Wednesday 29th June 2022 No. 10

Term 2 : ‘WHANAUNGATANGA’ – ‘Culture & Identity’

‘We are proud of who we are’

Te Kura o Tōtara Grove

Tōtara Grove School

Rāapa 29 ō Pipiri, 2022

Kia Ora e te Whānau,

Kamusta, Bula Vinaka, Suostei, Goeie dag, Hallo, Kia orana, Fakalofa lahi atu, Sawubona, Talofa lava, Namaste, Xin chāo,
G’day & hello.

Ka nui te mihi ki te whānau o Te Kura o Tōtara Grove.
He mihi nui mo ou koutou tautoko me awhi i te wā ki te whakanuia i te tau hou Māori i tera wiki.
He rā pārekareka ki te kitea a koutou ki te whakanuia.
He rā pai ki te kōrero matauranga māori.
He rā pai ki te waiata.
He rā aroha ki te maumahara ngā tupuna.
He rā parekareka
He rā pai ki te whakawhanaungatanga hoki!
He mihi nui, he mihi aroha, hi mihi mauriora ki a koutou katoa!
Kia mānawatia a Matariki me Puanga hoki!

Our Matariki celebration was a beautiful, fun and heartwarming day to see you all.
A day to talk and share matauranga māori, to share māori knowledge about Puanga me Matariki.
It was a day to sing, a day to remember our loved ones who have passed on who we keep close in our hearts, thoughts and memories.
A fabulous day to connect and reconnect with friends and whānau of our kura community and meet so many new people and whānau of our tamariki.
It was a great day to acknowledge and bless our new manu art pieces that have gone up on each classroom and have the presence of the artist, Shane Hansen join our celebration.
It will be a day we will never forget and how we celebrated as a kura. He kura, He Tōtara!

A massive shout out to you all, the staff, tamariki, whānau and community for your support. Thank you for all the planning, preparation and organising to everyone, I am so proud of you all and proud of our kura.
What a morning and day to welcome in the Māori New Year as a kura whānau and as a country, Aotearoa, New Zealand will celebrate Matariki as an official public holiday for the first time also. A beautiful historical experience to be part of and witness together.
Since covid arrived in our country and community, this is the first big gathering we been able to come together and celebrate, so special.

Being the beginning of the Māori New and all about new beginnings, it is fitting as we welcome in our new tumuaki, Whaea Sharon (Sharon Gataulu).

Whaea Sharon is joining our Tōtara Grove whānau next term along with a few other new staff, tamariki and whānau, We will also be welcoming in our two new navigators to the IHAD whānau, Whaea Bubbie & Whaea Tatyana, also Matua Arama who is a new kaiawhina at our kura and new students who joined our kura this term and and new students starting term 3. We invite you to join us at this powhiri on the first day back of term 3, Monday 25th July at 10am.
Nau mai, haere mai, kuku mai.

To finish off my last newsletter for the term and year, I would like to take this time to thank everyone in our kura and kura community who have supported me in leading our kura as Acting Principal these last 8 months.
I have absolutely enjoyed leading in this space and have learnt so much while doing so.
I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to our beautiful WHAEA PAM!
Whaea Pam has been in the Acting Deputy Principal role and supporting me and our kura on this journey also. We have worked together as a team to lead our kura, paddle our Tōtara waka in unison and built many positive relationships along the way with our staff, tamariki, whānau, professionals and community. He mihi nui, he mihi aroha ki a koe e Whaea Pam – He wahine ngakau nui, he wahine kaha hoki !

With that being said, I will move back to the Deputy Principal role and Whaea Pam will return the juniors, in Te Kakano to support Whaea Laura with the increasing new enrollments and growing numbers in our new entrant room.

Lastly, thank you all for your support, communication and cooperation this year. We have worked through a worldwide pandemic and come out the other end safe and well as a kura whānau, mauri ora!
Please continue to communicate with us and come through the gates and doors to kōrero, engage with your child’s learning, we have an open door policy at our kura and we love seeing you here.

School holidays are only a week away, so may you enjoy your holidays together with your child and tamariki.
We will see you back at the beginning of term 3, Monday 25th July.

Mānawa maiea te Mātahi o te tau.
Mānawatia a Puanga me Matariki.
Tū mai rā, He Kura, He Tōtara!

Mauri Ora,

Whaea Vanessa
Acting Principal

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

Caught Being Good

Winners of books for the previous two weeks were:

Rm 3: Bentley

Rm 5: Nathan

Rm 7: Maddison

Rm 8: Anahera

Rm 10: Nishta

Rm 14: Liam

Ngā Mātāpono Awards

Rm 3: Piper-Lee, Jordan

Rm 5: Riley, Jessica

Rm 7: Vinny-Lee, Storm,

Rm 8: Hati

Rm 10: Lorelai, Monique, Rush

Rm 13: Zhanica, Tukutahi

Rm 14: Phoebe, Sam

Staff Pepeha “Ko wai mātou ?” – “Who are we?”

Who are we as a staff at Tōtara Grove School.

Introducing four more staff members this week and their pepeha.

To see all of the great staff at our kura go to:

www.totaragrove.school.nz/staff-pepeha-ko-wai-matou-who-are-we

Enrolment Day

The school office will be open for new enrolments during the school holidays on Friday 22nd July from 10am – 1pm. Drop in only, no appointments needed on this day.

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

Yummy fruit stickers

Over terms 2 and 3 our school is collecting yummy fruit stickers to qualify for free sports gear. Please send your yummy stickers and cut out labels in to the office. One cut out label is worth 10 apple stickers.

For more info see the website: https://www.yummyfruit.co.nz/schools/

Northland Rugby Union Yr 5-6
South Zone Rippa Rugby Tournament

Kia ora school whanau, yesterday Totara Grove took two rippa teams to the Pohe Island Rugby Park for the annual rippa tournament.

There were around 400 players from Northland schools. There were teams from as far south as Kaiwaka.

This year there were three divisions: Girls, Boys and mixed.
TGS took a girls and a boys team.

The day was perfect for sport, it was cool without any rain. Our kids went into the tournament with three weeks training with Mr. Wolfgram.
This was great as some of our players hadn’t played rippa before. The tamariki gave up their lunch breaks to prepare for the day.

Our tamariki were fantastic! Their behaviour was wonderful, their manners and sportsmanship was excellent. We are blessed with kids with great attitude and plenty of speed and skill. Well done TGS!

Thanks to Mr. Wolfgram, Whaea Vanessa and our Tamariki.
Glen Campbell

School photos

School photo day has been postponed till NEXT THURSDAY, 7th July.

Orders need to be completed and paid for by 9am on Thursday 7th July. Photo order forms have been sent home with the children.

Online ordering payable via credit card or direct credit is available at www.lizdaviesphotography.co.nz or if paying by cash, please return the completed form with the correct money directly to the office.

Additional forms are available at the office if needed.

Nga Maramara O Totara

With the tuna at Waitaua Awa keeping to themselves Whaea Vanessa decided we would take some of our boys to the Whangarei pools. This turned out to be a great day. The boys had the wave pool to themselves.
This was a great way for the boys to bond and show some responsibility.

Free school lunch programme

Please see attached the menu for the next fortnight. A detailed ingredients list is published on the lunch by libelle website: www.lunchbylibelle.co.nz/current-menu.html (click here).

This Fortnights lunch menu:

Mātaraiki me Puanga Celebration photos

Te Manawa Tahi Timetable

If you have a concern about your child’s language development, learning progress, social and emotional wellbeing, or behaviour, TeManawa Tahi have specialists available so you can discuss your concerns directly with them.
This is a free service and each site will be identified by a Te Manawa Tahi flag. Drop into a hub or make an appointment by phoning 0800 5248 4256 or emailing TT.Support@education.govt.nz.