Monday, 29th November 2021

Kia ora e te whānau

We are coming to that time of year when we have to say goodbye to our Year 8 students. It is always a time to reflect on their achievements, goals and life as part of our Omihi whānau. They are writing their Year 8 speeches at the moment and it is lovely to hear about their journeys at our school. We wish Monty, Jeremy, Daisy, Leni and Billy all the best for their next adventure.

We also say farewell to Sharryn as a teacher aide next year, but luckily for us, she will still be our cleaner. If we end up getting any extra funding for a teacher aide throughout the year, Sharryn will be the first person we ask! Thank you to Sharryn for being that person that the children can ask for help, have a chat with and share some glitter with, they just adore you. We also want to thank Ruth for all of her dedication, hard work and loyalty throughout her years at Omihi. We will miss your efficiency, your commitment and kindness.

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

School Notices

Principal Awards
Congratulations to the latest Principal Award winners….Jonty and Jeremy! They will be heading to Fossil Point later this term for a hot chocolate.

Character Strengths
Daisy (Year 8) - My top character strengths are humour, love of learning and curiosity. They help me to take on new opportunities and make new friends. They also help me to strive to do my best, especially in my learning. I take an interest in new things and can make a negative situation into a positive one.

Student Voice
One of our favourite things is to collect student voice about what is going well at Omihi, and find out anything we can improve on. Please take 5 mins to have a read through this, it is so lovely to see the common themes across the year groups and see things from our student’s perspective. Research shows that children learn when they feel happy in their learning environment and have strong relationships with their teachers. This feedback confirms that for us.

William Pike Challenge
As part of our strategic initiative on Positive Education, we have signed up for the William Pike Challenge in 2022, which we are really excited about! It is for Year 6-9 students, so Tūpari will be a part of this. Here is a presentation to talk through what this involves. The school will pay for the annual fee and we will ask parents for a contribution towards the student fee. Please contact Maree if you would like further info about this.

Swimming Pool
Thanks to the community for helping us to get the swimming pool filled, we ended up with 4 offers! A big thanks to Jeremy who organised Crystal Clear Water Deliveries to come out and fill it for us on Friday. We can’t wait for the children to start swimming!

Swimming Pool Key
These are available to purchase from the office. Please contact Ruth on office@omihi.school.nz. They are $50, including a bond of $20 when the key is returned.

Summer Gardening
With all of the new gardens set up now, we need some help keeping these watered over the summer. After this summer they should be fine on their own, but we just want to give them a good start. We have a few timers that come on, but some are manual. Our students have done such a great job so far with watering them! We have set up a gardening roster for a week at a time in the holidays. Ideally they need to be watered each day, so if you can help out for a week, or maybe share with another family for a week, please add your name in.

School Photos 
Thank you to Claire for taking our gorgeous school photos. Here is a link to have a look at them and put your order in. Check your previous school photos email for the password. You can order directly from the site and the photos will be sent to you. Orders need to be in by Monday 6th December.

Dead Tree
We have a dead tree just as your walk in the school gate on the left hand side. We are looking for someone to cut it down and take it away. Please let Maree know if you are able to do this.

Stationery 2022
Teachers will send out the link to stationery lists next week so you can order ready for 2022. We will give children the exercise books they need at the start of the year.

Walks
We are looking forward to taking the Year 1-4 children to the Scargill Domain on Monday 6th December and the Year 5-8 children up Mt Cass on Monday 13th December. Please ensure children have their hats, a drink bottle, good walking shoes and car seats if needed. We will be taking the school bus and an extra car.

Prize Giving
We welcome you to our Prize giving on Thursday 16th December at 11am on the courts. The Ministry of Education have encouraged schools to continue with our level 2 plans until the end of the year, then at school we will change to the traffic light system in 2022, although there shouldn’t be too many changes for us. Please scan in, wear a mask and we will be socially distanced. There won’t be a whānau picnic afterwards, but as we haven’t been able to have an official opening of our new building, the children would like to give you a tour of Kahiwi and our new outdoor learning spaces.

Community Notices

Scargill/Motunau Playgroup
The Scargill/Motunau Playgroup runs during the school term for children under 6 and their caregivers. We meet at Scargill every Wednesday morning to learn through play. New families welcome anytime, please contact Lisa for more information on 021 223 8029.

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