Welcome to Week 4

Kia ora koutou and welcome to week 4 already!

It was great to see a number of our Turanganui whanau at school last Friday to celebrate our school Olympic Events. As you can see from the picture above all five Turanganui classes got right into the spirit of the day and coordinated outstanding outfits, movement sequences, chants, flags, mascots and anthems. The highlight for all Turanganui teachers was watching our students pull this all together by themselves and celebrate being a real tight knit bunch. We loved supporting every class in the school and most importantly each other. Thank you to all of our whanau who got in behind us too. There are snippets of video footage on our school Facebook page if you have not already seen it. Special thanks to Mr Hart and Mr Barclay who planned the day for us and also to Mr Hart for organising three past Olympians to come in and speak to our children. Darryl Fitzgerald, Michelle Rennie and Paora Winitana all came last week to share their stories and inspirational messages with our students. Pictured below are a few more highlights from our school wide celebration day. Each classes movement sequence can be seen on the school Facebook page - due to teachers being involved in the walk by our photo's are limited. 

Daelyn Taumata and Bayley Edmunds-Manuel

Mairangi Campbell and McKenzie Pepere

A few gorgeous 22Blu students 

We would like to warmly welcome two new students and their whanau to our team this term. They have both settled in so well it is like they have been here all year. Welcome to Derek Taare who has moved from Manutuke School and is a valued member of room 22 and also welcome to Kahurangi Kerekere  who has moved up from the Wairarapa. Kahurangi is a valued member of Room 24 and received one of their values certificates at assembly last Friday. It is a pleasure to have such lovely children join our team and school. 

Titirangi (Kaiti Hill) Restoration Project

Brandi with his very special tree

Last week rooms 20, 21 and 22 were fortunate enough to help replant native trees on Titirangi (Kaiti Hill) in conjunction with a project run by Ngati Oneone, DOC and the Gisborne District Council. It is hoped that by replanting natives such as harakeke, Ngaio, Manuka, Kanuka and Pohutukawa that native frog, bird, lizard and gecko species will return. 
Our children were taught more about the history of the land and the people who lived there and were then given a native tree each to plant on the Port side of Kaiti Hill. Unfortunately due to the rain, rooms 19 and 24 have had to defer their sessions but will get out as soon as they can. Each class is also doing follow up research and writing in class to make the most of this awesome learning experience. We look forward to watching our trees grow as we do and sharing them with our families.

Matua Richard and Moeawa 

Lena-Marie Baty-Akurangi with her precious tree

Each student identified a marker so they know exactly where to find their tree. 

Bayley and a Whau leaf which is a perfect substitute for toilet paper if you are ever in the bush

Careers Visit - Koka Chrissy Teneti

Thank you to Koka Christine Teneti who came in to speak about and demonstrate what it takes to be a masseuse. 

A few lucky students and teachers volunteered and were given different massages while the other students were able to ask questions about where to study, what skills were necessary, scholarships and anything else that came to mind. 
We are very keen to have our whanau come in and share your expertise with our students in a wide range of occupations. Please email your childs teacher if you have time to come in this term or in term 4 when the weather warms up more. 

Many thanks to everyone who returned their Whanau consultation survey Forms - Turanganui syndicate received 90 responses which we have collated and are working through the suggestions given. We really appreciate everyone taking the time to share what we are doing well and any next steps and the results were overwhelmingly positive which is wonderful.If you did not get yours in please feel free to complete it still as everyone's voice is important to us.

Mako Maths with Mrs Barclay

Mrs Barclay started working with a dedicated group of Year 7 Mathematicians last week who will be treated to two weekly sessions of maths with her beginning this week. These switched on students who need to remember their mugs for Monday are....

Bayley Edmunds-Manuel, Amorangi Standish, Attlee Waitoa, Kia Manuel, Lena-Marie Baty-Akurangi, Aria Randall, Lil'Dre Waru, Rawhiti Kaiwai, Trinity Wilson, Shakyra Telfer, Mokai Wallace-Karauria and Riqueal Douglas. 

Mrs Barclay will also be working in our year 7 classes one morning a week in conjunction with Koka Tracey and Koka Ana and another group of awesome Turanganui students. Mrs Barclay has been released this year to be our inhouse maths advisor so we are looking forward to having her expertise each week. If your child is in this first group please ask them about their sessions at home to see how they are getting on. 

The Turanganui teachers are consistently impressed with the syndicate wide improvement across all math strands. It is up to your child to work as hard as they can and many of our students are thriving. Please be aware there are two sides to Mathletics - Live and Workshops. The workshops are where children practise new concepts learnt in class. These concepts are set and monitored by each teacher BUT students may push themselves ahead and self teach new concepts not covered in class. It really is the perfect tool for all levels and every child is set at their NZ curriculum stage. Some children have been working so hard they have almost finished a years worth of work in half a year - Fantastic!

The programme caters to every level right up until the end of high school so the children who use it regularly are noticing marked improvements. Please encourage your child to use it at home and if they look like they are just hitting the button repetitively they are probably spending the majority of their time accessing Mathletics LIVE and at a level that is possibly too easy for them. LIVE is still a great part of Mathletics to practise basic facts and once again it is levelled so children can always be challenged. If you would like to learn how to use this resource to support your child please feel free to pop in and see your childs teacher - it really only takes 5 minutes. We are also looking at hosting a Turanganui Whanau evening in week 8 before action week so we will make Mathletics help an option for interested whanau as well as celebrating al of the learning that has gone on this term.

Huge congratulations to Irie Eyles from room 20 who is our 
Fourth Turanganui Gold Certificate Recipient 
 Tau ke koe Irie!

Here is a summary of our top Turanganui Mathletes for Week 4

What homework could all Turanganui students be doing each night?

Mathletics - Set workshops, Self selected workshops and Mathletics LIVE to reinforce basic facts knowledge. This resource is invaluable and if you do not have internet access at home students may go on when they get to school and during break times. Times Tables practise can also be done without any materials at all.

Reading - Current Events, Library Books, Papers. anything that excites the reader. With the Olympics happening right now there is an abundance of fantastic articles around.

Current Events - Keep up to date with what is happening in the world via the radio, internet, TV, papers and news etc. 

Science Fair - Projects due in a few weeks. Each Turanganui teacher has their own set of expectations for these which they will go through with their students. It is expected that every Turanganui student will submit a project in either the science or technology division of the fair. 

Unfinished Classwork - To be completed at home. One of our RISE values is Self Management so students need to take responsibility for ensuring that they are up to date with everything - Skills vital for high school and beyond. 

Turanganui a Kiwa Heritage Trails with Turanga Health

Turanga Health have been fantastic supporters of our syndicate and school this year and will be leading three EOTC (Education outside the classroom) fitness and history lessons around our district's heritage trails. Follow up work will also be done in the classroom. On Monday Rooms 21 and 24 will head out for the first of three sessions and will need covered shoes and PE gear. Turanga Health also kindly donated a drink bottle for every Turanganui student and these will be given out on Monday. 

Matua Shane Luke and Matua Paora Anderson also came in a couple of weeks ago to teach our Tekau ma Rua some traditional games. The tekau ma rua are now required to offer their services to other classrooms and teachers who wish to learn these awesome games as well. 

So What's happening this week @Gisint?

Well done to Mairangi Campbell - Our Term 3 Week 3 Year 7 Student of the Week

Monday

Room 24 - Turanganui Heritage Trail - Block 1

Room 20 - Life Education - Block 1

Year 8's Tech - Block 1

Room 21 - Turanganui Heritage Trail - Block 3

ERO Powhiri - 12:15pm

Room 24 - Life Education - Block 3

Tuesday

Mau Rakau - Final Session for our boys

Year 7's Tech - Block 2

Year 8's Girls and Boys High School Visits - 11:15am to 2:30pm

Wednesday

Room 21 - Turanganui Heritage Trail - Block 1

Room 24 - Turanganui Heritage Trail - Block 3

Year 8's Lytton High School Visit - 12:30pm to 2:45pm

Room 19 St John's First Aid Refresher Course

Thursday

Room 20 St John's First Aid Refresher Course

Room 21 Life Education - Block 3

Friday

Room 21 - Turanganui Heritage Trail - Block 1

Room 24 - Turanganui Heritage Trail - Block 3

Focused Friday

Room 19 = Spanish - Mrs Collier

Room 20 = Portugese - Miss Gee

Room 21 = Breakout - Miss Willock

Room 22 = Skateboard Ramp/Backpack - Koka Glenda

Room 24 = Mrs Leach - Geography

Assembly

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Your Turanganui Teachers