Porritt School Press

Kia ora tātou e te whānau o Te Kura o Porritt!

Without a shadow of any doubt, I can report that it has been a bigger than normal beginning to the year at Porritt School!

Welcoming 38 new tamariki into the family has been awesome. What a privilege!

We have a few balls in the air to juggle around our development as a group in different areas. It has also been really important to welcome in and get to know both our new tamariki and whānau and our new kaiako and kaimahi. We have also opened up a new pathway into Te Reo Māori focused learning with our Reo Rua Kōkiri, and have dived headfirst into the NZ Curriculum change outlined by the Ministry of Education.

However, what is top of the list is knowing what is good for our community and our kura and ensuring that we always keep that in the front of our thinking, alongside our whānau.

It has sure been a full calendar across the past four weeks!

Cyclone Gabrielle Anniversary

Yesterday in Assembly, we recognised the passing of time and two years sionce the events of February 14th 2023. For those of us in Hawkes' Bay that day, we will never forget that time. For our whānau and community members that were isolated, heavily impacted and displaced, we mihi to you at this time of remembering, as those impacts go on for many.

In assembly, we sang a waiata together to remember and to reflect.

Waitangi Day 2025

Te Tiriti o Waitangi has been central to our learning mahi with our tamariki at school, as you'll read below, and being able to stop and reflect on Waitangi Day was awesome.

I know there was some media reports around some schools closing for Teacher-Only Days on Friday 7th as well. We obviously did not. However, there were 66 students absent from school on Friday 7th February from a total roll of exactly 300 students - over 20% of our roll.

From a factual perspective, all primary and intermediate schools have to be open for the same number of days. Any Teacher-only Days are added to the school year, so that why you see some schools finishing earlier in December, than others.

At Porritt School, we try as much as possible to lessen impacts of these days for our families. We may need to look at using days like Friday 7th February as Teacher-Only Days if a large proportion of our learners and whānau are going to be away or absent anyway.

There's heaps in this Porritt School Press! Have a good read this weekend and we'll see your tamariki back on Monday ready for another great week.

Kia pai tō rā whakatā - have a top weekend.

Maaka Papuni - Tumuaki

Kilian proudly sharing his mahi tuhituhi with me - his beautiful handwriting! Tamariki sharing their successes and their progress with me...one of the massive privileges of my role!

- Maaka

At our first school assembly on Friday 7th February, we were able to hand out a Nau Mai Haere Mai! Welcome to Porritt School! Certificate. What a privilege to welcome 38 new tamariki to our kura, along with six new staff members - we look forward to getting to know you all!

At Porritt School in 2025, a major focus for our staff is the development of our Mathematics and Statistics teaching and learning programmes.

Our Structured Maths approach here is supported by 3-4 important elements;

1. Clear pedagogy...clarity around how we deliver teaching and learning - our plan!
2. The Learner First professional development support focused on deep learning, based on the individual learner and their needs
3. Maths No Problem! resources - textbooks, workbooks and teacher guides. These have been provided by the Ministry of Education as part of their targeted support. These are part of our approach - not our whole approach
4. High quality teachers and learning support staff

We are focused on improving our teaching and learning delivery in this critical area of the curriculum for our tamariki in a way that lifts outcomes for your tamariki, in a way that is closely linked to the lives our tamariki live and our context as a kura and a wider community.

More information about this learning and development for us will be shared as we progress. We are excited about our progress as a kura in this area!

Maths No Problem is a set of resources to be used from Year 1-6. These resources will be used as a part of our Maths approach. You can expect to hear more from us, and more from your tamariki, about some of the awesome Maths learning they will be in the middle of!

The Learner First is a maths teaching approach based on fostering deep learning, through learning design, holistic knowledge of our tamariki and their strengths, engaging and relevant contexts as members of our community, and collaboration.

We are involved in some significant professional development around this approach for the next two years. We are part of a group of schools doing this important mahi in Te Matau a Māui/Hawkes' Bay.

The group pictured below are our key leaders across the kura.

Our Learner First Maths Champions at Porritt School! Felicity Baker, Ben Martin, Katie McPherson, Hannah Jones, Jasdeep Kaur and Nic McGrath at our first The Learner First Maths professional development session in 2025.

These awesome educators will bring learnings back to our teaching and learning support team to help assist our Maths teaching and learning model.

Porritt Bear is back! Each week, we have a focus at kura and the Learning Space that rises to meet that challenge as a group will receive Porritt Bear to care for.

Last week, our focus was on having every learner wearing their pōtae, their school bucket hat or cap, out in the playground during our break times. Term 1 can be really hard on our skin with the sun out.

The first Home Group to have each and every pōtae on was Team Baker in Team Rua - rawe tamariki mā! They took home Porritt Bear back to their learning space this week. Mr Papuni also shouted this class juicies for their awesome effort! Team Baker is pictured below enjoying their treat.

At assembly on Friday..we found out where Porritt Bear was off to next! More to share next newsletter!

Reese and Huxley reading with Porritt Bear in Mrs Baker's Learning Space after winning our 100% pōtae challenge!

Our schoolwide Learning Kaupapa for the first part of Term 1 is Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The Aotearoa NZ Histories Curriculum is guiding our focus on learning about the historical facts surrounding the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Our learning is being guided by the whakatauki "Titiro whakamua, kōkiri whakamuri" - Look back and reflect so we can move forward.

This is exciting learning about the foundations of our country today. Our kaiako have some awesome learning activities planned and some trips outside of kura to support this.

We look forward to sharing this learning with our whānau and caregivers soon.

I got a chance to korero with some of our Team Whā tuakana, our elder learners, on Friday afternoon.

Kyro and Max were keen to share what they knew about Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the signing and subsequent events. See what knowledge they had to share;

• There was a Declaration of Independence signed by some chiefs and iwi before Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed.

• The English and Te Reo Māori versions contained some key differences. This meant Māori signed believing they would still be in control.

• The Treaty was signed near Russell in the Bay of Islands.

• At the time, lots of people were arriving like whalers, sealers, missionaries and settlers. Some things were happening that were not lawful.

• There were way more Māori than other people in our country when Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed.

• Over 500 Chiefs from iwi around the country signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Some iwi further inland didn't get the chance to sign. Some iwi didn't want to sign.

• After the signing the Treaty, The Crown passed laws to make land easier to access.

• There were some land wars that came after the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

• There was a march in 1975 about land and about the Māori language. Dame Whina Cooper led this march. This was from north of Auckland to Wellington.

• The march last year was about honouring the Treaty - Toitū Te Tiriti.

- Max Humphrey and Kyro Te Hiko (Team Whā)

Kyro and Max - share their Te Tiriti o Waitangi learning confidently.

Impressive matauranga/knowledge boys!

We have the screening vehicle in at school from Community Oral Health and Dental Services, catching up on a backlog of dental care referrals for our tamariki.

It's great to welcome Tanya to the kura to get onto this essential health care for our learners. The focus is on screening and identifying any further care that might be required.

It was awesome to hear of some summer adventures when our tamariki returned to kura. One awesome adventure shared was some of our tamariki involved in representing their club at Waka Ama Nationals at Lake Karapiro in January. Pictured below are Porritt School tamariki Luca Scott-Walters, Maruke Nepe Apatu, Weston Baty, Te Manawakawa Harmer, Bentley Baty, and Te Urukāraerae-Mihiata Nepe Apatu. These legends, along with recent Year 6 learners Āio Nepe Apatu and Scarlett Snook, were all out on the water representing their club Haeata Ocean Sports, and placing in their finals!

Rawe tō mahi ngā kaihoe!

It was cool to hear of several of our tamariki getting stuck in over at the HB Sports Park at the Weetbix Kiwi Kids Tryathlon on Wednesday 12 February. Pictured here are Colten and Rhen Church after their Tryathlons!

Many thanks to Kiwibank for giving us some free entries! In 2026, we may look at a Porritt School combined effort to support tamariki that register.

Well done tamariki mā!

Here are some key dates for the diary;

Team Tahi and Team Rua Swimming Carnival!

• Tuesday 4 March between 11.00am and 3.00pm - More information about times to be confirmed.

Team Toru and Team Whā Swimming Sports

• Friday 7 March between 11.00am and 3.00pm - More information about times to be confirmed.

Both events will be held in our school swimming pool. These are a great way to celebrate our progress and recognise our little swimmers!

This year we reach a grand age - 50 years! We are planning some celebratory events and activities between Thursday 17 October and Wednesday 22 October. This is the week leading into HB Anniversary Weekend and Labour Day.

More information will be shared soon about specific events. For now...mark the diary and let any old girls and boys and ex-staff know!

It will be awesome to mark our progress together and look ahead to the next 50 years as a kura.

"Titiro whakamua, kōkiri whakamuri" - Look back and reflect so we can move forward.

For those new whānau, caregivers, kaimahi and tamariki in our kura, I will introduce you to my twin brother Johnny next week with a presentation to keep you updated.

My brother Johnny lives in Australia. I share a tale or two about my brother Johnny's (mis)adventures at the end of our weekly assemblies. I haven't heard much from Johnny in a wee while, but that changed recently with a korero over the phone. Here's an update from Johnny;