Year 5-8 camp at Hanmer Springs

Kia ora koutou

Firstly a huge thank you to Sally and Georgie for organising such a wonderful camp last week, and thanks to Sally, Penny, Sarah, Todd and Aaron who went on the camp. It was so great to see and hear about our tamariki pushing themselves out of their comfort zone, and trying new things.

I was at the NZ Principal’s Federation Conference in Christchurch last week, and one of the keynote speakers was Kaila Colbin. She does a lot of work with Brene Brown, who is one of my role models and I have read and listened to a lot of her work.

One of her main messages was around courage, and what the skill sets are of courage. She talked about us, as leaders, modelling courage - to get out of our comfort zones, show vulnerability, and take away the ‘armour’. And to encourage this in our teams, in our students. So it was inspiring to see our students going on camp and trying new things. For some, it might be the first time they stayed away from home, or the first time they have rock climbed, or simply being independent for three days without their family around. We are proud of them all, their courage and bravery looks different for each child.

Ngā mihi

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

School Notices

Character Strengths
Ava (Year 5) - My top 3 character strengths are love, gratitude and kindness. Love and kindness helped me on camp to play and talk with my friends. Gratitude helped me to be thankful to my teachers who organised camp and made it fun.

Out of Zone Enrolments for 2023
Please see below our ad for our out of zone enrolments. If you would like to enrol for 2023, and are not currently in zone, please email me by the 23rd September with your application. Enrolment forms are on our website, or you can email Bryleigh at office@omihi.school.nz.

Online Auction
Here is a link to our online auction on our Facebook page. This is one of our major fundraisers of the year. Please have a look, feel free to bid, like and share around. It’s also pinned to the top of our school Facebook page. It finishes on Tuesday 20th September at 8pm.

Trailride Volunteers
We still need a few more volunteers. Please add your name if you are able to help. We have some A3 posters to advertise the race, if you have anywhere that these could go, or would be happy to put some up in the community, please let me know.

School Cleaner
We would like to thank Sharryn for her wonderful work as our cleaner for the past two years. We have loved having her as part of our team. Sadly for us, Sharryn has handed in her resignation. If you have preschoolers at Bloomfields, you may see her there! So we are now looking for a cleaner for our school, which is approximately 8.5 hours per week. This could also go alongside the Omihi Hall cleaning position. If you are interested please email me with your interest and any experience you have to principal@omihi.school.nz by Friday 23rd September.

No Omihi Bus
Due to our Kapahaka Festival, there is no Omihi bus on the afternoon of Thursday 22nd September. At this stage there may be no Omihi bus on Wednesday afternoon, due to having no bus drivers, but we will confirm tomorrow.

Prize Giving Cups
If you received a cup at prize giving last year, can you please return it by the end of this term.

School Photos - new date and sibling portraits
School photos have been moved to this Wednesday 21st September at 9am.

If you would like a sibling portrait to be taken, please complete this form before 8.00am this Wednesday. Sibling photos will only be taken for those who have completed the form.

Kapahaka Festival
We look forward to seeing you at our kapahaka festival this Thursday. If you purchased tickets, these will be sent home in the next day or two. These are likely to be door sales - cash only.

William Pike
Tūpari will be travelling by bus to Loburn School this Friday to listen to William Pike. They will leave school at 9am, and return by 1.30pm.

Year 0-4 Assembly
We invite you to our year 0-4 assembly this Friday at 2pm, in Kahiwi.

Grandparents Day
We look forward to seeing our grandparents on Wednesday 28th September from 9.00-10.30am. A reminder for families to please send along a small plate to share.

Year 8 Day out
Our Year 8’s are looking forward to going to Christchurch for their Year 8 day out on Tuesday 27th September. They will be picked up and dropped off in Amberley.

Pet Day
Our pet day is on Wednesday 19th October. Please fill out this form by Friday 23rd September, to tell us what your child/children will be bringing.

Community Dental Service

One of the Community Dental Service vans will be at school on Thursday 20th October. Only the children who currently require a check up will be seen at this time. Please see more information from the Community Dental Service regarding this visit in the notices below.

Community Notices

Last Saturdays at Brew Moon - $5 entry fee (free for kids), with 100% of ticket sales going to the Waikuku Beach Surf Lifesaving Club.

Tiddlywinks Theatre children’s drama course
Balcairn Public Hall Soc Inc is excited to invite local children from 10 to 13 years to join in a children’s drama course to be held at the hall in the October School holidays. This workshop is firstly about having fun with drama!

The course will consist of three afternoons of 2 hours each from 1.00pm to 3.00pm on Thursday 6th, Friday 7th and Saturday 8th October with a presentation for parents on the third day. There is a nominal charge of $5.00 for the whole course. It will cover a range of aspects to develop confidence, imagination, teamwork and an insight into the fun of doing drama! We will be covering a range of drama games / improvisation / mime / creating scenes / rhythm / voice, etc.

Mrs Dinie Bevers and her husband, Wim Bevers will lead the course. They have both had extensive experience in children’s drama over many years and are highly qualified. Dinie is a Speech & Drama teacher and a National Examiner for Speech New Zealand, with many years of experience. We are privileged to be able to offer a coach of such high calibre.

Numbers are limited to 30, so book early to secure a place. If this inaugural course proves popular, further courses for differing age groups are planned for the future.

All welcome / no experience is necessary. More information and enrolment forms are available via Deb Vink. Please email secretary@balcairnhall.com.

Kia ora koutou

Eddy, Stanley, Arty and Theo working together on our preschooler morning.

One of my highlights from last week was our preschooler morning. It was lovely to see so many siblings coming in for the morning, but also to welcome new families to join us for our preschooler morning. It’s a great opportunity for children and parents to meet each other, and for children to build up their confidence when at school. Plus an opportunity for our students to be leaders, and help strengthen their tuakana-teina relationships.

A big thank you to Penny and Georgie for running this. We are looking forward to the next one in term 4 on Monday 31st October.

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

School Notices

Character Strengths:
Zariah (Year 5) - My top 3 character strengths are love, creativity and love of learning. Love helps me get into better relationships with my friends. Creativity is really good for my art that I do at school and at home. Love of learning helps me learn more about when I am going to be an adult and have a job. Maths used to be hard for me, but I love learning so it is getting easier and easier.

Reports - Principal Comment
In term 4 I usually write a Principal comment for each child. As I won’t be here for all of term 4, these will be going home later in term 3.

Student Teacher
We are really excited to have Chantelle White back again in 2023. Chantelle is a student teacher who has been in Tūpari two days a week this year. Next year she will be joining Paemoana for two days a week. It’s a great way for student teachers to learn by being in the classroom, and a wonderful opportunity for our students to have another teacher in with them.

Year 5-8 Top Team Challenge - 7 September
On Wednesday we will be taking our year 5-8 students to the Top Team Challenge at the Amberley Domain. This is run by North Canterbury Sport. Our students will be put into teams with other students from schools in our area.  We will transport the children in the bus and we need one car. We will be leaving school at 12:20. If you are planning on taking your own child(ren), or can take a car, please let me know asap.  The event will run from 12:45 - 3pm.  There will be water involved in some activities, so we ask that children please bring a towel and change of clothes.  Children can be collected from the Amberley Domain at 2.50pm, or can go back to school for collection at 3:20.

Omihi School bus
There will be no bus this Wednesday afternoon.

Kapahaka festival - 22 September
On Thursday 22nd September 1:30-1:45pm years 4-8 will be performing in the annual Kapahaka festival run by Tuahiwi School. This will be held at Ohoka School Hall.  Child and adult tickets are $10 each and preschoolers are free. Please contact Bryleigh by September 15th if you would like to purchase tickets. 

There will be raffles and baking for sale during the festival so please bring cash if you wish to purchase something. We will be performing at 1.30pm.  Please note that students need to be there for the whole session from 12:30 - 2:45pm. We will leave school at 11:30am and meet at Ohoka Hall at 12.15pm.  Children will get changed into their kapahaka uniform at school the morning of. 

If you are able to assist with transporting children to the event or wish to transport your own child(ren), please let Sally know.

School photos - 22 September
We have school photos at school at 9am on Thursday 22nd September. There will be sibling photos as well.

Grandparents Day - 28 September
We are so excited to welcome our Grandparents back into school!  This is on Wednesday 28th September from 9am - 10.30am.  We ask each family to provide a small plate of food to share with our grandparents for morning tea please.  We are asking Grandparents to wear a mask as well please.

Yamaha Omihi School Trailride
Earlybird entries are now open on www.iticket.co.nz!

Community Notices

Cleaner for Omihi Hall
We are looking for a cleaner for the Omihi Hall. This is usually 1-2 times a week, sometimes not every week. There are flexible working times. If you are interested please contact Maree - principal@omihi.school.nz.

Kia ora koutou

Hamish, Jack and Leo having a break during play time.

It has been a very wet winter and our grounds still seem to be muddy. As the children always remind me, we are a country school with country kids that love the mud! Our students are allowed to climb trees, they love to play physical games, and they do get muddy. The teachers and I try to be as clear as we can on our expectations around this. They still need to show our Omihi values of whakaute (respect) and kotahitanga (unity), and look after one another. Plus show respect for our classrooms, as Sharryn shouldn’t have to be cleaning mud up off the classroom floor everyday.

During break times there is always a staff member on duty, and we now wear a high vis vest so we are really visible to the children. We keep an eye on the games, and if there are games that are getting too rough or too muddy, or they are too high up in a tree, we generally move them onto something else.

There is often a group that push to play tackle rugby, but as we explain to them, to play that they must have mouth guards and a qualified rugby referee or coach here with them. If they can organise that, then I’m happy to let it happen and supervise.

The most wonderful thing to see when out on duty is the tuakana-teina relationships we have in our kura. There are 5 year olds playing with 13 year olds, and often the whole school are playing a game altogether. If there are children that are a bit nervous, someone always steps in and supports them.

We really are lucky to have such an amazing Omihi whānau.

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

School Notices

Principal Awards
Congratulations to our latest Principal award winners - Eva and Hugo.

Teachers for 2023
We are excited to have our teachers back for 2023. I will be on maternity leave for the first half, and will be returning in term 3. Sally and Penny will be sharing the Acting Principal role until then. The classes for next year will be:

Paemoana (Year 0-2) - Georgie Smith
Awaawa (Year 3-5) - Penny Vincent
Tūpari (Year 6-8) - Sally Mickleson and Liz Grigg

Please let me know if you have any questions, or would like to discuss anything further. We will be sending out info on Sally and Penny’s Acting Principal roles before the end of term, so you know who the best person is to contact in different situations.

Enviroschools
We are excited to have Andrea from Enviroschools working with our Enviro leaders tomorrow. There hasn’t been any funding in the Hurunui for Enviroschools in the last 2 years, so we have been quietly working away on our own. Now that there is some funding we will be able to become registered as a Bronze Enviroschool, then continue working towards our silver. Thanks to Sally and Georgie who are leading this.

Yamaha Omihi School Trailride - Sunday 30th October
Early bird entries will be online at www.iticket.co.nz from the 1st September. Thanks to Sofia who is going to be running the BBQ on the day. We need some parents to help with this, and with registrations on the morning. Please let me know if you are able to help.

Nano Girl - Science Assembly
We are excited to have Nano Girl visit us and a number of other schools in the Omihi Hall this Thursday. The cost for this is covered in your activity fee. The Superhero Science Assembly is an hour long interactive and explosive Live Show which includes a short Q&A session for the budding scientists and engineers in the room. The show focuses on the superpowers of general science and engineering creativity and covers topics from both the Physical and Material Worlds, and The Nature of Science.

Omihi bus
A reminder there is no Omihi bus this Friday.

3 Way Learning Conferences - 29th and 30th August
Please sign your child and yourself up to have a time to meet with their teacher to discuss their learning. We ask that parents please wear masks during the meeting.

Production 2023
2023 is a Production year for us at Omihi. We are already looking ahead to the initial planning stage of this and are excited to announce our production will be ‘Peter Pan’. We are putting the word out now that if you have any large cardboard boxes from appliances etc, please can you save these and send them in to school. They will be really useful for us to make props with next year. Thanks to Penny who will be leading this.

Tuahiwi School
The Year 0-2 children are looking forward to building on their connection with Tuahiwi School and are going there for a visit on Tuesday 30th August. We will take them in the school bus, so please ensure their carseats are at school that day if needed.

Preschooler Morning
We welcome all of our local preschoolers to come and join us for our preschooler morning on Wednesday 31st August from 9am - 10.30am. They will be in Paemoana for the first session, and then will join our students for playtime, so please bring some morning tea for them.

Tipū Maia Kāhui Ako update
Earlier this term Principals, Deputy Principals, Teachers, and Leaders from Tipu Māia, our Kāhui Ako or Community of Learning, gathered for our annual Hui. Tipu Māia Kāhui Ako aims to grow strong, brave, capable, and confident learners. The representatives from across all thirteen schools came together to unpack our shared, student-focused, achievement challenges around literacy, numeracy, wellbeing, and culture. We were able to send all of our teachers, plus myself to this.

Collaboration works by sharing the expertise that already exists within a community and by providing opportunities for good ideas to be tested and developed further; collaboration leads to knowledge building. By working with the other Tipu Māia schools we increase our impact on the learning for all our ākonga. The hui was an ideal time to reaffirm and strengthen the connection between our schools with a shared purpose; we look forward to our next steps.

Community Notices

Kia ora koutou

The smiling faces of Liza and Kaisa.

With this terrible weather, we have some exciting news leading up to our summer! We have installed a heat pump for the swimming pool, and have purchased a new thermal cover. This means we should be able to use the pool for a longer period of time in terms 1 and 4, and it will be lovely and warm for our swimming lessons!

Thank you to those parents who were able to make it to our movie night and strategic plan update on Friday. It was great to have the opportunity to share our progress on our plan, that you helped us create. Thanks to the teachers who took the time to create a presentation to share. If you weren’t there, here are the slides that you are welcome to look through - structured literacy, positive education, cultural responsiveness. We are happy to go through them with you as well, just let me know. We are proud of what we have achieved as a kura already. We also shared a document showing our curriculum coverage this year so far that you may like to have a look at.

As always, our doors are always open, so please feel free to pop in or touch base if you have any questions or would like further clarity.

Ngā mihi

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

School Notices

Board of Trustees
At the close of nominations, as the number of valid parent nominations was fewer than the number of vacancies required to be filled, the following nominees are therefore officially re-elected in a non-voting election to the school Board of Trustees:

• Julie Wells

• Emma Hughes-Games

• Craig Tomlinson

Georgie Smith has also been elected as the staff Board of Trustees member.

This Board officially takes office on 10 August 2022. A big thank you to Julie, Emma, Craig and Georgie for putting themselves forward for these roles.

Bryleigh Kingston-Rodgers
Returning Officer

Character Strengths
Liza (Year 6) - My top 3 character strengths are curiosity, creativity and bravery. Curiosity helps me to try new things. Creativity helps me to see lots of different ways to do my learning, and it improves my art. Bravery pushes me out of my comfort zone and helps me try things even if it looks hard.

School Photos
Camera and Digital Photography are doing our school photos this year. These will be taken at 9am on Thursday 22nd September. There will be an option for individual and sibling photos as well.

Grandparents Day
We are so excited to welcome our Grandparents back into school! This is on Wednesday 28th September from 9am - 10.30am. We ask each family to provide a small plate of food to share with our grandparents for morning tea please. We are asking Grandparents to wear a mask as well please.

Online Auction
A big thanks to Anna Williams who is organising our online auction. This will be going live on Facebook at 7pm on the 12th September. If you have any contacts or suppliers that may be interested in donating an item, please let Anna know. We aren’t asking families to donate to this, Anna is contacting outside businesses.

Kapahaka Festival
The Year 4-8 students are participating in the Kapahaka Festival, that Tuahiwi School organise, on Thursday 22nd September. They need to be there from 12.30pm - 2.45pm. We will be taking the school bus, and will need a couple of cars. Children are welcome to go home with parents afterwards. Tickets for parents to watch are $10 each. Please email Bryleigh if you would like to order tickets and let Sally or Georgie know if you can take a car.

3 Way Learning Conferences - 29th and 30th August
We are excited to be able to run these in person again. Please sign your child and yourself up to have a time to meet with their teacher to discuss their learning. We ask that parents please wear masks during the meeting.

Pet Day/Agri Sports
Our Agri sports/pet day is on the 19th October. Julie and Leighton have run this for the last few years. Thanks to Kurt who is taking over the organising of the Agri Sports. We are now looking for someone to take over the pet day organising. Julie will be able to support you this year. Please let me know if you would be happy to take this on.

School Docs Policy
These can all be accessed by clicking here and entering the following case-sensitive login details:
Username: omihi Password: glenmark This term we would love your feedback on the following policies:
Student and Staff wellbeing and Safety.

Community Notices