Tēnā koutou katoa (Hello everyone)
My apologies for the parking situation this week with the works going on in our rear carpark to replace our septic system. I appreciate your understanding of this job being done. As you can see above, our tamariki thought having an excavator and HIAB truck coming to school and craning in the new tank was pretty choice!
This week, our tuakana (seniors) embarked on the Wonder Project with Dr. Amal Punchihewa from Massey University sharing his expertise with them. He was impressed with our learners’ curiosity and intelligent questioning skills and would love to continue a partnership with our kura in the future. He is used to working with intermediate students, so hearing his feedback made us proud of our tamariki. For their rocket challenge, they need lots of 1.5L bottles with lids, if you can spare some, please send them into Kauri.
They also started their Garden to Table journey as you can see, with Zucchini Fritters, Fresh Green Salad with Herb Water was on Monday’s menu. The majority of the ingredients were hand picked that morning from our māra (garden) linking to our uara of kaitiakitanga (looking after our environment). Ngā mihi to the volunteers who helped out in this space. Meryl made a video showing what they got up to here.
Looking ahead to the latter part of the term, we’d love to do another hangi to bring our community together for our annual Matariki celebration, but we have lost Shane as a parent who helped me do our last one. If anyone has any Hangi experts in their whānau, can you let me know as we’d love to do this.
Next week on Monday and Tuesday, Anneliese and Anna are attending a 2-day workshop in Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland) centred around the book Niho Taniwha, that we have been implementing over the last two years. Then on Wednesday they are visiting Freemans Bay School and Point Chevalier School to see the awesome things they are doing to hopefully bring back some new ideas to improve our kura.
Also next Monday, Karen is taking our Year 6 rangatahi(students) Felicity, Amelia M, Kazuri, Ruby, Leo and Henry to attend the World Vision Junior Youth Conference in Lower Hutt. We know they will enjoy this opportunity to connect with other school leaders, as well as listening to a range of high quality speakers.
Next Friday, Cameron is taking Chris, Finn, Kyerin, Mikhail, Evander, Baxter, Ben and Jacob to the Cluster Chess tournament at Ōpiki School. We know they will represent our kura with pride!
Parent Portal:
Our Minister of Education has announced the launch of a Parent Portal, an online resource designed to support families in their child’s learning journey. Education is a partnership between the home and school and whānau play a crucial role in supporting their child’s learning and development. This portal aims to make it easier to access clear and up-to-date information on our refreshed curriculum, assessment practices and ways to complement their child’s learning. We are in the process now of updating what our reporting to you looks like based on these changes and will communicate this soon.
Cross Country:
As you may have heard, our kids have been training hard for our school Cross Country, which is on Thursday 29th May. We hold it across the road on the Massey Dairy Farm. As always with these events, we will need parent support with marshaling on the day. If you would like to help with this, please let us know. Huge thanks go to our lovely Julie in the office as well as Fraser and Tim for helping with the setup of the course.
Literacy Evening with Rimu/Rātā:
Anna and Carly are hosting an information evening to share how they teach reading and writing using the Structured Literacy approach and how you can support at home. Whānau of those classes may have seen the Hero post asking you to fill out the form to help us find the best time in Week 5 between 26-29th May.
From the PTA:
Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and regular term hui will be held next week on Thursday 15th May (Please note this date has changed) at the earlier time of 6pm. Everyone is welcome, we’d love anyone to come along to hear updates and get involved if you wish. Our PTA Pool Party is next Saturday 17th May from 6–8pm at the Lido Aquatic Centre. All Turitea whānau members are welcome to come along, parent supervision is required though. Sausage sizzle and snacks available for purchase. The slides will be open for children aged 8 and over. If you can lend a hand on the night, we’d love to hear from you.
DanceNZmade:
Last call for those in Year 3-6 who would like to take part in this event next term. Please fill out the form if your child is keen by the end of today so Dani can confirm numbers and plan accordingly.
From the Community:
- The Palmy Brick Show, returning at the end of this month, features a Brick Building Competition. The school can win prizes for the most entries, so any Lego enthusiasts out there, get involved!
- Massey Kids’ Club offers after-school care with convenient pick-ups until 5:30 pm. Kids enjoy a warm environment, fun activities, outdoor play and afternoon tea. Contact Lakin if you need this.
- The Unity Singers are celebrating their 50th concert “Golden Moments” with guest artists at the Regent on Broadway on Sunday 18th May from 2pm. Information here.
- Parentline Manawatū have their services for Term 2 available here for those that are interested.
Another friendly reminder that we have a Staff Only Day on Friday 30th May which is in Week 5 and is the Friday before the King’s Birthday Long Weekend.
You can view all our school dates on our website here and our events calendar here or in the Hero app by clicking on the calendar icon on the main dashboard.
Ngā tauwhirotanga (With the kindest of regards)
Troy
principal@turitea.school.nz