Kia ora koutou

It’s been such a fabulous last few weeks at school. Routines have carried on in the classrooms, until they did some fun Christmas activities today, and there has been a lot of swimming! Thanks to all the parents who were able to come to Beach Education last week. It was a fun day of learning, and swimming.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas, and hope you have some lovely family time in the holidays. We are looking forward to some time away with our families, and then coming back fresh in the new year.

It really is a privilege for me to be able to work at Omihi. Working alongside such wonderful staff, and teaching your wonderful children, plus having a supportive community around us. We truly feel like one big whānau.

Ngā mihi
Maree Lucas
Tumuaki/Principal
principal@omihi.school.nz

School Notices

Canterbury Honda Omihi School Trail ride
We are excited to have Canterbury Honda on board again for 2026. We have locked our trail ride in for Sunday 8th November, 2026.

Prize giving
Tomorrow is our final day of school for the year. We have our prize giving at 9.30am, and we welcome all of our community along to this. We will farewell our students at the end of prize giving, and it is your choice to either take them home straight away, or some families have a play at school before they go. If it’s a nice day and you have a pool key (or join with a family that does), you might like to stay for a swim.

Omihi bus 2026
The bus run for Term 1 will be south, north, then Reeces Rd. As the north and south bus run is so large, we will continue for them to be the first bus run in the morning and afternoon.

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.

Bikes at school
We start school on Monday 2nd February. Children are allowed to bring their bikes and helmets to school in week 1 as we will be training for the triathlon. This is on Thursday 5th February at 1.30pm, at our school. We welcome parents to come and watch. The leaders from each race in Year 5-8 will go on to the Kowai triathlon on Thursday 12th February in Amberley.

St John sessions
St John will be running first aid sessions with each class on the morning of Thursday 5th February.

Evans’ farm walk
On Tuesday 10th February, we will be doing a walk on the Evans’ farm, as part of our ‘Belonging to our community’ inquiry. Please let Maree know if you are able to help with transport and be a parent helper on the trip.

School uniform
We have received a small amount of size 8-10 navy skirts to sell. These are $10 each. Please contact Bryleigh in the office if you would like any. Bryleigh will be back in the office on 26th January if you need any uniform in the new 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.

Food Truck Friday
We are collaborating with Farmstrong to bring you Food Truck Friday 2026. We welcome the whole wider community on Friday 6th March. There will be a variety of food trucks, and Kelly Fletcher will be playing live music for us. Bring along your picnic rugs, and enjoy a local night out.

Community Notices

Foodbank Christmas hours
As we head into the festive season, we know Christmas can be a challenging time for many whānau, with extra costs and pressures adding up. Our local foodbanks are here to help wherever possible.

InspirePantry Foodbank will be closed from Friday 19 December 2025, reopening Tuesday 20 January 2026. The other Hurunui foodbanks will remain open over the Christmas and New Year period. With InspirePantry closed, please note that Living Waters (Waikari) and Amberley Area Foodbank may be busier than usual. If you need support, please get in touch with the foodbanks as soon as possible.

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.

Community Notices

Kia ora koutou,

What a ride! Not only was our trail ride an amazing opportunity for riders to explore some of our stunning Omihi countryside, but it was also such a special community event. To see our parents come together to create the track, set up for the day, take registrations, check spark arrestors, run the BBQ, and many more tasks on the day was truly special. I feel lucky to be in such a supportive community and our trail ride had such a positive vibe.

We had numerous comments from riders about how much they loved the track and the scenery and that they will be back next year! So a big thank you to our sponsors Canterbury Honda who helped us make this happen. Also to our landowners - Stronachs and Turnbulls - who let us use their beautiful land. Thanks to Amuri Net who set up Wi-Fi on the day, Craig and Andy for leading the set up of the track, Sofia for leading the BBQ, and all of our parents who were involved in some way, Bryleigh who worked hard in the lead up to it, and to our riders who came and supported our school. See you next year!

In term one we have our Food Truck Friday event on Friday 6th March. This is a community event, not a fundraiser, and we are excited to be collaborating with Farmstrong for this event. We are still looking for one more food truck, please let us know if you know of anyone we could approach.

Ngā mihi
Maree Lucas
Tumuaki/Principal
principal@omihi.school.nz

School Notices

Raffle
Thank you so much for helping us to sell raffle tickets. Please send them back asap, and transfer the payment into the school account. One of the raffle items that we were donated was a playhouse from DK Custom Cabins. We have decided to auction this on Trade me. You can find the link here. Feel free to share this around for us.

Camp parents
Thanks to Pip, Aimee and Rachel who are going to be our camp parents in Hanmer Springs next year.

Small Schools Athletics results
Year 4 girls
Mackenzie - 1st shot put
Charlotte - 2nd high jump

Year 4 boys
Hugh - 2nd distance run, 3rd 60m sprints, 3rd 80m sprints

Year 5 boys
Theo - 1st long jump, 1st 60m sprints, 1st 80m sprints, 2nd distance run, 3rd discus
Harry - 2nd 80m sprints, 3rd distance run
Alex - 1st distance run

Year 6 boys
Arlo - 1st long jump, 1st high jump, 2nd shot put, 2nd discus, 3rd 60m sprints, 3rd 80m sprints, 3rd distance run
Fergus - 3rd shot put, 3rd discus

Year 7 boys
Michael - 1st distance run, 2nd 60m sprints, 2nd 100m sprints

Kowai Athletics results
Year 4 boys
Hugh - 2nd distance run

Year 4 girls
Kenzie - 3rd shotput

Year 5 boys
Theo - 1st long jump, 2nd 60m sprints, 2nd 80m sprints, 2nd distance run
Alex - 1st distance run

Year 6 boys
Arlo - 1st long jump, 1st shot put, 2nd discus, 3rd high jump

Canterbury Athletics
Arlo, Theo and Alex have now qualified to go to Canterbury Athletics, congratulations!

Sports Spectacular 
On Wednesday 19th November the year 0-3 children are going to Sefton for Sports Spectacular. Georgie has sent out the programme for this, so please get in touch if you have any questions.

Beach Ed
On Tuesday 9th December we have a whole school visit to Waikuku Beach for Beach Ed. Maree will send out transport details the week before.

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.

Community Notices

The sack race at the Year 1-3 athletics.

Kia ora koutou,

We had athletics day last week. Year 4-8 at Waipara School, and year 0-3 at Waikari School. It’s always lovely to mix with children from our wider community, and see how well our students compete. We are so proud of them all for giving it a go, even if it is something they don’t love doing. It shows great perseverance. One of the proudest moments for us as teachers was seeing all of our students on the sideline of the long distance race cheering on their friends! Thanks to Waipara and Waikari for hosting us.

This weekend is our major fundraiser, our trail ride. A big thanks to Craig Tomlinson and Andy Evans who are leading the set up of the ride. Thanks to Mike Stronach, and Yo and Hugh Turnbull who are allowing us to use their farms, and to all of our parents who are helping out on the day. The weather is looking good!

Ngā mihi
Maree Lucas
Tumuaki/Principal
principal@omihi.school.nz

School Notices

Whole School Assembly
We welcome you to our whole school assembly this Thursday at 2pm.

Principal Comment
Your child’s Principal Comment will be sent home this week via Hero.

Year 5-8 Camp 2026
Our Year 5-8 camp is in Hanmer Springs from Wednesday 25th - Friday 27th March. We are looking for parents to come with us. If you would like to be a parent helper, please fill this google form out by Monday 17th November, and we will confirm by the end of term.

School raffle
Please send in your raffle tickets (sold or unsold) by Monday 17th November. Please transfer the payment to the school account.

Gumboot Friday
We are supporting Gumboot Friday on Friday 7th November. Children can wear gumboots to school and bring a donation that goes towards the initiative to support mental health for young people in New Zealand. 

Pool key
If you would like to purchase a pool key for the summer, please email Bryleigh on office@omihi.school.nz. It is $50 for school families, and $70 for our wider community. There is a $20 refund when you return the key. The pool is now open.

Preschooler morning
We welcome all of our preschoolers this Thursday from 9am - 10.30am. Please bring morning tea and a drink bottle for them.

School Pool
The school pool is now open, so please start sending along togs and towels each day. If your child has a rash vest, we ask that they wear it in the pool to protect them from the sun.

BNZ Kiwi Hoops – Hoops and Dreams on Tour
Basketball New Zealand, in partnership with BNZ and Canterbury Basketball Association, has invited Canterbury schools to a BNZ Kiwi Hoops 3x3 event, on this Friday 7th November, at Selwyn Sports Centre, Rolleston.

The event focuses on building confidence, teamwork, and fundamental basketball skills through fun, inclusive activities, and gameplay. The programme encourages participation, creativity, and a love for the game. The event is open to Years 5-8, and schools are invited to bring students grouped in 3x3 teams (3-5 players per team). All skill levels, genders and abilities are welcome, and teams will be sorted accordingly to ensure everyone has a great experience.

The invite to come along has only just been extended to North Canterbury schools. It is short notice with the event this Friday. Please let Maree know by 3pm tomorrow (Tuesday) if you would like your Year 5-8 student to attend, and if you are able to transport them there, and we will see if we have enough players to enter a team.

Community Notices