Issue No 1, 24th February 2021

Welcome back to all those students returning to school for 2021 and a special welcome to all new students, both domestic and International who have joined our Owairoa “family” this year.Our school Mission Statement is an important intention to ensure quality learning opportunities and equitable outcomes for all students.

Our Mission is to provide pathways to access challenging, stimulating,

quality education that creates self-motivated, lifelong learners equipped for a changing world.

This statement is further supported by our School Vision Statement:

Owairoa - Pathway to the Future

Our vision is to lead children along the pathway, which prepares them for the future and challenges them to continually strive for new horizons.

We celebrated an outstanding Education Review Office (ERO) evaluation with ERO’s overall judgement;

On the basis of the findings of the review, ERO’s overall evaluation judgement of Owairoa Primary School’s performance in achieving valued outcomes for its students is STRONG.

Dear Parents and Caregivers

to our Owairoa “family”

• Hayley Collins• Isaac Collins• Connor Strydom• Mahd Arain• Tyler Dorrian• Archer Hogg• Alfonzo Hernandez• Ivan Xie• Jay Achyuthan• Theo Eastabrook• George Cleaver• Joshua Bishop• JJ Kouk• Madden Armstrong• Aylin Al-Tameemi• Tyler Healy• Marshall Sharp• Freya Fenwick• Fynn Fenwick

• Sophie Ball• Kady Ali• L J Rossouw• Meika Gee• Eliah Esguerra• Kelize Navroji• Hargunn Oberoi• Doris Su• Eli Marais• Cassia Taumoepeau• Maddison Thackwray• Mila Sorokina• Mehdi Lakhani• Riana Singh• Stassi Dalziell• Annika Hampel• Sophia Lee• Brooke Harper• Zoe Harper

• Henrietta Halatanu• Juliette Hernandez• Jennifer Sui• Riyansika Doddala• Shalan Tahir• Isabella King• Sophia Balong-E• Sonya Wharerau• Lara Venter• Elizabeth Sleeman-Butt• Bryan Liang• Keegan Van Wyk• Raiyan Shikder• Diyon Amarawansa• Max Chen• Jennifer Yun• Shacago Kiwara

• Rosanne Koloti• Siobhan Rew

• Richard Yates• Riana Shaw

• Samantha Green

Students

New Staff

Our main school newsletter is published approx. every three weeks. This is supplemented by special issue notices.All notices are published on our Skoolbag App, which you can download from the Apple store or Google Play store by searching ‘Skoolbag App’Please ensure that your email address is correct and up to date, as this is our main way of keeping in touchwith parents.

Communication with Parents

OUR PROFESSIONAL Team for 2021

SCHOOL SENIOR MANAGEMENTAlan McIntyre Christine BullWendy GreshamKirsty RiceAnita Randhawa

ADDITIONAL TEACHING STAFFSonia SmithJonathan BassonMarjorie ParkesJoan Stevens

ADMINISTRATION - EXECUTIVE Jane Huang

ADMINISTRATION - GENERALCandice-Lee DennisSharleen MorrowClare Burton Valerie WeeErica BlakeElizabeth DixonAtul Garg

ADMINISTRATION-INTERNATIONALDiane McIntyre

Amber ShoreyJill McIntyreAngela Chen

PROPERTY MANAGEMENTJohn CampbellRonald DragtAndrew McCallumRichard Song

SATELLITE CLASSSusan JacksonJackie MacMillan Rakhi PrashimJenny Wu

Class TeacherJunior School

Middle School

Senior School

Principal Deputy PrincipalAssociate Principal Assistant PrincipalAssistant Principal

Remedial Physical Education SpecialistELL SpecialistReading Recovery

Executive Officer-Finance Human Resources Manager

Office ManagerAdmin AssistantAdmin Assistant Admin AssistantResource Manager ICT Coordinator Finance Assistant

Int. Education / Sales and MarketingInternational RelationsInt.Parent Class/Int. Students/ELLTeacher Aide Int. Students/ELL

Property ManagerGrounds PersonGrounds PersonGrounds Person

Teacher Teacher AideTeacher AideTeacher Aide

Rosanne Koloti Room 1Suzanne Prakash Room 2Siobhan Rew Room 3 Tracey Haugh Room 4Kelly Teed Room 4ATosca Frederiksen Room 6Ariana Miller Room 7Joline Kennard Room 8Kristina Ellis Room 9Sally Taka Room 10 Alex Cornea Room 11Tanith Ling Room 12Nikki Eccles Room 13Jo Owen Room G1Gareth Rossiter Room G2

Helen Stevens Room B1Shari Green Room B2Melissa Buys Room B3Claire Lin Room B4Malia Fa’apoi Room B5Kim Parker Room B6

Craig Rhodes Room 28Lindsay Humphreys Room 29Stuart Crook Room T3Julia Ford Room G3William Howard Room G4

Samantha Bowles Room 19Lee-Anne Trebilco Room 20Michelle Geddes Room 21Tim Bradley Room 22Glenda Obbes Room 23Luke O’Brien Room 24Babette Maas Room 25Claire Findley Room 26Elizabeth Hewlett Room 27

Team1B

Team1A

Team 2

Team 3

Team 4

Team 5

Team 6

Year 1

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5/6

Year 5/6

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The PTA meets monthly on a Tuesday night at 7.30pm in the school staffroom. This meeting is usually held the week following the Board of Trustees meeting. All parents and caregivers are automatically members of the PTA and are very welcome to attend meetings at any time. Meetings provide you with an opportunity to find out what is happening in and aroundthe school and to share ideas on social events, fundraising activities and other school initiatives. The Annual PTA meeting is on Tuesday 23rd March 2021. We look forward to welcoming some new faces to join the team.

PTA Meeting (Parent Teacher Association)

The term dates for 2021 have been set and approved by the Board of Trustees as follows:

Term One Tuesday 9th February Friday 16th April

Term Two Monday 3rd May Friday 9th July

Term Three Monday 26th July Friday 1st October

Term Four Monday 18th October Friday 17th December

Last year the Ministry of Education negotiated a settlement with Primary Teachers. As part of the settlement the Ministry of Education granted a total of eight days over three years for Professional Development of staff, to work on Curriculum Change in the context of local priorities following consultation with the local community.The Board of Trustees have approved the dates for four of these eight Teacher Only Days in 2021.

The school will also be closed for:

Thursday 1st April Teacher Only Day Friday 2nd April Good Friday Monday 5th April Easter Monday Tuesday 6th April Easter Tuesday Friday 4th June Teacher Only Day Monday 7th June Queen’s Birthday Friday 22nd October Teacher Only Day Monday 25th October Labour Day

Capital WorksTwo large capital works projects are progressing in the school as we start the new year.

PROJECT ONEBridge Replacement / Building Maintenance

The two storey block (Rooms 20~26) is requiring remedial work to repair water damage to the building structure. During these repairs, the two aerial bridges will be replaced. It is expected that this work will be completed by May / June of this year.

PROJECT TWOConstruction of a new two storey 18 classroom block

Following the demolition of a number of our relocatable classrooms, the contractors have made a good start to the new building. The retaining walls are in and foundations are being prepared. We are excited to think that we will be using these wonderful new facilities by February 2022.

Fruju Friday! Which famous fruity flavour is your favourite?

Friday 12 February marked the first Fruju Friday for 2021. A large number of students and parents flocked to the hall and outside Room 4 to support the PTA’s Fruju Friday fundraiser. This regular Friday event is held throughout Terms 1 and 4 and provides parents and students with an excellent opportunity to meet other parents from our Owairoa “whanau” while supporting the PTA’s fundraising efforts. Fruju’s are available for $2.00 each and lemonade ice blocks (ideal for preschoolers and our junior students) are just $1.00each. With 3 different Fruju flavours available why not come and tell us which is your favourite! The PTA are always happy to welcome more helpers, so if you are able to volunteer 30 minutes on a Friday afternoon to help sell ice blocks, please contact PTA@owairoa.school.nz

Owairoa Primary School, like all other schools, ask parents for a voluntary donation. This donation is a very important source of income in our school budget and is used to provide additional staffing, programmes and resources, all dedicated to increasing the educational outcomes for students. The donation for 2021 has been set at $260 per child. The Board would appreciate payment of your 2021 school donation so we can maintain many different programmes. Payment can be made easily online through the Kindo Online School Shop.

Please use the link http://kindo.owairoa.school.nz/to register if you haven’t already done so. All school donations are tax deductible and can be claimed

from Inland Revenue after 1st April.

Looking aheadMarch 10th Christian Living

programme starts

(Year 2~6 students)

16th Board of Trustees

Meeting 7.00 pm

23rd PTA Annual Meeting 7.30 pm

26th PTA Family Fun Evening

April 1st Teacher Only Day (School closed)

2nd Good Friday (School closed)

5th Easter Monday (School closed)

6th Easter Tuesday (School closed)

9th Anzac - School Service

13th Board of Trustees

Meeting 7.00pm

16th Term One Ends

May 3rd Term Two Begins

from your “family”With kind regards

Alan McIntyrePRINCIPAL

Early Signing outof Students

!IMPORTANT

The law states that all school age children should attend school for the full hours every day that the school is officially open. In addition to the issue we are having with students late for school on a daily basis, a new trend is for parents coming in before the end of the school day to sign students out early. The official school day finishes at 3pm everyday. This is getting out of control especially on a Friday afternoon where parents see it is their right to sign out students early e.g. to get away earlier for a weekend break to beat the traffic.The only valid reason for an early sign out is for an appointment e.g.specialist, dental or not feeling well. Your co-operation in this matter would not only meet the legal attendance guidelines but would also enhance your child’s educational opportunities with their learning.

If your child requires medication to be administered at school, we ask that parents complete a medication consent form, available from the school office. For asthmatics, we will work with you to formulate an action plan to assist with your child’s individual needs. For safety reasons, all medication is to be brought and stored in a named container in our school office.

HEALTH ISSUES

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