Tawatawa News

1 May 2026

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

Library Update

Term two is off to a roaring start in our whare pukapuka. Here are a few updates from the library for you:

On May 22nd we are sending two teams to the local Kids' Lit Quiz competition. Around 30 keen beans from years 5-8 took part in our in-school trial to select these 8 lucky students. Ka rawe everyone who gave it a go. 

Our tuakana-teina (buddy) reading programme pairs students in year 7 and 8 with some Kōtare kids. It's a highlight of the week, with beautiful connections between our big and little students.

Swimming for Year 4 - 8

We had quite a few children forget their togs this week, which is quite unsurprising as it’s the first session.  We have let them know that we will buy some spare togs this weekend from the Salvation Army so if they forget their togs, they don’t have to worry, they can still swim because we have spares! If this won’t motivate them to remember, we don’t know what will! 

Mitey and a visit from Sir John Kirwin - 12 May

We are proud to be a Mitey school. Mitey is a New Zealand-developed approach to mental health education, created by the John Kirwan Foundation, and is designed to support children to understand their feelings, build resilience, and develop practical strategies for managing challenges in everyday life.

We are excited to share that John Kirwan will be visiting our school to see Mitey in action. He will spend time with our students, sharing his own experiences and talking about the importance of understanding and looking after our mental wellbeing.

This is a fantastic opportunity to hear from an inspirational man who has made a significant impact in this space.

Kiwihoops

We are lucky enough to have the wonderful Kiwihoops programme at school for the first seven weeks of this term.  All our children are getting to learn and practice basketball skills, which is great for the upcoming basketball season! 

Cross Country

Whoop whoop!  We managed to run an outdoor sports event!  So great to see the children out there giving it their all and pushing themselves to get across that finish line. As always, the support the children gave each other was a delight to behold! 

Our first placers by year level were:  Margot and Matteo, Erica and Bertie, Margot and Eti B, Marguerite and Fergus, Bess and Lennox, Sadie and Thiago, Greta and Sam, and Charlie!  Epic running everyone. 

The top four runners from Year 4 up will go and represent us at the Southern Zones competition on Tuesday 26th May.

Bike Monitors Trip

Yesterday, our wonderful bike monitors were rewarded for their hard work with a trip to Makara Peak for a day of mountain biking!  The weather was beautiful, the kids were great and the parent help was next level.  They ended the day with a sausage sizzle back at school which was lucky as all their lunchbox food had been eaten by 11am! Thanks Mr Crowe for organising this cool event.

(The classic ‘look into the sun’ photo to prove it was sunny!)

Left to Their Own Devices - 6 May at 7pm

This is coming up next week! Last chance to register…

Are you worried about your child and the online world?  We are bringing well-renowned Jo Robertson to our community for a presentation that will give you the tools and confidence to navigate the complex online world our children inhabit. SWIS have kindly agreed to host this in their hall as we are expecting way more people than could fit at our school.  You can register for a ticket (no cost) for this event here. 

Upcoming Events:

• 6 May - Left to Their Own Devices, 7pm at the SWIS school hall 

• 12 May - special hui for Sir John Kirwin

• 15 May - Pink Shirt Day

• 21 May - Mid-term hui at 2.15pm

• 26 May - Southern Zones Cross Country

• 26 May - Raising Resilient Children with Kathryn Berkett at Island Bay School 6.30-8pm

• 27 and 28 May - School Photos

• 9 June - Inter Zone Cross Country

• 15 - 18 September Year 7 & 8 Camp Makihika

• Noho marae for Year 5 - 8:  November 25 - 27th

Sarah Patterson
Principal / Tumuaki
Te Kura o Tawatawa - Ridgway School