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.

Our board of trustees met for their first meeting of the year this week. I am so delighted to be working with such a team of invested parents, and in one case grandparent, of the school. The board supports our school leadership team through their governance, making sure our finances and school policies and strategic goals meet government expectations, and more importantly, support and grow our students' learning and wellbeing. At our first meeting we agreed on our positions of responsiblilty with the following outcomes.

Edward Cowley is our Presiding Member

Susan Giles is our Deputy Presiding Member

Matthew Barnett is our Treasurer

Joanna Macfarlane is on our property committee

Christine Wang and Michael King are two other board members

Kelly Larnach is our staff rep on the board

These seven people work with the senior leadership team of myself, Kath Goldsmith and Matt Moncur, and our finance managerr Michelle Muir, to govern and lead the school. We are very thankful for their time and expertise.

The term for board membership is three years, and our next election is going to be in September this year. I know some of our existing members are prepared to stand again, but there will be space on the board for new people. If you think that being on the school board might be something you could be interested in, then we invite you to attend some of our upcoming meetings to get a feel for them. Please contact Edward Cowley at edwardc@oratia.school.nz to discuss this with him. The dates for our meetings are usually Week 4 and 9 of each term, and can be found on the school calendar on our website. It would be great to hear from you if this interests you.

Take care and stay safe.

Kia kaha, kia atawhai.

Ngā mihi nui, Ms Linda

If your child is going to be absent, please advise the school office by 9am. You can do this by:

Leaving a message on the answerphone - 8186216 then press option 1 or you can report an absence via our school website. Please remember to leave your child's name and room number and the REASON for the absence or lateness

If children are away for a period of 5 days due to illness, we will require a medical certificate. If you are going away on a holiday for 5 days or more, please email the office with the details - admin@oratia.school.nz

We run a Bikes in Schools programme here at Oratia School for all of our students. Some of the benefits of this programme include:

• Raising the confidence, self-esteem and resilience of pupils through a fun activity
• Delivers health and wellbeing outcomes for children
• Provides an opportunity to self-manage risks within a safe environment
• Children gain kowledge, skills and confidence to ride safely for when they might ride outside of school

Classes have scheduled bike track time as part of their curriculum and the bike track is open on the following days for each syndicate at lunch time.

• Potiki Wednesdays
• Arawhata Thursdays
• Tuakana Friday’s

This week, as part of their inquiry based learning into our connections to our ancestors, Potiki went on a trip to the Maritime Museum. Our visit includes a session with an educator on Māori, early settler and recent immigration, and a boat trip out on the harbour on one of the Museum’s vessels.

On Tuesday Ruma rua tekau travelled to the Te henga wetlands. When we arrived, we rushed right into the fun! First, we went to see the longfin eels and the brave instructor put a glove on and smashed the egg right into the river. The eels jumped up out of the water to reach it! Did you know that some of these eels actually grow up to 2 metres long? These are the females and the males only grow to 1 metre long. The females don’t eat for six months to make more space for their eggs. Once they lay their eggs they sadly die straight away. Next we did some water testing and compared samples of water from the River and the pond. We looked at the quality of the water, murky or clear, and then identified macroinvertebrates in our samples. We made sure to scoop out the mosquito fish and put them in a jar as these are pests to New Zealand.

Finally, we looked at the birds in the wetlands, identifying them with our binoculars and learning about different trees in the wetlands. My favourite was the “dinosaur tree”, the Kahikatea tree, which can sometimes be over a million years old!

Lone Kauri School were very happy to get safe-walking jackets from AT. We will wear these on school trips and when we are walking as a group near roads. Thanks AT!

Room 24 is filled every Tuesday lunchtime with year 3-6's for Tinker Club. For the past couple of weeks we've been learning about circuits. It's always an exciting moment when a circuit works and a lightbulb glows or a buzzer sounds! Here's some photos of our learning in action.

We are fortunate to have a school nurse available at Oratia School. Marlies Tukia will be visiting every Wednesday to support the health and well-being of our students.

Her role will include various responsibilities, such as:

• Providing health education and resources to students, staff, and families.

• Collaborating with school staff to address health-related concerns.

• Conducting health screenings and assessments.

• Supporting students with additional health needs.

If your child requires her support or if you have concerns about their health and well-being, please contact our admin staff or our SENCo, Kathryn Mansell (kathrynm@oratia.school.nz), with verbal consent for a referral.

Octopus are sea creatures. They live in rocks. Octopus can spray ink to get away from danger and they are very good a camouflage. Octopus have 3 hearts, 9 brains and 8 legs. Don't worry, I'm still talking about octopus! They eat jelly fish, fish, sharks, crabs and other octopus. Guess what? Octopus like the sea floor and coral reefs. They also like going into small spaces. Last fact for now, they live in rocks by the shore and are very very very protective of their territory and homes.

By Zoe, Room 14

Liston College – Open Evening

Wednesday, 19 March 2025 at 6.30pm in the Gymnasium

After hearing from the Principal, Head Boy and key staff, we will be showcasing Liston College with guided tours. Find out what it’s like to be part of the Liston Community!

Enrolment Information for 2026:

Online applications are now open for the 2026 academic year, and will close at 4:00pm on Friday, 30 May 2025. Applications are to be completed online via our website: https://www.liston.school.nz/about-us/enrolment

Full information about the school is available from our website: https://www.liston.school.nz

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/