Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou, (Warm greetings to you all)
Hari rā whakanui aroha (Happy Valentine’s Day). Hope your significant other has looked after you extra well today! As you can see above, yesterday we officially opened our Bike Track and what an amazing resource we now have at our kura. We had many happy riders and I think some kids would have done at least a hundred laps of it already! Huge thanks again goes to our PTA for making this happen, all of you for contributing to this through their fundraisers, Tyler (Mila’s Dad) for volunteering his ‘digging’ time/resources and Heath and the team from C&H Concreting.
We will monitor the activity on the track over the coming weeks to see if we need to instil some regulations, but besides wearing shoes and going in a clockwise direction, we just want our tamariki to enjoy hooning around on it. We realise that we will need to address some wheel storage solutions, but for now we will just use the area behind the court as previously communicated (On the Dirt, Not the Court). We don’t want any kids to miss out on being able to utilise the track so Trish and I have brought in some spare scooters from around our houses for kids to use. If you have any scooters or helmets taking up space in the garage, please send them in to us, we’d be happy to take them off your hands to give them a second life.
Thank you to those who came to our Libre Mexican Bingo Fundraiser, it was such a cool evening, but probably would have been cooler if one person didn’t hog all the big prizes aye… But we did raise $900 from the event and they are more than happy to have us back at the end of the year for another crack at it. (Maybe I’ll not play next time haha)
Yesterday we had a morning tea to shower our lovely Hannah, who goes on Maternity leave next Friday. We wish her all the best with the upcoming birth of her new baby girl expected in March. We will keep you all posted with arrival details and hopefully some pics.
Check out the amazing art below being produced by some of our ākonga in Tōtara. I bet it will look even better when it is finished and mounted on the wall.
After School Pick Up:
We are making some changes to our after school pick up arrangements. This is based on some feedback from whānau members and kaiako. We understand that we don’t have enough parks to accommodate everyone, so we let you stage the pick up of your kids to allow for this. As you know, I am on the gate everyday after school, (unless I am off site) as I love connecting with you all on arrival in the afternoon and saying bye to our kids. We meet as a staff every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon at 3.15pm. On these days, I will ring the hand bell at that time and all tamariki who have not yet been picked up will come and sit on the office porch to wait for you. If you are already on site then your child is free to still play under your supervision. On Monday, Tuesday and Friday, I will do the same as above at 3.30pm. We appreciate your support in these changes and hope that it helps you find your child more easily at pick up.
Cluster Swimming:
Earlier in the week, I met with the tumuaki from our Fitzherbert Cluster to plan all the events we hold for the year. We made the tough call as a collective to no longer hold the Cluster Swimming event. Each year the number of participants across the event has gone down, with some races last year only able to field two participants. It also became evident that there was a growing gap between the kids that attend swim clubs and those who are able to swim, but not competitively. Feedback was that it was disheartening for the kids in the latter and they weren’t keen to take part again. Our main kaupapa (focus) of the cluster is for all five schools to have tamariki representing and if not all schools can take part, then we look at other events that can provide that. I am doing my best to find options for our competitive swimmers to be involved in an interschool event in either the Northern or Southern Cluster, to give them that opportunity.
Triathlon Season:
Lots of our tamariki have been getting involved in the I Tri’d The Tri series each Monday night. I’ve loved hearing how each week they are trying to do better than their previous week’s time.
The Interschool Triathlon is coming up on Wednesday 5th March. This event is open to our Year 5/6’s and you can register your child for this here.
The Weetbix Tryathlon which is Tuesday 18th March and you can register your child here if they are 6 or above by then. Don’t forget to join the Turitea School group when you register.
Sport @ Turitea:
Thanks to those who have signed your kids up for an afterschool sport and an even bigger thanks if you have offered to coach/manage a team. Dani has been doing her best to sort all the teams and she is desperate for Year 5/6 Futsal and Year 1/2 Hockey players to make a team, please get in touch with her if your child is keen.
Pool Keys:
We still have 10 pool keys available for hire, if you’d like to grab one for the remainder of the season, we have dropped the price to $40. Just come and see Julie in the office or flick her an email.
Parenting Support:
Parentline Manawatū has some amazing services on offer to help parents this term. Check out their mailer they sent out to us here for what is available.
Linton Camp Family Day:
Join the Linton Community Board for a fun-filled family day at the Linton Camp Gym and Pool tomorrow from 10am to 2pm. This event is for all ages. Keep an eye on the Linton Military Camp Community Group Facebook page for further details or further information here.
Firewood:
We are down to the last of the wood. Thanks to Peter, Fraser and John for splitting the rest of this tomorrow. It is $100 per cube if you need to fill the woodshed up. You can order here and they will come and deliver it.
Kia pai tō rā whakatā (Have a good weekend)
Troy
principal@turitea.school.nz