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.

We are in the last third of the school term with only three weeks left till the Term 2 holidays. This eleven week term has been very full already of interesting and exciting learning, school trips, camp as well as Year 6 visits to our local intermediate schools for Taster Days. Our whole school production rehearsals are continuing well, with many of our older students busy learning lines and practising their roles. Kerensa McKinnon and Hayley Bamborough are our production directors, along with a team of supporting staff, and they are feeling very positive about the quality of the acting developing in the students who are in lead roles. We will be presenting the production to families and whanau in Week 4 of Term 3(August 12,13), and tickets will be on sale in due course, so save the dates.

Matariki is being celebrated in the school holidays this year (Firday July 10), so we will be having our own school events in Week 11. Our dawn ceremony and breakfast will be on Wednesday, July 1 at 6.30am down in the valley. The team from Arataki will be present at the dawn ceremony to share in the proceedings, which we are looking forward to. On Thursday July 2, the PTA are hosting a disco for our students with a Matariki theme. Look for the information about the details later in the newsletter. Our Kapa Haka group have been asked to support the Matariki public ceremony at Arataki on Saturday June 27, and they and our Pasifika group will be performing at the Oratia Community Church Matariki service on Saturday July 4. It is a busy time for them all and we are looking forward to that time.

Finally, SAVE THE DATE: Parent Curriculum and Reporting Information Evening. We will be holding an information sharing time in Week 10 - Wednesday June 24 at 7pm in the school hall. If you are interested to hear about the changes to the curriculum and what assessments are now being expected to be conducted with our students, and how reporting to parents will be changing in 2027 then please come along to hear from us.

Take care and stay safe.

Kia kaha, kia atawhai.

Ngā mihi nui, Ms Linda

PASIFIKA PERFORMANCE - THURSDAY 4 JUNE

PROJECT JONAH VISIT

Arawhata students had a visit from a life-sized humpback whale last week! Thanks to Project Jonah, a 14-metre inflatable whale found its way into our school hall.

We learned heaps of facts about these incredible mammals and even got the chance to step inside to see what their body looks like and how it works. What an awesome experience!

RUMA TE KAU MĀ TAHI - PAPER PLANES

This term we have been learning about flight. We followed instructions to make a paper plane, and then we had lots of fun flying our planes outside.

JUMPING JUNE

Jumping June is a simple skipping challenge for primary and intermediate schools across New Zealand. Students get active and take part in a charitable fundraiser supporting the Heart Foundation. There are skipping ropes included for every child, an easy-to-use fundraising platform, and simple digital resources that make setup and delivery straightforward. See below for some of the amazing prizes on offer!

ROOM 13 & 14 - GUM DIGGERS

Rooms 13 and 14 have been learning about kauri gum diggers. We read about Dalmatian people moving to New Zealand to try to make money from finding and selling kauri gum. We learnt what a tough job it was, and that most people didn't make much money!

To bring our learning to life, Matua James dressed up as a gum digger and read out a diary entry from his day in the gum fields. He even had a piece of kauri gum to show for it! We then planned and wrote our own diary entries pretending we were Dalmatian gum diggers too. We even dyed some paper with tea bags to make our diary entries look really old.

MATUA MATT'S BIKE TRAIN

BIKE BONANZA

To help support us establishing our bike train, Bike Hubs and Glen Eden Community House have come on board to help us get bikes for students who don't have them. On Sat 20th June, (10-2pm, 13 Pisces Road) there will be a 'Bike Bonanza' (market and food trucks also), collecting kids bike donations from the community. These donations will be checked out by the Bike Hub mechanic and rehomed to one of our tamariki who needs it. There may also be the chance to swap a kids bike that is now too small, for a larger option.

Please check out your sheds and garages to see if you have any bikes you might be able to donate to the cause. Turn up on the day if you are keen to upsize your child's bike.

Contact matthewm@oratia.school.nz for any further information.

MATARIKI SCHOOL DISCO - THURSDAY 2 JULY 2026

CHANGES TO ASSESSMENT AND REPORTING - INFORMATION EVENING

Alongside the refreshing of the curriculum, there are currently changes afoot regarding assessment and how we report information about student progress and achievement to parents and whānau. We invite you to an information evening where we will share what this means for understanding the student reports you will receive from the school this year.

Date: Wednesday 24th June

Time: 7pm-8pm

Venue: School Hall

For any questions or queries, please email matthewm@oratia.school.nz

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.

Daily School Bus
School Swimming Pool
Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC)
EOTC Governance Roles and Responsibilities
EOTC Risk Assessment and Management

Follow these instructions to log on to schooldocs to review these.

1. Visit the website https://oratia.schooldocs.co.nz/1893.htm

2. Enter the username (oratia) and password (0604).

3. Follow the link to the relevant policy as listed.

4. Read the policy.

5. Click the Policy Review button at the top right-hand corner of the page.

6. Select the reviewer type "Parent".

7. Enter your name (optional).

8. Submit your ratings and comments.

9. If you don't have internet access, school office staff can provide you with printed copies of the policy and a review form.