Issue 25: Week 6, Term 3 2025
Principal's Message - Karere a te Tumuaki
Kia ora whānau, malo e lelei!
What a fantastic way to round out last week with our PTA Movie Night on Friday evening. It was such a success, with lots of families coming along to enjoy the fun atmosphere. As you can see from the cute photo attached, even Ruru's class mascot got to come along with Bohdi P to enjoy the show! A big thank you to the PTA and staff who organised and ran this special event – it’s always so nice to see our community coming together to make magic for our kids.
This week we also celebrate Tongan Language Week – Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e Lea Faka-Tonga. Malo e lelei to all our Tongan whānau – we value the culture, language, and contributions you bring to our school community. We’ll be sharing and celebrating through activities in classrooms and at Assembly this week thanks to our cultural ambassadors Leilani S and Tapaita T.
Congratulations to all of the students who participated in our in-house school speech finals last week. A huge thank you to Mr Dyer and Mrs Vorster for being our ‘esteemed judges’. Well done to Aysia C who won the Year 7&8 competition, and to Milan B who was Runner Up. Congratulations also to Ayron C who won the Year 5&6 competition, and to Paige SH who placed Runner Up. This year we trialed splitting the students keen on competing for Rehu Tai with those who wanted to speak on a topic of their own choice – and we felt it worked really well. I’ve already had some positive parent feedback to back this up, but I’d love to hear from more of you. Please feel free to flick me an email or pop in for a chat.
Last Wednesday night our Mathex Teams competed at the Papakura Cluster competition at Papakura Normal School. All of our teams did really well, and a special congratulations goes to our Year 5&6 team who came 3rd place! Thank you also to Mrs Collie who went along to support our teams in my absence.
Last week our new Board officially took office. While I am really looking forward to working with the new team, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge with heartfelt gratitude and a little (well maybe a lot!) of sadness, the contributions of Lisa Tate, Tyrone Riley and Hayley Govorko, who have stepped down this year. You have each been tremendous advocates for the school, and a huge source of encouragement and support for me as I took on my first few years of Principalship. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou.
Our current Strategic Plan is due to finish at the end of 2025. This cycle was a two-year plan, and we now look ahead to embarking on a three-year cycle in alignment with Board elections. The timing of our recent ERO review fits in beautifully with this process. I am thrilled with our latest ERO report, and as soon as it is published I’ll be able to share the link (hopefully in the next newsletter!). In the coming week you will receive a survey via HERO as part of this next round of Strategic Planning consultation for 2026–2028. Please do take the time to fill this out when it arrives – your voice is really important.
Lastly, it wouldn’t be right not to wish our Black Ferns the very best of luck as they embark on their World Cup campaign against Spain on Monday. If only the games weren’t at such crazy hours for us here in NZ – but we’ll all be cheering them on from afar.
Go the Black Ferns!
Anna Powrie
Celebrating Learning and Achievement
Notes from the Office
Group Day (After our Ag Day)
If you wish to enter your calf, lamb or goat at Franklin Group Day on 15th October, please call into the office on Ag Day or the week after to fill out the entry form. Anyone from our Ag Day can enter, it doesn't matter if you didn't get a placing.
PTA News
Movie Night Success
Movie Night was a fabulous evening, and it was wonderful to see so many families enjoying themselves together. A huge thank you to everyone who came along and supported the event. We’re delighted to share that we raised $1,424 which will go directly towards supporting our school and students.
Your support and community spirit made the night such a success – thank you!
Any questions/fundraising ideas or if you require uniform items urgently, you can email the PTA on karaka.pta@gmail.com
The Karaka School PTA account is 12 3031 0851231 00
Updates from the Wider Community
KARAKA RUGBY TOUCH MODULE 2025
Registrations are now open. Please visit the Karaka Rugby website to register your child to play this season. Games kick off on Friday 3 October. If you have any questions please contact George on 022 0431606 or email touch@karakarugby.co.nz