Wednesday 2nd November 2022 No. 17

Te Kura o Tōtara Grove

Tōtara Grove School

Kia ora koutou

I hope everyone is doing well. Hasn’t it been great to have Women’s Rugby World Cup games here in Whangarei. It is fantastic that we in the North have had the privilege of hosting many matches and I know many of our staff and my own family have enjoyed going to matches to support our Black Ferns. Before moving back to Whangarei, the last time I went to rugby matches here the Semenoff Stadium was called Okara Park and I would sit on the hillside watching the Going brothers – Ken, Brian and of course Sid, who were the rugby stars of the day. Although there have been many improvements to the stadium over the years, I love that there is still the grass bank to sit on!

Below is a photo of our enhanced school logo. Douglas Kelly, who has been a teacher here for many years, is the original designer of the school logo. As Douglas and I were working on updating our website, we got to talking about the logo and I was very interested in learning about its history and meaning. During this kōrero, we also thought it could be timely to get our school’s graphic designers to enhance our logo for us whilst still honouring the meaning and story behind Douglas’ original design. The blue koru which wraps around the logo represents our learning community being connected together with the bigger koru on the left symbolising adults and the other side symbolises our tamariki. The trees in the centre are an acknowledgement to the significance of the Totara trees in our Totara Grove community. The red symbol at the top represents knowledge and how this is shared and entwined between all learners in our kura.

Kia pai tō rā.

Sharon
Principal Tumuaki

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

Caught Being Good

Winners of books for the previous two weeks were:

Rm 3: Martha, Bentley

Rm 5: Khaleesi, Caprice

Rm 6: Nevaeh, Jack, Osiris

Rm 7: Murphy, TJ

Rm 8: Nikki

Rm 13: Char’Lee, Pearl

Rm 14: Korbyn, Cael, Rob Marley

Ngā Mātāpono Awards

Rm 3: Chloe, Piper-Lee, Hemi, Jordan

Rm 5: Junior, Tyson, Luca, Layden

Rm 6: Jasimine, Bunny, Tana, Kahvaya

Rm 7: Maddison, Te Taonganui. Kiana

Rm 8: Peter, Payton, Hati, Johannus

Rm 13: Kingston-Marley, Janie Marie, Chavarntay, Axl, Zhanica

Rm 14: Antonio, Cameron

Free school lunch programme

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

This Fortnights lunch menu:

Totara Grove Senior Rippa Rugby Tournament

Kia ora school whanau, last Thursday Hannah and Bryce from Northland Rugby came in to host a rippa rugby tournament for our senior tamariki.

We had four teams of eight enjoying the cooler weather. It’s was great to see some kids trying rippa for the first time and those more experienced players supporting them.

With the Women’s Rugby World Cup happening in Whangarei Hannah had some giveaways. Flags and drink bottles for each player. Bryce and Hannah selected two players with the winning attitude to receive a rugby ball the Scottish women’s team used for training. They also had 12 x family ticket packs with kai included.

The tamariki were winning on many levels. Thanks Hannah and Bryce.

Tissues in classrooms

Thank you to Countdown Tikipunga for sponsoring tissues for our school. The hearing clinic told us that one of the causes of children’s ear problems is kids not blowing their nose enough! So we wanted to make sure our kids had tissues readily available for them. A big thank you to Countdown Tikipunga for providing our school with lots of boxes of tissues!

Scholastic Bookclub

Any orders for the current scholastic book club brochure (issue #7, 2022) need to be back in to school by Thursday, 3rd Nov. Please return the order form with the child’s name, room number, selected books and the correct money owing. Orders past this date can be made directly online, however they won’t be delivered through the school and postage costs will be added to your order.

https://www.scholastic.co.nz/parents/lucky-book-club/

Duffy $5 Parent offer

Duffy is presenting a $5 summer reading offer to parents – all books are $5 each. Order forms have gone out with the children and need to be back in – with the correct cash payment – to the office by Friday 11th November. Spare forms available at the office if needed.

School Board

The next Board of Trustees meeting is to be held at school on Wednesday 9th November at 6pm.

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.