Ngā mihi mahana e te whānau (Warmest of greetings to you all)
Tuesday marked the start of Chinese New Year – 新年快乐 Xinnián kuàilè (Happy New Year). We wish all those celebrating a joyful and vibrant year ahead filled with good health, happiness, and prosperity. As we welcome the Year of the Horse, we hope 2026 brings energy, adventure, and success for our tamariki and whānau. It was great to share this by dressing up today to mark the occasion as you can see below. We also had Sue, Catie’s Pawpaw (Grandma), come and teach the kids how to make dumplings yesterday, 好吃 Hào chī (Delicious!)
رمضان كريم Ramadan Kareem (Blessed Ramadan) to all our muslim whānau as Tuesday also marked the start of the holy ninth month of the Islamic calendar, where they fast from dawn until sunset for 30 days. May this time bring peace, reflection and many blessings to you and your families during this special month.
Thank you to those of you who came to our information evening on Wednesday. We hope that you gained an understanding of the changes to our NZ Curriculum and what this looks like for your children. If you were unable to make it, please look at the slides we shared, showing the overall changes. The Junior Team presentation can be viewed here and the Senior Team’s here. Please reach out with any pātai (questions).
We also launched our ‘Have Your Say’ survey on this evening also. You might have seen the posters around the school promoting this or a letter in your child’s bag from yesterday. We want to know from you:
- What are we doing well?
- How can we improve?
- How can we maintain our unique character?
We realise filling out surveys can be a tedious thing to do, but hopefully you don’t mind doing this one, because all we want to do is make our school the best place for you all! It is your chance to share your thoughts as we develop our strategic direction for the next three years. You can answer these questions or email one of our BoT members, Joeli or Sarah, to book in a time to do this in person, or over the phone with you. We will be drawing the first prize winner on Monday morning, so maybe find a few minutes over the weekend to do this and you might be the lucky one!
Our amazing mural crew of Ihaia, Kyerin, Harriet, Munroe, Lily, Maya and Mackenzie completed their boards and it is a masterclass! I am in awe of what they have done for us and the story each one tells. A huge mihi (thank you) to Carolyn who has worked intensely with these kids over the last 10 days. We look forward to revealing this to you all on Monday 2nd March after they come back from Camp. All are welcome to attend, but we’d especially love the whānau members of the crew to come and see this first hand.
Bienvenido (Welcome in Spanish) to Marco who joined Anna and the tamariki in Rimu on Monday. His whānau are from Columbia and we look forward to having you part of our Turitea hāpori (community).
We also welcomed back Dani Macdonald this week, even though she is ‘part of the furniture’ here. Dani wears a lot of hats as she is our Sports Coordinator, DanceNZmade Teacher, Production Director and not to mention Makenna’s mum. She is also studying part-time at Te Rito Maioha to complete her teaching qualification and will be a student teacher in Mataī with Trish and the ākonga in there every Wednesday and Friday for this year.
Seesaw out, Hero in:
As mentioned in last week’s pānui, we are discontinuing using Seesaw, leaving Hero to be our ‘one stop shop’ for admin and learning. You may have received a learning post already. We have turned on Hero Messaging as well, so if you would like to send a quick message to the teacher (instead of an email) you can use this function. To send a message:
- Click the Three Lines ≡ in the top left hand corner of the Hero app,
- Click the Down Arrow V next to your child’s name and choose the Messages tab,
- Click the Green Plus ➕ and then the Pencil Icon ✎ and write your message in the box,
- Click Save Post and you’re done.
- You should receive a notification when they respond.
Ngā Whakanui Ākonga (Student Celebrations):
Marnie is pretty well known at school for her amazing writing ability and last week she came and shared her amazing story about things that scare her and what she’s going to do to overcome them. Check it out above. Ka pai tō mahi Marnie! (Great work)
From the PTA:
No doubt you’ve seen the previous posts about our Turitea School Fest, which is now only 15 days away on Saturday 7th March. Can you please lend us a hand by:
- Sending in a Can, a Bottle and a Packet for the grocery raffle
- Cleaning out your bookshelves and sending in any Books to the office for our Pre-Loved Book Sale
- Signing up for a Job on the Day on the sheet by the office window or the link here
- Sell some Raffle Tickets for the upcoming raffles
- Doing some Baking (closer to the time) for the Bake Sale.
In other news, we received almost $900 back from the Online Printer for your purchases at the end of last year, so thank you for your support.
From the Community:
- PNCC is celebrating its diverse cultures with three events starting today:
- Festival of Cultures – Multicultural Family Movie Night – Tonight, 6pm – 8:30pm. A special screening of Encanto in Te Marae o Hine – The Square. Bring a chair, pack a picnic and settle in for a fun evening right in the heart of the city.
- Festival of Cultures – World Fair – Tomorrow, 10.30am – 3.30pm. Celebrate our community’s diversity through food, art, music, dance, games, and more! Come along to try flavours and enjoy performances from around the globe without leaving the city.
- Festival of Cultures – Teas and Coffees of the World – Sunday, 2pm – 5pm. Round off the weekend with a relaxing afternoon at Caccia Birch House, sampling a variety of teas, coffees, and other hot drinks from around the world.
- The Gorge Quarter Store is at the foot of Manawatū Gorge, run by an extended whānau of our school. They are having An Ode to Summer tomorrow afternoon from 11am-6pm. Enjoy a lazy afternoon under the trees, with Food, Bar, Artisan Stalls and Live music.
- Manawatu Water Polo Club is a local club offering opportunities for students of all ages and abilities to participate in the sport in a fun and supportive environment. Info here.
Term 1 Important Dates:
More dates have been added to this as they become available to us, so check out what’s happening:
- Week 5 (Next Week)
- Year 5/6 Tuhia Māori Culture Festival at PNBHS at 9am on Tuesday 24th February
- Year 5/6 Camp at Highland Home on Wednesday 25th – Friday 27th February
- Year 4 from Kauri Camp Visit at Highland Home on Thursday 26th February
- No Epic Music sessions on Thursday 26th February (These will be made up)
- Week 6
- Mural Reveal at 9am on Monday 2nd March
- I Tri’d the Tri Finale on Monday 2nd March
- Year 5/6 Interschool Triathlon at Skoglund Park on Wednesday 4th March
- Library Bus Visit on Friday 6th March
- Turitea School Fest on Saturday 7th March
- Week 7
- Hui Ā Kura (Assembly) at 2.20pm on Friday 13th March
- Week 8
- Weetbix Tryathlon at Ongley Park on Tuesday 17th March
- Year 6 Cluster Careers Day at Tokomaru Hall on Thursday 19th March
- Week 9
- Year 5/6 Bike Safety Week from Monday 23rd March
- Kōrero Mai (Whānau/Teacher Interviews) from 1-8pm on Wednesday 25th March
- Junior Cluster Athletics at Tokomaru School on Friday 27th March
- Library Bus Visit on Friday 27th March
- Hui Ā Kura (Assembly) at 2.20pm on Friday 27th March
- Week 10
- Last Day of Term is Thursday 2nd April
Kia pai tō rā whakatā (Have a great weekend)
Troy
principal@turitea.school.nz
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