Kia ora e te whānau (Hello everyone)
I hope you all had a great long weekend and thanks for your tautoko (support) around our Teacher Only Day on Tuesday as we know this can inconvenience you. Any time our staff get together to engage in professional discourse, there is plenty of rigour around the decisions we make, conversations we have and future planning we do. The day highlighted for me how amazing our staff are and how they are embracing our ‘rapidly-rolled-out’ new curriculum to improve outcomes for ākonga (learners) in 2025 and beyond. A dream team for sure!
This week, our last two tamariki joined the Turitea Whānau for the year taking our closing roll to 158 students. Nau mai, Haere mai to Niko, who is Freddie’s little brother, and Liam, who is Joe’s little brother. They both joined Meagan and Hannah in Rimu. We love when siblings finally get to start at kura with us, even though it feels like they have been part of us for ages.
Anneliese is off to Rarotonga next week to marry her partner Maitlin, with their children Tahu and Kaia. Today we had a pre-wedding surprise celebration to wish them all the best, pictured below. The whakatukī (proverb) acknowledges their next step together; He hono tangata e kore e motu, ka pa he taura waka e motu – Unlike a canoe rope, a human bond cannot be severed. She will come back as Anneliese Kakau.
On Wednesday we took part in the (un)official ‘Keepy Uppy’ World Record attempt put together by Sport Manawatū. This was something a bit fun that as you can see here and below, our kids enjoyed trying to keep the balls in the air for one minute. We are waiting to hear if we smashed the record held in Queensland, Australia.
Today is Gumboot Friday and we had lots of tamariki don their kamuputu (gumboots) below to support
I Am Hope, which offers rangatahi (young people) free counselling. Quite ironic that it fell on our Lamb, Calf and Pet Day which is this evening from 4-7pm. Those who want to take their animals to the next level, the Oroua Boys & Girls Ag Club Championship Day is next Saturday 9th November at the Te Kawau Memorial Grounds.
Today also marked a ‘special ‘birthday for Meryl, so we celebrated accordingly at morning tea as you can see below. If you see her today, make sure you wish her Hari Huri Tau (Happy Birthday).
No Hui Ā Kura:
There was no Hui Ā Kura this afternoon, as our classrooms have all been locked down for indoor exhibit judging and the teachers want this time to get their classrooms looking ataahua (beautiful) for all the visitors we will hopefully have this evening. So, we will have Hui Ā Kura next week and then Week 5, 6 and 8.
From the BoT:
As I mentioned, we will have some vacancies on our Board of Trustees for 2025. We are having an election next September, but it is an opportunity for someone to get a taste of ‘Life on the BoT’ until then, to see if it is something you might be interested in doing. If you are so considering it, flick me an email or chat to Liam, Joeli, Niki, Hannah or Peter who could give you further insight.
From the PTA:
Huge thanks to the team who decked out Tāne Mahuta for our Halloween Disco last Friday – it looked incredible! What a supportive group you all are giving our tamariki cool and memorable experiences like this. Next week, your child will be bringing home a notice regarding our Art Fundraiser. It will look a little different as this year we are using a new supplier called The Online Printer. Each child is allocated a unique code and this can be used to order a range of products featuring their amazing artwork on the front. Orders must be made here by Sunday 17th November. If you don’t receive this, please get in touch with Julie at the office. Don’t forget about our Pepper and Me Fundraiser too.
School Pool:
We look forward to opening our pool for the summer season soon. We are fortunate to have parent volunteers who learn how to do the daily chlorine testing that needs to be done to keep the pool safe for everyone. We lose Ben James as a parent at the end of the year and he has been our mātanga (expert) in doing this for us. There are few parents who will help take over this role, but need a few more. We will get Shaun from Atlantis Pool and Spa (Formerly Shaun’s Pools) to come and train us. If you are keen to help with this, please reach out to me so we can lock in a date.
Important Event Dates:
Yesterday we finalised some End of Year dates to add to your diaries. These have been added to Hero in the Events tab or on our website, but here they are at a glance:
-Year 6 End Of Year Excursion: Tuesday 10th December @ 9.30am.
-End of Year PTA Pool Party for Everyone: Thursday 12th December @ 12.30pm.
-Year 6 Graduation: Thursday 12th December @ 5.30pm.
-End of Year Prizegiving/Final Assembly: Friday 13th December @ 12pm.
-School finishes for 2024: Friday 13th December @ 1pm.
From the Community:
- Brent Boddy Prestige are running a colouring competition to celebrate the release of their new BYD vehicles and are offering cool prizes for those who are keen.
- If you need after school care, Massey Kids Club still has spaces available. Please get in touch with Lakin by emailing her to enquire.
- ACROSS Te Kotahitanga o Te Wairua have free 2-hour online or in-person parenting workshops on various topics like handling disobedience, creating bedtime routines and managing screen time.
- Celebrate the Hindu celebration Diwali Mela tomorrow from 5pm-10.30pm at Te Marae o Hine (The Square). Enjoy cultural performances, hands-on activities and food trucks!
- Taiopenga ā-Rēhia (Palmy Play Festival) is a free community event celebrating games from around the world next Saturday 9th November from 11am-1pm at Te Marae o Hine.
- Act Three Productions are holding auditions for 8-16 year olds for their musical School of Rock. Auditions held from 8th-12th November. Email them for more information or use the link to register.
Hope the weather remains fine for us and we see you all this evening at our Lamb, Calf and Pet Day at 4pm.
Ka kite ano (See you soon)
Troy
principal@turitea.school.nz