Newsletter 1 Term 2

Kia ora e te Whānau,

I am sure we all had a great break over the holidays and everyone has settled nicely back into Term 2. We can feel the chill of winter knocking on the door and we are noticing the increase in sickness already. Please remember to let the school know the reason for your child being away, to save us needing to contact you by text. We appreciate your support in making sure everybody is safely in school.

The term has already set off with a hiss and a roar with a raft of exciting experiences lined up for the term. It was an exciting day to have the TV crew in, filming for What Now! You realise what a slow process filming a short segment is. It has also been great to see classes getting out into the community while the weather has been so favourable.

Along with many other schools we are beginning to feel the impact of changes coming from central government. We will continue to work hard as a kura to provide the best teaching and learning environment we can. Our wonderful staff work hard on a daily basis to do what's best for your tamariki and we all appreciate the support you give to your children and the school.

You will have noticed over the last few weeks the gradual development of our waharoa - the gateway to our school. It is due to be completed in a couple of weeks and there will be the appropriate ceremonies to accompany its reveal. We will let you know when that will be.

Keep your eye on the communications not only to find out what has happened, but also what is coming up for your tamariki. Stay well.

Nga manaakitanga

AnnMaree MacGregor

Over the past several weeks Grace and I have had the pleasure of having morning tea with the following fabulous students:

Harley Gerritsen and Riley Couchman - Rm 6, Mackensie Kemp - Rm 7, Lucas Wendt and Nora Bond - Rm 22, Kortez Cooper Abraham Bray - Rm 9, Taimana Puhia - Rm 10, Coral Swann and Kimbah Liddell - Rm 3, Dylan Douglas, Quentin Junge - Rm 4, Mia MacFarlane - Rm 1, Tui Miller - Rm 19.

These tamariki make our school a great place to be through their manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, and manawa reka.

On Monday the 13th of May, some of our senior school were lucky enough to meet and hear from Jaden Movold. Jaden is a 19 yr old para-athlete who has represented NZ in wheelchair racing along with many accomplishments nationally in a mulititude of other sports including swimming, basketball, triathlon, handcycling, athletics, and table tennis. He spoke with our students about his love for sports from a very young age and how a diagnosis of spina bifida and VATER association has not held this amazing young man back from giving a go, and excelling at, many sports throughout his young life. Thank you for coming in to speak with us Jaden, you are truly inspirational. And a big thank you to Paralympics NZ for reaching out and giving us this opportunity. If you are keen to find out more about Jaden, head to https://www.jadenmovold.com/.

The board has received a resignation from a current board member resulting in a casual vacancy.

The board has decided to fill the vacancy by selection. They are currently reviewing possible candidates and will advise their decision in the coming weeks.

It's back! We have tracked down another past Onerahi Primary Student who is happy to share their story here and update us on life after OPS. Thanks so much to Debbie Stowe - (Debbie MacFarland back in the day) for this.

My time at Onerahi Primary School brings back great memories. Being covered in mud

after the cross country and the buzz and excitement of swimming sports. Exploring the

huge playground, Bullrush, What's the Time Mr Wolf, dress up days and running around

with big groups of friends, many of whom I am still friends with today.

After school, I studied Psychology and HR at Waikato University, but my true passion

was food. I trained as a chef and later moved onto Event Management, running

weddings and corporate events.

I had always wanted to start my own business, and in 2009 I opened Nectar Cafe on Bank

Street for 9 memorable years. Shortly after opening Nectar my two beautiful girls Ashley and Olivia came along – inspiring the name of my business today Olive and Ash. My daughters were lucky

enough to finish their primary school years at Onerahi and both loved it. They attend

Whangarei Girls High School now with the eldest, Ashley, heading to Victoria University

next year to study Space Science.

Inspired by my own struggles with healthy eating, and those around me, I created Vince

- Veggie Mince. The idea was simple, create from vegetables something that looked like

regular beef mince so that the veggie adverse wouldn’t even know they were eating

veggies. It's been a hit, winning national awards and even reaching international markets like

Japan. But it all started at Onerahi New World, where you can still find Vince on the

shelves today, near the pasta and rice. If you can't find it just ask my daughter Olivia

who works there after school and she'll point you in the right direction.

I love our community; I feel connected to Onerahi. My parents still live here, and so do I.

I love hearing the laughter and seeing the next generation of Onerahi Primary kids running around as I walk by.

Kia ora e te whānau,

As we move into the colder months of the year the library is quickly becoming a warm sanctuary for those seeking a place to play at breaktime.

We have some fabulous new books in the library this term. I have about 200 in my office at the moment which I am working on putting into circulation for our students ASAP.

There are 762 school library books issued and out in our school community (Yay). 162 of these are overdue. Please have a hunt around your house for overdue library books, they love hiding under beds, behind shelves and at the back of cupboards. It would be great to get the overdue books back so they can be enjoyed by everyone. If you have an overdue library book which you are still reading bring it into the library so it can be renewed.

We are so lucky at Onerahi School to have such generous staff who love books, and care about getting books into the hands of our ākonga . This year we have had two staff members; Lana and Whaea Tess, donate high interest books which are in new condition to our school library. Lana donated a load of picture books which are already in circulation and have been issued multiple times. Whaea Tess has donated a whole lot of chapter books including Zac Powers and Geronimo Stilton. I put most them out on the pukapuka hau - new book shelf this week with great success. Thank you to both Lana and Tess as well as everyone who has donated new books to our library in the past.

Nga mihi,
Kirsty

It's back! Popular in 2023, we have Model Club up and running again in 2024.

After a brief break for summer the breaktime Airfix Model Club for Rooms 5 & 6 under the direction of Danny Hamilton and our library volunteer Mark Peacock have recommenced. Sessions are still running at second breaktime on a Wednesday in Room 23. We have some new participants,

including Braxton from Year 4 and a number of last year’s veterans.

This time we are using a variety of Airfix Starter kitsets sourced from Mark’s old UK model club and

six purchased directly from the NZ Airfix importer, Holdsons. We still have full sets of tools and materials to which we have added some useful extras. The new starter sets contain leaflets aimed at novice modellers to help them along with paint, paintbrush and glue.

The group is building a mix of aircraft, cars and tanks. An extra skill dimension has been introduced

in the form of waterslide decals to be applied after the model has been painted. In addition to the

kitsets, styrofoam bases have been provided again so that each participant can construct their own

diorama setting if they want.

Construction has started and already there are some excellent results shaping up with Kaydon now

acknowledged as the group speed-builder. As before, when completed each participant gets to take

their model home. Planning is already under way for next term’s sessions which will be a bit

different.

One other good bit of news is that the model club has been featured in the latest issue of Airfix

Model World, a magazine with an international circulation amongst hobbyists - quite a coup!

Mark Peacock

Whānau , please help us work together to support our wonderful road patrollers. We remind you all that the speed limit outside our kura is reduced to 40km/hr and when our signs are out, you must stop. We are still seeing a number of dangerous driving behaviours outside our school, including exceeding the speed limit, turning into and/or blocking the staff driveway and obscuring the view of our patrollers by parking on yellow lines. We also respectfully ask that when crossing yourself or your tamariki on Church St or Raumati Ave, you do so at our pedestrian crossing and patrolled area.

Senior leadership and the Board are currently working with the council to establish a safe travel plan. More information will come out in due course.

• Wednesday 22 May - Middle school Dragonfly Springs rotations
• Friday 24 May - Room 4 and 6 Bike Ride round the Loop
• Wednesday 29 May - WPSSA Winter tournament
  
• Monday 03 June - Kings Birthday
• Tuesday 04 June - Staff Only day
• Wednesday 05 June - Mid-term Cohort entry
• Friday 07 June - Showquest
• 10 - 14 June - Football in Schools
• Thursday 27 June - Puanga Morning at OPS, Kapa Haka performance at Morningside School AND Rm 3 and 6 Midwinter Swim
• Friday 28 June - Matariki Public Holiday
• Friday 05 July - Last day of Term 2

AUTUMN

The weather is starting to cool and no doubt we will see more and more of the sprinkly stuff from the sky. In terms 2 and 3 it's a great idea for students to bring a change of clothes each day, just in case they find their way into muddy puddles or get caught in a downpour. The KidsCan raincoats may be worn as part of their uniform and we recommend covered shoes and socks. As always, please make sure all personal items are named.

SCHOOL HOURS

8:15am School gates open to students and whanau

9:00am School begins

11:00-11:30am 1st Play Break

1:30-2:00pm 2nd Play Break

3:00pm School finishes

3:15pm School gates close

There are two eating breaks within the day, taken at times that suit each class. Please ask your child's teacher when their times are. We would like to remind all whānau that during school hours, your child is expected to be present and learning. Where possible, we ask that appointments be scheduled outside of school hours, so as not to impact on your child's learning. We also ask that every effort is made to arrive at school in time for learning at 9am.

Medication: If your child requires medication to be brought or kept at school, please be aware that due to health and safety concerns, this must be kept secure in the school sick bay. It is not to be kept in children’s schoolbags during the day. This is to protect the safety of not only the child requiring the medication but also all other students. All medication requires an accompanying permission/approval form signed by their parent or caregiver. This includes epi-pens for allergy management, inhalers for asthma or any other medication your child requires on a short-term or as needed basis.

Email: office@onerahi.school.nz
Website: https://www.onerahi.school.nz/
Location: Onerahi Primary School Church Street, Onerahi, Whangārei 0110, New Zealand
Phone: +64 9 436 0521
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onerahischool

7 am till 8.30 am

Monday to Friday

Contact

Sandy on

0211585226