Kia ora e te iwi,
What a great week we have had this week at Kura (school). There has been a lot on. Both Hikurangi and Mangatawa classes celebrated attending school for 100 days. There was a lot of exploration and inquiring into the number 100. Children dressed up as what they thought they would like if they were 100, our teachers also joined in with the dress up. Some students I did not even recognise.
On Wednesday, Kopukairoa visited Hungahungatoroa Marae in Matapihi as part of their learning focus on connecting with our local marae in our community. The tamariki (children) were learning about the tukutuku panels inside the marae and then spent time creating their own tukutuku panels.
Congratulations to our Year 6 netball girls who participated in the Western Bay of Plenty Year 6 netball tournament at Tauranga netball centre on the 23rd July 2025. The girls played exceptionally well and won every single game. Thank you to our parent coaches & managers for your time spent coaching our team.
Each term, the Ministry of Education provides our school with attendance data that analyses our children who have days off school as well as children who arrive late to school.
At Arataki School, we still have a number of students who arrive at school late each day. I want to share with you the structure of our school day, so that you can understand how important it is to arrive on time. Our school bell rings at 8:50am, this gives teachers 10 minutes for whānaungatanga - time to administer the roll and share the daily notices of what is happening at school each day.
Our learning programme for the first half of the day is very structured, from 9:00am - 11:00am, all classes are teaching literacy, this is the teaching of spelling, reading and writing. After morning tea from 11:20 - 12:30, all classes are teaching mathematics. If your child is regularly arriving at school late, they are missing valuable classroom learning time.
We recognise that sometimes things happen in the morning and on occasion lateness occurs, but I would really appreciate it if I can have your support to ensure that your child arrives at school on time.
Lastly, on Friday 8th August, the Arataki Friends of School are organising a mufti day. The theme for mufti day is to wear Pyjamas.
Good luck to all the children who are participating in sports over the weekend.
Ngā mihi nunui,
Vicki Hiini
Tumuaki / Principal