Kia ora te whaanau,

It was great seeing so many family members here on Tuesday last week at our Year 3- 8 Athletics day. Puketaha School has some strong athletes who were able to show off their skills, and it was also neat to have the element of fun as well. At the end of Athletics, there is always the teacher, Year 8 and parent relay. It was very competitive this year with two parent teams. However, as it has been for many years, the Year 8 students won the relay against all the adults. They obviously have the massive advantage of youth on their side. 

This year, Puketaha School has been working hard on one of our goals of strengthening our school-wide rituals and routines that embrace Te Ao Maaori and Tikanga. As a teaching team, we reflected recently on how we have been tracking towards this goal. We identified how teachers use Te Reo more confidently, and Te Reo is more visual in the learning environments. In addition, teachers have been incorporating Whakataukii, and our tamariki are singing Waiata. As well as that, every Friday, Mr Harper has been teaching Te Reo and Tikanga across all the classes and supporting our teaching team during Professional Learning Sessions with pronunciation. 

Looking ahead to 2023, we are pleased to be able to provide Kapahaka lessons to all our students. A lovely and very experienced Kapahaka tutor, Troy Reire, will teach our students every Thursday. All learning environments will get a session with her where they will learn a wide range of traditional Waikato-Tainui waiata, poi, and haka, as well as all the Tikanga learning that will come from being involved in these Kapahaka lessons with Whaea Troy. Whaea Troy has also kindly offered to start a few lessons this year with our Puaawai students.

Term 4 is the term for events with still many to come. Today we have been enjoying Greats and Grands day, Kaakano Athletics day tomorrow, and Roopuu Kaakano 2 have their sleepover. Roopuu Maahuri is excited about camp next week, and we also have our Term 4 Student-Led conferences. All these shared experiences allow us to connect as a community and build a sense of whaanaungatanga. 

At assembly this week, we talked about the word whaanaungatanga and how all of our community events and relationships help build whaanaungatanga. We were also able to make connections with our 6 C of being a ‘Contributor', particularly the element of 'being involved in and enriching their community' and 'having a positive influence on others.' 

We look forward to continuing to see so many parents at the events to come. 

Enjoy the rest of your week. 

Ngaa mihi nui,

Nyree