Kia ora koutou
We have two more weeks of the school year, and I wanted to mention our Year 8 student, Ava. I feel privileged to have been with Ava on her whole primary school journey at Omihi. She has been an absolute pleasure to teach, and is a student who consistently shows our Omihi values, especially in her Student Leader role this year. We wish her all the best at high school next year.
I would also like to acknowledge Penny Vincent, who is leaving at the end of this term. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Penny over the last 6 years. She is an incredible teacher, and has been an absolute asset to our school. It was Penny that first introduced us to Structured Literacy 6 years ago. I have always admired Penny’s ability to continue to learn, and reflect on her practice as she goes. She has a growth mindset, and she has her students at the heart of everything she does. Penny has been a big part of our team, and we are going to miss her as a colleague, and a friend. We wish her all the best for her new teaching journey.
A big thank you to all of our staff and BOT. We are so lucky to have such a dedicated team. Thank you to Kelly, Penny, Georgie, Bryleigh, Trudy, Sharryn, Emma, Fi, Yo, Craig, Andy and Pip. Plus a big thanks to our regular relievers - Elizabeth, Liz and Malin. Our students are so lucky to have you all working hard to enhance their learning.
Plus thanks to our amazing community. Thanks for helping to sell raffle tickets, providing transport for trips, helping at the trail ride, looking after our pool and our grounds. Thanks for all of the little things you do to help our school thrive.
Ngā mihi
Maree Lucas
Tumuaki/Principal
principal@omihi.school.nz
A message from our Omihi School Board of Trustees:
School Notices
Raffle
Thanks to everyone who helped us to sell raffle tickets. From our Trade me auction and our raffle, we raised over $4200!
Beach Ed
On Tuesday 9th December we have a whole school visit to Waikuku Beach for Beach Ed. Maree will send out transport details this week.
Tūpari trips
Tūpari are doing the Lucas farm walk on Friday 5th December, and are going to the Amberley rest home and library on Friday 12th December. Both trips will be with Maree and Kelly in the school bus.
Prize giving
Our final day of school is Tuesday 16th December. We have our prize giving at 9.30am, and we welcome all of our community along to this. It is your choice if you would like to take your children home straight away afterwards, or some families have a play at school before they go. If it’s a nice day and you have a pool key, you might like to stay for a swim.
Hurunui Council Summer Pool Parties
The Hurunui Council are running their summer pool parties again this year. They are running it at our Omihi School pool on Thursday 22nd January from 10.30am - 12.30pm. It’s free, and they have a sausage sizzle as well. We hope to see you there!
Stationery Lists
Stationery lists for 2026 are available on the Office Max MySchool website. Please order these so they arrive in time for the start of the year.
School lunch orders in 2026
From Term 1, Lunch Online is being taken over by Ezlunch. Ezlunch is part of the Kindo platform and is trusted by schools and families across New Zealand. Ezlunch continues to work with the same providers, so we will continue to have Subway or sushi available on alternating Wednesdays. Families who currently have Lunch Online accounts will receive an email from Ezlunch in January with new login details. If you’d like to order Subway or sushi for the remaining two Wednesdays this term, please continue to do so via Lunch Online.
Strategic Plan
We are excited to share our strategic plan with you for the next 4 years. The Ministry is sending out requirements to schools next year for strategic plans from 2027, so we will review and adapt as needed along the way. We thank everyone that was a part of this journey - teachers, staff, students, BOT, parents, and our community. We value your voice, and we enjoyed working alongside ‘Nicholas Williams Consulting’, who helped us bring all of this together.
