Kia ora koutou,

As I sit to write this week's newsletter, it’s hard to believe there are only 14 weeks left in the 2024 School Year. However, we are certainly not slowing down! The next three weeks promise to be busy and exciting.  

Next week, we kick off with Wig Wednesday on Wednesday, 11th September. Please remember to send a gold coin donation to support this cause. On Thursday, 12th September, our learners will take part in Civil Defence sessions to learn about keeping themselves safe during emergencies. Later that evening, students from Karearea and Ruru will be staying over at school for our final Kapa Haka practices. We warmly invite whānau to join us at 1 pm on Friday for our final dress rehearsal.

A massive well done to all the students who participated in this week's Inter-School Cross Country event in Taupō! Mrs. Pyman took 19 enthusiastic runners to tackle the challenging, hilly terrain. Our runners demonstrated tremendous resilience and determination. Special congratulations to Briana You and Kahureremoa Donaldson, who both earned 3rd place medals in their age groups. Well done also to Henry (4th) and Johnny (6th) in the Year 5 boys' race.  Once again, a big thank you to our parent volunteers for transporting our team to Taupō. 

While Mrs. Pyman was away, Mrs. Hunt worked with the remaining seniors, who produced some fantastic poetry—be sure to check out a couple of examples below.

In Week 9, we will celebrate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, with Whaea Lou preparing some exciting learning opportunities to encourage the use of te reo in our school. It’s a wonderful chance for us all to engage and grow our confidence in using Māori language.

Snow Squad

While we're enjoying the warmer weather, it's not ideal for the remainder of the ski season. We’re still hopeful that we might receive a good dose of wintery weather. September can often surprise us with some chilly days, so fingers crossed we can get back up the maunga before the term ends!

We are looking forward to a fantastic few weeks as we approach the end of Term 3.  Have a superb weekend everyone and I look forward to touching base again in our next school newsletter.

Ngā mihi nui,

Not long to go now until our Kapa Haka group performance at the 2024 Ngāti Tūwharetoa Taiopenga.  This week we received the confirmed timetable (see the full programme below).   Massive thank you to Whaea Lena for all the mahi she has done with our senior students.  They are looking and sounding amazing!  

Please NOTE: our performance time has changed slightly.

Wig Wednesday is a fun day where schools, workplaces and community groups can show their support for those tamariki with cancer.

Every dollar we raise will go directly towards supporting Kiwi kids with cancer and their families through the toughest time in their lives. Taking part is easy. Simply wear a wig, style a funky hairdo or even shave your head, while raising money for the Child Cancer Foundation.  

For our Wig Wednesday, let your imagination run wild!  We encourage everyone to wear their most creative hairdo to school and bring a gold coin donation.  We will use the donation to see how long a coin trail we can make!  At lunchtime we will have a disco on the court and parade our wild and wacky hairdo’s!  

WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT.  

While some of our Karearea and Ruru students were away at the Inter-School Cross-Country in Taupō, the rest enjoyed a fantastic day of poetry writing. They focused on planning and writing with a specific audience and purpose in mind – their classmates.

The students began with a model text called "The House," which described each room's feelings about its occupants. Using this text as inspiration, they crafted their own unique poems. Below are a few examples – be sure to ask your child to share theirs with you!

 Last year, we planted a considerable number of trees, roughly 200. This year, we have decided not to work directly in the wetland area but to focus on educating our tamariki about what it takes to be a kaitiaki — a guardian of our environment. 

We are excited to have four guest speakers who will be educating groups of children throughout the day on the following topics:

These sessions will run until lunchtime. After lunch, we will head over to the wetland area to assess the space and plan the next steps for its care.

Please Note: The school will provide a sausage sizzle and cookie lunch for all students.

Last week Jaedyn Sowry and Jetson Scrimgeour both received Distinction when they sat practical piano exams in Taupo. They each played 3 songs, did some memory exercises, listening tests, sight reading and answered questions. Jaedyn did Preliminary Piano and Jetson did Modern Piano Preparatory. They were very pleased with the amazing results. 

Well done boys! 

Bev Campbell is their piano teacher and comes to school on Fridays to teach several of our students.

At Kuratau School we place a important emphasis on recycling and work hard to have a 'no waste' culture.  As part of this initiative we have joined Paper4Trees where our recycling efforts are monitored and, for each time we recycle, we gain credits towards earning plants for our school.

On average Kuratau School recycles 2 x Woolsacks of paper and cardboard each week throughout the year, this is approximately 52800 litres of waste.  For our efforts we have earned a total of 27 plants for our school.  We have chosen a mix of Lacebark, Pittosporum, Kowhai, Kapuka, NZ Iris and Renga Renga Lily.

We would like to shout out to our sponsors, Totara Glen Nurseries, who have generously sponsored these plants for our school and we look forward to planting them to further beautify our natural environment.

You can learn more about Paper4Trees, and how you too can be involved, HERE

Return any Kuratau School sports shirts to school please. 

Give Teeth a Break

It’s not always about how much sugar you eat but how often you eat it.  Give teeth breaks from sugary foods/drinks.

Water and plain milk are the best drinks for teeth.  Flavoured milks, soft drinks, juices, sports drinks have sugar in them and are considered as a treat.