Tēnā koutou e te iwi,

My message this week is around Road Safety and parking habits particularly at our main entrance on Kaimanawa Street.

My concerns are;

Whanau crossing Kaimanawa Street and not using the crossing
Whanau using the disability parking to drop off and pick up their children
Cars circling the block to find a close park, this just increases congestionLast week we had two children hit by a car. Thankfully no serious injuries were sustained due to the car moving slowly and the quick reactions of the driver. The children were not using the school crossing.

We have also noticed a number of cars using our disability parking to drop off and pick up tamariki. We have a number of children at our kura who need access to the two disability parks. This is to ease access into our kura for these whanau, they often have specialist equipment such as walkers and wheelchairs to unload at the beginning of the day and pack up at the end of the day, as well as navigating their individual child's mobility needs. I was very upset to hear from one of our parents that they now arrive after the school bell in the morning to ensure they have access to the disability park. This is not ok.

How you can support road safety

Please support your tamariki by entering and leaving the school grounds using the crossings as a normal everyday routine, no matter the weather. You may need to walk further from your car park but you are setting good habits for your children to follow.
We are a large school within a built up area so parking will always be limited. We are fortunate to have Arataki Park with plenty of parking surrounding the park available to our whanau.
Please do not circle the block. Plan a regular spot to park and meet your child. This may mean walking a little further.
When using the quick drop off and pickups car parks at the front of the school be mindful of the time.

Thank you all for keeping our tamariki safe.

I want to acknowledge the amazing performance of the Pasifika group at this years Pasifika in the Bay 2023. Please see the video and multitude of well deserved thanks below.

I am looking forward to seeing our Kapa Haka group perform at Rā Whakangahau on Friday, 10 November.

Kia pai tō rā whakatā.

Noho ora mai,

Shelley Craig, Acting Principal

Arataki at Pasifka in the Bay 2023

Article added: Thursday 02 November 2023

There are lots of people to thank, as there were lots of people working as a team, each playing their part and sharing their talents and time.

Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou ka ora ai te iwi – with your basket and my basket the people will thrive.

A huge thank you to Matua Tua for sharing his time, expertise and passion, making learning fun and bringing together an amazing performance. Our exceptionally stunning costumes are thanks to Quencie. We appreciate your creativity, talent and hours of mahi. We were fortunate, thanks to Tua and Quencie, to have a team of musicians drumming and singing, enhancing our tamariki and adding to their flare!

Thank you to our parents and whānau who were always supportive.

Special thank you to Michelle who was the lead kaiako, spending many a lunchtime swinging her hips!

And to our tamariki mānea bringing their enthusiasm, energy and smiles

We would also really like to thank Freeman Roofing Tauranga, who are part of the Freeman Group. Laura, who works at Freemans Roofing, nominated our group for their sponsorship programme and we won! The sponsorship went towards our amazing costumes.