Heron Herald Term 1, Week 2

3 days ago

Kia ora Matua families,

It has been a wonderful first two weeks back at school after the summer break. After a ‘soft start’ in Week 1, with just a couple of days followed by a long weekend, we have launched into Week 2 with excitement and vigour – it’s going to be a great 2026!

We have welcomed lots of new families to Matua School this year. We have locals with their first child starting school, families moving to the BOP from across New Zealand, and International families making significant changes and moving between countries. We trust that whatever your circumstances, you feel welcome and quickly feel at home at Matua School.

We began our year with a pōwhiri, a traditional Māori welcome for new tamariki and whānau. Led by kaumatua from Ngāti Ranginui, new children and families were invited onto the school site, symbolising a shift from being visitors to being part of the community. Thank you to those parents and whānau who attended and supported this special occasion.

WELCOME TO NEW STAFF

We are thankful to have very high-quality teachers at Matua School. Whenever we appoint new staff, we work hard to find those who can continue to grow our expertise and culture as a school. We have three new faces around the school this year. You may bump into Mrs Claire Major (Rm15), Mr Brett Johnson (Rm24) and Mrs Mikyla Hull (Art) around the school, and so please make them feel welcome as they find their place in this friendly community. Claire has been on maternity leave but previously taught at Papamoa Primary and brings many years of teaching and leadership experience. Brett spent a short time at Matua as a student teacher before teaching at Pyes Pa School. Mikyla is also a Matua Mum and happens to be married to Mr Hull. We are excited to have Mikyla bring her background in the fine arts to the school’s art programme. We know the children will be inspired by her passion and creativity.

Claire Major

Brett Johnson

Mikyla Hull

Wendy Bevins

PTA NEWS

On Monday the PTA held their first connection meeting for the year. It was fantastic to see a number of new parents to the school come along to find out more and connect with other parents. Amy Prouse has been the PTA Chairperson for the last few years, and confirmed that she would be standing down from the role. I wish to express my sincere thanks to Amy for the time, passion and commitment she has given to the school, children and community. It’s when people are willing to get involved and give something back that we experience community and belonging. So, thank you, Amy.

The meeting called for nominations of a new PTA Chairperson, and Wendy Bevins was formally appointed to the role. Wendy has four children at school and has been involved in Matua Kindy’s parent group for many years.

Keep an eye out for information from the PTA. There will be plenty of opportunities to connect and get involved during the year. Check out the MATUA PTA FACEBOOK Page to keep up to date.

LEARNER CONFERENCES

In Week 4 (starting 23rd February), we are holding Learner Conferences. These are an opportunity for parents, teachers and children to meet, get to know each other better and share goals for the year ahead. Our partnership with you is critical, and so this time is a great way to start the year. School will remain open for teaching all week, and so meeting times will be made available for you via HERO at a range of times across the week. Since we are now keeping the school open, you may not be able to schedule meetings for all the children in your family close together, or even on the same day. Each class has its own schedule, set by the teacher. If you have trouble making a meeting time, please make contact with the school office.

Bookings for these meetings can be made through HERO and are available now.

It has been lovely catching up with many of you over the last week. We are all looking forward to another great year at Matua School!

Ngā mihi nui,

Marcus Norrish
Principal

SCHOOL CALENDAR

The school calendar is also available in Hero. Please use this calendar to stay in touch with upcoming events.

The Ministry of Education has included two Teacher Only Days in the 2026 school year. Please take note of these dates. They are on Friday, 20th March, and Friday, 29th May. They are listed on the school calendar.

Helen is Matua School’s Premium Sponsor

Want to buy or sell a house? Give her a call – she’s really nice!

LIBRARY NEWS

A big welcome to 2026! We have a wonderful library at Matua School, and everyone is welcome. You will find me in the library Monday to Thursday from 8.30am to 1.30pm. If you need to contact me when I’m not here, please phone the school or email library@matua.school.nz

Classes have a 45 minute library session during the week with their teachers. Year 0,1 and 2 students are allowed to issue one book at a time, while Year 3,4,5, and 6 students can issue two books. Books are issued for two weeks but may be returned before then. There is a return box by the front door of the library. Children may issue and return books at lunchtime.

If a book is two weeks overdue, an email is sent to home and to classrooms. Fortnightly follow up emails are sent until the book is returned or renewed. Books are easily renewed if they are still being read. This can be done during classroom library times, during lunchtimes or by emailing library@matua.school.nz. Please ask your child to see me if a book is lost. We ask for a $10 donation to help replace a lost book. This is payable (eftpos/cash) to the office or (cash only) to the library. If it is later returned, this will be refunded.

Librarians

Matua Library is run by school librarians at lunchtimes from Monday to Thursday. Children are invited to read, play games like chess or checkers, colour, and complete puzzles. There is a timetable on the library door especially for colouring days. Year 5 and 6 students can apply to be school librarians. Their role is for two terms. This year we had nearly 100 Ràkau students apply for 24 spaces. What an incredible start from an enthusiastic and motivated group. All senior children will eventually get a chance to be a school librarian. While year 6 students get priority over year 5 students, there is always a juggle to find days which suit students and their buddies.

What’s the tallest building in the world? The library, because it has so many stories.

COMMUNITY PICNIC

Thanks to everyone who made it along to our Community Picnic. It was a beautiful summer evening, and we loved seeing the community getting together, sharing sports, good food and friendly conversation. We have many new families at the school, so hopefully you managed to cross paths with one or two of them!

SPECIALIST CLASSES

At Matua School, we have a range of specialist teacher lessons that all children experience across the year. Mr Reid has a passion for Science and engages children with exciting experiments that challenge their thinking and help them think like scientists. Mr Hantler brings music to life at Matua and shares his passion and talents with our tamariki. It’s wonderful to see the level of musical knowledge and skill grow in our children as they participate in engaging music lessons over the years. This year Mrs Hull has taken over for Mrs Scott in the art room! Mrs Hull is creative, colourful, and passionate about giving children the opportunity to develop their creativity and skills through the visual arts. Welcome to Mrs Hull and thank you to all our specialist teachers for sharing your passions with our school community.

SCHOOL UNIFORM

Thank you for ensuring your children are in the correct school uniform at the start of the year. We are coming to the end of a three-year transition to our new uniform, and so at the start of 2027 the expectation is that all children will be wearing the new items. Old designs and fabrics will not be acceptable from then.

For this year the older style polos, hats and pants are fine. However, we want to ensure that children are wearing one version of the school’s uniform set. At the start of the year, teachers will ask children to speak with their parents if they are wearing the incorrect uniform. We often see children with dangly earrings, socks with big brands on the side, bike shorts that are for weekend sport rather than school or hats in the wrong colour or style. New uniforms can be purchased from NZ UNIFORMS and some secondhand uniforms are available through the PTA.

SCHOOL DONATIONS

School donations are an important part of how we can add extra value to our school and learning environment. We are excited to have opened up a new fitness trail, which is a direct result of donations from last year. This year, we are working towards extending outdoor play areas for our growing school and would love to see a new play-space developed near the Clivedene boundary. Your support with donations will enable this to happen. Full and partial payments of school donations can be paid now through Kindo.

An important note: School Donations are tax-deductible, so if you pay your donation soon, you can claim a one-third rebate from the IRD at the end of the financial year! Check out the flyer below, which has more information about why we have School Donations.

ROLL GROWTH CLASS

We are in the process of looking at our roll growth classes.

If you have a child who is turning 5 within the next 12 months, please can you complete an Intention To Enrol Form by clicking on the following link.

https://www.matua.school.nz/enrolment/

SKIDS

UPTON MUSIC SCHOOL

FUN FIRST FOOTBALL

Our Friends at Fun Fun First Football are back for some fun in the sun with their energetic Football Programme! Go to the website https://funfirstfootball.co.nz/ to Book your child in for Term 1 (Free Trials Available!). You will also get a Free FFF Tshirt when you register for the Term! 🙂

COMMUNITY EVENT

SCHOOL HOURS

A friendly reminder that school is not open until 8.30am. If you require childcare before these hours, please contact SKIDS either by email – matua@skids.co.nz, phone – 027 586 0408, or book online – www.skids.co.nz/Matua.

SCHOOL INFORMATION

LUNCH ORDERS – EVERY FRIDAY

Lunch orders are available for delivery to Matua School each Friday.

SUBWAY

Simply order your SUBWAY lunch online through you myKindo account by CLICKING HERE

Order (or cancel) any time before 9:00am on the day or schedule in advance.

Help? Visit support.mykindo.co.nz or call 09-869 5200 Mon-Fri, 8:00am to 4:00pm.

TERM DATES 2026

Term 1, 2026 – Wednesday 4th February – Thursday 2nd April

Teacher Only Day – Friday 20th March (MoE Curriculum Training Day)

Term 2 – Monday 20th April – Friday 3rd July

Teacher Only Day – Friday 29th May (MoE Curriculum Training Day)

King’s Birthday Public Holiday – Monday 1st June

Matariki Public Holiday – Falls in school holidays

Term 3 – Monday 20th July – Friday 25th September

Term 4 – Monday 12th October – 16th December

Labour Day Public Holiday – Monday 26th October

Last Day of School – Wednesday 16th December

SETTING UP KINDO

Setting up with Kindo

Kindo is our prefered payments system. To help you learn how it works, we’ve added their new help sheet and video. We hope it helps.

Kindo Help