Nau mai ki te wahanga tuarua, welcome to term 2.

What a wet start we have had to the term. The children have coped really well with the wet weather, and enjoyed that the field has become slightly muddy ;)

School has been busy this week. We welcome back Mrs Janelle Meacheam who has been on leave. Janelle has started a new New Entrant classroom in Room 26. I extend a warm welcome to all of the students and whānau who have joined our kura this term.

Our renovation of Room 20 & 21 finished today and the renovated space looks amazing. These classrooms were blessed by Matua Reg and Aunty Bubby ready for our Montessori students. The children have been busily moving their belongings into the classroom throughout the day.

Education frequently is made political by our politicians. As an educator and school leader, I try to minimise the impact of political decisions on our students and lead the implementation of new policies smoothly and without too much fuss. However, there is one issue that I require the support of our school community with. This is the Ka Ora, Ka Ako healthy lunch programme. As part of a political policy, the lunch programme has changed, to be run at reduced cost by one centralised provider. Many of you may have seen in the media the numerous issues that schools that were moved to the centralised system had with their school lunch programme.

At Arataki School, we were fortunate to keep on the original lunches in school scheme for 2025 which means our school lunches are made locally by Freeport and that we have control over the menu. (Within the strict nutritional guidelines). Next year, we are scheduled to move to the centralised system with the lunches prepared by Compass Group NZ that many schools were moved to this year.

Can I please request that you sign the following petition: petitions.parliament.nz

This petition is to call a review of the centralised lunch system that was introduced in 2025 by a select committee. If enough signatures are collected on the petition this review will need to happen. The outcome I wish for, is that the system is reviewed, and that we can continue with our existing system of having Freeport provide our lunches.

I wish to continue with Freeport as our school lunch provider as our lunches are made fresh daily in a commercial kitchen 500m away from our school. Local people are employed to make our lunches. We have worked hard alongside Freeport to design a menu that the students enjoy with minimal food and packaging waste.

If you wish to discuss school lunches further, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you in advance for your support and time to sign the petition. Please note, the petition closes on the 31st of May 2025.

During the school holidays, we had our school van sign written. Thank you to the Van Veen whānau and Uno signs for the sponsorship of the signwriting.

Good luck to all of our winter sports teams. We have a number of teams who have their first game tomorrow. Play your best and play fair. I look forward to hearing how you got on with your game on Monday. Have a great weekend with your whānau.

If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Ngā mihi nui,

Vicki Hiini

Tumuaki / Principal

WINTER SPORTS

We are excited to see our tamariki hitting the courts and fields this winter. Good luck to our Netballers, Basketballers and Hockey players. And all of our tamariki in other sports over the winter.

If you have a story to share about your Arataki teams or your child in another team, please let us know and send in a pic. We would love to share with our whānau. Please send to office@arataki.school.nz

CROSS COUNTRY

Our tamariki have started their training for the cross country coming up this month. Here are the dates:

Teina Cross Country - Week 3, 16th May, from 1:30 pm until the end of the school day - On the school field.

Tuakana Cross Country - Week 4, 23rd May, from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm - at Arataki Beach

ATK. All Day, Every Day! - Attendance Booklet

Arataki Dental Clinic

Arataki School has a dental clinic on site. This clinic treats children from the following schools –

Arataki School
Mount Primary
Omanu School
St Thomas More Catholic School

Our dental team will notify whānau (families) prior to their tamaiti/tamariki (child/children’s) dental appointment.

When you receive this notification, please contact our team to:

Update contact details
Update medical information.
To update or review permissions for dental examinations and dental x-rays.
Arrange a suitable day/time if you would like to attend the appointment to support your tamaiti/tamariki.

Current service demands and delays weigh heavily on our teams and your kindness and support is appreciated.

If you have any queries or urgent dental concerns, contact 07 575 3498 or 0800 TALKTEETH for further help and advice.

PRE LOVED UNIFORMS

Needing a few pieces of uniform. Come and see our pre-loved uniforms at the school office.

Have your tamariki grown out of their uniforms? We are especially in need of Polo Shirts if you have any spare.

Please consider donating them back to the kura. These uniform donations are:

sold to our whanau for donations of $5. The money raised is used for resources for our classrooms.
used for our tamariki who may need them.

These donations are gratefully received at the school office.

DATES FOR THE DIARY

FROM THE

SPORTS DESK

News from

Friends of the School

SPONSORS WALL

AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

COMMUNITY NOTICES

EXTRA CURRICULARS

AT ARATAKI

Play Time @ Arataki

PRE LOVED UNIFORMS