Week 10, Term 3

Kia ora parents, whānau and caregivers. Welcome to the end of Term 3, 2023. The Winter is behind us, Spring is here and this coming weekend sees the beginning of daylight savings...warmer and longer days are on the horizon. I hope that all of you are able to enjoy some family time over the term break. With the fine weather, even just getting out for a walk or a swing at the park can be rejuvenating.

Term 3 has been a busy term. We started off with our Matariki breakfast, which was an awesome community event. Since then (along with the daily learning programmes) we have had the Matariki disco, 100 days celebrations in Waihou hub, School photos, Maths week, the Ned mindset show, School cross country, District cross country, Totara springs sports camp, Thames Valley cross country, Bowls, School production auditions, Tongan language week, Book fair, Special persons day, Māori language week, Kapa haka performances, School and Rotary speech competitions...there has been a lot on.

Term 4 also has some highlights to look forward to...we have our school Athletics days, our Amazing Race day, the school production performances, Christmas disco, TMAK (Yr 7 & 8) camp, Hub outings, Rainbows End trip for Road wardens and Peer meditators, and our inter-school Croquet tournament...

In preparation for Term 4 we ask that you please make sure your child has their school hat ready to go. As a school we will provide sunscreen, but ALL children MUST have a hat when playing outdoors in Term 1 & 4. It is our intention to get the pool up and running around week 3, stayed tuned for updates. We just need the outside temperature to be warm enough that the children aren't too cold when they exit the pool. Thanks to our BOT the water will be an enticing 28 degrees courtesy of our two heat pumps.

Also in Term 4 the teachers undertake a week of testing as they gather their data to write Term 4 reports and measure the academic progress of your children and their classes as a whole.

Attendance in Term 3 has been positive, with 62% of students attending 90% of the time or better (we have 3 students who haven't missed a day all year and many that have only missed 1). PLEASE make sure that your children are here as often as possible in Term 4. This is the term when the learning all comes together prior to testing. To give your child the absolute best chance of success, they need to be at school as often as possible, ideally every day.

Competition

Our Year 7/8 Bowls team had a fantastic time at the Te Aroha Schools Bowls Competition. We are very grateful to Mrs Hubbard and Mr Jerkovich for their time and expertise in teaching these students and to Mrs Melrose and Mrs Johnston, who were our managers and markers. Such a great opportunity for our students.

Kia tu Kia toa Kia mau - accept the challenge

Ataahua

Our House Waiata Challenge was amazing. There is something special about seeing students across the school working together and the singing was amazing. We would like to thank Whaea June for being our awesome adjudicator and to the parents and Whānau who came to support our students.

And this year’s winners …. congratulations TOTARA

Kia tu kia toa kia mau - accept the challenge.

Wow! With each of our speech finalists placed at the annual Te Aroha Rotary Speech Competition, these awesome students had the privilege of presenting their speech again for the Te Aroha Rotary Club.

A fantastic achievement - congratulations to these students. We are proud of you.

Kia tu Kia toa Kia mau - accept the challenge

We are mathematicians

All classes attended World Of Maths workshops. These were awesome and so much fun. A really cool way for our students to explore and reinforce maths concepts through real life examples, hands on activities and applying problem solving skills.

Ka mau te wehi!

Kia tu Kia toa Kia mau - accept the challenge

Whakanuia te Wiki o Te Reo Māori To celebrating the start of Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori - Māori Language Week, our kapa haka group did an outstanding job of performing for the school. Super special to be joined by parents and whānau as well as our friends from Te Aroha Kindergarten.

It was truly beautiful to see the growth of our roopu and their strength and pride in performing. We are incredibly proud of these tamariki. Special mention of our Kaea group who performed a beautiful waiata to open the performance and to Matua Rawiri for his work, expertise and commitment to our school.

Akona te reo, arohatia te reo, kia kaha te reo Māori.

Joy

Absolutely beautiful moments to share from our Tonga Language Week - Uike Kātoanga'i 'o e Lea Faka celebrations. Truly special to watch Talaifina perform the tau'olunga and to be joined by her family.

We loved being able to ask Talaifina questions and she did a fantastic job teaching others how to dance ( this is a lot harder than it looks!)

Thank you Talaifina for sharing your culture with such pride and passion. We are proud of you

Celebrating Book Week

Super cool to have our whole school take part in buddy reading. There is something really special when students share joy and get to know each other over a book.

Well done everyone.

Kia tu Kia toa Kia mau - accept the challenge!