End of Term 3 Week 1 Pānui

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Kia ora rā e hoa mā (Hello friends),

Nau mai, hoki mai ki te kaupeka tuatoru. (Welcome back to Term 3) Our Monday morning was beautiful with our usual Mihi Whakatau (Traditional Welcome) that we have to welcome our new whānau members to Turitea. Starting the term together as a whole school is a great showing of our school uara (value) of whanaungatanga (relationships). It also educates our tamariki about an important process in Te Ao Māori (The Māori World) and we know having exposure to this, will normalise this tikanga (traditions) when we visit Rangimarie Marae in Week 9. Watch this space… 

This week we welcomed Deane back to Turitea School as he was a member of our school last year, but his whānau moved to Sanson. Now they are back and he rejoins his old friends in Pōhutukawa with Whaea Anneliese. We also welcomed Charlotte to our school, who joins the crew in Mataī with Trish. She comes to us from West End and her siblings Caleb and Ivy-Rose are also starting with us next week in Rimu with Meagan and Hannah. Nau mai, haere mai whānau (welcome everyone)

One thing which is really cool after a holiday, is all the new hairstyles that our tamariki come back with. We’ve had all sorts of braids, plaits, colours and even the number one ‘buzz cut’ for two of our young boys, Logan and Quinn, which was quite noticeable. Their 17 year old cousin was quickly diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of Leukemia. After starting chemotherapy, she started to lose her hair. The brothers were adamant that they needed to get rid of their hair to support her, so she didn’t stand alone. What a sad, but touching story. Daffodil Day is a month away on Friday 30th August and a lot of us know many New Zealanders who have been affected and beaten by cancer, so we will make sure we show our support on this day as a kura.

This term we have locked in two additional part-time teachers, but they are not really ‘new’ to us, as a lot of our students have met them over the year.
Shayna (who is also Mum to the boys mentioned above) who will be in every Tuesday or Wednesday across Rimu, Rātā, Pōhutukawa and Kahikatea classes. 
Tammy (who teaches at Roslyn four days a week) will join us in Rimu every second Friday. 
We need them to give our hard working full-time kaiako their additional CRT (Classroom Release Time) that came through this term as a result of their last round of collective agreements.

Roof in Tāne Mahuta/Kahikatea:

Over the holidays, the team from Kynoch Construction started on the interior of our roofing project in Tāne Mahuta (Hall). Yesterday you might have noticed that our roofing iron arrived via crane and truck (at a most inconvenient time – sorry) and blocked our turning bay for morning drop off. Streamline Roofing will use this to start the exterior part of this project next week. Karen and the team from Kahikatea are now learning in Kauri (Library) for the duration of these works being completed. 

From the Garden:

We are grateful to Peter and Meryl for installing and assembling our new Tunnel House, as you can see above, that was donated to us from Powerco. It will be an amazing addition to our school to grow our seedlings which the Garden Club will plant into our school māra (gardens) You can see the troops were busy today planting in the new beds that we built at our Matariki Celebration at Linton Camp last term.

From the PTA:

Thanks to those of you who came to our Quiz Night at the start of the holidays. Your efforts brought in about $2,000 to go towards our bike track – Ngā mihi! Well done to Kate and her team from Bijonei Hair for taking first place (even if your methods were somewhat non-traditional) On to the next fundraising event, which is the Spring Fling on Saturday 14th September and we are looking for helpers! If you’re interested, please let one of the team know by email, or message our Facebook page. Keep an eye out for updates and save the date! We are also seeking book donations for our pre-loved book sale, please contact us to organise a collection or bring them into the office.

Pātaka Kai:

Whakawhetai ki a koutou (Thank you) to those of you who have been using the top shelf of our Pātaka Kai (Food Pantry) to share items that you might have surplus at your home. We’ve had eggs, oranges, mandarins, limes and lemons available for you to take with the hope that you bring something back in return to share with others, demonstrating manaakitanga (reciprocity) which also happens to be another one of our school uara. Keep it up whānau!

Yummy Apple Stickers:

We have to send these off next week to exchange them for free sports gear, so if you have sheets or stickers floating around, please send them in to the office ASAP. Then we will start the collection again for this time next year.

Visiting School or Picking Up Students:

If you come to school for any reason during the day, please remember to swing by the office window to let Julie know that you are here, just for safety reasons. If you need to take your child from school, please arrange this with their teacher or Julie. You don’t need to sign them out, just a visible wave when you do this to let us know is sufficient. 

Cluster Chess:

Next Thursday our team of Ada, Ben D, Billy F, Cassius, Charlotte S, Elias, Ezekiel, Indi, Kerian, Kyerin and Tahu go off to Ōpiki School to compete in the Cluster Chess Tournament. We wish them all the best. 

From the Community:

  • Lamb & Calf Rearing. Are you thinking about having an animal for our Lamb, Calf and Pet Day next term? PGG Wrightson in Feilding are having an information evening on Tuesday 30th July from 5.15pm – 6.30pm. More info can be found here.
  • Kelly Sport Term 3 After School Programme. Register now for next week to give your child a chance to try new sports, build confidence and celebrate success. Their focus is on cricket, football, athletics and T-ball and aims to emulate the Kiwi stars who are aiming for gold in Paris. Their target is children from Year 0-4, however older students are welcome especially if they want to gain confidence. 
  • Winter Can Can Appeal. A small can, can make a big difference! We are setting up a can donation bin for this cause in the office. If you would like to contribute and help someone out in need, please drop them off to us.

Intermediate Transition:

For parents of our Year 6 students, here is all the information you need for enrolling your child in their next school in 2025. 

Kind reminder that Scholastic Book orders are due next Tuesday 30th July. 

Kia pai tō rā whakatā! (Have a great weekend)

Troy 

principal@turitea.school.nz