Kia ora koutou.

Last week the school board reluctantly accepted Gillian Dampney's resignation from her role as Deputy Principal and valued staff member of our school. Over the last 25+ years she has been known as Mrs Dampney, Gilly, and Nanny Gilly due to the strong relationship she has developed within our school community and whanau.  She is an extremely dedicated leader and teacher with an amazing amount of local knowledge and a true expert of mathematics - we know the students will miss her amazing repertoire of math games that she would take into the classroom and happily share with the teachers. Her current role as DP and SENCO is a critical role, supporting students, staff and families on a daily basis, listening, planning and offering her sage advice and establishing the help that is required. She will be missed immensely, she said she has carefully weighed her options and decided it was the right time to do this. We will have a send off for her in the future and we will keep you informed of the plans. 

Thanks to Ollie Harnett for coming in and sharing his experiences of the Olympic Games with our senior students. It was great listening to him talking. I was really impressed with the level of questioning that the senior students posed. You could clearly hear that they were engaged and really appreciated his time.

Parent-teacher interviews were very successful. Thanks to everyone who was able to come in and check in on their child's progress and next steps in their learning. If you missed out and would still like an opportunity, please contact your child's teacher or the office to arrange some time.

We have been notified that the What Now visit has been uploaded to YouTube. Please see the following section for a link to the show. 

Cross Country is next Friday the 16th. We are looking forward to everyone coming along and supporting the students tackle the courses. Approximate race times are: Lower Junior (Rm's 8 - 10) start at 11:30, Upper Junior (Rm's 14 - 16) start at 12:00. Seniors start at 1:30 and Middle Syndicate starts at 1:50.

Ngā mihi, 

Scott Lincoln 

Principal 

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Our values focus for the next few weeks 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 the Library.

Being kind to ourselves is just as important as being kind to others'. Here are a few examples of how we can practice saying kind things to ourselves. 

Congratulations to our tamariki, who received either a K, E, T, or E certificate at our junior assembly last week - Ka Pai - Keep up the amazing work!

 

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Please register your child here by Wednesday 14th August. Please make one entry per child. You can revisit the form to make additional entries for your household. 

Midgets               Year 1 & 2    (No 5 year olds) ………  Wednesday games

Junior                   Year 3 & 4                                 .……..   Wednesday games

Intermediate      Year 5 & 6                                  ……….  Thursday games

Senior                 Year 7 & 8                                  ……..  Tuesday games

5 players are on the court at one time, however teams should have a minimum of 7 players and a max of 12 players.  

In order to have this sporting opportunity, parent volunteers are essential to fill coaching/scorer positions.  Teams will only be registered if there is a Coach/Manager and Parent helper/scorer.  Transport to Te Kuiti is the responsibility of the parent/caregiver   NO Coach and Parent Scorer = NO TEAM

Uniform – students will wear a miniball top (provided by the school) and they must wear black shorts above the knees (this is checked by umpires).  

Practice – coaches will notify parents and students when and where practice will be held. 

Cost – $20 per player.  Payment includes uniform and WBB registration fee.  Uniforms will be issued on payment of sub.  Payments can be made to the school office or via internet banking:

Oto South BOT 01-0391-0023110-00    Please use child’s name and sport as a reference.                                      Please 

The ‘Otorohanga District Council Rural Sports Travel Fund’ subsidises rural travel for individuals and junior teams aged 5-18 years.

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Term 3 - Mon 22nd July - Fri 27th Sept

Term 4 - Mon 14th Oct - Fri 13th Dec

August
Wed 14 - Rongohia te Hau whanau survey
Fri 16 - OSS Cross Country
Wed 21 - COPS Cross Country

September
Fri 13  - School Disco
Tue 17 - Ōtorohanga College Year 7 & 8 Experience Day
Wed 18 - Fri 20 - Middle Syndicate Camp
Fri 27 - Pen Assembly - last day of Term 3
 
October
 Mon 14 - First day of Term 4

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Refreshed health guidance released by Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is now available to help decide if a learner is well enough to attend school | kura, including learners experiencing anxiety.

Click here for: A guide for parents and caregivers.

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

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.