Mihi atu ki a koutou, (Greetings to you all)
There was a sea of kōwhai (yellow) at our morning hui today as many of our tamariki showed their support for the Cancer Society through Te Rā Daffodil (Daffodil Day). Ngā mihi nui (Big thanks) for donating to our school page that we set up here or to those who brought in coins this morning. Our cumulative count has it at just over $700 that our community has raised – Kei reira koutou! (Awesome everyone) The yellow certainly brightened up everyone’s day today.
However at our hui this morning, Cameron shared the sad news of the Māori King; Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII’s passing. He informed us of all of King Tuheitia’s achievements in his role and the monumental success he has provided for Māori and Pākehā equality alike. We observed a moment’s silence and dropped our flag to half mast to show our respect.
On Thursday morning, Bridgit found a female Pepetuna or Pūriri Moth (Ghost Moth) at her house. If you don’t know about these creatures, they spend the first five to six years of their life as a grub living in a tree trunk. They then turn into a moth for 48 hours, lay some eggs and then sadly dies. As you can see below, they are beautiful insects, so our tamariki in Mataī did some great learning around this and shared it all with me, demonstrating our uara (value) of Mātauranga.
Yesterday, our Year 4-6 students shone at our Cluster Kapa Haka event that we ran at the Linton Community Centre with students from Tokomaru and Linton Camp Schools joining us. Thanks to those parents who came and supported us.
Hui ā Kura (Assembly):
This afternoon, we had our third Hui ā Kura (assembly) of the term. Indi, Wid and Cooper were our Year 6 hosts., We recognise those who consistently demonstrate our school uara and receiving their this week are:
Rimu: Gemma – Kaitiakitanga and Marnie – Mātauranga
Rātā: Griffin – Mātauranga
Pōhutukawa: Stanley – Mātauranga
Mataī: Oliver – Manaakitanga
Tōtara: Felicity – Whanaungatanga
Kahikatea: Leo S – Mātauranga
Tumuaki: Charlotte F – Manaakitanga and Rory – Manaakitanga
Te Rangimārie Marae Visits:
On Wednesday 11th September (Week 8), Kahikatea, Mataī and Rātā are visiting Te Rangimārie Marae in Rangiotū. The next day on Thursday 12th September (Week 8), Tōtara, Pōhutukawa and Rimu will do their visit. This marae is very special to our rohe (region) as it was built in 1868 to help bring peace between the previously warring Rangitāne and Ngāti Raukawa iwi (tribes). Hoani Meihana, one of the first Māori in the region to convert to Christianity, named the marae Te Rangimārie which means The Heavenly Peace. The name, like it suggested, furthered peaceful relations between the two iwi, as well as those Pākehā settlers moving into the region at the time. We are lucky to have developed a strong relationship with the Te Awe Awe whānau, who are custodians of the marae and they support educating rangatahi (young people) about our local history and exposing them to Te Ao Māori (The Māori World). More information will come out about this next week if you would like to join us to learn for yourself.
Out of Zone Enrolment:
School is feeling a bit like an open home at the moment, as I am showing lots of prospective whānau through our kura. This actually is one of my favourite parts of the job, as I love showing off our school! Word of mouth clearly has been the best form of advertising, so thank you if you have let someone know about the limited out-of-zone spaces we have available. Sending them to our Online Enrolment page is the best place to go.
Pedestrian Gate/8am Drop off:
Just another gentle reminder that we invite you to drop your students off to us from 8am in the morning and not before then. It is a safety reason, as most of our staff have their own children in the morning to sort and we may not make it to school before 8am and we don’t want kids left here unattended and unsupervised. Also if you have a child who is not tall enough to reach our gate latch, please open it for them. We have noticed the gate is dropping and not closing properly as kids are climbing on it. Thanks for your support.
From the Fundraising Committee:
Hopefully you have seen our wonderful new signs around the place advertising our Spring Fling that is on Saturday 14th September (End of Week 8). Huge mihi to Adam (Mila R’s Dad) from AGR Industries who designed and printed them for us and Janelle and Hayden (Ruby and Ryleigh’s parents) for installing them. To follow on from our ‘bright themed’ dress-up today, we want to build some hype around our Spring Fling, so next Friday 6th September, we will be having another dress up day with a ‘spring theme’ or to come dressed in your favourite colour. So potentially you could use your outfit twice, or continue to let your creativity fly. If your child is in Year 4-6 or in the Choir, we need them at school on Spring Fling Day by 10.30am as they will be performing for all our guests.
Giant Paukena Competition Seeds:
Your free seeds for this should have come home this afternoon with your tamariki to plant ready for our exciting annual event! If you are new to the school, we had a really successful first run at this earlier in the year, which was sponsored by one of our many supportive parents Nathan Mooney, who is in the real estate game. We harvested so many seeds from the pumpkins that you all grew and brought in, that has made this sustainable moving forward. So follow the instructions from Meryl and you’ll be ready for next year!
From the Community:
- The iBike4Kids event is back for 2024 this weekend on Sunday at the Esplanade. This is always a family-friendly and fun event. More information can be found here with tickets available here.
- Horizons Regional Council wants you to get out and about in our beautiful rohe (region) and be inspired to either; take some photos, create a piece of artwork or write a short story or poem and enter them in their Creative Arts Competition by next Thursday 4th September.
- 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.
As you can see above, Henry is at it again with his Table Tennis success. Last weekend, he entered the Manawatū Under 11 and Under 12 competitions. He was unbeaten in both tournaments and ended up winning both – Mīharo! (Amazing) This weekend he is going to Wellington for the Junior Development training camp.
Whakanuia te Rā o Pāpā! (Happy Fathers Day) to all our awesome Dads out there on Sunday.
Troy
principal@turitea.school.nz