Kia ora e te whānau, (Hello families)
And just like that, we’ve reached the end of another term at Turitea. Although it has only been 9 weeks long, we have crammed a lot of learning into it! This afternoon, I released your child’s mid-year report through Hero (or it will be in your child’s bag if they have joined Rimu this year). Please take the time to sit with them and share this together. I finished reading them all yesterday and I am extremely proud of every student. It gave me great pleasure to hear how they are tracking in their learning and exhibiting our Ngā Uara o te Kura (School Values). I did chuckle a few times reading their student voice too, which hopefully gives you all valuable insight into life at kura through their eyes.
A massive mihi (thank you) to our fantastic kaiako; Anna, Carly, Cameron, Trish, Anneliese and Karen who have spent hours crafting these and they show remarkable knowledge of your tamariki. As mentioned previously, we have updated the information slide that explains the changes we have made to our reporting, as well as help you understand their Overall Teacher Judgment (OTJ) based on Te Mātaiaho (Our refreshed curriculum). I urge you to take a few minutes to read this, as we don’t want you to be alarmed if your child isn’t yet meeting the year level expectations, as we still have the next two terms of learning!
Unfortunately this week, we have had to say “Haere Ra” (Farewell) to some members of our whānau. On Monday, Deane from Mataī left us bound for Tasmania, where he and his family are moving. This afternoon, we said goodbye to Lihmé, also from Mataī, as her whānau are moving back to Auckland. So a sad week for Trish and the ākonga (learners) in her class. We wish them both the best of luck as they transition on to their new kura. Also today marked our wonderful Bella’s last day with us. She has been an outstanding student teacher learning alongside Whaea Anneliese and the tamariki in Tōtara. We know she will make an exceptional teacher next year and the students loved her so much that they wrote me letters telling me to hire her next year. I had to laugh when one said “Just employ her bro, she wears Jordans!” I love our kids!
On Wednesday, we held our Senior Speech Finals and these were marked by long-standing judges of ours; Mark and David, who come back to our kura every year because they love doing it so much! We started with our Year 4 students, where we had Evander, Marissa, Baxter and Zali deliver their poems and kudos goes to them for all reciting them off by heart. Whakamihi nui ki a korua (Congratulations) to our winner Evander and runner up Marissa. In the Year 5/6 competition, the Top 5 students from both Tōtara and Kauri were whittled down last Thursday to 5 finalists; Kazuri, Elisa, Felicity, Kyerin and Ivor, where their topic was ‘to persuade’ and they all did exactly that. All the speeches were entirely written in class and executed with enthusiasm and confidence. Our audience did a fantastic job and even gave meaningful feedback after each delivery. Ka nui te moemiti (huge praise) to our winner Kyerin, runner up Elisa and third place getter Kazuri.
Yesterday, we had two teams of Year 5/6 students compete in a first time event for us called Battle of the Books in Levin. The first team was Toby, Finn, Lily and Elisa and the second team was Amelia M, Felicity, Jackson and Makayla. They all gave up many lunchtimes to train and all read 6 books as part of their preparation for the event. On the day, nearly 60 teams from across the Manawatū and Horowhenua region answered 10 quiz-style questions over 8 rounds about each book. At the end of the competition, our team of Toby, Finn, Lily and Elisa was tied in first place with St. Josephs Feilding, so entered the tie break round to which they came out victorious! How exciting for them to bring home the trophy and over $400 in books. Kei Reira! (Right on)
This week marked the end of the Garden to Table programme for our tuakana (seniors) and I was invited along to eat fresh garden salad with hummus and flatbread on Monday for lunch – He tino reka! (It was yummy). Meryl and Kirstin are now planning how to roll this out with the next classes in Term 3. Arohamai (Sorry) I forgot to share the video from last week and here is this week’s masterpiece from Meryl.
On Monday, 21 students braved the conditions to get involved in the Tough Guy and Girl Challenge as you can see above. Thanks to those who came and cheered on our kids in this glorious and muddy event!
Hui Ā Kura:
Our final Hui Ā Kura (Assembly) of the term was held in Tāne Mahuta this afternoon led by Ariki, Harry and Ben from Kauri. We gave out a lot of certificates today from speech finals, cluster cross country and also recognised those who model our school’s uara consistently, through our fortnightly tiwhikete (certificates). Those people were:
- Rimu: Margot – Whanaungatanga
- Rātā: Ayla – Mātauranga
- Pōhutukawa: River – Manaakitanga
- Mataī: Marissa – Manaakitanga
- Tōtara: Andre – Mātauranga
- Kauri: Charlotte – Whanaungatanga
- Tumuaki: Leo B – Manaakitanga and Ella J – Manaakitanga (from last hui)
- Meryl’s Kaitiaki Award: Aerlene
Term Dates for 2026:
At our last BoT hui, we approved the school calendar for 2026:
- Term 1: Thursday 29th January* – Friday 3rd April. *Puna Kōrero (Learning Conferences) will be held the day before the first day on Wednesday 28th January.
- Term 2: Monday 20th April – Friday 3rd July.
- Term 3: Monday 20th July – Friday 25th September.
- Term 4: Monday 12th October – Friday 11th December.
There will be no school on the following days; Waitangi Day – Friday 6th February, Staff Only Day – Monday 9th February, ANZAC Day – Monday 27th April (observed), Staff Only Day – Friday 29th May, King’s Birthday – Monday 1st June and Labour Day – Monday 26th October.
Board of Trustees (BoT) Elections:
As mentioned previously, we’ll be sharing information about appointing new BoT members early next term. Ever wondered what they actually do? They’re pretty much the school’s governors, making sure everything runs smoothly from a big-picture perspective. They help set our strategic direction, oversee property and finances, and make sure we are all about our tamariki succeeding and thriving. We meet twice a term (usually in Week 2 and 8) and we even feed you yummy kai! If you’re interested in finding out more about the role, chat to myself, Joeli, Peter, Sarah or Fraser.
Whānau Showcase Evening:
Hopefully Thursday 24th July (Term 3, Week 2) is on your calendars for our Whānau Showcase. It will run from 3.30 – 7pm and you can come at times that suit you over the evening to give your tamariki an opportunity to proudly share their mahi (work) with you. If you’d still like a one-on-one chat, you’re welcome to make an appointment. However, the main goal of this is to let your child show off their achievements.
From the PTA:
You might have seen our Facebook post about the Paint it Forward competition, where you can nominate a community space for a paint makeover. If you’d like to nominate our kura, we’d love your support, click here and copy this text to paste in ‘Freshen up a few of our tired, school-owned spaces that we don’t get MoE funds to do. We like our kura looking clean, neat and nice so would love to win this prize!’ Please remember to lock in our Wild West Quiz Night on Saturday 9th August. Register your team by 18th July here.
Table Tennis Success:
What a great season we had at the Manawatū Table Tennis Competition with 24 teams and 59 players across four grades. A huge congratulations to all four Turitea teams pictured above for their effort and improvement throughout the term. We’re especially proud to celebrate that two of our teams made it to the finals. The A-Grade Runners-Up were the Turitea Table Titans of Xavier, Blake and Kazuri. The B-Grade Runners-Up were the Turitea Trickshots of Riley, Elisa and Ariki. The A-Grade Individual Player Runner-Up was Xavier. Huge mihi to Brian and Graham for giving up their lunchtimes to coach this group.
Intermediate Transition:
I know this is only relevant for our current Year 6 whānau members, but next term the Intermediate schools will host their open evenings for you to consider where your child might attend school in 2026. I will list the information here for you in future pānui (newsletters). PNINS have got in early and shared their plan here.
Mulch Moving:
Meryl is moving more of the mulch in the microforest area on Monday if anyone could spare a few hours to come and lend a hand. Could be a good start to the holiday activity as a whānau if you are off work. BYO wheelbarrow and shovel. Ngā mihi (Thank you)
From the Community:
- Massey Kids Club is looking to start a before-school care program in Term 3, alongside their usual after-school care program. If this is of interest to you, check out the information here.
- Join the adventure with West End Scouts. Empower your child to lead with confidence through adventurous experiences at WES. We’re open to youth aged 5-14, with the first four weeks free
- Ngā Manu Nature Reserve in Waikanae has some cool things on offer these school holidays. If you are looking at going for a little tiki tour down those ways, check out the information here.
Holiday Programmes:
With the school holidays on our doorstep now, check out the options below:
- Kelly Sports Holiday Programme – See their information here
- Bounce Basketball Academy – See the poster here
- Epic Music Academy – Check out our website for more information
- Manawatū Hockey – Information here. Year 3/4’s register here and Year 5/6’s register here
- Netball Manawatū – Information here and register here
- Massey Kids Club – Here is their information
- Marist Football Club – Have their Footie Fix holiday programme. Register here.
- Wild Things – Check out our website for more information.
Sheesh, bit of a long one from me sorry whānau, hope I kept you awake till the end. Feel free to join us for our termly mihi whakatau (Informal welcome) for new whānau members, as well as Kristin, our new kaiako who starts with us at 9am on Monday 14th July, which is our first day of term.
Hei te wāhanga tuatoru (See you in Term 3)
Troy
principal@turitea.school.nz