Kia ora koutou,
It was fantastic to see the government’s latest education announcement, supporting the teaching of Structured Literacy in schools with additional funding for teacher professional learning and resources. At Matua School, we have been using Structured Literacy as the foundation of our reading programme for several years. This means we are in a strong position to take on the resources provided by the government and ensure that the teaching of reading at Matua is of the highest quality.
We are looking forward to hosting parents and whānau at our Math Information Evening next week. We are currently putting a lens on the teaching and learning of Mathematics, engaging with professional learning in conjunction with other schools in our Kahui Ako, including Ōtūmoetai College. The principal of Ōtūmoetai College, Russell Gordon, and maths teachers from the college will join us in sharing what maths learning looks like at school, how that supports success in maths learning in the college years, and how you can support children at home.
Date: Tuesday 14th May
Start time: 5:30pm
Venue: School Hall
To help us understand questions you have about Maths at school, please share anything you’d like us to talk about in the brief survey below.
This week, we welcomed Mrs Lindsay Crisp back to Matua School. Lindsay finished as a full-time classroom teacher at the end of last year and has returned to Matua, working part-time as part of our Learning Support team. We love having Lindsay on the team and are thrilled to have her share her experience and skills with us. Welcome back, Lindsay!
Ngā mihi nui
Marcus Norrish
Principal
TŪĪ TALKS – EPISODE 9…Follow, Like & Subscribe on Spotify!
Tūī Talks Episode 9 is now available on Spotify. Dem Bones, Dem Bones! Join us for the latest episode, where we learn all about what is under our feet from our special guest, Ben Pick from Heritage NZ. There is also a new segment called Quick Fire 10 with our very own Miss Thompson joining the crew this time around (but who will it be next?)
Don’t wait …HIT PLAY!
ESTUARY & STREAM CLEAN UP
The Rākau team were lucky enough to be part of an estuary and stream clean up, thanks to Tauranga City Council.
This linked nicely with our school concept around service. This was a fabulous experience for all the students.
Downer kindly sponsored the great sausage sizzle for us and took away the sorted rubbish at the end of the day.
A great learning experience within our local community.
Sponsorship 2024
We are thrilled to have a number of businesses that support Matua School as sponsors. We are approaching a time when we have opportunities for new sponsors to partner with Matua School. If you are a business leader and would like to explore these opportunities further, please see the information below and/or contact me at marcusn@matua.school.nz
WE RUN THE NIGHT
On Saturday our Girls Run Club, parents, and teachers took part in We Run the Night at the Mount.
Dressed in fluro, covered in bright paint and glow sticks they set out on a 5km road run along Marine Parade.
It was an excellent vibe and the girls set some cracking paces. They were buzzing when they crossed the line, received their medals, and heard their name being called out.
These girls are out training every Monday lunchtime since the start of term 1 (and they’ve even been spotted doing extra training runs in the holidays).
Ka pai girls. Keep up the great mahi!
YOUNG OCEAN EXPLORERS
GARDEN TO TABLE
Room 16 have enjoyed Garden to Table this week.
We are in need of some terracotta pots for our ‘revamped’ edible flower and herb garden.
The children are planning to paint and decorate them before planting them up. If you have any at home that you can spare, they could be dropped at the office.
Huge thanks in advance.
Designgroup Stapleton Elliott (DGSE) is an award-winning architect practice with studios spread across Aotearoa. Formed by a large team with diverse backgrounds and skill sets, their services include Architecture, Interior Architecture, Master Planning, and Landscape Architecture. Acknowledging the weight of their responsibility as architects, a deep understanding of people, place, and culture are at the heart of their design processes.
SPORT
Term 2 has got off to a cracker start with winter teams forming relationships and practice times and in school sessions happening for all sorts of sports.
We are very excited this term as we get to debut our brand new sports uniforms for basketball and netball! These new uniforms align with our new sports t-shirts and look so good. I know the netball girls are particularly excited to be playing in dresses.
The basketball season has only just started this week with our Year 3&4 team, the Matua Thunder playing their first games for the season. Our Year 5&6 team, the Matua Mavericks will play Friday afternoon and our little league team, the Matua Mini Blacks starting next Monday. We wish them the best of luck for the season. Can’t wait for some action shots in those new uniforms.
This winter we have 4 hockey teams playing on a Saturday morning, with the first games for the season happening this Saturday, 11th May. Good luck to all our teams for their first grading games. We have just started running our very own Funsticks sessions on a Monday afternoon at the school turf. Mr Joe Hull is running these sessions and they have got off to a great start with lots of fun and new skills being learned. Please note that this session is now full so please don’t turn up without talking to myself or Joe prior.
The netball season is the last to start with our Year 6 team starting their grading games on Saturday 18th May and the rest of the teams starting the following week. It will be so nice to see all Matua teams wearing the same uniforms this year. Good luck girls, I’m sure those dresses will make you feel like a Silver Fern.
It has been a busy week at Matua School with Hungerball providing in school sessions for the whole school and the BOPRU running a tackle session with our girls and boys rugby teams for the upcoming tackle 5’s tournament.
If you’ve popped in during school hours you will have noticed everyone out practicing for the upcoming cross country event. This whole school event will take place on Tuesday 21st May (pp Thursday 23rd May). Now all we need is weather like we’ve had this week! More information from your child’s teacher will come next week. We do require parent help for this event so if you are available keep your eye on Hero as we will be requesting helpers.
The WBOP Amazing Race event will take place next week. This is a super fun event for our senior students. Trials have taken place and teams chosen. They will be representing Matua at Memorial Park on Thursday 16th May.
Good luck to all our teams starting their winter competitions.
Stacey Sutherland
Sports Coordinator
POOL KEYS
LIBRARY
UPCOMING MOBILE DENTAL VISIT – TERM 2
The mobile dental unit will be onsite at school from Monday 29th April to Friday 24th May
Our dental team will be seeing the most overdue tamariki/children during this visit.
The dental team will notify the parents and families prior to their child’s dental appointment.
When you receive this notification, please contact the team to update any contact details, confirm medical details or renew permissions for examination and dental x-rays.
Current service demands and delays weigh heavily on our teams and your kindness and support is appreciated.
If you have any queries or urgent dental concerns, contact (07 576 6752) or 0800 TALK TEETH for further help and advice.
SCHOOL HOURS
A friendly reminder that school is not open until 8.30am. If you require childcare before these hours, please contact SKIDS either by email – matua@skids.co.nz, phone – 027 586 0408, or book online – www.skids.co.nz/Matua.
SCHOOL INFORMATION
LUNCH ORDERS – EVERY FRIDAY
Lunch orders are available for delivery to Matua School each Friday.
SUBWAY
Simply order your SUBWAY lunch online through you myKindo account by CLICKING HERE
Order (or cancel) any time before 9:00am on the day or schedule in advance.
Help? Visit support.mykindo.co.nz or call 09-869 5200 Mon-Fri, 8:00am to 4:00pm.
TERM DATES 2024
Term 1, 2024 – Wednesday 7th February 2024 – Friday 12th April
Waitangi Day – Tuesday 6th February
Learner Conferences – Friday 1st March. School will be closed for instruction.
Easter Weekend – Friday 29th March until Tuesday 2nd April
Term 2, 2024 – Monday 29th April – Friday 5th July
Teacher Only Day #1 – Friday 31st May
King’s Birthday – Monday 3rd June
Matariki – Friday 28th June
Term 3, 2024 – Monday 22nd July – Friday 27th September
Term 4, 2024 – Monday 14th October – Friday 20th December (12:30pm finish)
Teacher Only Day – Friday 25st October
Labour Day – Monday 28th October
SETTING UP KINDO
Setting up with Kindo
Kindo is our prefered payments system. To help you learn how it works, we’ve added their new help sheet and video. We hope it helps.
KINDO VIDEO HELP
COMMUNITY NOTICES
MATUA PLAYGROUND UPDATE
An upgrade for the Matua Park playground will begin on Monday, 29 April.
In addition to swings and a slide for toddlers, the new play space will include a large basket swing and a timber climbing frame with a slide. It also features bike and scooter racks, a new picnic table and built-in seating around the play area. It’ll be great for children of all ages!
The playground is scheduled to be completed in mid-July, weather-dependent. If you have any questions, please call 07 577 7000 or email kylie.sisley@tauranga.govt.nz .
CAPE EGMONT VIRTUAL HALF MARATHON 2024
Want to walk or run in your own time, but also be part of a fantastic event? Then we would love you to join us.
The Cape Egmont Virtual Half Marathon offers three distance options – 5 km, 10 km and 21 km. Which can be completed any time anywhere from the 1st to the 31st of July 2024. Simply record your time via Strava, Map my run, Fit Bit or screenshot and upload through our website. Every finisher receives a medal and all money raised goes to the Taranaki Cancer Society and the Taranaki Men Can Exercise Group. To help those in our province affected by cancer.
ENTER AT: www.capeegmonthalf.com ENQUIRES capeegmonthalf@gmail.com
