ORATIA SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

MESSAGE FROM MS LINDA

Tēnā koutou katoa. Nau mai ki te whānau o te Oratia. Talofa lava. Malo e lelei. Zdravo. Ni hao. Namaste. Kamusta. Greetings Oratia whānau and families.

Despite the freezing cold mornings, we are so enjoying the clear blue and sunny skies of this week. It makes everything seem much happier when the sun is shining. Our students are excitedly rehearsing for the Bottled Up production, with tickets for our Wednesday matinee and Wed and Thurs nights going on sale this week. We are limiting sales to 4 per family so that hopefully every parent gets a seat to see their child perform. If there are any extras left over then we will be letting people know as soon as possible. We apologise in advance for anyone who might miss out.

We had Zac Stone and Isla White perform for our assembly on Wednesday, to give us a taste of their Monster Mash song. The costumes look incredible, and their performance was excellent. We are all very excited. Staff are even doing rehearsals for their part in the show!

The Ministry of Education have signed off our next round of property development in their latest 5 Year Agreement(5YA). The key thing that will be done in our school is all the students' toilets will be renovated and replaced with new fixtures and fittings. There are other additional improvements like some roofing replacements, upgrading of electrical switchboards and circuit breakers, some plumbing or drainworks and some heating. A couple of classrooms will get new wall coverings and floor coverings, and our school hall will get new carpet tiles. This work will take a few years to complete, but the toilet renovations will be the main improvements in this scope of work.

This week, Kath Goldsmith took a few of our student leaders with her to the Cascades, for a kauri seedling replanting day led by our iwi, Te Kawerau ā Maki. Ever since the kauri die back started, the iwi have been cultivating seed to grow new trees to plant back into the ngāhere/forest. Since we have partnered with the iwi in their Mana Kura programme, our school was gifted one of these seedlings and we were invited to take part in where it was going to be planted. This is a very special moment for the iwi, and we were delighted to be able to tautoko/support them at this event.

Take care and stay safe.

Kia kaha, kia atawhai.

Ngā mihi nui, Ms Linda

CELEBRATING PRINCIPAL'S DAY

Yesterday we celebrated Principal's Day and took the opportunity to acknowledge our principal, Linda, for all that she does for our kura.

We enjoyed a special shared morning tea, and throughout the day many classes marked the occasion by creating thoughtful cards, visiting Linda, and performing waiata. These simple but meaningful gestures were a lovely way for our students to show their appreciation.

Thank you, Linda, for your dedication, And the care you show our students, staff, and wider school community every day.

Welcome Megan!

We'd like to give a warm welcome to Megan, who has joined our office team while Francene is on leave. Megan may be a familiar face to some as she is an Oratia local and current parent of the school. Megan will be working with us over the coming weeks, supporting the day-to-day running of the school office. Megan may

SCHOOL PRODUCTION – IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Every child at Oratia School is involved in this year's school production, and we are looking forward to sharing this special event with you.

With so many students, staff, and volunteers involved, there are a lot of moving parts behind the scenes. To help everything run smoothly, please take a few moments to read the important information below.

More specific details, including your child's arrival time and green room location, have already been sent home by your child's teacher. Please refer to that information and ensure your child arrives at the correct time and place.

TICKETS:

To help ensure every child performing has the opportunity to have family members there to watch and support them, tickets are limited to a maximum of four per family - (eg: 2 tickets for Wednesday and 2 tickets for Thursday = 4 tickets) We appreciate your understanding and support in keeping this fair for all of our performers. If more than 4 tickets are booked, the extra tickets will be cancelled and refunded back to your Kindo account.

Tickets will only be available online on Kindo from Friday 31st July. Tickets will come home with children the day before the show.

A reminder that if you are a production helper for your child's class, unfortunately you will not be able to see the show on that night as you will be in the Green Room supporting students.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

DRESS REHEARSAL AND COSTUMES:

Please ensure all costumes are brought to school by Monday, the 10th of August, which is the day of our dress rehearsal. Costumes will remain at school until the Matinee performance and will be sent back home after school on Wednesday, the 12th of August.

DROP OFF, LOCATION AND ARRIVAL TIMES:

Due to the entire school's involvement in the production, arrival times are staggered. If you have more than one child attending our school, they may both come at the earliest arrival time you have received from the class teacher.

PICK UP LOCATIONS:

Parents and caregivers can collect their child from their designated green room either immediately following their performance or once the full show concludes. Kindly inform the teachers on duty in the green room before departing with your child.

The exact conclusion times for the performances will be finalised on Monday, August 10th. Currently, the show is estimated to finish between 7:40 pm and 8:00 pm.

We can't wait to welcome you to what promises to be a fantastic show!

WANTED - HORSE POO !

We're looking for donations of horse manure to help enrich our school gardens for our Garden to Table programme. If you have access to horse manure we'd love to hear from you!

If you're able to help, please contact kellyl@oratia.school.nz or the school office. Donations can be dropped off at school.

Thank you for helping our gardens grow!

Please Leave Disabled Parking Spaces Available

A friendly reminder to all parents and visitors not to park in our designated disabled parking spaces. These are located outside the Administration Building and on Shaw Road beside the bus bay, and are clearly marked.

These spaces are reserved for people who have a valid mobility permit and need to park close to the school for safe and easy access. When these parks are occupied by vehicles without a permit, it can make it difficult or impossible for those who genuinely need them to access the school.

We appreciate everyone's support in keeping these spaces available for those who rely on them. Thank you for helping us make our school accessible and safe for all members of our community.

ORATIA SCHOOL CAREGIVER APP

Did you know that we have a school App? Our @school Caregiver App is part of our school's student management system and gives you a private, real time view of your child's school information.

It's easy to access and free to use.

Features for Families include:

Notify school of lateness or absences and see attendance info
Book interview times
Update personal information
Read notices and newsletters
Message teacher or office directly
See all your children in one app without switching accounts, even from multiple eTAP schools.

To get started, download eTAP @school from your app store or contact the school office and a link will be sent to you.

If your child has vomitted or has had diarrhea, we ask that you keep them home for 48 hours.

POLICY TO REVIEW!

This term, the scheduled review focuses on behaviour management, staff wellbeing and safety. For more information about the review, go to the Current Review tab at the top of your SchoolDocs site. A summary is provided below.