Kia ora koutou,

Just some of the community who came along to Food Truck Friday last week.

We were incredibly proud of how our tamariki swam at the Small School Swimming Sports last week, but also for their sportsmanship and values that they showed throughout the event. Congratulations to our students listed below who have qualified for Kowai Swimming Sports.

Thanks to everyone who came along to our ‘Food Truck Friday’. It was a great evening to catch up with friends, meet new people, and try some of the delicious food. We hope to make this an annual event.

Thanks to Kelly who organised our first Omihi teams to be a part of Agrikids in the weekend. They had a great time!

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

School Notices

3 Way Learning Conferences
We have these in week eight. Please book your child’s time in here. Paemoana will be on Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th March, and Awaawa and Tūpari will be Tuesday 19th and Wednesday 20th March.

Professional Learning Development (PLD)
As a school we are very proactive and supportive around our staff continuing to learn and upskill. This year, from being a part of the Tipu Māia Kāhui Ako, we are able to access professional learning for literacy and numeracy. All of our teachers will be attending PLD with Dr Helen Walls for literacy and Rob Proffitt-White for numeracy. They will be attending one day a term for each, plus numerous after school Zoom sessions.

We are also all attending a hui day in Hanmer Springs next Friday 15th (teacher only day), focused on Trauma informed practice, the Mental Health Curriculum and resources, and supporting Rainbow youth. All of this is funded through our Kāhui Ako. Included is also Cultural Leadership PLD in which Penny and I will be attending each term.

Last year Georgie completed the Te Ahu o Te Reo Māori course, which consists of 14 weeks of 2.5 hour Zoom sessions after school. Kelly and I are attending these this year.

Whole School Assembly
We welcome you to our whole school assembly this Friday 8th March at 2pm in Kahiwi.

Teacher only day
A reminder of our teacher only day on Friday 15th March.

ICAS Assessments
There is an option for your child to complete ICAS Assessments in August this year. These are completely optional. Some parents like them for their child to practise tests for high school, and some like to get the results to use for applications for high school. The options of assessments are here, and here are the costs. If you would like to enter your child in any of these, please email the office by the 19th May.

School swimming results
Congratulations to the following students who placed 1st, 2nd or 3rd in their races. Everyone swam incredibly well.

1st - Lily, Taylor, Harry, Ava, Ze’ev, Jonty, Fergus, Michael, Arlo, Ruby-Grace, Jack
2nd - Delia, Thomas, Ze’ev, Leo, Arlo, Ruby-Grace, Andy, Zac, Jonty
3rd - Cadence, Noah, Hugo, Fergus, Thomas, Delia, Michael

Congratulations to the following students who have qualified for Kowais, on Tuesday 5th March - Arlo, Andy, Ruby-Grace, Taylor, Zac, Lily, Jonty, Thomas and Jack.

Subway this week
Is there anyone who can please collect the school’s Subway lunch order from Rangiora on their way to school this Wednesday morning? Our lovely family who usually do this for us are away this week. Please let Georgie know if you can do this as soon as possible.

Community Notices

ShareWaste app
ShareWaste is a free app you can download and use to drop off or collect food waste for composting and worm farms, instead of sending it to land fill. There are people on the app in Hanmer springs, Waiau, Parnassus and Amberley. See the council website here for more information.

Rowing for Life Aotearoa
On 11 March, a team of rowers will be arriving at Motunau Beach having rowed from Amberley. The rowers are raising funds for Rowing for Life Aotearoa, as part of a nationwide campaign (more information below).

It would be great for any locals to come along and support them. It is weather dependent, however they are are planning to arrive approximately 4pm on 11 March. Come down and see them!

Kia ora koutou,

The whole school enjoyed our farm walk last week.

We would like to welcome Trudy Sutherland, who is working every Wednesday in the office with Bryleigh until Bryleigh goes on maternity leave after Easter. Then she will be 3 days a week after that. Welcome Rachel Lockwood, who is going to be a student teacher with us this year, and will be in Paemoana on Monday and Tuesdays. Another welcome to Sharryn who has started as our Teacher Aide in Tūpari and Amelia who is turning 5 and starting in Paemoana.

I would like to acknowledge our Year 8 leaders this year - Lily, Jonty, Jack, Delia and Cadence. We look forward to helping these students grow their own leadership skills, demonstrate our Omihi values, and be wonderful role models to their peers.

Last year Georgie completed the Te Ahu o te reo Māori course. This is a 14 week course that is one evening a week. Kelly and I have started it for this year. We are looking forward to sharing our learning with our tamariki.

Congratulations to everyone who competed in our school triathlon last week - it was extremely hot! Results are listed below. The top 3 in each year group from Year 5-8 go through to the Kowai Triathlon this Wednesday.

We hope to see you at our Food Truck Friday event next week.

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

School Notices

Strategic plan
Please see our strategic plan with our main initiatives for the year ahead. Please also see below our info regarding the Government’s new policies in their 100 day plan.

School triathlon results, congratulations to the following students:
Year 1: 1st - Arly 2nd - Eddie
Year 2: 1st - Freddie 2nd - Jack 3rd - Arty
Year 3: 1st - Hugh 2nd - Mackenzie 3rd - Stanley
Year 4: 1st - Harry 2nd - Theo 3rd - Alex
Year 5: 1st - Fergus 2nd - Andy 3rd - Noah
Year 6: 1st - Hugo 2nd - Thomas 3rd - Michael
Year 7: 1st - Taylor 2nd - Zac
Year 8: 1st - Jack 2nd - Jonty 3rd - Lily

Small School Swimming Sports
The small school swimming sports will be held at the Amberley pool on the 27th of February, starting at 9.30am. All of the details, including the timetable, are here. We need two parent helpers, please let me know if you are available. Thanks Aimee for being our lifeguard again! If your child needs transport on the bus, please let Kelly know, otherwise we will meet you there.

Sabbatical
I have split my sabbatical into 2 blocks. The first one starts in the last week of this term, and I will be back week 3 in term 2. Adrienne Simpson will be Acting Principal while I am away, and she will be at school 3 days a week. The focus of my sabbatical is ‘Growing leaders in rural schools’. I will attend the ‘Dare to Lead’ course that is based on Brene Brown’s work, visit other rural schools, and have refreshment time with my family during my 10 weeks. I look forward to sharing my findings with you.

Food Truck Friday
We look forward to seeing you on the 1st March at the Omihi Community Hall. The following vendors are coming along to serve up delicious dinners. There will be non-alcoholic drinks for sale, BYO alcoholic drinks.

• Sabaya - Israeli Cuisine (cash/bank transfer)

• Pam's Coffee Cart (eftpos/credit card/cash)

• Woodfired Pizza (eftpos/credit card/cash)

• Bloom Catering (cash/bank transfer)

• Big B’s Tucka (eftpos/credit card/cash)

2024 Precision Yamaha Trailride
The date for this years’ trailride fundraiser is Saturday 9 November, with a postponement date of Sunday 10 November. Mark the date in your calendars! Registrations will open in September.

Requirements from the new Government

• Phones away for the day - All state schools | kura are required to implement a phone rule that has student phones ‘away for the day’ as soon as possible in Term 1 2024 and no later than the start of Term 2 2024.

  This is not applicable to us, as we don’t have any children bringing phones to school.

• ‘One hour a day’ teaching requirement - From Term 1 2024 schools | kura with students | ākonga in Years 0 to 8 will spend an average of at least an hour a day teaching reading, writing and maths, or pānui, tuhituhi and pāngarau. 

  This is already happening in our school.  The timetable is different on a Friday, but we are confident we still fit in an hour of maths, and two hours of literacy on Friday and spread across the afternoons during inquiry time. So much of our learning is integrated.

• Ministerial Advisory Group - The Minister has established a Ministerial Advisory Group to provide advice on the refreshed English and mathematics learning areas, the common practice model and phase-by-phase guidance. Initial findings from this independent group of experts are expected in the coming months and will inform future decisions. The target is to deliver the refresh of the New Zealand Curriculum to the same timeframe. You will have an opportunity to review changes before they are finalised in 2024 and you are still required to use the refreshed mathematics and statistics and English learning areas from the start of 2025. More information will be available on our website. Ministerial Advisory Group – Ministry of Education

  We will continue our PLD on the Curriculum Refresh as required, and will take guidance from the MOE as it comes in.

• Attendance and engagement - New attendance resources, including for parents, are available to use from Term 1. Student attendance: Guide for parents and caregivers – Ministry of Education. Parents and caregivers are required to have their children attend school, and to develop habits of regular attendance. Schools and kura support that effort with a strong attendance ethic along with an engaging curriculum and a safe environment. The resources include guidance for you to review attendance processes, an e-learning module to build staff knowledge, content for newsletters and presentations to provide clear and consistent messaging to parents. 

  We have a process to follow up with our students who are absent. Letters go out each term for any children with attendance that is lower than 90%. 

Community Notices

Kia ora koutou

Theo and Arty are happy to be back in class!

It’s lovely to be back and catch up with our tamariki. We welcome Charlotte to Awaawa and Carlos to Tūpari. Plus we look forward to Amelia and Walter starting soon in Paemoana. Also welcome to Mrs Dodd who is teaching in Awaawa for term 1.

We loved the whānau picnic last week. It was great to catch up, and the kids loved having a swim! There are a number of events happening this term, so please keep up to date with everything from our newsletters (teacher and Principal newsletters are alternate weeks), and also on our calendar on the website.

Ngā mihi

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

School Notices

Preschooler Morning
We welcome all preschoolers to come along on Wednesday 14th February from 9.00am - 10.30am. Please bring their own morning tea and a drink bottle.

Invoices
You would have received an invoice last week for your child’s books, and also a contribution to the bus. This is to help cover the costs of using the bus for school trips, so we can minimise the amount of parents we require each time. We are still part of the donations scheme from the Ministry, so we do not need to ask for the annual school donation from parents. Invoices have also been sent for Year 5-8 camp.

Food Truck Friday
We are excited to be collaborating with Rural Support North Canterbury to create ‘Food Truck Friday’ on Friday 1st March 2024, across the road at the Omihi Community Hall. All details on poster below….spread the word and help us create a great community event. Bring a picnic rug, and enjoy dinner with friends, and live music from our very own Kelly Fletcher.

Rakahuri Rage
We would love to enter a senior team into the Rakahuri Rage bike race on Sunday 10th March. It is a relay race from 10am - 4pm. We are hoping to enter a staff team as well! The flyer is below, and here is a link to more details. It says 12 year olds, but we will take younger if they are capable riders. Please let me know if your child is interested. The cost is $35 per child, which the school will cover.

Meeting with teachers
If you are wanting more than a quick 5 minute chat with the teachers before or after school, please ensure you book a time with them.

Attendance
It is important for students to attend school. It is a legal obligation that your child is at school. It is our responsibility to follow up if a child is not at school. Here is some guidance for parents and caregivers from the MOE. If your child is not at school and we haven’t heard from you, either their teacher or Bryleigh will be in touch with you. At the end of each term we will send home letters to any parents who’s children were at school less than 90% of the term.

Wai Swim 
We will be swimming every day, and we have Wai Swim lessons from the 7th - 16th February. Please send togs and goggles every day, and a rash vest if your child has one.

School Triathlon
On Wednesday 14th February we are going to be having a school triathlon starting at 1:30pm. Juniors will go first, followed by seniors. We welcome parents to come and watch. We will practice this leading up to it so children know how it works. From this week onwards if your child has a bike they are welcome to bring it to school so we can use these to practice. The top 3 from each year group in Year 5-8 will go to the Kowai Triathlon on the 21st February.

Small School Swimming Sports
The small school swimming sports will be held at the Amberley pool on the 27th of February, starting at 9.30am. All of the details, including the timetable, are here. We need two parent helpers, please let me know if you are available. Thanks Aimee for being our lifeguard again! If your child needs transport on the bus, please let Kelly know, otherwise we will meet you there.

Farm Trip
On Thursday 15th February, we will be doing a walk on the Tomlinson’s farm up Reeces Rd. We will be exploring our local area, as well as using our map reading skills from our geography inquiry. We will be leaving school at 9am, and will be back by 12pm. If you are able to help us with transport or would like to come on the walk, please let Georgie know - georgie@omihi.school.nz.

Term 1 Basketball, Miniball and Hockey
Please see the posters below about miniball (years 3-4) and hockey (years 3-8) for Term 1. Information about basketball for years 5-8 can be found here. If your child would like to register, please email Bryleigh at office@omihi.school.nz by Friday 9 February.

Community Dental Van Visit
The community dental van will be at school on Monday 26 February to see the students who are due for a check up. Please see further information below.

Community Notices

Compass FM - Supporting the North Canterbury community since 2011.

Kia ora koutou

Our wonderful Year 8 leader, Macy.

I would like to say a big thank you to Chantelle White who has been our student teacher for the past two years. Chantelle completes her course at the end of this year and has a job at Hurunui College next year. We wish her all the best.

Macy has been our only Year 8 leader this year, and it has been lovely to see her leadership skills shine. She has been a great role model to her peers, and is always a kind and caring friend to the junior students. She shows lovely tuakana teina strengths. We wish Macy all the best for her transition to high school next year, and hope she will come back and visit us.

Thank you to all of our parent helpers this year. Thanks to our BOT - Julie, Craig, Emma and Georgie, our bus drivers Fi and Emma, our librarian Yo, our gardener Fi, our cleaner Sharryn, our office manager Bryleigh, our teachers Kelly, Penny and Georgie, our relievers Elizabeth and Liz. You all have our students’ best interests at heart, and it’s wonderful to work with such a dedicated team. And especially thanks to our amazing students. They really are a pleasure to teach.

Next year I have been awarded a 10 week sabbatical. I will split this into two blocks throughout the year. Adrienne Simpson will be in the Acting Principal role while I’m away. Adrienne was Principal at Woodend School, and is now retired, although I still work with her regularly in our Professional Learning Group.

Have a lovely Christmas everyone, and we look forward to seeing you all next year.

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

School Notices

Year 5 - 8 Camp
Next year’s camp is from the 3rd - 5th April in Kaikoura. The cost will be approximately $200-220, we will confirm this early 2024. We are looking for parent helpers. Please fill out this form if you would like to come as a parent help.

Stationery Lists
Here are the stationery lists for 2024. Please go on and order these so they arrive in time for the start of the year.

Prize giving/Whānau Picnic
We welcome you to our 2023 Prize giving on Wednesday 13th December at 11am at the Omihi Community Hall. We then welcome you to bring a picnic lunch and join us for a whānau picnic from 12 - 1pm back at school. All children to be picked up at 1pm please.

Science Roadshow
We are hosting this at the Omihi Community Hall on Thursday 7th December. Tūpari will be attending a workshop, and helping run the workshops all day. The rest of the school will be attending at 10am.

Food Truck Friday
We are excited to be collaborating with Rural Support North Canterbury to create ‘Food Truck Friday’ on Friday 1st March 2024, across the road at the Omihi Community Hall. All details on poster below….spread the word and help us create a great community event. Bring a picnic rug, and enjoy dinner with friends, and live music from our very own Kelly Fletcher.

Dates
Our last day of school is Wednesday 13th December, and we start again on Tuesday 30th January. School will be closed on Monday 5th February, before Waitangi day on the 6th February. There is also a teacher only day on Friday 15th March.

Swimming Pool
Thanks to Kurt who has been looking after our swimming pool, it should be open very soon! Please remember to send togs and towels each day. If your child has a rash vest, we encourage them to wear this.

Pool Party
The Hurunui District Council is holding a pool party at our school pool on Thursday 25 January 2024, 11am - 1pm. See the community notices section below for the full list of pool party dates across the region throughout January.

School Accounts
Account statements will be sent this week to families who have unpaid invoices remaining. Please ensure these are paid before the end of the year.

Basketball and Miniball Uniforms
Please check to see if you have any of our basketball or miniball uniforms at home and return these to the school office before the end of term.

Our Posties
Thanks again to Jan and Mark who continue to deliver our school newsletter for us each fortnight.

Tipu Māia Kāhui update
Our term 4 newsletter covering the latest happenings in our Kāhui of schools can be found here. Maree is Lead Principal of our kāhui and Penny is an Across School Leader.

Reports
Your child will receive a Principal comment, general comment from their teacher and their graphs for reading, writing and maths in the final week of school via Hero.

John Parsons - Cyber Safety
Thanks to everyone that could come along to our session with John Parsons. He had some great resources, which are here for you to utilise.

Community Notices

Glenmark Twilight Netball
Starting Wednesday 14th February at 6.30pm then every Wednesday for 6 weeks until 27th March. Entry for team $120 or individual $20.

Please have entries in by 9th February to glenmarknetball@gmail.com or contact Jess on 027 460 4944.