Dear Parents, Caregivers and Families
Kia ora, kia orana, talofa, malo e lelei, fakaalofa atu, hello and greetings

From the Principal

We are half way through this term already which is hard to believe. Christmas things are appearing in shops, so the silly season is nearly upon us! This week is the start of testing week, so be prepared for tired children at the end of the day.

I have lots of thank yous to put in this newsletter. We have such a supportive community- it is almost overwhelming. As part of our new vision, we want our school environment to represent the land and community that we belong to. The student’s voice was to have a stall on our road that has fruit, veggies and eggs for people to take as they need. Currently the gardens that we have require a complete overhaul. We are planning to replant them for the beauty aspect of our school with flowering plants. Matua Chris, along with some Room 4 boys, and kind donations of veggies from Hayley Hodgetts ,are constructing new classroom veggie beds alongside the orchard, where they will receive full sun. Wyatt Landscape Supplies have generously donated 2 cubic metres of Grandad’s Garden Mix for these gardens. So hopefully we will have fresh produce to share with the community soon.

James Andrews, one of our parents, and a past Board member, has donated 4 banana palms for the school. They will also go in the ground on Thursday. I have had 2 passionfruit plants put on either side of the pizza oven gazebo, so hopefully they will climb up the structure and fruit next year.

Arran Barnes and Talia Watson-Walker kindly organised a netball tournament with Mangawhai Beach School, which concludes this afternoon. I hope to get there for the last game. They have learnt a lot, and had fun by the sound of it. Chris Rhodes has also been busy on the sporting front, and has been in touch with the Kaipara Basketball Association, and we hope to get a Year 7 & 8 team into their league in Term 1 next year. We have been lucky to have Liam from Rodney Cricket working with our students. There is a Year 4-8 competition that has just started in Kaipara Flats from 5:30pm on Fridays. We are thinking of entering a team, and need approximately 8 players. If you think that is something your child would like to take part in please email chris@tomarata.school.nz.

Last weekend Amy Watson-Walker, Willow Mitchell and Leon Richards took part in a tag team referee’s course. They were the 3 youngest children there and did very well. They had to read and answer questions orally, complete a 4 page test and show the correct hand signals when reffing. They are now able to referee under 9’s at Tomarata Tag. We are so proud of you. Congratulations and well done!

As you all know our Tomarata Fireworks Extravaganza happens this Saturday. The Helping Hands team and Mrs Sibtsen have been working hard behind the scenes getting all the raffles, donations and vendors organised for the big event. Thank you to everyone who has bought in items. We really appreciate it. Tickets are still on sale at the office or through Mike Pero in Mangawhai, Wellsford and Warkworth. Please remember that to purchase the tickets from Mike Pero you must use cash. The night is cash only too. Many of our students took part in the Fireworks advertising poster competition. The lucky winner was Mikki de Haan, who receives a family pass to the night. Fantastic work Mikki! Huge thanks to Susie Richards, our talented parent artist, who did the huge signs for us. Speaking of Susie, I hope you have noticed the latest mural she has created for us of the school motto. You are so clever Susie!

I had the pleasure of working with our House Captains this afternoon. The Year 8 students always have a leaver’s project to do, and we were discussing what that could be. I also asked the students what the highlights of the camp were that they have just recovered from. They were as follow: the food; being with friends; the FOOD; archery; THE FOOD; stand up paddle boarding: the yummy food: and the awesome hugs from Jo Wood after she’d finished cooking the food. Something tells me that you are not going to be able to give up that camp job Jo! have to admit the macaroni cheese I sampled when I visited camp was superb, although the person who stirred the cheese sauce did an excellent job if I do say so myself 🙂

The rest of this week comprises of whole school assembly on Thursday afternoon ( gosh we have almost forgotten how to have one), races on Friday morning, and a show on Friday afternoon. What a fun way to end the week! Make sure you have bought your tickets for Saturday- it will literally be a blast!

Key Dates for this Term

Congratulations

Rodney College Senior prizegiving was held last night  we would like to congratulate these ex Tomarata students for their achievements.

Jarvis Denton Y12, Head Boy, 2nd Gateway, 1st Wood, 1st Engineering

Dylan Watson-Walker Y12, Sports Captain, 2nd Sport, 2nd Digital Technology

Brendan Mason Y11, 2nd Mathematics

Jamie Morrow Y11, 1st Digital Technology

Loyd Clarke Y11, 1st Engineering

Jack Carre Y11, 1st DVC Architectural Studies

Billy Richards Y12, 2nd Tourism

Lisa preuss Y12, 2nd Creative Literacy

Kaylee Woolley Y13, 1st DVC

Reminders

 Tennis lessons starting  6th November.  Please note new coach, Ezequiel Chavez from Argentina, and new group times.

Despite not being successful with our funding application we are keeping subs to $20 for this term.  Please ring or text Wendy Crow-Jones if you have any queries 0211446613

3;30pm to 4:15pm – Red (5 to 8 years old)

4:15 to 5:30pm – Orange (9 to 11 years old)

5:30pm to 6:30pm – College kids and adults combine (13+ year old)

Community Notices

Wellsford Santa Parade  28th November 2020  11.30am

We would like to thank Bayleys Wellsford for their sponsorship