Tēnā koutou katoa,
Thank you for attending last Friday’s Lamb, Calf and Pet Day. The excellent weather made it a fun event that highlighted our school’s rural character. We appreciated everyone who brought along animals and thanks to those who supported our visiting food trucks. We hope to continue this long-standing tradition at Turitea School. Maybe next year we might see more animals, making for an even better evening?
Last week we appointed Sarah Orr to join our teaching team in 2027. She comes to us from Lytton Street School in Feilding and brings a wealth of junior school experience. We look forward to officially welcoming her next year. In other news, Meagan is having a baby in early April next year. We share our excitement for her, husband Wayne and their daughters Bella and Lea and we look forward to meeting ‘Baby Gooding.’
On Wednesday, we were lucky to have Mark from Trees for Survival help us with our planting day at school. The tamariki from Kauri helped bag up nearly 1,000 native seedlings, which have filled up our shadehouse in our Microforest area. These will grow and then we will plant them next year when they have grown. A great showing of our uara (value) of Kaitiakitanga, which is about looking after our environment.
Yesterday, we welcomed Coach Miles back into our school who is running his True Hoops basketball programme with four of our classes. It wasn’t the nicest of days, so they had to relocate to the hall in between showers. Hoping for some better weather next week for them. They have five weekly sessions with him.
This week, our tamariki have been completing their masterpieces for our PTA Calendar Art fundraiser. We will continue using the Online Printer. Our team will be scanning these in and will share with each class their individual code to order from. Here you will be able to see what their artwork looks like in a range of products.
Installation of our new swings is expected to begin this weekend. A huge thank you to Rodney from the Playground Centre in Whanganui, as well as a big mihi (thanks) to our PTA and Pub Charity for their grant support, which has helped bring this project to life. It will hopefully be ready to go early next week.
Next Saturday is the General Election, and Turitea School will be open as a polling booth. Cameron will be our voting place officer, so that might encourage you to vote here. Our tuakana (seniors) are part of Kids Voting and will hold their election next week, so it will be interesting to see how their parliament turns out.
Hui Ā Kura:
This afternoon’s assembly was led by Maya, Quinn, Sarah and Oliver. Our tuakana always do a superb job leading us. We congratulated those who won trophies from our Lamb, Calf and Pet Day last week and those who received a tiwhikete (certificate) for showing our Ngā Uara o te Kura (School Values).
Rimu: Te Ahikā – Mātauranga
Rātā: Marco – Mātauranga
Pōhutukawa: Rebecca – Whanaungatanga
Mataī: Patrick – Mātauranga
Kauri: Māia – Mātauranga
Tōtara: Stanley – Manaakitanga
Meagan: Billy – Manaakitanga
Troy: Matthew – Manaakitanga
Junior Lamb and Champion Lamb: Harvey with Cookie
Senior Lamb and Reserve Champion Lamb: Mackenzie with Noodle
Junior Pet and Reserve Champion Pet: Niko with his dog, Peanut
Intermediate Pet: Jack P with his dog, Monty
Senior Pet and Champion Pet: Oliver with his dog, Blue
Indoor Best Exhibit Cup: Aerlene with her Treehouse School
Juicies Next Week:
Starting next week, the kids in Tōtara will be selling juicies at lunchtime on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for $2 each, with lots of yummy flavours to choose from! Once the weather gets a bit warmer, we’ll start selling them every day. We’ll also be offering Juicy Passes for $10, which gets you 6 juicies for the price of 5! If you purchase a pass, we’ll keep a ticket with your name on it and clip it each time you collect a juicy. This means you won’t need to bring money each time, and we’ll keep track of how many juicies you have left.
Turitea Pumpkin Competition:
Hopefully you saw another one of Meryl’s Masterful Movies on Facebook today. This is to promote our annual pumpkin growing competition for 2027. She posts regular tips and updates here to help you grow the grandest pumpkins. Your child should bring home some seeds and instructions about this today.
School Photos:
The access codes were sent home with everyone last week. Orders due by Wednesday 4th November (next week) If you need your code again, please email Julie and she can help sort you out.
From the Community:
- The Manawatū Oroua Boys & Girls Ag Club Championship Day: It is on Saturday 14th November at Te Kawau Memorial Grounds, Rongotea, with free entry and judging starting at 10am. All students who entered a lamb in our Lamb, Calf and Pet Day are eligible to register online here.
- Community Safety Update: Police have increased patrols across Highbury following targeted gang tensions, reassuring whānau that these isolated incidents are not directed at the wider public. If an incident is happening, call 111. Information can be reported through 105 or 0800 555 111.
- PNINS Proudly Presents: Alice in Wonderland featuring incredible student talent across drama, music, dance, and production. Shows run Tuesday 3rd – Saturday 7th November at 7.30pm (excluding Thursday); tickets are available from their website or the PNINS office.
- Auto Superior is a local business offering Turitea whānau a 10% discount on labour for mechanical repairs, vehicle diagnostics, diesel servicing and ECU tuning. Contact Franklyn, a qualified diesel mechanic with 25+ years experience for service on everything from family cars to commercial trucks.
Term 4 Important Dates:
The term is racing on by, here are the dates that you need to know about.
- Week 4 (Next Week)
- PNINS visit for Year 6’s who are attending in 2027 on Tuesday 3rd November
- PIRLS Testing Year 5 only on Wednesday 4th November
- Photo Orders due by Wednesday 4th November
- General Election on Saturday 7th November. Come vote at Turitea School
- Week 5
- Interschool Table Tennis Year 5/6 on Tuesday 10th November
- Wildbase Fundraiser at School (Bring coins) on Thursday 12th November
- Mobile Library Bus Visit at 9.30am on Friday 13th November
- Hui Ā Kura at 2.20pm on Friday 13th November
- Interschool Ag Day at Rongotea from 10am on Saturday 14th November
- Week 6
- Senior Fitzherbert Cluster Athletics at Massey Athletics Track on Tuesday 17th November
- Week 7
- Interschool Road Race Year 5/6 on Tuesday 24th November
- Hui Ā Kura at 2.20pm on Friday 27th November
- Week 8
- Fitzherbert Cluster Touch Year 1-6 at Monrad Park on Thursday 3rd December
- Mobile Library Bus Visit at 9.30am on Friday 4th December
- Week 9
- Year 6 End of Year Leavers Treat on Tuesday 8th December
- Year 6 Graduation at 6pm on Wednesday 9th December
- End of Year Reports and 2027 Class Placement live in Hero on Wednesday 9th December
- End of Year Prizegiving at 12pm on Thursday 10th December
- School Finishes for the Year at 1pm on Thursday 10th December
Aku mihi aroha (With my warmest of regards)
Troy
principal@turitea.school.nz
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