Tēnā koutou katoa, (Hello everyone)
I’ve really appreciated the kind words you’ve sent in regarding having a voice on placement of your children for next year through the survey that closed on Wednesday morning. It isn’t an easy job with a lot of variables considered in completing this.
The infamous quote of ‘You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time’ is ringing true currently.
As we work to finalise these lists, I will remind you that we take this task very seriously. We understand you may have a preference for your child’s placement and we value your input. I am fortunate to have a dedicated team of kaiako who know your tamariki intimately and all decisions are made in their best interests. We please ask for your trust and understanding, especially if we can’t give you what you requested.
One thing that always blows people away when I show them around our kura is the amazing artwork that our tamariki do. Here are two perfect examples of mahi toi (artwork) above from Rātā and below from Mataī. After reading the timeless tale of Fantastic Mr. Fox in class, the ākonga (students) in Rātā were inspired to bring the story to life through art. Linking to our uara of Kaitiakitanga, our learners from Mataī created superheroes whose superpower linked to this value. He mahi ataahua koutou! (Beautiful work everyone!)
After a few rainy True Hoops sessions with Coach Miles, today was an absolute cracker. I couldn’t resist snapping this action shot below of Bufton demonstrating his shooting form. We still have two more sessions with him, one next Wednesday and then the following Friday.
The team of Jordon and Max from eHaus are back in our kura today. They are volunteering their labour and are reusing the pickets from our original fence from out the front of the school to create a fence and gate to the microforest. Thanks to Anna, the director of eHaus for sponsoring this for us.
Hui ā Kura:
This afternoon, we had our third Hui ā Kura (Assembly) of the term, finally catching up to our usual fortnightly schedule. Natalie, Emily, Alexa, Milana, Charlee and Harper were our Year 6 hosts and we recognised those who demonstrate our school uara consistently. Receiving their tiwhikete (certificate) this week were:
Rimu: Liam – Manaakitanga and Billy – Mātauranga
Rātā: Ariki – Mātauranga
Pōhutukawa: Skyla – Mātauranga
Mataī: Matthew – Mātauranga
Tōtara: Milana – Manaakitanga
Kahikatea: Emily – Mātauranga
Tumuaki: Harry – Mātauranga and Skyla – Manaakitanga (from last week)
Interschool Athletics:
On Monday, Cameron took the Year 5/6 team pictured above of Charlee, Natalie, Ruby, Kazuri, Sophia, Harper, Ryleigh, Finn, Ezekiel, Tahu, Elias and Billy to the Palmerston North Interschool Athletics event at the Massey Track. The sun was shining and it was the perfect day for it. We had some really pleasing results with many of our track athletes doing well in their heats and moving on to the finals. Tahu came 2nd in the Year 6 Boys High Jump and Kazuri came 3rd in Year 5 Girls Discus. Ka rawe korua! (Well done both of you)
School Donations:
Thank you to those of you who gave your input to the school donations short survey last week. It was great to receive your voice around these. The final numbers came in:
-25 people think we should keep it the same at $100 per year/$150 per whānau
-50 people think we should slightly increase it to $125 per year/$200 per whānau
-19 people think we should increase it substantially to $150 per year/$250 per whānau.
We’ve chatted to the good folks at Hero and they advised us that the easiest way to cater to all is to keep the set donation amount and then add two ‘additional donation’ lines that parents can choose to pay if they wish. This will be reflected in the new year and it will show in your finances tab in Hero.
School Pool:
Our wonderful team of Pool Parents have been working hard to get our pool ready for the summer months. Our aim is to have it ready for use in the first week of December. So this Monday morning, we will have pool keys available to hire for $50 for the season. 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 them before the end of the year.
This year they have flash new labels as you can see above. Please keep them out of direct sunlight or they will melt. Thanks Dani for arranging these with the profit made on the Turitea Fundraiser keyrings.
Pack the Bus:
As I mentioned last week, 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. Please send in any non-perishable food items, new gifts and toys for kids of all ages (unwrapped) to the office to help Pack the Bus.
From the PTA:
Thank you for your support with our Pepper & Me and the Art Fundraiser through the Online Printer. We hope you enjoy your products that you’ve ordered and know that your purchase gives the PTA a little kickback.
Spare Suitcase:
Do you have a child’s suitcase that you no longer need? We are looking to build a ‘high-interest’ collection of portable resources that can easily be taken from room to room. Please contact Trish if you can help us 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: Next Friday 29th November
-Mataī/Pōhutukawa Wildbase Trip: Monday 2nd December
-Kahikatea/Tōtara Awa Bike Trail Trip: Tuesday 3rd December
-Rātā/Rimu Memorial Park Trip: Thursday 5th December
-Year 6 End Of Year Excursion: Tuesday 10th December
-School Reports/2025 Class Placement Live on Hero: Wednesday 11th December
-Year 6 Graduation: Wednesday 11th December @ 5.30pm (*Please note the date of Graduation above has now changed from previously communicated*)
-End of Year Whole School PTA Pool Party: Thursday 12th December @ 12.30pm
-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 this Monday at 9am.
- 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!
Kia pai tō rā whakatā (Have a great weekend)
Troy
principal@turitea.school.nz