30/09

End of Term 3 Pānui

Iā€™m back on deck after having last week home in Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland with my dear mother Barb, who hasnā€™t been very well. Being a proud former tumuaki/principal herself, she sent me back to finish the term out. Didnā€™t the weather treat us well yesterday? Having looked at the weather forecast and waking up to the early morning rain, I have to admit ā€˜My head said no, but my gut said go!ā€™ so I was really glad that I trusted my gut, because the weather was the ideal condition for a day of athletics.

23/09

End of Term 3 Week 9 Pānui

Whakawhetai koe (Far-car-fear-tie-kwear: Thank you) to Craig Kawana, the original carver of our pare (pah-rear: lintel) from 2001 which lives above the main office door. Keeping it in the whānau, his son Mahina Scott-Kawana, under Craigā€™s tutelage, lovingly helped restore it to its former glory. Look up the next time you pop in and see for yourself how good the whakairo (fa-kai-roar: carving) is as a first impression to our school.

16/09

End of Term 3 Week 8 Pānui

I am writing you this pānui from Ōtautahi (Or-toe-tar-he: Christchurch) as I am currently attending the NZPF (New Zealand Principals Federation) annual hui (who-e: conference) down here. Iā€™ve felt privileged to be able to connect with almost 800 tumuaki (too-moo-ar-key: principals) from around the motu (more-too: country). I've also been able to listen to some amazing speakers including former Black Fern legend Dr. Farah Palmer, Crusaders Coach Scott Robertson, Renown Scientist Dr. Siouxsie Wiles and NZ Māori Academic Prof. Russell Bishop.

09/09

End of Term 3 Week 7 Pānui

Thanks for all the love you showed me on Tuesday for my ā€˜big birthdayā€™. Sounds like some things canā€™t be kept secret around here. It wasnā€™t all treats, cards and presents though (however they were really nice, see the photos) my office did get quite the makeover! Have a laugh at my expense here to see what some of the staff did for me... Hope that some of you took on the wero (weah-roar: challenge) of using some Te Reo Māori in your daily life this month. Iā€™d love to hear how youā€™re getting on. With next week being Te...

02/09

End of Term 3 Week 6 Pānui

Yesterday marked the start of Mahuru - Māori Language Month. I challenge you to Kia Kaha Te Reo Māori - Have a go at using Māori Language. Sadly, we only have 3% of fluent speakers of Te Reo, a language that is native to us here in Aotearoa. You could start small; even if it is just changing from saying Hello to Kia Ora (Key or-ra) or See you later to Ka Kite (Car key-tear). Iā€™ll try and support you with the pronunciation and give some phonetic pointers to help you out. One cool site Iā€™ve stumbled across is Māori...

25/08

End of Term 3 Week 5 Pānui

Iā€™m getting in a day early on the pānui action as I am off site tomorrow. Thanks to those of you who booked Learning Check Inā€™s for today and yesterday. We hope you found this process useful. Remember you can arrange to meet with the teachers anytime via email. This is what they do and value meeting with you.

19/08

End of Term 3 Week 4 Pānui

Proud principal moment for me to watch our two Basketball teams compete in the finals last night at the Arena. Our Year 3/4 team shot the ball extremely well and passed as a team and beat Winchester 12-4 making them champions of their division! Our Year 5/6 team showed so much grit, resilience and physicality but lost to North Street School 12-4 making them runners up of their division. Thanks to Ali and Beth for their coaching, as well as all the parents who came and waved the Turitea Flag. Ka mau te wehi! - Awesome!

12/08

End of Term 3 Week 3 Pānui

Hoping this pānui finds you all doing well on this glorious spring day! Hero is telling me that I am reaching almost three quarters of you which is amazing. A reminder that all you need is an email to get yourself an account and we can grant you access to the app or have the pānui emailed to you if you prefer.Ā 

05/08

End of Term 3 Week 2 Pānui

I can tell from how intuitive Hero is, that nearly a quarter of you are connected through the app. It tells me that two thirds of you have received and read communications from us too via email. So we are getting there. If you havenā€™t made the shift yet, it is pretty simple. Apple users click here or Android users click here to download the app. If you have any questions, come and ask us for help, that is what we are here for.Ā 

29/07

End of Term 3 Week 1 Pānui

Welcome back to the new term. First time coming to you through our new school app HERO. Am hoping you have all got connected ok. Will still be posting this on the Skool Loop to catch those who havenā€™t made the transition across yet. Please reach out if you have connectivity issues as we do need a valid email address listed in our system so we can link you to your child/ren to access this. Itā€™s simple and we hope you love it!