Newsletter 8th December 2022

Tena koutou katoa nga mihi ki te whānau o te Kura o Ōtātara

It is with a massive tinge of sadness that I write my very last TPS Prattle, and after 13 years of doing so it is certainly going to be a wee bit weird having to write newsletters for another kura next year. If my maths is any good then I have probably written about 520 of these over my time here. I wonder how many of those were actually read in that time? Hopefully there were one or two words of wisdom within that.

As I prepare to leave there are a couple of things that do need to be said from my perspective - things that are based on an obvious mixture of pride in our kura but also through years of experience and that blunt honesty that I do tend to have! Firstly, there is not one kaiako / teacher who I would not relish being the kaiako for my tamariki, and I had both my kids through this school. The teachers and the teaching here is exceptional. Secondly, the support around the kura from the Board of Trustees, the PTA and the whānau is nothing short of amazing, and it truly does make a difference. Thirdly, the tamariki themselves make this a grand place to be as they have such a wairua about and around them. Their attitude to learning and to each other is quite inspiring. Lastly, all of the above are created by and add to the culture of this kura. I have often described TPS as the biggest country school in Aotearoa New Zealand!

There have been many kind things said and I am humbled by those. As a tumuaki and leader I have been privileged to be a part of and to feel a part of such a community and it is certainly true that I have gained as much, if not more, from those around me. It is easy to be a leader of those who want to be led. It is easy to be a leader of those that are also leaders in their own right. And it is easy to be a happy-chappie when you are surrounded by positive people who love High 5's and who occasionally laugh at my jokes and let me win at Paper / Scissors / Rock.

If there ever had to be a final word then it would have to be this quote,

"Ko te ahurei o te tamaiti arahia o tatou mahi...let the uniqueness of the child guide our work". Let's never lose sight of the fact that we are here for the tamariki, that we all need to work together and that every one of our tamariki are unique!

No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa.

Nga manaaki

Marty Hantz

Tumuaki

• Cultural Evening - Monday 12th December at 6pm - 7pm
• End of Term 4 - Wednesday 14th December (School closes at 1pm)
• Term 1 Begins - Wednesday 1st February 2023 at 9am

Sadly, we have accepted the resignation of Mrs Vickie Redmond, who has most recently been the release teacher (and right hand man!) for Gayl Squire in Room 19. These two have been a team now for around ten years and Vickie has worked at TPS for 19 years in total! In that time she has taught full-time, part-time and always in support of all that needs to be done at our kura. During that time she has raised three tamariki, has been that mum-taxi, coach and manager, as well as being a fabulous kaiako / teacher. Vickie is sailing towards new horizons as well as assisting within the family business.

We wish you all of the very best, Vickie, and thank you so much for all that you have done for TPS over those years. You will be sorely missed!

On Monday 12th December we are planning to have our annual Cultural Evening to celebrate the many different cultural activities that several of our tamariki have been part of this year. These include Kapa Haka, Choir and other musical performances.

This is also an opportunity for us as a school community to farewell Marty Hantz, our TPS Principal for the past 13 years.

We invite you to bring along a rug and a picnic and enjoy the evening.

Details are as follows:

Event: Cultural Evening / Farewell to Marty Hantz

When: Monday 12th December 6-7pm (No postponement date)

Where: Taradale Primary School Field

We finish next week on Wednesday 14th at 1pm. Please ensure that your tamariki are picked up from school, or arrange for alternative care. We are chatting to the YMCA re their availability on that day, and they will be open.

Tomorrow each child will receive a hard copy of their school report, so please check the depths of each school bag in case they don't seem immediately available! They will be in there somewhere!

On the back page of each report there is information as to who your child's teacher will be in 2023! We have shifted some staff next year so we thought it a clever idea to keep you up to speed in regards to those changes.

Team Tahi...

Year One...

• Lynley Taylor and Darian Caney - Whare 1
• Andrea Bryant - Room 2
• Michelle Andrews - Room 1

Year Two...

• Sally English / Natalie Williams - Room 18
• Kelly Sinden-Allan / Deb Lamb - Room 17
• Amy Little / Louise McCarthy - Room 16

Team Rua...

Years Three and Four Composites.

• Gayl Squire / Haley Keegan - Room 19
• Robyn Cannon / Kylee Dyer - Room 20
• Helena Stevenson - Room 14
• Rebecca Hewitt / Taryn Mason - Room 11
• Hannah Jenyns / Taryn Mason - Room 12
• Gayle Morrissey / Louise McCarthy - Room 15

Team Toru...

Year Five...

• Emma Kirk, Clair Benson, Sarah McGrail / Rae Hill - Whare 5

Year Six...

• Vanessa Bernie / Samantha Campbell, Jacqui Heaps, Dan Madsen - Whare 6

At the latest Board meeting it was decided that not only would we not increase the voluntary school donation from the current $160 per child, but that in recognition of the fact that times might be a wee bit tough financially for some whanau we have changed the way we structure this so that for the first child the voluntary donation is $160, but only $100 more per child after that.

So, check out the info below if you are unsure.

One tamariki - $160.00 total.

Two tamariki - $260.00 total.

Three tamariki - $360.00 total...and so on.

Please remember that though these are indeed voluntary donations, they provide a great deal of extra support across the kura which benefit all learners!

We'll be selling our TPS cookbooks and baking at the Taradale Village Christmas Market this Saturday from 10am Saturday 10th December.

If you can help with some baking so we can raise more funds for TPS that would be greatly appreciated. Baking can be dropped at the school hall on Church road side at the following times (there will be a volunteer there to collect the baking):

Thanks for your ongoing support and please come visit us for some yummy goodies!

Nga Mihi

The PTA

Our TPS annual BOGO (Buy One Get One Free) Book Fair was an enormous success. We sold $6848 worth of books… Double that and that tells you how many new books are in our community. Such a cool way to celebrate Literacy! A huge thank you to Stacey Lyford, Clare Smith and their team of volunteers who tirelessly worked behind the scenes. Our school is so lucky to have such a supportive hapori that values reading.

Whakaaro anō-think again