Rippa Rugby – Arnold Rae Park

What an awesome day of Rippa Rugby at Arnold Rae Park! With 57 enthusiastic tamariki from Te Manga and Te Tinana spread across six teams, the action was non-stop. Each team played five exciting games, showing off their speed, skills, and teamwork.

The whānau support was incredible, creating a wonderful atmosphere for our players. It was fantastic to hear so many positive comments from referees and supporters about the great behaviour and sportsmanship on display. The tamariki gave it their all, and their hard work and dedication shone through in every match.

A huge ngā mihi nui to the organisers for putting together such a fantastic event. Ka mau te wehi, everyone! 🏉👏

Young Ocean Explorers

We are learning about the ocean for Sea Week and the problem of plastic in our oceans. This is the link to our learning if you’d like to take a look – Learning LINK .

We are taking part in the Young Ocean Explorers class challenge with schools throughout NZ. The challenge is for everyone to pick up at least one piece of plastic rubbish each day. The tamariki have a brown paper bag for collecting this rubbbish each day. As part of the challenge we log our rubbish and watch the national graph rise. The tamariki have been amazed at just how much plastic rubbish is around if you really look.

We have been collecting for 16 days and so far we have gathered 1170 pieces of plastic rubbish!

Check out our photos …

Happy St Patricks Day from Te Manga

St. Patrick’s Day is always a blast, especially when we get to dress up and have some fun! It’s a day when we can all wear our brightest greens, maybe add a cheeky shamrock or two, and even pop on a leprechaun hat if we’re feeling extra festive. Our class enjoyed the dress up and learning about St. Patrick’s Day through our Kahoot quiz! It was awesome to see everyone so engaged and eager to learn using Kahoot.

Our outfits are certainly a lot greener than our grass at the moment!

 

Tractor Trek and Think and Be Me Show

The students had an amazing day last Thursday as the Tractor Trek came to school with Cat Levine and the Think and Be Me Show.

First up, the Tractor Trek. Our tamariki were wide-eyed with wonder as a convoy of  tractors of all shapes and sizes rumbled onto the field. The tamariki loved getting up close to the machines and even getting a chance to sit in the driver’s seat. A huge thank you to the Tractor Trek organisers and the generous tractor owners for sharing their passion with us! Ngā mihi nui to Leahana (Josiah’s mum) for taking such cool photo’s of our class.

    

 

The students were then treated to the Think and Be Me Show which included participation by lots of our own students and Whaea Jade too. This interactive and engaging show delivered powerful messages about resilience, self-belief, and celebrating our unique qualities. We are using Think and Be Me strategies to help us notice how we feel and strategies to help us manage our feelings. The characters Worry Watchdog, Angry Dragon and Cool Cat have been wonderful in helping learn the strategies. (Click on the link above to visit our class site)

Rippa Rugby Skills and Drills

Te Manga had a fantastic time taking part in the Northland Rugby Rippa Skills and Drills session with Te Tinana and Tamara! They were working on their passing, running, and teamwork while having loads of fun. The tamariki will look forward to two more skills and drills sessions leading up the Year 3 and 4 Rippa Rugby Festival on Tuesday 1st April at the Kaitaia Rugby Club.

Toi Oho 2025

Mana Ake is an initiative from Te Whatu Ora that is about providing additional support to students and teaching staff across te Taitokerau to uplift the mental health and well-being of our tamariki. The Toi Oho approach is to create moments of joy through kemu Māori, uplifting the mana and mauri of tamariki through easy access to te reo and creativity to empower them to be self driven in their own hauora, identity and happiness. Tier One began in 2024 with Te Manga and Te Puawai.

Tier Two of Toi Oho (Mana Ake) is being delivered to 24 Year 5 and Year 6 students. The focus will be on upskilling the tamariki around emotional resilience and dealing with some of the big things that life throws at them. The Toi Oho kaiako; Whaea B, Matua Anaru and Matua Hori, also deliver a 20 minute activation sessionto our class to whakawhānaungatanga and familiarise the tamariki with the Toi Oho kaupapa. Our class then take part in a Toi Oho session with Te Puawai and Te Kauru which is being delivered by Whaea Jade, Whaea Kiran and Whaea Deb.

The students have been playing kemu Māori; Raupuhi, rautaka, Poi Toa and Maui Matau in mixed groups and have been having a heap of fun!

 

Top Energy Water Safety with Tony

The tamariki have had a fantastic time during their Water Safety Lessons with Matua Tony as they learn to build confidence and essential skills in the pool. The class have practiced safe entry and exits, floating, treading water, and propelling themselves for the length of the pool without stoping or touching the bottom. Matua Tony has been fantastic and has kept everyone engaged with fun activities whilst reinforcing key safety techniques. Ngā mihi to Matua Tony and Top Energy for providing this opportunity!

Te Ahu Museum and Library Visit with Te Puawai

Our class had an amazing trip to Te Ahu Museum and Te Ahu Library in Kaitaia with Te Puawai, to learn about the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. At the library, the tamariki explored the library and took part in a fun scavenger hunt set up by Whaea Aria. They had to find the locations of the nine copies of the treaty documents taken around the country. Janie, Lexi and Ailaah-Rose found all 9 before we had to go.

In the museum, Whaea Kelly, a former Paparore School student, talked to the class about the signing of the treaty in Kaitaia and sent the students off on a museum scavenger hunt then the students worked on our own class treaty. Both classes then enjoyed morning tea and a play at the Kaitaia Playground before we came back to listen to a korero about the pou in the atrium by Whaea Nicola.

We finished the experience with a short drive up Church Road to point out where the treaty was signed and the significance of the area around Kaitaia Primary before we headed back to school.

It was such a wonderful learning experience and the students represented our class and kura with pride. We are incredibly grateful to all the whānau who came to support us on the day, ngā mihi nui!