ŌRĀTIA DISTRICT SCHOOL - NEWSLETTER

Week 4 - Thursday 15 August 2024

MESSAGE FROM MS LINDA

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.

Our school Olympics Day on Friday was a huge success with the office and leadership team bringing the Olympic torch down to the courts to start the event. We represented the Jamaican ski team as a counterpart to the other countries that all the classes represented. A parade of nations took place and then many fun sporting activities followed. There were sack races, tug of war, ball games and relays and in the junior area they even had hobby horse show jumping taking place. It was colourful and fun and full of enjoyment for every student. Thank you so much to Mrs Slaney and Ms Hamlin for your organisation of this event, and to all the other staff who pitched in to make sure everyone could take part.

We have had the privilege of hosting Mrs Norie Inoue and her two children for the past couple of weeks. Mrs Inoue is a Japanese teacher visiting us on a cultural exchange for three weeks over her summer holidays. She is visiting each class in the school and teaching them a bit about Japanese culture, language and arts. The children who have spoken to me have loved learning from her.

We hope to see you at our whānau hui tonight, August 15, 6.30pm start. All families are invited to attend. We will have cultural performances to start the time and then a chance for us to talk and gather some feedback from you all. We would love to have all of you attend. I will speak briefly about our ERO report and a summary of the parent survey. We will share some kai and have a good get together.

Take care and stay safe.

Kia kaha, kia atawhai.

Ngā mihi nui, Ms Linda

OLYMPIC DAY CELEBRATIONS

The School Olympics Day was a huge success with every classroom dressing up to represent some of the countries participating in Olympics 2024. The parade was held on the Senior Courts at the start of the day with plenty of vocal support for each country !

COOKIE DOUGH FUNDRAISER

It's our last fundraiser of the year and it's for a great cause. So get in quick and do your bit to help raise funds to build a new playground in the middle school.

This time we're selling Cookie Dough and there are three flavours to choose from. An email has been sent home with details on how to order through RaiseIt. If you don't have the email/link then please contact michellem@oratia.school.nz All sales through RaiseIt link to your child's fundraising page so jump on in and order up large !

ERO SCHOOL EVALUATION REPORT

The Education Review Office (ERO) have sent the Board their School Evaluation Report summarising the 3 year journey we have been on with them. We thank Carol Stoney, our school partner, for her professional and warm inclusive approach to our time together. The Board of Trustees has accepted and approved the report, and it has been uploaded to our school website under the ERO button on the first page. A summary of the key statements follows.

The key statements in the report are:

During the course of the evaluation, it was found that professional development for teachers supported responsive teaching and local curriculum development. Leaders and teachers undertook research into the structures and relationships that work, embedded tuakana teina relationships and promoted opportunities for student learning through mihimihi and kapa haka.

The greatest shift that occurred in response to the school’s action was increased student engagement in learning through authentic learning experiences, resulting in improved equity and excellence in reading, writing and mathematics.

Learner Success and Wellbeing

Achievement is becoming increasingly equitable and excellent, particularly in mathematics

Conditions to support learner success

School leadership is highly effective and drives ongoing improvement.

Learner success is supported by high quality teaching, rich learning across a broad curriculum and positive, mutually respectful school culture

Well-aligned systems, structures and practices support success and improvement over time.

The agreed next steps for the school are to:

• further develop the Oratia School Leaver Profile to reflect parent and whānau aspirations

• continue to embed the Oratia School curriculum learning model to further strengthen foundational skills in reading, writing and mathematics and learner identity and involvement

• continue to analyse and respond to achievement, attendance, engagement and wellbeing information to refine teaching and learning practices and initiatives to ensure that these lead to progress and achievement

• continue to strengthen the use of te reo and tikanga Māori as part of a school-wide te ao Māori approach.

PEPEHA MURAL ART

Our team of talented tamariki continue to work hard on our school Pepeha Mural Project, putting final touches on their designs. Stay tuned for their grand reveal later in the term !

GARDEN TO TABLE NEED YOUR POTS

If you have any of these small pots at home, our Garden To Table team will gladly take them off your hands.

They only need the small size shown in the picture. If you have any you'd like to donate, please drop them in to the school office. Thanks.

PTA QUIZ NIGHT - GET YOUR TICKETS ON KINDO NOW!

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Good news! Community-centered health support and connection happens weekly at the Oratia Settlers Hall. We offer Koha healings in a range of different modalities including craniosacral osteopathy, jin shin jitsu, reiki, iridology and counselling. Even if you aren’t seeking a healing, come pop in for a cuppa, have a chat, and connect! If you know someone in need, bring them!