Kia ora koutou,
What a fantastic year we have had at Matua School. It is great to be part of a community that enjoys learning together! The last couple of weeks have been filled with celebrations, creative activities and many class trips. We trust that your child has finished the year feeling positive about their year at school and optimistic about another exciting year ahead.
This week we farewelled our Year 6 students, who all head off to Intermediate next year. It is always sad to say goodbye, but we know you all have many adventures ahead. We trust that your time at Matua School has prepared you to run towards the exciting opportunities ahead confidently. Many Year 6 families are seeing their final child leave Matua this year. We wish you all well and thank you for the investment that you have made in this Kura over many years. It takes a whole community for a school to flourish, and your involvement is part of what makes Matua great.
This week we also farewell a few of the Matua Staff team.
Kathy Burke is retiring after working at Matua School for many years, while Kylie Tietjens is moving south to live in the sunny Hawkes Bay. Kathy and Kylie have been wonderful team members and will be missed by staff and students. A special mention to Sarah Brown who has led our latest roll growth class. Sarah is moving to the South Island with her husband and so won’t be returning to Matua next year.
Lindsay Crisp has a change next year as she finishes as a full-time teacher at the school. We are not formally farewelling Lindsay as while she will be taking a break in Term 1, she will be returning to school later in the year.
2024 School Dates
For those super organised people out there, make sure you mark calendars with a couple of key dates for the start of next year. Once the school year kicks off, it all happens pretty fast, so being planned really will help:
School Office reopens Tuesday 30th January
Open Morning Friday 2nd February, 10:00am – 11:30am
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL 2024 Wednesday 7th February
Community Picnic. Thursday 15th February, 5:00pm, on the school field
A full set of term dates for 2023 can be found below. Don’t forget to stay up-to-date using the school calendar.
Stationery & School Donations
Information for stationery and school donations will be sent to you via the @School App on Monday, 18th December. Please make sure you are connected to the @School App and have notifications turned on to ensure you receive all information.
Thanks again for another wonderful year at Matua School. We trust that your Christmas celebrations and summer break will be filled with fun, blessing and whānau. We look forward to seeing you again in 2023.
To Croc or not to Croc – the results are in!
I was super impressed with the amount of feedback we received on our Crocs survey last week. With just short of 200 replies to the survey, the response was 2 to 3 times bigger than any other set of feedback we’ve had this year. Clearly, we love our Crocs!
It was very affirming to receive the feedback, with 88% of parents keen to see us keep Crocs at school. The thinking on Jibbits was a closer split, with a slim majority thinking they should also stay. However, the clear message was that Crocs and Jibbits are a family’s choice to send to school and that the responsibility for the security doesn’t lay with the school or teachers. Many parents highlighted the learning opportunity involved for kids, learning to keep things they valued at home or keeping them safe at school by making sensible choices with them.
The good news is that children will still be able to wear Crocs to school next year…and ideally continue to enjoy bringing some bling with their Jibbitz. Please make a choice as a family around what is appropriate for school and to keep at home anything you’re not willing to lose.
Ngā mihi nui
Marcus Norrish
Principal
TUI TALKS – EPISODE 5
In this episode we sit down with Mrs Carlisle and chat about her big adventure in Term 3. We also reflect about the year that has been with Mr Norrish and hear from some of our Year 6 leavers.
Please follow the link below to listen, and subscribe to our Tui Talks SPOTIFY channel for future episodes.
LAST DAY OF TERM 4, 2023
Just a reminder that our last day of term for the year is Friday 15th December.
School will finish at 12.30pm.
If you require childcare for the afternoon, please contact Skids – matua@skids.co.nz
SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS – LEVERS RD, HALL RD & CLIVEDENE ST
To provide safer pedestrian access for our tamariki near Matua School, construction of three raised pedestrian crossings and other safety measures close to Matua School will start early in the new year. These crossings include a replacement of the existing Levers Road crossing, a new crossing on Hall Road, and a new Clivedene Street raised pedestrian crossing. We expect this work will take approximately six weeks. This work is weather dependent and on final confirmation of the contractor’s availability.
Traffic Management
• On Levers Road, we will have speed restrictions so we can keep traffic flowing in both lanes. A temporary pedestrian crossing will be in place.
• Hall Road will be closed, and drivers will be diverted through Meadowland Street. The road closure will shorten the construction period.
• Clivedene Street will have traffic management support.
Please note this is a proposed traffic management plan still under review and may change slightly.
Traffic controllers will be on site and will assist all pedestrians, cyclists and mobility scooters to move around the construction works. During school hours, an additional traffic controller will be present at the school entrances to coordinate safe road crossings.
To keep up-to-date on this project, please subscribe to the weekly bulletin which we issue via our website www.tauranga.govt.nz/weeklybulletin. You can also contact Tauranga City Council directly, phone 07 577 7000 or visit our website www.tauranga.govt.nz/council/contact-us
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GYMNASTICS
school. For two days a week for the first three terms and one day a week in the last term, these girls set up
equipment, helped coach younger students and then packed up the equipment. Their positive attitudes and
great leadership skills made our jobs that much easier. The future looks bright for these girls.
All the best for intermediate Aideen, Poppy, Rosie, Sarah, Audrey and Ava. Keep being awesome!
We will miss you next year.
Mrs Reid and Mrs Gordon
SCHOOL POOL
‘Inspace Joinery is a reliable and skilled carpentry company that offers quality services for kitchen and home joinery projects. With their attention to detail and commitment to customer satisfaction, they can turn any space into a work of art. Contact them today to discuss your renovation ideas. Visit our Showroom at
301 Maunganui Rd, Mt Maunganui.’
PTA
The PTA are selling ice creams, ice blocks and cookies after school on Wednesday.
Bring some cash along at pick up and support the PTA!
$2, $3 and $4. Set up is on the hall steps.
NEW ENROLMENTS
If your child is due to start school before the end of the year or at the beginning of next year, we ask that you please go onto the Matua School website and complete the ‘Intention to Enrol’ form.
We are forward planning for teaching spaces and teachers, and need to know who is starting with us as soon as possible.
Link for the ‘Intention to Enrol’ form here
MAHURI TEAM
The Māhuri team enjoyed a final assembly where they celebrated the successes of many students for reasons ranging from birthdays to sporting achievements, to accomplishments in learning. We’ve enjoyed our special Team time in assemblies this year; we have a close group of good friends who love to celebrate one another’s special moments. Happy Christmas Whānau!
LIBRARY
The school library has been under repair this term. Consequently, our lunchtime Reading Club in Room 1 has been an opportunity to quietly read and to share any good reads. The pizza challenge saw us read a book a slice at a time. Some of our members read seven books, a whole pizza!! We celebrated by sharing a slice of pizza at lunchtime and all agreed that we can’t wait for the holidays to stay snuggled in bed with a book!! Following this, the Tauranga City Libraries run a summer reading challenge which might be of interest to families. Children have three reading challenges (this involves either reading or being read to). Participants are then given special codes to log into the beanstalk app to win prizes. This is a great way to continue reading throughout the summer break.
A happy and safe holiday to all.
WEDNESDAY CHALLENGE
Don’t forget to take part in the Wednesday Challenge. Challenge your family to avoid single-family car use on a Wednesday and make use of other modes of transport, such as carpooling, bus, walking, cycling, skating and scootering.
Do it for your health, the planet, your wallet and your community. We’re having fun and giving away prizes. Go to www.wednesdaychallenge.co.nz
TO ALL GOBSMACKED FANS!
As the summer holiday season approaches, we’re excited to announce an incredible opportunity to make a meaningful impact while getting to do what you love most – SING, ACT and DANCE! Gobsmacked is thrilled to host a special Charity Performing Arts Holiday Program aimed at bringing its first FULL Gobsmacked musical to stage for students aged between 6 – 14 years old in just ONE week complete with main characters, dances, acts, singing, costumes, props and everything that comes with making our Gobsmacked shows come to life!
From January 22 – 26, 2024 we have partnered with a charity trust and invited the Morning Star Charity which supports disabled children with prostheses from China to join us. We have a very special guest coming from China named Kate who lost her legs in an earthquake. Against all odds she is still performing as a professional dancer and singer today with her new artificial legs. She will be helping me teach all the Gobsmacked songs and dances alongside me with her 9 million followers and TV film crew and together we will bring to the stage one of Gobsmacked’s most favourite musicals, ‘The Tale of Dilbert Clancy & the simply enormous gold nugget of Cooee Dupp’.
By joining us, not only will you have the chance to exercise and find your talents and gifts in the performing arts but you’ll also be contributing directly to a charity that makes a real difference. Every ticket purchased, course fee and donation made will be made directly to support the charity trust, empowering us to make a meaningful impact together.
We encourage you to spread the word among your friends and family and invite them to join us so that we can come together, celebrate the performing arts and create positive change in our community this holiday season!
To register please visit my website at www.gobsmacked.nz or contact me directly at patrice@gobsmacked.nz
We can’t wait to see you there!
Patrice Patel
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
Easter Weekend – Friday 29th March until Tuesday 2nd April
Term 2, 2024 – Monday 29th April – Friday 5th July
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)
Labour Day – Monday 28th October
OUR SCHOOL APP
Our School App
We have a school app to keep you up to date with events and notifications. Click on the button below to check it out.
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
IN HOME NANNY
In home nanny available.
Heading back to work in the new year? Looking for a extra pair of hands for the morning school drop off or after school care in your home?
I’m here to help. Currently employed as a Teacher Aide but looking for work outside school hours. Looking for fixed hours in the Matua area if possible.
Feel free to get in touch for further details. Di 021 08860696 or swaled@hotmail.com
MATUA COMMUNITY MARKET
The Welcome Market is not just another market; it’s a vibrant, destination market that is family-friendly, where parents can spend quality time with their children and we get to bring community together. We believe it’s a great opportunity for our school community to come together and enjoy the best that our local small businesses has to offer. We have some awesome themes coming up, and our Christmas market on the 23rd December is looking like a fun filled day – we have a dress up day – come in costume of whatever you like and join our Christmas festivities.
We have spaces available for children to participate in having stalls. We feel this is a great way to encourage entrepreneurial mindsets within children, to come and raise some pocket money, or showcase their talents.
HOLIDAY ART WORKSHOP
Another creative workshop with Lynne Sinclair Taylor is coming up in January for ages 6 to 12yr olds. Your children will have fun while they learn, working through creative exercises in pencil, crayons and felt pens. Limited numbers.
Date: Thursday 18th January 10am to 3pm
Cost: $70 ($50 for additional children in family)
Where: St Stephen’s Methodist Church, 9 Brookfield Tce, Otumoetai, Tauranga.
To enrol: Contact Lynne on 021 121 9864 or lynnestaylor@gmail.com
Lynne has been tutoring children and adults for over 30 years.
