Week 1, Term 2 2025

Tauranga Primary School

DISCO - next Thursday

gold coin entry at the door

Term 2

28th April, Monday - Term 2 starts
5th May, Monday - Mihi Whakatau - to welcome new TPS families, 9:00am
6th May, Tuesday - FOTS meeting 5.00pm
8th May, Thursday - Disco, Circus theme

Junior 5:00pm (years 0-2 and also an option for Year 3 students)
Senior 6:30pm. (years 3-6)

13th May, Tuesday - BOT meeting 6:00pm
15th May, Thursday - TPS Cross Country @ Memorial Park
16th May, Friday - Pink Shirt Day
16th May, Friday - Pizza Friday
21st May, Wednesday - Learning Conferences, 1:30 - 7:00pm - early pick up option from 12.30pm
22st May, Thursday - Learning Conferences, 3:30 - 5:30pm.
2nd June, Monday - King's birthday holiday, school closed
6th June - Pizza Friday
16th - 18th June, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday - Huria Marae visits, more detail to follow
19th June, Thursday - Matariki breakfast, more detail to follow
20th June, Friday - Matariki holiday, school closed
27th June, Friday - Last day of term school closes at normal times
14th July, Monday - Term 3 starts

Click here for 2025 TERM DATES

Principal's Update

Tēnā koutou katoa

Ngā mihi nui kia koutou katoa - Warm greetings to you all.

Welcome to Term 2, it's great to see everyone after the Easter break ready and raring to go! This term we have an overarching theme of EXPLORERS, each team will be tackling this in different ways for example, exploring our local history and environment, developing an understanding of where our ancestors have come from (for our pepeha) and learning about some early (NZ history) explorers such as Kupe.

This term our school will be visiting Huria Marae between the 16th and 18th June, to experience a marae based powhiri, connect and learn about the marae that we affiliate to. Notices will be sent home shortly asking for parent support on the day your child will be visiting. If you have any questions please contact Kelly Savage (teacher in charge) ksavage@tauranga.school.nz. In the same week we will also host our Matariki breakfast on Thursday 19th of June for our school community, before school. We provide toast and Milo for the children, have performances for our parents to enjoy and host a coffee truck onsite.

On the 19th of May we will send (via email) your child's first 2025 report, below are details for parents to book a conference time to meet with your child's teacher to discuss their progress and ways you can support learning at home. This year we are spreading the learning conferences across two afternoons rather than one day. The conferences will be on Wednesday 21st May 1:30-7:00pm and Thursday the 22nd May 3:30-5:30pm. On the Wednesday, parents can pick their child up from 12:30pm onwards, we will supervise any remaining children until the usual 3:00pm pick up time.

Focusing on attendance is a priority for both the Ministry of Education and Tauranga Primary School, because attendance directly affects learning outcomes. Every day your child is well we would love to see them at school.

Attendance Matters Report (from MOE) Term 1.

Regular attendance rate is 77% (students missing fewer than 5 days across a term). Whilst I think there is room to do better, this is our best rate since Term 3 2021.
74% of students were on time to class every day.

Absences:

49% of the absences are medical/illness
20% are accepted, but unjustified. This usually means we have an explanation but it is not approved
18% are holidays in term time
9% are explained and approved – eg a funeral / tangi
3% are unexplained or truant

The most common day for unjustified absences are Fridays, with the Friday after Waitangi day and the last day of term recording notably high rates of absence.

Welcome to Iweth Premarathna, Nakshathra Rajesh, Layla Lowe, Joshua Greeshma Jose, George Bell, Ari Monaghan, Laney Lunam, Ella Haden, Chase Pigao, Chehzaad Cheema, Laurel Paterson and Jasper Singh who have recently started at TPS. It's lovely to have you and your family join the TPS team.

Hei kōnei rā

Fiona Hawes

Principal

principal@tauranga.school.nz

How to book a Learning Conference

Term 2 2025
Dear Parents/Caregivers,
Our TPS Learning Conferences will be held on:

Wednesday 21st May 2025 1:30 - 7:00pm

Thursday 22nd May 2025 3:30pm - 5:30pm

The conferences will be 10 minutes long. Students and parents will meet with their class teacher. We will discuss how your child has settled into school, their learning progress, and also how they are doing with the goals set at our Whānau Connect meeting at the beginning of the year. Any questions or comments you have, regarding your child’s report, can be discussed. It may also be time to set some new goals for your child.

We use an online booking system for learning conferences.
To book your Learning Conference, you can either scan the QR code at the bottom of this

letter
or go to this address: https://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/

Our school code for this event is: gnr63

On Wednesday 22nd May, students can be collected from 12:30 onwards.

Please collect your child from their classroom, so that the teacher can mark them as absent for the afternoon.

After 12:50pm, students will be in the playground, so parents will need to sign their child out via the office ipad.

Children who remain at school will be supervised until 3:00pm.

Ngā mihi nui,

Cathy Ediker

Deputy Principal

Pink Shirt Day

Take a stand against bullying and wear a pink shirt (or as close as you can get to one) to school on Friday the 16th May.

Gold coin optional donation, proceeds raised will go to the Mental Health Foundation.

Watch this short video to understand the recent changes to our NZ Curriculum,

and what TPS reporting will look like in Term 2

Pizza Friday

Introducing Emilia Speirs - Senior Team teacher

Xin chào! Kia ora koutou!

Ko Emilia Speirs tōku ingoa. I’m delighted to be part of the Tauranga Primary School community and have really enjoyed settling into Senior Hub 1 with our amazing Year 5 and 6 students. Originally from Vietnam, I taught in Wellington for the past two years and previously worked in language centres and at the British International School in Vietnam. It’s been a fantastic start to the year at TPS, and I’m feeling very grateful to be part of such a supportive and welcoming team.

Outside the classroom, my husband and I enjoy going on walks and discovering new places and foods. I also love experimenting in the kitchen and unwinding with a good detective show.

I’m looking forward to continuing to build strong relationships with my students and their families, and to creating a positive learning environment where everyone feels valued and supported.

TPS Staff excelling in sports

Recently, three of our TPS staff have been competing and excelling in the sport arena. We are super proud of them and their achievements.

Briar Parker competed in the Masters Surf Life Saving competition in Term 1, placing 3rd in the surf teams race and 1st in the beach sprints. Unfortunately, the swell was too big for board events to go ahead.

In Term 1, Kylie Rae competed in the Masters Touch tournament for BOP. The team were ranked second and were placed fourth at the end of the tournament after losing to Waikato in the semis (who they had beaten the day before).

In the Term 1 holidays Kelly Savage competed in NZ Ocean Swim Series-Legend of the Lake @ Blue Lake in the 1000m sprint swimming race. She won gold in the 40- 50 year old category and also bet all the 30 yr old males and the 20 year old females. This is the third time she has medalled at this event.

FOTS meeting Tuesday 6th May, 5:30pm in the staffroom - everyone welcome

The FOTS are a group of TPS parents who support the school by organising both fun and fund raising activities. They are focussed on building school community and creating fun school memories for our children. Joining the FOTS is a great way to meet other parents and contribute to your school.

Upcoming events

Disco: Thursday 8th May

Pizza Friday: Friday 16th May

Pizza Friday: Friday 6th June

FOTS Quiz Night : Friday 13th June

Disco next Thursday

If can help with any FOTS events please CLICK this helper form button

FOTS helper form

FOTS Quiz Night

The FOTS are excited to host our third annual quiz night, on Friday 13th June 2025, this time to be held at the Tauranga Citizens Club.

To help make our third quiz night another success, we are looking for sponsors. This includes businesses that can help by sponsoring a table, sponsoring a quiz round or contributing to our growing number of raffle and auction items.

There are great advertising options for each level of sponsorship! If you would like more information please don't hesitate to reach out to Theresa (theresa.barn3s@gmail.com) to snap up your tables and quiz rounds.

This year we will be hosting our quiz night at a new location and under a new theme: Our Black&White-themed Quiz Night will be an evening filled with joy and laughter, but it will also be an opportunity to make a meaningful impact on our school community. We are excited to announce that all proceeds from the event will go towards the equipping of the new kitchen and toilets to be installed as part of the hall refurbishment. By participating in the Quiz Night and generously contributing to this cause, you will be supporting our students.

Prepare to put your knowledge to the test, team up with friends and family, and compete for the ultimate glory as Quiz Night champions. Mark your calendars and gather your brightest minds because Tauranga Primary School's Quiz Night is going to be the highlight of the year!