Wednesday 31st March 2021 No. 5

Tēnā koutou katoa,

Whanau Time on a Friday has been a great success. It takes place every Friday afternoon from 2 – 3 pm. The children work in whānau teams (children of all ages are mixed into groups working across the school). During this time teachers and children are working on a project or activity together in true tuakana teina relationships.
The idea behind this concept is for the children to take part in a project that gives back to our school community or wider Tikipunga/Kamo community. As a kura we get lots of opportunities and things given to us – this is our opportunity to pay it forward and give back.

Some projects that are in the planning stages at the moment are:
– A sensory pathway
– Bird houses/feeders
– Garden boxes
Watch out for these projects taking shape in and around our kura in the future.

Another learning area we are continuing to develop is our localised curriculum. Our local curriculum is the way that we bring The New Zealand Curriculum to life at our school. It should:

be responsive to the needs, identity, language, culture, interests, strengths and aspirations of our learners and their families
have a clear focus on what supports the progress of all learners
integrate Te Tiriti o Waitangi into classroom learning
help learners engage with the knowledge, values, and competencies so they can go on and be confident and connected lifelong learners.

This means looking for the opportunities and learning contexts around us to allow for meaningful learning experiences.
It may mean researching and visiting places of significance around us and what we can learn from and about these places.
The seniors are taking the opportunity on Thursday the 15th April to visit Whangarei Falls, Parihaka and Hatea River as these are very significant to our kura as they are the maunga and awa for a large number of students in their pepeha.
The tamariki are going to see, feel and research the importance of these places.
If you are able to join the seniors on this hikoi please contact your child’s teacher. I know they would appreciate the offer.

Just a reminder about the school closing dates for Easter
School Closures for Easter:
Good Friday 2nd April
Easter Monday 5th April
Tuesday 6th April

Pause Breathe Smile – Teacher Only Day 7th April
School will be closed on April 7th to allow for the staff to take part in learning the Pause Breathe Smile programme.
Pause Breathe Smile can help ensure that our tamariki are equipped with awesome mental skills to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing, uncertain world. Skills like learning how to regulate emotions, build self-awareness and relate positively to others. We know that learning these skills early in life can help kids thrive now and in the future.

We look forward to seeing you all again on Thursday the 8th of April.

Nga manaakitanga

Donna Walker
Acting Principal

TUPU TAHI – GROWING TOGETHER. STANDING STRONG. REACHING HIGH.

Caught Being Good

Winners of books for the previous two weeks were:

Rm 4: Chavarntay, Axl

Rm 5: Zhanica, Millie, Alyssa, Autumn-Reign

Rm 6: Osiris, Kaedynce, Deena, Kauri

Rm 7: Maddison

Rm 8: Te Iwa, Tyrion

Rm 9: Livera, Aporina, Amani, Hepa, Mahoe

Rm 10: James, Valintina, Marnu, Dante

Rm 11: Te Moana

Rm 12: Carter, Macey

Rm 13: Jordan, Sinaraa, Dean, Connor

Rm 14: Kaden, Delivyryance

Ngā Mātāpono Awards

Rm 4: Shane, Lacey

Rm 5: Rivaan, Riya, Noah, Braxton

Rm 6: Cain, Kahvaya, Te Tihi, Tumanako

Rm 7: Melaia, Kymaani

Rm 8: Riley, Anahera

Rm 9: Drake, Carter

Rm 10: Shekairis, Dezya, Valintina, Kauri, Liam, Ashlyn

Rm 11: Isaac, Paris, Enzo, Kaean, Jayden

Rm 13: Phu’o’ng, Pearl

Rm 14: Kylie, Eru

Free school lunch programme

This fortnight’s lunch menu:

New Office sign in

Some of you may have already been in and used our new i-pad sign in/out system at the office.

When you enter school to pick up a child early you will need to sign them out on the i-pad. If your child is late, they will need to come to the office and sign in. The system will then generate a “pass” that is to be given to the teachers to keep track of where the children are.

It is very user friendly and the office staff will readily assist while you are using it.

Lost Property

Already this term we have a huge amount of unclaimed clothing. To try to reduce the plie the lost property will be on display on the grass outside the office every Friday. Please come in and have a look.

Bike and Scooter Safety

We are noticing a number of students bringing bikes or scooters to school but not wearing a helmet. Helmets are compulsory if you are bringing a bike or scooter to school.

Whangarei Primary Schools Swimming Championships

This year Totara Grove had a team of eight swimmers attend the Whangarei Primary Schools Swimming Championships. They were all nervous before the event but had made huge improvement in their swimming. Thankfully the weather was good and the water temperature was fine. We had swimmers competing in freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke. The tamariki had to swim two lengths for each event so that is fifty meters. They were tired after each heat giving 100 percent effort. Thank you to the whanau who were able to get to Whangarei Intermediate to support the swimmers. Also, thank you to our swimmers who did us proud.

The TGS swim team: Heeniriria Niha, Oceana Porima, TeMoana Poutai-Watts, Ayden Ruben, Jimmy Nguyen-Beniston, Maka Atutolu and Jahlym Moke.

2021 Totara Grove Middles Swimming World Championship

The Middles Swimming Sports was an explosion of fun this year. The tamariki and whanau could be heard all around the school. The winning house this year was Pohutukawa. 234 points. Congratulations!

There was a great atmosphere with music and lots of whanau watching the swimmers. Thank you to those who could make it here.

Of course, thank you to the Totara Grove staff who made this a great event.

Enrolment Day

The school office will be open for new enrolments during the school holidays on Thursday 29th April from 10am – 1pm.

Please note that we are only able to accept in zone enrolments at this time. You can check to see if you live within our home zone here: www.totaragrove.school.nz/enrolments/

You will need to bring the following documents for each child you wish to enrol:

*Birth certificate/passport
*Proof of address
*Immunisation certificate/records