Tauranga Special School

Kia ora TSS whānau,

Just a reminder that Monday is King's birthday and is a non school day.

We are open today, Friday 29th, as usual. We know that quite a few other schools across Tauranga have a Teacher Only Day today but this is not the case for our kura.

Ngā mihi

Kia ora koutou,
Here is a message we received from The Western Bay of Plenty Disability Support Trust. If you'd like your voice heard (and potentially win a Prezzy card courtesy of the Council), follow the link below to complete the survey (by 1st May).

ANNUAL PLAN EMAIL:
We are making decisions that will shape Tauranga's future, from next year into the next decade, and we want to hear from you.

SURVEY CLOSES THURSDAY, 1 MAY 2026

Take part using the following link : https://survey.publicvoice.co.nz/s3/tcc-1-tell-us-what-you-think

Please complete the survey by Thursday 1 May 2026. Everyone who takes part will go in the draw to win one of five $100 Prezzy Cards.

Privacy: All responses are completely confidential and collected by PublicVoice, an independent research company. Only combined results are shared with Council.

Thank you for taking the time to share your perspective. Your input will help guide the direction we take as a Council.

Yours sincerely,

Mahé Drysdale
Mayor of Tauranga

Tauranga. Tell us what you think. 2026 Tauranga. Tell us what you think. 2026.

Lest we forget.

Kia Ora Whānau,

You may be interested in this Garden based Holiday Programme for neurodivergent tamariki. Please contact Jess Hubbard directly if interested to see if this is suitable for your tamariki.
Ngā mihi
Leadership Team

We are closed on Monday 23rd March for a Staff Only Day. All of our staff are involved in learning opportunities about the new curriculum and how to support our ākonga.
We will see everyone on Tuesday.
Ngā mihi nui
The Leadership Team

For Children's Week, Tauranga City Council invited our ākonga-learners to visit the accessible playground at The Strand. The council staff set up the playground and joined us there for the day, welcoming us alongside tamariki from the community too.

Our ākonga demonstrated vast curiosity; exploring, creating and enjoying learning through the opportunities and experiences of the day. It was a day where hauora was nurtured in so many ways; as experiences of belonging, accessibility, curiosity, engagement and joy were abundant!

We express our gratitude for the beautiful weather, the mahi of our kaimahi supporting our ākonga to explore with success, and to the Tauranga City Council staff for their community mahi.

Last week we invited our TSS whānau to connect with each other after hours, opening our playgrounds for a low-key 'Let's Connect' evening. Whānau and kaimahi brought along their own kai and shared some time together!
We hope everyone who joined in enjoyed meeting and catching up with each other!

Morena everyone, today is our Tumuaki Principal, Barrie Wickens' last day with our ākonga and staff. On behalf of the Board, we wish to thank Barrie for his exceptional comittment and dedication to our school over the last 23 years as our Tumuaki Principal. Barrie has led our school with empathy, heart and vision, always supporting our students and whanau as a priority, and growing and developing our school into the wonderful place of choice it is today. We truly appreciate and acknowledge everything Barrie has achieved during his time and the lifelong legacy he leaves behind, he will be greatly missed. We wish Barrie and his wife Glenys all the very best, as they embark on this next, well deserved, chapter of their lives.

On Friday we held a poroporoaki for our Tumuaki Principal, Barrie Wickens who is resigning this year. The ākonga and staff performed a haka pohiri and presented Barrie with a pou. The pou represented Barrie's time at our kura and the aroha and values he has brought to our kura. These values are manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, rangatiratanga and kaitiakitanga. We are grateful to everyone who joined us to celebrate and honour our Tumuaki Principal at this event.