Pānui (News)

You might have heard on the news that our Prime Minister and Education Minister talked to the ‘shocking state of maths’ and ‘chronic underachievement’ across our country. They claim data from the Curriculum Insights and Progress Study (CIPS) shows just 22% of Year 8 students were working at the expected curriculum level for mathematics. However, what they didn’t inform us is the data they are referring to relates to a trial of only 853 Year 8 students across 42 schools who took part in this study. This data is also based on a new curriculum that hasn't even come out yet....

Trusting you’ve all been enjoying all the Olympic action over the week and haven’t been staying up too late getting your ‘fix’. It was great to see our Kiwi Rowing Team making their mark overnight, wasn’t it? Although the Olympics are entertaining to watch, there is so much learning that our kaiako are pulling out and using in their classroom around this event. The Maths, Writing, Artwork, PE links that are made prove to be an amazing learning experience for our ākonga (students). I know I don’t usually promote kids on screens, but please let them have a watch over...

Nau mai, hoki mai ki te kaupeka tuatoru. (Welcome back to Term 3) Our Monday morning was beautiful with our usual Mihi Whakatau (Traditional Welcome) that we have to welcome our new whānau members to Turitea. Starting the term together as a whole school is a great showing of our school uara (value) of whanaungatanga (relationships). It also educates our tamariki about an important process in Te Ao Māori (The Māori World) and we know having exposure to this, will normalise this tikanga (traditions) when we visit Rangimarie Marae in Week 9. Watch this space… 

We’ve made it whānau - Half way through the school year already! We trust you all received your child’s report through Hero (Or via their school bag if they are in Rimu). Hopefully you were able to find the time to sit with your tamariki and go through this with them to share in their successes. Although these reports are designed for the parents or whānau to read, our kaiako craft these in a way that celebrates the ākonga (student) as a learner. All too often, the people that the report is about, don’t actually get to see/hear what is...

Getting this out to you all a day earlier than usual. Mānawatia a Matariki ki āpōpō (Happy Matariki for tomorrow) Our tamariki are working hard to complete their Matariki themed artwork in class at the moment. Our goal is to decorate Tāne Mahuta (the Hall) with all of this beautiful mahi toi (art) in the hope that your child brings you through this space to show off their creation next week during our Kōrero Mai (Learner Conferences) which are on Wednesday 3rd July/Thursday 4th July. This also happens to be the last week of term if you weren’t aware. You...

WHAT A WEEK! A super proud tumuaki right now. Your tamariki have really stepped up this week and showcased their talent, passion and confidence in Kapa Haka. From smashing it on the stage at the Regent for Pae Tamariki on Tuesday, to then blowing the roof off the Linton Army Camp Gymnasium yesterday. It is something I definitely couldn’t have done at my primary school growing up, nor really had the opportunity to, so it fills me with pride that our tamariki have this. Mihi atu (thanks) to Whaea Tūrehu for getting them performance ready and to all our whānau...

Another busy week here with lots of things happening in and around the place. On Monday, we welcomed Caelum, who has joined us in Rimu with Meagan and Hannah. He and his whānau live in the area, but have just returned from a long trip to China. Nau mai haere mai ki te kura o Turitea (Welcome to Turitea School).  I was invited to Mataī class on Wednesday to see the finished product of their mahi toi (art), where they have represented their whānau members with the popular koru which symbolises life in Te Ao Māori (The Māori World) Don’t...

Thank you for your support with letting us have our Teacher Only Day on Tuesday. Not only was it a great day of mātauranga (learning) about local history in our rohe (region) but it was also great to come together as a collective group of primary schools. In Te Ao Māori,(The Māori World), knowledge is seen as a taonga (treasure), so we were extremely grateful with all that was shared with us from the Tai Huki team.  

There aren’t many more memorable days than a Cross-Country day in a rural school setting I reckon. I myself attended a small rural school called Harrisville, south of Auckland, which was very similar to Turitea in a lot of ways and we had to run through cow paddocks filled with mud and cow pats for our event too. I remember my teacher, Mr. Short, told us that this was ‘great character building’ so it would make him very happy that roughly 30 years later, we are still giving our tamariki the same experience. I understand that running isn’t everyone’s jam,...

I have to start the pānui with sending a huge mihi (thanks) to James (Dad to Joseph in Mataī) from Dwyer Tech for helping us fix our front fence. Our insurance claim only just got accepted yesterday and they have managed to fit us in right away - Ka Rawe! (Awesome!) I personally can’t wait to have this fixed, as I don’t like our front entrance looking like it is. If there is a ‘silver lining’ to this incident though, it has given us some leverage to potentially fast track the Interim Speed Management Plan around schools, in which we...