Tawatawa News

8 August 2025

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

Board Nominations have closed

We had a record number of entries this year with 11!  As our illustrious Presiding Member Sophie Hazelhurst speculated, we must make being on the Board look really good! Voting starts next week so keep your eyes peeled for an email on Wednesday with the nominees and how to vote. 

The container has arrived!

High excitement here on Tuesday with the arrival of our new container, to house our Mahirakau (or hard materials) technology programme for our Year 7 & 8s. Big thanks to Richard Bentley for all his hard work and expertise in getting it on site and installed! 

Kapa Haka Festival

Yesterday we took 40 of our Year 4 - 6s to perform as part of our Kahui Ako Kapa Haka Festival at Wellington High School.  All the local schools in our Kahui Ako (community of learning) performed.  Our children did an amazing job and were easily the best performers out of all the schools (and no, there is absolutely no bias here, they were incredible). They displayed all our four values as well as passion and enthusiasm and we couldn’t be prouder of them! 

We also had the opportunity to open the Vogelmorn 10 Year Celebration last weekend. They did a wonderful job of that too. Thanks to everyone who came along! 

House of Science

Every fortnight, we get a new delivery from the House of Science. This delivery is a large box filled with resources and at least five hands-on experiments. It’s used across the school with activities for the different age groups.  We’ve just started Magnetic Madness,  where students explore magnetism using magnets, paperclips, and iron filings. They investigate magnetic fields, poles, and how magnetism can be used to move metal items. Building on this, students discover how compasses work, make their own compass, and learn about the Earth’s magnetic pull. 

Our last box was called Dem Bones which included 10 small skeletons and a ½ size human skeleton who the children decided must be called Geoffrey. You might have heard them talk about Geoffrey and his bones!  Next term, our discovery learning is all about creativity and innovation so our boxes are ‘What do you think?’, ‘Simple Machines’ and ‘Nano-Chem’. 

Calendar Art

Tamariki have been working hard on a masterpiece which can be turned into a calendar, diary, sketch book, mouse pad, or greeting cards. These make a great Christmas gift for whānau and friends, and a portion of the sales will come back to the school. Kaiako are uploading pictures of the artwork to the school app if you would like to view it before you put in an order. 

You can order through this form. Orders are due by Monday 25th August and will be delivered in Term 4.

Harold has been sick! 

Harold the Giraffe is here at the moment, but he must have caught either the flu or that stomach bug that’s going around because he had to cancel his lessons and be dragged off to the vet. Hopefully he makes a full recovery and will return on Monday batting his beautiful long eyelashes and teaching children how to make positive choices. 

Upcoming Events

• Term 3:  Year 1 - 5 weekly on Tuesday from second week

• Swimming from second week of term:  Year 1-3s Tuesday starting 22 July, Year 4-5s Friday starting 25 July

• First 5 weeks of Term 3: tennis lessons for Year 6 - 8 once a week

• 6 - 14 August - Life Education Trust (Harold the Giraffe)

• 13 August - Kākā trip to Tawatawa

• 15 August - mid term hui at 9.15

• 19 August - NZEI Union meeting 

• 19 and 20 August - noho marae for Year 5 - 8s (two separate groups)

• 20 August - Miniball tournament at Ākau Tangi Sports Centre

• 22 August - Calendar Art orders due

• 18 September - end of term hui 2.15

• 10 September - Board Elections

• 19 September - Athletics Day at Newtown Park and end of term

Community Notices

Sarah Patterson
Principal/Tumuaki

Te Kura o Tawatawa - Ridgway School