1 Sleep to go

Morena Koutou,

Thanks for all of the prep that has been going in to get our tamariki ready for our excursion to Omaio Bay. We aim to depart from school at 9am tomorrow and are all looking forward to it. Here are a list of last minute reminders and if you click on the arrow in the slides above you can find a gear list, an itinerary and important numbers. We will update our school Facebook Page on Thursday and let the school what our ETA is but it is likely to be around 1pm. You can either collect your children then or at 3pm like a normal school day. If you are going to find it difficult to collect their gear at 3pm, they could leave some in Room 23 and catch the bus home and you could collect it the next day. Please have your child's pickup on Thursday organised because after a long week away all of our teachers will be wanting to get home to their whanau too. Many thanks in advance for this.

• All students must have morning tea, a packed lunch a drink for tomorrow as we may stop along the road for a break. 
• Everyone is asked to contribute something towards baking for our snacks and supper. There will be clearly labelled containers to place this in on our year 7 deck in the morning.
• Students need to be at school by 8:10am with all of their gear in the year 7 cloak bay or correct containers or vehicle. These will be clearly labelled. 
• Thank you all for your generous donations. If you have meat could you please ensure it is frozen and wrapped in newspaper or a chilly bin and that your containers to be returned are named clearly. We also need EVERYTHING belonging to your child clearly named so that we can bring everything home. 
• Year 7's do not need mattresses as they will be sleeping in the wharenui but year 8's MUST have a bedroll, small mattress or stretcher as they will be in tents. Students also need their own pillow.
• Medication - Please place this in a named bag with instructions if necessary and place in the allocated suitcase in the morning. Students with Asthma must keep their pump on them at all times and please make sure these are named. Students with food allergies must ensure they check with the staff and whanau first if they are in doubt about any of the food. 
• We will be feeding your children very well and if they are ever hungry they just need to ask one of the adults so we ask that NO food is packed in their bags for the wharenui. We also do not want food in the tents as this may encourage vermin to visit.
• If your child suffers from travel sickness please ensure they take some pills and have some for the return journey and also have an ice cream container and wet flannel to use as well. 
• Students may chuck a couple of dollars in their vehicle to purchase an ice block on the way home. Any stops are at the discretion of our parent helpers. Treats in their car are also at their discretion but there is no food allowed in the main bus. 

If we have not touched base with any of you face to face yet could you please come and say hi to us when you drop your children off as we would love to be able to put a face to your name. We are thoroughly enjoying our students and are looking forward to building stronger bonds with them and our parent helpers while we are away. If you were not able to come along this time we hope you might be able to join us on another excursion later in the year. We will also need parent helpers to transport out to the Marine Reserve on the 5th and 6th April so keep an eye on our blog and notices for more info after camp.

Our Year 7 Boys straight out of the gate! On their way to meet another Gisint challenge to 'Grow Great People'

Love this! Manaakitanga and Whakawhanaungatanga in action. Daelyn Taumata encouraging Sonny Perston around the course. Tau ke korua!

Our awesome year 7 boys 

And some of our awesome year 7 Girls ...Shakyra Telfer, Rongomai Noviskey-Wharehinga and Riqueal Douglas. (Year 8 pics will  be shared soon) 

Our lovely ladies getting their game plan on! R to L Hayley Ahu, Charlotte Thompson, Jazmine Manuel, Moeawa Haney, Peti Te Pou, Alishia Williams, Leena Barnes and Maysha Koia.

Carlos Hihi pumping his way around the course

Some more of our gorgeous girls waiting for the team event - Attlee Waitoa, Judea Keelan-Phillips, Lena Baty-Akurangi and Morgan Ferguson

Finally, on behalf of all of the Turanganui Teachers we want to congratulate all of our awesome tamariki for their efforts at our team tri on Friday. Everyone participated in the individual and team events and looked like they enjoyed the challenge along the way. Our top 8 students for each year level and gender will  represent our team against the other syndicates on March the 22nd. Please lock this into your calendar and we will confirm who these 8 are after camp. Our top year 8 and year 7 teams will be made up from our fastest individuals for the run, bike and swim. We aim to train these teams between now and then so they can set some goals for themselves for the school tri. If you can assist with this training in the day please contact one of us. Check out these awesome pics from last Friday and it was great to see many of our whanau supporting too.

If you have any queries please make contact with one of us. 

Nga mihi nui ki a koutou

Turanganui Tri, Tech and 3 sleeps to go until camp!

Kia ora koutou,

A reminder that the Turanganui tri is on today at 11:10am on the back field. All children will be completing the individual and team events.

We also have tech tomorrow so students will need to bring their covered shoes and other equipment. 

Only 3 sleeps to go until our departure for Omaio Bay. Exciting times ahead!

See you tomorrow!

6 Sleeps to go til camp 2016

Kia ora whanau,

           

We are now only 6 sleeps away from our departure to Omaio Bay and would like to thank all of our wonderful whanau who have volunteered to accompany us. The children will receive a panui on Friday that outlines where to put their gear, what car group they are in, if they are year 8 which tent group they are in and the outline for Monday. As we are all one team we know the children will be excited about whatever tent and car group they are placed in and use it as an opportunity to get to know their fellow team members better. Donation confirmations will go home on Thursday with non perishable items coming to school on Friday and perishable items on Monday. Please see the Omaio Bay slides above for a gear list, important numbers list and itinerary. Our parent helpers made the executive decision that should we encounter bad weather prior to departure or there be a tangi at the marae that we will defer our camp until the end of the year. Should this occur you can choose to have your camp money reimbursed or keep it in your child's account to pay for future expenses. 

Tekau Ma Rua Rangatira 

 Phoenix Ngarimu - Room 20 pictured here with Matua Quentin, Matua Walter and Matua Puri

Nga mihi nui ki a Phoenix Ngarimu who was named our first Tekau ma Rua Rangatira for 2016. Phoenix was widely recognised by all Turanganui Teachers for displaying leadership qualities and someone who upholds all of our school and team values. Phoenix is well respected by her peers and we are all very proud to announce her as our first Turanganui Taonga Rangatira. Kei runga noa atu koe Phoenix!

Congratulations also to these ten taonga who were acknowledged by their teachers at yesterday's team hui for their outstanding values and drive with their learning. Tau ke koutou! Awesome!

L to R Caleb Ruru (24), Tori Spooner (22), Hayley Ahu (24), Phoenix Ngarimu (20), Mary Mauheni (19), Jade Vercoe (19), Peyton Riri (20), Matariki Kaa (20), Tamati Ingram (22), Absent from photo Daniel Tamanui

Donut Thank You!

Many thanks to everyone for purchasing donuts off our students. Many thanks also to The Sugar Kitchen for their amazing service! A lot of our children took advantage of this awesome fundraiser and have paid off their $2 Mindlab cost for the term and earned extra to go toward their camp costs. If your child did not sell donuts they will need to send $2 to school to pay for the Mindlab. We will hold another donut fundraiser at the end of the term. 
Some students got their orders in too late and were hoping to get extra today - unfortunately the lovely Sugar Kitchen ladies are not selling donuts tomorrow due to being away so anyone who did not collect their donuts due to late orders will have their money returned in the morning. Check out the photo's above our our on to it crew who got all 350 donuts out to their sellers this morning. Fantastic team work in action.

Look forward to seeing you all on Friday for our team triathlon. The races will start at approximately 11:10am on the back field and all Turanganui students will complete the individual and team events. 

Have a great week and stay tuned for more camp info as the week progresses. 

One week to go until camp

Kia ora koutou,

We hope you are all outside enjoying this beautiful Gisborne sun with the people you love.

Check out some of the highlights from our Turanganui Taonga so far. Thanks to Matua Puri for putting together this montage for us.

Turanganui Taonga Boys Sleepover

Thank you to all of our awesome boys and role models for staying at school on Friday night. Our three matua reported that they had a fantastic evening and loved reconnecting with familiar faces and meeting a lot of new faces as well. The boys and their significant role models enjoyed a fun filled evening together. We will be having a similar evening for our girls in the future so watch this space and we also have some whanau challenges in the pipeline that link in to our classroom programmes too. 

We are now only a week away from our trip to Omaio Bay and have an important parent helper hui in room 22 at 5:15pm tomorrow night to 

1: Meet and Greet

2: Sign our parent helper forms

3: Go over the itinerary and expectations

4: Organise which vehicles are taking what gear and where to park on Monday morning.

Donation confirmation forms will come out on Tuesday. Please send non perishable food items to school on Friday and all meat and perishable donations can come to school on Monday. We will send a final newsletter home on Thursday with the protocol for
Monday. Thank you all for your generous donations and for getting the $90 camp costs in. This cost does not have to be paid in full and can be paid across the year. There is also money available to support whanau if you need assistance. Please see your child's teacher if you need support or email ana.devery@gisint.school.nz. We are here to help.

We anticipate our camp meeting being shorter than half an hour but if you are not able to come along please touch base with your childs teacher so you can get all of the information.

Could all donut orders and money please come in to school tomorrow morning by 9am. Many thanks to everyone who has managed to sell these delicious treats for $2 as advertised in last week's blog and emails. For every donut sold our children get $1 to go towards their Mindlab costs and other school activities. We will be running additional fundraisers throughout the year so we are not always asking our whanau for money. The donuts will be delivered on Tuesday in time for lunch. 

Here is a rundown of what we have in store for Turanganui Taonga this week.

Monday

• Team Hui
• Team Tri Practise (Run-Swim only tomorrow)
• Donut orders and $ due to classroom teachers
• Parent helper camp hui 5:15pm in room 22.

Tuesday

• Tech - Year 7's first block
• Tech - Year 8's second block

Wednesday

• Koka Tania Keelan in Room 22 

Thursday

• Room 24 at the Mindlab 12:15 to 2:15pm. 
• Koka Glenda in Room 22

Friday

• Kapa Haka - Year 8 only as year 7's at tech
• Kapa Haka Extension -Year 8 only as year 7's at tech
• Turanganui Triathlon 11am start. All students are doing the individual and team events. The course is 1 x run lap of the field, 2 x bike laps of the field, 2 x lengths of the pool. 

Year 8 Boys Individual

Year 8 Girls Individual

Year 7 Boys Individual

Year 7 Girls Individual

Year 8 Teams

Year 7 Teams

• Y7 Assembly (Year 8's at Tech)
• Tech

 Food & Nutrition Class

Kia ora koutou katoa

I am looking for donations of preserving jars – big or small. I want to run a session on bottling peaches while they are in season (and pears later) but the cost of these jars will break my budget.

Much appreciated

Koka Tina

                                     

The other half of our syndicate enjoyed a wonderful day of learning along our beautiful walkway where they encountered the inquisitive tourists from the visiting cruise ship. 

These tourists were able to partake in the lessons from Matua Aaron Compton from the museum and as an extra special treat our tamariki did Paikea Haka for them which went down a treat. 

Beautiful Monument at Hei Pipi Park. This monument has several important figures carved into it. One of these rangatira is Toi and he was responsible for sending the Horouta back to Hawaiki to retrieve some kumara to grow in NZ. 

This carving depicts two rangatira, Te Rakau and Te Maro. Both were fatally wounded when Captain Cook and his men first arrived in NZ on the 8th of October 1769 right here in Gisborne.

Friday Kapa Haka

Well done to all of our year 7's for the fantastic effort at Friday's whole school and extension kapa haka sessions. We had so many volunteers from our year 7 classes and both sessions were absolutely humming. All students who commit to the entire year will receive a leadership badge for this and Papa Pura said if the desire is there for us to take a team to Tamararo then we can. Here are some of our year 7 leaders from Friday who led the whole school with ease.

Finally, if you have any queries about anything please email your childs teacher or send a note to school. 

Have a wonderful week and look forward to seeing our camp parent helpers tomorrow night at 5:15pm.

Camp Parent Helper Hui this Monday in Room 22 at 5:15pm

Kia ora koutou,

Thank you to everyone who has returned their camp forms and to those of you who have volunteered to be a parent helper. We are going to have a parent helper hui this Monday at 5:15pm in Room 22 where we will

• Meet and Greet
• Sign our EOTC parent helper forms
• Go over the itinerary and expectations.
• Sort vehicles and trailers.

We do not expect this to go longer than half an hour. 

We are currently short of helpers across the syndicate so would love to have some extra whanau from our class who are able to transport children in their vehicles. We also need trailers to help get our tents, food and gear over so if you can lend one or bring one that would be amazing. Please email if you are able to assist and have not done so already. Also, if you gave verbal confirmation that you could help at the Meet the Teacher but have not yet returned your forms could you please email as we need to sort transport groups for our team in the weekend. If you have not returned your camp forms then please return them tomorrow.

Please find above (click on the slides) a basic info booklet for camp - We leave one week from Monday and will confirm all donations on Monday next week and when these need to come into school. Thank you all for your generosity.

Finally, your children should have brought home a Donut Fundraiser form today and we ask that all children purchase at least 2 donuts to cover the cost of their Mindlab trips. We built the cost of this week's Olympic Pool excursion into our camp budgets and are doing this fundraiser to cover our upcoming Mindlab trips and resources so appreciate you selling as many as you can. We are very conscious of how expensive things are for our families so want to assist and get our children to help where possible. All donut orders and money must be in by 9am on Monday morning. By selling two donuts the children are not only paying for their Mindlab trip themselves but also getting two delicious treats to share too.

If you have any questions, please email me back but we absolutely love our Turanganui Taonga and look forward to a great week away in Omaio with them in just over a week's time.

Nga mihi nui ki a koutou

Your Turanganui Teachers

Musicians, Woodworkers and Dance boys trip to the Museum and Olympic Pools

Kia ora koutou,

A friendly reminder that our musicians, woodworkers and dance boys are of to the museum and olympic pools today. If it looks like rain/drizzle please pack an umbrella or rain jacket. Your child also needs their...

• Togs
• Towel
• Packed morning tea, lunch and large drink

The cookers, artists and dance girls will remain at school and complete their school work.

Have a great day!

Another awesome day in Turanganui

E Tu Turanganui E Tu

Mrs Maynard, Troy Ratapu, Paora Edwards and Paddy Evans-Rangiwai enjoying this picturesque Gizzy pit stop on our way to the Olympic Pool. 

Today our Turanganui Artists, Cookers and Dance Girls enjoyed a fabulous day of learning. We met our museum educators at the Young Nicks statue at Waikanae Beach and learnt more about the historical points in our beautiful city and their significance in NZ's history. 

We learnt more about Paoa's journey onboard the Horouta which brought the first Kumara to our region under his sister Hinehakirirangi's guidance. The first Kumara were planted at Manawaru, Manutuke and Hinehakirirangi made her home at Papatewhai under the base of Te Kuri a Paoa or Young Nicks Head.

Matua Aaron Compton from the museum finishing off our historical walk at the Heipipi Pa site.

We learnt about Onepoto and Oneroa Beach and the monument by the Port that Gisborne Schoolkids helped to fund by paying one pound many years ago. We saw where the Turanganui River used to flow out to sea and ended our hikoi at Heipipi Pa which is where our Courthouse stands today. 

Some of our Turanganui Taonga

You just never know what treasures you will stumble upon on your journey - Troy Ratapu and Paora Edwards enjoying this classic car parked by Captain Morgans. 

After our hikoi we went to the Olympic Pools to complete three Pre Camp assessments as well as to refresh and recharge after our historical walk. All of the teachers on this excursion loved the opportunity to mingle with students from across our team. Many thanks to Whetu King-Taufa and Hurene Kerekere-Haapu for demonstrating leadership through their safe bombing lessons and mihi to our museum educators.  Matua Puri, Matua Bruce and Matua Quentin reported that all of the woodworkers, musicians and dance boys were fantastic back at school and they look forward to their session on Thursday. 

Our Girls

 And our Awesome boys

Turanganui Taonga at the Captain Cook Statue - Waikanae Beach

Congratulations to all Turanganui Taonga who participated in today's Weetbix Tri - Nelson Park looked amazing this morning and it is a great lead up for our syndicate triathlon next Friday at 11am. All Turanganui Taonga are encouraged to meet a Gisint challenge of an individual event as well as in a team. We will have our team confirmed tomorrow and look forward to lots of our whanau coming along to support our kids. 

Tomorrow your child will definitely receive their donut order form and camp notices. More aspiration sheets will go home as we are still awaiting a number of these. 

All Turanganui students have tech so must remember their gear, togs and towel, PE gear and any notices that have not yet been returned. 

 Not a bad classroom today for our artists, cookers and dance girls. All woodworkers, musicians and dance boys will do these lessons on Thursday. Thank you to Koka Julie Noanoa and Matua Aaron from Te Tairawhiti Museum for our Historical Walk lesson.

Tomorrow in class we will be working on
Persuasive Essay Writing 
Tech
Blogging
Maths

Nga mihi mahana ki a koutou

Your Turanganui Teachers

Artists, Cookers and Dance Girls are off to the museum and Olympic Pools tomorrow

Kia ora koutou,

This is a friendly reminder that all Artists, Cookers and Dance Girls will be completing the historical walk with Matua Aaron and Koka Julie from the Museum tomorrow. 

Everyone needs to have a packed morning tea and lunch along with a large drink bottle. Students also need their togs and towel as these students will be based at the pool in the afternoon. 

On Thursday the Musicians, Woodworkers and Dance Boys will do the same programme. If your group is not attending tomorrow you will be based at school with our Matua doing a normal day's programme.

Good luck to all of our Weetbix Tryathlon students - give it your best and enjoy the experience.

Welcome to week 3

Kia ora koutou, 

We are already into week 3 of term 1 and the teachers in Turanganui syndicate are excited about the year ahead with our amazing group of students. 

You may notice on the side panel of this blog that a fourth Gisint value 'Excellence' has been added which is an exciting addition because our four school values now create the acronym 'RISE' - Respect, Integrity, Self Management and Excellence which fit perfectly with our school vision which is to 'Grow Great People'. The children are already becoming familiar with and using this terminology and each week our team will have a focus on these terms as well as our Turanganui Core Values of Kotahitanga - Unity, Whakawhanaungatanga - Relationships and Manaakitanga - Caring for others. 

Thank you to everyone who has returned their notices as this makes our lives a lot easier. We need to confirm our camp helpers in the next two days so please let us know by emailing, ringing, popping in or completing this Google Form if you can assist. Parent helpers must be able to transport students and we give each vehicle that transports students a $100 petrol voucher koha. We will have a parent helper hui next week to meet each other and go over organisation and expectations. Thanks in advance to everyone who can help - We can't wait to head to Omaio Bay. 

Here are a few highlights from week 2

Meet the Teacher Evening - Please complete this Quick Feedback form

Thank you all so much for attending. We loved meeting or reconnecting with you all and look forward to forming strong partnerships with our Turanganui whanau this year. We would love to have your feedback on how you found this evening so we can continue to improve to meet your needs and those of your child. Could all Aspirations sheets please come into school this week. If your child missed out on one, their classroom teacher will send one home tomorrow. 

Swimming Sports

Congratulations to all of our Turanganui swimmers who represented our team with pride. Koka Tracey reported that our swimmers raced hard and enjoyed their morning in the very hot sun. We are proud of all of our competitors regardless of where they placed. Due to the high calibre of students from right across the Gisborne region, the competition is a lot harder than at primary school. What we want our children to take from this challenge is to keep persevering and to focus on their next challenge which will be our syndicate tri next Friday. The top competitors for this event will go through to compete in the school tri on March the 22nd. 

Whole School Kapa Haka and Kapa Haka Extension

Papa Pura can be seen here taking our first whole school kapa haka session - Unfortunately our year 7's missed last week due to a tech catch up. Our Year 7's will attend this week and our year 8's will be at their tech catch up. 

In 2016 our schools extension group will have the chance to go to Tamararo should the commitment and desire be there. We are going to be getting new kakahu for our students and are overall excited about what lies ahead. For term 1 Turanganui syndicate will be attending the extension classes to support the rest of our school and to ensure that when we have in and out of school activities we are well prepared. All students who commit to Kapa Haka extension for the year will receive a leadership badge in this area. Your child will have the choice after term 1 to go into the Focused Friday cycle which starts in term 2 or to remain in extension. Papa Pura messaged to say he was thrilled with our first whole school and extension sessions. A big mihi to Hurene Kerekere-Haapu, Jade Vercoe, Skye Maurirere and Alyssa Herbert for leading the school on stage. This Friday we will need some of our Year 7's to step into this leadership role. 

Tech Arts

Our year 7 cookers lining up for their first session with Koka Tina Swann

Miss Murphy and our Year 7 Dance students. Miss Murphy was away on Friday so Koka Tania Keelan came in to take the children for an Art lesson. 

All Turanganui students begun their tech sessions last Thursday and Friday. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their Dance - with Miss Murphy, Art - with Mr Notting, Woodwork - with Mr Ashman, Cooking - with Koka Tina and Music - with Mrs Hunt. Thank you to our whanau for ensuring your children were well prepared with their gear. It is vital that cookers and woodworkers have covered shoes for every session as a safety precaution. These do not have to be regulation uniform items but must only be worn for tech. 

All of Turanganui have tech again on Wednesday and Friday of this week.

Mr Ashman and his first Year 7 woodwork session. The students are designing and making a pinball machine so need to complete some homework before Wednesday to gather ideas for their own.



Mr Notting settling his Year 7 artists into his art room.  The Turanganui teachers can't wait to have their beautiful creations adorning our classroom walls. All artwork will be sent home at the end of the year but we aim to have a Turanganui syndicate showcase evening where the children can display their class and tech work from the first half of the year. 

What's happening this week in Turanganui?

Monday

• Rooms 19 and 21 are off to the Museum to complete the 'Taonga Puoro' - Traditional Instruments and 'Our Place' lessons. Both classes will leave as soon as their roll is done, students must have a packed morning tea, lunch and drink bottle and be dressed in immaculate school uniform. These lessons both flow into our Historical Walk lesson which half of the team are doing tomorrow and the other half on Thursday. These lessons also tie into our Term 1 Mindlab sessions as we will be getting our students to do digital retells of the historical information learnt through these excursions and the Marine Reserve trip. 

Tuesday

• Weetbix Tryathlon - Good luck to all Turanganui students who are competing in this awesome event. Please email your classroom teacher or the office to let them know if your child will be absent. 
• Historical Walk and Olympic Pool Camp Prep. All Cookers, Artists and Dance Girls will be attending these sessions and will need their togs, towels, school uniform, packed morning tea, lunch and large drink. We are paying for the Olympic Pools out of our camp budget so your child does not need any money s they will not be allowed to purchase food along the way or at the pools. The other tech groups will have a normal day at school with the remaining Turanganui teachers.

Wednesday

• Tech - Woodworkers and Cookers must have covered shoes.

Thursday

• Historical Walk and Olympic Pool Camp Prep. All Woodworkers, Musicians and Dance Boys will be attending these sessions and will need their togs, towels, school uniform, packed morning tea, lunch and large drink. We are paying for the Olympic Pools out of our camp budget so your child does not need any money s they will not be allowed to purchase food along the way or at the pools. The other tech groups will have a normal day at school with the remaining Turanganui teachers.

Friday

• Kapa Haka Extension 
• Whole School Kapa Haka
• Tech - Covered shoes essential for woodwork and cooking.
• Year 7 and Year 8 Assemblies 

Your child will be bringing home a Sugar Kitchen Donut fundraiser form to sell Cinnamon Donuts that will be delivered next week. This fundraiser is to cover their term 1 Mindlab trip and go toward the materials for their Turanganui Taonga that they will be making. We are very conscious of how expensive this time of year is for our whanau so we want the children to assist you by helping out and getting something back in return. By selling 2 donuts alone they cover their Mindlab cost and get two donuts to eat or share too. All money and orders need to be in by Friday.

Finally, last week a red scooter was taken out of the rooms 22 and 24 cloak bay. Someone in our team must have information to help return this item to it's owner. Please email Mrs Devery if you can assist ana.devery@gisint.school.nz. Thank you all in advance for your help. 

Have a wonderful week everyone

Your Turanganui Teachers