Principal's News

OTA Album: Congratulations to Mr Blake and all the students involved in creating the 2022 OTA album.  According to Mr Blake, "the album is centred around connection, and things that are important to our students as young musicians. The hope is that you will be able to connect with these songs, the students who sing them, and use them to connect with other people around you". Our students have worked really hard on this project and we are very proud of them all. 

New Classrooms: I am very disappointed that the Ministry of Education (MOE) has now confirmed that the six new classrooms we have been expecting will in fact not be ready for the start of the school year. As you will be aware, we are currently facing unprecedented roll growth and urgently need these additional classrooms. The MOE has been aware of this for over a year, hence the reason for putting us on an enrolment scheme, so we are all feeling very frustrated with this delay. The start to 2023 will therefore see some students having to share a number of classrooms, the library or the hall, until the new classrooms are ready, but we will be working our hardest to ensure that any disruption to students' learning is minimised.

Staff Only Day: We had our final staff only day of the year last Tuesday. Staff were either at school working on the upcoming NCEA changes, or planning units for 2023, or they were at the Maungaturoto Country Club completing their first aid certificates. It was a very productive day. 

Option and Rotation Subjects for 2023: Year 8s and 9s have now completed their option choices for next year. Parents and caregivers will be notified next week of their child's 2023 options, and will be able to purchase stationery accordingly. Please note that students in years 7, 8 or 9 who have very low levels of literacy will be receiving additional literacy support during their rotation (Y7/8) and option subject (Y9) lines. From 2024 the NCEA requirements for literacy (and numeracy) which have to be met for students to pass NCEA level 1, 2 or 3, will become much more challenging. This initiative to provide additional support to students in years 7, 8 and 9 will mean they will be better prepared for the demands of NCEA when they get to year 11.

Drama Performance: Congratulations to all year 9 and 10 students who were involved in the "Chook Chook & Living with Lady Macbeth" evening at school last Thursday night. The drama students (with Ms Atkins fantastic support) put on a great show in E2, and our year 10 food technology students catered for this event with a wonderful spread of delicious food for the audience to enjoy. This was a great team effort and I look forward to this continuing in the future.

Camps, Activities and Junior Prizegiving: This week sees our junior students cap off a hectic 2022 with their end of year camps (Year 8 and 10s) and day trip activities (year 7 and 9s). The year 8s are camping at Ruakaka Beach Holiday Park, and the year 10s are at Kai Iwi Lakes. The year 7 and 9s enjoy three days doing various activities, such as the Whangarei Aquatic Centre, Glenbervie Adventure Forest, Adrenaline Adventure Park and Action Matakana, as well as some activities based at school. The final day of school for the year is Thursday the 15th December, where we will host our junior prizegiving. We will finish at 12.30pm and buses will run at this time. Prizewinners and their parents/whānau are invited to please join us in E-block for light nibbles and refreshments after prizegiving has completed.

Vaping: A reminder that it is illegal to vape (or smoke) at school or on the school buses. We will be taking a very strict approach to students who breach this law. The Smokefree Environment and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendments Act 2020 prohibits vaping in schools across New Zealand and we can be fined up to $4,000 for not complying with this Act. It is also illegal to sell or give a vaping product to someone under 18. 

Chromebooks 2023: A reminder that all year 10 to 13 students will need to bring a Chromebook in a hard shell case to school each day from the start of 2023. We have partnered with PB Tech and Cyclone who have some good deals available. See our website: Our School => Student Chromebooks for more details. Please contact our ICT team at ict@otamatea.school.nz urgently if your child is not able to start the new year with their own device.

COVID: The number of COVID cases nationally remains high. A reminder that positive cases still need to self-isolate for 7 days but asymptomatic household contacts can return to school subject to daily RATs. If your child displays COVID symptoms at school, it remains our policy to contact parents/caregivers to collect their child as soon as possible. We do have spare RATs available if needed.

Strategic Plan: (see attachment) Our draft 2023-2025 strategic plan is now ready for consultation. Please complete this form if you have any feedback on this document before it goes to the Board of Trustees for approval in January. Your input is valued.

Dirk Smyth
Principal