Puketapu School Newsletter

Kia kaha - do your best * Kia māia - be courageous * Kia manawanui - have a heart

This week I invite you to find the beauty, the joy, the awesomeness, the manaaki and the amazingness of your whanau. Praise it, celebrate it and make a big deal of it.

Every week I read our school newsletter and I am in awe of some of the stuff our teachers are all doing in their classes and in their teams. Teachers reading in Te Reo Māori, inviting parents in to support with music and the arts, winning the morning, play coaching, dancing, singing, getting kids to love learning, phonics and writing and so much more too.

Have an awesome end to the week and a wonderful holiday break.

Ngatai Walker
Tumuaki

Tuesday 22 September was World Car Free Day.

Puketapu School joined schools and businesses from all over the country and the world by leaving their cars at home and walking, biking, scooting to school.

Two Year 10 students from Spotswood College came out this week to paint a mural in the entrance of the Design Tech block. We think it is awesome!

You can see other examples of their work at The Collaboration Shop on Devon Street.

It's a great start to revamping our creative space. What will be next?

Totara 4 and 5 have been busy adding items to our Totara Nature Learning space.

We have been making bug hotels and concrete stepping stones. The children have had to design their bug hotels, de-nail pallets, redesign their hotels to use the materials we had and nail together a frame. Then they have had to nail in sections to create compartments for different materials.

We were lucky enough to have Natasha Murrell from Adaptive Design come in and help the children make signs for their hotels using a pyrography tool. Then we have had to nail together the roof section and lastly we need to add onduline to the roof and fill our hotels. We have been very excited to see this project come together and can't wait to see it up in our garden space.

Totara 4 had a go at making stepping stones out of concrete with Mrs Collier and unfortunately when they were put out into the garden someone has stomped on them and they have all been smashed.

So instead of letting it get them down they had another go with Miss Sharrock this time they made them super thick. They had to help mix concrete, put it into a mould and then they have laid ferns in them to create an imprint.

If you are in our special space please show Kaitiakitanga and look after it.

Charlie and Ollie did some special cooking with Mrs Wigley this week, making some delicious gluten free and keto nacho crackers using a special recipe.

Thanks Charlie for sharing this great recipe and sharing the delicious crackers!

Gluten Free Nacho Recipe

2 cups grated cheese

1 cup ground almonds

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 tsp garlic

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp chilli powder

1. Mix all the ingredients together.

2. Melt in the microwave.

3. Roll out on grease proof paper

4. Cut into shapes

5. Bake at 180C for 8 minutes or until golden and crisp.

For this weeks electrical experiment with Tarli and Honor, we have tried out e-sewing.

Using conductive thread and sewable led lights and batteries the girls are prototyping before they make their final product, a light up plush toy.

Congratulations to last week's Duffy Award winners from Kowhai: Ari, Harmony, Connor, Esther, Katie, Te Wai, Elody, Charlie, Erin and Cailin.

Damion is teaching Charlie how to do rakau at lunch.

BaileighRose Ramsdale from Totara 2 is carefully piecing together a puzzle for Te Wiki o te Reo Maori week last week.

We love the way our akonga show their school values at our school - especially when it is kindness to each other. Well done Liam who was helping his friend Phoenix.

Congratulations to Nathan Deacon who was recently selected for Ross Brown rugby.

Open to primary school students from all around Taranaki, Nathan was selected for the North zone and will play in the tournament in October.

Well done Nathan, this is a great achievement and is a great reward for your hard work.

Puketapu Penguins have finished their basketball season on high with a record setting 60-10 victory and a record setting 18 points in one quarter!

I am extremely proud of these players who have grown immensely over the season and finished third in their competition. The Penguins farewell Year 8s Nathan Deacon and Maui Walker who have played their last basketball match for Puketapu, We wish them well for their future sporting endeavors at their next school!

2021 could be a promising year for the Penguins with the rest of the squad being year 7s! Well done again Puketapu Penguins!

The Puketapu Magic played their final game of the season on Saturday - Kia Kaha girls!

And so did our Puketapu Diamonds... A big thank you to all of our wonderful coaches!

With our return to Level 1 we are full steam ahead for Touch in Term 4! The first round is on Wednesday 14 October - that is Week 1 of next term.

We have 16 teams in the competition - 156 players - a record for Puketapu School! Thank you to everyone who has stepped up to coach/manage a team - we couldn't do it without you! However, we still need more coaches for:

• Pepe Mako Under 6
• Flyers Under 6
• Piranhas Under 8
• Boosters Uner 8
• Stars Under 10
• Magic Under 10
• Amigos Under 12

If you or a family member can help please let Kim Sowman know asap.

The cost to play will be $20 per player (plus $5 to borrow a school sports top if you don't have your own) This must be paid before the start of the season. Please pay at the office or through online banking.

As we have 16 touch teams next term so we need all borrowed shirts back URGENTLY please. If you have a borrowed shirt at home, please return it now.

Netball and Basketball uniforms also need to come back please.

We are going to be planting flaxes and grasses around the pump track and we would like to put mulch around the young plants.

Can anyone help us with some low cost mulch?

We would like to say a big thank you to Curves Bell Block who held a raffle and raised $86 for our Breakfast Club. Thank you so much Curves team!

Keep your brain working on holiday - these maths games are fun and useful for the school break:

Snail 100. This games supports students learning of place value https://nrich.maths.org/8303

Strike it our for two - https://nrich.maths.org/10091

Always, Sometimes or Never? https://nrich.maths.org/12672

Multiplication activities https://nrich.maths.org/search/?search=multiplication&tab=1&fs=111110001000111

A whole range of activities for at home: https://nrich.maths.org/covid19?utm_source=sidebar&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=mah

This James Tanton video about multiplication on fingers is fascinating:

Here at Puketapu we have had the privilege of running Seasons for Growth Small Groups throughout the year.

Like the seasons, our lives shift and change:

• Friends come and go

• We lose someone we love

• Parents and families separate

• We move to a new place

• We experience a natural disaster

• Illness impacts our life

• Our family’s work-life changes

‘Seasons for Growth’ is an innovative grief and loss education program that uses the imagery of the seasons to illustrate the experience of grief. It aims to strengthen the social and emotional wellbeing of children and young people (aged 6-18) who are dealing with significant life changes.

Below is a link to a recent interview with Judy Wood the Coordinator of Seasons for Growth.

https://accessmedia.nz/Player.aspx?eid=34fd37c2-74d1-49bf-af70-adf58af57de9

Happy Birthday to everyone celebrating Birthdays this week and throughout the Term 3 Holidays:

• Liam Puru
• Rihanna Dellow
• Rylei-Jay Dellow
• Trisha Chand
• Riley Welbourn
• Jade Christmas
• Roman Meijer
• Olivia Corin
• Jahlia Manukonga-Te Uira
• Steven Rupe
• Raven Falaniko
• Connor Christian
• Bella Stainthorpe
• Ryan Judd
• Yulla Te Kura
• Brooklyn Mehaney-Johnston
• Kade Davis

Week 10

• Thursday 24 September: Senior Kapa Haka (Northpoint Church) @ 0915am
  
• Friday 25 September - last day of Term 3

Term 3 finishes this Friday 25 September

Term 4 starts on Monday 12 October

Week 1

• Monday 12 October: School starts at 9.00am
• Thursday 15 October: Shake Out 2020
• Friday 16 October: Pink Shirt Day

Entries to the 2020/21 Sanitarium Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon Series are NOW OPEN!

The New Plymouth Event is on Wednesday 31 March 2021

Who can TRY?

Entry to the TRYathlon is open to all Kiwi kids aged 7-15 years. TRYathlete’s can enter an individual, or in a team of two.

6 year olds can TRY too with our special “Splash & Dash” event. Be quick as spaces are limited.

What do TRYathlete’s receive?

• Official Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon T-shirt*
• Champions Finishers Medal
• Event tote bag*
• Event swim cap*
• Goodies from our awesome sponsors*
• Complimentary Weet-Bix Breakfast at event
• PLUS lots of cool giveaways and spot prizes and the chance to meet some of New Zealand’s leading sports stars!

*items included in the TRYathlon Pack

Click here to ENTER - as part of the Puketapu School Team.

Jayne Rapley is originally from Waitara and has been coming down to shoot Taranaki families for 10 years. (This year is my 10th Anniversary of these photo shoots). A fantastic, affordable, great fun, lots of laughs and of course a great way to capture memories :)

Media Kids runs school holiday programmes in New Plymouth, offering training in radio broadcasting and music production, suitable for local students aged 9-14yrs.

The two-day workshops offer young people a chance to become a radio host, interviewer, news reporter or learn about producing commercial music - and get to record their very own radio show at local radio station The Most FM!

Email: office@puketapu.school.nz
Website: www.puketapu.school.nz
Location: Dillon Drive, Bell Block, New Plymouth, New Zealand
Phone: 06 755 0973