THOUGHT OF THE WEEK / WHAKATAUKI “What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing.” Aristotle 384-322BC Greek Philosopher TERM ONE DATES TO NOTE

7 Feb School starts

8 Feb Technology – No Japanese this day

15 Feb BoT workshop

19 Feb Yr 3-8 swimming trip

20 Feb Garden competition

22 Feb Technology

27 Feb Yr 3 – 8 swimming trip

5 Mar Mountain swimming sports

8 Mar Technology

9 Mar Ki-o-rahi competition

20 Mar St John student ed. day

22 Mar Technology

29 Mar Bikewise day

30 Mar Good Friday

5 April Technology

6 April Interschool softball tourn.

10 April Rugby & netball tourn.

12 April School assembly

13 April End of term 4

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE Welcome back to school. I hope you have all enjoyed the long, hot summer. I am very excited to be in this new role. Later this term I will be sending out a community consultation so I can garner your thoughts on what our school could or should be doing. In the meantime feel welcome to come and discuss your ideas with me, my door is always open. Ewan Starkey CLASSROOM NEWS I have asked the teachers to take turns to write a paragraph about what is happening in their classes to put in this part of the newsletter starting next week. The inspiration behind this is

the fact that we are often doing some neat stuff in the class but don’t communicate this to you. It will enable you to have those discussions with your child around what they are doing at school, beyond the standard “How was school today”? NEW TEACHERS

Whaea Grace Batley with some of her charges We had a moving powhiri to welcome our new teachers, staff and student to Owhango School this morning. I am grateful to our kaumatua, Jim Komene, for his support and lead with this. I am very pleased to have two excellent teachers appointed to the ‘middle’ room, year 4-5 class, job sharing the role. I have taught with Katherine Forster on several occasions. She is a hard-working teacher with a broad knowledge of the curriculum and wisdom that comes with years of service to the profession. Grace Batley comes with youth (well, compared with me) and enthusiasm. She was highly recommended by several principals who all said they would love to have her back at their schools.

OWHANGO SCHOOL NEWSLETTER “Working Together To Achieve Our Very Best”

Phone 07 895 4823 www.owhangoschool.co.nz

Cell 027 895 4823 Fax 07 895 4853

Email:office@owhango.school.nz

1/2018 7 February 2018

This term Kathy will usually be teaching on Mondays and Tuesdays, Grace on Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays. In term two Grace is travelling in Asia so Kathy will be full time in the class. Then in term 3 & 4 both teachers will be job sharing again. We also are excited to have Theresa Owen as our teacher aide. We feel a bit spoilt as Theresa is actually a trained teacher and already part of our school whanau. NEW STUDENT Welcome to Charlie Walton who has started at Owhango School in year 3.

NEW TITLES We are allowing the children to address us using our first names with the prefix Whaea or Matua. Therefore our staff this year can also be addressed as Whaea Grace, Whaea Kathy, Whaea Jessie, Whaea Theresa, Whaea Karen, Whaea Toni and Matua Ewan. SENIOR ROOM TRIP As stated in my holiday emails, the senior room trip to New Plymouth has been postponed due to the staff changes. It will now occur on week 4 of term 2, that is Monday 21st May to Friday 25th May. This will give Whaea Jessie time to get the class settled and working well, to plan the school based activities supporting the trip, and to go to New Plymouth in the next holidays to visit the site and plan for the various logistics. Thanks for your flexibility with these changes.

NEWSLETTERS Newsletters will continue to be published on Wednesdays. They will be on the owhangoschool.co.nz website, also via emails and on Facebook once it is up and running. Please inform the school if you no longer wish to receive these emails. Thank you. FACEBOOK PAGE And to further this endeavour I am in the process of setting up a school Facebook page. This will also allow us to share what we have been doing, what is coming up, and include more photos (children love looking at photos of themselves- it is a great prompt for discussion). To make this happen we need your permission to allow photos of your child/ren to be included in this page. The page will have the highest privacy settings we can with an open group (not closed group). I did consider making it a closed group, however part of the kaupapa (philosophy) of this page is to publicise with the wider community what an excellent school this is, having a closed group would not do that. Please return the permission slip below so I can get this up and running. I will crop out or blur any children without permission, if in future you change your mind that is okay. TECHNOLOGY The first day for the year 7 & 8 students technology lessons at the Taumarunui High School is tomorrow Thursday 8th February. There will be no Japanese this week. Students will travel by bus departing from Owhango School at 9:00am and returning at approximately 1:00pm A reminder that children must dress appropriately for technology classes, this includes wearing suitable shoes for workshop sessions. They must also be prepared with writing materials and other basic requirements. Full year Technology fee invoices are attached. The Board of Trustees subsidises this charge by 50%, therefore you are charged $8.75 per term. These are to be paid to the office, or direct credit to the school account 030 426 0141783 00

NEW SPORTS SHED

During holidays Laurie has been busy building some shelves in our new sports shed. The old one had become too small and cluttered and is now being used to store our musical instruments. Now they are out of the sick bay, it has been converted into a teaching space so people like our mother-helpers can have a quiet room to listen to reading groups. MUSIC LESSONS FOR ALL Something new this year is all of the children will be learning to play an instrument. On Fridays we will have music teacher Kathy Clark working with the teachers and children to play an instrument. The senior class will choose between guitar or keyboard, the middle class will learn the recorder, and the juniors will either learn the recorder (year 3’s) or percussion (year 1 & 2). Lessons will start next week. I will also tell you more about buying a recorder or guitar in the next newsletter. REPAINTED PLAYGROUND The playground is looking great after being taken down and repainted during the holidays. We will be asking for assistance soon with a working bee to do some water blasting and other jobs around the school. Watch this space.

Mia-Mareikura and Piata test out the newly painted playground. STATIONERY Can the children please have their stationery as soon as possible so the teachers can get their classroom systems underway? Stationery lists have been emailed out to you. If you need a paper copy then contact your class teacher or the office and we can send one home with your child. SWIMMING Daily swimming lessons for each class have commenced. Please ensure children bring their togs and towels to school every day unless they are ill (and have a note from home to say so). We try to make the most of the warm temperatures to maximise the learning, as you never know when it is going to turn to too cold. SWIMMING HELP PLEASE I believe that swimming instruction is a lot more effective when the teacher is in the pool assisting the children, especially at the early stages of swimming. We have a safety policy that if a teacher is in the pool with the children there needs to be another adult out of the pool area to assist (keep an eye on the other children). The junior class already has organised their helpers but the middle or class would like

parent help for this please. If you are able to help then please fill out the form at the end of this newsletter. 2018 TERM DATES Term 1 7 February – 13 April Term 2 30 April – 6 July Term 3 23 July – 28 September Term 4 15 October – 20 December

PAYING BY INTERNET BANKING Stationery and sports fees to Westpac 030 426 0141783 00 Uniform costs to Westpac 030 426 0141783 03 PTA Westpac 030 426 0156205 00

ADULT HELPING We are most fortunate in having such wonderful input to the school from a large number of parents and grandparents helping out in various ways. We particularly require assistance every morning if possible in all three classes with the reading, language and numeracy programmes. If you are willing to assist as a parent helper at school this year with reading, spelling, numeracy, sports, music, crafts, making up teaching resources etc., please fill in the form below. Remember the most precious thing that you can give your child is your time. Our students really benefit from reading daily to an adult. NEW BATTENS We are really grateful to Farmlands for donating 200 new battens for the playground. Battens are one of our most popular playground items! BICYCLES As part of our Board policy if your child wishes to occasionally ride their bicycle to school could

you please return the permission slip. Those riding bicycles are asked to observe the following guidelines. * Wear a cycle helmet. * Are aware of road rules and basic bike safety. * Go straight home after school. * Use the school entrance next to Gifford’s with their bicycles. * No riding bicycles in the school grounds between 8:30am and 3:00pm. CHILDREN’S GARDEN COMPETITION The garden competition will be judged on Tuesday 20 February 2018. The competition is judged at the student’s home. It can be a vege garden, flower garden, native garden, or a succulent garden. It MUST be designed/created, grown and looked after by the student. Students will be judged on knowledge and presentation of their gardens e.g. weeded. A good idea might be to keep a dairy of what they have done to help answer any questions the judges might ask. Please complete the Entry Slip below and return to school by Thursday 15th February For more information, contact Jodie 027 22 64 911 or 895 4606 CHEST FREEZER FOR SALE 12 cubic foot Frigidaire chest freezer for sale. $75 Phone George & Joy 895 4848

Thanks to our sponsors for this year: Farmlands – for donating battens

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FACEBOOK PERMISSION 2 December 2017

FAMILY NAME __________________ My child/children………………………………… have permission to have their photos on the school Facebook page. YES / NO Signed………………………………………………….

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SWIMMING ASSISTANCE MIDDLES Name ________________________ I can help with swimming assistance with the middle class at 11:45 – 12:30 on (please circle) Mondays Tuesdays Wednesdays Thursdays Fridays

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CLASSROOM ASSISTANCE

Name ____________________ I am available to assist at school with (e.g. reading, spelling, numeracy, sports, music, crafts, making up teaching resources etc), ________________________________________ this year. Preferred day(s): _______________________ Preferred time: _____________________ Preferred class: _____________________ OR I am available to relieve as a reading helper when the regular helper is unavailable. Preferred day(s): ______________________________ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BICYCLE PERMISSION 2017 FAMILY NAME _______________________ My child/ren _________________________________ may ride a bicycle to and from school. S/he is aware of and will abide by the following guidelines:

Wear a cycle helmet.

Is aware of road rules and basic bike safety.

Go straight home after school.

No riding bicycles in the school grounds between 8:30am and 3:00pm.

Signed (Parent/caregiver) ________________________

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GARDEN COMPETITION ENTRY 2017

FAMILY NAME _______________________ My child/ren _________________________________ would like to enter into the competition. I can assist with transport to and from school on this day [20 Feb] YES/ NO

Signed (Parent/caregiver) ________________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Community Notices

OHURA A.P.H&I SHOW 17.2.18 Come on down and join us, fun day out for everyone

Shearing events Balloon Artist café Helicopter Lead lighting display 4x4 Mud Trucks Games

Miss Ohura Auction Bouncy Castle Horses Bar Raffles Massages Ohura Museum Display

$5 BBQ Fri and Sat 6.30pm onwards and much more… If you’re interested in having a stall contact Diane Mackenzie on 027 289 1116 before 15.2.18

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