Principal Korero
Kia ora koutou,
I can’t believe that we are very close to the end of the school year, with just over a week to go! While the year was disrupted again with covid and lockdowns, we have so much to be proud of as a school. Last night I shared our end of year student achievement data with our board, and I am pleased to say that our achievement has continued to increase despite the disruptions to learning through the year. I will be sharing the achievement data more fully early next year but I wanted to thank you all for your continued support with your child/ren’s learning. We know success in learning is having a strong partnership between home and school, and this relationship means that our students have continued to strive beyond!
It’s been a busy couple of weeks here at school. As you will be well aware of, we took our Year 8 students away to Nelson for their end of year trip. We moved this from Wellington (the usual destination) due to covid risks and then found ourselves in an outbreak - the irony was real! We made the decision to remain away from school Thursday and Friday last week and while we were erring on the side of caution, it was a good decision. Luckily we were nowhere near any locations of interest and our Year 8 students have returned to school this week, happy and healthy.
As you are aware, the information around Covid 19 and the government's response is forever changing as we navigate the new Covid Protection Framework (CPF) or traffic light system. There has been huge confusion in schools in relation to holding events and if schools could now proceed with their usual end of year events (prize givings, assemblies etc). Last week we finally got some clarity on this. Essentially events fall into curriculum related events and activities and non-curriculum events
Curriculum related activities fall into Alert level 2 guidelines
Non-curriculum events (assemblies, prize givings, etc) fall into orange of the Covid Protection Framework or events that bring people onsite
Non-curriculum events fall into the CPF (traffic light system) of orange. What does this mean for our events (prize giving, assemblies, leavers dinners) going forward?
Only persons with a vaccine passport can attend these events (12 years, 3 months plus). These people will be asked to show their vaccine pass.
Children under the age of 12 years and 3 months do not need to provide a vaccine pass
Scan the QR code
Now that we have complete clarity on school events, we can make firm plans for our usual events going forward. As a school we have worked really hard to ensure that, as best as we can, we continue to hold the events that are special to our school as a way of celebrating our year. We know not all schools are approaching this in the same way, but the guidelines are clear, we are able to hold the different events in a safe way, while keeping to the rules. Please know that we are strictly following government guidelines and your support with this would be greatly appreciated.
Tomorrow, Wednesday 8th December, is our final school assembly for the school year. This will start at 1.40pm. You will be asked to show your vaccine pass on entry and scan in with the QR code. Please start arriving from 1.30pm to ensure that we have everyone in and seated in time.
Next Wednesday 15th December we are holding our two end of year prize givings;
Year 1 - 4 prize giving 5:00pm - 6.15pm (students need to arrive at 4.45pm)
Year 5 - 8 prize giving 7:00pm - 8:15pm (students need to arrive at 6.45pm)
Again, this event falls under the orange of the traffic light system and you will need to show your vaccine pass on entry, to attend. Our prize givings are special events, a time for recognising all the effort and achievement across the year as well as farewelling our Year 8 students. We look forward to this special evening.
I thank those who have been waiting patiently to hear about obtaining a pool key over the summer. I am pleased to say that we have worked through how our pool will operate under the traffic light system and for those who are wanting to hire a key, you are now able to collect from the school office. I have attached the community pool guidelines at the bottom of this page. This explains the rules regarding pool use under traffic lights green, orange and red. Pool key hire is $70 (including a $10 refund on key return at the end of the swimming season). Please come and see Liv in the office between now and Thursday 16th December to ensure that you do not miss out!
I would like to take the time to thank and acknowledge the PTA. The PTA funds are supporting us in many other areas next year. I am going into this in detail at our prize giving but our wonderful PTA have committed to fund our sports co-ordinator, pool, library, curriculum/reading resources as well supporting aspects of the arts curriculum, which will include our school production in 2022. This totals $30,000. We know that all our students are going to benefit from this so much. Massive thanks to you all, I know how much you all contribute to our fundraising efforts, it is really appreciated.
Next year will see some minor changes to our school transport as the Ministry of Education transitions to a new contract with our new bus operators Torlesse. The updated route maps can be found on this website and will replace the map links previously provided. Instructions on how to use these updated route maps can be found here.
Eligibility for school transport assistance
We often get questions about whether students qualify for school transport assistance i.e., a place on a school bus. The Ministry of Education has three criteria that students must meet in order to qualify for school transport assistance. They are:
The student must attend their closest state or state-integrated school
The student must live more than a certain distance from the school:
Years 1-8: At least 3.2 km
Years 9-13: At least 4.8 km
The Ministry of Education has a handy video on their website that explains the eligibility criteria for school transport assistance. I will be in touch in late January with updated bus routes and times.
Finally it is with great sadness that I share with you that I received a resignation from Karina Rako late last week. Karina is making the move back to Nelson to be closer to her family. Karina is an important part of our school family/community and she will be really missed. I thank her for her contribution to Ōhoka School. For those who have students going into Year 7&8 next year, we are currently working on a plan to replace Karina and we will be in touch with you as soon as we have new information to share.
This coming Thursday our potting up ladies desperately need some help with some weeding. Your help would be appreciated from 9 -11am in the plant compound.
Over the last few months we have been removing older books in our library and have taken a large number out of circulation. The students will have the opportunity this week to take some books that appeal to them, to keep at home. You will notice that the barcode has been blacked out. If any parents, wish to come and have a look at these books, you are most welcome.
Other important dates for the remainder of the year:
Student Reports and Class placements 2021 - Monday 13th December
Meet the Teacher Afternoon - Wednesday 15th December at 1.30pm. Students will be spending time in their 2022 classes with their new teachers.
Bell Ringing Ceremony (to farewell student leavers) - Thursday 16th December 11.30am
School Finishes - Thursday 16th December at 12pm
I look forward to seeing many of you next Wednesday evening at our prize givings. If not, I wish you all a lovely Christmas and break. Thanks for your continued support and we will see you all next year. Our first day back next year is Tuesday 1st February.
Ngā mihi nui
Kate McClelland