Tēnā koutou katoa, Malo e lelei, Talofa lava, Bula vinaka. It's hard to believe that we are halfway through the year, with this term being extremely busy. A number of students have been involved in a variety of different activities, sporting events, and opportunities outside the classroom.

This week we welcomed Tahuna Intermediate to our school for our Annual Sports Exchange. I was so proud of how well our students participated and encouraged each other during the games. We didn’t get the overall win, however, O.I.S. was very competitive and played with sportsmanship.

We have been offered an amazing opportunity to have all students in our school provided with a healthy school lunch each day. This is a nationwide initiative that has been rolled out across a number of schools in New Zealand. A universal school-based approach means that every learner gets a free healthy lunch. This minimises the stigma sometimes associated with receiving free meals in schools. We know there are hungry children in our community, in fact in a recent survey at school we found 22% of our students don’t bring lunch and 23% of our students are hungry at school.

We are working with our current canteen providers, Brony and Steve from Pozzobon Catering to provide our healthy school lunches. Brony and Steve have been working closely with the school since 2013 so we are excited to be able to continue our partnership. This also means that they are able to support local businesses in our community with fresh produce and supplies for our lunches. We are hoping that this will start halfway through next term but we are waiting on the final sign-off from the Ministry. This will give us an opportunity to survey students around possible food choices.

Below is an example of what our first menu might look like, and we appreciate that not all children will like everything, however, it is about trying something new. We are going to be doing hot and cold food, beginning with cold food for the initial menu. We will be able to cater to medical dietary needs, religious requirements, and ethical dietary requirements. After the first two weeks, we will be surveying the students looking for feedback. If your child requires special dietary requirements there is a form for you to complete which can be collected from the school office.  

Pozzobon Catering is committed to using environmentally friendly products and produce as little waste as possible.

• MINI CHICKEN SLIDERS with Salad Greens & Mayonnaise, Grapes/Orange Wedges/Crackers/cheese
• MINI HAM ROLLS with lettuce & Cheese, Carrot sticks/ Raisins / Plain Popcorn
• SUSHI PIECE / HAM SANDWICH, Bite Sized Cookie/Apple Wedges
• PASTA SALAD with Bacon/Baby Spinach/ Pumpkin Seeds, Bite Sized Fruit Muffin/Corn Chips & Salsa
• CRUMBED CHICKEN DRUM/ POTATO SALAD, Banana Bread/ Crackers
• CHICKEN PASTA SALAD with Baby Spinach/ Cheese, Raisins/Bite sized Savoury Muffin/Orange Wedges
• HAM SANDWICH, Bite Sized Cookie/Vegetable Sticks & Hummus
• CRUMBED CHICKEN WRAPS with Salad Greens/Mayonnaise, Cheese / Crackers/ Grapes
• MINI BEEF SLIDERS with Slaw & Mayonnaise, Bite Sized Sweet Fruit Muffin/Orange/Apple Wedges
• MINI CHICKEN ROLLS with Salad Greens / Apricot Sauce/Mayonnaise, Crackers/Plain Popcorn/Grapes

Submissions close today for our Proposed Enrolment Scheme. Thank you to those who have completed the survey. As part of our information gathering, I would like to hear from any families of Year 7 students who have siblings that would be enrolling at O.I.S. for 2022.

As we look forward to a two-week break it is important that your child has an opportunity to rest and recharge as the second half of the year is super busy.

Have a happy and safe holiday

Rebecca Meek, Principal