Kia ora koutou.

The term is racing away on us, it's hard to believe it's week 5 already! We are officially over halfway with plenty of events still to come. Next Wednesday is the COPS inter-school athletics event day here at South School. We will send out information this Friday with students who have qualified for an event on the day. Senior camps are just over a week away now, the tents are out of storage for the Yr 8's to practise putting up next week.

All Year 8 students received information regarding enrolments at the Otorohanga College a couple of weeks ago. They would like to hold a personal interview with you and your child on either the 3rd, 4th, or 5th of December during the school day at the College. Can you please locate the form (or contact us for a new one) and send it into school this week so that we can pass it on and they can confirm a date and time that suits you. Otherwise please ring the College and make arrangements with them.

Thanks to all of our whānau for coming along on Arts Day and taking time to walk around our school. The students were very excited about having you in and being able to show off what they had accomplished.

Yesterday we celebrated a group of students who received their KETE tier 2 award with a waffle breakfast. 

We still have excess desks that are free to a good home. They would suit students who are in Yrs 5 - 8. Please contact the school office and we'll put them aside for you. 

Lost property: We have a mountain of lost property located under the covered walkway on the Junior side of the school. Please come and take a look and see if you can claim some of the items. 

Ngā mihi, 

Scott Lincoln 

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

November
Thu 14th  - OSS Athletics
Wed 20th - COPS inter-school athletics
Fri 22nd - Hearing & Vision Tests
Mon 25th - 28th Yr 7/8 camps

December
Tue 3rd   - Yr 8 College day
Wed 4th - Rainbows End trip
Thu 5th  - Pen Assembly
Tue 10th - Junior Prizegiving
                - Senior Prizegiving
Fri 13th  - Last Day finishing at 12:30 (no afternoon bus!)

Our values focus for the next few weeks is Trustworthy.

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 how to be Trustworthy in the computer suite.
 

Enjoy this collection of quotes about trust.

A massive congratulations to our Tier 2 Kete recipients at our Junior and Senior Assemblies last week - who have demonstrated all four KETE values to an extremely high standard. We hope that you enjoyed your 'Waffle Breakfast' with Mr Lincoln.

Well done also to those who received a Tier 1 - K, E, T, or E certificate!

.

Last week, at our assemblies, we celebrated Kobi Parsons, Leah Connolly, and Arley Johnston, who placed in the top 5 in the 'Top of the Stack' Ōtorohanga District Library reading challenge. The aim of the challenge is for students to read 500 books before attending college and is open to all children in our district.

Our students received a certificate and badge and we are very proud of their efforts - Ka rawe!

If your tamariki are interested in doing the same - take them along to the library to sign up and get reading!

Our Senior students have been given the amazing opportunity to visit the College Science Lab thanks to our Senior release teacher, Mr Dave Follas.  Over the next couple of weeks, Dave will walk each class up to work with himself and Diane Pemberton (the Head of Science at the College) in the science lab. Our students will be able to participate in various experiments and learn some of the skills needed to work safely in the science lab, which will not only help prepare our students for College but hopefully inspire our next generation of scientists. Thank you to Dave and Diane for organising this and please check out what Room 2 got up yesterday.
Click here to view a video on our Facebook page.

If your child was awarded a school cup or trophy last year, please return it now so that they can be engraved in time to be presented to this year's recipients. 

Thank you to everyone who has already filled in these forms - if you have not already done so, please fill these in to help us with our camp organisation.

Thank you,
The Senior Syndicate

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.