Tēnā koutou katoa, (Hello Everyone)
This morning we were delighted to host four kaiako (teachers) from Russell St School for a visit. Some of you might remember that is the school that I used to work at prior to joining the team here at Turitea, so it was nice for some of my old colleagues to make the trip to see all the amazing things we have going on up here.
Garden to Table continued this morning with Mataī and Pōhutukawa filling Tāne Mahuta (The Hall) with great smells. I was invited along to enjoy the vegetable fritters on offer. Movie-maker Meryl has been back to business by whipping up a couple of her short reels sharing the mahi (work) they do on these days. Check out her installments from last week here and the week before here. Kauri and Tōtara had the launch day for their Rocket Challenge this afternoon. Amelia M and Blake’s rocket went the furthest with a mighty blast off, as you can see above.
A medieval theme ran like wildfire during ‘Learning through Play’ in Rimu this morning when one person made a sword and shield out of cardboard and then everyone wanted one, so as you can see above, potentially the ‘Knights of the Round Table’ then went on their mystical quest for the Holy Grail. Or whatever it might be in their eyes…
Yesterday Pōhutukawa and Rātā took a step back in time as they became students at the old school house at Te Manawa learning about life around the era that our school first opened back in 1895. They had a blast as you can imagine and had some great discussions post visit. Also yesterday, we were lucky to have Janelle and Hayden (Ruby’s parents) come and make the most of the new goalposts they helped installed for us and ran a tackle rugby clinic.
On Monday we welcomed Ava to Rimu with Anna and Kristin. She is the teina (little sister) of Andre from Tōtara and he has been the most caring tungane (big brother) helping her settle in. Nau mai haere mai Ava.
As you can see above, Elisa and I went on a Burger King date on Monday, as she produced the winning design for our production programme cover. Ticket orders for the shows on Friday 12th September are selling fast. For the 6-7pm show, over half of the tickets have gone, so order here to avoid missing out.
As you’ve probably picked up by now through the pānui, we previously asked you “What qualities, dispositions, skills, and knowledge do you think our tamariki need to thrive?” and the responses are compiled here. Each week I have been streamlining each aspect of these responses by asking you different multi-choice questions. Last week’s pātai (question) was Among the Dispositions that were listed, which ONE do you believe is the MOST crucial for our tamariki right now? Here were your responses:
–17 people chose a sense of responsibility for themselves and their actions
–15 people chose a love of learning
–10 people chose a strong sense of connection and belonging
– 3 people chose willingness to take risks
– 1 person chose accepting of each other’s differences and learning abilities
This is helping us gather informal voice as we look to update our Strategic Plan next year. More communication about this will come out soon. In the meantime, I’d like to continue this theme of collecting your views quickly through the short survey feature below, so I appreciate you doing this for us. Here is this week’s pātai for you: Among the Skills that were listed, which ONE do you believe is the MOST crucial for our tamariki right now?”
– Problem-solving
– Creativity
– Critical thinking
– Clear communication
– Teamwork
– Self-management
– Digital confidence
– Something else (I’ll email Troy)
Hui Ā Kura:
This afternoon we had our third Hui Ā Kura (Assembly) of Term 3 led by Riley, Amelia M, Elisa and Amelia C from Tōtara. Today was bittersweet as we said goodbye to Ella from Tōtara. We wish her all the best for the next step in her education. As usual, we recognised those who model our school’s uara (values) consistently, through our fortnightly tiwhikete (certificates). Those people were:
- Rimu: Rebecca – Mātauranga
- Rātā: Billy – Manaakitanga
- Pōhutukawa: Lachie – Manaakitanga
- Mataī: Jack – Manaakitanga
- Tōtara: Maia – Mātauranga
- Kauri: Blake – Whanaungatanga
- Tumuaki: Owen – Mātauranga
- Kaitiaki from Meryl: Oliver from Mataī
Board of Trustees (BoT) Elections:
Hopefully you have all received information about how to vote for the candidates you think would best represent our Board of Trustees. We hope you have taken the time to read the profiles of each of the seven people wanting to stand for the five positions we have available. You are strongly encouraged to vote for up to five people from the list. You have until 4pm on Wednesday 10th September to vote online. If you choose to vote via the paper form, please put these in the voting box in the office. We will need to have these back by Wednesday 3rd September as they have to be posted back to Election Pilot to meet the deadline.
Daffodil Day:
Next Friday is Daffodil Day and we love to get behind this colourful day. Students are welcome to wear something yellow or a daffodil accessory to show their support. A gold coin donation is optional, with all proceeds going directly to this important cause or if you would like to donate now or via online please click here. Thank you for helping us support the Cancer Society and the wonderful work they do.
NZEI Teachers Union Meeting:
Thank you for your cooperation and support with letting us send our kaiako to their union meeting next Friday 29th August by letting us know if you could pick up your child at 2pm that day. They will be waiting on the porch/playground if you can come and get them. Ngā mihi (Thank you)
From the Community:
- Manawatū Hockey are having a Working Bee tomorrow at the Twin Turfs. They would appreciate any volunteers who can spare time (and tools) between 9am-1pm.
- Bunnings is having a free Father’s Day Family Night on Thursday 4th September, packed with activities like DIY projects, interactive games and pizza and a sausage sizzle.
- iBike4Kids is back at the Esplanade on Sunday 7th September. More information found here.
- Manawatū Cricket Association (MCA) is gearing up for Smash Cricket season, it is open for Year 1-4 students. Scan the code on the poster if your child might be interested. For older children, check the previous Hero post from Dani about joining.
Next week I am very fortunate to be attending the APPA Conference in Brisbane, Australia alongside seven of my fellow tumuaki (principals) from our rohe (region). This will keep us updated on leadership and education trends from ‘across the ditch’ and is part of a Trans-Tasman collaboration which provides a platform for professional growth and the sharing of best practices with colleagues from both countries. So Whaea Anneliese will take on pānui duties next week and I look forward to hearing what everyone gets up to whilst I am away.
Ka kite anō i te wiki e tū mai nei (See you week after next)
Troy
principal@turitea.school.nz