Kia ora koutou

Freddie and Emma enjoying their first week at school.

I hope you all had a lovely long weekend. I was lucky enough to spend it with my family doing a heli-hike in Mount Cook. An incredible experience and certainly something I won’t forget! We also enjoyed walking the Hooker Valley track to check out the glacier.

The first half of this term has had lots on in the calendar and the second half is just as busy. We appreciate all our whānau support to help transport, coach, organise, fundraise, weed whack and so on! You are all awesome! 

A big warm welcome to Emma Evans and Freddie Sloss who both start school this week. We are really looking forward to having both of you join our school whānau. We are also looking forward to lots of school visitors during the next few weeks for children starting school at the beginning of next year.

All the best of luck to our tamariki that are competing in the Kowai athletics event at the Amberley Domain after school today. 

Have a wonderful week everyone.

Ngā mihi
Penny Vincent and Sally Mickleson
Acting Tumuaki/Principal
principal@omihi.school.nz

School notices

Reading and Writing Comments
At the end of this week you will receive a reading and a writing comment for your children on Hero. Please let your child’s teacher know if you have trouble accessing this or have any questions. 

Swimming Pool
A huge thank you to the Sloss family for all their hard work in getting the pool up and running. This has been a huge commitment and we really appreciate it. Another thank you to the Finlayson’s for helping out with the painting. Once the painting process is complete and dry we will let you know. Looking forward to seeing the kids in the pool before the end of term.

Principal’s Award
Congratulations to Jonty Williams for receiving the Principal’s Award in our Senior Assembly last week.

Paid Union Meeting
A reminder that our staff will be attending a paid union meeting this Friday morning (18th November). School will be open when staff have returned at 11.15am.

Fundraising Committee
We are looking for some more parents who would like to join our fundraising committee. Many hands make light work and if you would like to join a few of our fabulous parents in this group please let me know. 

Beach Ed
The whole school will be going to Waikuku Beach on Wednesday 7th December.  Please let Georgie know if you can be a parent helper on the day and if you can help with transport.

School Pool Key
If you would like to purchase a pool key, please email Bryleigh - office@omihi.school.nz.  It is $50 for school families and $70 for community members.  This includes a $20 refundable bond when you return the key.

Dates this term:
Year 4-8 Kowai Athletics (for those who qualify) - Monday 14th November, 4pm
Year 0-4 Assembly - Friday 2nd December, 2pm
Last day of technology for Year 7/8 - Monday 5th December
Beach Ed Trip - Wednesday 7th December
Life Education - Thursday 8th December
Year 6-8 visit to ARA for a Careers Day - Friday 9th December
Prize giving and whānau picnic - Wednesday 14th December

Community Notices

Kia ora koutou

Lily, Kaisa and Macy help on the BBQ at the trailride on Sunday.

This is our first official newsletter from Sally and myself. We are excited to be taking over the Acting Principal role and wish Maree, George and Delilah all the best of luck with the new arrival coming soon to their whānau. 

Saturday and Sunday were busy days for our school and community and we were very lucky to have such nice warm weather.  It was lovely to see many of our families and children at the Amberley show on Saturday and exciting to see the children’s artwork on display in the Pavilion. The trail ride on Sunday was a huge success and we are so grateful to everyone who contributed to making this happen. 

The next few weeks see our focus shift to athletics events and we are looking forward to our Senior Assembly on Friday of this week. It is a busy term and we really appreciate those who have given up their time to support our kura and your children. Have a great week and we look forward to seeing some of you at assembly.

Ngā mihi
Penny Vincent and Sally Mickleson
Acting Tumuaki/Principal
principal@omihi.school.nz

School Notices

Yamaha Omihi School Trail Ride
A big thanks to Todd McBreen, and James Blanchard from Precision Yamaha, for running the trail ride for us.  The course was stunning, and we had over 490 riders enjoy the day.  We know Todd, James and their crew put so much work into it.  Also thanks to Yamaha who sponsored the event and covered the cost of our insurance, medic and any other costs.  Thanks to Bayleys Canterbury for the use of their BBQ trailer. Thank you to our parent helpers who marshaled, set up, cooked the BBQ or took registrations on the day - Julie, Sofia, Tamar, Kurt, Emma, Anna.S, Anna.R, Jeremy, Owen, Patrick, Craig, Dave.I, Mette and our students that helped.  We couldn’t have done it without you!  

Thank you to the medical team who were there yesterday and a special mention also to James Blanchard’s parents who helped with safety checking riders at the gate.

A special thank you to the landowners for opening up your farms for us.  Thanks to the McBreens, Littles, Lowrys and Hamiltons. Thank you to Harris Meats who donated meat for our burgers.   You helped us raise over $30,000 for our school!

Enviroschool
We are officially a Bronze Enviroschool!!! We are so proud of our Enviro Leaders and students. They have put so much mahi into us receiving this recognition. Miss Mickleson and our Enviro Leaders will be attending a formal celebration on the 25th of November where they will be awarded with a certificate, followed by an afternoon tea. 

Gumboot Friday
This Friday, 4th November is Gumboot Friday, where funds are raised to provide tamariki with free counseling. Children are encouraged to wear their gumboots with their uniform, and to bring a gold coin donation.

Athletics
Year 1-3 will be participating at Waikari School on Tuesday 1st November. Year 4-8 will be participating at Waipara School Tuesday 8th November. The school bus will be leaving school at 9am to drop children off, and will pick up again at 2.30pm if you are not taking your child there directly. We welcome parents to come and watch.

Beach Ed
The whole school will be going to Waikuku Beach on Wednesday 7th December.  Please let Georgie know if you can be a parent helper on the day and if you can help with transport.

School Pool Key
If you would like to purchase a pool key, please email Bryleigh - office@omihi.school.nz.  It is $50 for school families and $70 for community members.  This includes a $20 refundable bond when you return the key.

Dates this term:
Year 5-8 Assembly/Gumboot Friday - Friday 4th November
Teacher only day - Thursday 10th November
Year 4-8 Kowai Athletics (for those who qualify) - Monday 14th November, 4pm
Year 0-4 Assembly - Friday 2nd December, 2pm
Last day of technology for Year 7/8 - Monday 5th December
Life Education - Thursday 8th December
Year 6-8 visit to ARA for a Careers day - Friday 9th December
Prize giving and whānau picnic - Wednesday 14th December

Community Notices

Reeces Road CCTV

Todd McBreen is getting a quote for a community CCTV camera for the corner of Reeces Road to help keep our community safe. If you would like more information about this, please get in touch with Todd.

Jonty, Stanley and Lily enjoying their first day back at school.

Kia ora koutou

I hope you had a lovely break and some time with your family over the holidays. We had a very quiet holiday, but it was nice to spend some time as our little family of 3 before our next wee girl arrives.

We would like to welcome Fredrik and Emma who are starting their school visits at the beginning of the term and they will join Paemoana in November. Later this term we also welcome Luka, Arty, Theo, Jack and Maddy, who will also be starting their school visits in Paemoana, ready to begin in 2023.

There are a lot of events coming up in term 4, so please keep an eye on the school calendar on our website to keep up to date. We look forward to seeing you this week for pet day.

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

School Notices

Amanda, our new cleaner.

Principal Awards
Congratulations to our latest Principal Award winners…..Jack.T and Ava!

New Cleaner
We are excited to welcome Amanda Hancock to our team as our new cleaner. Message from Amanda:
Hi I am Amanda and so excited to be a part of the Omihi School Team! I am a mum of 3 beautiful children (4 if you include my husband!). We live in Leithfield Village on a lifestyle block with lots of animals. Any spare time I have you will find me at the gym or creating in my nail studio. I look forward to creating a beautiful clean space for all of the tamariki to learn in.

Pet Day - Wednesday 19th October
Timetable for our pet day:
9.30am - Agrisports
11.30am - Lunch
12.00pm - Animals are dropped off (please don’t bring them in any earlier)
Dogs to be tied up to the fence on the right as you walk in the front gate. Lambs on the left fence as you walk in the front gate. Miscellaneous at the school end of the basketball court. Any other bigger animals, please talk to Sally about where to take them. Please bring your own water bowls and ensure animals are tied up at all times.
12.30pm - Judging for animals begins. Sally will let you know when it’s your turn to take your dogs in, and Liz will let you know for the lambs and miscellaneous.
2.00pm - Best dressed parade
2.30pm - Prize giving

A big thanks to our judges - Slack Lucas, Fi Williams, Pip Wood and Sue Stevenson.

School Photos
Your child will receive a form today that has the website and password to order school photos. You will be able to view the photos online and order them directly. Orders close on Friday 28th October.

Trail Ride
We look forward to seeing you at our trail ride on Sunday 30th October. Entries online at www.iticket.co.nz. If you are volunteering, you should have received an email from me if you are a marshal, otherwise Amy will be in touch with the people helping with registration, and Sofia with the BBQ crew. Thanks so much for your time.

Sun Protection
In term 4, students need to wear their Omihi sun hats every day. Please contact Bryleigh if you need to purchase a new one, and please make sure they are named. We recommend you put sunblock on your child before they come to school. We can reapply when necessary. We also recommend rash vests when swimming if you have them.

Community Dental Clinic
A reminder this will be at school this Thursday 20th October.

Preschooler Morning
We welcome preschoolers on Monday 31st October from 9.00am - 10.30am. Please bring along your child’s drink bottle and some morning tea.

Athletics
Year 1-3 will be participating at Waikari School on Tuesday 1st November. Please let Penny know if you can help with transport. Year 4-8 will be participating at Waipara School Tuesday 8th November. Please let Georgie know if you can help with transport. We welcome parents to come and watch and will send out the timetable closer to the time.

Teacher Only Day
There will be a teacher only day on Thursday 10th November.

Beach Ed
The whole school will be going to Waikuku Beach on Wednesday 7th December. Please let Georgie know if you can be a parent helper on the day and if you can help with transport.

School Pool Key
As we now have a heated pool, we will be opening it early November and will be able to have it open for most of term 1. If you would like to purchase a pool key, please email Bryleigh - office@omihi.school.nz. It is $50 for school families and $70 for community members. This includes a $20 refundable bond when you return the key.

Life Education
We look forward to welcoming Life Education back on Thursday 8th December to work with each class.

Prize Giving and Whānau Picnic
We welcome our community to our prize giving on Wednesday 14th December at 11am, then a whānau picnic in our school grounds from 12-1pm. Please bring your own picnics. This is also the last day of the year.

2023
School starts again on Wednesday 1st February.

Year 5-8 Camp
Our camp in 2023 is going to be at the start of term 2, and it will be a city camp in Christchurch. We will ask for parent helpers and let you know costs and exact dates in term 1.

Community Notices

Year 5-8 camp at Hanmer Springs

Kia ora koutou

Firstly a huge thank you to Sally and Georgie for organising such a wonderful camp last week, and thanks to Sally, Penny, Sarah, Todd and Aaron who went on the camp. It was so great to see and hear about our tamariki pushing themselves out of their comfort zone, and trying new things.

I was at the NZ Principal’s Federation Conference in Christchurch last week, and one of the keynote speakers was Kaila Colbin. She does a lot of work with Brene Brown, who is one of my role models and I have read and listened to a lot of her work.

One of her main messages was around courage, and what the skill sets are of courage. She talked about us, as leaders, modelling courage - to get out of our comfort zones, show vulnerability, and take away the ‘armour’. And to encourage this in our teams, in our students. So it was inspiring to see our students going on camp and trying new things. For some, it might be the first time they stayed away from home, or the first time they have rock climbed, or simply being independent for three days without their family around. We are proud of them all, their courage and bravery looks different for each child.

Ngā mihi

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

School Notices

Character Strengths
Ava (Year 5) - My top 3 character strengths are love, gratitude and kindness. Love and kindness helped me on camp to play and talk with my friends. Gratitude helped me to be thankful to my teachers who organised camp and made it fun.

Out of Zone Enrolments for 2023
Please see below our ad for our out of zone enrolments. If you would like to enrol for 2023, and are not currently in zone, please email me by the 23rd September with your application. Enrolment forms are on our website, or you can email Bryleigh at office@omihi.school.nz.

Online Auction
Here is a link to our online auction on our Facebook page. This is one of our major fundraisers of the year. Please have a look, feel free to bid, like and share around. It’s also pinned to the top of our school Facebook page. It finishes on Tuesday 20th September at 8pm.

Trailride Volunteers
We still need a few more volunteers. Please add your name if you are able to help. We have some A3 posters to advertise the race, if you have anywhere that these could go, or would be happy to put some up in the community, please let me know.

School Cleaner
We would like to thank Sharryn for her wonderful work as our cleaner for the past two years. We have loved having her as part of our team. Sadly for us, Sharryn has handed in her resignation. If you have preschoolers at Bloomfields, you may see her there! So we are now looking for a cleaner for our school, which is approximately 8.5 hours per week. This could also go alongside the Omihi Hall cleaning position. If you are interested please email me with your interest and any experience you have to principal@omihi.school.nz by Friday 23rd September.

No Omihi Bus
Due to our Kapahaka Festival, there is no Omihi bus on the afternoon of Thursday 22nd September. At this stage there may be no Omihi bus on Wednesday afternoon, due to having no bus drivers, but we will confirm tomorrow.

Prize Giving Cups
If you received a cup at prize giving last year, can you please return it by the end of this term.

School Photos - new date and sibling portraits
School photos have been moved to this Wednesday 21st September at 9am.

If you would like a sibling portrait to be taken, please complete this form before 8.00am this Wednesday. Sibling photos will only be taken for those who have completed the form.

Kapahaka Festival
We look forward to seeing you at our kapahaka festival this Thursday. If you purchased tickets, these will be sent home in the next day or two. These are likely to be door sales - cash only.

William Pike
Tūpari will be travelling by bus to Loburn School this Friday to listen to William Pike. They will leave school at 9am, and return by 1.30pm.

Year 0-4 Assembly
We invite you to our year 0-4 assembly this Friday at 2pm, in Kahiwi.

Grandparents Day
We look forward to seeing our grandparents on Wednesday 28th September from 9.00-10.30am. A reminder for families to please send along a small plate to share.

Year 8 Day out
Our Year 8’s are looking forward to going to Christchurch for their Year 8 day out on Tuesday 27th September. They will be picked up and dropped off in Amberley.

Pet Day
Our pet day is on Wednesday 19th October. Please fill out this form by Friday 23rd September, to tell us what your child/children will be bringing.

Community Dental Service

One of the Community Dental Service vans will be at school on Thursday 20th October. Only the children who currently require a check up will be seen at this time. Please see more information from the Community Dental Service regarding this visit in the notices below.

Community Notices

Last Saturdays at Brew Moon - $5 entry fee (free for kids), with 100% of ticket sales going to the Waikuku Beach Surf Lifesaving Club.

Tiddlywinks Theatre children’s drama course
Balcairn Public Hall Soc Inc is excited to invite local children from 10 to 13 years to join in a children’s drama course to be held at the hall in the October School holidays. This workshop is firstly about having fun with drama!

The course will consist of three afternoons of 2 hours each from 1.00pm to 3.00pm on Thursday 6th, Friday 7th and Saturday 8th October with a presentation for parents on the third day. There is a nominal charge of $5.00 for the whole course. It will cover a range of aspects to develop confidence, imagination, teamwork and an insight into the fun of doing drama! We will be covering a range of drama games / improvisation / mime / creating scenes / rhythm / voice, etc.

Mrs Dinie Bevers and her husband, Wim Bevers will lead the course. They have both had extensive experience in children’s drama over many years and are highly qualified. Dinie is a Speech & Drama teacher and a National Examiner for Speech New Zealand, with many years of experience. We are privileged to be able to offer a coach of such high calibre.

Numbers are limited to 30, so book early to secure a place. If this inaugural course proves popular, further courses for differing age groups are planned for the future.

All welcome / no experience is necessary. More information and enrolment forms are available via Deb Vink. Please email secretary@balcairnhall.com.