ŌRĀTIA DISTRICT SCHOOL - NEWSLETTER

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.

We shared a wonderful Samoan language week last week. The theme for this year was ‘Tautua i le alofa, manuia le lumana’i’, or 'Serve in love for a blessed future'. I love the value of giving and servanthood that is expressed in this theme. The leadership team were fortunate to have a couple of our Samoan students share their language and culture with us in a visit to our office. They taught us some simple phrases, and then we all had a go at learning the first part of the sasa. There were a lot of laughs and smiles as we tried to get coordinated together. Mr Moncur got out the Cook Island drum to keep us all in time. It was really wonderful to see how proud these young people were about their culture and language. Many of our classes had small groups of other children coming to do similar activities with them, including lei making and songs. Thank you to Mr Coenradi for his organisation of our language weeks, and the creation of opportunities for our children to share their culture with others.

This week has been a short one with Monday being a public holiday and Tuesday our Teacher Only Day. We had a full day learning more about Structured Literacy and how to apply the principles in our classrooms. We also had a session diving into our school values and reviewing them against our school vision. We have been exploring how to develop progressions of expectation for our school community in each value. This is so that we all know what we are looking for and what to grow and encourage in each student so that they fulfill our graduate profile and leave us as confident, connected learners who make a positive difference.

You will be aware that I stand at the school gate along with the Deputy Principals as often as we can. We have noticed an increasing number of families arriving to drop off their children after the bell has gone. School starts at 8.55 and we would prefer all children to be at school by 8.45 to give them time to hang up their bags and settle into the morning with their friends. I realise that there is an increasing amount of road works that can hold you up in the mornings, so would respectfully ask that you take that possibility into consideration and leave a few minutes earlier each morning. There are a number of families who regularly arrive after the bell, and I would ask that you review your mornings to try and get your children to school on time. According to our Term 1 attendance data our children arrived to class on time only 69% of the term. That is one third of our school who are late most mornings. I would like this statistic to change so that all our students are present and ready for learning when the 8.55 bell goes in the mornings. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Take care and stay safe.

Kia kaha, kia atawhai.

Ngā mihi nui, Ms Linda

Recently, we met with the Ministry of Education to discuss upcoming changes around our school buses. Previously, Ōrātia School, Bruce McLaren Intermediate and Henderson High School have directly managed our school bus runs as a network. However, due to an increase in costs, it is no longer viable for our schools to continue to manage our own bus routes.

It has been agreed that the Ministry of Education will manage our school buses from Monday 10th June. This will mean that there will be some changes to the current bus routes and timetables. These new bus routes have been designed by and approved by the Ministry of Education.

We will have adult supervision in place to manage the early arrivals and later leaving times for the Bus 1 students. Please click here to view the new bus routes and time tables.

Tuakana turned their Communication learning into action recently by making smoke signals on an outside fire. Matua Ben and Mr Reddington worked hard to ensure a safe space to trial our puff patterns. This was a really fun experience and deliciously followed by roasting marshmallows!

If a student misses one day of school every two weeks, they miss a whole year of school by 16 years of age. As a parent or caregiver, you, alongside our school, play a key role in building strong habits of regular school attendance.

All students are legally required to attend school every day and it is a shared responsibility to make sure students attend and engage in learning from when they first start school. Every day of school matters.

You must let the school know if your child is going to be absent for a day or intends to be absent for a portion of the school term for whatever reason, like a tangi or medical procedure. Family holidays or taking time off for extracurricular activities (not organised by school) are not acceptable reasons for being absent.

If you're struggling at home with getting your child to school, talk to us! Our school is committed to supporting your child to attend school and building a culture that fosters excellent attendance by having:

• School staff who have strong relationships with students and whānau.
• A school culture that recognizes your child and your family for who they are, where they come from and who they want to be.
• A school community that does everything to make sure students are at school, and they are participating, and progressing in their education.
  
  

Student attendance: A guide for parents and caregivers – Ministry of Education

Also a reminder that if your child is absent for any reason we have two ways to report this. The Report an Absence form on the front page of our school website or you can phone 818-6216 and leave a phone message via our Report an Absence option.

Next week is International Languages Week. As a part of our celebration, students are encouraged to dress in their cultural clothes on Friday 14th June. We are excited about celebrating the wide variety of languages that we have here at our kura. If you would be able to share a greeting, song or read a book aloud for this week in your home language please get in contact with your class teacher or benc@oratia.school.nz.

Tēnā koutou whānau and families. You are invited to read and review this term's current policies that are under review, by following the steps below. We really welcome and value your input.

All reviewers

1. Visit the website https://oratia.schooldocs.co.nz/1893.htm
2. Enter the username (oratia) and password (0604).
3. Follow the link to the relevant policy as listed.
4. Read the policy.
5. Click the Start your review button at the top right-hand corner of the page.
6. Select the reviewer type.
7. Enter your name (optional).
8. Follow the prompts to show that you've read the topic and enter your feedback if you'd like to comment.
9. Agree to the privacy statement and click “Submit review”.
   
   

Key review Topics for Term 2 are:

• Employer Responsibility Policy (board)
• Appointment Procedure (board)
  (also see subtopics)
• Equal Employment Opportunities
• Teacher Relief Cover
  (you may have an older version called Employ a Reliever)
• Safety Checking (board)
• Police Vetting
• Classroom Release Time / Timetable
  (this topic name will differ depending on your school type)
  If you don't have internet access, school office staff can provide you with printed copies of the policy and a review form. Or click the logo below for quick access to the school docs website.
  

The mobile dental clinic is currently based at Ōrātia School. The Auckland Regional Dental Service (ARDS) is a Te Whatu Ora-operated service, which provides FREE dental care to children across greater Auckland. In order to prevent any eligible children missing out on receiving free dental care, ARDS is cross-checking their own records with school rolls. The dental service will initially be working with those children whose parents have already signed consent forms and who are listed as a priority as they may not have been seen for a long period of time due to Covid.

Permission forms will come home to all children over the next month or so for the dental clinic to provide a check-up of your child’s teeth. We understand that some students may already be seeing their own dentist, so if you do not want your child to have the free check up, please indicate this on your permission form.

Please note: No check-ups or treatment will be done without a consent form being completed.

If you would like to make a separate appointment for your child to see the dental clinic, please phone them directly on 837-8897.

The PB4L focus this week is on Rubbish, Recycling & Compost. The students are being taught how to define litter, recognize where litter comes from and know where it should go i.e. which bins it should go into. Thanks to all our willing participants who demonstrated what they had learnt for our poster.

It was an exciting day for the Pōtiki students last week when they got to visit MOTAT (Museum of Transport and Technology) to support their inquiry based learning about communication. They had a brilliant time with lots of hands-on experiences, self-guided trails and educator sessions. But it looks like they might need a few more driving lessons before they get to drive the car !

Thanks to everyone who donated their used soft toys for the PB4L shop. They sell like hot cakes ! So if you had a clear out over the long weekend please send in any good used soft toys for trading in the PB4L Apple Shop. These can be handed into the office.

Last week Lone Kauri School got bombarded by a hailstorm. It was so loud and lasted for a very long time. The class went outside to collect a handful of hailstones each to eat. They thought it was a tasty entreé before lunch time. Then we all sat by the fire to warm up.

Get your glitter and glow ready for the Ōrātia School PTA disco on Thursday 4 July. There will be lightsabers, pizza's and great music on offer. Don't miss your chance to show off your best dance moves with your friends. Thanks to the PTA for planning and hosting this event which will no doubt be a winner. Get your tickets NOW through Kindo.

Everyone's welcome on Saturday 15 June to watch our rōpū Kapa Haka performing at the Arataki Visitors Centre as part of their Matariki Whānau Day. They will be there from 11am ready for their performance at 11.30 so bring the kids for a fun day out. There are plenty of activities organised across the day to keep them entertained including

• Waitī/Waitā: Making and racing rewarewa seed waka
• Matariki: Glen Eden and Titirangi library staff reading stories of Matariki
• Tupu-ā-nuku/Tupu-ā-rangi: Kai/BBQ run by Friends of Arataki
• Ururangi: Make a kōauau
• Pōhutukawa: Decorate our remembrance tree with a message for a loved one
• Hiwa-i-te-rangi: Make a dreamcatcher out of treasures found in the ngahere

Oscar Kool Kidz Before/Afterschool and Holiday Care Programme are looking for a fabulous person to fill the last piece of our puzzle for a 2IC/Senior Program Assistant. There is flexibility on hours and days, we have a great team and working environment just waiting for you! Feel free to pop in and visit us in Room 21 or email your CV to oscarkoolkidzltd@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/