If you would like any further information please do not hesitate to contact our Principal:

Maree Lucas, Principal
Address: 990 Omihi Road, Omihi
Phone: 03 314 5857
Email: office@omihi.school.nz or principal@omihi.school.nz
Web: www.omihi.school.nz
Facebook: facebook.com/omihischool
Instagram: omihi_school

 Absences

Please inform the school of all absences via email to the classroom teacher or Principal or phone by 9.30am.  The school will contact parents/guardians of children whose absence has not been explained after 9.30am.

Adverse Weather

If there are adverse weather conditions overnight or early morning, the school liaises with the council and road managers and makes a decision as to possible changes to the school day.

Notification: Any changes to the school day will be communicated via our Facebook page or our website, as well as an email to parents.

Assembly

We have two assemblies per term to celebrate our learning and share successes.  Please check our school calendar for dates. Juniors and seniors lead one each and the final assembly is a celebration of learning of the children’s inquiries for the term.  Parents, family and community are very welcome to attend all of these.

Board of Trustees  

The Board of Trustees is the school’s governing body. Trustee elections are held every three years. Our current board has three elected parent representatives, the principal and a staff representative. Meetings are usually held every month and are advertised in the school newsletter. The minutes are available to read from the school office.  These meetings are open to the public. Chair: Julie Wells.

Camps

Years 5-8 go on a camp experience each year.  This is planned by the Principal and senior teacher and all risk assessments are very thorough and signed off by the BOT.  Parents get plenty of notice of the cost and when these are happening and are sometimes asked to be parent helpers.

Community Involvement

We have a number of events throughout the year where we invite the community to our school.  We also welcome anyone in that would like to work with our children or teach specific skills.

Concerns

If you have any concerns about your child’s learning or any aspect of school life, please direct these to the school.  Either to your child’s teacher or to Maree, our Principal.  We want to know about and alleviate your concerns.  In short, if you like what is happening, tell your friends and neighbours.  If you do not, please tell us.  Our Complaints policy on can be found on School Docs (Login: omihi Password: glenmark).

Contact Details - Ours

Georgie Smith - georgie@omihi.school.nz

Penny Vincent - penny@omihi.school.nz

Kelly Fletcher-Jones - kelly@omihi.school.nz

Principal - Maree Lucas - principal@omihi.school.nz

Office - Bryleigh Kingston-Rodgers - office@omihi.school.nz

Contact Details - Yours

Please let us know if any of your contact details change.  You can email your child’s teacher or the school office.

Dental Service

The Dental Nurse visits the school annually.

Duty Staff

During morning interval and lunchtimes, there is a teacher on playground duty.

Donation

We are part of the Donations Scheme, which gives the school $150 per child, so we don’t have to ask parents for donations.   We also aim to have three main fundraising events a year.  This is usually a raffle, an online auction and a trail ride.

Education Outside the Classroom

As part of our curriculum it is important to create learning experiences outside of the classroom.  The children will go on a number of trips throughout the year.  Anything within the local area to Amberley will be covered with a blanket permission form and risk assessment.  Any other trips such as ski trips and camps will have sufficient risk assessments completed and parents will have plenty of notice.  Sometimes we may ask for parent support on these trips.  Any extra costs will be relayed to the parents with plenty of time.

Emergency Drills

Emergency procedures are practiced each term. Should you be in the school at such a time, please follow instructions from the staff and comply with the relevant procedural practice. The assembly point is on the court.

Enrolling Your Child

You can if you are in our zone, you can either complete our online enrolment form or pick one up from the office.  Then either drop it back to the office or email it to principal@omihi.school.nz. If you are out of zone, please contact us first to ensure we have spaces.

Turning Five

We recommend children have at least two pre-school visits before they start school.  Every child is different, so we make sure they have enough visits so they feel comfortable and confident before they start.  This can be organised with Georgie, our junior school teacher and are on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.  You need to arrive at school with your child at 8.45am and can spend time with them in their classroom.  Some children are comfortable for parents to leave straight away, but it is a good time for you to see how the classroom runs and ask any questions.  Children can wear the school uniform or their own clothes.

Ideas to work on with your child at home before they start school:

Fine-motor skills involve the coordination of small-muscle movements of the hands and fingers, using the eyes. Some activities that you could do to encourage fine-motor development include:

• Using scissors to cut out shapes or to help create craft.

• Using pegs to put the clothes on the clothes line.

• Threading beads or pasta onto string to make jewellery.

• Using tweezers to pick up and sort coloured pompoms.

• Using play dough to make 3D objects.

• Using kitchen tongs to pick up items off the floor.

• Painting pictures with mini-sponges.

Moving from Another School

If your child is moving from another school, they can begin with us on a mutually agreed date, made at the time of enrolment.

Fundraising

Our BOT are often looking for ideas to fundraise for the school.  We have three teachers at school, and the BOT fund part of the salary to ensure we have low teacher/student ratios.  If you have ideas or would like to be part of a team to fundraise, please contact the office.

Grandparents Day

Each year we invite Grandparents to come in and see what their grandchildren are learning.  Their grandchildren take them for a tour around the school and there is a morning tea shared by all.

Head Lice

If you do notice your child has head lice, please treat as soon as possible.  Also let the school know so we can advise the parents of other children in your child's class and they can then check their hair.  Information on head lice and treatment solutions can be found here.

Health and Safety

We are committed to ensuring and promoting the welfare of children and young people at our school, and we expect all staff, volunteers and visitors to share this commitment.  If you have any concern that a child has been harmed or is at risk of harm, or you receive a disclosure, please contact the office as quickly as possible.

When you are visiting the school, your safety and well-being is important to us.  Please be prepared to follow school procedures and all reasonable instructions from our team. We may ask you to present identification or, if you are volunteering on an off-site activity, to sign a volunteer agreement.  All visitors to the school must sign in at the school office.  More information on our health and safety procedures is available at the office.

Health Personnel

Public Health Nurse - contact the Public Health Nursing Service, Burwood Hospital, Christchurch 03 383 6877.

Home Learning

Children are very focused during the day, so we encourage that they get outside and play after school!  It’s important to have some down time, but also to take on responsibilities at home.  These are our guidelines for home learning:

• We would like every child to read every school day at home.  For the little ones, if they are too tired, you can read to them.  This could also be on RAZ reading.

• We encourage practising of basic facts from Year 3-8.  This is optional for Years 1-2.  

Hours of Opening

8.55 am: Oral language/Maths

10.10 am: Morning break                

10.30 am: Literacy

11.25am: Fitness

11.35am: Literacy

12.30 pm: Lunch

1.25 pm: Afternoon learning commences

3.00 pm: End of school day for children

(Fridays - school finishes 2.30pm)

Library

We are fortunate to have a school library where children can borrow up to two books a week.  Library day is every Monday. This is also a community library where members of our community are able to come and borrow books and also get books delivered here from the Hurunui Library.  The children go to the Hurunui Library in Amberley each term as well.

Lunches

On alternate Wednesdays there is Sushi or Subway delivered to school. You can order these at www.lunchonline.co.nz.

Money

Payments can be made online. When doing this please put your child’s name as a reference plus a description of the payment (eg Sally Smith - school fees). Our school bank account number is:

Omihi School
03-1582-0002990-00

Newsletters

When you enrol, your email will be added to our database and you will receive newsletters every fortnight via email.  You can also access all newsletters on the school website here.  If you would like a paper copy, please let the office know.

Pet Day

We have a Pet Day each year where children can bring in their pets and there are a number of Agri games and competitions with the whole community involved.

Reporting to Parents

This is an ongoing process that happens formally and informally throughout the year.  If you have questions about your child’s learning and progress, feel free to contact your child’s teacher.  We have an open door policy and are very happy for you to come and see your child’s learning at anytime and make a time to meet with the teacher.  You don’t need to wait until a certain time of the year.

We send home formal reports (in real time) digitally on Hero throughout the year that cover the curriculum areas, as well as our school values.  You will be set up with Hero when your child starts. We have an opportunity to book a time to meet with your child’s teacher in term 1 to set goals with your child and also we have ‘Three way learning conferences’ in term 3.  These are student led and are an opportunity for students to share their learning and next steps and give parents the chance to ask questions.

School/Sports Events

Keep an eye on the school calendar on our website for up to date info on school events.  We belong to the Kowai sports groups (Omihi, Waipara, Broomfield, Amberley, Leithfield and Sefton).  Events are held throughout the year, including swimming sports, triathlon, cross country, athletic sports and summer tabloids.

 School Pets

We have a school dog called Vuk.  We have a 'Reading to Dogs' programme where children have the opportunity to read to Vuk.  This is a wonderful opportunity to read to someone who is non-judgemental, a great listener and who loves cuddles.

Social Media

The school website (www.omihi.school.nz) should be your first point of call for the latest events and information about the school.

The school has a Facebook page where there are regular photos of what is happening at school. If you ‘like’ us you will usually be the first to hear about school happenings.  We also have an Instagram page.  Follow us to keep an eye on the great things that happen at Omihi!

Stationery

School stationery is available to purchase at www.myschool.co.nz.  Type in Omihi School and the class lists will come up.  Any additional stationery during the year can be purchased through our school office.

Strategic Plan and Cultural Narrative

Here is our Strategic Plan and Cultural Narrative.

Sun Hats

During terms 1 and 4 sun hats you child/ren must wear an Omihi School sun hat.  Hats are available to purchase from the school office.

Swimming Pool

Our school swimming pool is used in terms 1 and 4 for water safety lessons with the children.  Every Omihi School family is given the opportunity to have a pool key for the summer.  We take extra care to ensure our children are safe when swimming:

• All safety requirements are met by the BOT.  

• The pool gate is secure at all times.  

• The 'Pool Users Code' is displayed in an obvious place.  All users abide by this code.

• Pool chemicals are locked securely

• A First Aid Kit is available

• Emergency contact and closest phone is displayed

• Swimming pool safety and general operation review is part of the cyclical Property/Health and Safety Checklist

• Pool operation is the responsibility of the pool caretaker

Uniform

You can see our school uniform on our website.  The children wear the following items with the Omihi logo:

• Short sleeved polo shirt

• Long sleeved merino top

• Beanie

• Jacket

• Sunhat

You can then choose your own navy bottoms to go with it.  Children wear a mix of shorts, skorts, and trackpants.  Uniform can be ordered through the school office.  We encourage children to wear comfortable sneakers and white or navy socks.

Values

Our school values we incorporate throughout our classrooms - P.U.R.E

• Poho Kererū/Pride

• Kotahitanga/Unity

• Whakaute/Respect

• Hiranga/Excellence

Vision

Our Omihi Vision is - Ako/Learn, Tipu/Grow, Puāwai/Thrive.