Newsletter 1st September 2022

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

Last week I reminded you of the importance of reading aloud to your tamariki and whānau. Not surprisingly, I received many positive and affirmative comments from our community sharing their agreement with me as well as letting me know that this is exactly what they do. A lovely thing to hear, that. Despite the seemingly endless media reflections on the failings of the Aotearoa New Zealand education system, at TPS we continue to see so many of our tamariki with their noses in a book, including those that can sometimes struggle with reading. Why? Because it is also about attitude. You do not have to be the best reader in the world to love books, and that is why it is important still that we continue to read aloud and provide books for our kids.

The Book Fair has been incredibly successful and that clearly demonstrates the love our whānau has for reading! A massive thank you to all of those that have contributed to the Book fair. Your mahi in that regard has ensured that there are plenty of books in our homes and we now have an opportunity to have a BOGO (Buy One Get One free) later this year. Great chance to buy books for Christmas! More details later on I am sure!

A bit more though on the apparent failings of the education system. I read the reports with dread and wonder why it is that when we reference the failing tail of the Aotearoa New Zealand tamariki that we also do not reference the socio-economic factors that are heavily influencing this. Yes, there is a tail that is unfortunately not decreasing however the reality is that this is not true of all schools. Yes, we can change and we are changing what we do within the fields of literacy to cater for this to ensure that our tamariki in our kura continue to excel, however we also know that we are privileged to be in a community that values education and which has a belief in being involved in their tamariki kura. That is at least half the battle won. For many of the kura that struggle you will find that they will also openly reference those socio-economic issues as much as anything else. In saying that, there are many schools found in areas of socio deprivation that are creating an amazing difference too. If we had successive governments that could in fact not lose sight of the fact that social deprivation is an issue and that could assist schools to help bridge those gaps then we would all be in a much better place.

Hei kona mai

Marty Hantz

Another of the Boards' roles is to work alongside the Taradale Community Pool Trust and Dolphin Academy to maintain the Green Family Taradale Pool.

The Trust lease the pool from the Board and have engaged Dolphin Academy as operators of the swim school. This is a unique system in New Zealand and assures the future of the pool.

The Trust are gearing up to phase 2 of the rebuild. This will replace an aged filtration system enabling maximum use to be realised. We are so fortunate as a school to have this fabulous asset on our site.

The Trust have more about this on their Facebook page and will be at the Fete if you would like more information.

• Spooner Shield - Friday 2nd September
  
• Spooner Shield Postponement - Friday 9th September
• Wig Wednesday - Wednesday 7th September
  
• School Photos - Thursday 8th September
• TPS School Fete - Sunday 18th September
• End of Term 3 - Friday 30th September

By the time you receive this we will have had our kura Cross Country at Dolbel Reserve. This is keenly awaited by many as it is their chance to shine in the sun...or in the mud! We love this day as it brings out the very best in our tamariki with appreciation and applause being shared for those that both excel and those that struggle. A true sign of a school that has a strong sense of wairua! One of the great things about this day is that we do not have a huge number of our tamariki opting out as they strive to achieve to their own best and show that perseverance which is a big part of any learning day. Kia kaha TPS!

At present we are having to lock the back gate to the school as well as the front gates. This is important at present as we have a learner or two who do like to wander and this helps ensure that we keep them safe each and every day. We want to assure you that we are not trying to keep whānau out!

We look as if we might have space for up to four more Out of Zone enrolments for 5 year olds in Term 4. These will be well sought after so before we advertise we thought it might be an idea if we allow you, our learning whānau, to chat to your friends and let them know before we truly open it up! Please contact the school office and encourage any interested parties to visit us to see what all the fuss is about!

A big thank you to all our whānau who supported our Scholastic Book Fair. We sold a whopping $9267 worth of books, setting a new TPS and Aotearoa New Zealand record! It is wonderful to know that there are so many books out in our community for tamariki. Our school library now has $3300 worth of new books for our library which is amazing. Thank you to our volunteers who helped make running the book fair possible.

We have now qualified for a BOGO (Buy one get one free) book fair which we will be holding in late November. This is perfect timing for Christmas shopping.

A huge thank you to all our Parent Helpers who gave up their time to write receipts, take orders and work out that eftpos machine. An extra big thank you to Stacey Lyford and her family who spend so much time organising our Book Fair. We are so grateful to you for everything you do.

Claire, Helena & Stacey

Another hugely successful and fun night in our jammies at TPS. Mr Hantz regaled us with Tanka Tanka Skunk and our fabulous teachers chose some pretty entertaining books to share. Thank you for spending your evening sharing your love of Literacy with our tamariki!

A big thank you goes out to Source Cafe who donated all our cups for the evening. Next time you head in for a coffee or one of their fabulous treats please extend your thanks to them!

Last week TPS celebrated our love of reading by entering our annual Lit Quiz. Students from Year 5 and 6 were in teams to answer questions about our wide range of books and authors. Lots of fun was had and a huge congratulations to our winners. Ben Pickett, Ollie Robson, Imogene Kernaghan and Piper Smith!

Tau whakaaro

In my opinion

Me koe-and you.

https://youtu.be/NwtpO94JJk0

At present we have no active cases - what a great way to see in Spring! Thanks again for all you're doing to help keep our community safe. We will continue to promote mask wearing, hand washing and ask for children and staff to stay home if unwell.

Carpark Reminder at Dolphin Academy ...

PLEASE DO NOT PARK IN THE 4 MARKED DOLPHIN ACADEMY CARPARKS at school pick up time, these are reserved for our 3pm swimmers who find it difficult to find a park during this time. Please also refrain from parking in the disabled carpark and the yellow lined access space in front of the gates into the school grounds.

Kate is Matt Skeels big sister from Taradale High and a swim instructor at Dolphin Academy. She has been selected to represent NZ at the ICF World Canoe Marathon Championships in Portugal at the end of September. She is holding a raffle to fund raise for herself and a team mate to go towards their travel costs.

There are some great prizes and I’ve attached her Facebook link to the raffle.

https://www.facebook.com/100077283635922/posts/pfbid02aGdqUKN4yg2fnXCr7nVCef9FZgBb87VDb3dcGLegqP49r5ZQoV3fqPERga9D8VHRl/?d=n