Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou, (Warm greetings to you all)
A special ‘Selamat Datang, which means welcome in Malay’ to Daniel, who started with us in Rimu with Anna on Monday. We know you will love being part of the Turitea whānau and you have already settled into our kura so well already. Today is Hannah’s last day with us as she takes a much needed break before giving birth to her third child next month. We know we will see her again soon with her son Wyatt starting with us in July and hopefully she brings out her new baby for some snuggles.
On Wednesday we had Jose from Cancer Society spend the day with us. She started the day by presenting our kura with our SunSmart accreditation (pictured above) because we meet the requirements of being a SunSmart school. She then spent 40 minutes in each class educating us about the harmful effects of UV rays and your child probably came home with a UV bead bracelet which helps them measure the intensity of them. Below you can see our tamariki practising being sun smart during break time. Ka mau te wehi whānau (awesome everyone).
Also on Wednesday, we had Jared, Vicky, Sam and Jennifer from Manchester Street School in Feilding come and visit us. They specifically came to look at how we infuse Te Ao Māori into our kura and even joined in on a Pae Kōrero session in Pōhutukawa. Jared sent me a beautiful email afterwards saying the team left buzzing and inspired after their visit. Tātou tātou (an informal way to say when you’ve shared something)
We won’t have kapa haka at our usual Wednesday morning time slot next week as Tūrehu and her husband Anaru are part of Te Reanga Morehu o Rātana. They are one of 55 rōpu (groups) set to perform on stage at Pukekura Park in New Plymouth at Te Matatini o Te Kāhui Maunga. This is our nationwide Māori performing arts festival and competition for kapa haka performers. The week-long event is streaming on TVNZ+ and her group is performing at 1pm on Thursday 27th February if you want to tune in.
Next week, we have Mike, who is the community coach of the Manawatū Jets coming to take our tamariki for weekly Basketball sessions for the rest of the term. As you probably know, I am a huge basketball fan so welcome the chance to have anyone come in to inspire a love of the game.
After School Pick Up:
Thank you for your support in the tweaks to our afternoon pick ups. A reminder that 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 to come. 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 the later time of 3.30pm.
Hui Ā Kura:
Next Friday we are starting back our fortnightly Hui Ā Kura (School Assemblies) in Tāne Mahuta (Hall) from 2.20pm. All whānau are welcome to attend and the Year 6’s from Tōtara will be taking the lead in running these for us for Term 1.
Triathlon:
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. (This link is working now hopefully, sorry if you tried unsuccessfully last week.) 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:
I appreciate those who gave us some voice around sports this term through the short Hero survey last week. We recieved 61 responses with 33 saying their child is already signed up to play a sport, 14 acknowledging that their child wasn’t interested in the sports on offer this term, 11 voicing that their life was too busy to fit this in and 2 people suggesting it was hard to get their child to the games. If you still have thoughts about this, you can always email them to me. We will use this information to help our planning about sport at our kura.
From the PTA:
Our tamariki from Rimu are loving their new PTA-funded water play system as you can see above! More classroom goodies might be coming soon thanks to the teacher wish list that has been sent out. Hoodie orders for winter months are being organised soon, so keep an eye on the pānui. We’re also considering adding heavy-duty Turitea umbrellas to our merch range.
From the Community:
Stage enthusiasts aged 8+ are invited to Whakakā Junior, a weekend hosted by Act Three Productions at the Globe Theatre from 14-16 March. Participants will develop their skills in song, dance and acting with industry leads, culminating in a performance at the Saturday Gala Dinner. Costs $100 per student, register here.
Kia pai tō rā whakatā (Have a good weekend)
Troy
principal@turitea.school.nz