Porritt School Press

Morena ngā whānau o Te Kura o Porritt!

With our second term whistling by, we are on the dawn of Māori new year with the arrival of Matariki in the morning sky. Excitement is building among our tamariki with our Matariki learning being focused around this year's theme Matariki Heri Kai - Matariki the Bringer of Kai. Ask your child about the four whetū linked with different food sources. We can't wait to share kai with you all at our Matariki Evening Celebration tomorrow evening.

We're also doing some huge learning around Hautapu and very much looking forward to our ceremony on Thursday 4 July. We'll share some information soon about our Hautapu Ceremony and what you might expect to observe. We will share more of our Matariki learning across the next fortnight. A reminder also that school is closed this Friday coming - the 28th of June, to enjoy time with whānau as part of our Matariki public holiday.

Two of our Rich Records of Learning have now been shared about your child via Hero. You have some detailed information about your child's learning progress in Reading and in Writing. If you have any questions about this learning, please do reach out to your child's Home Teacher. A massive mihi to our kaiako for their mahi here in producing these rich records of learning. They are currently working hard on Rich Records of Learning in Mathematics and Statistics.

Here's hoping for clear skies and bright days in the next fortnight, to welcome the rising of Matariki!

Maaka Papuni - Tumuaki/Principal

Mānawa maiea te putanga o Matariki

Mānawa maiea te ariki o te rangi

Mānawa maiea te Mātahi o te tau

Celebrate the rising of Matariki

Celebrate the rising of the lord of the sky

Celebrate the rising of the New Year

Ayla, Danica and Maia with some Matariki whetū they crafted as part of their learning this week.

The theme for Matariki in 2024 is Matariki Heri Kai - The Feast of Matariki! Here are our community gatherings and celebrations for this year;

The weather for tomorrow night is not looking flash!! We'll communicate a decision by 5.30pm this evening if this forecast does not improve. We'll be postponing this awesome whānau event, rather than cancelling it. It is likely that any postponement will take place in the first week of Term 3.

For the first time, our kura will mark the arrival of Matariki with a hautapu ceremony in the early morning of Thursday 4 July.

We had an awesome whānau hui last week and have plans well underway for next Thursday.

This ceremony is commonly known as whāngai i te hautapu – or hautapu for short. It means to feed the stars with a sacred offering.

We will hopefully view Matariki in the morning sky as a new day dawns.

Our Hautapu Ceremony will feature a number of karakia to recognise the whetū of Matariki and the different elements of life they represent.

This ceremony is commonly known as whāngai i te hautapu – or hautapu for short. It means to feed the stars with a sacred offering.

We will have an opportunity to remember those that are dear to us that have passed, and we‘ll look to the Māori New Year ahead and provide our offering to the stars.

The ceremony will end with the rising of the sun...hence the later start time than previously advertised (We're learning all the time!)

More information and a Q&A will be shared soon. Meanwhile, prep the beanies, scarves and jackets for an early morning ceremony together.

An example of the kai offered to ngā whetū to recognise the rising of Matariki.

As mentioned above, two of our Rich Records of Learning have now been shared about your child via Hero.

You have some detailed information about your child's learning progress in Reading and in Writing.

Our teachers are now working to prepare the final Rich Record of Learning for the term based on your child's progress in Mathematics and Statistics.

Log in and have a good read with your child...this is a great chance to have a good korero together about your child's learning - there is much to be proud of!

Stella with some of her writing mahi. Our tamariki are so keen to share their learning progress. Get onto HERO today to check your child's Rich Records of Learning.

Big brother is most definitely watching around the kura 24/7 now with the installation of a $42,000 security camera system. Thankfully we won a grant to partially fund this system, but still had to allocate over $15,000 of Board funds to the project.

Our whakaaro, our thoughts as a school and as a Porritt School Board, is that our school is a public space and our community is welcome to make use of the front court etc with respect, outside of our 8.30am - 5.30pm operating hours Monday to Friday.

Sadly, there have been too many instances of theft, vandalism and damage caused outside of school hours, so the resourcing had to be dedicated to this system, which we can draw footage from any time.

The system has been in place since the beginning of the term and has helped us to identify some using our grounds inappropriately already!

Thanks for your help and support as community to keep an eye on our kura and encourage others to enjoy our spaces with respect.

Some of our Team Whā leaders spotting one of our new security cameras.

Kia ora e te whānau,

The Porritt School Home and School would like to extend our heartfelt thanks for your support in our recent initiatives, including the ice block sales and firewood raffle ticket sales.

Thanks to your generosity, the profits from these activities have been passed on to the school. These funds will be reinvested into enhancing classroom spaces and providing more resources for tamariki on wet days.

We are excited to announce the return of our Matariki Sausage Sizzle this year! Join us on the back court for delicious $2 sausages, $2 drinks and $1 marshmallow packs also available. Your support in this event is greatly appreciated and helps us continue to contribute to our kura.

Our next Home and School meeting will be held on Thursday, 1st August 2024, at 6.00pm in the school staff room. Everyone is very welcome to attend. We look forward to seeing you there!

Thank you once again for your incredible support.

This term, the Porritt School Board, Community and Staff are invited to review the current policies as part of our regular policy review cycle;

• Equal Employment Opportunities
• Teacher Relief Cover
• Classroom Release Time / Timetable
• Police Vetting

If you'd like to particiapte in policy review, head to https://porritt.schooldocs.co.nz/ and enter the following details;

Username: porritt

Password: pride

From our school policy landing page, click on 'Current Review' as pictured below, to see all the policies listed for review each term. You can select each policy and click 'Start Review' to begin the process.

From left to right: Presiding Member Pōhatu Paku, Acting Principal Term 1 Marsha Keesom, Chris Olsen, Rhondda Sweatman, Deputy Chair Karen Hubbard, Staff Board Representative Gail Shine, Minutes Secretary Tori Anderson, Ken Marshall (Absent - Dan Whyte, Principal Maaka Papuni)

As part of our 'Hauora Heroes' mahi, last Thursday Team Whā spent the day out of kura nurturing our hauora.

We first headed to the cinemas to see 'The Mountain.' The NZ film beautifully showcased themes that align with the concept of hauora through its thematic exploration of personal well-being and mental health, all the while our tamariki relaxed chowing down on some delicious popcorn and hanging with their mates. Lots of laughter was had.

When then put our taha tinana to work with a hikoi around Centennial Gardens followed by a hike up Mataruahou, continuing our learning of the pūrākau of 'Pania.'

Ngā mihi nui to our amazing whānau for your support on the day. These trips and experiences are made possible because of you.