Tēnā koutou katoa. Nau mai ki te whānau o te Ōrātia. Malo e lelei. Zdravo. Talofa lava. Kia orana. Ni hao. Namaste. Kamusta. Greetings Ōrātia whānau.

Welcome back to school everybody. We have been fortunate with the sunshine to start the week off, and the general tone of the children is calm and happy. It is great to chat to them as they walk through the gates of the school and they tell me all about their holidays, or the latest news that is important to them. It has been good to reconnect with so many parents also.

Over the holiday break I had a couple of important meetings. One was with our board presiding member Edward Cowley and a representative from the Education Review Office. Carol Stoney has been working with our school for the past three years, and is due to come and visit us in May and see how we are progressing towards meeting our goal of sustaining cultural competency in order to make positive impact on our students' learning and well being. She will be visiting classrooms, chatting to people and having meetings with various groups. Then she will be writing a summary report for our board, and we will be able to share outcomes with you later after we receive it.

Another meeting I had was with our Ministry of Education property advisor and the project management team from Frequency, the company managing the refurbishment of our school hall. At that meeting it was confirmed that the water tightness issues affecting our hall would be rectified, incorporating the replacement of the roof and siding, and remediation of any rot or damage to structure. We have been working towards this for the past two years but were unsure when the approval and consents would be finalised. This work will begin in the July school holidays and will take at least three school terms to complete. The hall will be fenced, scaffolded and wrapped in a weather proof cover so that the work can proceed no matter the weather conditions. The team were hopeful that this would be a fairly straight forward project and proceed smoothly. We will keep you informed as we start to progress.

There are ramifications for us all with the hall being unavailable for our usual gatherings, and we are problem solving these at the current time. We wanted to flag the situation with families so that you would understand why there might be changes to our usual practices such as assemblies and performances. Due to the hall being out of action from Term 3 we have made the difficult decision to cancel our school Talent Quest. We have plans for alternate performance options in Term 2, but have decided to postpone the big performance that would normally have been a two night performance that family and the community would have been invited to. For those Year 6 children who were planning to perform in the Talent Quest I have been assured by Miss McKinnon that she will be organising something special for them, and will be in touch with families and the students to outline her ideas. I apologise for any disappointment this may cause you or your children, but we have to make the best of things and be thankful that the extensive repairs to our school hall are going to be covered by the MoE's funding.

We have also been fortunate to have our final 5 Year property plan work completed over the holidays. New decking has been laid outside Rooms 9-12, and new sinks and cupboards put into place in Rooms 10 and 11. CMG have been amazing contractors to work with and have done a lovely job for us. We thank them very much.

Take care and stay safe.

Kia kaha, kia atawhai.

Ngā mihi nui, Ms Linda

We took the opportunity to showcase some of the Anzac Art work created by our students recently on our school gates. Thanks to everyone for the creativity and care that went into producing these beautiful Anzac Day wreaths.

This week Lone Kauri School were given this wonderful gift. A soccer goal. We love it! Thank you Kerry Peck for organising this and putting it together with Charlie. We will have so much fun! Game on!

There are upcoming changes to our school bus network and the routes that are currently serviced. If your child catches the school bus you should have received an email from Ms Linda informing you of this change. This will mean that the Ministry of Education will be taking over the administration of the routes from our school sometime in June. The ministry informs us that the current routes will mostly stay the same, though there may be some changes to the times of pick up and drop off. However, this is still to be confirmed. If you did not receive the email from Ms Linda please contact the school so we can send it out to you.

Week 1 of Term 2 is ‘New Zealand Archeology Week’. As a part of this Arawhata students went on a trip to Bella Rakha with archeologist Ella Ussher. At Bella Rakha, the tamariki had the opportunity to make connections with the land and document a site with over 10 kūmara pits! A big thank you to Balla Rakha and Ella Ussher who made this great experience for our children possible.

Welcome to term two! We have a super busy sporting term ahead. Below is an attached timetable for all the training during our school day. This will be updated as things change or get added. Any questions please email Miss Hamlin stacih@oratia.school.nz

It's back to school week for many of our tamariki. This is your reminder that everyone has an important part to play when it comes to road safety, particularly around schools.

When travelling near schools always remember

#Be extra alert in case a child runs out in front of you without warning. Sometimes children can’t be seen if they are behind cars so look under cars for the possibility of feet.

#Be aware that there will be children on the roads cycling to and from school. Give them space and share the road.

#The speed limit is 20km/h when driving past a stationary school bus, and you need to reduce your speed to below 30km/h when passing schools.

#Often drop off and pick up zones can be crowded before and after school. Suggesting a meeting point further down the road might be a safer option to avoid congestion around the area.

#Even small increases in speed result in a much greater increase in your stopping distance, and that can mean the difference between life and death for our children.

Construction Management Group have been onsite recently repairing the decking outside Rooms 10, 11 and 12. The decks are now looking in great condition and are ready for the winter months ahead.

This term we have the exciting opportunity for year 3-6 students to enroll in Cook Island drumming. Mr Richard Linklater has again agreed to offer group lessons at $5.00 per session per child. The groups are no bigger than 10 and each session is for 30 minutes.

If you are interested in your child learning to play the Cook Island drums, please let us know. Lessons will be on Mondays during school time and the children will work towards showing their drumming skills at an assembly later in the year. This term there will be 8 sessions starting on Monday 6th May. The total cost for this term will therefore be $40.00.

To enrol your child to have Cook Island Drumming lessons at $5.00 per 30 minute lesson with Mr Richard Linklater, please email: sorendrums@gmail.com mobile: 021 0404 110 and sign the consent form to be returned to Ben Coenradi in Room 13/14.

The bank account details for direct deposit are: Richard J Linklater, ANZ Bank, 060284 004008918

Please list Oratia and your child’s name as a reference

Term 2 means a new Scholastic Book Club Catalogue!!!

Welcome back, you will all receive the latest Scholastic Catalogue this week! We are up to Issue 3 and any purchases made, not only secure a $5 credit for your family, but we as a school also receive a percentage of all sales to buy new books for our library. It's a WIN WIN and we are excited about this bumper issue.

ALL orders are due by FRIDAY 17th MAY. I will then process ALL orders and once delivered, they will be organised and sent to your child's class. Please click the link below to take you directly to the Scholastic Home page for ordering.

(Please note this means that all orders made will be delivered at some point end of May early June).

Oscar Kool Kidz Before/Afterschool and Holiday Care Programme are looking for a fabulous person(s) to fill our position of Site Manager/Senior Program Assistant, possible job share. Are you wanting to work in a fun filled programme and work with an upbeat team? For a full job description please email us together with your CV to oscarkoolkidzltd@gmail.com.

Please support our fundraiser for a new artificial turf. This is going to be a fabulous night with a live band. Tickets can be purchased at the OBC cafe or online at oratiabowls@gmail.com

Please support our fundraiser for a new artificial turf. This is going to be a fabulous night with a live band. Tickets can be purchased at the OBC cafe or online at oratiabowls@gmail.com

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