Kia ora e te whānau,
Apologies for the alarm on Wednesday when you came to pick up your tamariki and there were two fire engines taking up all the parks! We had a fault in our newly-installed manual call point in Tāne Mahuta. Our kids did exactly what they needed to do when the siren sounded and evacuated promptly, which shows our systems work. It created some cool writing opportunities in our classroom too, an unintended bonus.
As you can see below, I have had kids from all across the school come and share with me the amazing learning they have been doing in class lately. First I had Van share his amazing portrait of his dog ‘Manu’ which was his response to a poem they had been reading. Then I had Joe and Michael share their research around the trees that our classrooms are named after. Today I had Sophia, Carmen, Cooper, Kérian and Neve share their amazing writing that they have been doing with Faye, about combining sentences.
In my midweek pānui, I informed you of our recent appointment we made. We are delighted to have Carly Lanham join our teaching team next year. Here is what everyone is doing in 2025 if you haven’t seen yet.
Classroom Teachers:
Year 4-6 with Whaea Anneliese in Tōtara
Year 4-6 with Karen in Kauri
Year 3/4 with Trish in Mataī
Year 2/3 with Cameron in Pōhutukawa
Year 1/2 with Carly in Rātā
Year 0/1 with Anna in Rimu
Part-Time Teachers:
-Faye will work 0.7 FTTE (Full Time Equivalent) releasing Karen and taking Literacy intervention groups.
-Meagan will work 0.6 FTTE (3 days a week) releasing either Anneliese, Anna, Carly or Cameron.
-Bridgit will work 0.4 FTTE (2 days a week) releasing Trish.
-Hannah will work full time taking Maths intervention and extension groups until Friday 21st February 2025, when she goes on maternity leave.
Class Placement for 2025:
Thank you to those of you who have already given us your thoughts around placement of your tamariki next year. We do value your input, so if you haven’t already done so, you can still here. You can just leave it up to us, but we do like to give you a voice. We will do everything we can to honour your requests, but this isn’t always possible given the size of our school. Thank you in advance for your understanding of this. We will close this form next Wednesday 20th November, so we can finalise placement for 2025.
Hui ā Kura:
This afternoon, we had our second Hui ā Kura (Assembly) of the term. We realise that we just had one last week, but with whanaungatanga being one of our values, coming together as a whole kura is important to us. Cassius, Ezekiel, Tahu, Elias, Ryleigh and Billy were our Year 6 hosts and we recognised those who demonstrate our school uara (values) consistently. Receiving their tiwhikete (certificate) this week were:
Rimu: Keita – Whanaungatanga and Archie – Mātauranga
Rātā: Grace – Whanaungatanga
Pōhutukawa: Bronwyn – Mātauranga
Mataī: Charlie – Mātauranga
Tōtara: Elias – Whanaungatanga
Kahikatea: Kazuri – Mātauranga
Interschool Table Tennis:
On Tuesday, we had a boys team of Blake, Henry, Topher and Xavier and a girls team of Amelia C, Kazuri, Olivia and Riley compete in the Interschool Table Tennis tournament (pictured above). Our boys came second place and our girls came in sixth place, meaning we came third overall as a school. In the separate ‘Rally Challenge’ Henry and Blake came first and won a set of bats/balls for the school. Henry and Kazuri came second in the ‘Keepy Uppy Challenge’ too. Henry was undefeated on the day and won the top boy of the tournament. What a result – Kei reira koutou! (Awesome everyone!)
Interschool Road Race:
Well done to Natalie, Ada and Indi who competed in this event that the Manawatū Striders ran on Tuesday. Special mention to Natalie who came 5th place in the Year 6 Girls event.
Interschool Athletics:
Next Monday our Year 5/6 team of Charlee, Natalie, Ruby, Kazuri, Sophia, Harper Ryleigh, Finn, Ezekiel, Tahu, Elias and Billy are representing Turitea at the Interschool Athletics event at the Massey Athletics Track. We wish them all the best. Karawhiua koutou (Give it heaps everybody). Thanks to our parents who support all of the above events mentioned.
School Donations:
Thank you to those of you who gave your input to the school donations short survey last week. As it stands:
-16 people think we should keep it the same at $100 per year/$150 per whānau
-31 people think we should slightly increase it to $125 per year/$200 per whānau
-10 people think we should increase it substantially to $150 per year/$250 per whānau.
I’d like to leave the survey open to ensure we have at least half of our parent voice in before we make a decision on this. Since 2010, we’ve asked for $100 per child/$150 per whānau in school donations. As the cost of living has risen, we haven’t adjusted these, which we do rely on to fund all the extra things for our kids that aren’t covered by our grant from the government.
Pack the Bus:
Property Brokers and MediaWorks are excited to announce that Pack the Bus is back in December, picking up much needed donations for local families these holidays. This is the first time that Turitea School has been involved and we need your help to fill the bus on Wednesday 4th December at 1.30pm with goodies for those who need support at Christmas. Perty the mouse and a bus full of festive volunteers will be onboard to spread Christmas cheer and give every kid a sticker to say thanks for their kindness. Please send in any non-perishable food items, new gifts and toys for kids of all ages (unwrapped) to the office from next week to help Pack the Bus.
School Pool:
Massive thanks to our Pool Parents team of Lucain, Wei, Fraser, Anne-Maree, Shayna and Patrice who have volunteered to help maintain the chlorine levels of our pool over the upcoming summer season. They attended their training session with Shaun yesterday on how to do this to ensure everyone is safe. We hope to open the pool after giving it a clean and will offer keys out to you to hire at $50 a key. We have had to increase the price of this due to the rising cost of pool chemicals.
From the PTA:
Hopefully you’ve found something you like in the range of Art Fundraiser products. You should have got a sheet for your child with 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 this Sunday. We have less than 10 orders from each class, so don’t miss out!
Important Event Dates:
I will keep these up to date on every pānui for the rest of the term. (Also found in the Events tab on the Hero App or our website) Hero is the only place to look for information regarding these events as they go out.
-Year 5/6 Cluster Kī o Rahi Competition: Friday 29th November
-Mataī/Pōhutukawa Wildbase Trip: Monday 2nd December
-Kahikatea/Tōtara Awa Bike Trail Trip: Tuesday 3rd December
-Year 6 End Of Year Excursion: Tuesday 10th December
-School Reports/2025 Class Placement Live on Hero: Wednesday 11th December
-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:
- The PNCC Libraries Summer Reading Programme is back for 2024-25! Registrations open here on 9am Monday 25th November.
- We have 12 bales of hay for sale at $10 a bale, if you are interested, talk to Julie.
- One of our parents, Danny owns Palm Accommodation and wanted to offer it to our community if you know someone who needs fully furnished, short or long term accommodation in Hokowhitu. He will donate one week’s letting fee to the school for every referral connected to us, shot Danny!
This afternoon I am out at our Manawatū Principals Association (MPA) event that we coined ‘Mana in the Manawatū’ where over 30 principals are getting on a bus and all heading to out to Waituna West, Hiwinui and Manchester Street Schools to see all the amazing things going on at those kura. A great way to connect with my fellow tumuaki in our rohe (region) and build connections.
Kia pai tō rā whakatā (Have a great weekend)
Troy
principal@turitea.school.nz