ORATIA DISTRICT SCHOOL - NEWSLETTER

Tēnā koutou katoa. Nau mai ki te whānau o te Oratia. Talofa lava. Malo e lelei. Zdravo. Ni hao. Namaste. Kamusta. Greetings Oratia whānau and families.

Those of you with a keen eye for detail might have noticed that we are spelling the school name without macrons once again. I spoke to the whānau hui about this journey we have been on with our iwi, and thought I would repeat it for those who were not able to attend that event.

We spoke last year to our iwi about the spelling of our school name, and they let us know that to have the meaning "the place of the lingering sun" we needed macrons over the letters - Ōrātia, so this is what we did last year. Our understanding, based on the stories that we held in the school, was that this is what our school name meant. We have gradually been rebranding logos etc to fit this. However, we were getting ready to print off some banners and thought that we would check again that the spelling was correct - one macron, two macrons...? Robyn from Te Kawerau a Maki checked with her governance board to see what they felt was most appropriate. They came back to us saying that when the iwi considered Oratia, their iwi meaning was "a safe haven" - no macrons needed to spell that correctly. Depending on the meaning we wished to assign to our school, we could choose either of the spellings. Both are correct, but have different meanings.

After discussion with our staff, students and board we felt that Oratia, with no macrons, with the meaning of "a safe haven" fitted us best. It aligns with our strategic goal of hauora and wellbeing, and describes the environment we believe we want our school to represent. So, we are back to no macrons in our name after going on quite a journey. It was great to go through this process, as we feel like we really have a better understanding now.

It is so good to see the numbers of families and whānau booked in to the student led/3 way conferences happening on Thursday. I hope that your children show off their learning well, and that you enjoy the process. We are very proud of our learners and the progress they have been making this year. I look forward to Thursday being a time of real celebration.

Take care and stay safe.

Kia kaha, kia atawhai.

Ngā mihi nui, Ms Linda

A reminder that school will CLOSE AT 1.45pm today for Student Led Conferences. The buses will run at the earlier time of 1.45pm and OKK will be open for earlier bookings. Please ensure that you have made arrangements for your child around the earlier finish time today. Thank you.

This year, our Librarian Jess is hosting another great Book Fair in the school library. There is a huge selection of books for sale for all ages and other goodies such as diaries, novelty pens, posters and much more. The Book Fair Book Shop is open today in the school library from 1pm - 7pm this evening and there will also be a coffee cart onsite from 2pm - 4pm today. Books make fantastic birthday or Christmas gifts, so come along today and support our Book Fair. Every book purchased raises funds for more books for our school library. Eftpos only please.

Here are just a few of the many students who dressed up for Book Character Dress Up day yesterday. Congratulations to our Book Character Dress Up winners who each got a voucher to spend at the Book Fair Shop.

Learn a Māori kupu or phrase each day: – Te Kupu o te Rā offers a word or phrase each day

Learn and share your pepeha as a whānau: Pepeha is a way of introducing yourself in Māori. It describes your identity and heritage by telling a story of the places and people you are connected to.

Sing Waiata: This collection of waiata and haka can be sung together at home

Explore Māori place names: Investigate Māori place names and learn the meaning behind the names and how to pronounce them correctly.

A number of our senior students had the opportunity recently to participate in the Lactic Turkey/Auckland Council Sustainability Challenge at Arataki.

Each race was for teams of 4 students (years 5-8) who competed in a 2 hour event, which included a mix of running/walking, navigation and sustainability based activities. Teams had to navigate to as many checkpoints as they could, collecting points for each checkpoint visited. To earn extra points teams completed sustainability themed activities which required some research and teamwork such as identifying native bird calls, matching a pest to the correct trap used or make something from flax.

The Oratia School Board of Trustees invites out of zone applications from parents or caregivers who wish to enrol their children at Oratia School for 2025.

The Oratia School Board has determined that 30 out of zone places will be available for Year 1-4 students at Oratia School and 8 out of zone places will be available for Year 1-4 students at Lone Kauri School. This means that if your child will be starting school in 2025 as a Year 1,2,3 or 4 student, you will be eligible to apply. Children must start school by the end of February 2025.

BALLOT PRIORITIES

1. Will be given to applicants who are siblings of current students.
2. Will be given to applicants who are siblings of former students.
3. Will be given to any applicant who is a child of a former student of the school.
4. Will be given to applicants who are children of board employees or board members.
5. All other applicants.

For further information on how to apply for an out of zone enrolment, please go to our school website and complete the application form.

While the Olympics were on, Lone Kauri School students spent some time studying different countries. Children then presented their work to the class and taught us all so much about these countries. Well done LKS! Researching information is so interesting and we loved your presentations! Ka pai!

A friendly reminder to all our parents and caregivers about key processes at our school.

MEDICATION:

If a child requires medication at school, please complete a medication permission form at the school office. All medication, including inhalers, must be handed in at the school office. We are aware that there have been instances of inhalers being shared at school recently so it is important that they are stored safety at the office where they can be administered only to the person that requires it.

Local designer Shaun Craill is launching his Save Oratia: The Comic in conjunction with the Oratia Heritage Society at the Oratia Bowling Club on Wednesday, September 18, 6.30pm.

In the comic book, Shaun chronicles how the Oratia community united to fight against Watercare's proposal to site an industrial water treatment plant on Parker Road.

The comic is full of familiar faces as Shaun used photos taken at the time, including the wonderful work by local photographer Stephen Roke, which will also be on display on the night.

The comic, which is being sold for $10 or a donation, covers the entire campaign through four chapters and across 60 pages.The OBC bar will be open and food will be available on the night.

WAITAKERE BEARS SOFTBALL AND TEEBALL. The Waitakere Bears Softball Club at Te Poi Starling Park are now taking registrations for children to play Softball and Teeball. Please contact Fran at franb27@icloud.com for more information

Email: principal@oratia.school.nz
Website: https://www.oratia.school.nz
Location: 1 Shaw Road, Oratia, Auckland 0604, Auckland, New Zealand
Phone: +64 9 818-6216
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OratiaSchool/