SCHOOL NEWSLETTER: 3rd May 2025

IMPORTANT DATES AND EVENTS

Torbay School Learning Powers – RIC

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Tena Koutou e te whānau

Our Kapa Haka group are performing at the Albany Library at 11am on Sunday 4th May. This is a great opportunity to see them perform in a setting other than our school hall. I know our team of teachers would appreciate any support. So if you have a quiet Sunday planned this might be a nice outing for the family, I look forward to seeing you there.

Motuihe Camp

Motuihe go out to camp next week, thankyou to all those parents who have volunteered to support the camp by providing transport or staying as overnight helpers. This is a great camp and gives our year 4 children an opportunity to experience an overnight, away EOTC experience. Thankyou also to our staff for giving up their own time to ensure this event remains a part of their programme.

Road Safety Week

Road safety week will be held in week 3 in conjunction with “Travelwise”. It has been fantastic to see our “Walking School Bus” back in action. Thank you so much to those parents who have volunteered to “drive” the buses, we really appreciate you giving up your time to do this.

Car Boot Sale

On Sunday the 18th of May our PTA will be holding the second Car Boot Sale and Car Wash. This was a wonderful community event last year. I thank the PTA for their wonderful work to put this all together. Making it even better is the fact that all funds raised on this day will be donated to Cure Kids, a charity that we have a long and very close association with.

Staff Only Day

On Friday the 23rd of May we have a staff only day. On that day Torbay School is hosting Dr Ross Greene form the USA. Dr Greene is a Child Psychologist and author of several books. He will be presenting to over 170 educators from across Auckland. His approach, “CPS” provides a revolutionary approach to working with children who are experiencing both learning and behavioural challenges. I thank you for making alternative arrangements for the care of your children on that day.

Book Week

Week 6 sees our first book week in a long time. There will be a range of activities throughout the week culminating in a Book Character Dress Up parade on Friday 6th June. This week is designed to not only promote reading and writing but also to celebrate the proposed redevelopment of our school Library. This exciting project is our PTA fundraising goal for this year who will be holding a readathon during Book Week.

Kawau Sleep Over

The Kawau sleep over has become a right of passage for our year 3 children an introduction to our EOTC programme that features overnight camps in years 4,5, and 6. Bringing all of our year 3 children and many parents together for an evening of activity and a sleep over in our school hall.

Reflection

I started writing this newsletter thinking I would go through our school calendar and highlight the events of this term. I have come to the conclusion that there is too much to write about and I now sit here and reflect on what a vibrant, rich school we have. I could not possibly do justice to everything that is happening for our children in this term and so I just want to acknowledge the staff, parents, grandparents, our PTA, our Board, our Whānau group, all of our volunteer helpers who make these events happen.

You only need to look at the list of events planned for term 2 below to get a sense of the time and effort put in by all involved. I can only express my gratitude and how much of a privilege it is to lead this Kura.

What is going on in our classrooms!

On top of the extensive range of extra curricula activities we continue to focus on the implementation of the revised curriculum in Maths and English. Our teachers are taking part in significant professional learning and development (PLD) to implement the new documents to our classroom practice. They are also involved in PLD to introduce structured literacy throughout the school. This involves teachers taking courses outside of school hours, teacher only days and other PLD sessions during school time requiring us to cover their classes while these sessions and courses take place. This is very intense work which I believe will ultimately benefit your children and I thank our staff for their dedication and resilience as we go through this transition.

Staffing

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Natasha Harrison to our staff for the remainder of 2025. Natasha will take take over the role currently filled by Petru Marzo as our Classroom release teacher in the Tiritiri Whānau. Petru will be taking over as a new entrant classroom teacher in Room 12.

Morning Drop Off

Thank you to all those parents who get their children to school on time. It is very disruptive for teachers when children arrive late. We have a daily queue at the office of children who do arrive late and our numbers of late children are too high please make every effort to get your children to school on time.

I would also like to thank those parents who leave the school when they hear our “See you later alligator” prompt. This also helps facilitate a smooth start to the day.

Please make sure you follow all of the road rules related to parking around our school.

Please do not leave your car unattended in the drop off zone.
Please do not stop in the middle of the road and drop of your children.
Please do not enter the Deep Creek Carpark in the mornings.
Please do not park across our neighbours driveways.
Please do not park or stop to drop of children where there are yellow lines.
Please do not turn right out of the drop off zone.
Please do not think you are the exception to the rules.

These rules are designed to keep your children safe.

Our Tamariki

Our Tamariki bring us delight every day of the week. They have returned to school ready to learn, excited about and engaged in all they do. Thank you for your support and all you do as parents. Please do not hesitate to contact me to discuss any matter related to your children.

Important dates for term 2 include:

PTA Meeting Tues. 29th April

Kapa Haka Albany Library Sun. 4th May

Motuihe Camp Mon. 5th – Wed 7th May

Pie Day Friday Fri. 9th May

Whānau Hui Mon. 12th May

Road safety Week Mon 12th – Fri 16th May

Board Meeting Wed. 14th May

Rippa Rugby Field Day Thurs 15th May

Kawau Sleepover Fri. 16th May

Pink Shirt Day Fri. 16th May

PTA Car Boot sale & Car Wash Sun. 18th May