Pānui (News)

Kia ora e te whānau, I have to thank you all for your support of yesterday’s Teacher Strike. I know this must have caused some of you an inconvenience, but we appreciated the people who responded with or shared their words of encouragement, it meant a lot. One thing I want to reiterate is that yesterday wasn’t about getting more pay for teachers, as often the media can portray a strike in that light. It is about getting the support and conditions that schools are needing to cater for the growing diverse needs in every classroom. Our Turitea teachers work...

Kia ora e te whānau, We had a fab start to our Friday morning today with our Monster Dress Up day parade. This is always a fun event with so much creativity when it comes to costume design. The infamous dance party that we have afterwards is always a bit of fun too. Thanks for your support with celebrating a day of rekareka! (fun) TEACHER STRIKE: You may have heard on the news that next Thursday 16th March, Turitea School will be closed for instruction due to the teachers across New Zealand striking. We know this will be an inconvenience...

Kia ora e te whānau, For those who came last Friday to the Whānau BBQ, we hope you enjoyed yourself. Massive thanks to all the members of the PTA whose organisation skills made the evening run smoothly and was really special. It was great to see so many different people connecting together showing that we are more than just a school, we are a community! A true showcase of Whanaungatanga which is about forming positive relationships. Twyford School Support: Thanks for your support of our Black and White Day on Wednesday. Our coin trail generated over $300 which we will...

Whaea Tūrehu has been working hard with our tamariki every Wednesday during Kapa Haka on learning new waiata (songs) and kupu (words). This morning at hui, they sang so beautifully without her, man I was proud to hear that. I’ll have to take a video for you all next time. We had some amazing leaders step up too which was great to see with Ada, Nate, Iti and Maikara showcasing their leadership - Ka mau te wehi! (great job). Our goal in Kapa Haka is to take the whole school to perform in Pae Tamariki in Term 3 at the...

Hoping you all managed to not be affected by Cyclone Gabrielle this week. Our river was certainly pretty full! Unfortunately the same can’t be said for some of those in the Hawke’s Bay, East Coast, Auckland and Northland regions who have been hit badly. Some truly devastating scenes from there. I know in our senior classes, some authentic learning occurred around cyclones and earthquakes in light of these recent events. I am hoping that some social action will come from our tamariki in what we might be able to do to help.

Why is it that when we have a short week at school, we try to fit more than a whole week's worth of things into it? Needless to say, we are back in the swing of things at school. A special welcome to Esme and her whānau who are new to Turitea and started in Rimu with Meagan this week. This week on Tuesday, we had Natalie and Maureen from OfficeMax run our weekly Staff Hui. They put us through our paces and made us be learners too, getting us involved in a range of Art, STEM and Digital Learning...

Kia ora e te whānau, We had a beautiful Mihi Whakatau to welcome our new whānau to the school on Tuesday, which I found really special. It was nice to set the tone for the year from this and ‘live and breathe’ our uara (values) of Whanaungatanga (Positive Relationships) and Manaakitanga (Kindness and Hospitality) in doing this important ceremony in Te Ao Māori.  We are delighted to welcome to our school; Billy, Ethan, Greer, Mila, George and Michael, who are all brand new whānau to Turitea School in Rimu with Meagan. Finally joining their older siblings who are already here...

Kia ora e te whānau, Welcome back to 2023! It was so nice to connect with some of you today or over the past week in and around the place. The teachers have been working super hard to get their classroom environments looking amazing, so that your kids come tomorrow and will be stoked with their new space. Meryl, our fantastic caretaker has been doing the same thing externally ensuring that our school grounds are looking ātaahua (beautiful) as well!

Kia ora e te whānau, This will be the last pānui I write to you for 2022… We made it! What an amazing year we have had with so much to celebrate. Thank you all for your positivity and support as I made it through my first year at Turitea and first being a principal too. A great way to finish too as this afternoon we had our Xmas Pool Party and what a fun way to end the year! Huge thanks to the amazing PTA who put it all on, our kids got blasted by Santa on a Firetruck...

Kia ora e te whānau, How is it that I am writing this pānui with only three and a half days of school remaining? It feels like just the other day I was writing my very first pānui to you all way back in January. Is it a sign of getting old when the years fly by like this? I had a really proud moment on Monday morning when I had a special visitor, my Dad Barrie. He was also a proud principal for over 20 years at Bombay School in Auckland. It was nice to finally show him around...