Together We Grow  – Ka Tupu Kotāhi ai Tātou- Week 9 

Kia ora koutou OVS Whanau and Caregivers,

This will be our last full newsletter for 2024!  Doesn’t it seem incredible that we have nearly come to the end of our year already? 

As I mentioned in my speech at the Kai and Carols today, I have some massive thank you’s to make! Firstly, to our incredible staff—who have  shown unwavering dedication and care throughout the year. Your hard work and commitment have made a lasting impact on our students, and I am truly grateful for everything you do.

To our amazing students—who have worked hard, grown in so many ways, and brought life and energy to our school. You should be proud of everything you’ve achieved this year.

And to our parents and whānau—thank you for your support, your involvement, and for being such an important part of our school community. Your encouragement helps our students thrive.

Together, we’ve made this year a success, and I look forward to what we will accomplish next year.

On that note I would like to let our community know the structure of our school for 2025.

R1 – New Entrants – Anna Keogh

R2 – Year 1 / 2 – Rachel Dickens

R3 – Year 2 – Hayley Alchin 

R5 – Year 3 / 4 – Sue Jensen

R6 – Year 4 / 5 – Natalie Lynch

R7 – Year 5 / 6 – Frances Cowan

Heidi Nieddu – Release teacher / DP 

We would like to welcome back to our school Rachel and Sue, who have worked with us in the past and have been steady relievers for us during 2024.  We are so pleased to have you on-board! 

Unfortunately, at this time of the year we also need to say farewell to some of our colleagues and wish them well on their journey moving forward.  Heidi Kappely will be leaving us at the end of the year as a full time teacher, but we will still see her around OVS as she will be releasing Anna Keogh for her management release etc.  Heidi has been a key staff member for our staff with her friendly and professional manner.  She has a wealth of enviro school knowledge that she brings with her, and we will  all  miss her.  

Whaea Kiri will also be leaving us at the end of this year.  Kiri has been a wonderful teacher in R5 for the past 6 months  – bringing her unique sense of humour,  her musical ability and her kind and caring nature.  We are hoping that Kiri will still be available for relieving next year! 

The last person we would like to thank for their hard work and dedication, is Imogen.  Imogen has filled in for Jay while she has been sick.  Imogen has been adaptable and happy to work wherever and whenever she is needed!  We will miss her smiley face and cheerful manner. We are hoping to see more of Imogen in the future as she completes her studies next year.

As always at this time of year we are also farewelling some of our families.  We want to thank you all for the support you have given our school in the time you have been with us.  For some families, this is a real ‘end of an era’ as this is the last child in their family leaving us.  We would like to think that students leaving OVS have helped to shape our school in many different ways, and that they will take away some great memories of being with us.  

We also welcome back Mr Sayer next year – we are interested to see what new and exciting ideas he will be bringing back to OVS.

On behalf of the staff, I would like to wish everyone a very enjoyable holiday season and we hope you all get to spend some quality time with your friends and whanau. 

Meri Kirihimete! Merry Christmas!

 

Ngā mihi

 

Heidi Nieddu

 

Dates for your calendar 

Term 4

17th December – RURU fun day – Wet and wild! – Children can bring named water pistols if they want to.

18th December – Last day of school.   12pm finish.  NB No ASC on this day

• Reports are available on Hero. 
• Children visit new classes
• 2025 Class lists and stationery are emailed out 

2025 – Term 1

4th Feb – First day of school.  Welcome back Mr Sayer! 

 

Star Spot – Celebrating Student Learning @ OVS

Every week at assembly we celebrate super OVS students, and this week’s shout out is to say a huge congratulations to our R.U.R.U award winners from today’s assembly .

Week 8’s super star students are Gyspy and Mason . 

In week 9 we are celebrating Hasley and Phoenix .

 Ka mau te wehi (that’s outstanding)!   Your wonderful RURU values help to make our school a cool place to be! 

       

 

 

PTA Update 

Due to the Kai and Carols being postponed, the raffle was drawn yesterday by a justice of the peace.  The lucky recipients have been informed and we congratulate them on their prizes.  We would also like to thank the PTA for being able to ‘pivot’ at the last moment when the Kai and Carols event was changed.  We would also like to thank all of our wonderful sponsors! 

 Reports and class lists

Reports will be available on the last day of school.  Please make sure you have downloaded the Hero app and that it is updated to the latest version.  If you require a hard copy of the report, please contact your child’s teacher prior to Wednesday.  

Beach day

Thank you to all the parents who helped to supervise on the beach day – we appreciate all your efforts in making our whole school day at the beach such a success! 

Pool Keys – available now! 

If you would like to get the pool ‘key’ for summer please contact Jen in the office ( admin@otaika.school.nz).  Your key will last for the whole of summer and through to the end of Term 1.  Pool usage is limited to our immediate school community and we appreciate you not passing on the ‘key’ to anyone else.  The ‘key’ will cost $60 this summer due to the increase in chemicals and maintenance costs.  Once the school comes back next term, users are limited to after 5pm on school days.  With a lovely hot summer approaching, this could be the ideal way to stay cool without the cost and hassle of your own pool! 

ASC 

2 super star ASC caregivers are needed! These are fixed term positions.  Please contact Jen in the office if you think this is a position you (or someone you may know),  are interested in!

Also – Please note we will not have ASC on the last day of school as we finish early.  

Attendance

We have had an amazing term with our attendance!  We have 10 students who have achieved 100% attendance for the year, and 30 more students who got 95% and over.  Awesome work!

Next newsletter – 2025!