Oratia District School Newsletter
Week 07 - 17 March 2022
Message from Ms Linda
Tena koutou katoa. Nau mai ki te whanau o te Ōrātia. Ni hao. Talofa lava. Zdravo. Kia orana. Namaste.
Greetings Ōrātia whānau. It is very good to see that our daily Covid-19 statistics are reflecting the general downward trend in Auckland statistics, with less classes affected by the virus and most of our teachers and students heading back to school after a lot of isolation required by many. If your household is affected in any way by the virus please just let us and your child's teacher know so we can be of support to you. I am so pleased with the level of hygiene measures being followed by our staff, and by the good ventilation in our classrooms. Thank you too to all families who have abided by the mask mandate and sent your Year 4-6's with masks to wear at school and on the bus. We have found that because of all these measures that there has been very little transmission of the virus here at school, with most cases coming from household transmission. I am hopeful that once we are past the peak and down the other side we will be able to have some calm and healthy weeks at school in Term 2.
You may notice my absence at the school gate for the next couple of weeks. I had an accident on my bike and fell off, breaking my kneecap, so the doctor has put me on working from home for the next fortnight, so that I do not have to walk up and down stairs. I am in a knee brace and on crutches to hobble around, and am feeling good apart from the sore leg. It is a shame not to be at school, and I will miss all the greetings at the gate. Kath and Matt, our two DP's, will keep everything running smoothly in my absence I know.
In the meantime, I know that teachers are working with your children on establishing learning goals for this first half of the year, and that we will be having goal setting interviews with you later in the term to share their learning goals with you. We are planning to have a school-wide Cross Country event in Week 10, and the Hot Cross BGun fundraiser on Raise It is building momentum. If you haven't ordered any and would like to please see the information later in the newsletter.
This week, nomination forms for our Board of Trustees By-Election were sent out via post to all parents and eligible caregivers. If you would like to stand for our Board By-Election, please return your completed nomination form and eligibility form to our Returning Officer at michellem@oratia.school.nz. Nominations will close on 02/04/22.
Take care and stay well. Kia kaha, kia atawhai.
Ngā mihi nui, Ms Linda
Calendar of Events - Term 1, 2022
Friday 18 March - Teacher Only Day. School is closed for Instruction
Monday 21 March - Rock your socks day. Children are encourage to wear bright coloured socks to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day. See poster below for more details.
Monday 4 April - Board of Trustees Meeting - 7pm
Thursday 14 April - Last day of Term One
All school events are recorded in our public calendar on the front page of our website.
COVID RED LEVEL - PHASE THREE
COVID-19 UPDATE AS AT 11 MARCH 2022
Cases of COVID-19
Anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 will be required to isolate for seven days.
Day 0 is the day symptoms began or the day the test was taken (whichever came first). Cases will isolate for a full seven days and are free to return to normal activities on Day 8, if they are not symptomatic.
See ‘Supporting students and staff to return to school’ further below for more information.
Household contacts
Household contacts are required to isolate for the same seven days as the case.
They can return to their normal activities on the same day as the first case in their household, so long as all test results have been negative, and they are not symptomatic.
Household contacts should continue to self-monitor for symptoms up to Day 10.
Household contacts will be required to take a self-administered rapid antigen test (RAT) on Day 3 and Day 7 of the case’s isolation period.
If symptoms develop at any time during isolation:
- the usual advice remains in place to undertake an additional RAT
- if the test is negative and symptoms persist or worsen, test again 48 hours after that negative test
- if symptoms resolve there is no need for a further test until the required Day 7 test. If this is negative, they can return to daily life on Day 8.
- they should undertake an additional RAT and stay at home while unwell
- if that test is negative and symptoms persist or worsen, test again after 48 hours. If symptoms resolve, there is no need for a further test.
Should a new household member be confirmed as a case eight or more days after the household contact has left isolation, then they must start a new period of self-isolation for seven days.
Important points to note:
- School entrances are at Shaw Rd and West Coast Rd (sliding gate only)
- School access can begin at 8.30am
- Parents are to remain off site for drop off and pick up. Please do not let children back over the fence to play in playgrounds after school while teachers are on site.
- Any parent volunteer in the classroom must be fully vaccinated and wear a medical grade mask while onsite, sign in using the contract tracer app and sign in at the office.
- Pick up at the end of the day will be staggered to reduce congestion at the gate - Potiki (Junior) at 2.30pm, Arawhata (Middle) at 2.40pm, Tuakana (Senior) at 2.50pm, Bus travellers at 3.00pm Siblings can leave at the same time as their younger sibling.
- If your child shows any sign of illness, please keep them home till they are well again
- If your child becomes ill at school we will call you and ask you to collect them. (We will meet you at the school gate).
- Children from Year 4 - 6 and their teachers will be wearing masks in the classroom and on the school buses; no masks are required when children are outside
- Please call the office on 818 6216 if you need to drop something to your child or collect them early and we will make arrangements with you.
Friday Lunch Schedule
Friday lunches can be ordered on Kindo and will be delivered to your child's classroom at the beginning of lunchtime. Cut off times for orders are 7.00pm Thursday night except for Sushi which is Wednesday night. If your child is absent on the day for which lunch is ordered and you would like to collect the food please phone the office.
Friday 25 March - Sushi
Friday 1 April - Jesters Pies
Friday 8 April - Subway
Oratia District School - Out of Zone Ballot
Enrolments at Oratia School are governed by an enrolment scheme, details of which are available on our school website. The board invites out of zone applications from parents or caregivers who wish to enrol their children at Oratia District School.
The board has determined there will be 30 places in total across year levels 0 - 6 available for out-of-zone students in this ballot.
- Applications will open on Monday 14 March 2022
- Applications will close on Tuesday 10 May 2022
- If the number of out-of-zone applications exceeds the number of places available, students will be selected by ballot. The ballot will be drawn on Tuesday 17 May 2022
- Successful applicants must commence their first day at school on or before Thursday 30 June 2022
Information on how to apply will be available from our school website from Monday 14 March.
Please note: Applications are to be submitted online. We will not be accepting any applications at the school office.
Biking adventures in Rm 10
Thanks to the outstanding support of our 3 superheroes from Rm 17 & 18, Bike Track Monitors Maeya, Skye & Sylvie, Room 10 had 'the best day ever' according to some of our tamariki!.
Firstly, Maeya, Skye & Sylvie taught us about bike safety and how to check that our helmets were on correctly. Then they very patiently, with ever so much kindness, helped us all to feel confident and courageous. Today we were extraordinary risk takers who showed great resilience. Some of us had never ridden a bike before, ever!. But after quietly building our confidence with their encouraging words and teaching us ways to balance, before we knew it we were racing around the track and even over the big jumps. When we got back to class, heaps of us wanted to write about what we had done, even though we had already spent the morning writing about our PB4L keeping safe in the pool! We can't wait for the next time we meet our superheroes Maeya, Skye & Sylvie at the bike track.
Learning at lunchtime
Update from the Parent Network
The monthly parent network meeting was held via ZOOM on Tuesday night. It continues to be a challenging time to be planning for the usual activities that the Parent Network organise such as fundraisers and school community events. We are hopeful that we will be able to run a school disco later in the year, or another fun event for the students. The calendar art will be available again this year in term 4.
We encourage all whānau to support the Hot Cross Bun fundraiser that the school is running in the lead up to Easter. This fundraiser is going towards a much needed upgrade of the junior playground. Sign up here if you haven't already https://oratiahotcrossbuns.raiseit.nz/hub
Check out our FB page for updates on what is happening: https://www.facebook.com/OratiaDistrictSchoolParentNetwork
Helpers needed:
13th April (afternoon) Hot Cross Bun pick up day / distribution. Please email jwright@postpro.net if you are available to help
Dates:
Next meeting 5th April 7:30pm
AGM 3rd May 7:30pm
Minutes of the last meeting: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AnJRxCgJKLn1v9zILUiZ1cy0QL4cNj75/view?usp=sharing
Teacher Feature!
Kia ora whānau, I’m Louise Robertson and I teach the wonderful tamariki in Room 2, a Pōtiki class of year 1&2 children. This is my third year of teaching and working at Oratia. The past two years have been hectic but so much fun and I have been lucky to join the local community and meet so many wonderful children and their families. I live locally with my little girl, Aria who is a member of Tima Wha (Room 4) and our two cats, Sushi and Gizmo.
I am originally from the UK, having arrived here on a working holiday visa nearly 10 years ago and never left! I grew up in Liverpool and as expected I am a Liverpool supporter (it's either Liverpool or Everton) and I have a great love of the arts and music. I studied at the Liverpool School of Art, have worked for local galleries (in my past career as a picture framer and art restorer) and have a love for one of the best bands - The Beatles! My passion for the arts has influenced Aria and when we are not at school we are either record hunting, book and clothes shopping at op shops and markets, visiting the museum; painting, dancing, roller skating or off on a trip to one of our local beaches!
On Monday 21 March we are celebrating World Down Syndrome Day
PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning)
Week ahead - Using kind words
Our school wide PB4L focus for week 7 is using kind words. In order to support our learning, could you please discuss with your children what kind words are, when we should use them and how does it make others feel when you use these words towards them. This will help to continue to reinforce what we are learning around this in class.
Thank you to everyone who has sent in teddy bears. The kids absolutely love these and we love being able to rehome them. We will continue to take any teddy donations throughout the year. Please send them down to Room 17/18.
Policy for Review
The instructions to contribute to the review are below:
- Visit the website https://oratia.schooldocs.co.nz/1893.htm
- Enter the username (oratia) and password (0604).
- Follow the link to the relevant policy as listed.
- Read the policy.
- Click the Policy Review button at the top right-hand corner of the page.
- Select the reviewer type "Parent".
- Enter your name (optional).
- Submit your ratings and comments.
- If you don't have internet access, school office staff can provide you with printed copies of the policy and a review form.
Netball Notices
Please ensure completed netball notices are handed in to Mrs Moore in the office by this Monday 21 March. There is an attachment below of the netball notice for those families that did not receive one. Netball payments can be made online on Kindo.
COMMUNITY NOTICES
Ukraine donation links
In support of the devastating events happening in Ukraine at the moment we would like to share the links below in case you are looking for a way to donate:
Mahi for Ukraine
https://en.ukraine.nz/
StandWithUkraine
https://www.standwithukraine.how/
Redcross
https://www.redcross.org.nz/donate/ukraine-humanitarian-crisis-appeal/
St Dominic's Catholic College - 2023 Enrolments
PARENT CORNER
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/