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.

This term is already off to a flying start with our school bike train starting today, Athletics Day tomorrow, EPro8 competitions underway and fundraising efforts with sausage sizzles happening for Arawhata's surf life saving trip, just to name a few actions. Our leadership team are having a big planning day today turning our attention to the organisation and planning for 2027. The board of trustees will be reviewing our draft strategic plan for the next three years at the upcoming board meeting. We are making decisions for our draft budget for next year too. There are many end of year celebrations and events being planned in team meetings at present, and meanwhile we are still working hard on teaching all that needs to be covered in this term. We are all busy and energised, and focused on getting everything done that needs to be done.

I wanted to thank all of our parents, whānau and community members who have contributed their thoughts and suggestions to the feedback we have used to inform the next strategic plan. Our student leaders have been involved in the process too giving valuable insight to their perspective. Once the strategic plan has been approved by the board it goes into the Ministry of Education and can then be shared with the wider school community. It will be published on our school website, like our existing strategic plan is already.

This week Olly Morgan, our Ka Hikitia leader, and I were privileged to attend the Maori Achievement Collaborative conference in Taranaki. We spent Sunday to Wednesday visitng key historical sites around the area, hearing the history and stories/pūrakau from iwi and others, and learning about the impact the past has on the present. What impressed me deeply was the obviious heart for forgiveness, reconciliation and peaceful collaboration that steeps so many of the current ventures happening in that area. There is a beautiful spirit over that part of the country, being led by some extremely influential and positive people. Our visit to Parehaka created a memory for me that I will treasure always. The kaumatua who spoke to us out there, Dr Ruakere Hond, was an inspiration in his pursuit of peaceful reconciliation, and an encouragement to me for the leadership of our kura. I feel very privileged to have been able to attend such an enriching conference.

Now that I am back from my sabbatical, which was a wonderul time of refreshment and rest for me, including the delight of seeing my daughter get married, I look forward to catching up with the community at the gate and saying hi. I have huge thanks to the board for allowing me the time away, and to Kath and Matt for leading the school so ably in my absence. We are all back to the status quo now, and working hard to wrap up this year and prepare to the next.

Kia kaha, kia atawhai.

Ngā mihi nui, Ms Linda

ATHLETICS DAY - FRIDAY 23 OCTOBER

A reminder that our animal themed Athletics Day is this Friday 23 October. Whānau and caregivers are welcome to come and support their tamariki.

Potiki starts at 9.15am

Arawhata and Tuakana start at 10.30am

Please ensure your tamariki have sunscreen on and lots of water to drink, it's going to be hot.

MIDDLE SCHOOL RUGBY TEAM

Our Middle School rugby team are pictured here after another great training session!

The team has been training hard all term, and we’ve been working to find another school to play against. We’re hoping to have a game coming up soon and are just waiting for a date to be confirmed.

A big thank you to Matua James, who has been coming in to run skills sessions with the team. We’ve been focusing on drawing and passing, using the first receiver effectively, and setting up our backline.

I’m really proud of this group for their commitment and enthusiasm. They’ve consistently turned up week after week, put in the hard work, and continued to improve. Hopefully, we’ll get the chance to put all that practice into action very soon!

Matua Ben

LONE KAURI - PUPPETRY

Yesterday, Lone Kauri School had a wonderful art session. Nick, from Karekare House, brought Tom Tuke and Mel to our class. Tom is doing an arts residency there at present. He is a puppeteer. He taught us about shadow puppets. We made our own. This was so much fun.

Thank you, Nick, Tom, Mel and Karekare House.

We are now big fans of puppetry.

PASIFIKA FONO INVITATION

Book Club Issue 7 has arrived! It's packed with hundreds of books from just $3.50. Make an order over $25 in this issue and get FREE BOOKS.

Did you know that every purchase you make on Book Club earns our school 15% of the order value in Scholastic Rewards? We use these to purchase more books and resources for the library. It all helps!

Bike the World - Bike Train

Bike the World – Bike Train Update

Our Travelwise student leaders are excited to share that our first ‘Bike the World’ bike train was a great success! We’re looking forward to seeing more students join in as we make this a regular Thursday morning activity.

The bike train travels from Parrs Park to school along the shared path, with students forming a ‘train’ of riders as they go. Riders can join at the start of the ride or along the route, and adult riders will be positioned at both the front and back of the group.

This is a great opportunity for capable riders to travel to school in a way that is active, environmentally friendly and wheely fun!

A few important things to know:

When: Thursday mornings, starting from 22 October.
Where: Meet at Parrs Park, or join along the shared path route.
Who: Students who are capable and confident riders.
Registration: Prior registration is essential. Please complete the Google registration form here.
Communication: On-the-day updates will be shared through a WhatsApp group.
Getting there: You’re welcome to drop your child and their bike at the Parrs Park meeting point to participate – you don’t need to live along the route.

A big thank you to our Travelwise student leaders and the adults supporting this initiative. We hope to see plenty more riders joining the Bike the World train!

For further information, see the Google form, or contact 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.