Week 10, Term 1 2025

Tauranga Primary School

Term 1

10th April, Thursday - Year 5 Waimarino trip
10th April, Thursday - Frosty Friday - $2 :00 ice blocks sold after school
11th April, Friday - Last day of Term one, school finishes at usual time
28th April, Monday - Term 2 starts
30th April, Wednesday - Mihi Whakatau - to welcome new TPS families, 9:00am
6th May, Tuesday - FOTS meeting 5.00pm
8th May, Thurday - Disco, Junior 5:00pm, Senior 6:30pm, Circus theme
13th May, Tuesday - BOT meeting 6:00pm
15th May, Thursday - TPS Cross Country at Memorial Park
16th May, Friday - Pizza Friday
21st May, Wednesday - Learning conferences, 1:30 - 7:00pm
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.

The first term of school for 2025 is nearly complete, and I am so incredibly proud of our amazing students and staff. They have worked hard to embrace and thrive with the many changes that have been made in the way we are delivering a newly refreshed curriculum. While there is a lot of learning to go over the next couple years, we have made a great start.

This term our Year 4 to 6 students completed the PAT Mathematics online assessment. TPS students scored higher than the national median (scaled score) for all years, and significantly higher in years 4 and 6. A box and whisker graph of these results is below. Percentage wise, 84% of our students are achieving in the average to above average stanine range. Overall we have less students in the below average stanines compared to the national norms. A significant strategic goal for our kura is to achieve equitable outcomes for all learners. Reviewing the Māori achievement data in PAT Mathematics over the last 4 years, I am pleased to share that the disparity between Māori student achievement and all students has reduced every year from a 28% disparity in the lower stanines in 2022 to 11% in 2025.

Next term, we will be sharing your child's first school report for 2025, and inviting parents to meet with their child's teacher for a Learning Conference. This year we will be 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 are able to pick their child up from 12:30pm onwards, we will supervise any remaining children until the usual 3:00pm pick up time. Early next term we will share information about the reporting process and how to book a Learning Conference timeslot. In the meantime please add these dates to your diary/calendar.

Update on the hall weathertightness project.

We are on track to commence the remediation of our hall weathertightness issues (including a roofing solution) in July. Potentially, the project will take up to 9 months, it will include significant drainage solutions and the addition of a kitchenette and toilets. We will have no hall for at least Terms 3 and 4 this year.

Welcome to Avanthika & Avanya Halangoda, Rhythm Bhattarai, Michael Hambira and Antonella Garate Pacheco who have recently started at TPS. It's lovely to have you and your family join the TPS team.

Thank you for your ongoing support of our school, have a wonderful school holiday break and we will look forward to seeing you on Monday the 28th April to start Term 2.

Hei kōnei rā

Fiona Hawes

Principal

principal@tauranga.school.nz

PAT Maths 2025 Years 4-6

SCHOOL FLEECE SALE – LIMITED TIME OFFER!

🔥 Special One-Off Discounted Price: $30 🔥

(Regular Price: $54)

📢 Why the discount?
These fleeces have a slight colour variation from our usual stock, but they’re just as warm and cozy

We only have a very Limited Supply – First Come, First Served

of Sizes: 9-10 and 13-14

Where to Buy?
Purchase in person at the School Office

Available from Monday, 24 March 2025

Don't miss this chance to grab a bargain while stocks last

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

Frosty Thursday: Thursday 10th April

Disco: Thursday 8th May

Pizza Friday: Friday 16th May

Pizza Friday: Friday 6th June

FOTS Quiz Night : Friday 13th June

If you are able to help with any FOTS events please indicate on the form below.

FOTS helper form

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!

Writing from Iris Chen

A boat, barely above the crystal clear water, was being tossed around like a toy in the waves. Slowly, it went down to the murky depths of the sea. I jumped out of the boat. Instantly, I felt the icy Arctic waters hit my bare skin. I was a diver, exploring a boat called Marcemfim. It was rusty with barnacles stuck to the old wooden steering wheel. When I touched it, it felt like sandpaper in my hands. Lots of little fish were exploring the wrecked ship. There were cod, salmon, tropical fish and seahorses. They were everywhere and were like tiny, little exploring divers. Finally a emerged through the surface to see the snowy mountains and the sun shining down.

2025 Ballot Dates

Out of Zone Enrolments

Enrolment for Term 2 2025 - ballot completed

Enrolment for Term 3 2025 - ballot to be held on Friday 9th May 2025

Enrolment for Term 4 2025 - ballot to be held on Friday 25th July 2025

Enrolment for Term 1 2026 - ballot to be held on Friday 17th October 2025

Enrolment packs can be collected from the office, or use our online enrolment form at www.tauranga.school.nz (code 1991)

Any queries or to check your child's name is on our pre-enrolment list please contact our

Enrolment Officer: Barbara Turley at office@tauranga.school.nz

TPS Enrolment Information

Let's recycle your old phone to support the school

Earth Day 2025 Earth Day - 22 April 2025 Our Power, Our Planet - highlights the importance of renewable energy sources, environmental justice and conservation efforts,

including recycling, which is a vital element of this process.

This encourages everyone to take meaningful steps towards a more sustainable world.

This is where your school can help:

By recycling your phone, ipad, or tablet into the box at the school foyer you can prevent it from ending up in the landfill and in exchange your school will earn points to go towards sports equipment.

Dont forget our recycling box is in the school office foyer

Our Newsletter Sponsors:

Community Notices

K-Valley Family Friendly Scavenger-hunt on 13th April

Get the kids out and active during the April holidays in support of restoring K Valley to its natural state. Join our family-friendly scavenger hunt by bike in the Kopurererua Valley on Sunday 13th April. Meet at the bottom of 17th Avenue from 10 am (rolling start until 12 noon). Prizes will be awarded at 2.30 pm. Go to https://events.humanitix.com/k-valley-cycle to sign up a team of up to six for just $40 (Organised by Tauranga Sunrise Rotary)