Kia ora koutou

It’s lovely to be back at school after a few weeks off for the first part of my sabbatical. A big thanks to Adrienne Simpson for stepping into the Acting Principal role while I was away.

Alice, with her big sister Emma on her first visit.

Welcome to Alice who has started her visits in Paemoana. It was so special to see how well her big sister looked after her for the morning.

Last week we had Helen Walls taking professional learning with teachers from across the 13 schools from our kāhui. Part of this was modelling in our classes with our students. It was so nice to have such great feedback from the teachers around our students - how they showed our school values, were focused on our learning and showed such lovely manners to all of our guests.

This Thursday is Support Staff Day. A big thanks to our wonderful support staff who are so dedicated to our school - Trudy, Sharryn, Emma, Fi and Yo. We will be holding a morning tea for these wonderful ladies to thank them.

Next week is Georgie’s last week at Omihi for this year. We wish her well for her travels and look forward to seeing her in 2025. It will be lovely to welcome Kate Dodd and Elizabeth Maddren back into Paemoana while Georgie is away.

Ngā mihi
Maree Lucas
Tumuaki/Principal

School Notices

Preschooler morning
We welcome all of our preschoolers on Wednesday 22nd May from 9.00-10.30am. Please bring your child’s morning tea and drink bottle. Georgie and Kate will be running the morning.

Year 1-8 Small Schools Cross Country
The small schools cross country is on Tuesday 11th June. This is where we join with Waipara and Broomfield School and it will be held where Onepunga meets Holleth Hills Road (about 2.5 km from Broomfield School) There will be lots of signage. Please no dogs on the property. Here are all of the details of the day, including a map. Children can go straight home afterwards. We ask that parents pick their children up and take them to the cross country, plus we will have some space on the school bus.

Technology
A reminder that the Year 7/8 technology bus leaves school at 9am on a Monday morning. We don’t have a year 7/8 programme at school on that morning, as children are expected to be at technology. This is part of our school curriculum.

Sickness
There has been a vomiting bug going around. If your child is sick, please keep them home for 48 hours after they have stopped vomiting.

New carpet in classrooms
There is new carpet going down this week in all three classrooms. We will try and keep the disruption to a minimum, and the classes will use Kahiwi while their classroom is out of use.

Lunch Online
Sushi is back and is available every second Wednesday starting this Wednesday 15th May. Please ensure you place your orders before 9pm on Tuesday. Thank you to our wonderful family who has offered to pick this up for us.

Community Notices

North Canterbury Kids Hunt in conjunction with Hunting & Fishing North Canterbury - 23-26 May 2024

Tihiraki North Loburn School is very excited to be hosting this major fundraising event for another year.  Our aim is to get as many kids and families out and about as possible, exploring, and caring for our environment, whilst raising funds and contributing to the success of our fabulous Garden to Table and Paddock to Plate programmes. For more details, participation in the hunting competition, and a chance to win fantastic spot prizes, visit  https://nckidshunt.co.nz/, or connect with us through the North Canterbury Kids Hunt Facebook page.  We look forward to seeing you at our weigh-in on Sunday, 26 May at the Loburn Domain.  Thank you for your support.  The Tihiraki North Loburn team.

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Kia Ora Koutou,

Welcome back to Term 2 at Omihi School. It was lovely to see all the smiling faces back this morning. A special welcome back to Penny Vincent in Awaawa and a big “Thank You” to Kate Dodd who was teaching in the Awaawa space last term. Also a huge congratulations to Bryleigh, Ryan & Maia on the arrival of George on 10th April, 2024. They are all doing well.

Another special welcome to Walter who has had his first day at school today.

Thank you all so much for the warm welcome you have given me as Acting Principal while Maree is on the first part of her Sabbatical. It is a pleasure to be here, getting to know your children and more about the Omihi community. I will certainly look forward to coming back again later in the term.

We attended the ANZAC Service last week and it made me very proud to see Omihi students taking a role in the commemorations. Fergus read the names of the local soldiers who lost their lives in the wars, while Emma and Alice assisted in the wreath laying ceremony. (We missed the photo opportunity on Thursday so staged a photo this morning!)

As teachers, we are always learning, whether it is up skilling ourselves in Te Reo or learning how best to deliver the curriculum to your children. As part of our professional development this year we are hosting 18 Year 1-4 teachers from across our Kahui Ako next Thursday to watch demonstrations and learn from Dr Helen Walls, a professional learning facilitator specialising in the teaching of Literacy & Writing from Massey University. She will be focusing on the teaching of Writing and Spelling.

This term our Curriculum focus is Health and for the first 4 weeks of the term, the teachers are working with the children on ‘Keeping Ourselves Safe’.

Ngā Mihi

Adrienne Simpson

Tumuaki / Acting Principal

Omihi School.

Congratulations Bryleigh, Ryan & Maia on the safe arrival of George

Walter & Harry

School Notices

‘No Uniform’ Day
On the last day of term we had a ‘No Uniform’ day to raise funds for the Special Friends Sports Trust. Students were asked to dress in their favourite sports attire, and they did incredible! We are excited to say that we raised $60.20c which is a fantastic effort for our school.
Check out some of the creative dress ups.

Uniform
We are offering another option for school jumpers.  We will still have the merino, and now also a polar fleece option. It will be a navy polar fleece with our school logo, and the cost will be $40. If you would like to order one, please email Trudy .

The sizes will be - size 4-6, 6-8, 8-10, 10-12, 12-14.

Community Notices

Omihi Community Hall
The Omihi Community Hall is exactly what it says - a community hall. Home to the Glenmark rugby team, but also a place for our community to use. We have always tried to create pricing that is reasonable to the community, but also helps cover the costs of the hall. Currently the hall makes a loss, and the committee have had to do fundraising just to cover costs. So we have decided to make a really simple hire fee:
* $30 + GST per hour - corporate, community events, yoga, conferences, etc
* $1500 + GST for weddings (48 hour hire, $30 per hour hire after that)

This way we are hoping that we will have more events, as well as cover costs, but most importantly - bring the community together in this asset that we have. Omihi School look after the bookings of the hall, and all details are on the website - www.omihihall.co.nz.

SAVE THE DATE

Glenmark/Cheviot Rugby Club Day- Saturday 11th of May, Omihi Sports Domain. JAB, Colts, Div 2 & Div 1 games. Exhibition Game- Alnwick RFC (England) vs Glenmark/Cheviot Rhinos. Branded BBQ and Matt Hantler music to follow. More Information to come. 

Cleaner Wanted
Omihi Community Hall is on the look out for a casual cleaner, if you think you could help please email Trudy here

Ze’ev, Noah and Logan outside Fyffe House, Kaikōura.

Kia ora koutou

In the last couple of weeks we have had four students represent Omihi and our Kowai zone in the North Canterbury Swimming Sports, and the Canterbury Swimming Sports. This is the most students that we have had qualify. Such a proud moment! Well done Lily, Jack, Jonty and Ruby-Grace.

I was privileged to attend the NZ Principals Association Moot on Friday 21st March in Wellington. As President of our North Canterbury Association I met with Presidents from across the country to discuss the ‘opportunities and challenges’ in Education right now. The Minister of Education addressed a number of questions we had, and it’s now up to us as a sector to work together with the Ministry to ensure the best outcomes for our students. This is not always easy, especially with a change of government, but what unites us all is our number one priority- our tamariki.

This will be my last newsletter for the term. A reminder that Adrienne Simpson will be Acting Principal for the last week of this term, and the first two weeks of next term. She will be using the Principal email address, and will be at school on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Feel free to pop in and meet her, she is looking forward to getting to know our community. After this week, I will see you again in week 3 next term.

Ngā mihi

Maree Lucas
Tumuaki/Principal
Principal@omihi.school.nz

School Notices

Principal Award
Congratulations to the following students who received a Principal’s Award - Delia, Jessica and Noah.

Strategic Initiatives:
Cultural Responsiveness update from Georgie:
A big focus for us as teachers, not only in school but in our lives is ensuring that we are culturally inclusive. This means we reflect on our practice and look at ways that we can continue to grow and learn. A document that we have been using to support this is "Habits of a Valued Treaty Partner". These are 17 habits we can practice as Te Tiriti o Waitangi partners to honour and role model positive Treaty partner relationships with Māori.

Year 5-8 Camp
A big thanks to Kelly and Georgie for organising our school camp. They have headed off to Kaikōura this morning, and I look forward to joining them tomorrow.

Uniform
We are going to be offering another option for school jumpers.  We will still have the merino, and now also a polar fleece option. It will be a navy polar fleece with our school logo, and the cost will be $40. If you would like to order one, please email Trudy to put an order in by Wednesday 10th April. They should then arrive early term 2. The sizes will be - size 4-6, 6-8, 8-10, 10-12, 12-14.

ANZAC Day
We welcome you to our ANZAC day service across the road from school on Thursday 25th April at 9.00am, run by the RSA. Please let Maree know if you are coming, as we will be asking some of our students to speak or lay a wreath on the day. We ask our students to please wear school uniform. We are going to have a shared morning tea afterwards, and there will be a coffee cart. If you would like to, please bring a small plate to share.

Mufti Day
We have a mufti day on Friday 12th April, raising money for the ‘Special Friends Sports Trust’. Please send along a gold coin donation, and our senior leaders ask everyone to dress as their favourite sports person.

Omihi Bus - term 2
The bus order will be - Reeces Rd, South, then North. Please note there will be no bus on Wednesday 5th June due to a school trip.

Reports
Next week you will receive report comments for Maths, Social Sciences and PE. These will be sent home via Hero on Friday 12th April. If you don’t receive them, please contact your child’s teacher.

Tipu Māia Kāhui Ako Newsletter
As part of the Tipu Māia Kāhui, it means we have great access to Professional Learning, Leadership opportunities, sharing and learning from other schools - all to help us improve our own student’s achievement. Here is the term 1 newsletter for you to see what’s been happening so far in 2024.

Wednesday - Sushi Maru Lunches
We have been informed that Sushi Maru is closing down and will no longer be available for school lunches affective immediately. At this stage we will just have Subway fortnightly, we’ll let you know if that changes.

Community Notices

Free craft Classes in the school holidays!

Paper Crafts Art Class with Sue Kemp at the Amberley Library

Wednesday 17th April 1.30pm –3.30pm

and repeated on

Friday 19th April 10am – 12noon

Open for children ages 8-13 years old

Limited places – bookings essential

03 314 8980 or in person at the Amberley Library.

Kia ora koutou,

Jase Williams speaking on Trauma Informed Practice.

Last Friday the teachers and I were at a hui in Hanmer Springs. Our keynote speaker was Jase Williams, on Trauma Informed Practice. We also looked at the mental health guidelines and resources, and gender diversity. We joined our 12 other schools from our Tipu Māia Kāhui Ako. It’s such a great opportunity to be a part of our kāhui and have all of this professional learning available to us at no cost. Working alongside the other schools, it’s a wonderful networking opportunity as well. The other schools in our kāhui are - Waipara, Greta Valley, Waikari, Waiau, Rotherham, Hanmer Springs, Cheviot Area School, Hurunui College, Amuri Area School, Oxford Area School, Akaroa Area School and Rangiora New Life.

We would like to wish Bryleigh well on her maternity leave. She will be finishing before Easter, and we look forward to hearing her news when bubs arrives. Trudy is currently working every Wednesday, and will start 3 days a week after Easter.

Ngā mihi
Maree Lucas
Tumuaki/Principal
principal@omihi.school.nz

School Notices

Omihi bus
If there are any changes on the bus morning or afternoon, please message the bus drivers directly. You can contact myself or the teachers as well, but if an email has been sent in the afternoon we may not see it before the bus run.

Contacting teachers
We work really hard as employers to ensure our staff have a balance between work and their home life. We would appreciate it if you can please avoid sending late night emails/text, or emails/texts in the weekend. Please either send them during the working day, or if you are writing them at night, schedule them to send the next morning.

Fundraising
As a BOT we have decided move our raffle to term 4, so it coincides with our trail ride. Anna Williams has kindly taken on the organisation of this, and she is going to organise prizes, which means we don’t need to ask parents to donate prizes. What we will need support in is selling the tickets. Each child will have 20 x $5 tickets to sell, plus we will be looking for volunteers to sell them at the Amberley A&P Show, our Trail ride and outside Countdown Amberley. The money raised from our trail ride and raffle directly fund us being able to have a third teacher, and ensure small class sizes. If you have any ideas, prizes, or would like to help Anna, please contact her on 022 064 6607 or annawilliams@hotmail.com.

Easter Weekend
Schools are closed on Good Friday, Easter Monday and also on Tuesday 2nd April.

Year 5-8 Camp: 3rd-5th April
We are getting excited about our senior camp. Kelly and Georgie will be attending camp, Kate will be teaching at school on Wednesday and Thursday, and Elizabeth Maddren will be teaching on Friday. I will be at school on Wednesday, and will be at camp on Thursday/Friday. The remaining info for camp will be sent home early next week, or feel free to contact Kelly with any questions.

3 Way Learning Conferences
We look forward to seeing you at 3 Way Learning Conferences this week. Please contact your child’s teacher if you haven’t made a time yet, as there are still a few available spaces.

Paid Union Meetings
The teachers will be attending paid union meetings on Wednesday 20th March.  There are two on that day, so we have managed to send teachers to different ones so we can keep the school open, and just merge classes where needed.

ANZAC Day
We welcome you to our ANZAC day service across the road from school on Thursday 25th April at 9.00am, run by the RSA. Please let Maree know if you are coming, as we will be asking some of our students to speak or lay a wreath on the day. We ask our students to please wear school uniform. We are going to have a shared morning tea afterwards, and we will have a coffee cart. So if you would like to stay afterwards to catch up with everyone, please bring a small plate to share.

School Docs policies to review
We work on a 3 year cycle, and each term we review a number of our policies. These are open for review from our community as well. Please review the following by clicking on this link: http://omihi.schooldocs.co.nz. Username: omihi Password: glenmark

• Te Tiriti o Waitangi

• Board Responsibility

• Parent Involvement

• Communicating with Parents

• Community Conduct Expectations

• Documentation and Self-Review Policy

• School Planning and Reporting

• Reporting to Parents on Student Progress and Achievement

Community Notices

SAVE THE DATE: Glenmark/Cheviot Rugby Club Day
Saturday 11th of May, Omihi Sports Domain.
JAB, Colts, Div 2 & Div 1 games.
Exhibition Game - Alnwick RFC (England) vs Glenmark/Cheviot Rhinos.
Branded BBQ and Matt Hantler music to follow. More information to come. 

Environment Canterbury Long-term Plan 2024-34
A copy of Environment Canterbury’s draft long term plan for 2024-34 and ‘have your say’ submission forms are able to be found in the school office. Submissions close on Sunday 14 April. Please pop into the school office if you would like to view the draft plan and grab a form.