Winchester Rural School

Kia ora e te whānau,

What an incredible fortnight of learning and celebrations!

This weeks Tumuaki Report is predominantly a photo montage of moments and experiences we have been lucky enough to have lately!

First up, the awesome disco hosted by our WRS School Council. It was a fabulous evening of dancing and grooving, DJ'd by our very own DJ Jazzy Gus.

Following the disco Ako Nui spent a great day at Te Aitarakihi Marae on the Friday. Along with some super whānau helpers, the tamariki were welcomed on to the marae, then did some kapa haka, some games and Matariki art, and the highlight for many, made poi toa.

A week later it was Ako Iti turn to visit the Marae, and once again, alongside some wonderful parent helpers we had another fantastic day at Te Aitarakihi.

A massive ngā mihi nui to all the people who worked so hard to make these days happen, and allow this awesome opportunity and learning experience for our tamariki! Special thank you to Whaea Julz for all her mahi and organisation.

On Tuesday this week the school were treated to a dress rehearsal performance by our two Jump Jam teams. Both our teams have worked solidly this term to learn, practice and perfect their respective routines and gosh, they're looking so good! It's exciting to see how much the performances are elevated by the costumes and I can't wait to watch them perform at the competition! The tamariki have been lucky to have Miss Odgers, Mr McKerracher and Nana Sue helping out as they have been preparing.

On Wednesday this week we had our first opportunity to work together in our Whānau Groups. Tamariki went off to their home classes for the morning and busily got crafting and preparing kai for our Matariki Celebration Evening. Beautiful art pieces, cool crafts and delicious soups, breads and treats were made in preparation for whānau to join us.

Our evening celebrations were wonderful! Thank you to everyone who came out to join us; to see our performances, see all our Matariki learning and art, share some kai and have an all round lovely night!

Last message for this week, a wee heads up; next term we are going to be having a bit of a tighten up around our school uniform. Tamariki should be wearing our uniform with pride. It shows them as a representative of Winchester Rural School. If you are unsure of our uniform requirements, they can be found here https://winchesterrural.school.nz/a/qs2qmHq

Finally, where has the term gone!? Unbelievable to think that there is only one more week to go, and that I have nearly completed my first term at WRS. I know I have said it often already, but once again, thank you to you all for making my move, transition and first term at Winchester Rural so easy. I am thoroughly enjoying myself and feel incredibly lucky to have landed amongst this awesome South Canterbury community.

A long weekend this weekend, one final week of term, and then I hope everyone has a well deserved break for a couple of weeks.

Mā te wā, 

Gemma