Category: News

Whaea Tūrehu has been working hard with our tamariki every Wednesday during Kapa Haka on learning new waiata (songs) and kupu (words). This morning at hui, they sang so beautifully without her, man I was proud to hear that. I’ll have to take a video for you all next time. We had some amazing leaders step up too which was great to see with Ada, Nate, Iti and Maikara showcasing their leadership - Ka mau te wehi! (great job). Our goal in Kapa Haka is to take the whole school to perform in Pae Tamariki in Term 3 at the...

Hoping you all managed to not be affected by Cyclone Gabrielle this week. Our river was certainly pretty full! Unfortunately the same can’t be said for some of those in the Hawke’s Bay, East Coast, Auckland and Northland regions who have been hit badly. Some truly devastating scenes from there. I know in our senior classes, some authentic learning occurred around cyclones and earthquakes in light of these recent events. I am hoping that some social action will come from our tamariki in what we might be able to do to help.

Why is it that when we have a short week at school, we try to fit more than a whole week's worth of things into it? Needless to say, we are back in the swing of things at school. A special welcome to Esme and her whānau who are new to Turitea and started in Rimu with Meagan this week. This week on Tuesday, we had Natalie and Maureen from OfficeMax run our weekly Staff Hui. They put us through our paces and made us be learners too, getting us involved in a range of Art, STEM and Digital Learning...

Kia ora e te whānau, We had a beautiful Mihi Whakatau to welcome our new whānau to the school on Tuesday, which I found really special. It was nice to set the tone for the year from this and ‘live and breathe’ our uara (values) of Whanaungatanga (Positive Relationships) and Manaakitanga (Kindness and Hospitality) in doing this important ceremony in Te Ao Māori.  We are delighted to welcome to our school; Billy, Ethan, Greer, Mila, George and Michael, who are all brand new whānau to Turitea School in Rimu with Meagan. Finally joining their older siblings who are already here...

Kia ora e te whānau, Welcome back to 2023! It was so nice to connect with some of you today or over the past week in and around the place. The teachers have been working super hard to get their classroom environments looking amazing, so that your kids come tomorrow and will be stoked with their new space. Meryl, our fantastic caretaker has been doing the same thing externally ensuring that our school grounds are looking ātaahua (beautiful) as well!

Kia ora e te whānau, This will be the last pānui I write to you for 2022… We made it! What an amazing year we have had with so much to celebrate. Thank you all for your positivity and support as I made it through my first year at Turitea and first being a principal too. A great way to finish too as this afternoon we had our Xmas Pool Party and what a fun way to end the year! Huge thanks to the amazing PTA who put it all on, our kids got blasted by Santa on a Firetruck...

Kia ora e te whānau, How is it that I am writing this pānui with only three and a half days of school remaining? It feels like just the other day I was writing my very first pānui to you all way back in January. Is it a sign of getting old when the years fly by like this? I had a really proud moment on Monday morning when I had a special visitor, my Dad Barrie. He was also a proud principal for over 20 years at Bombay School in Auckland. It was nice to finally show him around...

Kia ora e te whānau, Last chance to if you would like to provide your thoughts on placement for 2023, please fill out this form.  Year 6 Graduation: Monday 12th December at 5.30pmThis event will be held in Tane Mahuta and will be just for our Year 6 leavers and their whānau. We will have the graduation ceremony, a few speeches and trophies and then share some kai together before leaving at approx 7.30pm. End of Year Prizegiving: Tuesday 13th December at 2pmThis will be a formal event for our whole school to give out End of Year certificates from...

Kia ora e te whānau, Today marks 14 days of school remaining in the year, how about that? Thank you to those of you who have taken the opportunity to provide your feedback around our class placement for 2023. I welcome you to have your say and fill out this form if you haven’t done so already. I want to acknowledge that our idea of running two Year 4-6 classrooms is a change to what has previously been done out here. Now I could bombard you with a bunch of research that supports this methodology, however this has been common...

Kia ora e te whānau, Hoping this finds you all doing well as we head past the halfway point of the term.  Staffing for 2023: Next year, Karen Walker is rejoining the team after taking leave this year. We look forward to her being back, in fact she is in for Trish this morning, so everyone will enjoy that. Bridgit James is taking refreshment leave for 2023 and she will be sorely missed, but she has assured us that it is just leave! We will finalise her replacement for next year in the coming weeks and let you know the outcome. Changes for 2023:...