Newsletter No. 01

ONEWHERO AREA SCHOOL - 11 February 2022

Newsletter proudly sponsored by

Principals Message:

Kia ora Whaanau,

Welcome to all our new students and families. It is great to have you joining the OAS waka. Welcome back to everyone else, it has been amazing to have all our students back on site and learning in their classes.

Over the holidays we unfortunately said goodbye to Stellest De Villiers our student services coordinator, Keith Masemann our Physics teacher, and Andrew Cannell our Automotive teacher. We wish them all the best with their future plans. As a result we have some new staff, we would like to welcome Tracey Paton to the office team as the new student services coordinator, Rakhee Chatbar is our new Social Sciences teacher, replacing Mrs Ritchie who is the new Deputy Principal of Curriculum. We also welcome Marilyn Stringer as our new Physics teacher, and Marisa Sands who is filling in for 8 weeks in the Mathematics department while we recruit. Welcome everyone and we hope you enjoy your time with us.

Also over the holidays one of our senior students Connor Nicholson was successful in attending the Otago University Advanced School Sciences Academy. He spent one week in January and will spend another in July attending Otago University to engage in learning about science.

Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting different board policies in our school. All our policies can be seen through the school website. Just click on Board, OAS policies and then click on the link and enter the username and password. Policies are reviewed on schedule through our BOT meetings, parents can provide feedback on policies by using the feedback button at the top of the page.

At OAS uniform is a symbol of pride in belonging to our school, and is a way that we show our value Whanaungatanga (Community). The uniform items can be seen on our school website along with the uniform policy. Correct uniform should be worn at school and while on the way to school each day. In response to student feedback we have included a new long skirt and have changed the style of the white shirts. If for any reason a student is unable to wear an item of uniform, please make sure a note is sent to school so that we can issue a uniform pass. If you have questions about uniforms, please check the policy or get in contact with the school.

This week you will have received an email about ensuring emergency contact information is up to date. The emergency contact needs to be someone who can come up to school within a reasonable time, so that we don’t have sick students waiting long periods of time before going home. Please email the office if you have any changes that need to be made for contact details.

Masks are an important part of our COVID response to ensure that we can keep everyone safe. It is a requirement for our staff to wear medical masks and our supplies from the Ministry are delayed in getting to us. It would be extremely helpful if students could be sent to school with more than one mask, a number of students are losing their masks during the day, or turning up without them which is reducing our supply for staff. Also please remind your children that they do need to wear their masks on the bus. This is very important as the buses are very full and physical distancing is not possible.

Unfortunately over the summer break two sets of the external fire alarm speakers were stolen off the buildings at school. It is extremely disappointing that this has happened and it has created not only extra costs for fixing it but a disruption to the start of school with ensuring fire evacuation procedures can be completed correctly. According to the police they are often stolen to be used as speakers for music on bikes and cars. If anyone was up at the school and saw anything, could they please get in touch with me directly.

Our newsletter will be moving to a fortnightly newsletter and can be accessed through the website, the school, and a direct email link. This is great way to keep up to date with news happening in our school. To ensure you get emails please make sure your email address is correct with the office.

Lastly, congratulations to our NCEA students last year. They did very well in what was a challenging year. 2021 Year 11 students can be particularly proud of their results. We will be celebrating our NCEA success with certificates for endorsements once the cut off the 2021 year has passed at the end of this month.

Ngaa mihi,

Rebecca Bills

Tumuaki/Principal

Onewhero Area School

THANK YOU JOHN ANDREW FORD

Just a reminder about the generous loyalty scheme with John Andrew Ford. The school receives a referral fee of $250 for every vehicle sold with our school’s name mentioned. So, if you’re in the market for a vehicle, pop in to John Andrew Ford or email Phil Phil.Saunders@johnandrew.co.nz and mention Onewhero Area School. The team there will be sure to look after you with the wonderful service they provide.

All funds received through the scheme this year will be put towards the school’s Shade and Shelter project currently being worked on. Thank you John Andrew Ford for supporting our school in this way.

Swimming Sports

We are glad to announce that our School Swimming Sports will be going ahead. This event will look different though, but most importantly we will be able to offer this opportunity for our keen swimmers! Unfortunately parents will not be able to come along and support under the current restrictions. We will need to split the juniors and seniors. Years 3-6 will be on one day and Years 7-13 will be on another.

Years 7-13 – Friday 18th February

Years 3-6 – Wednesday 23rd February

What we know about the next events:

Riverzone Swimming (Years 3-6) - will not be taking place.

Franklin Swimming (Years 4-8)– we are awaiting a decision on these events.

Auckland Swimming (Years 9-13) – 1st March

Counties Manukau Athletics Champs (Years 9-13)

Ordinarily we would be offering our top performing athletes from our school athletics day an opportunity to represent our school at the Counties Manukau Athletics Champs 8th March 2022. Because we didn’t have an Athletics Day last year, we will be asking for interest and shoulder tapping students who we think may be interested in attempting to reach qualifying requirements for this event. We will be spending break times with those who are keen. Please email me, or ask your child to come and tell me if they would like to be involved.

Auckland Regional Dental Service:

Kia ora

For information about the Children’s Community Dental Service (Auckland Regional Dental Service) during COVID-19, please refer to our website: https://www.waitematadhb.govt.nz/home/ards/.

Our website will always contain the most up-to-date information for our service at each Alert Level.

Due on site at OAS Term 4.

Kind regards

The Children Community’s Dental Service

Computer & Network Engineer:

J & D Computer Services - Jane Young

Phone: 09 2328 007 Mobile: 021 067 1195

Email: support@jdcomputers.co.nz Web: www.jdcomputers.co.nz

We offer a wide range of services to help you get the most out out your computers...

computer repair & upgrading
virus removal
business documents
sales - new & used
data recovery
internet security
networks
tuition

Community Notices:

Dandelions and Dragonflies

The Childcare and Early Learning Centre on the school grounds has now been fully renovated. We’ve extended the operating hours and are now open Mon-Fri from 7:30am-5:30pm. We’ve also been through all the licencing requirements to now be able to provide spaces for babies for the first time, so we can cater from 3 month olds through to 5 year olds. We’ve also installed a Commercial Kitchen and hired a Qualified Chef to provide nutritious meals to children for the first time.

To find out more or to arrange a Centre Visit, please contact:

Dandelions and Dragonflies

Centre Manager, Jade Lane

(09)242-9100

info@dandelionsanddragonflies.co.nz

www.dandelionsanddragonflies.co.nz

www.facebook.com/DandelionsAndDragonfliesOnewhero

SCHOOLS IMMUNISATION PROGRAMMES:

Lockdown restrictions have, unfortunately, interrupted this year’s school-based Boostrix and HPV immunisation programmes in Auckland.

It is important to keep all children vaccinated so that they are protected against tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and Human Papilloma Virus.

Please encourage your familiies to have their child vaccinated through their GP/Primary Care Provider free of charge.

• Note: GP practices have COVID-19 infection prevention control measures in place. Talk to your GP at the time of booking if you have any concerns.