Kia ora koutou

We’ve had a different two weeks at school with some staff members away, but it is so great to see the resilience in our students and how adaptable they have been. We have tried to keep things as normal as possible for them. A big thanks to Elizabeth Maddren for relieving for 2 weeks for us.

I have really enjoyed being in the classes and seeing the progress in our ‘Energy’ science inquiry this term. We look forward to sharing progress on this in the coming weeks.

I would like to say thanks to one of our Dads - Carl, for coming in and fixing our hammock, the front gate and putting some health and safety signs up for us. It is so hard in rural areas to get tradespeople to come and do minor jobs, so it’s wonderful to have a supportive community that help get these jobs done.

Finally thanks to Anna Williams who is our new Parent Liaison. Anna will get in touch with new families during their first term at school to ensure everything is going ok and see if they have any questions.

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

School Notices

Principal Awards
The latest principal awards went to…..Jack.S and Michael. I look forward to taking them to Fossil Point for a hot chocolate.

Character Strengths
Lily (Year 6) - My character strengths are bravery, love and gratitude. Bravery helps me be brave and to try new things - like when we are at camp. Love helps me to be kind and considerate to others about their feelings. Gratitude helps me to be grateful for what I have and how lucky we are. We have a good school, and good friends.

Swimming Pool
The swimming pool is still open. We are still having some warm afternoons, so please encourage children to bring their togs and we will swim if it is warm enough.

Masks
We have been given literally thousands of masks from the Ministry. If you would like some for your family, please let me know and I will send a box home with your child.

Mufti Day for Big Brothers, Big Sisters, North Canterbury
This is on Friday 8th April. We ask children to bring a gold coin donation and to dress up as someone they look up to - could be a sportsperson, coach, teacher, parent, community hero, superhero…..the possibilities are endless!

Bus Parking
When parking outside the school gate before and after school, please ensure there is enough room for the school bus to pick up and drop off children.

Sushi and Subway
A reminder that you can order sushi and subway at www.lunchonline.co.nz. Thanks to Dave and Carl who are picking these up for us. It is sushi this week.

William Pike Challenge
As part of our William Pike Challenge, Tūpari will be going to Amberley Beach on Tuesday 29th March for a beach clean up. We will use the school bus for transport.

School Docs Policies
Each term we review some of our school policies. These are reviewed by staff, BOT and our community. Here are our latest policies that you are able to review:

Please review the following by clicking on this link: http://omihi.schooldocs.co.nz
Username: omihi Password: glenmark

• Health, Safety, and Welfare section

• Emergency, Disaster, and Crisis Management section
  

Community Notices

The Hurunui Council’s latest Waste and Recycling newsletter is available now.

Kia ora e te whānau

At our board meeting last week we looked at our strategic and annual plan. We had a big year in 2021 putting this together and it’s so great to say that we are already ahead of schedule in our annual plan, with our main initiatives being around literacy, positive education, cultural responsiveness, Enviroschools and our local environment.

This is not to say we aren’t focusing on other areas as well. We’ve had a great few weeks focusing on statistics in our classes. I’ve really enjoyed talking to our students about their statistical investigation. It’s always interesting to see their outcomes and fantastic to hear the mathematical language they use. Plus our inquiry around Energy has started, which is focusing on Science and Social Sciences. There is a lot of great learning happening in term 1!

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

School Notices

Principal Awards
The latest Principal awards went to……..Isobel and Stanley K.

Character Strengths
Jack (Year 5) - My character strengths are teamwork and kindness. Teamwork helps me when we are playing games on the field and also when I’m doing maths, because sometimes I need to help others. Everyone should have kindness and it’s so good to be kind to people.

Omihi School Board of Trustees
Leighton has stepped down from the board, as of our last meeting. We want to thank Leighton for his wonderful contribution to Omihi School throughout his time here - as a student, parent, community member and board member. He has been such an asset as a board chair during our new building projects. We thank Julie Wells for stepping up into the board chair position.

3 Way Learning Conference - 14th/15th March
Please make sure you book a time for a Zoom meeting with your child’s teacher.

Absences
Please either email your child’s teacher or call and leave a message in the office if your child is sick or away for any reason. We can’t rely on siblings relaying the message to us.

Swimming Carnival
We are looking forward to our Omihi Swimming Carnival this Wednesday. Please send children with their togs, goggles and a rash vest if they have one.

School drop offs and pick ups
The Omihi bus gets here at 8.30am and does the last pick up at 3.20pm. Please ensure you drop off and pick up your child between these times.

Omihi Bus
A reminder there is no Omihi bus this Wednesday 9th March.

School pool
A big thanks to Kurt, Tamar and Emma who have been looking after our swimming pool and keeping it running for us. It is a lot of work to have a school pool, so we are really lucky to have such dedicated parents to help us test it. Tamar and Emma check it daily and Kurt is in very regularly making sure the levels are all ok. He completed a one day course last week on looking after pools. Thank you so much!

Community Notices

This programme develops fundamental movement and ball skills. Running for 10 weeks in Term 2 from Thursday 5th of May, it is $85 per player to register. Players register individually and are then placed in groups. If you have any enquiries, please contact Raewyn at admin@ncnc.org.nz or on 03 313 1445.

North Canterbury Basketball are shortlisted to receive a share of the Mainpower Community Fund. Any funding received will go towards a new programme called ‘Girls Got Game’, which introduces girls to basketball in an inclusive, fun and confidence-building environment. Visit mainpower.co.nz to vote now!

Kia ora e te whānau

One of the things that make our school special is the people. I feel so privileged to work with such a dedicated team. At our last staff meeting we shared something positive from the start of the year. Mine was being able to work with such a dream team of staff, and our amazing students. We had eight new students at the start of the year, and seeing how inclusive our Omihi whānau have been, and how easily these students have transitioned is such a credit to our wonderful ‘one big whānau’.

We have enjoyed getting back into our routines of learning, as well as having outdoor experiences, such as a farm walk and our triathlon. It’s great to see our students pushing themselves academically as well as physically and mentally.

We know that there is some anxiety out there about Covid, with it getting closer to our community. We have our BOT meeting tonight and will share our Covid Response Plan with you tomorrow. A reminder that if we have Covid in our school, we will contact the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education straight away and follow their guidelines, work through contract tracing and will contact our community as soon as possible. If you have Covid or someone in your family does, please make sure you contact me asap.

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

School Notices

Character Strengths
Taylor, Year 5 - My character strengths are humour, honesty and zest. Humour helps me to make jokes with friends and they can actually understand it. It wouldn’t be very good if I lied, so honesty is a good strength. Zest helps me find learning exciting.

Technology
Year 7/8 technology start date is postponed. This will now start in week 2 of Term 2.

Reporting Timetable
We report to parents throughout the year via Hero. If you are not able to login to Hero, please let your child’s teacher know. Here is the timetable of when you will expect to see reporting come home.

School Donation
We will be sending out an invoice for a contribution to our school via a donation. This is $60 for one child, $100 for two and $120 for three or more. We usually ask for a contribution towards our bus and activities. These cover activities such as Beach Ed, Life Education, and any other trips we do during the year. The only trips we ask for payment for outside of this are ski trips and camp. Plus this helps us use the bus for these trips, so we don’t need to ask for parents to take cars if possible. These are all optional, and we realise times are tough for some families right now.

Fundraising Events
As you know we have had to cancel our last two year’s major fundraising events. So we are needing to be creative with our ideas. This year we are looking to have a raffle again and also the online auction. We are hoping to be able to run an event later in the year if possible.

We have been given a fundraising opportunity by Black Estate and wondered if there are any parents that are available. They are looking for some people to help pick their grapes from the 14th March for three weeks, and they will pay the school for your time. It could be that you are available for a few half days or a day or two here or there within that timeframe. Please let me know if you are available.

Community Notices

St Andrew’s College Boarding Road Shows are currently being held as online meetings. This is being held 5:00-7:00pm on Monday 28th February for North Canterbury families. To connect with the boarding team, register here.

Kia ora e te whānau

It’s so lovely to be back at school and to see all of our tamariki’s faces. The teacher’s and I loved hearing about their holiday stories. It was also exciting to welcome new students and staff to our Omihi whānau.

Welcome Miss W to Tūpari, Bryleigh as our Office Manager and Ava, Theo, Logan, Cadence, Hamish, Jack, Lennox and Kaisa to our classes.

As we move into this term there is a lot of uncertainty, so we are trying our best to make school as normal as possible. Our daily programme will stay the same and we have some fun events coming up. We know from last year that there is a disconnect with parents and the school without all the events we usually have, so we will try our best to connect as much as possible. Please keep in touch with us too. The teachers and I will often be out at the gate at drop off and pick up, plus we will offer zoom 3 Way Learning Conferences, and will send photos home through Hero and social media. We would also like to offer a zoom catch up with the community tomorrow night if the need is there. Just a chance to ask questions and have a chat. Please fill out this form by Wednesday morning if you would like to be a part of it. Or if you would like to speak to me privately, feel free to give me a call or arrange a meeting.

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

School Notices

Character Strengths
Isobel, Year 6 - My character strengths are bravery, prudence and love. Bravery helps me to get rid of fear and build up confidence, like standing up in front of loads of people and trying new things, and different ways to learn. Prudence helps me to think before I act, and love helps me to make friends.

School Calendar
Keep an eye on the school calendar on our website to see events coming up. This week Paemoana are going for a walk on the Lucas farm and we welcome bikes to school to practise for our triathlon. Next week Awaawa are going to the Lucas farm and we have our Omihi triathlon. Please ensure children have sensible shoes for the walks and triathlon practise.

When we go on school trips we use the school bus where possible, and ask for parent transport if needed, if we are not in red. We are going to our farm this term so we are not out in public and can limit who the children are in contact with. We have the blanket consent form that covers these trips that you signed on enrolment. The only trips we gain further consent for are ski trips and camps.

Uniform
A reminder that we ask children to wear navy shorts/skirts or trousers with their Omihi uniform. Also navy or white socks. We are in the middle of changing our uniform provider, due to changes in stock and order amounts, so we will let you know when that arrives. There will be a few new items that will be on offer.

Board of Trustees
We welcome Craig Tomlinson onto our BOT. Craig has been co-opted to help with our succession planning, as Leighton will be stepping down at the end of this term. We are so grateful for all the time and effort Leighton has put into the school and BOT over the past years while his children were at our school. There will be BOT elections later in the year. If you are interested in putting your name down, please feel free to have a chat with me or any of the BOT members if you want to find out what is involved. We meet at 5pm on a Monday twice a term, plus extra meetings when needed.

Contacting Omihi Staff
The best way to contact teachers and myself is through email. We can’t always reply straight away, but will get back to you as soon as possible. If you have a message regarding the bus, please text me. We try our best to not email parents after school hours of 8am - 5pm and I encourage our staff to have a work/life balance, so we ask that you try and keep communications during that time as well please.

If you need to get in touch with me regarding self isolation or someone having Covid, please contact me asap. If it is after hours, please call me on my mobile. Contact me if you need my mobile number.

Home learning packs
Home learning packs were sent home on Friday. These are to put away in case you need it in the future if your child has to self isolate, or if teachers need to self isolate.

Basketball and Mini ball
If your child would like to play basketball or mini ball, please make sure they have put their name down with me so I can organise teams. Julie (Lily and Thomas’ Mum) is organising Mini ball for the Year 3/4 team, which is on a Monday night. I will put together the Year 5/6 and Year 7/8 teams for Friday night. We are looking for a coach for these teams, please let me know if you are available.

Omihi Library
Each class goes to the library every Monday. Please remind your children to bring their holiday books back this week if possible. The library is also available to the community. While we are in the red traffic light, please let me know if you would like to get some books out and I can arrange a time outside of school hours for you.

Community Notices