Porritt School Press

Kia ora e te whānau,

Incredibly, this is the final Porritt School Press for the 2025 school year. We have two and a half days of the school year left.

This year has been a special year in our history - our 50th year serving our community. We treasure the learning we have done around our history, the whakapapa of our school as part of this auspicious year. It has also been a year of challenge and change for the profession in many ways. Having said that, we have navigated these together and will continue to do so. The school is in good heart with a large number of enrolments for 2026.

It has been a pleasure reading and signing all of the end of year Learning Summaries that are coming home to you as whānau and caregivers on Tuesday. In the student voice section, a huge majority of our tamariki mentioned this learning about our very special school over time. Our tamariki loved this learning. We learned of the celebrations, the events and the people that have shaped our kura as it has grown and shifted.

Now, we would like to share detail around the next shift for our kura - our school tohu, our logo. This is a natural progression to align our visual identity as a kura with our incredible cultural narrative. We have eagerly anticipated sharing this with you here.

We also look forward to our whānau reading of the huge growth and learning progress of our tamariki this year. We have looked at our schoolwide data and there have been really significant positive shifts in our data in Mathematics, Reading through Structured Literacy, and Writing. We have also seen massive improvements in regular attendance across our kura. We will share more info around these data shifts early in the new school year.

I want to take an opportunity to thank our amazing staff group for their mahi this year. Our team work with heart, and serve our tamariki and whānau with a smile. We are blessed to have you all! We look forward to sharing a mihi for our departing staff members as well.

To our departing students, whānau members. Go well! You are always going to be a part of the fabric of the kura, woven into the korowai of our whakapapa. To our departing families, especially those that have been with us over multiple tamariki moving through, we know this is the end of an era in your family's whakapapa. We have been humbled to serve your whānau and have enjoyed the journey alongside you all!

Thank you for your support of the kura this year e te whānau. While I will reiterate this on Monday evening, and recognise other groups that keep us ticking, I wish you all the best of the festive season and a safe and happy summer ahead - Meri Kirihimete ki a koutou, e te whānau whānui o Te Tai Whanake Porritt School.

Ngā mihi whakamiha - respectful regards,

Maaka Papuni - Tumuaki/Principal

As mentioned in the last Porritt School Press, our cultural narrative was blessed and adopted as part of our jubilee celebrations.

You may have seen or heard the name Te Tai Whanake being used through kōrero during the jubilee, or since, including in the last Porritt School Press. This name is explained below.

The ingoa Māori for the kura is Te Tai Whanake. Te Tai Whanake in literal terms means ‘the rising tide’ as it grows, builds, gathers momentum and rises to it’s peak.

This analogy is about the growth of our tamariki as individuals, the growth of our whānau whanui, our kura and our community, as we build, gather momentum and collectively rise to thrive in the future beyond the kura.

We have adopted the dual name Te Tai Whanake - Porritt School in both te Reo Māori and English.

The next phase of the adoption of this narrative into the kura is to unveil our new school waitohu/logo, informed by this narrative.

It is our privilege to share this new logo with you all below;

Our newly developed tohu, our school logo, supports Porritt School’s identity as a reflection of our newly adopted cultural narrative. Our cultural narrative is based on the movement and flow of water, from the high places to the open ocean, as an analogy for our growth.

This logo is an outcome of the depth of thought and meaning gifted to us in our cultural narrative, developed by our Kāhui Whakataki, and unveiled as part of our 50th Jubilee in October 2025.

We have retained the central colours of yellow and black in the logo and uniform, with the addition of gradients of dark and light grey and white.

You're going to see it in many places from here on out. We hope you like it!

At the very top of the logo, the yellow colour here represents Tamanuiterā, the sun, an essential part of the creation of water. This symbolises life, energy, warmth - everything needed for growth.

The dark grey paemaunga, mountain ranges, represents Kāuru, the headwaters, where the water pools and begins its journey. This symbolises our youngest tamariki beginning their learning journey at Te Tai Whanake - Porritt School.

In the second stage, water traverses the whenua through Mātāwai, rivers streams and tributaries. In the logo, this is symbolised by the water coursing downhill as it gathers momentum from the heights. This stage is about learning flowing and progressing well

As the next stage of this journey, water enters Akau, the inner harbour and reefs, represented in our logo by the lighter grey shoreline. This symbolises the emergence of potential through creativity, problem-solving and risk-taking.

Moana, the open ocean, is the final stage of our learning pathway. This is represented by the mangopare pattern as it circles back in the way that both waves and the incoming tide, curl and break before reforming and gathering again on the tide.

This traditional kōwhaiwhai pattern symbolises positive movement and flow, strength, determination, ambition and duality - all referenced in the kura values.

This tohu, our new logo, is an incredibly important part of our identity moving into the future. It will be incorporated into our new uniform in 2026, signage, and our school branding.

We're excited about the future at Te Tai Whanake - Porritt School

As notified in the last Porritt School Press, we have a new school uniform for 2026, and a new uniform supplier.

This is available for purchase now via the NZ Uniforms website - https://porrittschool.nzuniforms.com

There is also a button below to take you to the website - just click the link.

Our new school uniform is pictured below. While our traditional black and yellow colours are maintained, this uniform features our new school logo.

1. The new uniform features our new logo, and the school ingoa Māori Te Tai Whanake on the rear.

2. You may buy the black skort or black shorts online, or find black trousers, shorts, leggings or tights from other suppliers and places. However, your child must wear black bottoms - and only black.

3. Your child DOES NOT need to replace their existing uniform. There is a two year grace period here for transition to the new uniform. Don't worry if you have recently purchased new uniform. Your child can wear this until the end of the 2027 school year 👍

4. We are offering our original uniform at a reduced rate of 25% off. Go to the NZ Uniforms website and click on 'Old Uniform - Discounted' to order.

5. Our current uniform is no longer available at The Warehouse in Napier.

6. From the beginning of 2026, both Tamatea Intermediate and Tamatea High School will also use NZ Uniforms to produce and supply their uniforms.

7. NZ Uniforms are offering us $2000 a year to spend on sports uniforms and staff uniform. Our sports teams will look amazing!

8. Uniform is couriered directly to your house.

We're excited to see this new uniform in use! Please reach out to the school office if you have any questions or queries.

One of the awesome stories from our 50th Jubilee that hasn't been told is the incredible craftsmanship and generosity of one of our whānau members, Kana Robertson, Maddison's Dad. Kana is learning toi whakairo - the art of carving.

Inspired to recognise our 50th Jubilee with a carved piece, Kana created a pūtātara - a traditional carved shell instrument. This pūtātara ataahua, this beautiful instrument, has features denoting each decade of the kura's history.

E Kana,
Ngā mihi whakamiha ki a koe mō tō mahi whakairo rangatira.
Nāu te pūtātara i waihanga hei tohu mō tō tātou huritau 50.
He taonga nui, he taonga ataahua ki te kura!

Huge gratitude and thanks from our kura to you for this gift Kana. This is a real taonga for our kura in future...you should be hearing it in use soon!

Kana pictured here on the first day of our Jubilee celebrations with partner (and old girl 👍) Bree, with bubs, gifting this treasure to the kura. We are humbled to receive it.

Today, we witnessed what was quite possibly, Porritt School's best ever Porritt Got Talent Grand Finale!

It was an amazing celebration of our talented tamariki - from singers, dancers, musicians, comedians, rappers, jokers, boy bands, dance crews and hip hop legends.

A huge mihi to these clever and courageous performers, the supportive whānau behind them, and all of the cool kids that gave it a crack through the audition process.

Many thanks to the key organiser Mrs Baker, for her energy and passion for this kaupapa, and our judging panel of Mrs McLean, Matua Ben and Whaea Libby (via video link).

Massive congratulations to our Grand Champion Nakalli Stark, for being named in first place!

More images and results to follow!

We recently announced four teaching appointments in the last newsletter. We have made two further appointments for 2026.

Eendre Davidson joins us in 2026 and will teach in Mātāwai with our Year 2&3 tamariki. Eendre taught this year at Paekākāriki School on the Kapiti Coast and is moving to Ahuriri with her husband and sons.

Jorja Ilott also joins us as a Pouawhina, Learning Support staff member, working with our Year 4-6 learners. Jorja has supported learners at Te Kuranui o Rototuna in Hamilton. She moves to join whānau here at Waiohiki.

Nau mai, haere mai ki Te Tai Whanake - Porritt School! We look forward to welcoming you both into our kura, alongside our other new staff members.

We have recently appointed Leah Conrad to a teaching role in our kura in 2026. Leah was originally due to teach in Mātāwai. However, having spent time recently in Kōkiri release teaching and relieving, she has expressed a wish to take on the privilege of teaching here and upholding the kaupapa of this space.

As a kura, we are excited to see what year two brings in Kōkiri! Kia ora Leah!

We are urgently working through the 43 expressions of interest received from whānau for tamariki in Kōkiri, so we can confirm spaces with whānau for 2026.

This is a challenging proposition, so like last year, we are making decisions based on what is possible in 2026 as we advance this kaupapa into it's second year.

We appreciate the patience and support of whānau as we navigate this.

PhotoLife have produced some beautiful class photos once again! The school based delivery has been processed. Your child should have brought your photos home by now.

You are still able to order photos directly from the PhotoLife website using the link below, and your child's specific access code.

You should have received an access code via email to order your child’s school photos. If you haven’t received it, please check your spam folder.

Plan B here - we have a master list of access codes! If you still can’t find it and would like to order photos, please contact the office to obtain your child’s access code.

Photos can be ordered and delivered directly to your home address. Please use the link below:

Our teaching team has been working very comprehensively alongside senior leaders, to confirm our class lists for 2026. We appreciate that this is an important next wondering for our tamariki and whānau.

We factor in many aspects when developing our class lists. We also work very hard to ensure our teaching practice is aligned, so your child is as well served and supported by Teacher A as the are by Teacher Z. We collaborate, learn and grow together.

At Te Tai Whanake - Porritt School, we share an update via HERO in late January, to introduce teachers to whānau and caregivers and confirm this placement. We also share booking details for Kaiako Connect Hui at this time - our meet and greet opportunity on Monday 2 February.

Please ensure you have HERO firing and your notifications turned on. This is the most important place for information and notifications for your as whānau and caregivers.

We appreciate your support and understanding as we confirm placements.

Next Tuesday, between 11.00am and 12.30pm, your child will visit their Learning Team for 2026 and have a chance to hear about life in the Learning Team and make some early connections with staff.

The tamariki have kōrero about what it is like to be in a new space, or be one of the elder learners in their existing spaces and teams.

• New Entrants will stay in Kāuru, having kōrero with teachers about being a big Year 1!
• Year 1 and Year 2 learners will meet in Mātāwai, learning from each other and teachers about this cool space
• Year 3 and Year 4 learners will meet in Akau, having kōrero with the teaching team there about next year
• Year 5 learners will head to Moana and hear about life as a tuakana o te kura and the cool opportunities for Year 6 learners
• Kōkiri learners will be confirmed by Tuesday, and whānau and caregivers contacted, so all that have been notified to join the space in 2026 will attend here.
• Our current Year 6's meet with Mr Papuni and Mrs Keesom to provide some really valuable feedback and feed forward for our kura as graduating learners off on their next big adventure.

We have found these visits really helpful to help ease the nerves a little. We look forward to Tuesday!

Friday 30 January - Last day of Porritt Care Summer Holiday Programme

Monday 2 February - Kaiako Connect Hui: 1:1 Teacher/Whānau Meetings (Porritt Care closed)

Tuesday 3 February - Term 1 begins: All tamariki return - Term 1 Pōwhiri

Friday 6th February - Waitangi Day: School Closed

Thursday 2 April - Term 1 Ends

Term 2 2026:

Monday 20 April - First day of Term 2

Friday 3 July - Term 2 ends

Term 3 2026:

Monday 20 July - First day of Term 3

Friday 25 September - Term 3 ends

Term 4 2026:

Monday 12 October - First day of Term 4

Tuesday 15 December - School year ends at 1.00pm