Kia ora koutou.

Welcome back to Term 4. It is a going to be a busy term with an event happening nearly every week. Please check out the school calendar page to keep an eye on what's coming up. You will see that we have a Teacher Only Day booked in for Monday the 13th of November - the school will be closed as staff undertake new curriculum professional development. All of our syndicates have been out training for athletics this week. It's great seeing the effort being displayed and hearing students showing kindness as they encourage each other in the different activities.

We have Pets Day tomorrow. We are looking forward to seeing how well our students have been caring for and bonding with their pets. Judging begins at 10am. All of our students who don't bring a pet will get to go out with their buddy class to view the students and pets in action. Please feel free to pop in and have a look.

Next Wednesday we have three of our Rippa teams taking part in the King Country Primary School's finals in Taupo. We wish our teams the very best for the competition - play hard and play fair!

The General Election is being held this Saturday - our school hall will be one of the polling stations available around town.

BoT News: Enrolments - Do you have a new entrant planning to be enrolled in 2024 and beyond? If so, can you please fill in this quick online survey. This is so we can ensure we have enough space available for out of zone enrolments and so we can keep our Cohort Entry families informed of start dates.

Ngā mihi,

Scott Lincoln

Principal

Ōtorohanga South School

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

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

NOVEMBER:
Friday 3rd - School athletics day
Wednesday 8th COPS inter-school athletics
Monday 13th - Teacher Only Day
Friday 17th - Arts Day - Book Fair
Monday 20th - Thursday 23rd - Senior Camp

Our values focus for the first half of this term is Effort.

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 effort in one of our settings.

Developing the right mindset early on is crucial for a successful, happy life. When our tamariki learn putting forth effort and using the right strategies can help them get better at things, they feel empowered and try harder. When they know their brains are capable of growing, they are more confident, resilient, and not afraid to fail! 
 

In her research at Stanford University, Dr. Carol Dweck identified two different types of mindsets. A growth mindset occurs when we believe our intelligence and abilities can be improved with effort and the right strategies.

In contrast, those with a fixed mindset believe their intelligence and abilities cannot be altered in a meaningful way. As a result, mistakes are often seen as failures rather than opportunities to grow and learn. When stuck in a fixed mindset, we may fear new experiences, avoid risks, and feel the need to repeatedly prove ourselves over and over again

 With a growth mindset comes the belief that with hard work and effort, we can achieve anything. It is understanding that mistakes are necessary to help us learn and that sometimes our learning is going to be hard. 

A huge congratulations to the first recipients of our Tier 3 KETE awards! They were officially recognised at PEN assembly last term and enjoyed lunch with Mr Lincoln yesterday to celebrate their achievement of demonstrating 

excellence in all four of our KETE values. Ka Rawe!

Many thanks go to those on the Pet Day Committee – Claire Reeve, Deborah Berendt, Samantha Redmond and Narita Fletcher. This group puts in a lot of mahi leading up to Pets Day.

A big thank you to our judges, ring stewards, runners, the set up crew, cake bakers and the school office. Thank you also to all who contribute on the day and especially the participating children and their families. Without your support Pets Day would not happen.

The detailed programme will be emailed to all entered families as well as a reminder to please bring along some baking for our judges' morning tea.

 9:00am       Dogs to assemble behind the hall.

 9:00am       Lambs/goats/calves start to arrive. 
 9:15am       Registration for lambs/goats/calves.

                     Morning tea for judges.
10am Judging commences for all animals.

There will be NO break for lunch during judging.

The last Lucky Book booklet for this year went out yesterday. Orders are due back by Wednesday 18th October.

But Wait:  Hats off to Reading!  Scholastic BOOK FAIR
Start your Christmas shopping!
We will be having a Book Fair on the 17th November.
We are coinciding this with Art day so that you are able to come and see your child's awesome artistic creations and also take advantage to explore a huge range of affordable books featuring characters and subjects kids love and want to read about . This will be held in the Library and students will also be encouraged to dress up as their favourite book character or wear a funky hat on the day. 
More information to come closer to the day.

Click here for next week's menu. 16 October - 20 October.

If you have any old mobiles tucked away, drop them into the school office for recycling.

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:

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

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