Newsletter 1 Term 3

Kia ora e te Whānau,

Apologies for the delayed publication of our newsletter due to some key people being very sick. I hope you’re managing to fight off the winter bugs and getting some vitamin D when the sun is out.

We are thrilled and proud of our tamariki for their outstanding achievements across various areas this term and we’re only three weeks in! Our chess teams have excelled, winning first and second place at the Whangarei Schools’ Tournament, and they’ve been invited to compete in Wellington at the national competition. Our Year 5 girls' Mathex team took first place, while the Year 6 team secured second place at last week’s interschool Mathex competition. Our Kapa Haka roopu delivered breathtaking performances as they farewelled the Taniwha and Kauri rugby sides, showcasing incredible heart and soul. Isn’t this all amazing?

This week the senior classes are walking the Maunga, Parihaka, and the middle team are practising for their cross country which will be held at Dragonfly Springs. Could be mucky! Several camps are in the planning stages and there is a tangible air of excitement rippling across the school.

A huge thank you to our dedicated teachers and staff who provide a wide range of exciting, challenging, and engaging experiences that support our tamariki in their learning and development. We also appreciate the support of our whānau, whose involvement ensures these experiences are safe and successful.

You may have heard in the media last week that the Government has brought forward the release of the refreshed Mathematics curriculum. We expect to receive the refreshed Mathematics and Literacy curriculum documents later this week. The most obvious change announced is that all schools will be asked to teach ‘structured maths’, and that children will be learning out of workbooks. There are two major issues in the announcement that have been misleading:

1. There is no such thing as ‘Structured Maths’ - it simply doesn’t exist. The term has been coined to align with Structured Literacy (like our BSLA program), but the term has no basis in the research, and the proposal to use workbooks for children to learn from also isn’t evidence based. This article captures it all nicely.

2. The data presented to justify the rapid change to teaching is also very misleading. The Curriculum Insights and Progress Study (CIPS) data showed that only 20% of Year 3 children nationally were working at or above where they should be, 28% of Year 6’s and 22% of Year 8’s. On the surface this data is pretty confronting, BUT two things refute it. Firstly, it is based on an assessment given last year to only 42 schools (out of 2000) to under 900 children (out of 460,000) on a curriculum that hasn’t been released to teachers (and therefore has not been taught). It’s hardly a surprise then that the data appears to be low. Secondly, the same study notes that achievement levels haven’t actually changed. The same study, with a different name from 2022 shows 82% of Year 4 children at/above, and 45% of Year 8 students. This data still shows that schools have work to do and do need to improve outcomes, but it also shows that it isn’t all doom and gloom.

I would like to reassure you that our teachers are skilled in understanding the unique needs of their students and follow the strategic plans set in partnership with you, our community. They make informed decisions about delivering all curriculum subjects, including literacy and maths, and are continually learning and refining their practices to enhance outcomes for our tamariki. Our tamariki are succeeding, and that success is shown in the many different ways our learners are achieving.

Thank you for your continued support and involvement in our school community.

Nga manaakitanga

AnnMaree MacGregor

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

Alyssa Williams - Rm 9, Henri Rowsell - Rm 22, Meela Whittaker-Stone, Reuben Haworth and Riria Witehira - Rm 15, Ryker Ziebe-Lovell and Harper Bates - Rm 3, Chris Hoffman and Fletcher Kennedy - Rm 4, Kairuku Manukau and Sena Crisp - Rm 10, Noah Bowers and Chloe Abraham - Reorua, Teesha Gavin-Heta Rm 5, Emily Fisher and Sebastian Stainburn - Rm 17, Izaiah David-McClutchie - Rm 7, Jordan Frew - Rm 8, Liam Wright - Reorua

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

On Tuesday the 6th of August, 6 teams of keen mathematicians headed off to the annual Inter School Mathex competition held at Whangarei Boys High School.

We are so proud of all our teams, for their excellent representation of our school. We had some excellent results in a very large field.

Our year 5 girls team of Elise Baldwin, Alia Pilcher, Bella Holmes and Amy Biggins took out first place and brought the year 5 trophy home for the 2nd year in a row!

Our year 6 team of James Lester, Billy Morgan, Taimania Wensor and Cayden Stewart took out second place.

Well done!

Ka rawe!

Kia ora e te whānau,

Don't forget! This week, 12th-16th August, we will be celebrating Aotearoa NZ School Library week. There will be lots of activities running through the week with our annual book character parade happening on the morning of Thursday the 15th of August. If you don't have your costumes ready, there is still time!

Ka kite āno

Kirsty

Once again, OPS celebrated the 100th school day of the year on Thursday the 1st of August. Students were invited to create collections of 100 items which are now proudly displayed in our school library foyer.

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. This sets a good example for our tamariki, on safe road crossings.

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.

We are still a bit light on most of our secondhand uniform supplies. If your child has outgrown their uniform and you have no further need of it, please feel free to drop it in to the school office. The sales of these help the school purchase additional items that our former PTA used to supply, such as sunscreen etc.

We have a great stock of honey available for purchase at the school office. Honey has been kindly donated by our partner beekeepers - Tahi honey, and we have further been gifted larger sized jars of Honeyeater honey - also from local Pataua hives. The honey is priced amazingly from $5 per jar to $20 (the big 1 kg jars) so why not pop in and pick some up. Not just yummy, its great to have on hand when winter bugs hit!

• 07-20 August - Life Ed Caravan Visit
• 12-16 August - School Library Week
• 13, 14, 15,16 August - Hikoi te Maunga - Rms 3, 4, 5, and 6.
• Thursday 15th August - Book Character Parade
• Friday 23 August - Senior school Cross Country
• Monday 26 August - Mid Term Break
• Tuesday 27 August - Mid Term Cohort Entry
• Wednesday 28 August - Middle school Cross Country
• Wednesday 4 September - WPSSA Cross Country
• Tuesday 10 September - OPS Mathex
• Friday 27 September - Last day of Term 3

WINTER

Winter is here! In term 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