Newsletter Wednesday 31st January, 2018
Kia ora everyone
It's exciting to have everyone back at school. I had a wonderful break away and I have loved hearing about all the lovely memories your children have been making over the holidays. One thing I would love to share with you about our holiday is - audiobooks and podcasts! George and I did a lot of driving on our road trip, so we downloaded audiobooks free from the Hurunui library before we went away. It's such a great idea! It made the trips go so much quicker. I would recommend having a look at these as they can make your road trip so much fun and the children are learning along the way!
It's been a very exciting day having all of our new children and teachers starting. I would like to welcome Katherine, Jennie and Kathy to our teaching staff. I would also like to welcome Sylvia, Arthur, Leni, Indi and Georgie to Omihi School, and Daisy, Stanley, Billy, Christian, Taylor, Ace and Zac who started their visits at the end of last year. We are very proud to say our roll has started at 30, not the 12 that was predicted for 2018 when I started at Omihi.
We look forward to seeing you all at our picnic next Wednesday 7th February from 5-7pm. This will be a chance to meet new families and for me to introduce our BOT and our new staff members. The BBQ will be available for you to use and the pool will be open.
Enjoy the heat and make the most of the swimming!
Nga mihi
Maree Lucas
Principal
School Notices
Calendar
Please keep an eye on the calendar on our website. All of our events go on there and it is updated regularly.
Family Picnic - Wednesday 7th February, 5-7pm.
A great chance to meet our new families, staff and our BOT. The BBQ will be available for use and the pool will be open. All of our community are welcome.
Omihi School Farm Race - Sunday 25th March, 2018
Thank you for the support with this. Please continue to promote this for us and spread the word. We are looking for volunteers on the day, so if you aren't entering and you are available to volunteer, please let me know.
Fossil Point
Fossil Point lunches start again this Friday. You can download an order form here and they are on the website under General Information. Please have your money and order into the office by 9am Friday morning.
School of Rock
This will be starting again in week 3 and will be on Tuesdays. If you are interested please fill out this form by Friday 9th February and you will organise and pay for it directly through School of Rock.
Water Safety
The children will be starting swimming lessons this Friday afternoon, which happen every afternoon for two weeks. They will also have a water safety session with Water Safety NZ on the 26th February and we are going to Waikuku beach for Beach Ed on Monday 19th February. We will need two parent helpers for Beach Ed (who are happy to go in the water), so please let me know if you are available.
Basketball
It is looking like we have enough children to have our own Year 5/6 and Year 7/8 basketball team this year. I have talked to the children today, so please chat to them and confirm with me if they are keen to play. I will also need a coach/manager for each team. Let me know if you are interested.
Message from our BOT Chairperson
Hi Everyone
I hope you have all had fantastic holidays and are enjoying the summer. At our December meeting last year the board passed a resolution increasing the number of parent representatives from 5 to 6 for the remainder of the current board term (until May 2019). Most of the current members have served at least two terms and we consider it is important that we provide for the future by getting new board members involved.
The board is responsible for the governance of the school – we set the overall objectives and goals for student achievement. We are also the employer of the principal. Maree and her team are responsible for the management ie how the school achieves those goals. Any parent is eligible to be a trustee (other members of the community can also be board members provided certain criteria are met).
You don’t need any special skills or qualifications to be a trustee, just a desire to help the school help the children to be their best. We would like someone who would be prepared to stand for the board in the next triennial elections in 2019. You also need to be prepared to undertake NZ School Trustees Association training. The board often deals with sensitive information and it is important that board members understand the importance of discretion and confidentiality. We meet twice a term in weeks 4 and 9. Occasionally there are additional meetings but we try and keep that to a minimum.
At this stage we are just looking for expression of interest to be emailed to me by Friday February 9th. The process for appointment will depend on how many expressions of interest we receive. If you have any questions please feel free to either ring me on 314 5979 or email me on samsarah.barnes@yahoo.co.nz.
Sarah Barnes
Chairperson
