Tēna koutou e te whānau,

Ngā mihi nui to you all. Words cannot express how grateful we are as a staff for your support and generosity toward our school hangi today. We have been blown away by the koha that has been donated, the kai donated and the whānau who have come together to make our Hangi happen. A lot of mahi goes in behind the scenes to organise a hangi. Gathering wood for the fire, ensuring that we have enough rocks & irons, and that is before you get to digging the hole and prepping the kai. Thank you all so much for every contribution that we have received.

Personally, I wanted to have a Hangi to celebrate Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori which officially is next week. The theme for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori this year is ‘ake, ake, ake’ - A forever language. The theme represents the resilience, adaptability and endurance of Te Reo Māori. It also reflects the commitment New Zealanders have to embracing and learning te reo Māori long into the future.

Check out the video of all the mahi that went into making our hangi a success below in News and Events.

Speech Competition

Last Friday we held our annual speech competition for our Year 5 & 6 students. I want to acknowledge each finalist in our speech competition. The speeches were informative and entertaining. I was impressed with the content that the students had in their speeches as well as the vocabulary used and how each finalist structured their speech. It made for a tough competition to judge.
Our speech winners were:

Year 5 - 1st Aston Pearson, 2nd Maggie Mawson, 3rd = Max Davies & Halle Horton.

Year 6 - 1st Deejay Lee Richmond, 2nd Eli Shaw, 3rd Joely Ogilvy-Clarke.

Aston and Deejay Lee represented Arataki School at the Mount Cluster Speech competition on Tuesday and Deejay Lee came 2nd place. Well Done.

New Entrant Enrolments

Do you have a 4 year old child or know of a 4 year old who is going to enrol at Arataki School that lives in our school zone? Please come and pre-enrol your child. We are experiencing a lot of growth in our school, and it helps us with planning class numbers if we have children pre-enrolled well before they turn 5. Enrolments can be completed online via our website or you are welcome to pop into the office.

Click here for our online enrolment form

Unplugged Rebels

Does the age our tamariki are starting to use smart phones and social media worry you?

Unplugged Rebels is a grassroots movement of parents, guardians, whanau, educators and health professionals, who support and bring awareness to the benefits of delaying smartphones and social media in our tamariki and rangatahi. Peer pressure is driving most kids to get their first cellphone at intermediate age, however there is mounting evidence showing the damage that exposure to social media platforms and access to the internet does to a young persons mental health and development. If you are concerned about this for your tamariki and want to learn more, you are invited to the staffroom after school on Thursday 19th September at 3pm for a short presentation and opportunity to meet other like-minded whanau. A $50 Woolworth's voucher will be up for grabs, and there will be a movie playing in a nearby classroom to keep the kids entertained.

Other information:

Do you have any plans tomorrow? Arataki School’s Rugby 5’s tackle team is the halftime entertainment at the Bay of Plenty Steamers rugby game at Tauranga Domain tomorrow. Our team is playing against another local school. Come along and support our team.

We have teamed up with Will Holliday. Will is one of the neighbours of Arataki School and is a local real estate agent with Tremains. Every house that Will lists and sells, he will donate $500.00 to Arataki School.

DATES FOR THE DIARY

Tuesday, 17 Sept - Hopukiore Library Trip

Wednesday, 18 September - Board Hui

Thursday, 19 September - Unplugged Rebels NZ presentation- 3pm in the staffroom

Friday, 20 Sept - BOP Steamers Rugby Clinic

Saturday, 21 September - Bingo Night

Monday, 23 September - Basketball Clinics

Friday, 27 September - Hui-a-kura - led by Student Leaders

Friday, 27 September - Last Day of Term 3

Monday, 14 October - First Day of Term 4 - Pōhiri to welcome new whānau and our new Deputy Principal Bec Shepherd

Click here for 2024 and 2025 Term Dates

Hangi - 13 September 2024 - Video

Article added: Friday 13 September 2024

Term 3 Sports Wrap Up

Term 3 has been incredibly busy with our winter sports wrapping up. A massive congratulations to each and every one of you who participated and gave it your all during the winter season of Basketball, Netball, and Hockey. Whether it was your first time playing or you're a seasoned player, well done for your commitment and progress. It's been wonderful to watch so many of our tamariki grow and develop throughout the season!

We also want to extend a huge, huge, huge thank you to every single volunteer, coach, and manager for generously giving up their time to support our tamariki. From organizing trainings and managing games to picking up and dropping off players, your efforts do not go unnoticed. A massive mihi to you all – thank you so much for your dedication and aroha!

In addition to winter sports, this term has been filled with exciting tournaments including Hockey, League, Chess, and more. A big tau kē koutou! to all those who took part. We are so proud of our tamariki for representing Arataki School and giving it their all.

With winter sports now done and dusted, we are shifting our focus to the summer season, which includes Rippa Rugby, Touch, Volleyball, and 3v3 Basketball. Keep an eye on Hero for more details and registration information.

If you participated in any winter sport or tournament, please return your uniform as soon as possible. This will help us complete our stock take and prepare for the next season. Uniforms can be returned to the office or to my room (between rooms 15-16).