uniforms:
If you are the parent/caregiver of a Year 6 student or know that you are leaving Turitea School at the end of the year, can you please arrange to return your sports uniform to the office when you are finished with it in Week 10. We are running short of these, so need them back in please. If you are staying here next year, there is no need to return anything, unless your child has gone through a growth spurt and needs a bigger one.
End Of Year Dates:
Just keeping you in the loop with all of our end of year dates. These are available on our website or by clicking the three lines in the top left hand corner of Hero and choosing Events.-Mataī/Pōhutukawa -Excursion to Wildbase: Thursday 7th December @ 9.15am.
-Rimu/Rātā Excursion to Memorial Park: Friday 8th December @ 9.30am.
-Year 6 Excursion to the Lido: Tuesday 12th December @ 9.30am.
-Year 6 Graduation: Wednesday 13th December @ 5.30pm.
-PTA Xmas Pool Party for Kids: Thursday 14th December @ 12.30pm.
-End of Year Prizegiving/Final Assembly: Friday 15th December @ 12pm.
-School finishes for 2023: Friday 15th December @ 1pm.
Camp Parent Forms:
We need these back in by Monday 11th December please so we can do the ballot and vetting process on this side of the year.
Colgate Product Collection:
The end of 2023 will mark the discontinuation of this programme in our school. Thank you if you participated in collecting these products to recycle.
From the Community:
-True Hoops Summer Camps: Miles had his second to last session with all our kids today. Those who have loved hooping alongside him might be interested in his upcoming basketball camps. Head to True Hoops to register for these.
-Holiday Code Camps: Akotech are running code camps at PNINS from 8th-11th January & 15th-18th January. These allow kids aged 7-12 to develop 21st century skills in a fun, action packed environment. Learn to create and train your own AI Avatars, make games, code drones and work for a simulated tech gaming studio to build games for a big client. Enter the competition here and you could win free entry.
-Low Flying Helicopters: From the 2nd-8th December, Powerco has contracted helicopters as part of their pole top photography project in our area. This will allow them to find and fix any problems easier. They are only taking photos of the poles and crossarms in the area, not residential properties. Low flying helicopters can sometimes unsettle animals and livestock. If you have questions, please check the flight paths and dates on their website.
-Palmy Christmas Parade: Is on this Sunday 3rd December from 2-3pm around Te Marae o Hine/The Square. Head on down to embrace the Christmas Spirit!
-Summer Reading Programme: This exciting programme is back at the City Library. It is open now until the end of January 2023 and is for students aged 4-10 years old. Check out their flyer for more information.
Ngā tauwhirotanga,