Kia ora koutou,

The whole school enjoyed our farm walk last week.

We would like to welcome Trudy Sutherland, who is working every Wednesday in the office with Bryleigh until Bryleigh goes on maternity leave after Easter. Then she will be 3 days a week after that. Welcome Rachel Lockwood, who is going to be a student teacher with us this year, and will be in Paemoana on Monday and Tuesdays. Another welcome to Sharryn who has started as our Teacher Aide in Tūpari and Amelia who is turning 5 and starting in Paemoana.

I would like to acknowledge our Year 8 leaders this year - Lily, Jonty, Jack, Delia and Cadence. We look forward to helping these students grow their own leadership skills, demonstrate our Omihi values, and be wonderful role models to their peers.

Last year Georgie completed the Te Ahu o te reo Māori course. This is a 14 week course that is one evening a week. Kelly and I have started it for this year. We are looking forward to sharing our learning with our tamariki.

Congratulations to everyone who competed in our school triathlon last week - it was extremely hot! Results are listed below. The top 3 in each year group from Year 5-8 go through to the Kowai Triathlon this Wednesday.

We hope to see you at our Food Truck Friday event next week.

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

School Notices

Strategic plan
Please see our strategic plan with our main initiatives for the year ahead. Please also see below our info regarding the Government’s new policies in their 100 day plan.

School triathlon results, congratulations to the following students:
Year 1: 1st - Arly 2nd - Eddie
Year 2: 1st - Freddie 2nd - Jack 3rd - Arty
Year 3: 1st - Hugh 2nd - Mackenzie 3rd - Stanley
Year 4: 1st - Harry 2nd - Theo 3rd - Alex
Year 5: 1st - Fergus 2nd - Andy 3rd - Noah
Year 6: 1st - Hugo 2nd - Thomas 3rd - Michael
Year 7: 1st - Taylor 2nd - Zac
Year 8: 1st - Jack 2nd - Jonty 3rd - Lily

Small School Swimming Sports
The small school swimming sports will be held at the Amberley pool on the 27th of February, starting at 9.30am. All of the details, including the timetable, are here. We need two parent helpers, please let me know if you are available. Thanks Aimee for being our lifeguard again! If your child needs transport on the bus, please let Kelly know, otherwise we will meet you there.

Sabbatical
I have split my sabbatical into 2 blocks. The first one starts in the last week of this term, and I will be back week 3 in term 2. Adrienne Simpson will be Acting Principal while I am away, and she will be at school 3 days a week. The focus of my sabbatical is ‘Growing leaders in rural schools’. I will attend the ‘Dare to Lead’ course that is based on Brene Brown’s work, visit other rural schools, and have refreshment time with my family during my 10 weeks. I look forward to sharing my findings with you.

Food Truck Friday
We look forward to seeing you on the 1st March at the Omihi Community Hall. The following vendors are coming along to serve up delicious dinners. There will be non-alcoholic drinks for sale, BYO alcoholic drinks.

• Sabaya - Israeli Cuisine (cash/bank transfer)

• Pam's Coffee Cart (eftpos/credit card/cash)

• Woodfired Pizza (eftpos/credit card/cash)

• Bloom Catering (cash/bank transfer)

• Big B’s Tucka (eftpos/credit card/cash)

2024 Precision Yamaha Trailride
The date for this years’ trailride fundraiser is Saturday 9 November, with a postponement date of Sunday 10 November. Mark the date in your calendars! Registrations will open in September.

Requirements from the new Government

• Phones away for the day - All state schools | kura are required to implement a phone rule that has student phones ‘away for the day’ as soon as possible in Term 1 2024 and no later than the start of Term 2 2024.

  This is not applicable to us, as we don’t have any children bringing phones to school.

• ‘One hour a day’ teaching requirement - From Term 1 2024 schools | kura with students | ākonga in Years 0 to 8 will spend an average of at least an hour a day teaching reading, writing and maths, or pānui, tuhituhi and pāngarau. 

  This is already happening in our school.  The timetable is different on a Friday, but we are confident we still fit in an hour of maths, and two hours of literacy on Friday and spread across the afternoons during inquiry time. So much of our learning is integrated.

• Ministerial Advisory Group - The Minister has established a Ministerial Advisory Group to provide advice on the refreshed English and mathematics learning areas, the common practice model and phase-by-phase guidance. Initial findings from this independent group of experts are expected in the coming months and will inform future decisions. The target is to deliver the refresh of the New Zealand Curriculum to the same timeframe. You will have an opportunity to review changes before they are finalised in 2024 and you are still required to use the refreshed mathematics and statistics and English learning areas from the start of 2025. More information will be available on our website. Ministerial Advisory Group – Ministry of Education

  We will continue our PLD on the Curriculum Refresh as required, and will take guidance from the MOE as it comes in.

• Attendance and engagement - New attendance resources, including for parents, are available to use from Term 1. Student attendance: Guide for parents and caregivers – Ministry of Education. Parents and caregivers are required to have their children attend school, and to develop habits of regular attendance. Schools and kura support that effort with a strong attendance ethic along with an engaging curriculum and a safe environment. The resources include guidance for you to review attendance processes, an e-learning module to build staff knowledge, content for newsletters and presentations to provide clear and consistent messaging to parents. 

  We have a process to follow up with our students who are absent. Letters go out each term for any children with attendance that is lower than 90%. 

Community Notices

Kia ora koutou

Theo and Arty are happy to be back in class!

It’s lovely to be back and catch up with our tamariki. We welcome Charlotte to Awaawa and Carlos to Tūpari. Plus we look forward to Amelia and Walter starting soon in Paemoana. Also welcome to Mrs Dodd who is teaching in Awaawa for term 1.

We loved the whānau picnic last week. It was great to catch up, and the kids loved having a swim! There are a number of events happening this term, so please keep up to date with everything from our newsletters (teacher and Principal newsletters are alternate weeks), and also on our calendar on the website.

Ngā mihi

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

School Notices

Preschooler Morning
We welcome all preschoolers to come along on Wednesday 14th February from 9.00am - 10.30am. Please bring their own morning tea and a drink bottle.

Invoices
You would have received an invoice last week for your child’s books, and also a contribution to the bus. This is to help cover the costs of using the bus for school trips, so we can minimise the amount of parents we require each time. We are still part of the donations scheme from the Ministry, so we do not need to ask for the annual school donation from parents. Invoices have also been sent for Year 5-8 camp.

Food Truck Friday
We are excited to be collaborating with Rural Support North Canterbury to create ‘Food Truck Friday’ on Friday 1st March 2024, across the road at the Omihi Community Hall. All details on poster below….spread the word and help us create a great community event. Bring a picnic rug, and enjoy dinner with friends, and live music from our very own Kelly Fletcher.

Rakahuri Rage
We would love to enter a senior team into the Rakahuri Rage bike race on Sunday 10th March. It is a relay race from 10am - 4pm. We are hoping to enter a staff team as well! The flyer is below, and here is a link to more details. It says 12 year olds, but we will take younger if they are capable riders. Please let me know if your child is interested. The cost is $35 per child, which the school will cover.

Meeting with teachers
If you are wanting more than a quick 5 minute chat with the teachers before or after school, please ensure you book a time with them.

Attendance
It is important for students to attend school. It is a legal obligation that your child is at school. It is our responsibility to follow up if a child is not at school. Here is some guidance for parents and caregivers from the MOE. If your child is not at school and we haven’t heard from you, either their teacher or Bryleigh will be in touch with you. At the end of each term we will send home letters to any parents who’s children were at school less than 90% of the term.

Wai Swim 
We will be swimming every day, and we have Wai Swim lessons from the 7th - 16th February. Please send togs and goggles every day, and a rash vest if your child has one.

School Triathlon
On Wednesday 14th February we are going to be having a school triathlon starting at 1:30pm. Juniors will go first, followed by seniors. We welcome parents to come and watch. We will practice this leading up to it so children know how it works. From this week onwards if your child has a bike they are welcome to bring it to school so we can use these to practice. The top 3 from each year group in Year 5-8 will go to the Kowai Triathlon on the 21st February.

Small School Swimming Sports
The small school swimming sports will be held at the Amberley pool on the 27th of February, starting at 9.30am. All of the details, including the timetable, are here. We need two parent helpers, please let me know if you are available. Thanks Aimee for being our lifeguard again! If your child needs transport on the bus, please let Kelly know, otherwise we will meet you there.

Farm Trip
On Thursday 15th February, we will be doing a walk on the Tomlinson’s farm up Reeces Rd. We will be exploring our local area, as well as using our map reading skills from our geography inquiry. We will be leaving school at 9am, and will be back by 12pm. If you are able to help us with transport or would like to come on the walk, please let Georgie know - georgie@omihi.school.nz.

Term 1 Basketball, Miniball and Hockey
Please see the posters below about miniball (years 3-4) and hockey (years 3-8) for Term 1. Information about basketball for years 5-8 can be found here. If your child would like to register, please email Bryleigh at office@omihi.school.nz by Friday 9 February.

Community Dental Van Visit
The community dental van will be at school on Monday 26 February to see the students who are due for a check up. Please see further information below.

Community Notices

Compass FM - Supporting the North Canterbury community since 2011.

Kia ora koutou

Our wonderful Year 8 leader, Macy.

I would like to say a big thank you to Chantelle White who has been our student teacher for the past two years. Chantelle completes her course at the end of this year and has a job at Hurunui College next year. We wish her all the best.

Macy has been our only Year 8 leader this year, and it has been lovely to see her leadership skills shine. She has been a great role model to her peers, and is always a kind and caring friend to the junior students. She shows lovely tuakana teina strengths. We wish Macy all the best for her transition to high school next year, and hope she will come back and visit us.

Thank you to all of our parent helpers this year. Thanks to our BOT - Julie, Craig, Emma and Georgie, our bus drivers Fi and Emma, our librarian Yo, our gardener Fi, our cleaner Sharryn, our office manager Bryleigh, our teachers Kelly, Penny and Georgie, our relievers Elizabeth and Liz. You all have our students’ best interests at heart, and it’s wonderful to work with such a dedicated team. And especially thanks to our amazing students. They really are a pleasure to teach.

Next year I have been awarded a 10 week sabbatical. I will split this into two blocks throughout the year. Adrienne Simpson will be in the Acting Principal role while I’m away. Adrienne was Principal at Woodend School, and is now retired, although I still work with her regularly in our Professional Learning Group.

Have a lovely Christmas everyone, and we look forward to seeing you all next year.

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

School Notices

Year 5 - 8 Camp
Next year’s camp is from the 3rd - 5th April in Kaikoura. The cost will be approximately $200-220, we will confirm this early 2024. We are looking for parent helpers. Please fill out this form if you would like to come as a parent help.

Stationery Lists
Here are the stationery lists for 2024. Please go on and order these so they arrive in time for the start of the year.

Prize giving/Whānau Picnic
We welcome you to our 2023 Prize giving on Wednesday 13th December at 11am at the Omihi Community Hall. We then welcome you to bring a picnic lunch and join us for a whānau picnic from 12 - 1pm back at school. All children to be picked up at 1pm please.

Science Roadshow
We are hosting this at the Omihi Community Hall on Thursday 7th December. Tūpari will be attending a workshop, and helping run the workshops all day. The rest of the school will be attending at 10am.

Food Truck Friday
We are excited to be collaborating with Rural Support North Canterbury to create ‘Food Truck Friday’ on Friday 1st March 2024, across the road at the Omihi Community Hall. All details on poster below….spread the word and help us create a great community event. Bring a picnic rug, and enjoy dinner with friends, and live music from our very own Kelly Fletcher.

Dates
Our last day of school is Wednesday 13th December, and we start again on Tuesday 30th January. School will be closed on Monday 5th February, before Waitangi day on the 6th February. There is also a teacher only day on Friday 15th March.

Swimming Pool
Thanks to Kurt who has been looking after our swimming pool, it should be open very soon! Please remember to send togs and towels each day. If your child has a rash vest, we encourage them to wear this.

Pool Party
The Hurunui District Council is holding a pool party at our school pool on Thursday 25 January 2024, 11am - 1pm. See the community notices section below for the full list of pool party dates across the region throughout January.

School Accounts
Account statements will be sent this week to families who have unpaid invoices remaining. Please ensure these are paid before the end of the year.

Basketball and Miniball Uniforms
Please check to see if you have any of our basketball or miniball uniforms at home and return these to the school office before the end of term.

Our Posties
Thanks again to Jan and Mark who continue to deliver our school newsletter for us each fortnight.

Tipu Māia Kāhui update
Our term 4 newsletter covering the latest happenings in our Kāhui of schools can be found here. Maree is Lead Principal of our kāhui and Penny is an Across School Leader.

Reports
Your child will receive a Principal comment, general comment from their teacher and their graphs for reading, writing and maths in the final week of school via Hero.

John Parsons - Cyber Safety
Thanks to everyone that could come along to our session with John Parsons. He had some great resources, which are here for you to utilise.

Community Notices

Glenmark Twilight Netball
Starting Wednesday 14th February at 6.30pm then every Wednesday for 6 weeks until 27th March. Entry for team $120 or individual $20.

Please have entries in by 9th February to glenmarknetball@gmail.com or contact Jess on 027 460 4944.

Our wonderful students focused on their literacy.

Kia ora koutou,

I’m really proud to share with you that Penny recently completed the ‘Associate intensive training in the MSL approach to teaching phonology’ through the Institute for Multisensory Structured Language Education. This has been a work in progress over 2 years for Penny, some of it in school time, and some in her own time. It is a huge commitment, and shows her absolute passion for literacy, and helping our young people to read and write. We feel lucky to have Penny on our staff so that all of us can continue to learn in this area. It’s wonderful to work in a team of staff that all have a growth mindset, and are enthusiastic about continuing their own learning.

We would like to announce that Trudy Sutherland will be joining our Omihi whānau next year to cover Bryleigh’s parental leave. She will work one day a week with Bryleigh in term 1, then take over the three days after Easter. Please see the message from Trudy below.

Last great news for the day, now all of the funds have been deposited from the trail ride, we actually raised nearly $25,000!

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

School Notices

A message from Trudy
Kia ora Omihi School families, My name is Trudy, mum of 3 boys and I live in Waipara. I grew up in North Canterbury and absolutely love it here, we are very lucky to have such beautiful little communities.

I lived in Western Australia for 8 years and was so happy to move back home with our kids. I enjoy spending time with my family, exploring new places and just relaxing with a good book. I am looking forward to meeting you all and being a part of the Omihi School Community.

Christmas writing
The students are writing a Christmas narrative that they are going to turn into a picture book. This is the descriptive setting that they are focusing on, as written by Ze’ev:

“The snow, as bright as the moon, shimmered in the starlight. I smelt an aroma of roast boar as it wafted through the air. I heard the cheerful laughter as children unwrapped presents. I tasted sweet sugary cake as I popped it into my mouth. I felt smooth velvet blankets as I snuggled into them.”

Principal Award Winners
Congratulations to our latest Principal Award winners….Macy and Cadence.

Attendance on Hero
In case you haven’t seen it, when you scroll to the bottom of the Hero report you can check on your child’s attendance for each term. This is often used when applying for schools, so feel free to ask us if you have any questions about it.

Small School Athletics
Well done to all of our children who participated in Small School Athletics. Congratulations to the following students who made it through to Kowai athletics - Jack S, Jonty, Lily, Andy, Arlo, Taylor, Leo, Ze’ev, Macy, Fergus, Zac, Thomas, Hugo and Michael.

Congratulations also goes to Hugo and Taylor who will be going to the Canterbury athletics next Wednesday.

Staffing for 2024
Congratulations to Penny who has been reappointed as ‘Across School Lead’ for our Tipu Maiā kāhui ako. She is working across all 13 schools. Also congratulations to Georgie who has been reappointed as our ‘Within School Lead’ for our kāhui ako. Feel free to chat with Georgie and Penny to find out more about their roles.

Kowai Sports Spectacular
This is on Wednesday at the Omihi Domain. See here for the timetable. We would appreciate some more helpers at the stations. Please let Maree know if you are able to help.

John Parsons - Cyber Safety
John Parsons will be coming to work with our students and staff on Tuesday 28th November. He is also going to do a parent session for us in the evening at 6.30pm. We will have a movie playing in the classrooms if you want to bring your children, and the parent session will be in Kahiwi. He has a lot of great information on how you can keep your children safe online. This is a free session, and please feel free to invite anyone else that may be interested. Please sign up here if you are coming, so we can ensure we have enough staff to supervise students, or email Maree - principal@omihi.school.nz.

Gathering Community knowledge/talent/skills/places of interest
We would love to find out more about our local and wider community. We want to see if there are any skills or places of interest out there that our students could learn from. Please fill in this short survey for us, email us, or fill out the form below and drop in our school letterbox.

Hurunui District Library Summer Reading
Please see details below about the Hurunui District Libraries Summer Reading Program. Yo will be handing out the books and activity books to our students who wish to participate on the 7th of December.

Community Notices