Together We Grow – Ka Tupu Kotāhi ai Tātou- Week 4
Kia ora koutou OVS Whanau and Caregivers,
It is hard to believe it is the end of week 4 already, nearly half way through the term and camps just around the corner.
I would like to thank everyone who was able to make the ‘Meet the Teacher’ evening last week, it was a pleasure to meet you all and remember if you would like to meet with your child’s teacher formally at any time, please just make an appointment.
On the wider education front, but certainly affecting your child/ren, is the busy time in education with the release of the new Math and English Curriculum.
Like us, all NZ Schools are beginning the journey for their implementation this year, and it is anticipated it will take a minimum of 3 years to introduce all curriculum areas.
As a school our OVS teachers have already been learning about both curriculums and looking at ways in which we are already achieving these curriculum statements, and what we need to incorporate into our programmes to meet the new demands.
Teacher professional development is central to all effective curriculum development and at OVS we have been active over the last 2 years pre-empting the new curriculum to ensure our staff are ‘ahead of the curve’ coming into 2025. Math and English are firmly our strategic ‘ OVS school improvement’ priorities in 2025 and we will be looking to hold a parent information evening on Math and Structured literacy for our whanau early in term 2. There is not only a lot for staff to unpack, but also implications for whanau regarding learning level expectations, the changes from Levels to Phases and whanu reporting. For your interest I have included a table that outlines the introduction of the new NZ curriculum over the next few years. There will be also an addition to our website next week that will help outline the new curriculum and the learning ‘phases’ and content that now replace the old curriculum levels.
Star Spot – Studnet Learning @ OVS
RURU Awards
Week 2 – Faith (Rm3), River (Rm7)
Week 3 – Emmy (Rm2), Connor (Rm6)
Week 4 – Ella (Rm 5) Tommy (Rm1)
New Student Shout Out!
A very warm OVS welcome and a shout out to our new students over the past 2 weeks.
Welcome Ezra, Amalia, Tommy, Riley, Zoe and Casey!
School Camps
Over the next few weeks students and staff will be attending OVS school camps.
Please ensure you have filled in the camp permission form for your child/ren as soon as possible (posted on HERO).
For payments, please see Jen in the office for cash or eftpos payments, or you can pay directly into the school bank account.
Please make contact with your child/ren’s class teacher if you have any questions regarding your child’s camp.
A massive THANK YOU to our fantastic PTA for subsidising these camps to help keep costs down!
Camp Dates:
Wednesday 5th March – Junior Camp (Rms 1 & 2) to Whangaumu Beach and school sleepover – Cost $7.50
Thursday 13th March to Friday 14th March – Middle Camp (Rms 3 & 5) to Parua Bay Christian Camp – Cost $60
Wednesday 19th March to Friday 21st March – Senior Camp (Rms 6 & 7) to Lonsdale Park – Cost $90
Ministry of Education Teacher Only Day – School Closed
Reminder to please mark your calendars that school will be closed next Friday 7th of March.
The purpose of the school closure is for teaching staff to continue their professional development in the new math curriculum.
OVS Attendance Update
A reminder that regular student attendance is 90%. At the end of term 4 2024 our kura was 61%.
So…how are we tracking in weeks 1-4 this trem.
Weeks 1&2 our Kura attended regularly 74.55%
Weeks 3&4 our Kura attended regularly 66.07%
Certainly an improvement, but still work to do!
Specialist Music Programme – Terms 1 & 2
We are so excited to have none other than the wonderful Whaea Kiri to teach specialist music at our kuraacross all year groups for the next 2 terms.!
Lessons will take place every Thursday with the first lessons being taught yesterday. The feedback from students is “Fantastic!”
TAS Swimming Sports
Well done to our Year 5 and 6 swimmers who recently competed in our Zone Swim Sports at Tauraroa Area School. You all represented the school beautifully, and we look forward to hearing the results. The top swimmers from the Zone event will then compete in the Whangarei Primary Schools Swim Sports.
A HUGE thank you to the parents who helped transport and supervise our students.
Student Health
Of late we have noticed quite a few instances of sore tummies throughout the school. Thank you to everyone who keeps their child/ren home when they are unwell, as we know how easily these bugs can spread to classmates and the rest of our kura. Just a reminder that we require students to stay home 48 hours AFTER the last episode of vomiting or diarrhoea.
Please refer to the link below for information about gastroenteritis…
Free Fruit!
Our orchard has produced some delicious apples and pears that we would love to share with our community. Mr T has kindly collected the fruit and filled the baskets each afternoon for students and whanau to fill up a bag to take home.
Darcie has done a fantastic job growing and caring for the school veggie garden, and has harvested some delicious tomatoes and cucumbers for sharing too.
Thank you Mr T and Darcie!
Please take advantage of the free healthy fruit and veggies 🙂
Book Character Day – Thursday 10th April
Get ready for the Annual Book Character Day, a fun and fantastic day organised by Darcie!
And as an added bonus, Mr Whippy will be here on the day and will generously donate all proceeds to the school library. His belief is that it is for our future generation and that all kind deeds don’t go unnoticed.
School Lunches
You may have heard or read about other schools having issues regarding the school lunches provided to them by the MOE. Thankfully, Ōtāika Valley School has not been adversely affected.
Please note that if your child’s dietary and/or allergy needs have changed, please email Jen in the office as soon as possible, and she will inform Libelle to make the changes accordingly.
Signing Your Child/ren Out Early
If you need to collect your child/ren early from school, we request that for safety purposes, to see Jen in the office first who will formally sign your child/ren out via the school Student Management System. Once your child/ren have been signed out, please collect them from class and inform their teacher that they have been signed out via the office.
Ōtāika Valley Miniball
Sadly due to lack of numbers, there will be no OVS Year 5-6 Miniball team for Terms 1 & 2.
Dates
Teacher Only Day – 7 March
Term Dates
| Terms | Start | Finish |
| Term 1: | 4 Feb | 11 April |
| Term 2: | 28 April | 27 June |
| Term 3: | 14 July | 19 Sept |
| term 4: | 6 Oct | 16 Dec |
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