Puketapu School Newsletter
Term 4 2020 - Wednesday 4 November
Empower All People to be Healthy, Lifelong Learners
Kia kaha - do your best * Kia māia - be courageous * Kia manawanui - have a heart
From our Principal
Kia ora e te whanau o Puketapu,
I have had many awesome days at Puketapu School and last week I had a couple more. I just wanted to share some moments that made me really proud to be the tumuaki at our kura:
- our Rippa Rugby team showing kia kaha and resilience in their tournament
- our Totara akonga showing kia māia and kia kaha in their athletics sessions
- our Kapa Haka parents and staff all pitching to get the ready on the morning of their performance
- our young teina lining up and farewelling our Kapa Haka with waiata underneath the blossoms
- our young teina loving their phonics learning and sharing their learning with me - out in the playground or coming over to my office
- our kaitiaki group all using their manners while sitting around having waffles
- our Year 7/8 students debating and talking around Kate Sheppard and 'Are single-sex schools better for children?"
- our staff all pitching in when guest teachers are unwell and we can't get other guest teachers and to Corinne for getting these calls at 6.15am in the morning or the night before and having to organise this
Behind all of these proud snapshots there are passionate, organised and dedicated teachers and educators who play a big part in setting up the environment so these things happen. Thank you to all the adults in our school who model our school values, care about each other, care about the profession and believe in our kids.
Hastings PLD Trip
This Wednesday I am visiting Irongate, Camberley and Kimi Ora (Decile 1 & 1a) Schools. The purpose of this trip is:
- to look at how they design their learning programmes for Māori and Pasifika akonga
- to see designs of their learning spaces and how they represent their culture
- to observe their wellbeing programmes
- to talk to professional leaders about their successes
- to see how the Lunch in Schools programme works (we will be communicating more about this in the coming weeks)
Property Update
Next week the Design Technology Learning Space upgrade will begin. We look forward to having a purpose-built Design Technology space for our akonga. This is expected to be finished on December 11th and then after that the building work will begin on the new admin space.
2021 START OF THE YEAR:
Our first day of school will be Tuesday 2nd February 2021. There is more information below about Learning Teams and year groups and we will release more information as we can.
Kia pai to wiki,
Ngatai Walker
Tumuaki
Puketapu School
Our School in 2021
We are delighted to announce the provisional structure for our school in 2021:
Kauri (Year 7 & 8 - plus some Year 6s)
Amanda O'Dowda (Senior Team Leader and Assistant Principal)
Avon Lewis
Julia Johnstone
Kowhai (Year 4, 5 & 6)
Cara Knuckey
Ana Whelan
Melissa Bailey-Nowell
Nicole Perry
Brody Lindsay
Totara (Year 2 & 3)
Kellie Minnell (Junior Team Leader and Assistant Principal)
Aoife Platts
Louisa Sharrock
Alejandro Barrientos
Kelly Harvey
Rimu (New Entrants & Year 1s)
Anna Proffit
Rachel Slack
Laurie Edwin
We are delighted that David Martin has been awarded paid study leave so will be taking some time to complete his studies while still working part time at school.
Farewell to Mrs Astwood
We are really sad and happy for Karen as she has decided to finish her time at Puketapu School at the end of this school year.
Karen has been at Puketapu School for the last three years and has become an integral team member at the centre of our school. From welcoming parents and students at the front office, answering phones, looking after sick or injured children, arranging meetings, taking care of paperwork of all shapes and sizes... and many more of those myriad of jobs that need doing in a school office, Karen has been amazing - and she always has a smile and a kind word.
She will be very hard to replace!
(We will be advertising this position shortly.)
Puanga Festival
Last Friday I had the absolute pleasure in taking a a group of 50+ students to the mass performance for the Puanga Festival. Our students were amazing - they shone! To say I was proud is an understatement.
All students showed Kia Kaha, Kia Maia and Kia Manawanui all day.
A huge thank you must go to our army of helpers who turned up early to help us get ready. We couldn't have done it without you. We looked stunning.
A big thank you to our junior students and teachers for singing us onto the bus. The smiles said it all as our seniors grew a little taller and held their heads a little higher.
Julia Johnstone
Puke Proud! Maui, Oracle, Te Omeka and Slade ready to go.
Shereece and Donna were some of the many helpers helping to apply stencils to the faces of our tamariki
Report from Rippa
What an outstanding day at the Year 5 + 6 Rippa tournament on Thursday. All of the children played amazingly and did our school proud.
We are absolutely stoked to win the overall competition!!!
A huge thank you to the parents that helped out and supported all of the teams.
Winners on the day! Well done Year 5&6 Rippa players!
BEE KEEPING IN RIMU 1
On Friday Mrs Patterson was teaching Rimu 1 all about the process of Bees making honey.
Here Koen Harvey and Nicole Jupp are displaying their bee keepers outfits.
Phonics in Rimu
Phonics is our favourite time of the day! Here are some of our newest children to school learning about the letter 'Rr' and the sound that it makes. They learnt that rockets and robots begin with this sound. So much fun!
R is for... Rockets, Robots and... Ryan!
Giraffes at School
Two giraffes cam to visit the office! A great surprise Sophie and Charlotte!
Food Technology
In Tech this week some of the classes went into our garden to find some vegetables to cook with.
We made some Pickled Radishes, a very simple recipe:
- thinly slice radishes
- in a bowl mix 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/2cup warm water,1/2 TBSP sugar, 1/2 Tsp salt.
- once sugar and salt have dissolved, pour over radishes and leave for an hour.
Yum served with fish tacos or dumplings.
Caylin and Tarli getting the radishes out of our very own gardens
Our second recipe from using vegetables from the garden is
Crumbed Cauliflower.
We blitzed some crusts in the blender to make the bread crumbs.
Cut the cauli into smallish florets.
Dip the cauli pieces into flour, then whisked egg, then bread crumbs.
Place on a tray and bake in the oven at 180C for 30-40 minutes.
Yum!
Flour... egg... breadcrumbs...
OUR DESIGN TECHNOLOGY MURAL
You may have noticed our new Design Technology Block Mural. A big thank you to Swanna Walbrecq of Spotswood College for transforming the entrance of our Tech Block. To know more check out the link to the Taranaki Daily News article...
Swanna Walbrecq by the wall she decorated for us.
Congratulations to Josh!
Congratulations to
Josh Jacomb one of our wonderful Learning Assistants here at Puketapu, who will be joining the Yarrows Taranaki Bulls!
We won't see Josh around school for a while - but he does have a great reason for not being here. Kia Kaha Josh!
Lucky Book Club
Last call for Issue 7...
Orders and payment are due back to the office by Wednesday 11 November, or alternatively you can order online at the Loop by the same time.
Puketapu Superstar
Well done Hunter Grey who has been working hard on his writing. Kia Kaha Hunter!
Puketapu Whanau T Shirts
This month we will be putting in another order for coloured Puketapu Tshirts!
Available in lots of colours and in kids and adult sizes. $20 each. Come to the office try on for size and make your order. Last day for orders is Thursday 19 November.
We also have a range of sizes of Puketapu Sports Ts ($45) and Hats ($10)
(We will be doing the next Hoodie order in Term 1 2021.)
Year 8 Leaver Hoodies
The Kauri team are looking for some sponsorship to help pay for the Year 8 leavers hoodies. These hoodies have proved to be really popular in the past, almost like a right of passage for our young leavers.
If you have a business and would be interested I helping us out, please see Paula in the office or talk to one of the KauriHub teachers.
BIRTHDAYS
Happy Birthday to everyone celebrating Birthdays this week:
- Quinn Murrell
- Bella Phillips
What's On
Week 4- Thursday 5th November: Kauri Rippa Rugby Tournament - TET Inglewood
- Friday 6th November: Student Showcase - 10.30 - Quad; Teacher v Student Touch competition (lunchtime)
Week 5
- Wednesday 11th November: PCT Challenge (Kauri), Year 8 Spotswood Profiling 10am, Round 2 of Whanau Touch
- Friday 13th November: Inglewood High School Orientation Day for Year 8s, Round 3 of Whanau Touch
Week 6
- Friday 20th November: Whanau Tabloid Sports Day 9.00-2.30
Week 7
Year 8 Camp Week, Year 7 EOTC Week
- Monday 23rd November: Y8 Camp (Finlay Park), Yr7 EOTC Week begins
- Wednesday 25th November: Totara Whanau Athletics Day
- Thursday 26th November: Y8 return from Finlay Park; Year 7s to Aquatic Centre; Road Patroller Reward Day (Aquatic Centre 10-2pm)
- Friday 27th November: Totara Whanau Athletics Day (Postponement)
Week 8
- Monday 30th November: NPBHS & NPGHS - Students School Visits @ 2pm (@NPBHS and NPGHS)
- Wednesday 2nd December: Board of Trustees meeting 5.30pm
- Thursday 3rd December: 2021 Meet Your Teacher (2.00pm - 3.00pm)
- Friday 4th December: SOMAD Community Concert - 6.00pm
Week 9
Kowhai EOTC Week
- Wednesday 9th December: Totara Ranui Day - Hickford Park
- Friday 11th December: Totara Ranui Day Postponement - Hickford Park
Week 10
- Monday 14th December: Year 8 Graduation Dinner
- Tuesday 15th December: Final School Assembly (10.30) - Northpoint, School finishes @ 12.00
Torpedo7 Offer
This special event is running for a two week period, starting on Wednesday, November 4 and running through until Tuesday, November 17, 2020.
To take advantage of this special offer you can either visit one of our T7 stores located across the country and show the event flyer on your smartphone (or in printed form). However, if you prefer to shop online from the comfort of your home &/or office simply use the special discount code on the flyer at the checkout. It's that easy.
COMING SOON: Noel Leeming Friends & Family Special Offer..
Watch out for our special Noel Leeming Friends & Family event flyer which is currently in production and will be in an inbox or on a noticeboard near you shortly.
