Tēnā koutou katoa, (Hello everyone)
Didn’t Anna do a great job of writing the pānui while I was away in Ōtautahi (Christchurch) last week? I had the most amazing time at my tumuaki conference there, it really filled my bucket! As I’ve mentioned previously, communicating to you all every Friday is one of the best parts of my job. I’ve heard of some principals who outsource their newsletter to save time, but I just couldn’t do that. I hope you can hear my personal voice when you read this and get a strong sense of our school vibe and feel.
Today marked Tammy’s last day working with us in Rimu, as she has been chosen to work for Liz Kane Literacy every Friday mentoring teachers across Aotearoa in the ways of Structured Literacy. This is an amazing opportunity for her to share her passion and we hope this isn’t ‘haere ra’ (goodbye) and more ‘ka kite ano’ (see you again). Today was also the last day for Abigail from Rimu as her whānau have moved across town and she will be joining Riverdale next term. Do widzenia (Farewell in Polish).
I met with Anna and Jordan from eHaus today, as they are coming in over the holidays to connect the two sets of steps in our Microforest area that they built for us as part of their community give back competition that we won. Next term on Thursday 17th October (Week 1) we will look to plant 800 trees in this space. We would love your support on or before the day to help us dig the holes and get the trees in the ground. This project could not have been possible without the vision from Meryl and the funding from the Lion Foundation and Woolworths Grant for Good.
As you can see above, we ended the term with a school-wide Pyjama Day, continuing our trend of the many ‘dress up days’ we have had this term. It’s hard not to be happy when you’re in your comfy clothes all day. It was a nice way to mark the end of Term 3 along with a few movies, some ice cream, shared kai or Mario Kart competitions.
Pictured above you can see the first batch of ‘Turi-Tea’ Mint Zing herbal tea lovingly crafted by Meryl and the garden club. Watch this space, we might have a ‘side hustle’ coming soon… Hopefully you saw Henry in the news competing in an open table tennis tournament. Such a cool action shot!
Hui ā Kura (Assembly):
This afternoon, we had our End of Term Hui ā Kura (assembly) and Ada, Travis, Olivia and Kérian were our Year 6 hosts and showed a lot of creativity with their delivery. We recognised those who consistently demonstrate our school uara (values) and receiving their tiwhikete (certificate) this week are:
Rimu: Amelia – Mātauranga
Rātā: Dylan – Mātauranga
Pōhutukawa: Lincoln – Mātauranga
Mataī: Leonel – Mātauranga
Tōtara: Kyerin – Manaakitanga
Kahikatea: Billy – Manaakitanga
Tumuaki: Travis – Manaakitanga
8am Drop Off:
We seem to have more and more children getting dropped off before 8.30am and they are causing quite a stir in the morning and are needing lots of reminders to sit and wait quietly. The morning time is critical as our teachers often meet with external agencies or get their classroom ready for the day. Please remember that we offer the ‘from 8am drop off’ to support those parents who start work at 8.30am. We feel we are very lenient with this, but when almost a third of the school is here before 8.30am, it makes you feel like some people are taking advantage of our generosity.
Additional Activity Fee:
It seems we probably should have raised the cost of our activity fee at the start of the year to accommodate the cost of living increase. We have already spent well over our budget of $40 per year ($10 per term) that we ask of you to cover all excursions and incursions that your tamariki experience at school. We hate to ask, but we need an additional $10 to cover this. Julie will add these to all of your Finances tab on Hero over the holidays and we appreciate you paying this for us. Ngā mihi (thanks)
First Aid:
Megan from Hato Hone (St John’s) was back on Monday with Rimu, Mataī and Tōtara to give our ākonga (learners) the knowledge of what to do in an emergency. Next Monday, the teachers are all doing their own course with the team from Links, so everyone at Turitea will be ‘schooled up’ in basic first aid soon.
Sports Coaches:
Thank you to all the parents who have volunteered their time to coach our teams this term or have signed up to help next term. Your dedication and commitment to helping our students develop their love of sport and developing great sportsmanship is appreciated. Mihi atu ki a koutou (thank you everyone).
School Photos:
Brendan Lodge from ShootMe is back next term on Wednesday 16th October (Week 1). Orders must be in by Tuesday 15th October at 3pm.
Kelly Sports:
Yesterday, Craig and the team came and ran a promo day for their after school programmes they run on a Tuesday afternoon and you can register here. They also have a Holiday Programme on too.
Holiday Programmes:
- Wellington Phoenix Football Camp is on at Marist Sports on October 10th/11th Register here.
- Central Football is on at PNBHS with a range of dates as well as mixed and girls only sessions. Register here.
- Bounce Academy is at Massey University on September 30th/October 1st. See here for more information.
- True Hoops Basketball Camp is on at the CET Arena on October 7th/8th. Register here.
- Young Stars Performing Arts Holiday Programme is on at Woodville School from 2nd-4th October and at Bunnythorpe Community Centre from October 9th-11th. Register here.
- Manawatū Badminton is on October 8th-10th at PNINS gym. See flyer for details.
- Wild Nature School have their programme. Email Kirsty for more information.
- Massey Kids Club have their programme. Email Lakin for more information.
From the Community:
- PGG Wrightson Lamb/Calf Info Day being held at the Feilding store on Saturday 5th October 12-1pm. More information here.
- Valkyrie Games have some events happening at their store in the first and second week of the holidays. Go and see Matt (Owen’s Dad) in their store.
- Manawatū Touch are running their Junior Development Programme. To express your interest for your tamariki to participate using the link below. The first muster will be held on Saturday 5th October at Coronation Park. U10’s: 9.00am to 10.30am. U12’s: 11am-12:30pm.
- The Manawatū Mountain Biking (MTB) Club invites keen bikers to the Manawatū MTB Regional Schools Festival on 12/13th October. The X-Country event costs $35 and is for students 8 years +. More information can be found here and click here to register
- Real Parents online parenting workshop – these are targeted for rural or busy parents who would love to do some learning but don’t have the time to get into town. Each workshop has a cost of $18, click the link for dates and times.Children’s wellbeing and resilience with Anna Mowat and Future Proofing – what it takes to grow great adults
Just getting in early to remind you that we are having a Teacher Only Day on Tuesday 29th October which is the day after Labour Weekend hopefully giving you an ‘extra’ long weekend.
Hei te kaupeka tuawha (See you all back in Term 4) which resumes on Monday 14th October, with our usual Mihi Whakatau (Informal Welcome) for all our new whānau members at 9am in the quad.
Noho ora mai (Look after yourselves)
Troy
principal@turitea.school.nz