Nau mai, haere mai, welcome to this fortnight's newsletter.

Cross Country

What a great display of Manawaroa and Kotahitanga was on display at the whole school Cross Country yesterday. It was fantastic to see tamariki challenging themselves to reach their own goals and the encouragement they showed towards others who were running. Thank you to all of the parents who helped as marshalls to ensure our tamariki didn't get lost and to those who came down and encouraged all the children around the course. A big thank you to Matt Grenfell for his organisation of the event (and the weather) and the support of all staff as well. 

Marae Visits

All our tamariki were very lucky to visit Rapaki Marae last week, or 'Paradise' as Ngāti Wheke refers to it. There was so much rich learning in this experience including learning about the carvings and weaving in the wharenui, tikanga around the marae, and how Rāpaki and Te Poho o Tamatea got their names... there was even a dead possum on the beach for some of the groups. Ngā mihi nui, a big thanks to all the parents who helped with transport and supervision and the HVS staff for their preparations. A small cost of $12.50 per student will be included in your school statements to help cover the costs of this trip. Thank you in advance for your support of this learning experience. 

Two years ago our Year 7 & 8 tamariki created pukpuka (books) to help us learn about some of the important stories of Rāpaki. They recorded them as audio/visual books which you might like to view below.

How Rāpaki Got Its Name

Tamatea and the Fireballs

Summit Road Bike Tour

A week or so ago our Year 7 & 8  tamariki got to participate in a Summit Road Bike Tour, where they walked and biked along the Summit Road to view the landmarks that our school buildings are named after and learn the stories behind these names, as well as learn about the early Māori settlement of this area. Thank you to the parents who helped out on the day and to Matt and Liz for their organisation of this learning experience.

Manawaroa

Over the past two weeks, we have been learning about our value manawaroa. Manawaroa for us is about:

• having the courage to work through challenges
• striving to be the best person and learner I can be
• working hard to reach my goals and accept it might not be easy

We have seen so many tamariki showing manawaroa and perseverance over the past few weeks ... especially at the School Cross Country! A special congratulations to those who were acknowledged with a Manawaroa certificate at the recent learning celebrations: George D, Elsie G, Hunter S, Jai L, Johnny G, Mahia M, Louis M, Isla A, Jasmine T, Zia K, and Jhayda A.

Tū Kaha, Tū Māia, Tū Manawaroa
Stand with strength, stand with courage, stand with perseverance.

Thank you

Thank you to Bunnings Shirley for donating a BBQ to the school (and Jayde for organising this for us). We are very grateful for this as our previous BBQ was quite old and unreliable. We are looking forward to using it for some upcoming sausage sizzles, see the HVS - PTA article for more information.

Thank you to the Backhouse family who have donated $1,000 towards a new storage seat for the library. It is nice to have this extra storage space and a nice piece of furniture for children and adults to use as well.

Thank you also to all the parents who helped out at the recent Second-Hand Uniform Sale, and to everyone who came and found some items for their children to wear. Reusing uniforms in this way is a great example of our Kaitiakitanga value in action.

Keeping Our Children Safe

It is a good idea to talk with your child(ren) from time to time about what they can do to keep themselves safe when they are out and about, and what they might do if they were feeling unsafe. This is especially important as they grow older and naturally become more independent. You might come up with a plan around the people they walk with, routes they take and times they are out for. It can also be helpful to talk with them about what they could do if they are feeling unsafe, which will give them some confidence should they ever find themselves in a situation where their 'gut instinct' is telling them it is unsafe. Some information from the NZ Police is attached at the bottom of this article.

Thank you for taking the time to read this fortnight's newsletter and keep up to date with what is happening here at Te Kura o Te Tihi o Kahukura / Heathcote Valley School.