Kia Ora Whanau,
As some of you may know, today was my last day at Matariki. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the parents for sharing their wonderful Tamariki. It has been an honour to spend the last 3 years working with your children.
I know that Matariki will continue to go from strength to strength under the leadership of Whaea Ata, and that the team of extremely talented teachers will continue to provide a marvellous learning programme for the Tamariki.
On behalf of Isla, Kyan and myself, I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a happy holiday and a wonderful 2010.
Arohanui
Whaea Lucy

Here's some pictures of our day today. The last day of the year, and little Georgia Richmond's 2nd birthday! Hari Huritau Georgia!

Whanau what a fabulous day we had today! Thanks so much to everyone who came to our Christmas Party. We the kaiako and the tamariki had a lovely time! Here are a few pictures from the day. Thanks whanau for a wonderful year- Thanks so much for sharing your Tamariki with us and we look forward to another great year in 2010 xx

Ngaa whetu mo to maatou rakau!

Riki, Takarea, and Ono-Mariri asked if they could make whetu this morning. When asked why, Takarea, you said, " For our Christmas tree". "But we don't have a Christmas tree here. I wonder what else we can use," I (Vila) said. Then Riki, you said, " Can we put it up on our rakau?" What an awesome idea. Therefore, here are some photos of the tamariki going through the process of making whetu and placing them on our rakau.

More photos at Koro Lukes whare!

Here are some more photos of the children visiting Koro Luke's whare.

Visit to Haedyn Reeve's Koro farm:

This morning we were fortunate to go to Haedyn-Reeves koro Luke's whare to have a look at the rakiraki and heihei. The children had such an awesome experience. There were so many different animals to see, poaka, rakiraki, heihei, ika, doves, parrots, the beautiful garden and the amazing native trees and flowers. Thank you so much Koro Luke, Whaea Mere and of course Headyn Reeves.

"We were looking at the birds and they were yellow." Isla

"I was looking at the pole and I followed Haedyn and she showed us to look at the chicken and the duck. And the birds, and piglets, Haedyn's house and the big dogs." Irihapeti

"I having a loook at the ducks. They eating their kai. My koro feed them." Haedyn-Reeve

Kia Ora Everyone,

We are now well underway with the costumes for the Float Parade. If you want your child to attend the parade Please please please return your permission slip or get in touch with us to let us know. It would be really sad if we didn't know your child was coming and they arrived on the day-too late for us to make them a costume.
So far these are the children who we know are attending. if your child is not on this list and you want them to attend please let us know asap.

Manea
Mihiata
Aniheta
Forsaith
Wairere
Riki and Kanuehi
Haedyn-Reeve
Ono-Mariri and Titarakura
Takarea and Rita
Isla and Kyan
Georgia
Marley
Reremoana
Eru and Cedric
Te Kereama and Naru
Kupai
Tuhaka and Irihapeti

On the day, we will be providing the superhero cape and possibly some other accecsories (if your child wants them as part of their superhero costume) such as arm bands, headbands, superhero masks etc, as well as face paint but your child will be wearing their own clothes under the cape-so it is your and their choice what they wear. Shorts and a tshirt, singlet and tights will be fine-no need for any undies over the top of tights, like some superheroes have-unless they really want to! Even swimming togs will be fine as it's likely to be a hot day. Please try to have plain colours clothes only-no pictures/writing on tops etc. Please sunscreen your child from head to toe before the parade. And do have fun with hairstyles etc-we want to wow the crowd again!

And The Winners Are...

Going off last night's Lotto draw, we are now able to announce the winners of the Christmas Float Parade Fundraising Raffle!

Drumroll please...

The winner of the Toys Basket-pictured above-was Whaea Meri
The winner of the Wine and Cheese Basket-pictured below-was Whaea Puhi's Dad

The winner of the Toiletries Basket was Whaea Frances

The winner of the Groceries Basket was Luana Hickey

The winner of the Christmas Basket was Whaea Meri

The winner of the Stationery Basket was Nikki.

And the winner of the Fruit Basket (not pictured) was Whaea Sue. Congratulations to all the winners and Thank You so much for supporting us in fundraising for the costumes and decorations for the Whakatane Christmas Float Parade!

Well, as you can see we're getting well underway with the costumes for the Whakatane Christmas Float Parade. We don't like to give too much away in this public domain, but just ask your Tamariki to get an idea of some of the fabulous things we've made so far!

We've been stitching, sequining, cutting, measuring and decorating-directed by the Tamariki who have the most wonderful ideas. By the way Luana, the one on the far right is Manea's Tiger Girl cape-she came up with the idea and Sue helped her to bring it to life!

Matua will give anything a go-what a great example for the Tamariki-even teachers can learn something new-and he's now very good at sewing!

Manea and Mihiata starting their modelling career early.

Rita and Tiana joining in.

Haedyn-Reeve showing me her "H Harry Horse!"

Whanau, don't forget to pencil in Saturday 5th December for the float parade. If you haven't yet handed in your permission slip-please do. If you have any spare fabric, felt pieces, cotton threads, beads, sequins etc please send them in with your children so we can use them on the costumes. And if you are available to help decorate the float the night before the parade, or would like to help in any other way please let us know. Don't forget whanau you will need to stay with your children the entire duration of the parade. We are so excited!