Newsletter 1 Term 4
Onerahi School Friday 24 October
Te Karere o te Tumuaki/Principal's Message
Kia ora e te whānau,
Welcome back to Term 4. I hope you have all had a relaxing and happy holiday. We are on the downhill rush to the end of the year, which is already flying by because of all the events, activities and requirements that this term brings.
Firstly I would like to congratulate the members of our school Board on their recent election and I look forward to working collaboratively with you all over the next 3 years. I am confident that the Board will focus their decision making on what is best for our tamariki and that they will support the staff to continue doing the excellent job they do.
On this note, I would like to express my appreciation to our whānau community for supporting our staff who were on strike yesterday. The media highlights are a very limited presentation and Danny has provided a flyer of information to you all earlier this week. I would like to reiterate that yesterday was about standing fast for a quality education system for your tamariki. This includes recruiting and retaining the best staff possible, protecting our obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and the government funding a teacher aide in every classroom. At Onerahi School we are fortunate to have a strong contingent of experienced and high quality teacher aides and our Board funds the majority of them.
It was fantastic to arrive this term and see the old prefab classrooms removed. It has opened the area up and given us the option to increase usable outdoor space. The new classroom build is almost finished with just some landscaping to be completed by the end of next week. We have had a meeting with kaumatua this week around the naming of our whare, so opening celebrations are coming soon. Keep an eye out for information around this. It is also great to look out my window and see Edwin has been working to prepare the pool for our water safety programme which begins in a few weeks time. Your tamariki will bring home information on their timetable for this when it is ready.
Ngā manaakitanga
AnnMaree MacGregor
Principal
Middle School Cross Country
On Thursday the 16th of October our year 3 and 4 students got their running feet on and participated in their annual cross country event. This year the cross country involved starting on our field, then moving outside the gates to do a lap around Sherwood Park before coming back. The course continued past the back of the bike sheds, down to the butterfly garden in and back to the finish chute on the field. We were so proud of all the students who gave it a go. A big thank you to Shari and her team of volunteers who ensured Sherwood Park was free of rubbish. Congratulations to the following place getters:
YEAR 3 GIRLS
1st = Caitlin Haworth, 2nd = Jazmin Garz, 3rd = Tia Wright
YEAR 3 BOYS
1st = Finn Rewa Morgan, 2nd = Fletcher Stevens, 3rd = Hugo Belsham
YEAR 4 GIRLS
1st = Layla Gardiner, 2nd = Lucy Kirk, 3rd = Sophie Ferris
YEAR 4 BOYS
1st = Bowen McNeil, 2nd = Jaxon Beeston, 3rd = Jack Ferris
Hurupaki School Kapa Haka Festival
On Friday the 17th of October, our Te Tau Ihu and ReoRua roopu headed to Hurupaki School to join 10 other schools and participate in their Kapa Haka Festival. This was another great chance to show the skills our tamariki have been honing this year in performance, dance and song.
Honey/Honi
Honey is available for purchase at the school office. Honey has been kindly donated by our partner beekeepers - Tahi honey, and we have further been gifted larger sized jars of Honeyeater honey - also from local Pataua hives. The honey is priced amazingly from $5 per jar (250gm) to $20 (the big 1 kg jars) so why not pop in and pick some up. It's delicious!
2nd hand Uniform and Spare Lower Halves.
Uniforms come and uniforms go! Stock levels are constantly dropping on our school shirts in many of the sizes. Especially the bigger ones! (Size 10, 12, 14, etc.) If your child has outgrown their uniform and you have no further need of it, please feel free to drop it in to the school office. The sales of these help the school purchase additional items that our former PTA used to supply, such as sunscreen, etc. Stocks are depleting again of the jackets and jumpers and there are few or none to be found now in most sizes. The price has returned to $10 but it's still a great bargain!
Additionally we are on the lookout for donations of spare pants, skirts, leggings, shorts etc in black or navy that can be lent out to those in need of a spare change through the day. If you have any sitting around that no longer fit your little (or not so little) one, feel free to drop them in.
IMPORTANT NOTICES/TINO PANUI NUI
Medication: If your child requires medication to be brought or kept at school, please be aware that due to health and safety concerns, this must be kept secure in the school sick bay. It is not to be kept in children’s schoolbags during the day. This is to protect the safety of not only the child requiring the medication but also all other students. All medication requires an accompanying permission/approval form signed by their parent or caregiver. This includes epi-pens for allergy management, inhalers for asthma or any other medication your child requires on a short-term or as needed basis.
Contact Us
Email: office@onerahi.school.nz
Website: https://www.onerahi.school.nz/
Location: Onerahi Primary School Church Street, Onerahi, Whangārei 0110, New Zealand
Phone: +64 9 436 0521
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onerahischool
ENROLLING AT WHANGAREI INTERMEDIATE??
Enrolments for 2026 are now open! If your child will be joining us next year, please complete the online enrolment at wis.ac.nz. We’d also love it if you could spread the word—encourage your friends, whānau, and neighbours to enrol early too. We can’t wait to welcome another great group of tamariki to Whangārei Intermediate School.
