30 January 2015
Dear Parents/Caregivers,
Nga mihi atu kia koutou nga whanau o Akomanga Mihiroa. Ko Ngati Kahungunu toku iwi, ko Takitimu toku waka, Ko Kahuranaki toku manunga, ko Ngaruroro toku awa, Ko Ngerengere toku hapu, Ko Houngarea toku marae, Ko Pakipaki toku papa kainga, Ko Rachael Toheriri toku ingoa,Tehei Mauriora!
Welcome to Akomanga Mihiroa. I am grateful for these two days of getting to know your child/children as the school year has started. I can’t wait to meet you at Kanohi te Kanohi parent evening night.
My name is Rachael Toheriri and I am married to Turei and I have four children, Nathanael who is 19, Paige is 18, Tehia is 8 and Wairangi is 7. We live in Flaxmere. I am from Pakipaki, attending this kura in my school days. I am the mokopuna of the late Alfred Peakman and Pet Peakman who still lives in our whānau home in Pakipaki.
As a maori kaiako, I have taught year 0 up to year 8 in Māori bilingual classes and also mainstream schools in Auckland, Australia and Hastings. I have been teaching for 15 years and currently teaching year three and four students in Akomanga Mihiroa.
Our first week of school will be forming relationships between students and teacher along with learning classroom routines and independent task board activities when children are not working with the teacher. These activities will relate to the progression charts that students will be at for their stages in reading, writing and maths.
As a maori bilingual class, instruction will be in Te Reo Maori and also translated this into English for students to understand and learn. Students will be fully engaged in their learning programmes and they are expected to strive to the best of their ability and achieve high standards whilst at Pakipaki kura.
Swimming sports will commence on the second week of school and we will be swimming daily. As part of the curriculum, students are expected to participate. This terms unit is focused on Water Safety. Swimming togs and towels can be kept at school and dried on clothes rack each day. Children will bring home on Friday’s.
Akomanga Mihiroa will be studying Te Tiriti o Waitangi and creating our own akomanga treaty and what a working class should look like each day. It is vital that everyone respects each other, manages themselves, to prepare for learning, have high expectations in learning and to work to the best of their potential.
Some students have purchased their stationary which we will be using from the second week and student uniforms are looking neat and tidy. Please help your child to be at school on time each day. A phone call to the school office can be made to the school for any absences. Being late can delay your child’s learning and disrupt the rest of the class.
Homework is given on a Monday and to be handed in on Friday. Included will be your child’s spelling words for the week with the reading log at the back to record reading each evening. Poem books with your child’s library book will come home on weekends for you to share together. Supporting your child’s learning will be successful in meeting learning needs.
I am happy to discuss any matters or answer any questions. You can contact me through the school office 878 9773, email rtoheriri@pakipaki.school.nz or text as most parents have mobile phones and easier to contact me on 021 1231919.
Naku noa
Rachael Toheriri