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.

Nau mai hoki mai. Welcome back to school everyone. It is the start of our winter term and a concerted push by teachers to get as much progress as possible in their students' learning. We are looking forward to uninterrupted weeks, and lots of good interaction. I know that teams have already planned trips to accompany the learning focus - MOTAT, Stardome and Auckland Art Gallery - and that Tuakana have their Winter Sports Day planned and ready to participate in. We will be having a special school Olympics Day here at kura, where all students will take part in some fun and low key activities after a parade of nations. Keep posted for more information as time goes on.

I hope that the holiday break was a time where you could interrupt the usual school routine and do some family things together. I enjoyed the beautiful blue skies and settled weather of the first week, visited with friends and had regular coffees with my father, which I cannot do so readily in term time.

We will be having student led/3-way conferences later in the term where your children will be able to share with you their learning this year, and talk about how they have progressed in their learning since the mid-year report was written. If you have any questions about the school report or the progress of your child before then, please make sure that you email the class teacher and set up a time to chat. It is always good to make sure we are on the same page together so that we can support your child the best way possible. We will be hosting a book fair in the week of the conferences with a dress up day and lots of goodies to purchase, so keep that in mind too.

Our school Talent Show will be happening in Week 10 at the end of the term, and Miss MacKinnon is working hard with her teams of students to bring this to fruition. It will be a magnificent event with two nights of performances that you can book tickets to later in the term. Check the school calendar on our website for all these dates.

All in all we have a busy and productive term lined up which I know will fly by.

Take care and stay safe.

Kia kaha, kia atawhai.

Ngā mihi nui, Ms Linda

When you pack spare clothing into your child's schoolbag, can you please make sure it is clearly labelled. We have a lot of un-named clothing at the end of every week, particularly hoodies, jumpers & jackets that are never returned to their owners. All of these clothes are regularly donated if they are not claimed. Two minutes of your time will help us reduce the piles of unclaimed clothing at our school. Thank you.

Lone Kauri School visited Waygood in Piha. We spent some time on the beach collecting sand with Charlotte Graham, the resident artist there. After morning tea we painted gib board and used the sand to make the waves on the boards. We crushed charcoal and used it as paint (with PVA) to make the maunga. It was fun. At lunch time we had a hangi. It was delicious!!!

After lunch we went down beside the Marawhara Stream and listened to Tanya, as she told us a Matariki story that originates from Australia.

This was a very special and fun day! Thank you Waygood (Claire, Tanya and Charlotte) and thank you Sam, Anita and Te Piha Kai for the yummy hangi.

The University of Canterbury is offering your child the opportunity to participate in the KIWI Spelling Bee competition. These competitions take place annually and are designed by New Zealand teachers for New Zealand students. The competitions are administered by the Centre for Assessment and Monitoring (CAM) at the University of Canterbury. The Kiwi Spelling Bee competitions are open to all Year 5-8 students. The Spelling Bee assesses aspects of English grammar, spelling, and vocabulary relevant to the student’s Year level. The online Spelling Bee will take place in the last three weeks of Term 3. The competition will provide parents/caregivers with an individual student report of their child’s overall performance. These are available through the school. In addition, all participating students will receive a certificate and prizes will be awarded to the overall top student with the highest speed and accuracy. The test fee is $10, sign up is on Kindo.

This week's PB4L is all about looking after yourself during the cold wet, winter months. It is particularly relevant this week as we've already had a number of students needing spare clothing in the first week of this term after playing in muddy wet areas around the school. Please talk through our PB4L focus with your child this week and don't forget to pack a spare set of clothes in case it is needed.

Issue #5 catalogues are being delivered to classes this week.

Check your child's bag to ensure you got a copy, if not feel free to flick me an email - jessicak@oratia.school.nz.

They have a fantastic promotion to get up to 3 FREE books with this issue!

All sales directly benefit our school library, so thank you in advance for any purchases made, as this enables us to purchase new resources for our library. Orders are made directly with Scholastic (via the link below) and delivered to the school for your child to collect. Please place your orders by FRIDAY 9TH AUGUST.

https://mybookclub.scholastic.co.nz/Parent/Login.aspx

If you've had a clear out over the holidays and have unwanted toys to donate, the school library is looking for donations of good quality toys to add to their play area especially for these rainy day lunchtimes! They are looking for toys like barbie dolls, a dollhouse, lego or duplo, toy cars and action figures. If you have any unwanted items like these we would love to take them off your hands!

Any queries feel free to email jessicak@oratia.school.nz.

We have had a couple of rings handed in over the last week. They are adult women's rings, so if you have lost a ring, please get in touch with the school office on 818 6216 with a description.

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/