Tawatawa News

23 May 2025

He mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa
Bonjour à toutes nos familles

Upcoming Staff Only Day - 3rd June

We are closed on Tuesday after King's Birthday Weekend…but all is not lost! You can sign your child up for RASCals from 8.30am - 6pm! Lucan and his team of merry minstrels are planning a super fun day for the kids. There will be bikes, there will be dodgeball, there will be baking and there will be football! Sign up the usual way using Enrolmy. 

Friday: Auction closes TONIGHT

We’ve smashed our $5,000 target already, but it’s not over yet! The silent auction closes at 9pm: be there (virtually) for the final showdown. Note that there's a 2-minute extension in place for any items that receive bids in the last 2 minutes.​https://auctria.events/ridgway2025

It’s been heartwarming to see many items going well above their listed value. Thank you to our wonderful community for showing such love and support for each other and our learning support programme. 

Successful bidders will receive an automated email about payment (bank transfer preferred but credit card also accepted) and a separate one about how to receive their item/s. If you haven’t received both emails by Tuesday, please check your junk mail and then contact ridgwayauction2025@gmail.com. Donors who haven’t already left their items at the office will be contacted as well. Please be patient with us while we work through the list. 

Southern Zones cross country

The children in Year 4 and up who came in the top four in our school cross country competed in the Southern Zones competition on Tuesday.  Our school did really well and it was often a blur of blue t-shirts as the children came screaming (not literally) around the corners and occasionally slid over in the mud.  The top ten up to Year 6 and the top six for Year 6-8 will go through to the interzones competition. 

When your child is sick…

Things are getting awkward in the office 👀! If you’re phoned about your child being sick, please come and get them as we are unable to keep sick children at school.

Road safety improvements around the school

We have approached our MP, Julie Anne Genter, to try to get some traction in terms of slowing cars down around the school and making the crossing at the top of Farnham Street safer.  Island Bay School had success in getting judder bars installed around their school recently which we mentioned to her. Her response is as follows:

I’m absolutely here to support better safety measures for your kura and making sure more immediate action is taken, as I’m passionate about road safety that enables everyone to get around their community safety. This is a serious issue, and I totally agree that steps need to be taken quickly – especially as I understand it has been an issue for quite some time. 

A great first step would be to come and talk to the board and concerned members of the community about this issue. From there, I can support an official bid by the school for better safety measures. I would suggest that you, the board, and as many members of the community as possible write support letters, email their local councillors; and I will support these efforts with a letter myself as local MP. That’s the way we advocated for improvements to Island Bay school you mentioned, and it's the best way I can see to achieve better safety outcomes for Ridgway as soon as possible.

Julie Anne will be at school after our Year 1 - 5 hui on 30 May at 3pm. If you are concerned about road safety around the school it would be great to have you there. 

Splitting the hui next week

The clever person who put the assembly in for 2.15 on Friday afternoon forgot the Year 6 - 8s go swimming every week on Friday afternoons!  Whoops - sorry about that! We will have our Year 6 - 8 assembly at 9.15 on Friday morning and then the rest of the school at 2.15. 

Upcoming Events

• 30 May - 
  Mid term hui Year 6 - 8 at 9.15. 
  Mid term hui Year 1-5 at 2.15.
  Road safety discussion with Julie Anne Genter at 3pm.

• 2 June - King’s Birthday Public Holiday

• 3 June - Staff Only Day, school closed

• 10 June - Interzone Cross Country

• 10 - 11 June - School Photos

• 18 June - Matariki evening at school

• 26 June - Saints basketball team with Year 3 - 5 basketball teams

• Year 6 - 8 swimming - weekly on Friday