Tēnā koutou katoa, (Hello everyone)
Nau mai hoki mai ki te wāhanga tuawhā (Welcome back to Term 4) The term opened with our usual Mihi Whakatau to welcome our new tamariki who have recently joined us. Mihi atu (thanks) to John (Archie’s Dad) who did an amazing job of being our whaikorero (speaker) for this occasion.
Monday was the first day for two new students; Sophie moved to us from Milson School to join Karen and the crew in Kahikatea and Billy (Esmay’s little brother) has started with us in Rimu with Meagan and Hannah. Nau mai, Haere mai (Welcome) to you both. This afternoon we said paalam (Farewell in Tagalog) to Leonel from Mataī, as his whānau are off to the Hawke’s Bay. We wish you all the best at your new kura!
You may have seen that we had to take down all the pine trees at the end of the court, instead of just the one that had died. Hamish (Logan and Quinn’s Dad) and his team were able to do this at very short notice and then they prepared the logs, so we can turn them into firewood for our fundraiser next year. Fraser (Mackenzie, Lincoln and Harvey’s Dad) then transported all the logs to their farm, for when it comes time to process them. Mihi atu ki a korua (Thank you both)
Yesterday we had our Tree Planting Day at school, where every student planted a native tree in our Micro Forest area. Over the holidays, Jordon and Max from eHaus completed our boardwalk giving us access to this area. The vision and passion for this project was driven by Meryl and came to life with help from the Lion Foundation and Woolworths Grant for Good. She is an extremely humble person and the whakataukī (proverb) comes to mind about her: ‘Kāore te kumara e kōrero ana mo tōna ake reka. The kumara does not speak of its own sweetness.’
Whanaungatanga is one of our school uara (values) which is all about connections and relationships. I am always blown away by the support we get from our community and how you all get behind the school and the projects we have on the go. We have had so many whānau members help us out over the week and we are extremely grateful for this. Whakawhetai ki a koutou (Thank you everyone)
Massive thanks to the Finnigan and Hutchison whānau who have used Nathan Mooney (Van’s Dad) from Property Brokers this past month. He donates $1,000 to our school for each house he lists and sells that has a connection to us, so if you are in the market, give him a call and let that ‘Mooney Magic’ help you (and our school).
We are on the hunt for a new kaiako (teacher) for 2025 as our lovely Hannah is pregnant and due next March. This is amazing news for her and husband Clinton. We know Wyatt and Belle will make amazing tuakana (older siblings) to their new baby brother or sister. If you know anyone awesome that you think might fit our team here, you can direct them to this link to apply.
**Cyber Safety Evening**
I know this is late notice, but Roslyn School is hosting their Cyber Safety Evening with Rob Cope at their School Hall next Monday 21st October from 6:30pm – 8:30pm. You might recall I mentioned to you about this earlier in the year and as a parent myself, I can thoroughly recommend attending this evening. I will warn you that it is ‘raw, explicit and hard-hitting’ but he drives a really important message home about keeping our kids safe. If you are interested in attending, please register here.
Morning Hui:
This term we are trialling something different in the morning when school starts. We used to meet in the quad and open with our karakia (incantation) waiata (song) and any quick pānui (notices) we had. We will now only be doing this on a Wednesday morning. The other four days, this process will occur, along with some additions, in classrooms and will be known as Pae Kōrero. Your children might come home and talk to you about this and their kaiako will communicate how this looks in the coming weeks.
School Photos:
On Wednesday, we had Brendan come and take all our school photos and he commented on how he loves coming to our school to do this because of all the friendly faces he gets to see. Thank you for getting the orders in. He will endeavour to get all of these processed for us and back to kura by the end of term.
Lamb, Calf and Pet Day:
Hopefully Friday 1st November from 4-7pm is on your calendar for our annual LCP Day. We would love to have you join in the fun, even if you don’t have an animal to bring. The classrooms will be open to see all the fantastic creations the kids have made in class and there will be a bunch of food trucks so we can all have dinner together too.
True Hoops:
Our friend, Coach Miles is back in school next Friday taking our tamariki for weekly basketball sessions over the next 6 weeks. It is always fun having him in our kura helping grow the love of Basketball.
Additional Activity Fee:
Ngā mihi (thanks) to those of you who have already paid the additional $10 we asked for last term to cover the costs of all our activities we do. Julie added these to all of your Finances tab on Hero over the holidays.
From the PTA:
The Halloween Disco is next Friday 25th October from 6pm – 7.30pm. This is a fun, free dress up event for our Turitea students to enjoy. Children will need to remain in the hall, unless using the bathroom, for the entire event. There will be no wandering off into school grounds, to ensure the safety of everyone. This can be a ‘drop and go’ event or if your child would prefer you stuck around, there will be a parent zone in Tōtara. We will not be having Hui Ā Kura (Assembly) next week to give the PTA time to set up. It will be in Week 3 instead.
From the Community:
- Scholastic Book orders are due next Thursday 24th October.
- Kelly Sports start their usual after school programme next Tuesday 22nd October. Register here.
- ACROSS Te Kotahitanga o Te Wairua are offering free 2-hour online or in-person parenting workshops on various topics like handling disobedience, creating bedtime routines and managing screen time. These sessions use the evidence-based Triple P program and are perfect for parents looking to build strong relationships and manage child behaviour.
- ‘Creepin’ it Real’ is a Halloween treat trail at Distinction Hotel on Thursday 31st October/Friday 1st November. Enjoy spooky scenes, meet costumed characters and win prizes in our colouring competition and best-dressed family contest. There will also be a monster bash disco and food available. Proceeds support the Linton Community playground.
- Celebrate the upcoming Hindu celebration Diwali Mela on Saturday 2nd November from 5pm-10.30pm at Te Marae o Hine (The Square). Enjoy cultural performances, hands-on activities and food trucks! Don’t miss the curry competition, in which Adam (Eddie’s Dad) is a finalist.
- New Stage Productions is calling all young singers as they are looking for many talented voices to join the children’s choir in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at The Regent on Broadway on March 15-16th 2025. Register here or contact Shane Brown for more information.
Just another reminder that we are having a Teacher Only Day on Tuesday 29th October which is the day after Labour Day giving you an ‘extra’ long weekend hopefully. School will be closed for instruction that day.
We hope you all have a fantastic weekend. Our teaching team is spending tomorrow at Central Normal School attending the Lifting Literacy Aotearoa conference. I am grateful for their commitment to upskilling themselves to improve outcomes for our tamariki. What a team!
Noho ora mai (Look after yourselves)
Troy
principal@turitea.school.nz