Kia ora koutou,

Thanks to everyone that came along to our strategic planning evening last week. It was great to hear your thoughts and ideas, and have the time to talk about it. We did a visioning task, where we looked at what we would like to see if we were standing in our school in 3 years time, and also a current state task where we looked at our strengths and challenges. I will have these on display at our assembly this week, so please come in and have a look, and feel free to add your ideas to it. Once you’ve had a look, you are also welcome to email me your ideas. I’m also happy to meet with anyone if you would like to talk further about it.

Our next step is for the BOT and staff to bring all of this info together and start looking at our potential goals for the next 3 years. We will keep you informed throughout the process.

We are excited to announce that Canterbury Honda have come on board as our major sponsor of our Omihi School Trail Ride. We appreciate their support, and look forward to another great event to raise money for our school. Our Canterbury Honda Omihi School Trail Ride is on Sunday 9th November on local farms up Reeces Rd. Online sales begin on the 1st September on www.iticket.co.nz, plus there are cash entries on the day.

In term 3 we will be asking for parent helpers to support our event. We try to have one main fundraiser a year, plus a raffle, rather than lots of smaller events throughout the year.

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

School Notices

Year 1-8 Small Schools Cross Country
This is coming up on Wednesday 21 May (postponement date 22 May) on Holleth Hills Road, Broomfield. Please make your own way there with your children, or organise to carpool, arriving by 12.00pm. Most parents tend to go to this, but please let me know if you need a ride, as we are now able to take the bus. Please see here for full information.

Omihi Bus
There will be no Omihi bus run on Wednesday 14th May, as we are transporting senior students to National Young Leaders Day in Christchurch.

Reports
Later this term you will receive a reading and writing comment from your child’s teacher. This has gone home today for Awaawa, as Mrs Vincent is now away for the next 5 weeks. The graphs for Awaawa and Tūpari will be sent home at the end of the term.

Whole School Assembly
We welcome you to our whole school assembly on Thursday 15th May, at 2pm.

Change of bank account
We have changed banks to ASB. The new account name and number is:

Omihi School Board
12-3616-0070465-00

This will be noted on our invoices going forward. Please update any saved details you have.

ICAS Assessments
Please see the notice below regarding ICAS assessments. If your child would like to do these, please contact Bryleigh.

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 going to http://omihi.schooldocs.co.nz. Username: omihi Password: glenmark

• Planning and Preparing for Emergencies, Disasters, and Crises

• Communication During an Emergency, Disaster, or Crisis

• Emergency Closure

• Emergency Management

• Disaster Management

• Crisis Management

Community Notices

Penny and Maree at Google Headquarters in Sydney.

Kia ora koutou

Welcome back to term 2, I hope you had some lovely family time in the holidays. It was really nice to see so many of our Omihi families attend the ANZAC service on Friday.

This term we welcome new students, Constantine and Oliver who are starting with us this week, and Delilah who is starting in week 5.

In the last few days of term 1, Penny and I went with a group of Canterbury Principals to Google Headquarters in Sydney. We attended workshops focused on AI in Education.

It was actually mind blowing. I hadn’t really embraced AI yet, and was possibly a bit scared of it as I had no knowledge around it, but we have both come away really excited and inspired.

There are so many ways to use AI to help our learners, to make our teaching admin more efficient, to add creativity to lessons, to help us to analyse data, research, and so much more. Of course there are negative aspects to AI, but after attending these workshops we can see the benefits of our children being introduced to it, and having the opportunity to learn about it and know how to utilise it in a safe space, especially before they go to high school. A lot of the AI tools aren’t available for children to use, but there are ways we can incorporate it into our lessons so their teacher can share learning with them.

Our first steps are for Penny and I to share our learning with our BOT and teachers. Then for teachers to have a trial with how they can use AI to assist their planning, individualise learning more using AI, and provide greater support for our students, as well as make our admin more efficient. We will work with our BOT around AI policies in the school, and then later in the year we would love to share our learning with parents, and if you’re not using it already, share ways in which you can use it to support your children, or your own lives. Or simply to just have a better understanding around what AI is.

The main platform we will be using is a Google product called Gemini. There is a free version, and also a premium version. The premium version is free for all schools. This is the version that makes it safe for us to use.

If you would like to have a conversation with Penny or I about it, or want to know more, feel free to get in touch. Otherwise we will share more information throughout the year.

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

School Notices

Strategic Planning Community Afternoon - Wednesday 7th May
If you haven’t signed up yet, we would love you to come to our community afternoon on Wednesday 7th May, from 3.30 - 5.30pm. There will be a movie on for the kids, and we will provide food for everyone. Please fill out this Google form to let us know if you are able to make it.

ASB Getwise
On Tuesday 13th May ASB are coming into school to run their GetWise programme for year 3 students and up. GetWise is a financial literacy programme inspiring students to be confident with money. It provides professionally facilitated classroom workshops, resources, and digital tools for primary and intermediate students across New Zealand. Learning how to deal with money and having financial literacy is such an important life skill that children use no matter what direction they head in the future. 

Cultural Responsiveness Strategic Initiative - update from Georgie
By localising our curriculum, this term tamariki have gained a deeper understanding into our country and the journey our ancestors took to end up in Aotearoa. We have also been focusing on learning a variety of waiata before starting our kapahaka programme back up in terms 2 and 3. It has been so fantastic to see the tuakana-teina relationships between the seniors and juniors during this time. 

Preschooler Morning
We welcome all of our preschoolers in the community to our preschooler morning tomorrow (Tuesday 29th April), from 9.00 - 10.30am. Please bring along some morning tea and a drink bottle for your child.

Kapahaka
Our Year 4-8 students are part of our kapahaka lessons with Matua Rihari for terms 2 and 3. These start tomorrow, and Waikari School will be joining us again this year.

Paemoana trip to Lucas farm
Paemoana will be visiting the Lucas farm this Wednesday 30th April. They will be focusing on measurement for Maths at the start of the term, so will apply this to practical situations on the farm. Georgie, Maree and Rachel will transport them there on the school bus. If your child has a carseat, please drop this off in the morning.

Small School Cross Country
Our Year 1-8 students compete in the Small School’s Cross Country with Waipara and Broomfield School. This will be on Wednesday 21st May, held at Broomfield School. We ask you to please take your child there, or organise to carpool with others, and you can take your child home afterwards. We will confirm times and details nearer the time once we receive them from the organisers. It usually starts around lunchtime, so children can come to school first.

Whole school trip to the Christchurch Art Gallery
On Tuesday 10th June we are heading to the Christchurch Art Gallery on a whole school trip. Our inquiry topic for this term is Art History so this will be a great way to finish our learning. This will be a whole day trip, as we will head into the Botanical Gardens for an early lunch before the Art Gallery. We will be taking the school bus and the community bus, and are looking for some parent helpers. Please let Georgie know if you are available.

Community Notices

Kia ora koutou

Enjoying the view at Living Springs

We have some exciting things happening at school at the moment. At the end of last year we noticed our play hut wasn’t getting used as much as it used to, so we asked our students what we could do to repurpose it. They decided they wanted to have it for a space to play games, read books, as well as create things. Plus they were keen to brighten it up a bit. So we asked an Artist - Rodrigo Rozas - to help us create this. Our students wanted to show our whakataukī from our classroom names:

Mai i te tūpari, mā te Awaawa, ki te paemoana
From the mountain cliffs, via the valley, to the sea

Rodrigo then created a vision across the outside and inside of the play hut to show this, and reflect our local area. We are excited to share the results with you very soon!

A big thanks to Kate and Dylan (DK Custom Cabins) who donated their time on a weekend to get the play hut ready for painting.

I would like to acknowledge the passing of Alex Wyllie (Grizz). He was a big part of the Omihi/Glenmark community over the years, as well as the Glenmark Rugby Club, and was on the committee to help with the rebuild of the Omihi Community Hall. So it was fitting that his memorial was held at the Omihi Hall yesterday. I enjoyed working with Grizz when we were planning the opening of the new hall. We send our condolences to his family.

Finally a big thanks to Kelly, Penny, Patrick and Aimee for taking our senior students to Living Springs last week. They absolutely loved it.

This is our last week of the term, so we look forward to seeing some of you at the ANZAC Day service in the holidays, and then everyone back and refreshed on Monday 28th April.

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

School Notices

ANZAC Day
On Friday 25th April there will be our annual Omihi ANZAC service, across the road from school. It starts at 9am, and we would love to have some school families there. We always have some children who can lay a wreath on behalf of the school, and also ask a family to pick this up for us. If you are attending, or are able to collect the wreath for us after 1pm on 24th April in Amberley, please let Maree know.

Children are to please wear school uniform to the service. We ask if families can bring something small to share for morning tea (it could be a packet of ANZAC biscuits) and we will have tea and coffee, and morning tea available afterwards if you would like to join us.

Clubs
Thanks to Penny and Georgie who have led our running club this term. Well done to all of those children that gave it a go, even when they found it tough. We are looking forward to having arts and crafts club in term 2.

Own Clothes Day
This Friday children can wear their own clothes. We ask that they please bring a gold coin donation to go towards Big Brothers, Big Sisters in North Canterbury. This charity was chosen by our student leaders.

Strategic Planning Community Afternoon - Wednesday 7th May
If you haven’t signed up yet, we would love you to come to our community afternoon on Wednesday 7th May, from 3.30 - 5.30pm. There will be a movie on for the kids, and we will provide food for everyone. Please fill out this Google form to let us know if you are able to make it.

Omihi School Bus
Please note there is no bus on Wednesday 7th May in the afternoon. Emma will be a part of the strategic planning for the school, and we hope to see you there.

Swimming Pool
The swimming pool is closed for the season at the end of this week. A big thanks to Kurt for managing this for us, and to Tamar, Pip and Emma for doing the daily testing. Please return your pool keys to Bryleigh, who will then transfer your bond back.

Preschooler Morning
We welcome all of our preschoolers in the community to our preschooler morning on Tuesday 29th April, from 9.00 - 10.30am. Please bring along some morning tea and a drink bottle for your child.

Paemoana trip to Lucas farm
Paemoana will be visiting the Lucas farm on Wednesday 30th April. They will be focusing on measurement for Maths at the start of the term, so will apply this to practical situations on the farm. Georgie, Maree and Rachel will transport them there on the school bus.

Community Notices

Scargill Golf Club coaching day
Scargill Golf Club is having a coaching day on Sunday 13th April. Any kids are welcome for coaching between 10.00-11.00am for free. Please contact Nic Fairbairn on 027 439 9040 or nicandy@xtra.co.nz to make a booking.

Christchurch Adventure Park mountain biking school holiday programmes
April bookings are now open! Suitable for kids aged between 7-12 years. Designed to boost your child's confidence and bike-handling abilities, our programme offers a day filled with action-packed activities. From learning bike mechanics to navigating thrilling trails, we've got it all covered.

Find out more and book at www.christchurchadventurepark.com/experiences/school-holiday-programmes/

Kia ora koutou

Holly and Alice are all smiles.

We are excited to welcome Holly to our Omihi whānau. Holly has now joined our Paemoana class.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned our students who had qualified for the Kowai Swimming Sports, and I would now like to congratulate Harry who will be going to the Canterbury Swimming Sports to compete in the backstroke race, and in a Year 5 relay team.

Next week is our Year 5-8 camp at Living Springs. A big thanks to Kelly and Penny for all of their organisation, and to Patrick and Aimee who are going to be our parent helpers. It is such a great camp, and I know our students will love it. I’m looking forward to driving over with them and being there for the first day and on the last day. There is often a mixture of nerves and excitement when classes go away on camp, and it’s always wonderful to see their independence, resilience and bravery throughout the camp. If you have any questions about camp, please feel free to contact Penny or Kelly. They will send out an email later in the week with any final details.

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

School Notices

No Subway this week
Subway isn’t able to be collected from Rangiora on Wednesday, so please do not order from Lunch Online this week. We will be back to normal next week.

Own Clothes Day
Each year our student leaders choose four charities for us to fundraise for through having one ‘Own Clothes Day’ per term. This term it is on the last day - Friday 11th April - and we will be fundraising for Big Brothers Big Sisters, North Canterbury. Please send along a gold coin donation.

Omihi School Trail Ride
We are excited to announce that our Omihi School Trail Ride will be going ahead on Sunday 9th November. Please save this date in your calendar, and we will be contacting parents nearer the time to get helpers on the day. Earlybird entries will go online on 1st September.

Strategic Planning Community Afternoon - Wednesday 7th May
Every three years we review our strategic direction and look ahead to the future to where we are heading as a school. This year all schools in NZ are reviewing and resetting, ready to have a new strategic plan ready for 2026. All stakeholders will be invited to be a part of this throughout the year - staff, students, BOT and our community. We would like to invite you to a community afternoon on Wednesday 7th May, from 3.30 - 5.30pm. There will be a movie on for the kids, and we will provide food for everyone. Please fill out this Google form to let us know if you are able to make it.

Maths Professional Learning with Rob Proffitt-White
Maths and Literacy is a major focus at the moment with the new curriculums being phased in. We are fortunate that through our Kāhui Ako (Community of Learning) we are into our second year working with Rob Proffitt-White on our Maths. There are 13 schools that have one day of learning with Rob each term, plus after school webinars. The teachers will be attending our Term 1 day this Friday. Myself and Liz Grigg will be teaching while they are away.

Omihi School bus run
Please note there will be no morning bus run on Monday 31st March due to camp.

Community Notices

House to rent
There is a four bedroom, two bathroom house on a 1/4 acre section currently available to rent on Reeces Road. $400-500 per week. If you are interested, please contact Tania and Michael Stronach on 027 404 1398 (Tania) or 027 404 1483 (Michael).