Kia ora Koutou
Contents
- Camps Completed
- Important dates to end the term
- Early School finish – Parent / Teacher interviews
- Property Update
- Swimming pool helper thanks
Camps Completed
Room 6 & 7 went on a fantastic camp to Coopers Beach. Following on from my last camp newsletter discussion about the merits of camp, this one certainly achieved them all. This particular camp was full of curriculum learning as well as Education Outside the Classroom.
Day 1
- Rotation of the Kerikeri Stone Store / Kemp House / Pa walk – links to this years NZ History focus
- Very long / steep and super fun slippery slide – standout Chevy doing it 3 times full of courage with Dad Ryan
Day 2
- Butler Point Whale Museum – this was a fascinating and highly engaging learning experience for both children and the adults – we learnt so much about early NZ and why so many whalers came to our country – this is highly recommended for a family visit. Check it out at http://www.butlerpoint.co.nz/
- Slippery Slide again – oh ok then – more parents had a go
Day 3 – camp based activity group rotations
- slide hockey – wet and slippery fun to be had
- kayak paddle techniques on the estuary/creek – this challenged a few – standout was some really big paddling improvements and confidence
- Confidence Course – lots of challenges
- Trampolines / Basket Ball
- Water Slide – lots more goes and creative group manoeuvres
- Speed cricket
- Whole Group Coopers Beach swim and chill out
Day 4 – tidy up and travel home
- Paihia for lunch on the beach
Standouts
- The weather and scenery was gorgeous and really made for an enjoyable time
- The core group of hardworking, highly motivated, positive parents who worked as a team to provide for the children.
- The kitchen facilities and overall camp facilities were of a very high standard
- The food – Nachos may have been my favourite
- The children really enjoyed their time
Thank you to our very capable camp planning teachers who did a highly efficient job at running this multi-day camp. Hats off to Heidi and Frances. Very well done.
Important dates to end the term
- April 2nd Good Friday – no school
- Monday 5th & Tuesday 6th April – Easter Break – no school
- Wednesday 7th April – back to school
- Wednesday 7th to Friday 9th – Terry on annual principal conference
- Monday 12th April – week 11 last week of term
- Thursday 15th April – EARLY SCHOOL FINISH 1PM for meet the teacher 10min interviews
Early School finish – Parent / Teacher interviews
As part of our student learning reporting review we are bringing back a 10 minute interview.
The purpose of this interview is
- 5 minutes to discuss what is on top for parents about their child
- 5 minutes to discuss how parents are finding Seesaw use at home – clarifying the purpose – checking ability to use Seesaw at home
Note: 1pm finish on Thursday 15th April. After School Care will be running for existing customers, otherwise please arrange to pick up your child if you have a later interview.
Online Bookings – please click on this link
https://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/code?z=2jAsCd
and type in the code: pyt9g
Property Update
As you will have seen we have hard covered permanent shade systems being installed at present outside Rooms 1 & 2 to help with the learning through play approaches that we have blended with the more formal teaching group style in these rooms. The large shade systems outside of Rooms 6 & 7 will help reduce the temperature in these rooms during summer, allowing students to move out onto the decks while learning and provide more shelter for ball games on the concrete during wet days. You may or may not remember hearing that all schools received an injection of money to complete large projects that sit outside of our normal building guidelines. This project will set the school up for many years of benefits to the children during learning and play.
There will be lots of property developments at Otaika Valley School over the next year. An extra senior toilet will be installed hopefully by year end. Room 3 to Room 7 are due for carpet replacement and autex on the walls. Autex is the soft, highly colourful surface that you can staple work too. It also helps insulate and reduce noise. Unfortunately, our projects have been held up from last year at the approval stage, with a lot of behind the scenes consultation with the board and Ministry of Education.
When we have timeframes for each project I will give you an update.
Swimming Pool
Normally I have a group of parents vacuuming the pool throughout the season. I did have plenty of volunteers, but Laurie was quite happy to do it each day by herself. She had done a fabulous job and has helped maintain high quality water levels. It seems that we have had less jumpers during the weekends and thankfully not had to close the pool during Term 1. Thank you to Laurie. Well done.
Regards
Terry
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