What a week it has been! Highlights for me - Yesterday I had the pleasure of being wrapped in toilet paper by Kawakawa and today I got to meet our new learners. This beautiful crew (above) are on their transition visits, they start next term and will be the first learners in Koromiko with Whaea Murphy. We welcome them and their whānau to the Tawhiti team. 

What an amazing time our tamariki had out at the Patea Dam. We did strike a couple of wet days but nothing we couldn't take in our stride! I would just like to extend our appreciation and give a huge Tawhiti thanks to the following people…

And just like that we are into Week 3. Our new little people to school were very tired at the end of their first full week, needless to say the teachers probably were too! 

Welcome back! Our kura (school) feels full again - there is noise, chatter and smiles everywhere. Just the way we like it!

It may have felt like a strange date for us to reopen this year. Whilst starting back after Waitangi Day would have been the preferable and less disruptive option, there are a certain number of days we are required to be open a year. So starting later would have meant that we would finish right before Christmas when children are tired and ready for a break...hence us starting a wee bit earlier. 

Our juniors have their trip to Kaupokonui Beach on Friday and then that is camp season done and dusted. What amazing experiences our children have been lucky to have had. A huge thank to those who supported these through parent help,  fundraising, and organisation. They say it takes a village to raise a child and we are lucky to have such an amazing one!  

We are well and truly right in the midst of camp season. A special thank you to all the teachers and parents who have been involved in the organisation and running of these camps and day trips - we couldn't do it without you! 

On Friday we farewelled Ebony Barry. Ebony has been a Learning Assistant with us for many years. She has been amazing with our children and will be sorely missed but we wish her well in her new venture as a Property Manager. 

The term has started well with our school values being seen in action daily. Classrooms are alive with the hum of learning and our juniors had a wonderful day of learning out at Hollard Gardens yesterday (ako). Strong relationships can be seen in both the playground and classroom with children playing and learning together (whanaungatanga), kapahaka and PE lessons are providing valuable learning in the cultural and sporting space creating happy and resilient learners (hauora) and above all our children are showing kindness to one another (manaakitanga). What more could we want right?! 

Term 3 went out with a bang with kapa haka, our art exhibition and pet day. It's learning experiences like these that children will remember when they look back on their schooling years. When you get a moment, check out the photos from all of our school events which are uploaded on our website (head to the home page, scroll to the bottom and click on photo gallery). Thank you to everyone who came along on the last day of term and looked at our art - I am so proud of what was achieved by our very talented team. It looked AMAZING!

Term 3 has been a fun one! The school has been a hive of activity and we have been busy with daily fitness, literacy and numeracy learning, art, and grandparents day. And we are not slowing down anytime soon! We have the Tatarakihi kapa haka festival, our art exhibition, pet day and cross country all coming up. 

And just like that, it is the middle of Term 3...the year is disappearing before our eyes. 

We continued to be hit by sickness as the winter bugs fly around. Hopefully we are nearly over the worst of them. It is our normal policy for our kaiako (teachers) to message and check in if your child has been away for more than 2 days, particularly if their attendance is sitting below 80% across the year. So don't be alarmed if this happens - its just us checking in to see how things are and letting you know we are looking forward to seeing your child back fit and healthy at school. 

This newsletter is packed full of information as school is a hive of activity at the moment! Grab a cuppa and take your time to wade through.

A couple of general notices and reminders:

Our website has had a face lift! All going well we look forward to housing our newsletters on here from here on in. 

The last week has been a real juggle for us at school as staff and children alike have been hit by the winter nasties. If we all work together to help stop the spread of illness, then we can ensure that attendance, wellbeing and learning across the school remains high. A couple of important reminders from Whatu Ora to help stop the spread: