Newsletter 20th October 2022

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

Kia ora whānau and a really big welcome back to the last term of the year. All terms are busy in so many ways yet this last one is always a bit of a humdinger as it is a wee bit shorter and it tends to be the term where we 'jam' a whole lot of learning and a whole lot of learning activities in! Busy as a bee! It is fabulous that the sun is out and we don't mind that the weather was pretty average in the holidays, as we would much rather have that sunshine during school time. I am sure that you can figure out why!

In the last week I have been involved in appointing and reappointing to positions within our Ōtātara Kahui Ako and it has been exciting to see the difference that these people are making within their own kura and across all of the kura in our area. Some of you will be wondering what it is that I am talking about so a brief reminder about what our Kahui Ako is wouldn't go astray. The Ōtātara Kahui Ako is a group of local schools that share common goals for their tamariki. As a community this is an important feature as the schools include 20 Early Childhood Centres, all our local primary schools, our Intermediate and Taradale High. There is also a stronger link to EIT as part of that community.

We receive extra funding across the schools so that we can employ current staff in new ways to assist us in achieving those shared goals. The upshot is that all of us are working more and more closely than ever before and this is being reflected in stronger transitions between schools, a better understanding of how each of the kura operate and shared thinking around Strategic Plans. There has been a greater amount of collaboration between the schools, the kaiako and the tumuaki as part of this. Added to this, we have as a group spent more and more of our Professional Learning time focused on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the growth of Te Ao Maori. Through this we are also developing some great relationships with our local hapu, Ngati Pārau, and their marae, hence the use of Ōtātara.

What are our three shared goals across our Kahui?

• Cultural Connectedness...our aim is to increase the proportions of our tamariki who feel strongly connected to their language, culture and identity, and who feel that their cultural identities are valued and respected across the Kahui Ako.
• Preparedness to Learn...our aim is to increase the proportion of our tamariki who have the dispositions required to develop the capabilities for life-long learning.
• Hauora...our aim is to increase the proportion of tamariki who understand the need for wellbeing as part of their life and life-style.

So, there you have it. A cluster of kura working together for the betterment of all of our community! What could be better than that? Not much!

Nga mihi

Marty Hantz

Tumuaki

Green Family Taradale Pool - Carpark

We are ever so lucky to have the Green Family Pool on site and as part of that remodelling and reworking of the structure we have undertaken a 50 year Strategic Plan so that it never has the opportunity to become obsolete. As part of that plan the Pool Trust will be making some changes to the filtration system within the pool so that it can cater for more swimmers and for longer periods of time.

This means that as from the 7th of November there will be limited access to the pool carpark. This is a short term issue and we are sure that you will understand the need for us all to be patient around losing a couple of parking spaces for a while. More information next week!

• Hawkes Bay Anniversary Day - Friday 21st October
  
• Labour Day - Monday 24th October
• Teachers Only Day - Tuesday 25th October (School Closed)
• End of Term 4 - Wednesday 14th December (School closes at 12.30pm)

Just that friendly wee reminder that as of next week we will be requiring all of our tamariki to keep themselves sunsafe and to be practicing being sunsmart by wearing appropriate hats and slapping on the sunscreen. We tend to be a tad lenient on this for the first week back however after that any of our tamariki without a hat will be asked to stay in the shade.

We also try to schedule as much of our outdoor learning into times when the sun is not as fierce!

As you will be aware we will be holding a Teacher Only Day on Tuesday 25th October, next week. This enables us, as a staff, to ensure that any and all changes to our reports and our reporting are consistent across the school. Afcare will be available in the hall but we suggest that you book this in as quickly as possible so that they can staff accurately.

Thank you to all of those parents who...

• are patient as they wait for a park in the drop-off zone.
• do not park in the drop-off zone and wander off to their tamariki's classrooms.
• stop at the crossing when they notice that there are people waiting to cross.
• turn their engines off while waiting for their tamariki...heard of global warming?
• use the crossings to get across the roads and not just wander across wherever they feel like it!

We are in need of Parent Road Patrol volunteers for Puketapu Road on the following days.

Tuesday mornings - 8.20am - 8.45am

Wednesday afternoons - 2.50pm - 3.15pm

If you can assist us with this could you please email the office office@taraprim.school.nz or call Amanda on 844 2626

We now have enough boxes for our Salvation Army Fundraiser. A big thank you to the families that have brought some in.

Kapai mahi to all of those who took up Mr Hantz's Holiday Challenge of sending him a photo of themselves all dressed up in their favourite country's sports uniform, whether they were in the Rugby World Cup or not! Some great images and so neat to see so many different cultures involved. Go the Black Ferns! Prizes of 4 lots of $20 Book Vouchers to be given out next week.

Here are some of those images!

Digi Awards 2022

This year is the 11th running of the Digi Awards - an annual celebration & showcase of students' e-Learning talents. Students from 11 schools entered projects in the following categories: Animation, Coding Animation, Graphic Design, Photography and Short Film.

A big congratulations to the following tamariki from TPS who are all finalists in this year’s Digi Awards:

KJ Paku

Dahni Yerkovich, Aida Hutchinson and Brooklyn O’Connor

Max Casey

Ollie Teddy

Caleb Dwen

Lucy Taylor

Mahir Patel

Hunter Hewitt-Burridge, Lucas Whyte, Cole Laing and Kingston McEwen

These tamariki will attend the Digi Awards Ceremony on November 1st at the Municipal Theatre where they will receive a finalist certificate, have their project shown on the big screen and find out the final placings. Good luck!

Welcome back to Term 4 and a BUMPER Issue of Book Club!

Book Club Issue 7 is now open!

40 bumper pages of amazing books to help kids to love reading, including:

• Christmas and Holiday Gift Ideas

• The Best Books of 2022

• Halloween Reads

• Big Savings on Packs

• $7 and Under Books, $3.50 Value Books and much more!

LOOP Orders need to be placed by Friday 11th November 9am

SPECIAL OPENING OFFER!!

$230 slashed to $165 for this term

IMPROV ACADEMY

*** ENROL NOW ***

TERM 4 - STARTS Wednesday 26th October

Venue: All Saints Church Hall Taradale

Classes for

5-8 yrs, 9-11 yrs, 12-15 yrs and 18+

Improv Academy's classes offer a positive and safe environment through the art of improvisation and the use of positive psychology.

We use heaps of fun games and imaginative scenarios in our lessons, to teach drama skills, teamwork, positive body language, respecting ourselves and others, public speaking skills, and resilience.

All blended together into a programme that students of all ages love.

Harcourts Halloween Hunt, for kids aged 3-15 years