Kia ora e te whānau,
Mihi atu ki a koutou (Big thanks everyone) if you came along to our annual Lamb, Calf and Pet Day last Friday. This is one event that helps us retain our ‘rural school’ status and was a beautiful way to spend a sunny Friday evening. It was also a great showcase of some of our students’ commitment outside of school to our uara (value) of kaitiakitanga by looking after their animals. Pictured below are some of my favourite photos. Our winners were celebrated this afternoon at our Hui Ā Kura.
Monday marked the first day of school for Anya, who joined Anna, Kristin and the tamariki in Rimu. She is the first of her whānau to attend Turitea. Herzlich Willkommen (Warm welcome in German) to Yannik who has joined Whaea Anneliese and the ākonga in Tōtara, also on Monday. He comes to us from Jena in Germany, a few hours out of Frankfurt. Nau mai haere mai e korua (Welcome to you both).
We sincerely appreciate the messages of support from whānau during yesterday’s strike action. Your encouraging words via email or in person, highlighted your understanding of our intent. Despite Judith Collins’ open letter the other day, in which we felt our credibility as educators was undermined, our dedicated kaiako (teachers) have spent countless hours over the year preparing for and embracing the changes to the curriculum, only to find out over the weekend that the framework and delivery mode has changed again without explanation or consultation. While we share the government’s goals of equity and excellence for our tamariki, the pace at which they expect us to transform our system is somewhat unrealistic.
The rhetoric at the moment suggests that ‘many kids are below where they should be’ and that is the case for schools in Aotearoa, New Zealand. However, I want you to consider a scenario where success is measured in bananas, then one day, it is decided that it is now to be measured in apples. As you all know, comparing apples to bananas is rather difficult. But by having time with our ākonga to implement the refreshed curriculum, and hopefully have no further changes made, will help us get them to where they are expected to be. By the end of this year, we will be able to ‘compare apples with apples’ regarding their progress against the new outcomes, based on their mid-year report. Please trust us before listening to the ‘propaganda’ that is out there. Turitea has an amazing team of outstanding practitioners who showed they are willing to stand up for what we think is best for our tamariki.
Our Garden to Table programme resumed today with ākonga from Rimu and Rātā having their turn to learn about gardening and prepared a yummy soup to eat. Mihi atu (thank you) to our helpers who came along this morning. No doubt Meryl will make another one of her awesome movies showcasing what they got up to, which I will share in the next pānui.
Hui Ā Kura:
I tēnei ahiahi (This afternoon) we had our first Hui Ā Kura (Assembly) of the new term led by Jack and Ariki from Tōtara and Kauri. It was a busy one as we handed out the trophies as mentioned above. We also recognised those who demonstrate our school uara (values) consistently. Receiving their tiwhikete (certificate) this week were:
- Rimu: Niko – Mātauranga
- Rātā: Grace – Mātauranga
- Pōhutukawa: Azriel – Mātauranga
- Mataī: Stanley – Mātauranga
- Tōtara: Quinn – Manaakitanga
- Kauri: Harriet – Mātauranga
- Tumuaki: Patrick – Manaakitanga
The Lamb, Calf and Pet Day trophy recipients were:
- Junior Lamb and Reserve Champion Lamb: Harvey with Popcorn
- Senior Lamb and Overall Champion Lamb: Rory with Minnie
- Junior Calf and Reserve Champion Calf: Jack P with Lily
- Senior Calf and Overall Champion Calf: Blake with Dora
- Junior Pet: Niko with his dog, Barnaby
- Intermediate Pet and Reserve Champion Pet: Esme with her rabbit, Oreo
- Senior Pet and Overall Champion Pet: Jackson with his dog, Tip
- Indoor Exhibit Cup: Mackenzie with her Scarecrow, Jerry
Looking Ahead to 2026:
Today we held an out-of-zone ballot and were able to offer places to new whānau members to join our kura in 2026. At this stage, our projected classroom arrangements for next year is listed below and it will look similar to 2025, apart from year level changes in some classes, due to our numbers of ākonga (students) in each cohort. We will offer you a chance to share your voice with us, in a future pānui, on which classroom environment might best suit your tamariki, but this doesn’t guarantee their spot. As you can imagine, there are many variables we need to consider when placing students and it is a complex task.
Rimu – Year 0/1 with Anna
Rātā – Year 1 with Carly
Pōhutukawa – Year 2/3 with Cameron
Mataī – Year 3/4 with Trish/Bridgit
Kauri – Year 4/5 with Hannah/Faye
Tōtara – Year 5/6 with Whaea Anneliese
Production Video:
Last Friday, we let our kids watch themselves shine on stage from our production of ‘Aotearoa Tiki Tour’ that we did last term. You can watch it here if you missed out on seeing it live. Please can you not share this video any further, as some Turitea whānau members have requested that their child isn’t visible online and we want to respect their wishes.
From the PTA:
Thank you to those who came to our PTA hui on Wednesday. We are happy to share that we funded the installation of the salt water system in our school pool, which we will re-open in December. This means safer water for our tamariki with sensitive skin and less risk of dealing with harmful chemicals for our amazing ‘pool parents’. Your child’s artwork has been submitted to the Online Printer and communication about how to order products with their amazing creation on them will come out soon. A great fundraiser for us, but also an opportunity to give your whānau members some cool Xmas gifts!
School Photos:
This afternoon, your child should bring home a photo order form from Clicks Photography with your unique code to view and order individual, sibling and class photos. Keep an eye out for this, let us know in the office if it has been misplaced and we can sort you out with the code.
Term 4 Important Dates:
As I outlined last week, a lot is going on in Term 4, so here is a list of all the goings on. Some dates/details have changed, which are highlighted in green. This will stay as a regular feature on the weekly pānui.
- Week 4 (Next Week)
- Labour Day on Monday 27th October – School Closed
- Hui Ā Kura (Assembly) on Friday 31st October at 2.15pm
- Week 5
- Camp Info Evening for 2026 Year 5/6 Parents on Monday 3rd November at 3.30pm (more information to come)
- Trees for Survival Potting Day on Tuesday 4th November
- PNINS Performing Arts Showcase (2026 attendees) – Tuesday 4th November at 11.30am
- Cluster Touch for Year 1-6 teams on Thursday 6th November
- Oroua Boys and Girls Ag Club Champions Day on Saturday 8th November
- Week 6
- Table Tennis Competition on Tuesday 11th November
- Hui Ā Kura (Assembly) on Friday 14th November at 2.15pm
- Week 7
- PTA Mexican Bingo Night Fundraiser at Libre on Wednesday 19th November at 7pm
- Week 8
- Senior Cluster Athletics at Massey on Thursday 27th November
- Hui Ā Kura (Assembly) on Friday 28th November at 2.15pm
- Week 9
- Pack the Bus Charity Collection Drive on Tuesday 2nd December at 1.45pm
- Hui Ā Kura (Assembly) on Friday 5th December at 2.15pm
- Week 10
- PTA Pool Party for all at school on Thursday 11th December
- Year 6 Leavers Trip to the Lido on Friday 12th December
- Week 11
- Year 6 Graduation on Monday 15th December
- End of Year Prizegiving on Tuesday 16th December at 12pm
- School ends on Tuesday 16th December at 1pm.
Enjoy the long weekend and if your child is in one of our senior classrooms, ask them the importance of Monday and hopefully they can share with you why, as they have been learning about Labour Day in class.
Hei te Turei (See you all on Tuesday)
Troy
principal@turitea.school.nz