End of Term 4 Week 7 Pānui

In NewsPosted

Tēnā koutou katoa (Hello everyone)

Ka nui te mihi ki a koutou (Thank you for your support) for our dear Trish over the past week. The love and messages have flown in for her and have all been passed on after the passing of her beloved husband, Patrick. A lot of you have asked what you can do to support her in this difficult time and I will be working with the PTA on some ideas that have been floating around which we will share with you all soon. Trish and her whānau held a private service for Patrick yesterday to remember the good times. As Winnie the Pooh said “How lucky are you to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

Monday was the first day of school for Catie, who very confidently joins her big brothers Lachie and Finn at Turitea School as she has joined Anna, Kristin and the ākonga in Rimu. I know she has been waiting for this day for a while, so Nau mai haere mai (Welcome). She is the last member of our Turitea whānau to join us (that we know of) taking our end of year roll to 152 tamariki.

Our fantastic Pool Parents have been working hard to prepare the school pool for summer. Keys will be available to hire from this Monday morning for a cost of $50 for the season. We prefer online payment, so please email or show Julie a screenshot of your payment rather than bringing in cash. A rental agreement must be signed at the office when you collect the key. We have a limited number of keys available, so get yours before the end of the year. Please keep the keyrings out of direct sunlight as they will warp.

Yesterday I met with Jared from Straitline Canvas and thanks to your support of our PTA fundraisers and grant money from NZCT and Pub Charities, we have secured the funds to install the shadesails. These will cover the top playground keeping it safe and sunsmart for the summer. They expect to get the poles installed at the end of the first week of December and then hang the sails in early January.

Thank you for the Facebook love you have shown us, as we have nearly cracked 100 followers. I have been enjoying dabbling in this space to try and create some interest in the page, as well as share ‘the goings on’ with you all. Hopefully you find another communication platform helpful. I have been amazed that our letter stating our intention to continue to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi at Turitea has garnered a lot of online support. 

Garden to Table continued again this morning with Rimu and Rātā getting involved in the garden or cooking in the kitchen. As always, thank you to our whānau volunteers. Rice Risotto and Cabbage Rolls were on today’s menu. Meryl has posted the videos from the last two weeks here and here if you wanted to check out what they got up to. 

Senior Cluster Athletics:

Yesterday Faye took our team of 40 tamariki to compete at the Senior Cluster Athletics at Massey Track. We were lucky the weather held off and wasn’t too hot. Ngā mihi (Thanks) to our amazing parent supporters who came down to assist. Our kids achieved some great results.

  • Kazuri – 1st in Year 6 Girls Discus and 3rd= 80m sprint
  • Ivor – Ist in Year 6 Boys Discus
  • Finn – 2nd in Year 6 Boys Discus
  • Kyerin – 1st in Year 5 Boys 80m Sprint and 400m, 2nd in Shotput and 3rd= in Discus and Long Jump
  • Ihaia – 1st in Year 5 Boys High Jump
  • Munroe – 2nd in Year 5 Girls Shotput and Discus
  • Harriet – 3rd in Year 5 Girls 400m
  • Ayla – 1st in Year 5 Girls High Jump and 80m Sprint, 2nd in 400m, 3rd in Shotput
  • Baxter – 1st in Year 4 Boys Discus, 2nd in 80m Sprint and High Jump, 3rd in Long Jump, 400m and Shotput
  • Zali – 2nd in Year 4 Girls Discus.

Kyerin won Overall Top Year 5 Boy and Ayla won Overall Top Year 5 Girl. Baxter was 2nd= Overall Year 4 Boy. Munroe was 3rd= Overall Year 5 Girl. Our Relay team of Kyerin, Rory, Finn, Blake, Baxter, Ayla, Kazuri and Ruby also came first in a thrilling sprint race.

Ngā Whakanui Ākonga (Student Celebrations):

Ngā Whakanui Ākonga – The Celebrations of our Students is a new feature of the pānui that I’d like to add to recognise our tamariki who succeed in things outside of kura that are worth celebrating. 

  • Kei Reira (Awesome) to Kazuri and Xavier who placed 6th and 7th in the Manawatu Golf 2025 Junior Open Championship last weekend.
  • Ka pai tō mahi (Great work) Sophie who has been selected for the Novice Competitive Cheerleading Squad at Zero Gravity.

Pack The Bus: 

The bus is coming back to Turitea School again this year in Week 9 for us to demonstrate our uara of manaakitanga (kindness) for others who are in need this Christmas period. Please bring new, unwrapped gifts or non-perishable food items and toiletries to the office. All donations go to Koha Kai Whare at Palmerston North Methodist Social Services and Barnardos. Hoping you will join us in sharing the love.

From the Community:

  • Palmy Car Boot Sale – at the Awapuni Racecourse on Saturday 29th November from 10am-1pm. Register your site via QR code on the poster to sell, or come to buy.
  • Epic Music Academy has their End of Year concert also on Saturday 29th November at the New Life Church. See here for more information.

Term 4 Important Dates:

Here is a list of all the goings on for the rest of the term. Some dates have been added below.

  • Week 8 (Next week)
    • Interschool Road Race on Thursday 27th November at Manawaroa Park at 12pm
    • Hui Ā Kura (Assembly) on Friday 28th November at 2.15pm
    • Calendar orders due by Sunday 30th November
  • Week 9
    • Pack the Bus Charity Collection Drive on Tuesday 2nd December at 1.45pm
    • Interschool Athletics (Year 5/6) at Massey Track on Tuesday 2nd December
    • 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 in the evening
    • End of Year Prizegiving on Tuesday 16th December at 12pm
    • School ends on Tuesday 16th December at 1pm.

Holiday Programmes:

With the school holidays just around the corner, check out what is on offer below if you need care for your tamariki over the break:

Kia pai rā whakatā! (Have a great weekend)
Troy
principal@turitea.school.nz