Monday 23rd July, 2018
Tena Koutou Katoa
I hope everyone had a great break away from school and were able to have some family time and make some special memories. It has definitely been nice to see the sunshine. George and I managed to get a couple of days skiing in....preparing for our ski trips this term so I can keep up with the kids!
As the new term begins I just wanted to remind you that our doors are always open. If you ever want to come in and be a part of your child's learning or see what is happening in the classrooms, you are more than welcome. Also if you want to touch base with myself or the teachers at anytime, just let us know.
We have lots of great learning experiences coming up this term. We are especially looking forward to our Science unit where the children are going to be part of lots of exciting science experiments and learn about the processes of a science experiment. The children will also be a part of the Strum, Strike and Blow festival and the North Canterbury Kapahaka festival.
Nga mihi
Maree Lucas
Principal
principal@omihi.school.nz
School Notices
Dates for this term
Please keep an eye on our calendar on our website for upcoming dates. This term we have:
Week 1
Tuesday 24th July - Year 7 students to Compass FM
Thursday 26th July - Principal Award winners trip to Fossil Point
Week 2
Wednesday 1st August - Juniors cricket coaching
Friday 3rd August - Year 6-8 speech competition
Week 3
Friday 10th August - Kidscan Crazy Day Mufti Day / Senior Assembly
Week 4
Tuesday 14th August - Ski trip
Wednesday 15th August - Teacher's strike
Week 5
Wednesday 22nd August - Year 6-8 walk up Mt Grey, Tuahiwi School visit us
Week 6
Wednesday 29th August - Whole School Strum, Strike and Blow Festival - day and evening
Friday 31st August - Teacher only day
Week 7
Monday 3rd September - Ski trip
Wednesday 5th September - Year 4-8 Top Team Challenge at Amberley Domain
Thursday 6th September - Ski trip postponement
Friday 7th September - Junior assembly
Week 8
3 Way Learning Conferences
Wednesday 12th September - Preschooler morning
Week 9
Thursday 20th September - Juniors visit Tuahiwi School
Week 10
Wednesday or Thursday (TBC) - Year 3-8 Kapahaka Festival, day and evening
Friday 28th September - Celebration of Learning Assembly
Principal Award
The Principal's award at the last assembly went to.....Georgie Macefield.
Student Teachers
We are very lucky to have two student teachers this term from University of Canterbury. We have Tammy Dickson joining us for the first 5 weeks of the term in the junior class and Toka Te Taua in the senior class for the second 5 weeks.
Bus Driver
Sue Parish has been our dedicated, amazing bus driver for the past 35 years. We have been truly blessed to have such a wonderful lady driving our children around. Sue has decided she is going to retire at the end of this year, so for the next two terms she is helping us to train a new bus driver. We welcome Rachel Lockwood to the position. Rachel is the Mum of Ava who is in our junior class. At this stage Rachel will be working one day a week, so you will see her out on the run with Sue to start with, and then later in the term on her own.
Birthday Treats
As a staff and board we have made the decision not to have birthday treats at school. As we grow, we have noticed an increasing amount of cakes, lollies and treats being sent along to share with the whole school on a child's birthday. Although this is a lovely thought, we would like to encourage you to celebrate at home or at their parties rather than bringing it to school. We try not to encourage too much extra sugar if possible, plus we don't want it to become an expectation for all families.
Naked Baker Pies
If you are selling Naked Baker pies, please send the money and order form back to school by this Thursday. Cheques to be made out to Naked Baker please.
Mindfulness Professional Development
We are very excited to have had a grant approved to pay for professional development around Mindfulness. This is something we feel strongly about at Omihi and feel like it is a really useful and beneficial skill for our tamariki to learn. Kate Brandram-Adams RN(MH), Registered Mindfulness Teacher from Mindfulness North Canterbury is coming out to Omihi to take two 2-hour sessions with our staff, to help us to pass this on to our students. There are also spaces available for our community. Please let me know if you would like to book in for these. After we have taken bookings from our community, if there are any spaces left we will then offer them to our local schools. The sessions are being held on Tuesday 28th August and Tuesday 25th September from 3.30-5.30pm.
Tuahiwi Marae
We have requested support from Tuahiwi Marae to find out more about our cultural narrative of the Omihi area and to also help us to name our three classrooms. Di Collier, Mana Whenua Education Facilitator has been supporting us in this. She is coming to talk to the children on Wednesday next week to talk about the information she has found out. We will keep you informed.
Teacher's Union Meeting
As you have probably seen in the news our teachers and Principals are working with their union to negotiate a better offer with the Government. On the 3rd August we will be joining our local schools to stand on the main road in Amberley after school. We hope our presence will show what we believe in. We welcome any community members to join us in this. There will be a strike on Wednesday 15th August where teachers will attend a union meeting, if negotiations aren't sorted before hand. I will keep you informed of this when we receive more information. Kat is the teachers’ NZEI rep for our school, so please feel free to ask any questions. This is a flyer showing you what the teachers are fighting for.
Community News
Family moving to Omihi
George and I have friends who are looking at moving to NZ from France. Greg (kiwi) and Gemma (British) Brown would like to move to our area and for their children to go to Omihi School next year. They are wanting a change of lifestyle after being in France for 8 years and are keen for their 3 children to have a taste of our NZ culture. They are looking for a house to rent from January. Greg will be looking for work also. He studied at Lincoln Uni and has an Ag Science degree. He worked for Ravensdown and then in London as a project manager and now has his own landscaping and building company. Greg is keen to work in the building or farming sector, ideally managing a farm. Gemma is also a CELTA qualified, ESL English teacher and can speak fluent French so is available for part time work. If you know of any farm cottages or houses available or any work opportunities, please contact me and I will forward on their details - principal@omihi.school.nz or 314 5857.
