Te Ao Mārama School

What a week! 🙌
We loved having St John at school this week, teaching our tamariki some important first aid skills 🚑⛑️
Have an awesome weekend everyone - go the Chiefs! ❤️💛🖤

🤩We’re VERY excited and proud to share progress on our new purpose-built Inclusive Learning Hub, named “Ruru” 🦉✨

🦉 In Te Ao Māori, the Ruru (morepork) is a symbol of wisdom, protection, and guardianship.

In a special moment when our school first opened, a Ruru spent the entire day on site (see photo) during a visit from Whaea Pare, who gifted our school name. 🥰

Ruru represents a place where our learners will be supported, guided, and given the help they need to reach their potential⭐

This space also connects us to Hukanui Marae. It takes its name from Peho, the ruru represented by the carving at the top of the wharenui. 🦉

Like Peho, who watches over from above, this space provides guidance, care, and encouragement, ensuring every learner feels safe, valued, and able to thrive. 🤝💙💚

💰This project is being almost totally funded by our school Board (with no Ministry/Government funding).
𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵, R𝘢𝘯𝘰 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵.🙏

🏠 We’re proud to be partnered with Keith Hay Homes and Octa Project Management to bring this vision to life.

🏗️ The building is being constructed offsite and will be relocated to school, with completion expected in August. 🚚

Huge numbers of our students will benefit from this dedicated, purpose-built facility, which will host some of our extensive support programmes. 🌟

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞:
📚 English Language Learning support
🔢 Specialised maths and literacy interventions
🤝 Individualised behaviour and engagement support (in class and during breaks)
🌏 International student programme
🎵❤️ Social-emotional group programmes (such as LEGO therapy, music therapy, and friendship skills)
💬 Counselling support
🎲 Quiet lunchtime options such as board games and reading
🧩 Sensory regulation support
📈 Valuable flexibility as our school continues to grow

We are incredibly proud of this project and our commitment to providing the very best facilities, opportunities, and support for our tamariki. 🦉✨

#𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 #𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 #𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 #𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 #𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞
💙💚

📢 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬! 📚

We're on the lookout for awesome, reliable relief teachers to join our fun and friendly school whānau!

We have the most amazing tamariki, and you will be incredibly well supported in a friendly co-teaching environment 🙌

Whether you're available now and then or more regularly, get in touch.
➡ Email [email protected] to join our reliever list✨

“𝘾𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙖 𝙟𝙤𝙗 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙖 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚.” ~ 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙞𝙪𝙨

💪𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐆𝐮𝐲 & 𝐆𝐚𝐥 💪

Mud, cold weather, wet shoes and plenty of smiles....all part of the Tough Guy & Gal experience in Ngaruawahia today!

Our tamariki showed great determination and resilience as they tackled the course and embraced the challenge from start to finish.

A big thank you to our parent and staff helpers for supporting the day. We’re proud of all our competitors for giving it a go! 🙌

🌱🌿 Te Puāwaitanga o te Rito (our 2 bilingual Māori medium classes) spent time planting native trees in our local gully, Te Awa o Katapaki 🌿🌱

Our tamariki continue to grow their understanding of kaitiakitanga (guardianship) through hands-on experiences like these, becoming passionate guardians of the taiao (earth).

It was wonderful to see our older students supporting our younger learners, showcasing the strength of tuakana-teina relationships. 🤝💚💙

A big thank you to the team from Hamilton City Council Nature in the City programme for their support and expertise.

These experiences bring our community-minded value to life, showing our tamariki how caring for Te Awa o Katapaki benefits not only themselves and their whānau, but the wider Flagstaff community as well. 🌳✨

Ka mau te wehi, tamariki mā!

#𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙚 #𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 #𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 #𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨

👉 Our latest newsletter with some important upcoming dates as we look towards Term 3.

Kia pai ngā rā whakatā | Have a wonderful weekend 😎

Whiria te tāngata - 13 June From Tony

What a difference a bit of sunshine makes! ☀️😎

It’s been great to see our kids enjoying the beautiful weather to finish the week. Wishing everyone a fantastic weekend ahead with plenty of sport, family time, and relaxation. 🏉⚽🏐

A big weekend of sport awaits -Go the Chiefs! ❤️🖤💛 and as always.... Up the Wahs! 💙💚

🚨 Practice Drill🚨

𝙐𝙋𝘿𝘼𝙏𝙀: 𝙏𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙬𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣/𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙘𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙡.
𝙊𝙪𝙧 𝙠𝙞𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙛𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙮, 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙡𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮 - 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙚’𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙮.
𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙. ⚠️🙌

Kia ora whānau and school neighbours,
Please be aware that we will be conducting a planned lockdown/reverse evacuation practice at 10:30am today.

A reverse evacuation could be for a range of reasons such as weather related, animals (e.g. swarm of bees, dog on the loose), smoke from a fire in the neighbourhood, or under advice from the Police.

This is only a drill and forms part of our regular emergency preparedness programme to help keep our tamariki and staff safe.

👧👦💙💚
Te Ao Mārama Team

Our Te Puāwaitanga tamariki were invited to Kindercare to help them prepare for their trip to Hukanui Marae tomorrow. Our tamariki were able to share their experiences at the marae through photos, waiata and kōrero.
What a special morning for our tamariki showing confidence, whanaungatanga, manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga.