Moturoa School

Thursday, the 6th of August, I had the absolute pleasure of taking the students from Korokio class on a planting trip to the Otamare Reserve at Kāūpokonui Beach in South Taranaki. Our mission was to plant a total of 180 plants across three special, rare, and threatened coastal Taranaki species: Pīnatoro (Pimelea carnosa), Tarakupenga (Coprosma acerosa), and Rauhuia (Linum monogynum). Our students have spent the last few weeks learning about these plants with their teacher, Mrs. Beck, so they were excited to complete the final stage of the plants' journey and return these species to the coastal herb fields to boost the number of plants growing at this important location.

I was so impressed with all of our tamariki. They showed so much determination and strength of character carrying all the plants across the beach and dunes to the planting locations, followed by such gentleness and enthusiasm as they carefully planted these precious taonga. We were so lucky to have perfect weather, allowing us to enjoy the stunning location. They were also excited to see the Tarakupenga and Pīnatoro already growing at the site and to learn about other important rare native plant species, including our tiny coastal herbfield species, some of which are so tiny they are barely bigger than the grains of sand around them.

We enjoyed lunch together and even squeezed in a play on the slide and playground before saying our farewells and heading back to school. It was a long day, but a great one. Korokio class, I was so proud of you all! You represented our school beautifully and showed great respect for all the work the tamariki do back at school to grow and care for these very special plants.

We were honoured to be joined by members of Ngāti Tū hapū, kaimahi from Te Korowai o Ngāruahine Iwi, an amazing group of parents, and Gabriel Field from DOC. For all of our planting trips, an awful lot of work goes on behind the scenes to make these days a success. Thank you so much to Gabe and members of the Ngāti Tū hapū for preparing the site for planting and for treating our students with such kindness. A massive thanks to Hoani from Ngāti Tū for welcoming us onto Ōtamare and sharing your knowledge with us, we were honoured to be able to return our plants back to such a special place, and to know they will be cared for. Thank you to our amazing parents for driving all the way to South Taranaki and for all your encouragement, support, and patience. A big thanks also to Kerry Hepworth from Moturoa School, your support was invaluable.

Melissa Surgenor

Happy Te Rā o Tumeke Tumuaki to the one, the only... Mr E! 🎩👑✨

If you’ve driven past the school crossing, you’ve probably wondered: Is that our Principal, or did a high-fashion, hat-loving wizard lose his way? 🧢🪶 Same person. Legend has it he has a different wig for every day of the week and an extra one just for traffic duty.

Behind the epic hats, Mr E is the ultimate multitasker. He’s the genius who brought back Kapa Haka, launched our very first Puanga celebration, captures all our best moments as the official school photographer, leads the charge on the Year 5/6 camps, and keeps this whole school running.

Trying to catch him for a quick chat? Good luck! 🏃‍♂️💨 His daily to-do list is roughly 1,000 items long, and 900 of them involve running across the school grounds at top speed.

Mr E, thank you for your incredible leadership, your energy, and for making our school such an awesome place to be. We appreciate you so much (even when we have to chase you down to tell you)!

Drop a comment below with your favorite Mr E hat/wig memory or leave him some appreciation! 👇❤️

Our very first Puanga ceremony was nothing short of magical!
First and foremost, a massive, heartfelt thank you to Matua Phil, Matua Dave, and Matua Anaru. Your support and beautiful kōrero grounded us all and gave the night the exact spirit it needed.
To Jamee—you are an absolute powerhouse. The kitchen mahi you pulled off deserves a standing ovation (and a very long nap). To all our incredible parents who rolled up their sleeves, and our wonderful community who showed up in droves: thank you. Seeing you all there filled our hearts to the brim.
We’d love to know—what was your absolute favourite part of the night?

Lastly, to our beautiful tamariki. There are no words for how proud we are. Watching you pour your hearts into the Kapa Haka brought tears to our eyes. You are absolute superstars, and you carried the mana of our community so beautifully.

Stop the presses: The semi-final is won! 🏆

Our superstar football team booked their ticket to the finals today after a spectacular 5-2 victory against St Joseph’s Waitara!

Huge thanks to everyone who came down to support. Special mention to Mr. E and Darcie, who looked remarkably like a pair of frantic Pūkekos out there with their sideline dance moves. Hey, if it works, it works! 🕺🦆

Now, it’s time to prep for the big one. We play the finals on August 7th at St Joseph’s New Plymouth. See you there! ⚽️🔥

Our community has become used to seeing all sorts on our crossing in the mornings.
Keep an eye out tomorrow for a special bird keeping an eye out for our whanau doing the right thing around the school at drop off time.
Eyes peeled whanau!

On Tuesday, June 16th, 13 students from the Puriri class, along with Miss Charlene and Mrs. Surgenor, went on a planting trip to the Paritutu Centennial Gardens. This was an exciting event because, for most of these tamariki, it was their first-ever trip with Moturoa School—and certainly their first-ever planting trip! Moturoa students have been involved in helping develop and look after these gardens for over 18 years, so it is a project very close to our hearts. Over the last year, the NPDC has done significant work to improve the site, including removing a grass strip from around the garden. This gave us an amazing opportunity to add many more of our precious, special, local, rare, and threatened native coastal plants grown in the school's propagation unit.

Our fabulous students planted a total of 120 plants, made up of six coastal Taranaki species: Paritutu Korokio, Euphorbia glauca, Linum monogynum, Tarakupenga, Horokaka (NZ ice plant), and Veronica elliptica. When I popped into their class that afternoon, I was so excited to see that they were busy writing stories about our trip! Well done, everyone! What amazing writers you are—I loved your pictures, too!

Special thanks to the NPDC staff, who not only prepared the site for planting but also went out of their way to make it an enjoyable experience for our young students. Thanks also to all of our lovely parents—Ariana, Bodean, Holly, Nicole, and Rachel—for their help with transport and providing support on the day.

It was ice creams all round to celebrate the shortest day as Mr E shared his $200 prize from this morning’s mid winter swim by shouting the kids and staff. Well done for the turnout this morning whanau with Meadow taking home a best dressed prize too!
Have a great weekend whanau!

Mr E will be there with a stupid wig and his whanau. See you there Moturoa Whanau!

Anyone feeling a cheeky little polar plunge this winter? ❄️

The Mid-Winter Swim is back thanks to Summit Refrigeration + Air Conditioning Limited. Come join the More FM crew down at the New Plymouth Yacht Club on Friday the 19th June between 7am-8am. $200 prize is up for grabs for our best dressed swimmer! 🥳

For all Mid-Winter Swim details click here 👉https://www.rova.nz/events/more-fm-taranaki-mid-winter-swim

On Wednesday the 27th of May, Pinatoro class had a fabulous planting adventure to a coastal site off Arawhata Road, which is between Rahotu and Ōpunake. This was a very special trip because the students were able to plant 110 Pinatoro plants—the plant their class is named after—plus 40 Tarakupenga (Coprosma acerosa), another important coastal Taranaki plant.

These plants have been lovingly grown and looked after by our tamariki. Pinatoro is a very important plant because it is the home to a rare and threatened moth, Notoreas 'Taranaki'. This particular species of day-flying moth is found in a limited number of South Taranaki sites and is entirely dependent on the Pinatoro plant (Pimelea carnosa) for its survival. The female moths lay their eggs among the buds, and as the larvae grow, they feed on the leaves and buds of the plant.

It was great for the students to see the natural Pinatoro plants plus other species making up the coastal herb field. Visiting the site allowed the students to appreciate how hard it is for these species to survive in that location, by seeing how exposed and prone to erosion the site is. We were very lucky that it was a beautiful sunny day, but I think it wasn’t hard to imagine what it would be like on a windy, rainy day!

Mrs. Weston and I were incredibly proud of the students. They climbed up and down steep banks to reach the planting sites and then tended carefully to their precious plants to ensure they had the best chance of surviving. As one of our students said, “This is a real adventure, isn’t it?” We definitely agreed! One of the adults also commented that Pinatoro class gets on so well together. It definitely warmed our hearts to see how beautifully the students supported each other. There were moments when some students struggled with the steepness of the site, but there was always someone nearby offering support or a helping hand.

On our way home, we also squeezed in a visit to Barrett Lagoon to see the Rewarewa trees. Next Friday we will be planting a Rewarewa tree as part of our Arbor Day celebrations at school, so it was a great opportunity for the students to see some adult trees. We were able to collect some seed pods and leaves to study further, back in the classroom.

We would like to offer a big thank you to DOC staff member Gabe for preparing the planting site and for such great assistance on the day. Our tamariki loved meeting you, as always, and learning from you. Thank you also to Karl Stanley for welcoming us onto your farm and giving us permission to plant at this very special site. Thank you also to the wonderful parents and grandparents that drove the tamariki and gave encouragement and support throughout the trip. You are amazing, and we would be unable to go on planting trips without your kind help.