Tēnā koutou katoa (Greetings to you all)
Nau mai hoki mai ki te kaupeka tuarua! (Welcome back to Term 2!) As always, we start each term with a mihi whakatau to embrace any new whānau to our kura. I was really proud of our tamariki for just stepping straight into that mode as they set up our paepae (seats) and got into their positions ready to roll. We hope those involved were able to see that we ‘live and breathe’ our uara (values) of Whanaungatanga (Community) and Manaakitanga (Kindness and Hospitality) in doing this important ceremony in Te Ao Māori.
We have had a lot of contractors at school over the holidays with building and painting mahi (work) being done. Massive thanks for Jordon and Rob from eHaus who smashed out our two sets of stairs that lead down to our microforest area that we are developing. Our next stage is to connect these stairs (pictured above) through a boardwalk providing safe access for everyone to enjoy this space. We also want to acknowledge Tou and Tequilla, our painters from Programmed. They have done an amazing job touching up all those ‘tired’ looking spaces around our school that needed freshening up, as well as their main project which was restoring Kauri back to its original glory. You may have noticed the roof and high areas of this building still need to be completed, but we have to wait for their abseil paint team to come and do this, because of the steep pitch.
Over the holidays, Billy from Kahikatea competed in the NZ Junior Motocross Championships and finished 5th place in the 8-10 years 85cc event at Flipp MX Park in Oroua Downs. What an amazing achievement Billy, you make it look so easy in the action shot above!
Thank you to Ruby and Ryleigh who attended the Dawn Service at Te Marae o Hine (The Square) on Anzac Day and laid the wreath on behalf of Turitea School, honouring our long standing commitment to this special day in Aotearoa New Zealand History.
This week, our Year 4-6 Boys had their netball session with Michaela from Netball Manawatū. This is the first of 6 weekly sessions that she will do with this cohort in an attempt to promote the sport in our rohe (region) Thank you to all our Team Turitea sports coaches that have stepped up to tautoko (support) our tamariki who are playing Basketball or Hockey this term. As always, we can’t do this without you, so big love to you!
Kapa Haka – Pae Tamariki:
We started back at Kapa Haka this week with Whaea Tūrehu and she has started to get us ready for our big performance at Pae Tamariki at the Regent on Tuesday 18th June, so please get that date on your calendar and once we know the exact time, we will let you all know. Our kōtiro tuakana (senior girls) have started learning poi (a soft, ball-like creation with an attached cord that is held in the hand) with her. We can’t wait to take the stage to share our new bracket (performance) with you.
Matariki Celebrations:
With special thanks to Lazir (Dad to Ariki in Rātā) from the NZDF, our whole school is invited to attend a special Matariki celebration on Thursday 20th June from 9.30 – 1.30pm. Parents are welcome to join us for this day of learning about this significant day in Te Ao Māori. It will be at the Cultural Centre inside the Army Camp, so we will require you to let us know if you are attending well in advance and will require your car licence plate number and you will need photo identification upon arrival. We will set this up closer to the time.
Staff Only Day:
Please add Tuesday 4th June (the day after King’s Birthday) to your calendar as we are having a Staff Only Day (along with the other 20 primary schools in our Kāhui Ako) at PNINS. We are all joining together to connect with Rangitanē, our mana whenua for a collective symposium. This is an amazing opportunity for us to develop our knowledge of localised curriculum, histories and Mātauranga Māori, (Māori Knowledge) while fostering collaboration across the many kura involved. We appreciate you letting us have this day.
From Te Whānau Māori:
Thank you to those who came to our first whānau hui of the year on Wednesday evening. Here is the slide that shared some of the highlights and directed some of our kōrero (chat). If you were unable to attend and would like to chat or share your whakaaro (thoughts) please reach out to me. There is also a closed group on Facebook that we are looking to update. If you would like to be included in this group, please let us know.
Mobility Parking:
I understand that our mobility park is in a prime spot that does sit empty for a lot of the time at pickup/drop off. But we have a few parents in our community who have a mobility permit and this park is to be reserved for them to use when they need it. If you could please observe this rule and avoid parking in this space, we would really appreciate it.
Pātaka Kai:
By now, we hope you have seen our new pātaka kai (pantry) at the entranceway with some of our school grown fruit/vegetables. We want this to be available for you all to use if you have surplus produce that you’d like to share, please do so. Thanks again to Maitlin (Tahu and Kaia’s Dad) who built this for us.
Office Reminders:
Just a friendly reminder that if your child is going to be away from school to let the office know, rather than the teacher. Julie is the one who handles making sure everyone is accounted for. You can let us know through Hero by clicking the three lines up the top left hand corner and then going to Report an Absence. Did you or anyone in your whānau who is listed as a school contact shift house or get a new phone number or email address over the holidays? If your contact details have changed, please let Julie know at the office.
School Gate:
We are very lucky to have our school fully fenced ensuring safety for all our tamariki. During the hours of 9-3pm, our gate must stay closed at all times. We open it at 3pm, but we close the gate overnight so those who come to school before 8.30am find this shut in the morning. Could you remember to assist your tamariki in opening the gate for them rather than letting them climb up on the outside to try and open it?
Pool Keys:
I’d like to acknowledge the service that Ben James, Wei Chua and Fraser Ponsford have given us all over the season with the maintenance of our swimming pool. We couldn’t have opened the pool over the summer without your service and provided the pool for our daily swimming sessions. Whakawhetai koutou! (we are grateful) If you hired a pool key over the summer, could you please return it to the office as soon as you can.
Firewood:
We’ve had limited uptake on our firewood fundraiser and we are interested in your feedback about why this hasn’t ‘hit the mark’ like we expected. If you could let us know via the short survey, we’d appreciate it. If you would still like to order, you can fill out the form. Thanks to those who have already supported this.
From the PTA:
Today is the last day to order a Turitea School Hoodie! Order here and pay into the Supporters Club bank account (not the schools account) by 4pm today.
Epic Music:
Does your child love music, want to learn an instrument or play in a band? Click here for more information. Lessons are every Thursday with Oscar, who takes Drums, Guitar and Foundation skills.
Music with Heather:
If your child would like to learn the piano/keyboard this term, please contact Heather on 027 245 2780 or email her. Lessons are every Monday during the school day, Keyboards are available for hire.
Kelly Sport Afterschool Programme:
Issy and the team are back running their Tuesday after school sports clinics for our Year 0-4 students. For more information and registration, click here. Plenty of spaces are still available to get involved!
Subway Lunches:
These started back up again today and you can order every Friday for the year through Lunchonline or clicking the Food icon in Hero.
Massey Kids Club:
Have some spaces opening up in their after school care in the middle of the term if there is anyone needing care, please contact Kate Palmer-Dench on 027 678 4636 or email her.
Triple P Positive Parenting:
The Triple P staff at ACROSS Te Kotahitanga O Te Wairua are excited to be able to offer parents free 2-hour ‘Positive Parenting’ courses again this term. Read their letter they sent us here for great courses on offer.
Scholastic Book Orders:
These are due next Wednesday 8th May and you can buy these items through the Loop App or Online.
This week, our lovely Julie became a Nana for the fourth time with the birth of her new grandson Charlie – Nau mai e te pēpi ki te ao mārama (Welcome to the world, little one)
Hei konā mai, noho ora mai (Bye for now, stay well)