Monday 11th August, 2025
Constable Ken talking with our students about safety on the bus.
Kia ora koutou
You have likely seen or heard that the government is looking at reducing policing numbers in small rural towns, and potentially some stations may end up closing. The other disappointing news we have received is that it is proposed to reduce the current number of School Community Officers within the entire Canterbury District from 11 to 5. Constable Ken is our School Community Officer, and has been working with our students for a number of years.
In Canterbury rural this will mean the two full time positions in North Canterbury and Selwyn delivering services to 77 schools (Selwyn, Banks Peninsula, Waimakariri and Hurunui Districts) will become one full time position based in either Rangiora or Rolleston. This proposal would effectively mean that School Community Officers would no longer be able to support and deliver programmes such as Keeping Ourselves Safe - KOS, Kia Kaha, Loves me Not, Cybersafety/Cyberbullying, bus safety, plus school wide problem solving, pastoral care and providing support and interventions when required.
The focus of the sole School Community Officer would be primarily on Road Safety education and School Traffic Safety Team training, refreshing and monitoring, which is funded separately to Police by the NZTA.
As a board, we have submitted our feedback directly to Constable Ken, as he and his colleagues are gathering voice to send to their District Leadership Team. We have also submitted a letter to Stuart Smith, our local MP. We welcome you to do the same, and let your voices be heard. There is also a community meeting at the Tin Shed in Amberley on Tuesday 12th August at 7.30pm.
Ngā mihi
Maree Lucas
Tumuaki/Principal
principal@omihi.school.nz
School Notices
Middle Leaders Course
Kelly, Penny and Georgie have been part of a Middle Leaders course with a number of leaders from across Canterbury. They had two days earlier in the year, and another two days this term. Their feedback was:
The middle leaders course has given us tools around leadership and critical thinking skills to grow our practice. As a teacher, pedagogy is always changing and it has been great to come away with concrete tools that we can use to structure our thinking around change management.
3 Way Learning Conferences
On Tuesday 19th and Wednesday 20th August we have our 3 Way Learning Conferences. If you haven’t already, please book in a time on this sign up form.
Grandparents Day - Tuesday 12th August
We welcome all of our grandparents to our Grandparents Day on Tuesday 12th August from 9am - 10.30am. Our students will take them on a tour of the school and into their classes, then we will have a shared morning tea. We ask that each family please bring in a plate of food to share for morning tea.
Kapa Haka festival
Year 4-8 students will be taking part in the annual kapa haka festival run by Te Kura o Tuahiwi. This is held at Ohoka School on the 4th September, and we are in the first session of the day, starting at 10.15am. We will travel there by bus, and will be leaving school at 9am. Tickets are on sale at www.humanitix.com. Please note there will be no door sales this year.
Cultural Day
On Thursday 11th September, Tūpari will be attending our Tipu Māia Cultural Day with Miss Fletcher and Mrs Vincent, which is organised by the kāhui. This is at Rangiora New Life. They will be travelling in the school bus, leaving at 9am and returning by 3pm.
Omihi School 125th Jubilee - Friday 12th September
We invite you to our 125th Jubilee. There will be a school tour, decade photos, and an afternoon tea between 12.30pm - 2.30pm. Then drinks, dinner and speakers in the evening at the Omihi Community Hall. Registrations are now open on www.iticket.co.nz. Please help us spread the word, and let any previous students, staff and community know. If you have any old photos you would like to share for the event, please send them to Fi Williams as soon as possible - fiphil@xtra.co.nz or 027 286 5772.
Term 3/4 sports team opportunities
Basketball - Please contact Bryleigh by 18 August if your Year 5-8 student is interested in playing basketball in Terms 3-4. Years 5-6 have a 3x3 competition held on Thursday nights at Mainpower Stadium in Rangiora. Years 7-8 have a 5x5 competition held on Friday nights at either Mainpower Stadium or Kaiapoi High School.
Miniball - Please contact Bryleigh by 15 September if your Year 3-4 student is interested in playing miniball in Term 4. Games are Monday nights at Mainpower Stadium, and the cost is $49 per student for 7 games.
Hockey - Please contact Bryleigh by 15 September if your Year 3-8 student is interested in playing hockey in Term 4. Year 3-4 have a skills based programme on Fridays at Dudley Park, and Years 5-8 play at Mainpower Hockey Turf in Rangiora on Tuesdays. The cost is $42 per player for 6 weeks.
If we don’t have quite enough players keen to make a full team, we can contact other schools to see if they would like to enter a combined team.
