Week 4 is upon us already and what a start to the term we have had!  Our thoughts go out to those impacted by the cyclone and flooding in the area.  We are also conscious of those in Northland, Gisborne and Hawkes Bay who are and will be affected for some time.  You may have seen that we are holding a school Black and White fundraiser for Hawkes Bay on Wednesday 1st March.  Students can wear black and white and bring a gold coin donation in support. 

As you will have seen via email, our teachers are attending a Paid Union Meeting on the afternoon of Wednesday 1st March.  Please indicate to us whether your children can be picked up early on this day (12:30 pm) or need to remain at school via this SURVEY.  The school bus will still run and after-school care will be operating if numbers allow.

It was fantastic to see so many people attend the 'Friends of the School' catch-up and AGM at Saints Cafe last week.  There is an open invitation all year and you can help as little or as much as you like.  This year we are breaking different fundraising events up into separate committees so that 'Friends' only need to help with one event if that is all the time they have.  We are continuing to fundraise for the pool facility refurbishment this year, so this fundraising is much needed.

Our staff have found the Meet and Greet sessions extremely beneficial.  It is crucial that we have strong, positive connections with our students and whānau, as when we work together we can have a much stronger impact.  If you haven't managed to make a time for a catch-up yet, we encourage you to do so.

Our Swimming Carnival is being held at the Ngaruawahia Pools on Thursday 9th March for our 8+ year olds.  This is a full-day event where students can join both competitive and non-competitive events.  This is the first event of the year where we really celebrate and support our Houses (Manaaki, Whakaponi, Ihi and Haere Kotahi).  An email will be sent home next week outlining details of the day.

Enjoy the rest of your week.
Ngā mihi
Juliet Dickinson

 it was really great to catch up after the holidays plus welcome and meet some new parents who are new to the Friends of Te Kowhai School (PTA) and to those who couldn’t make it we are looking forward to seeing you at our first general meeting of the year which will be, Wednesday 1st March 7pm in the school staffroom.

If you know someone who couldn’t make it to the AGM but would be keen to join us this year they are most welcome to come along to any of our meetings.

Thank you for the quick response from a lot of you regarding whether or not your children can be collected earlier on Wednesday 1st March. If you haven't done so yet, can you please fill out THIS LINK so we know the numbers remaining at school.
Thank you in advance for your support.

Thank you to the parents and Caregivers who have created an account. kindo always effective, convenient payment of school costs.
If you have yet to do so please click the link to register.
Once you are set up you can go to your play store or your apple store on your phone and download the app for ready access.
Please note, if you pay with credit card there is a surcharge, however you can pay with poli banking or internet banking. 
If you have not had any communication via email, please email kerryc@tekowhai.schoolnz with your email as your email may be incorrect.
Following tonight's School Board meeting the 2023 School Donation and Activity Fee will be loaded to kindo.

Is there anyone in the community that could support us by making some stilts? 

We need two different types; the wooden ones for the older kids and the stilts made out of baby formula cans (or similar) with rope attached for our younger students.
If you can donate empty baby formula tins that would be a big help.  Please bring to the music room.

If you can help please email Marieke Nation: music@tekowhai.school.nz

For the last couple of years, we have been trialling Garden to Table in LC5.  This year, we have rolled this out to LC4 as well.

Why Garden to Table?
The goal is to empower tamariki to grow, harvest, prepare and share great food. The programme teaches children to nurture, share, and manaaki guests, whilst building awareness of individual and collective responsibility to manaaki te taiao - care for our environment. Supporting children’s health and wellbeing is central, and celebrating the preparing and sharing of great food fosters community connectedness. We have awesome gardens and kitchen facilities at Te Kōwhai so this makes the experience even better.

Who is involved?
At this stage, this will be something that students do when they are in LC4 and LC5, with each student doing it on a  fortnightly basis.  We are also planning to run a tuakana teina programme where our LC4 and 5 students invite LC1, 2 and 3 students along to see what they do and enjoy some kai.  LC6 do their food tech at Hamilton Junior High currently.

Support needed?
Every Monday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon we will be running GTT sessions with some of the students helping in the garden (growing, harvesting etc) and some in the kitchen (preparing, cooking, sharing etc). Obviously, we can't do this without parent help.  Last year, we had some incredible helpers and we would love to extend the invite to anyone to get involved - even for a one-off session.  You don't even have to have children in the class to join in. 

What do helpers do?
No experience required...
Helpers will either be in the kitchen with a small group of students helping them prepare and cook the food, or they will be with a small group in the garden or classroom working alongside Esther Wilson.
Contact Amy Benton if you are able to help: amy@tekowhai.school.nz

Help support our fundraiser next Wednesday 1st March

As in previous years we will need to register online by logging in to myComet, answering a few questions and registering for this season.

If you're registering a new player you will need to use this link to create a new profile.

Here's a handy reference guide if you get stuck:

Unfortunately we are not able to register two or more players under the same login so you'll need to create a new profile for each player, even if they have a sibling previously signed up.

If you're just registering again for the season and already have a profile then use the appropriate link below to go straight to the 2023 season registration. You will however still need to remember your login details from last year...

First Kicks (4-6):
https://mycomet-oceania.analyticom.de/my-comet/itemDetails/4199261

Fun Football (7-8):
https://mycomet-oceania.analyticom.de/my-comet/itemDetails/4199262

Mini Football (9-12):
https://mycomet-oceania.analyticom.de/my-comet/itemDetails/4199263

Fees will range from about $40 for First Kicks through to around $70 for the older kids. On the website it will say Free as this is just for registering, and we will sort fees outside of myComet.

If you have any issues or concerns just get in touch with me either by email, phone or message - details below, and I'll be happy to help.

We will be looking to have the usual football boot sale where you can donate old boots that no longer fit but still have plenty of life in them, and/or purchase a pair of donated boots.

All proceeds are shared between TK Football and Rugby and the Clothe Our Kids charity.

We will have a muster down at school once all registrations are in and teams are submitted, where we'll hand out gear, meet the coaches and name teams.

Teams will be entered by the beginning of April and the first matches are scheduled for the 29th of April (first weekend of term 2)

That's it for now, if you have any questions or concerns just let me know.

cheers,

Simon Wade

0212900154

 extra pressure on families in terms of managing work and the children.  We have been in conversations with YMCA as to whether they would consider running a holiday programme here at Te Kōwhai School. 

 

So we can get your thoughts, can you please click on the link and complete the survey.

 that existing or new players can experience.

LC3 enjoy working with Mrs Nation on their waiata

which is is a publication with words and art by children throughout New Zealand. Great to see the opportunity to show your creativity.