Ka nui te mihi mahana ki a koutou, (Warmest greetings to you all)
Getting in to you all a day early on the pānui (newsletter) with tomorrow being Good Friday. Mihi atu ki a koutou (Thanks everyone) for what has been a busy, fun and enjoyable first term back at Turitea.
From the start of this year, the Ministry of Education (MoE) has updated attendance requirements across Aotearoa, New Zealand. All schools are required to implement an Attendance Management Plan (AMP) and expect them to reach the target of having at least 80% of ākonga (students) attending school more than 90% of the time. This term, we have had 93% of our tamariki achieving that, so the MoE will be happy with us! If your child doesn’t meet that threshold, we are obligated to send you a letter through Hero informing you of this. Hopefully this is not seen as ‘me growling you’ but more of a ‘just so you’re aware’ type situation.
Next term, Hannah will begin a 12-week Maths Acceleration Programme (MAP) with five ākonga, which will run Monday – Thursday from 11:30am – 12pm. These small-group sessions will be in addition to their usual daily maths learning. Faye will teach Kauri while she runs this programme. You may remember that Hannah did something similar at the start of last year before she went on maternity leave.
Last week, our fantastic Year 6 Mural artists helped me create this video that explains each of the elements of their ataahua (beautiful) pieces. This will be a resource that we will use with our tamariki to help them learn about this amazing local history resource that we have created for our kura. I thought some of you might be interested in watching this to learn more about the connection to our whenua (land).
Unfortunately today marked the last day for Philip, who will be joining his big brother Ivor at Linton Camp School. We understand the logistics of having kids at two different schools. Ngā mihi (Thanks) Wayne and Anne for all your contributions to our kura over the years that you have been part of our hāpori (community).
Wheelie Competition:
Yesterday, Kyerin, Rory and Ihaia helped us run our inaugural Wheelie Competition on the field at lunchtime. It was outstanding to see the level of skill some of our tamariki have, check out the reel here! In the Junior competition; Kason was 1st, Kevin was 2nd and Ariki was 3rd. In the Seniors; James was 1st, Kyerin was 2nd and Ihaia was 3rd. Well done to everyone who took part.
Ngā Whakanui Ākonga (Student Celebrations):
- Ben from Mataī shared with me his learning about space. If you want to know anything about our solar system, Ben is your guy! You can see him showing me his favourite page. Ka rawe (Awesome).
- Marco from Rimu showed me the amazing writing he did all by himself. Wow, 5 years old and you can already write independently? Ka pai tō mahi (Great work) Marco!
- Evander and Stanley from Tōtara are Flippaball Champions winning their final last night as members of the LCS Tangaroa team. Kei reira korua (Well done you two).
Out of Zone Ballot:
You may have seen that we are advertising our upcoming Out-of-Zone Ballot for Term 3/4 as we have a few spots available. If you know anyone looking for a pretty cool school, please share this with them
Swing Project:
As you may know, our fundraising efforts this year are to install swings in our lower playground. As you can imagine, these don’t come cheap so we are trying to generate as much funding for other avenues as possible. The AA Big Little Sponsorship is back for 2026 and we need ‘strength in nominations’ to get a share of that $100k. If you want to help push our case of why we are worthy recipients, please click here to submit a nomination. It just asks two questions that are easy to fill out (If you need help, let me know).
External Gates:
Just a reminder that our gates need to be closed properly behind you. Gates drop on occasions and sometimes they don’t close properly, so please can you take the time to check as we have a new little friend transitioning to school who in non-verbal so his safety is paramount.
Turitea Carpool:
I had a few responses last week regarding those keen on a carpool service from specific areas. If you are interested and haven’t yet, please complete the short survey on Hero. I will contact those who have responded to see if we can arrange something.
School Pool Feedback:
Our Pool Parents are keen to get your feedback on the recent swimming season so that they can improve the service in any way. Please take a minute to fill this survey out for them, even if you didn’t get a key.
From the Community:
- NZ Blood always needs donors. Have you considered giving blood before? Check out their poster
- Triple P Parenting News Check out what’s on offer to support parents here
- Wild Things Holiday Programme. Check out what they have on offer here
- Ngā Manu Nature Reserve Big Easter Weekend on 3rd-6th April from 10am–5pm. Info here
- Hockey Manawatū Holiday Programmes 10th-17th April. Year 3/4 info here and Year 5/6 info here
- Badminton Manawatū Holiday Program 14-16th April. Info here
- Massey Kids Club offer Before and After School Care and have a Holiday Programme too.
Term 2 Important Dates:
Our recent whānau voice survey commented that this was appreciated at the end of each pānui to keep you in the loop, so here are some confirmed events/dates for next term. More will be added as they are locked in.
- Week 1
- First Day of Term on Monday 20th April
- Mihi Whakatau (Informal Welcome) at 9am on Monday 20th April
- Mobile Library Bus Visit at 9.30am on Monday 20th April
- Week 2
- SCHOOL CLOSED for ANZAC Day (observed) on Monday 27th April
- Hui Ā Kura at 2.20pm on Friday 1st May
- Week 3
- Cluster Chess Tournament at Ōpiki School on Friday 8th May
- Out of Zone Enrollment Ballot on Friday 8th May
- Mobile Library Bus Visit at 9.30am on Friday 8th May
- Week 4
- Hui Ā Kura at 2.20pm on Friday 15th May
- Week 5
- School Cross Country on Friday 22nd May
- Kapa Haka Performance at West End School Whānau Day on Sunday 24th May
- Week 6
- Tough Guy/Gal Challenge at Massey on Monday 25th May
- Hui Ā Kura at 2.20pm on Thursday 28th May
- SCHOOL CLOSED for Staff Only Day on Friday 29th May
- Week 7
- SCHOOL CLOSED for Kings Birthday on Monday 1st June
- Cluster Cross Country at Stewarts Farm in Tokomaru on Thursday 4th June
- Interschool Year 5/6 Cross Country at the Ashhurst Domain on Friday 5th June
- Week 8
- Pae Tamariki at the Regent on Thursday 11th June
- Hui Ā Kura at 2.20pm on Friday 12th June
- Week 9
- Mobile Library Bus Visit at 9.30am on Friday 19th June
- Week 10:
- Year 5/6 Interschool Ki O Rahi on Wednesday 24th June
- Hui Ā Kura at 2.20pm on Friday 26th June
- Week 11:
- Mid Year Reports Live in Hero on Tuesday 30th June
- Last Day of Term is Friday 3rd July.
Ngā mihi o Te Aranga (Happy Easter), if you are travelling, Noho oro mai (Be safe and well), Hei te wāhanga tuarua (See you in Term 2).
Troy
principal@turitea.school.nz
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