Oratia District School Newsletter
Week 3 - 11 August 2022
Message from Ms Linda
Tēnā koutou katoa. Nau mai ki te whanau o te Orātia. Zdravo. Talofa lava. Ni hao. Kia orana. Namaste.
Greetings Orātia whānau. Today is one of the first times in many months that we have been able to meet you all face to face, and spend some time catching up around your tamariki's learning and progress towards their goals. We love to talk about your children and their strengths and positive progress. We also really value the time to work together to address any challenges and issues your child may be facing. Thank you so much to those of you who were able to make the time to meet with us today.
Our teachers are feeling very positive about the great start to the term that most of our students have made. They feel that this time the children have come back to school ready to get stuck into their learning, and are focused and happy to be at school. We love this as teachers. Learning is such a shared and social matter that having students who are eager to learn makes teaching so much more pleasurable. We thank you for your hard work in getting your children to school each day even when they don't want to attend and would rather be home. We can testify to the fact that coming to school every day makes a huge difference to learning -both academically and socially.
Our average attendance this year is around 82%, which just shows how much effect illness and Covid related isolation has had on our students, when normally we are up around 92% attendance. However, according to the latest attendance report from the Ministry of Education, our attendance rates are high in comparison to the national average and other Decile 9 schools. I feel for our colleagues in other schools with even higher rates of absence than we have experienced, as it has interrupted learning so much. I am very hopeful that as the warmer weather starts and flu's and colds start to wane that our attendance rates will rise back up to our usual levels.
Whaea Gemma and Mr Coenradi are working hard with the Kapa Pasifika group preparing for the Fiafia night planned for August 25th. Tickets are on sale on Kindo and are selling out fast. We look forward to seeing you there.
Kia kaha, Kia atawhai. Ngā mihi nui, Ms Linda
Friday lunch schedule
Friday 19 August - Jesters Pies (order by mid-day Thursday)
Friday 25 August - Sushi (order by 8.30pm Thursday)
Friday 2 September - Pita Pit (order by 9am Friday)
Friday lunches can be ordered on Kindo and will be delivered to your child's classroom at the beginning of lunchtime. Please contact the office to make arrangements to collect lunch orders if your child is absent on the day.
Early Arrivals
We are noticing an increasing number of children being dropped off to school very early.
School is open to students from 8.30am in the morning.
If students arrive earlier than 8.30am they are unsupervised as teachers are in meetings and preparing for the day. Please book your child in to OKK if you do need to be on your way earlier than an 8.30am drop off. Thank you.
COOK ISLAND LANGUAGE WEEK
Students teaching students
Pasifika Workshops
The office team were lucky enough to take part in one of our Cook Island Language workshops last week. Cadence, Aubrie, Millie and Loma presented a very knowledgeable powerpoint presentation and then taught us to make decorative Tivaevae.
These workshops also took place in all of the classes last week with members of our Pasifika group teaching our tamariki all about Cook Islands life.
Learnings in Room 15/16
Our students have been learning to tell time on analogue and digital clocks. They had to represent their chosen time in analogue format then convert it to a 24 hour format.
For the eyes students used their knowledge of similes to compare time with interesting verbs. They then drew an eye, illustrated their simile and finished their art with a clock as the iris of the eye.
Travelwise Back to School Campaign
Whats been happening in Garden to Table?
New Bird Feeders
Can you find 4 new nectar-feeders around the school? The Garden to Table kids in Room 13 made the sugar water, filled the bird feeders, decided where to put them and then hung them up high!
Carrot Patch
Please do not pick the carrots
Carrots need to grow to full size before being picked. Please allow the Garden to Table classes do this because they die if anyone picks them too early, We have a new beautiful sign made by Room 13 to advise of this.
Rubbish collection
REMINDERS
Lucky Book Orders
LUCKY BOOK ORDERS CLOSE ON THE 19th AUGUST
All orders once received from Scholastics will be sent to your childs class.
Can you help?
School Photos
Family Information Evening on our Structured Literacy Approach to Reading
This year Potiki (Year 0-2) teachers have introduced a new approach to teaching reading, based on Structured Literacy.
If you would like to find out more and hear how you could support your child as they begin their reading journey, please come and join us on Wednesday 17 August at 7 pm in the school hall.
There will be a short presentation and then some workshop stations hosted by our Potiki teachers. Please let your child's teacher know by email if you are planning to attend.
COVID-19 GUIDANCE
If your child has COVID-19 symptoms, the child and anyone in their household with similar symptoms should be tested for COVID-19.
If any household members are COVID-19 positive, other household members are at high risk of becoming infected. Everyone should isolate for at least seven days from the day that the first person receives their positive test result or becomes symptomatic (whichever is earliest).
Once you have recovered from COVID-19, you do not need to isolate again for 3 months if someone you live with tests positive. This is because the risk of reinfection during this period is low.
All household contacts, including children, should take a rapid antigen test (RAT) on day three and day seven, or sooner if they develop symptoms. A person who has had COVID-19 in the past 90 days, does not need to isolate again as a household contact.
Anyone who experiences symptoms 29 days or longer after previous COVID-19 infection should test and will need to isolate if they test positive.
If your child:
has been isolating with COVID 19 and is feeling well after seven days, they can return to school
continues to be unwell and/or has symptoms after their seven-day isolation period has ended, they should remain at home to recover until 24 hours after their symptoms end
still feels unwell or their symptoms are worsening after ten days, they should not return to school. Call your GP or Healthline on 0800 611 116 for medical advice.
Find detailed information about COVID-19 symptoms on the Ministry of Health and Unite Against COVID-19 websites.
Oratia School Book Fair
Book Character dress up day today
COMMUNITY NOTICES
Green Bay Primary & Intermediate School Open Day and Evening
2022 Intermediate Open Day
- When: Thursday 1 September 2022
- Where: Green Bay Primary & Intermediate School, 131 Godley Road, Green Bay
- Venue: School Hall
- Time: 8.50am-2.55pm (School gates open at 8.30am)
2022 Intermediate Open Evening
- When: Thursday 1 September 2022
- Where: Green Bay Primary & Intermediate School, 131 Godley Road, Green Bay
- Venue: School Hall
- Time: 6.30pm – 7.30pm
We offer a full curriculum aimed at Year 7&8 students in order to prepare them for High School. There are exciting initiatives in the pipeline for next year, so come along and meet our Principal, Mr Anand Muthoo, along with our whanau Kauri teachers (Y7&8) to find out more.
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/