IMPORTANT DATES AND EVENTS
Torbay School Learning Powers – RIC
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
The Science of Art
I am looking forward to next weeks Art and Poetry Festival which has a broad theme of science running through it. The ambition is that every child in the school will produce a piece of poetry and a piece of art to display during this week in which we celebrate the importance of the arts in our curriculum. We will also have groups performing during the week. Our performance groups have honed their skills during our performance art programme which has run for the last 20 weeks. Please take the time to visit the festival.
The Science of Art opens at 2pm on Tuesday and runs through to 3pm on Friday with performances running from 2 – 3pm on Tuesday – Thursday. The exhibition opens at 8.30am each morning and closes at 4.30pm each day.
Koha: An optional gold coin donation may be made at the door. The proceeds from this Koha will be put towards art resources.
Staff
I am sad to inform you that Rachel Mayne, one of our office administrators has decided that it is time to move on. Rachel has worked at Torbay School for over 8 years in several roles, initially working as a classroom assistant and more recently as a support staff member and administrator. Rachel is known to many and is truly a member of the Torbay family. Her caring nature and her ability to relate to parents, children and staff are going to be missed. Rachel, alongside our senior leadership team and other admin team members has played a significant part in developing new systems for the school. Her support for team leaders with camp organisation is legendary and her work in the health room also needs to be recognised. Rachel holds a special place with many children for whom she has cared for in so many ways. Rachel leaves us on Friday, and while we will miss her, we wish her all the very best for the future.
Board Elections
Nominations for our school board have now closed. Thank you to all those who have put their names forward to take on this important role. As mentioned in my previous newsletters this will mean that our school will hold two elections, one will be for a 3-year term, and the other will be for an 18-month term.
Voting forms will be sent to all eligible voters by email directly from “Election Pilot.” If we don’t have an email address for you, nomination and voting papers will be sent by post, so no one will miss out. Our election date is Wednesday, 10th September 2025.
If you have any questions about the election process, please contact the Returning Officer directly on 0800 VOTENZ (0800 868 369) or election@electionpilot.nz.
Whānau Feedback:
I was very pleased with the attendance at our Whānau Feedback meetings in week 2. 85% of parents met with their children’s teachers to discuss progress and the future. I hope that you felt that these meetings were of value. I also thank our teaching staff for the two very long days they put in to make these meetings possible.
Staff Only Day Monday 25th Aug
I thank you in advance for making alternative arrangements for the care of your children on the 25th of August. This is our final staff only day for 2025 and completes our PLD programme for Maths this year. It has been a demanding year for teachers who have had to negotiate a bewildering pace of change.
Paid Union Meetings.
At a time when more is continually being asked of our education workforce the government’s response to initial collective negotiations has been underwhelming. Our education union, the NZEI is taking the step of holding combined PUM on Wednesday 27th of August in the afternoon. Learning Assistants, Teachers and Principals will come together as one voice to push for an improved offer.
On that afternoon we will not be closing the school but ask that if you can you collect your children at 12.45pm to allow our staff to attend the meeting, that you do so. Our staff who are not union members will supervise those children who cannot be collected.
We have chosen this option to minimise disruption to school and to parents. Our other option was to split our staff, enabling them to attend other meetings at other venues on different days. This would cause several days of disruption to the children’s learning. We thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
Northern Bays Performing Arts Event
On Wednesday our dance group will perform at the Northern Bays Cluster Performing Arts Evening at the Bruce Mason Theatre. I am looking forward to seeing our children on the stage and I thank Nic Davis, Tori Hohaia–Gibbons and Alyce Debenham for the hours of work they have spent with the children putting together an outstanding dance routine.
Pool
I am pleased to announce that our pool is heated and ready for the coming swimming season. I want to thank the community and specifically the PTA for their role in fundraising to help meet the cost of this exercise. Not only has the pool been heated but through this process the school has also replaced the filtration and pump system, future proofing this valuable asset for some years to come.
With these upgrades we look forward to extending our swimming programme in terms 4 and 1 each year and hopefully increasing the participation of children in our classroom swimming sessions.
Important dates for the remainder of term 3 include:
13th August Northern Bays Festival of Performing Arts
19th-22nd August Torbay Arts and Poetry Festival
25th August Teacher only day-School closed for instruction
29th August Daffodil Day/ PTA Pie Day
5th September PTA School Disco /Junior Cross Country
10th September Board Election
15th-19th September Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori
19th September Last day of term / Y6 Graduation Fundraiser
Sausage Sizzle/Mufti Day
I thank you for your continued support of all we do here at Torbay School. Please do not hesitate to contact me to discuss any matter.
Nga mihi nui
Gary O’Brien
Principal
ACOMPLISHMENTS
CONGRATULATIONS to the following tamariki who received certificates from their class teachers:
Matilda & Musa Room 1 & 2, Ellie, Billy, Amelia, Corban, Sabastian & Nicolandi Room 3 & 4, Archie & Emma Room 5, Evelyn & Aubree Room 6 Andrē & Indie T Room 7, Eddie, Isobel, Wyatt & Lia Room 9 & 10 Isla, Austin Julia and George Room 11, Sebastian & Fox Room 13 & 14, Leon, Zack, Nathaly, Yuvana, Summer & Sora Room 15 & 16, Ellie & Bella, Room 17 & 18, Tristan, Eliza, Emily, Jane & Hannah Rm 19 & 20, Jacob, Charlie, Jaxon & Arie Rm 21 & 22, Kevin, Payton, Mia Rm 23 & 24 Lea, Sebastian, Charles and Reuben 25 & 26 Poppy, Mila, Levi & Jia Room 27 & 28 Well done!!
RICC REWARDS, for displaying our C.A.R.E Values – Corban Rm 3, Kaydn Rm 5, Jiaqi Rm 3, Hana Rm 4 Ka pai!
KA RAWE AWARDS, For using Te Reo Māori at school Brahmpreet Kaur Rm 7, Maxim Quellin Rm 9– Tino pai!
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