Tēnā koutou katoa, (Hello everyone)
Cameron, Meryl, Chris, Ada, Milana, Leo B, Alexa and Ben B and myself have spent the day alongside students from Managweka and Manchester Street Schools engaging in a day of learning in the forest. We learnt how to whittle, make fire using flint and steel, about the local pūrakau of the area and engaged in various tree climbing and bush walking fun as you can see above. It is pretty special to see how natural kids are at making new friends and building that whanaungatanga with two other schools. Mihi atu to Memory (Tumuaki at Mangaweka) for allowing us to come join in and learn alongside their school hapori (community).
Nau mai haere mai (Welcome) to Amelia, teina (younger sibling) of Ben in Mataī and Archie, teina to Billy in Rātā who started with us this week in Rimu with Meagan and Hannah. It is always a nice feeling when you have younger members of whānau start at school.
This week, Anna shared with me the amazing tuhituhi (writing) that Rātā have been doing around the Moon. These tamariki are only Year 1/2 and look above at how amazing their handwriting and spelling is! I don’t think I’ve ever properly understood the different phases of the moon, sometimes you need a 6 year old to just explain it to you…
Today is the last day to get entries in for Lamb, Calf and Pet Day which is next term on Friday 1st November (End of W3). This event is what gives our school that ‘rural feel’ and is a point of difference from our city schools. You can find more information about the event here. Our number of animals are the lowest they have ever been, so hopefully this might prompt you to remember to register them.
Hui ā Kura (Assembly):
This afternoon, our second Hui ā Kura (assembly) of the term occurred, making up for the one we missed last week due to Tāne Mahuta (Hall) being unavailable (We will still have Hui Ā Kura next week). Travis, Ryleigh and Billy were our Year 6 hosts. Lots of tiwhikete (certificate) were handed out including Mathex, Speeches and as always, we recognise those who consistently demonstrate our uara (values) and receiving their this week are:
Rimu: Kason – Mātauranga, Mackenzie – Whanaungatanga
Rātā: Hazel – Whanaungatanga
Pōhutukawa: Lihmé – Whanaungatanga
Mataī: Quinn – Mātauranga
Tōtara: Grace – Mātauranga and Manaakitanga
Kahikatea: Olivia – Manaakitanga
Cluster Kapa Haka:
Next Thursday 29th August we are taking our Tuakana (Year 4-6 Classes) to Linton Community Centre for our first Cluster Kapa Haka event in a very long time. Whaea Tūrehu will be running the event for us. Unfortunately Aokautere and Ōpiki cannot make it, but Tokomaru and Linton Camp will be joining us from 9.30-11.30am. Parents are welcome to come and watch.
Term Dates for 2025:
Last week I informed you of our school dates for next year. You can view them below or on our website here (School Information > School Term & Hours) or on Hero by clicking on the Term Dates tab then on the arrow pointing to the right of 2024.
Term 1: Thursday 30th January – Friday 11th April
Term 2: Monday 28th April – Friday 27th June
Term 3: Monday 14th July – Friday 19th September
Term 4: Monday 6th October – Tuesday 16th December
In Term 1, there will be no school on Thursday 6th February (Waitangi Day) and Friday 7th February (Staff Only Day). In Term 2, there will be no school on Friday 30th May (Staff Only Day), Monday 2nd June (King’s Bday) and Friday 20th June (Matariki). In Term 4, there will be no school on Monday 27th October (Labour Day).
Out of Zone Enrolment:
Thank you if you have a child at home that you want to attend our school in the future and have entered them on our Pre Enrolment Form. Since this message in the last pānui, we have had a lot of interest from those whānau who live outside our zone, who heard about our vacancies from you reading our pānui and sharing, so mihi atu ki a koutou (thank you everyone). Word of mouth is the best form of advertising.
Daffodil Day:
Next Friday 30th August, we are proud to be supporting the Cancer Society this upcoming Daffodil Day. Unfortunately 1 in 3 New Zealanders will receive a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime. The Cancer Society ensures that none of them have to go through this alone. We strongly encourage all our students to dress up in as much yellow (or as bright a colour as possible) on this day. If you want to provide hope and support to cancer patients and their whānau, you can donate through the school page we have set up here.
From the Fundraising Committee:
Did you hear Jo talk to Sarah from MoreFM on Tuesday morning about the Spring Fling? Didn’t she do well? It is on Saturday 14th September (End of Week 8) and it is going to be great! To follow on from our ‘bright themed’ dress-up mentioned above, we want to build some hype around our Spring Fling, so on Friday 6th September, we will be having another dress up day with a ‘spring theme’ so potentially you could use your outfit twice, or continue to let your creativity fly.
From the Community:
- Next Wednesday 28th August, we are hosting the Turitea Wind Farm Community Meeting at our school from 5.30pm-6.30pm. Please come along if you are interested in hearing from the team from Mercury Energy and what projects they are working on. RSVP to Katy Scoullar
- The iBike4Kids event is back for 2024 on Sunday 1st September at the Esplanade. This is always a family-friendly and fun event. More information can be found here with tickets available here.
- The Mudder Event is back for 2024 and is on Saturday 21st September at 498 Makuhou Rd, Marton from 8am – 3pm. THis event comes highly recommended from some of our Turitea Whānau. You can get tickets here.
- ACROSS Te Kotahitanga o Te Wairua are offering FREE 2-hour Positive Parenting Courses to learn practical, positive strategies you can choose from to add to your parenting tool kit. offers free 2-hr Triple P Positive Parenting courses on a variety of different topics here.
Thanks again to those who have been using our Pātaka Kai (Sharing Pantry). I love seeing the homegrown produce filling up the shelves. Meryl thanks you for your seed raising pots that came in this week. Great to see our teina (junior students) like Makenna and Lea potting broccoli above to take home and grow. Kaitiakitanga is alive and well at Turitea School.
Don’t forget that Scholastic Book orders are due back next Thursday 29th August.
Kia pai tō rā whakatā! (Have a great weekend)
Troy