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.

Whānau Day on Tuesday was such a wonderful event. So many of our parents and grandparents found the time to visit their children's classrooms over the morning. It was great to see all our visitors, and visit classes and hear the buzz of happy conversation. Potiki team started their morning with waiata and dancing. We all enjoyed seeing the adults joining in with the wiggle dance and the chicken dance! Right across the school whānau were able to observe literacy lessons or join in on activities being done in class. I loved catching up with some of you, and I thank everyone who was able to attend. Special thanks go to the PTA and Mrs Lauchlan who organised the calendar art display in the Learning Centre, offered cups of tea and took orders for the art. Thanks to Mrs Taylor and Sophie for their tidying up of the library the next morning.

Tuesday afternoon we had the official unveiling in the hall of our Pepeha Art project. This Creatives in Schools project has been organised by Kerensa McKinnon, who took it on after Laura Rust went on maternity leave, and involved a number of our budding artists. They worked with two local artists Jermaine Reihana and Mandy Patmore to create seven amazing circular panels that illustrate our pepeha. Melissa Hastings is the original artist who started the process, but unfortunately had to withdraw from the project, and Mandy stepped in to take over and work with Jermaine. These panels will be put on display on the school hall once the refurbishment of the building is completed. In the meantime we will store them safely. I know you will be astounded by the quality of the artwork. The artists commented on how much of a pleasure it was to work with our students on this project.

Please refer to the upcoming dates later in the newsletter to take note of any dates that may include you or your children. The end of the year is always busy and very full and we have tried to keep you informed ahead of time. You can also check the public calendar on our school website.

Take care and stay safe.

Kia kaha, kia atawhai.

Ngā mihi nui, Ms Linda

If your child will be enrolling at Oratia School in 2025, please let us know. This will help us with our planning for next year. Please email deborahd@oratia.school.nz with your child's name, address, date of birth, and your contact details

Thank you.

On Tuesday we welcomed parents, grandparents and whānau into our school to spend the morning with their children in class. It was a lovely opportunity for whānau to see children in their learning spaces and to share kai together.

Everyone was very impressed with the high calibre of Children's Calendar Art that was on display in the library this year. A huge THANK YOU to our Oratia School PTA who were working hard taking Calendar Art orders and providing tea and coffee for our visitors.

On Tuesday, we held the unveiling of our school pepeha artwork which will be installed on the exterior of the hall wall once the refurbishment is complete. This year, we had two artists, Jermaine Reihana and Mandy Patmore work with ākonga to design and create our pepeha mural.

This project helped our ākonga learn the structure and the meaning of a pepeha. It begins with the rain, it falls onto the maunga, the rain runs from the maunga into the awa, the waka is on

the awa which carries the people, etc. We consulted with our local hapu, Te Kawerau a Maki who suggested we share this meaning with our tamariki. Our pepeha mural is something all of our whānau are able to refer to. Our ākonga also had the opportunity to listen to our local historian, Pita Turei who shared pūrākau with our tamariki. This helped our ākonga, kaiako, creatives and whānau to develop a deeper understanding of our local history and landmarks. Our ākonga also learnt about the process of designing and creating a mural.

A BIG THANK YOU TO:

• Kerensa MacKinnon - our lead teacher working on this project
• Our two artists, Jermaine and Mandy
• Melissa Hastings and Laura Rust for kick starting the project
• Hayley Bamborough who worked with our tamariki in creating mood boards during the planning process
• Pita Turei for sharing his knowledge
• Bunnings New Lynn for providing materials
• last but not least, all of the students who worked on this project

We’re thrilled to share the success of our school’s teams at the Waitakere Cricket Competition! Both our girls’ and boys’ teams gave stellar performances and showed incredible sportsmanship. The girls’ team started strong with a win over the Henderson Valley boys’ team and fought hard in all their games. Their final match was nail-bitingly close, with just a 3-point difference. For a group of first-timers, it was an impressive outing! The boys’ team, led by Malachy Ward, won all their pool matches and saved their best for last. In a tense final against a skilled Swanson side, the boys held their nerve, playing smart by avoiding swings at wides and blocking the fast bowling. This determination paid off, securing Oratia’s first-ever cricket tournament win! A huge thank you to coach Matua Ben and Ms. Hamlin and the tuakana teachers for being flexible and allowing the students time to train. Their support was invaluable, and we couldn’t be prouder of both teams for their hard work and fantastic results!

Ka mau te wehi! Fantastic!

On Wednesday we celebrated Diwali. Diwali, which is also known as Deepavali, or the Festival of Lights, is a five-day-long Hindu celebration. Mr Coenradi with the support of several parents, facilitated a Diwali celebration at lunchtime in our hall for students. There were crafts and Diwali art activities for everyone to try. Thank you to those parents who came along to help with this special event.

What a fantastic way to share and experience this special cultural celebration.

Jackson Laverty and Harper Dobbs competed last Friday in the Auckland Primary School Championships for Diving at Westwave Henderson. The Competition was made up of 5 Dives which included 1 Front Jump, 1 Back Jump, 1 Forward Line up, 1 Backward Line up, 1 Dive of their Choice

They also entered the Synchronized event too. It was a tough Competition but they did so well and ended up placing 3rd for Oratia School! They were awarded a trophy which they will each keep for a week. Great job Jackson and Harper!

Lone Kauri School is very proud of Enda Buchanan. He has shown the school value of resilience in so many ways over the last year. This last weekend he showed the school values of respect, responsibility, risk-taking, resilience and reflection (all of the values) by running for Starship in the Auckland Marathon. Tino pai Enda (and Mama)! You did a great thing for Starship!

On Sunday 3rd November, Enda Buchanan (from Lone Kauri School) ran in the Barfoot and Thompson's Auckland Marathon. He ran 5km to raise money for Starship. Starship had helped Enda a lot last year and early this year. Enda raised $2226 and was awarded two medals.

Rosa Roseman

THANK YOU Barb Whelan and Ryan Young at Barfoot and Thompson for kindly donating Auckland Zoo gift vouchers to our school. We appreciate your support.

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/