Oratia District School Newsletter
Week 5 - 2 June 2022
Message from Ms Linda
Tēnā koutou katoa. Nau mai ki te whanau o te Ōrātia. Talofa lava. Ni hao. Zdravo. Kia orana. Namaste.
Greetings Ōrātia whānau. Welcome to Samoan Language Week: Vaiaso o le Gagana Sāmoa.
Tuesday was a fabulous day of celebration with our Samoan families and community as our Kapa Pasifika group hosted their parents and whanau to celebrate Samoan Language Week. Everyone brought delicious food to share, and the children had their family join them in activities and performances. It was a lovely time to get together and meet again. My deep thanks to the families who attended and supported the day, and to Matua Ben and Whaea Gemma for their mahi in organising the wonderful event. Wednesday was the celebration of 60 years of Samoan independence. So a very significant week for Samoa, and one we were delighted to be a part of.
This weekend is a long weekend due to Queen's Birthday being celebrated on Monday 6th June. The next day, Tuesday 7th June is our Teacher Only Day. School is closed for both Monday and Tuesday. Our focus for our TOD is Mathematics. We will be looking at inquiry maths, mixed ability grouping and the progression of Maths language across the school levels. Very practical, and useful to our teaching of Mathematics here at Ōrātia. Next week is our termly Family Friendly week where we halt our school meetings and encourage our teachers to finish work a little earlier than usual and go home to spend time with their families or on their own well being. This acts as a great re-set for our teachers midway through the term and I know they really appreciate this opportunity.
Wednesday was the day for our zonal cross country event, held at Henderson Valley School. We sent a strong contingent of students from 7 years old to 10/11 years. Our children ran well with many placing in the top 10 in their event. Due to this our school was the overall winner on the day based on the points they all earned. This makes five years in a row that Ōrātia has won the cross country event. We are very proud of all our runners, whether they placed or not, as they all ran their entire course and kept going till the end. Extra congratulations to all the students who did get a placing.
This week we had our Parent Network AGM. There was a great group of parents who attended and voted for new office holders. Our thanks to those parents who have agreed to be the new office holders: Susan Giles is our new Chair, and Annemieke Nola is our new secretary. Fenella Dennis agreed to remain as our treasurer. Meetings are usually the first Tuesday of the month in the school staffroom, and we would love to see you come and support the new team. There is a school disco for the students coming up next term that the parent network will be organising. Come and take part and have some fun supporting the school fundraising efforts.
Take care and stay well.
Ngā mihi nui, Ms Linda
Friday lunch schedule
Friday 3 June - Subway
Friday 10 June - Pita Pit
Friday 17 June - Sushi
Friday lunches can be ordered on Kindo and will be delivered to your child's classroom at the beginning of lunchtime. Order cut off times: Sushi- Wednesday night, Jesters Pies-12noon the Thursday prior, Subway and Pita Pit Thursday night.
Please contact the office to make arrangements to collect lunch orders if your child is absent on the day.
Please check your details!
Please could you take a moment to check your details in our school app.
If you have not downloaded the app yet please email janinem@oratia.school.nz
How to advise of an absence from school.
If your child is going to be absent please advise the school office by 9am. You can do this by:
- Notifying us via the school app. Please note if you expect the absence to be more than a day
- Leaving a message on the answerphone (phone number is 818 6216 – option 1) with name,
room number and reason for absence
- Filling out the absence form on the school website
- Emailing - janinem@oratia.school.nz with child’s name, room number and reason for absence.
It is important to let us know every day that your child is away to keep the roll accurate.
If children are away for five or more days due to illness please provide a doctor’s certificate for the absence.
If you are going away on holiday for five days or more please email your child’s teacher and the office (janinem@oratia.school.nz) in advance of the holiday.
Next week's focus is lunch eating
Celebrating Samoan Language Week
We celebrated Samoan Language week on Tuesday with parents and whānau enjoying a fantastic performance from our Kapa Pasifika group followed by a shared feast of traditional samoan dishes which were also shared with our staff. Well done and thank you to everyone who performed and organised this event.
Cinderella Ballet Thursday 11 August, 2022
Opportunity for our students to attend the Royal New Zealand Ballet - Cinderella
Polish your tiara and dust off your dancing shoes! Feisty, funny and fabulous, Highs, lows, fairy-tale endings and happy ever afters will spill from the stage in every shade of the rainbow.
This thoroughly modern Cinderella presents a sparky, stylish twist on the classic tale, with a heroine who knows her own mind and a hero who follows his heart.
This Ballet is on Thursday 11th August at the Dame Kiri te Kanawa, Aotea Centre.
We will be leaving school at 11am for the performance at 12.30pm then returning to school at approximately 3.30pm. Tickets cost $25 (ticket and bus). Open to Arawhata and Tuakana students only. limited tickets available.
If your child is interested in this wonderful opportunity, please email teenac@oratia.school.nz with the name of your child and their room number ASAP.
Please note this is the same day as our student-led/3-way conferences, which may have some effect on times for booking interviews.
Lone Kauri School visit to the Auckland Maritime Museum
By Zara Stuart Lone Kauri School
I woke up on Friday the 27th to go to the Maritime Museum with my Mum. We drove out for a long time. Luckily we were listening to music and it was ten times quicker. When we got to the Maritime Museum there was another school before us so we went exploring around the massive Museum. There was a painting that talked but I think my favourite thing was a chair that told us stories about our ancestors.
The sailboat that we were going on docked and the other school hopped off and we went on the sailboat. We went under the harbour bridge and then we went back. I sadly didn’t see any sea life when we went to the harbour bridge and back.
By John Hamm Lone Kauri School
On the school trip, Jess took me to the Maritime Museum and Katie (Zara’s Mum) looked after me during the trip. One thing that I learned is that when we sailed the big sail boat, the sail’s flaps are a lot lighter than they look. Something that I liked doing was sitting on the talking chairs, but something that I did not enjoy was going slow on the big sail boat even with the big engine on. My favorurite piece of art there was the two cannons in the second room. One had a blocked shoot/mouth and the other had a free mouth. The trip was fun.
Potiki Class Trips to Arataki
We got to check out a whole bunch of invertebrates for ourselves, including all the cave wētā living under the worm farm lid!
Zonal Cross Country
Our school cross-country team competed at zonals at Henderson Valley School yesterday. Unfortunately several team members were away sick but we still brought home the trophy for the 5th year in a row!. Well done to all of our runners who gave it their all out on the course, you really did us proud!
There is no Flippaball on Queens Birthday Weekend
PARENT CORNER
St Dominic's Open Day Mini Tours
Dear Parents and Caregivers of prospective students
On Wednesday 8th June we are having a “Mini Open Morning Tour” of the College as we were unable to have our usual Open Evening displaying the College and facilities due to Covid restrictions earlier in the year. We will commence in the Chapel at the times of 9.30 am and 12 p.m. and would be delighted to meet you and your daughter(s) should you wish to attend. Please complete this form with an indication of your preferred time if you wish to attend -
click here https://forms.gle/eP39vwwb144P4eG57.
COMMUNITY NOTICES
Contact Us
Email: principal@oratia.school.nz
Website: https://www.oratia.school.nz
Location: Shaw Road & West Coast Road, Oratia, Auckland 0604, Auckland, New Zealand
Phone: +64 9 818-6216
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OratiaSchool/