Newsletter 1 Term 1

Kia ora e te whānau,

All of us here at Onerahi School extend our warmest wishes and hope that you are all recovering from the hammering we got from Cyclone Gabrielle. It is not the start of the year we had hoped for. What it has highlighted for us is what an amazing community we are a part of. The thoughtfulness, support, and care has been much appreciated. When coming back to school yesterday the children were very calm and settled, well done to you all. Our thoughts go out to other parts of Aotearoa affected by Cyclone Gabrielle, in particular the destruction and tragedy in Auckland and the Hawkes Bay.

Whakamana tamariki, whakamana kaiako. We all want the best for our tamariki.
Our teachers love what they do and do a fantastic job. As a group across Aotearoa, we feel that resourcing for our schools and recognition of the value of teaching staff is not significant enough to support our tamariki to thrive. We are trying to fix this though. NZEI Te Riu Roa primary teacher and principal members are making the case to Government for the best investment in tamariki. Smaller class sizes, more time for individual students and more specialist learning support staffing would make a huge difference. Keeping and retaining teachers is top of our minds right now, and this term, our teachers will be meeting to consider a pay offer and improvements to the resourcing of schools. They will be assessing if it’s enough to make sure that teaching is valued, and is an attractive profession.

That is why teachers and I will be attending paid union meetings on the 28th of February. We are making sure there will be the least disruption possible to our tamariki. School will be open. When we support our children to learn and succeed, we are supporting whānau and communities to thrive. We look forward to another great year in 2023 and appreciate your support to build the case for better investment in our tamariki. I know these are trying times, but by standing collectively and asking for help if you need it, I know we can get through it.

We have got fantastic opportunities and experiences for our tamariki coming up this term and we look forward to you being a part of that.

Nga manaakitanga

AnnMaree MacGregor

Tumuaki/Principal

Our staff for 2023 are as follows:

Principal Annmaree MacGregor

Deputy Principals Danny Hamilton, Grace Williams

Learning Support Coordinator Karen Johnsen

Room 1 Meredith McInnes Year 6

Room 2 Elizabeth Thompson & Michelle Murphy Year 6

Room 3 Gail Green Year 5/6

Room 5 Jade Grant Year 5

Room 6 Jake Baldwin Year 5

Room 8 Matt Te Maro New Entrants

Room 9 Lorelei Dela Cruz New Entrants

Room 10 Susan Orton Year 1/2

Room 18 Alysha Mitchell Year 2

Room 19 Sue Hewett Year 2

Room 20 Phillipa Todd

Room 22 Shari Dearn Year 2

Room 12 Miriam Burgess Year 4

Room 13 Gareth Blithe Year 3

Room 14 Kyle Hobson Year 4

Room 15 Bev Haigh Year 3

Room 16 Phoebe Scrivener Year 3/4

Room 17 Belinda Dierick Year 3

CRT Release & Garden to Table Programme Chloe Peters

Reading Recovery Debbie Sayer, Bev Maconaghie

Better Start Literacy facilitator Philippa Todd

Learning Support Assistants Wendy Jeffery, Anna Duval-Peterson, Viv Watkins, Heather Francis, Daina Carter, Sarah Hall, Cherie Kewene-Edmonds, Loren Pederson, Renee Haag, Nina Porter-Auld, Kaela Matthews, Ilona Harris, Monique Oudshoorn

Language Learning Assistant Hannah He

Administration team Anne-Marie Wilson, Sara Ujdur, Lana Jennings, Kirsty Oliver

Property team Edwin Dela-Cruz, Bill Tebbutt, Mary Tingey

Kia ora all,

Welcome back to a new year of learning at Onerahi Primary. We hope you had a chance to rest and refresh over the long break, in spite of all the sprinkly stuff.

We welcomed a number of new Board members at the end of last year and are looking forward to working together this year in a governance role at our kura. To let you know, we have had a change in leadership, as Aaron Gray has stepped down as Chair, after many years of service. Aaron will remain on the board, for the duration of his term and we look forward to continuing to utilize the knowledge he has gained. Thank you Aaron, these have been challenging years and we appreciate your unwavering support. We welcome Richard Pollard to the role of Presiding Member.

Our board meetings this year will be held on Wednesday evenings - the 15th of March, 17th of May, 21st of June, 16th of August, 20th of September, 18th of October and 13th of December. Our start time for these is 6pm. Members of the public are welcome to attend board meetings, and if you have been thinking of perhaps standing for the board in our next election at the end of 2023 then maybe one of these dates will suit you to come along and check out what being on the board is like. Additionally a copy of all board minutes is available at the office for your perusal.

Ngà mihi nui

Onerahi Primary School Board

We are delighted to welcome a brand new cohort of new entrants to our kura this term. They are joining Matua Matt in Ruma Waru and Mrs Dela Cruz in Ruma Iwa. In addition to these new taonga we also welcome a number of other students who have transferred from other schools. We are delighted to have you all become part of the Onerahi Primary school whanau.

We are also excited to have new staff join us this year. A big welcome to Kaiako Susan Orton in Ruma Tekau, Belinda Dierick in Ruma Tekau ma Whitu and it is great to see the return of Jake Baldwin in Ruma Ono. The Learning support team also welcomes Monique Oodshorn as our new LSA, and the Administration Team has a new member in Sara Ujdur - our new face in the front office. We are also delighted to welcome Jin Wei, our Mandarin Language Assistant.

Kia ora e te whānau,

I am so excited to be back in the library for 2023.
We have had a slow start to the year with the library used as a base to sort and distribute all the stationery before classes were able to start visiting.

Last week I was happy to be able to welcome classes back into the library and show them around the new layout. We have some awesome new browsing box shelving to help students find the books that they want and a new layout to make the library space more versatile.

Our first book club was due back this week and I look forward to distributing the orders next week.

Kirsty Oliver

Librarian/Resource Co-Ordinator

On Church Street, we have a dedicated pedestrian crossing, patrolled each day before and after school by our responsible road patrollers and their adult support. We have a brand new cohort of newly trained patrollers this year and we ask for your support and patience while they are learning the ropes.

The speed limit in this area is 40km/hr. Cars should not exceed this speed and also be prepared to stop when approaching the crossing. When at a pedestrian crossing controlled by signs, it is not mandatory to stop unless the sign is out. Our students are trained to put the sign out when there is a gap in traffic or when people choose to stop.

https://education.nzta.govt.nz/teacher-resources/school-policy-and-practices/school-traffic-safety-teams/legislation-school-patrols-school-wardens-and-school-crossing-points/

It is also very important that if you are collecting your child from our Church St entrance you do not park on the yellow lines. Our road patrollers are unlikely to be able to see past your vehicle to check if the road is clear if you have parked over these.

Lets all work together to keep our tamariki safe on their way to and from our kura.

• Monday 06 March - Mid-term Cohort entry
• Tuesday 07 March - Senior swimming sports
• Thursday 06 April - Last day of Term 1
• Friday 07 April - Good Friday
• Monday 24 April - Staff only day
• Tuesday 25 April - Anzac day
• Wednesday 26 April - First day of Term 2

SUMMER

With the return of the hot sun - when it deigns to make an appearance - a reminder to all parents that in Term 1, it is compulsory for our students to wear a hat when outdoors. It is also our term for swimming, and the pool is finally open again, so don't forget the togs, towels and goggles. As with all other items, we ask that these are named. We also strongly encourage the use of sunblock in this term.

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 whanau 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

Kia Ora Onerahi Community

I am looking after netball for Onerahi School this year and I am currently seeing if we have any interest for a senior school team for the year.

If you have children in year 5/6 that would be interested in playing netball this year (boys and girls welcome) please email Kim at kilgourfamily@hotmail.com or PM me.

Fees are $70 for the term.

Trainings will be after school at the school for 1.5 hours on a Thursday starting in the next few weeks.

Games start in term 2 and are on a Saturday morning at the Whangarei Netball Centre in Kensington.

It is required that they be at all trainings and games and be willing to learn, listen and be a great team member.

If you think you and your child can commit please get in touch.

Also if you have children that are middle school - year 3&4 and interested in learning about the game please also contact me. We would require a parent to coach a team for this age so if you are interested in coaching please feel to get in touch.

Thankyou