By crikey it's hard to believe we are heading into the final 5 weeks of Term 3.   This year is zooming by!

Thank you to all the whanau who came along to last week's hui a whanau.  We had 60% of our families attend.  If you could not make last week's conferences and would like to catch up with your child's teacher please reach out to them and make a time to catch up.  We trust you found this a great opportunity to find out what your child's current goals are and catch up with what they are learning in their class. 

This week the government announced that all remaining Covid mandates have now been lifted.  This means that it is no longer mandatory to isolate for 7 days if you have tested positive for Covid. While this is great news for many, we want to remind you that if your child is unwell, as you would with any other infectious illness, we recommend they stay home.  While not mandated, advice from Te Whatu Ora and the Ministry of Education is to isolate for 5 days if you test positive for Covid.  

At school we will continue to ensure our spaces are well ventilated, surfaces are cleaned regularly and encourage hand washing to help reduce the spread of Covid and other flu or cold viruses. 

Please note: we have seen a surge of Covid cases in recent weeks - including myself.  After 3 years Covid finally caught up with me while I was away up north with the Central Plateau Principals Association!  

Last week I enjoyed 3 days in the far North with 13 other principals from the Taupo region.  We visited the treaty grounds at Waitangi, which was amazing.  It had been 20+ years since I was last there.  What a fantastic place to visit and learn about our history as a nation.  The guided tour we had was 100% top notch and the museum was sensational.  The only downside was that the two hour time slot we had available was not enough!  I highly recommend a trip to Waitangi if you've never been.  We also visited two schools - Mangonui and Taipa Bay Area School.  Both schools shared the work they've done in their communities to develop their localised curriculum.  At Mangonui it was incredible to hear young people confidently talk about the significant rangatira (chiefs/leaders) in their rohe and the purakau (legends/stories) that have influenced their local area.  At Taipa Bay they are doing some incredible mahi - organising termly wananga for students to learn about and explore a range of Maori arts, language and cultural concepts - eg. Taonga puoro (traditional musical instruments), whakairo (carving), Raranga (weaving), rongoa (maori medicine), kaupapa waka, hangi, dance, mau rakau (traditional martial arts),  and a wide range of tikanga practices. 

Today we holding our school Cross Country.  The weather is stunning and it should be a fantastic event.  Next Friday we will be hosting Tongariro Area School and Te Kura o Hirangi for our Southern Lakes Cross Country.  Our 4 fastest runners from each of today's races will represent Kuratau School at this event and at the Inter-School Cross Country which will be held in Taupo on Tuesday 29th August.  

I wish you all a fantastic weekend.  Stay warm and stay well.

Ma te wa.

Shirley Bailey and the Kuratau School Team

This winter we are seeing a rise in seasonal colds, flu and other respiratory illnesses circulating within our communities, and our early learning services, kura and schools.  The more layers of protection you put in place – such as stay home if sick, washing your hands, vaccination, mask wearing and ventilation – the harder it will be for infection to spread.

Guidance on winter illness and children’s attendance at early learning services, kura and schools: 

Guidance on wellness indicators within children:  

Ticket sales for our Senior Students Raffle are going well.  So far we have had 59 books returned.  After a quick calculation today we are missing a bit of money that has been 'paid online'.  If you are still owing money for tickets and advised you were going to pay online, we would appreciate it you could please transfer this money into our school account - 06-0471-0055454-00.  

With approximately 1 month left until the closing date, we are now chasing up any outstanding raffle books and money that has not been returned.  We have 17 books left to sell and 24 to be returned.  

So far, if we can account for all the money we are owed, we have made $5900.  This money is going towards the Wellington Camp costs.  If we sell all 100 books we would have raised a whopping $10,000!  

Massive thank you to those families who supported this fundraising effort. 

Not long to go now until the Taiopenga Festival.  

Kuratau School senior students (Karearea and Ruru) have been practicing hard with Whaea Lena most days.  

We will be performing on Tuesday 12th September at 11.45am.  Students will be travelling to Taupo by bus.

We hope to see lots of you there to support our performance.