Kia ora koutou.

It's been a busy week with lots of exciting events happening across the school. Last week's trip to the Hamilton Gardens was really enjoyable. Our junior students and adults really enjoyed viewing the different gardens as well as taking part in the scavenger hunt set up around the gardens.

Last Friday's Disco was a great night out. Students really enjoyed the opportunity to dress up, dance and have fun.

Yesterday we had a group of senior students taking part in the COPS Mathletics competition at Kio Kio School. It was a challenging event where students got to take part in individual and team mathematical events.

Today we have our senior and tomorrow we have our junior assembly where we will be celebrating 50 students who have reached Tier 2 of our KETE awards. Invitations to parents to attend have been emailed out. All of the students will receive an invitation to a waffle breakfast which we will hold on the last Tuesday of the term. We also have a group of Middle Syndicate students taking part in the Lion's Reach Awards at the Harvest Rock Climbing Centre today. Some of the students have never been before so they are excited and a little bit nervous about the challenges that lie ahead.

Tomorrow we have a group of 60 middle and senior students representing the school at the North King Country Rippa Tournament. The top two teams from each division will be given the opportunity to play in the King Country finals in the last week of the term. We wish them all the best for the day, and look forward to watching them compete.

Next Wednesday we have the Middle Syndicate heading to Camp Raglan. I'm sure by now the packing has already begun!

On behalf of the students I would like to say thanks to all of the parents, caregivers and staff for making all of the above mentioned events happen. Without your support and effort it would be a lot harder for our students to take part in these engaging events. Nga mihi - thank you!
 
Scott Lincoln 

Principal 

2023 TERM DATES

Term 3 - Mon 17th July - Fri 22nd Sept

SEPTEMBER
Friday 8th - Junior Assembly - Tier 2 celebration (11:05 am)
Friday 8th - NKC ripper tournament @ Te Kuiti
Wednesday 13th - 15th - Middle syndicate camp to Raglan
Friday 22nd - Pen Assembly - Tier 3 celebration

School Holidays - Mon 25th Sept - Fri 6th Oct

Term 4 - Mon 9th Oct - Fri 15th Dec

OCTOBER
Friday 13th - Pets Day
Tuesday 17th - Year 8 - HPV Immunisations
Friday 20th - Group Day

NOVEMBER:
Monday 13th - Teacher Only Day

Our values focus for the second half of this term is Kindness.

Our school-wide values are explicitly taught in all our classrooms and across various settings. These value lessons are also supported by our school councillors sharing messages and role-playing at assemblies, as well as value reminders over the school intercom each morning during our daily notices.

Below is an example of our school-wide expectations of Kindness in one of our settings.

Choosing Kindness

We make choices every day. Kindness is a choice we make in everything we do. We can choose to be kind in the way we speak and treat others and the way we treat ourselves. Choosing kindness makes the world a happier, safer and friendlier place for everybody.

Thank you to everyone who came to the disco on Friday night, you looked very glamorous in your suits, amazing ball gowns and creative costumes. A huge thank you to the councillors who worked very hard to put on this awesome event for everyone - you deserve an Oscar for best night ever!

We are experiencing an increase in the number of sick children at school.

Ministry of Health Guidelines:
Many illnesses are infectious, meaning they can be spread easily from one person to another.
To stop sickness from spreading, it is important for you to keep your child at home when they are ill, and not let them go to school or Early childhood education centre. How long they should be home depends on what illness they have.

When your child catches an illness, there will be an incubation period before they show symptoms. Some illnesses are infectious before symptoms show; some are infectious even after symptoms have disappeared.

Click here to view the Infectious Diseases table on the HealthEd website. It describes the symptoms and exclusion periods for some common childhood illnesses.

You can call Healthline free on 0800 611 116:

Pets Day will be held on Friday 13 October.

Please use this form to make your pets day entries. Please make one entry per child. You can revisit the form to make additional entries for your household. Pets Day diaries and owner consent forms will be sent home with all registered students.
All entries must be in by Thursday 21 September. No entries will be accepted after this date.


Please return all Pet Day & Group Day trophies to the office now.

GOATS
Kid saving dates:
1 July – 20 August 2023 – Early
21 August – 24 September 2023 - Late

LAMBS
Lambs saving dates:
1 July – 20 August 2023 - Early
21 August – 24 September 2023 - Late

CALVES
Calf saving dates
1 June – 4 August 2023 – EARLY
5 August – 24 September 2023 - LATE

Photolife Studios has emailed families their child’s unique Key Code to go online to view and purchase 2023 School Photos.
Click here to order yours now.      
***FREE DELIVERY EXPIRES Midnight Sunday 10th September*** 
If your child was in a sports photo this year and you have not received your code please check you trash/spam folder.
If you have any questions please contact Photolife Studios on 0800 501 040.

The Public Health Nurses will be at school on 17 October to provide dose 2 of the HPV immunisation for the Year 8 students whose parents/caregivers consented earlier in the year. If your child is absent there will be a catch up planned within 3 weeks.

If parents have any queries or changes please contact the Public Health Nurse, Anne Green on 021578052 or anne.green@waikatodhb.health.nz

Our teams have been sorted and the family contact details have been given to the coaches. They will be in touch regarding training and game times.

The fees are set at $20 per player. This will be added to student's school accounts. You can pay this online or in cash at the school office.

Midget grade (year 2) will continue playing over at the old Stadium on Wednesdays.

Junior grade (yr 3 & 4) will progress to playing full court at Te Whare Takarangi o Te Kuiti (Gallagher's Recreation Centre) on Wednesday afternoons.

Intermediate (Year 5 & 6) and Seniors (Year 7 & 8) will play at Te Whare Takarangi o Te Kuiti (Gallagher's Recreation Centre) on Thursday afternoons.

A few reminders as we go into this season.

- This is Miniball not the NBA or NBL
Please be kind and considerate to all the players and referees

- Every team is to supply a scorebencher for their game.
As we have so many teams, the games will start on time regardless if the personnel are ready.

- Be Respectful
Be respectful and mindful at the stadium, put your rubbish in the bin.

 

Cast your votes here on this week's menu. Here are the results of last week's survey:

SEPTEMBER 11 - 15 MENU:

Ikura|Manaakitia te whare tangata is an initiative set up by the Ministry of Education to provide free period products in all state schools across New Zealand.  The main aims of this scheme are to support whānau with the rising cost of living and to make a positive impact on student wellbeing. If you would like to opt into the scheme, please contact the school office. 

 

Many families now choose to spread the cost of the Technology fee as well as the Middle and Senior Syndicate Camps over many months by making small, regular payments to the school bank account via internet banking. These costs will be applied to your child's account early in the year and emailed to you so that you have all of the information on hand. The camp cost is not due until later in the year, but you are welcome to start making payments at any time. If you choose to take up this option, please use your child's name as a reference.

School Account:
Oto South BOT
01-0391-0023110-00