Kia ora e te whānau,
Nau mai hoki mai ki a koutou (Welcome back everyone) We had our usual mihi whakatau to embrace our new whānau yesterday. As always, it was nice to set the tone for the year with this and ‘live and breathe’ our uara (values) of whanaungatanga (relationships) and manaakitanga (kindness) in doing this important ceremony in Te Ao Māori (The Māori World). As I mentioned last week, our teachers engaged in some professional learning at the start of the week around Te Tiriti o Waitangi and a goal we came away with was to continue to ‘level up’ our commitment in honoring this important document. Strengthening this process, among many other things we do in this space, will help us achieve our moemoeā (dream) of normalising Te Ao Māori practice across our kura.
Yesterday, we welcomed 5 new rangatahi (students) to our Turitea whānau taking our current school roll to 132, the lowest it has been since I started here three years ago. Henry is a new Year 6 student who joined Karen and her ākonga (learners) in Kauri. Anna welcomed four new 5 year olds to Rimu; Theo and Poppy (younger twin siblings of Thatcher from Rātā) Aiden (younger brother of Franklyn and Katelyn who previously attended Turitea) and Evie, who is from a new whānau to our kura. Nau mai haere mai ki a koutou (Welcome everyone). We know you will be embraced by our community as we are like one big family here. Look at all the beautiful faces above that show that!
Thank you to those who came to Puna Kōrero on Wednesday to reconnect with your kaiako (teacher) for the year. We hope you and your tamariki found this time valuable to ‘overcome the first day jitters’ that sometimes occur. As always, we welcome your feedback on these, as we want them to hit the mark for you. So, if you have any thoughts or opinions, please get in touch with us.
You may have noticed that we have some diggers on our field prepping the perimeter for our Bike Track. We are grateful to have Heath and his crew from C&H Concreting Ltd getting this project sorted for us. Thanks to Tyler (Dad to Mila S) who is donating some metal and clearing away the topsoil for us. And also, thanks to any of you who have contributed to our many PTA fundraisers that have helped resource this, along with community grants from NZCT and the Grassroots Trust. It should be completed in approximately two weeks.
School Finances – Hero:
You might remember last year, we consulted with you about our School Donations. We had mixed views with some thinking the voluntary set donation of $100 per student and $150 per whānau was sufficient and others who were happy to donate more. In order to appease everyone, we decided to keep this amount and then add two ‘additional donation’ lines that you can choose to pay should you wish too. Although School Donations are not compulsory, we do heavily rely on these to help us pay for the extra things that we’d love to have for our kids, that our operations grant we are given from the Ministry of Education doesn’t cover. I’ve sometimes used the analogy that ‘chips are nice, but chips and dip are nicer…’ The MoE gives us the chips and your donations give us the dip!
If you are connected to Hero, you will see a Finance tab on your Home screen. If you click on it you will see the School Donation, Additional Donation lines and also an Activity Fee has been added. This year, we have had to increase the Activity Fee that we ask you for every year. We got caught out a bit last year, as the cost for things like buses and activities have gone up drastically and we had to request more money, which we didn’t love doing. From this year we have to please ask for $15 per term/$60 for the year. Payments are to be made online; either through the Hero app directly or via Internet Banking; Westpac – 03 0726 0572091 00 and please include your child’s name and surname in the Reference and Donations/Act Fee in the Particulars.
School Gate:
We are very lucky to have our school fully fenced ensuring safety for all our tamariki. During the hours of 8am-3pm, our gate must stay closed. We open it after then, but close the gate overnight so those who come to school before 8.30am will find this shut in the morning. Could you please assist your tamariki in opening the gate for them and not hooking it back, rather than letting them climb up on the outside to try and open it?
Libre Loteria Night:
Don’t forget to book in for our first school whanaungatanga event for the adults next Wednesday 5th February. It is at Libre on George St and it is Lotteria (Mexican Bingo) from 7.30pm. Make sure you follow the Turitea PTA Facebook Page for more info. Book a table here or check out their menu here.
Absent from School:
Just a friendly reminder that if your child is going to be away from school to always let the office know, rather than just the teacher. Julie is the one who handles making sure everyone is accounted for. You can let us know through Hero by clicking the three lines up the top left hand corner and then going to Report an Absence.
Uniforms:
Julie has been making sure that all our new tamariki have a Turitea School sports uniform consisting of a shirt and pants. Just a reminder that this is to be worn only when representing our school offsite or when they play a sport for the school, it is not for ‘day to day’ wear at school.
Sport @ Turitea:
Dani, our sports coordinator, organizes all sports and teams for us. She has sent out previous Hero posts about what is on offer in Term 1. If you have any queries, you can contact her at sport@turitea.school.nz. Make sure you check this out as the turnaround period for some registrations is quite short.
Triathlon Series:
The Palmy Kid’s Tri Series returns for 2025 next Monday 3rd February for 5 weeks. These events are for children aged 4-12 years. Information can be found on this flier. Triathlon Manawatū also sponsors our local Manawatū Principals Association (MPA), so we would love you to get your tamariki involved in this event.
Rugby League:
Linton Cobras Rugby League Club are looking for more boys and girls for their U10 (born 2015/16) and U12 grades (born 2013/14). New and returning players are welcome. Join the Linton Cobras Junior Rugby League club on Facebook and find the registration links in the featured tabs.
Epic Music:
Does your child love music, want to learn an instrument, play in a band and perform on the big stage? To check out all the info, highlights video and to sign up, click here. Lessons start on Thursday 13th February and Matt is back taking the Drums, Guitar and Foundation classes. They will also pick up Keyboard lessons too since Heather has finished teaching that here at school.
Activate Tutoring:
I’ve been approached by Andrew, an ex-RTLB (Resource Teacher of Learning/Behaviour) who is offering a unique tutoring service for students who require additional support. Check out the poster here or the website here for more information.
Firewood:
Thanks to Peter from our BoT, we have a bit more firewood for sale at the reduced summer price of $100 per cube if you need to fill the woodshed up. You can order here and he will come and deliver it to you.
Staff Only Day Next Friday:
Just one more reminder that school is closed for instruction on Friday 7th February for a Staff Only Day, hopefully giving you all a four day weekend with Waitangi Day on the Thursday beforehand. We will use the day to further unpack our new curriculum rollout, debrief over our Te Tiriti o Waitangi learning and implementing our Aotearoa NZ Histories Road Map that we have developed.
Subway Lunches:
These started back up again today and you can order every Friday for the year through Lunchonline or clicking the Food icon in Hero. (Except next week where we will offer it on Wednesday 5th February, because school is closed next Friday)
Scholastic Books:
Forms went out yesterday and orders are due Wednesday 12th February. You buy these through the Loop App or online.
Bit of a long one from me, despite there only being two days of school… sorry whānau, hope I held you till the end.
Ngā Tauwhirotanga, (With kind regards)
Troy
principal@turitea.school.nz