Ngā mihi mahana e te whānau (Warmest of greetings to you all)
We have certainly managed to squeeze a lot into this week! As you may have seen on our Facebook page and seen above, we had our Japanese visitors on Tuesday and shared a bit of their culture with us, while we reciprocated and shared ours with them. Also on Tuesday, Cameron took a group of ten Year 5/6 students to the Māori Culture Festival at PNBHS (below) along with 8 other local kura. It was a great day of culture, connection and a strong showcase of our uara (values) in effect.
On Wednesday, our tuakana (senior) students left before the sun came up to make the trip to the Pohangina Valley for their camp at Highland Home. They have had an absolute cracker of a time there. We couldn’t run camps safely and successfully without parents help, so mihi atu ki a koutou (thank you to) Hannah, Renee, Elise, Fraser, Joe, Johnny, Jared, Dion, Tim and Jessica, our Massey Teacher. Massive thanks to Anneliese for all the mahi (work) she put into creating an experience that our tamariki will remember for years to come. Thanks also to Cameron for stepping in to assist, with Hannah being unable to attend.
Yesterday, Faye and I took the Year 4 students from Kauri to give them a little taste of camp life, ensuring that they have some shared stories with their classmates upon their return this afternoon. We had an amazing day there altogether! Big thanks to Matt, the tumuaki (principal) at Linton Camp School for lending us their school van for the day to transport us there and back. Thanks to Kate, Shayna and Jeannah for supporting us on this day too.
Hopefully by now you are well and truly aware that we are in the second week of our ‘Have Your Say’ campaign to collect whānau voice from you all. We would love you to take a few minutes to let us know:
-What are we doing well?
-How can we improve?
-How can we maintain our unique character?
As of time of writing, we have just hit 40% of our whānau to have responded, sharing their whakaaro (thoughts/ideas) with us, so we didn’t quite reach our goal of half by the end of this week! The survey is still live, so please click here to ‘Have Your Say.’ We had our first prize draw on Monday morning, where Nina won the VIP Carpark for the term. This morning we had our second draw where Keith (Aniya’s Dad) chose the $30 Hero credit. We still have three prizes and the next draw will be this Monday, so don’t miss out!
Hopefully you might stick around this coming Monday morning for our Year 6 Mural reveal. I am very excited to share what Ihaia, Kyerin, Harriet, Munroe, Lily, Maya and Mackenzie have spent hours completing with you all. We will assemble on the bike track in front of the playground when school starts to unveil this. You are all more than welcome to join us and see this masterpiece that we know you will love.
Monday marked the first day of school for Logan, who has joined Anna in Rimu, bringing their class up to 13 ākonga (students). His big brother Liam, in Tōtara, who is known by many of our teina (juniors) for being an exceptional big buddy, did an excellent job of looking after Logan and making his transition to school smooth.
Kōrero Mai:
This morning, I opened the booking for Kōrero Mai (Learning Conferences) through Hero, where you can book in a 15 minute timeslot to meet with your child’s kaiako (teacher) to discuss how their year has started. This is set for Wednesday 25th March from 1-8pm. Don’t worry, we aren’t closing the school early! A few of us that don’t have ‘classes’ will look after the kids to allow for the earlier start time for you all. These conferences can include your child if you wish, but your feedback suggested some prefer one-on-one sessions with the teacher. We will let you decide, our teachers will be prepared for however you choose.
Parking Next Friday:
Next Friday 6th March, we are hosting a Liz Kane Literacy conference in Tāne Mahuta for 35 kaiako from around the Manawatū rohe (region). The day runs from 8.30am – 2.30pm to try to avoid adding more congestion to pick up/drop off. Giving you a heads up if you wonder why there are so many cars at school when you arrive. We will be parking staff vehicles on the court to free up the bottom carpark for our visitors.
Seesaw out, Hero in:
Just reminding you once more that we are discontinuing using Seesaw, leaving Hero to be our ‘one stop shop’ for admin and learning. Hero Messaging is the tool to use now, if you would like to send a quick message (just like you could in Seesaw) to the teacher instead of sending an email. 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.
Updated Details:
Have your details changed over the break? Moved house or got a new phone number or email address? Please let Julie know at the office.
From the PTA:
No doubt you’ve seen the previous posts about our Turitea School Fest, which is next weekend on Saturday 7th March. Can you please spare 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 (next Friday) for the Bake Sale.
From the Community:
- Esplanade Open Day – This Sunday 1st March from 10am to 3pm, there’ll be heaps of free fun for your tamariki, including train rides, mini golf, live performances, dino dance sessions and plenty more to keep little legs busy. Dino dress-up is encouraged, with prizes for the best dressed! More info here.
- Palmerston North Rock Hunt – Next week (March 2-9), there will be various sport-ball themed rocks hidden across 8 Palmy Parks and Reserves. This activity encourages whānau to get outdoors and explore. Once you find a rock, take it to the Esplanade Mini Golf to redeem a free game.
- Beauty and the Beast Jr. Auditions – on 21st & 22nd March. This is your chance to step into the spotlight and be part of a tale as old as time! For more information – please email us.
Term 1 Important Dates:
A look at what is to come over the rest of the term.
- Week 6 (Next week)
- 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. Register here
- 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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