Newsletter 2 Term 2

Kia ora e te Whānau,

I hope you all enjoyed the extra long weekend and the fine weather that came along with it. The staff had a very successful learning day on Tuesday as part of the Ministry of Education curriculum update requirements. Staff are always on a journey of continuous improvement for the benefit of our tamariki.

With winter upon us, there has been a noticeable increase in sickness. Thank you for keeping your tamariki at home when they are unwell, as we try to limit the spread. If your children are not ill, please send them to school as every day does count and we all want the best for their futures.

This first half of the term has seen learning experiences that are exciting and engaging for our akonga. Our teachers are dedicated to providing relevant learning that connects our ākonga

to our local environment and whenua. I thank them for their mahi and also the whānau

who support trips offsite. Without you all this could not happen.

A warm welcome to our latest cohort of new entrants and other tamariki, plus their whānau

to our kura. I hope you all enjoy Onerahi Primary as much as we do.

On Friday of week 8 - the 28th of June - there is the national Matariki public holiday. Onerahi School will be celebrating puanga with a dawn ceremony on Thursday the 27th. We will also be holding an evening event on Thursday the 4th of July. There will be more information to come, however please pop these dates in your diary as we would love to have you with us on both occasions.

Nga manaakitanga

AnnMaree MacGregor

Over the past several weeks Danny and Grace have had the pleasure of having morning tea with the following fabulous students:

Lincoln Beeston and Ariah Wilson (Reorua), Winnie Paterson and Brydee Bellamy (Rm 14), Mila Waite Marsden (Rm 9), Noah Abraham (Rm 10), Jacob Williamson and Billy Morgan (Rm 5), Tamati Kareko and James Te Haara (Rm 15), Lexah Gamble (Rm 19), Alaric Pipe (Rm 22), Elise Baldwin and Georgia Zwart (Rm 6) Kahne Lillywhite and Christina Hoffman (Rm 3), Shore Popata (Rm 10)

These tamariki make our school a great place to be through their manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, and manawa reka.

On Thursday the 6th of June, 87 of our ākonga took to the stage and performed a series of dances based on the story of Terenga Paraoa (Whangarei Harbour) - the meeting place for generations.

Finn and Ella from our Reorua class share their words with us below:

"The Waka Dance was a representation of the meeting of waka of two local Chiefs who battled each other over the land. This was followed by the Fish Dance - showing the local marine life including the whales who used to gather in the harbour. Finally, there was the Loop Dance - which was a representation of the conclusion of the Whangarei Harbour - the town basin - in current times.

High points included a great result - 3rd overall - out of 5 schools including both primary and secondary level. The props which had been a labour of love for many classes and staff gained a first prize along with the live music and use of video. It meant a lot to see the proud parents in the audience. Yummy pizzas helped fuel our bodies for the performance.

Many practices over the past couple of months helped deliver a polished and enthusiastic performance. Although the nerves were high, the excitement levels were also, and the hard mahi paid off well on the night"

A huge thanks to Whaea B, Whaea Alysha, Miss Peters, and Whaea Liz, and their support crew of Heather and Renee, for all their mahi organising this over the last several months. And to all our parents and other staff who helped out, we give more thanks. It is due to the fabulous team we have, that these opportunities for our amazing hardworking students exist. Tino pai tō mahi. We are so proud of you all.

The board are pleased to announce that Katherine Lester will be joining them, as a selected parent representative member. They further welcome Stacey Jones to the Board as a co-opted parent representative. We look forward to working with you Katherine and Stacey.

On the 30th and 31st of March, our whole school participated in "The Musical Show" - where students were able to create and play their own musical instruments. Our host Russell delivered a fabulous show, and the students were buzzing for a long while afterwards. How many of you are now making music at home together?

........

Rooms 4 and 6 strapped on their helmets, and pedalled their way into town and around the Hatea Loop on Friday the 24th of May at the conclusion to Youth Week and Road Safety Week. The weather gods were a bit mean with some downpours arriving towards the end but we are so proud of the resilience and perseverance our students showed in completing the ride all the way back to the school. Here is an account from the students of Room 4.

"For Road Safety Week, Room 4 and Room 6 beetled their way down Onerahi Road to the shared path, while carefully pushing our bikes past many busy roads and driveways. Once we made it to the shared path we raced to the Bike Park, with motorists, truckies and police officers giving us a lot of supportive toots and honks. The Bike Park was totally epic dude! We cruised around the old bike track, courageously attempted gnarly tricks at the pump track and practiced our balance on the skill track. After putting the odd plaster on grazed knees and elbows, we zoomed to the canopy bridge. Low and behold there were Road Safety Heroes everywhere! And not to mention last but not least, My Whippy and a free sausage sizzle. Wow! We even got to take a photo with the infamous Whangārei Major, Vince Cocurullo. After all of this excitement we trickled our way around the Hātea Loop, back to the Waimahanga Track just in time for an off road, muddy trail expedition in the pouring rain. This was challenging and tiring, but through Manākitanga we were able to motivate, support and encourage each other to keep going even when the going got tough"

"...."

Whānau, a recent advertisement letting you know we had heaps of second hand uniform worked a little toooo well, and our stocks of all tops and jumpers are now getting very depleted. Whilst we still have a reasonable number of school jumpers in the smaller sizes, the rest of the shelves are looking a bit bare! If your child has outgrown their uniform and you have no further need of it, please feel free to drop it in to the school office. The sales of these help the school purchase additional items that our former PTA used to supply, such as sunscreen etc.

Whānau , please help us work together to support our wonderful road patrollers. We remind you all that the speed limit outside our kura is reduced to 40km/hr and when our signs are out, you must stop. We are still seeing a number of dangerous driving behaviours outside our school, including exceeding the speed limit, turning into and/or blocking the staff driveway and obscuring the view of our patrollers by parking on yellow lines. We also respectfully ask that when crossing yourself or your tamariki on Church St or Raumati Ave, you do so at our pedestrian crossing and patrolled area. This sets a good example for our tamariki, on safe road crossings.

Senior leadership and the Board are currently working with the council to establish a safe travel plan. More information will come out in due course.

• 10 - 14 June - Football in Schools
• Thursday 27 June - Puanga Morning at OPS, Kapa Haka performance at Morningside School AND Rm 3 and 6 Midwinter Swim
• Friday 28 June - Matariki Public Holiday
• Friday 05 July - Last day of Term 2
• Monday 22 July - First day of Term 3
• Monday 26 August - Mid Term Break
• Tuesday 27 August - Mid Term Cohort Entry
• Friday 27 September - Last day of Term 3

AUTUMN

Winter is here! In terms 2 and 3 it's a great idea for students to bring a change of clothes each day, just in case they find their way into muddy puddles or get caught in a downpour. The KidsCan raincoats may be worn as part of their uniform and we recommend covered shoes and socks. As always, please make sure all personal items are named.

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 whānau 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

7 am till 8.30 am

Monday to Friday

Contact

Sandy on

0211585226