Matapu School Newsletter

• Thursday 9th March - Senior School Swimming Sports (Rm 4 - 1), 12 pm
  
• Monday 13th March - Taranaki Anniversary
• Tuesday 14th March - Kaponga Interschool Soccer Tournament
• Wednesday 15th March - Junior School Swimming Sports (Rm 5 & 6), 12 pm
• Wednesday 15th March - WOMAD Community Performance, 1:45pm
• Wednesday 22nd & Thursday 23rd March - Whanau Goal Setting Conferences
• Friday 24th March - Junior Try-athlon
• Thursday 6th April - Last day of Term 1
• Friday 7th April - Good Friday

RAISE Goal: to participate in every activity and give my best

Te reo phrase of the week: kia tere (be quick)

Kia ora,

Being able to host our annual athletics day on Monday was wonderful! All of our students gave it their all, the sun was shining, and the community turnout was incredible. Following that, we participated in a full day of athletics at the inter-school competition in Kaponga yesterday. Our students put in another great effort and as a result, Matapu came third. The bagged relay, which Laila Pease, Blake Luscombe, Caden Barr, and Kenzie Smith managed to win in the final few metres in true nail-biting style, was one of the stand out events. This meant that we retained the Chapman Challenge Relay Cup. What most impressed me was the camaraderie among our students and the whanau support we received. A big thanks to Miss B for her wonderful organisational skills at both events.

Swimming Sports

On Thursday 9th March at 12 pm we will hold our school swimming sports for students in years 3 - 8. This is a great event with options for students of all abilities. We would love to see Parents/Whanau at the event to cheer on our students. This year the online entry form can be completed either at home or school, please click on the following link for further information; https://forms.gle/pmPdiG4u4Gx68pbS9. Please note that due to some junior teaching staff being away, the junior swimming demonstration (Rooms 5 and 6) will be held on Wednesday 15th March at 12 pm.

Speed Management Plan

An interim speed management plan, published by the South Taranaki District Council, is presently available for consultation. Even though I'm glad they're concentrating on speed limits near schools, I'm disappointed to learn that a lot of other rural schools that are situated on major roads (like us) have much more comprehensive speed control plans than we do. It is extremely alarming how quickly cars pass Matapu School, particularly on Skeet Road. If a student managed to escape the school site or elude their parent or caregiver during drop-off and pick-up periods and make their way onto the main road, we would be dealing with a terrible scenario. You can access the website by scanning the QR code on the leaflet below.

I will be making a submission to the council, requesting that they match the proposed plans for Auroa School and Te Kura o Nga Ruahine Rangi, which call for lowering the speed restriction to 60 km/h for 600 metres and to 30 km/h for 250 metres.

Kia pai to wiki (have a wonderful weekend).

Ngå mihi nui

James Willson

Room 1 - Yuuki for showing our Matapu Values at Kaponga athletics, giving everything a go, showing effort and having a good attitude.

Room 2 - Anika for always being alert and ready to learn with an awesome learning attitude.

Room 3 - Noah O for taking responsibility for his learning and asking for help; a super learning skill and attitude to have. Top Man!

Room 4 - Ellajae for showing all of the Matapu Values at Kaponga athletics by giving your best effort and being a great role model.

Room 5 - Ollie for making an amazing effort at Kaponga athletics.

Room 6 - Otis for showing real ambition and effort and going right under and floating in the pool. What a superstar!

Kahore taku toa i te toa takitahi, he toa takitini.

We cannot succeed without the support of those around us.

On Wednesday the School Leaders attended a leadership conference in Palmerston North. They learnt how to: get messages across to children of all ages, make sure they are writing down their ideas they want to implement and show why. The big focus was 'It's natural to think of self first but leaders need to shift their thinking to others first!

They came away with some great ideas!

We have had so many new students start over the last couple of weeks in our Junior room. Room 1 has been enjoying spending time with their new buddies - reading with them and playing games.

Room 2 are rockin! We have been learning about the structure of flowers (thank you Mrs Manu) as well as practicing our instant recall of 5 and 2 x tables. Thanks to the parents who are supporting their child to learn quick recall.

A wonderful day was had yesterday at the Kaponga olympics! The behaviour of Matapu children was awesome. Swimming lessons are making a fantastic difference to water confidence and we even have the odd 'duck n dive' game! It is great that the weather seems to be behaving itself... Here's hoping for a nice weekend.

This week we have had lots to celebrate and success at athletics with students enjoying our own school athletics and supporting one another, growing good sportsmanship attitudes and enjoying our outdoors education. We have also cracked on with some inroads into our pepeha and been working on sculling forwards and backwards in our swimming. Great efforts Room Three.

Twas great to also meet many parents at the athletics yesterday in Kaponga. I appreciated many of you introducing yourselves to me.

Our Athletics days on Monday and Thursday were fantastic. It was great to see everyone giving each event their best effort and pushing themselves a little bit harder than in our practises last week. Our writing focus was using better words for jumped, as we had lots of time with high jump over the past few weeks. We used words like vaulted, leaped, surged and hopped over the high jump bar.

It has been a great week for athletics. Our Room 5 students have had a wonderful time at School Athletics on Monday and Kaponga Athletics on Thursday. They all gave their best in every event and Miss B is so proud of their effort and positive attitude. Thank you so much to all the parents who came to show support at these events.

A wonderful welcome to Marley and Thomas who have started in Room 6 this week. They have managed so well as we have had athletics twice this week and that is a really big thing when you are five!

Congratulations to Georgie who got Second place in the A and P show colouring competition. Super stoked to have someone from our class picked from all of the entries they received- well done Georgie!

This week we have created our class treaty. We know that a treaty is an agreement and that we have to follow some rules so that everybody is treated fairly. We worked out rules that would help our class run smoothly, then signed our treaty using a feather to show we know what the rules are and that we agree to keep them. Pop in and have a look at it up on our wall!

Have a great weekend everyone.

Print Ready - Amanda Sherman, CMK Hawera, Shurr & Ireland Acocuntants, Mark Joblin Concept & Construction Ltd, Sanfords Rural Carriers, Taranaki By-Products, McDonald Real Estate, Eltham Vet Services, ANZCO, Power Farming, Corrigan Electrical, Matapu Bulk Transport, CRV Ambreed, FMG, Mack Transport, Blastways, Nevada, Ballance, Todd Energy, Carrfields Livestock, Rosemount Charolais - Dairy Bull Specialists, PGG Wrightson Livestock, Jack Gray Ltd, Bruce Parry Livestock, Kelsen's Glass & Glazing, Tommo's Tyres Ltd, Chris Perrett Electrical Solutions, Holdem Contracting Ltd, STE (South Taranaki Electrical), Kaponga Four Square, MG Taranaki, JP Refrigeration, Melza’s Customs, Monkeytoe, SepticWorks Limited, FMG, Phillip Joblin Kitchen & Furniture, Evergreen Plumbing.

PLEASE SUPPORT THOSE THAT SUPPORT US

Email: admin@matapu.school.nz
Website: matapu.school.nz
Location: 495 Hastings Road, Matapu, New Zealand
Phone: (06) 272 6764