Te Pānui o Otamatea
School Notices 8 March 2024
Calendar of Events |
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| Monday 11 March | Photolife Catch Up Day | |
| Tuesday 5 March | EOTC Girls Volleyball Moving on Day |
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| Wednesday 13 March | EOTC NSS Surfing | |
| Thursday 14 March | EOTC Boys Volleyball EOTC Waifencing Course GRIP Student Leadership conference |
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| Friday 15 March | EOTC Northland Athletics | |
| Monday 18 March | EOTC Speed Golf | |
| Tuesday 19 March | ||
| Wednesday 20 March | HPV and Boostrix Vaccinations OHS Triathlon |
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| Thursday 21 March | OHS Triathlon back up day | |
| Friday 22 March | EOTC Orienteering Disk Golf EOTC Yr 11 PE Waka Ama Trip to Mangawhai |
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From the Senior Leadership Team
New mobile phone regulations
At the end of last year, the new Government issued regulations that "prohibit students from using or accessing mobile phones at all times while they are attending school." Schools have until the start of term 2 to implement these rules. At present, we already ban mobile phones at school for all students in years 7 to 10, with seniors allowed their phones outside of timetabled classes only. Next term we will extend this ban to all students in years 11 to 13. Even though we have no choice in implementing this rule, we are obliged to consult with the community before adopting any rule change. I therefore invite members of the public to email the principal at principal@otamatea.school.nz no later than Friday 22nd March, if you would like to provide any feedback or comments on this rule change.
Network Upgrade
Next week we will have "Network for Learning" (N4L) at school to upgrade our schoolwide wi-fi/cable network. N4L is a Crown-owned technology company that provides fast and safe internet for schools throughout New Zealand. This upgrade requires a lot of our network equipment to be replaced, which will mean no network coverage for at least several days, possibly up to a week. All teachers are going "old school" and planning accordingly, with all normal timetabled classes running. However, please note the following:
*Y10 - 13s do not need to bring their Chromebooks for the week. (This may change if the upgrade is completed earlier than expected).
*Parents/caregivers are encouraged to use absence@otamatea.school.nz to record an absence with the school rather than using the school phone number, as we will be down to one
external line.
*Should your child need a bus pass (to travel on a different bus) then please email these requests to hanna.stevens@otamatea.school.nz before 12pm.
Currently, we are not issuing bus passes on the following buses, as they are at full capacity: Mangawhai Central, Mangawhai Village and Mangawhai Heads, Pahi and Station Road.
*Students should bring cash to school if they wish to purchase items from the school cafe, as the EFTPOS machines will be down.
Baseline assessment
On Thursday 14th March, our Year 7 and 9 students will be completing a Baseline assessment. This test measures students’ strengths and weaknesses across four sub-scales: literacy, numeracy, visual/non-verbal and processing. Otamatea High School students will be completing these assessments at the beginning of Year 7 and 9, and at the end of Year 8 and 10. The completed tests are sent away for marking and analysis. Detailed online feedback is later provided to the school which is useful for identifying students in need of extension and learning support, monitoring value added from our teaching and learning programmes and highlighting any areas for future improvements in our curriculum areas. Students do not need to study for these tests. Please try to avoid appointments and planned absences on this day if possible.
Attendance
It is well known there is a clear link between student attendance and academic success. So far this year 70% of our students are attending school at a rate of 80% or above. The Ministry of Education defines regular attendance as 90% of above or students being absent for a maximum of one day a fortnight.
The ministry of Education has also set a target for 2024 of 70% of students attending school regularly. Currently 40% of our students are meeting this target however another 30% of students are within 10% or less of meeting this target.
If your child is not able to attend school it is important that you let the school know so we can accurately record and monitor attendance. You can report a student absence through the school website, calling 0800682628 and leaving a message or by emailing absence@otamatea.school.nz
Learning Centre
At Otamatea High School, we have a dedicated Learning Support Manager and Learning Centre, where students are supported to achieve their individual potential. The 2024 Learning Support Manager is Paddy Hallissey. You can contact him on paddy.hallissey@otamatea.school.nz. He spends considerable time analysing results and consulting with teachers to identify students who may be entitled to SAC (Special Assessment Conditions) in NCEA assessments. Please get in touch if you have any questions regarding these.
School news
A great achievement for Eden Donaldson-Gosden
Eden has been training very hard this summer at surf putting in a lot of hours on the weekend and after school, we went down to Mount Maunganui to attend oceans last week. Eden managed to pick up a silver medal in the team beach relay event which was absolutely amazing and we are all so proud of them.
Surf Lifesaving New Zealand’s iconic Oceans Junior Surf Lifesaving Festival ‘24, held last week 22 – 25 February down in the beautiful Mount Maunganui, is a celebration and showcase of the amazing hard work and training young athletes aged 10-14 from all around New Zealand have been putting in all season.
Mangawhai Heads Junior surf took a team of 18 buzzing competitors down who with excitement after months of preparation and training got to show off their skills. There was over 700 junior members from 44 Surf Life Saving clubs competing in a range of events, including Beach Sprints, Beach Flags, Open Water Surf Race, Board Race, Run-Swim-Run and more.
The weather threw a few curveballs at us over the course of the event, and was very challenging at times, it was so great to see every one of them get in and give it a go. The first day was a long day starting with the surf swim in very big and messy conditions, everyone was tired and cold but Mangawhai finished the day getting into the finals of the beach relay.
We were absolutely stoked to finish off the day in style with our composite team comprising Sienna Purcell, Eden Donaldson-Gosden, Finn Andrews (and Heath Robinson, Bethells Beach) who managed to win the silver medal in the U14 Mixed Beach Relay!
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Level 1 Visual Art Trip to Otamatea Marae
NCEA Level One students are currently working on a practiced-based visual inquiry to explore a New Zealand Māori context and another cultural context of the student's choice. This enables our students to understand local history and its relevance to today, plus see themselves and understand their context more deeply.
We teamed up with the historians for this trip and after a pōwhiri, Aunty Bosh delivered the korero around the histories and stories, how the whare came to be and the significant people associated with these stories.
Here are some wonderful reflections the art students wrote once we came back to school…
“ I felt a sense of knowledge being passed down to me as I learned of the people and places of this area”
“It gave me a brain fart thinking how everything was here, and who had stood in the same places as me today”
“I felt spiritually connected to the church like I could feel what they were feeling, I could feel their grief”
“I was honored to get to experience this and I haven’t been to a marae before, so it was interesting”
“I enjoyed it. I got to connect to my marae and learn about the history of my people”
"I felt honored to go there for the first time, It was fascinating to learn about the history”
Our focus was to understand the importance of this place and to consider our special places and what they mean to us.
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Futsal Senior Champs placed 3rd
On Tuesday we took 3 teams up to the senior Futsal Championships in Whangarei. All teams played with such determination and had a lot of fun. Our Boys number 1 team came away with a very intense but exciting game to place 3rd.
Team 1 Boys
Cameron Fairbairn
Oliver Ford
Jade Reynolds
Joshua Scheepers
Albert Ulisala
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ID/Class Photos
ID and class photos were taken on Monday 26th February. These can be ordered online. You will receive a photo access key to view and purchase your photos approximate 2-3 weeks after the last photo day (11th March).
Family photos will be taken on Monday 11th March (catch up day). If you are interested in having a “sibling/family photo” please collect a form from the main office. These forms need to be back to the office by Friday 8th March. Classic Family $30 and Ultimate Family Pack $35
Friendly reminders about buses
Here are some reminders about behaviours on our school buses;
• Follow all instructions from the bus driver
• No eating, drinking, smoking, vaping or music on the bus.
• Once seated, stay seated.
• Keep your voice low so the driver is not distracted.
• Keep the inside of the bus clean and damage-free.
If there are any issues regarding behaviours on buses please email nyree.antunovich@otamatea.school.nz who will follow up.
Due to roll growth, we will not be able to accommodate students moving between buses, especially on the routes from Mangawhai. Students must stay on the buses assigned to them.
If a student needs to go home on another bus parents or caregivers must contact the school and a bus pass issued. For information on school bus routes please click this link https://www.otamatea.school.nz/our-school/bus-routes
For more information on safely getting to and from school on a school bus, please visit; https://www.nzta.govt.nz/safety/keeping-children-safe/bus-safety/
Community Notices
