Te Pānui o Otamatea

School Notices 10 May 2024

Calendar of Events
Monday 13 May	EOTC L3PHED Surf Trip Waipu EOTC Collegiate Hockey
Tuesday 14 May	EOTC Turbo Touch Y 7 & 8
Wednesday 15 May - Friday 17 May Wednesday 15 May	EOTC Alt Ed Camping, cooking, hiking TKO (Lance) EOTC Boys & Girls Mid Week Football EOTC Rippa Y 7 & 8 EOTC NSS Surfing 3 (Parents only) Parent / Teacher interviews - school closes 12.30pm Board of Trustees Meeting 6pm
Thursday 16 May	EOTC Girls North Harbour Basketball EOTC Helping Paws Volunteering Turbo Touch Y 11-13 Rubicon Vaping Programme
Friday 17 May	EOTC South Zone Basketball
Monday 20 May	EOTC Collegiate Hockey EOTC Golf Champs
Tuesday 21 May	EOTC WPCA Vector Wero Turbo Touch
Wednesday 22 May	EOTC Boys and Girls Mid Week Football TKO (Lance)
Thursday 23 May	EOTC Girls North Harbour Basketball EOTC Waifencing Course EOTC Helping Paws Volunteering EOTC New Young Leaders Day Rubicon Vaping Programme Paid Union meeting - School closed 12.30pm
Friday 24 May	EOTC South Zone Basketball
View our full School Calendar here

From the Senior Leadership Team

Congratulations to our prefects for successfully running our assemblies on Wednesday. These are fantastic opportunities for our student leaders to develop their leadership and public speaking abilities. Next Friday is Pink Shirt day and our prefects have been busy promoting this with the rest of the school. Pink Shirt Day is an anti-bullying campaign that celebrates diversity and creates environments where all people can feel safe, valued and respected. Each year schools and other organisations across New Zealand join the movement to make a stand against bullying. We will be having a mufti day on Friday and all staff and students are encouraged to wear something pink on the day.

A reminder that school will close at 12.30pm on Wednesday 15th May for parent teacher interviews. School will also close at 12.30pm on Thursday 23rd May for a paid union meeting. Afternoon buses will be running at these earlier times on both of these days. We also have a staff only day coming up on the 7th June. School will be closed for instruction on this day.

We have now rolled out our new paper-based Golden Kauri (GK) reward system. This is proving popular with students, who can earn GKs for consistently demonstrating our WAKA values. Juniors with the highest number of GKs at the end of the year will be rewarded with a trip to Rainbows’ End, while the student council is exploring an alternative reward for senior students.

The Otamatea High community were saddened to hear of the recent passing of Rex Tait, who was Deputy Principal at Otamatea High School 30 years ago. Many students who knew Mr. Tait currently work at the school and remember him fondly. Rex was also a well known weightlifter, and was a member of the Whangarei and District Pipe Band. Our condolences go out to Rex's family.

Uniss School Social

Thank you to all the students who supported the UNISS School social fundraiser! Watch out in the newsletter and school notices for the next fundraiser for the team!

Ryda Road Safety

This week all year 12 students had the opportunity to attend The RYDA road safety programme. It was a fantastic day and our year 12 students gained a lot of useful information as explained by Year 12 student Maggie Burke.
'Earlier this week, the year 12 Ōtamatea students attended the RYDA road safety programme at the Wellsford Community center. RYDA (Rotary Youth Driver Awareness) is an organization that runs through Australia and Aotearoa, determined to educate youth about the effects of our actions on the road. The all-day workshop included multiple activities and tutorials which taught us how to be safer drivers. One of the activities was a stop-speed simulation that showed us how only going a few kilometers faster can have major impacts on other road users. You can check out the RYDA website below, it offers tips and tricks on how to be smarter behind the wheel. We would like to give a big thanks to all of the tutors that came and shared their expertise with us'
https://rse.org.nz/

Parent Teacher Interviews

Please remember to book appointments to meet with your learner's subject teachers next Wednesday afternoon. Instructions are included later in this pānui.
Did you know that you can also book appointments with other key staff such as:
Elizabeth van den Berg - to discuss your child's career plans, tertiary options, pathways classes, correspondence/Te Kura courses, or gifted/talented/highly motivated student needs.
Paddy Hallissey - to discuss students with special learning needs. Eric Hansen the RTLB plans to join Paddy for these conversations.
Deans - If your student has particular pastoral needs, or is having repeated behavioural issues it is recommended that you book in to see the year level dean.
Whanau teacher - For many families there is no need to meet with the whānau teacher but if you would like to bring something to their attention, or if the dean is not available at a time that suits you please see the whanau teacher for pastoral concerns.
It may be useful to book a double spot for some of these specialist meetings.

School news

Level 2 Primary Industries: Project Pest Control

On Thursday the 2nd and Friday the 3rd of May the L2 Primary Industries class attended a pest control course at Kaiiwi Lakes. This course was run by the Northland Regional Council and involved students learning about health and safety associated with pest control, how to use various traps, machine pluck a possum and skin a possum.
In early July the students will return for an assessment day during which they will gain Level 2 and 3 credits.

Yr 8 Science Students

Y8 Science students are studying forms of energy and did some experiments on static electricity and current electricity. They discovered that rubbing a balloon causes an imbalance of electric charges which can be used to attract another object like hair. A second experiment involved making a simple circuit using one battery, one bulb and one wire. All students were eventually successful in connecting their circuits in the right way to make their bulbs glow.

Sign Language week in the library

This week we observed NZ Sign Language week in the library. With up to 20% of New Zealanders hard of hearing or deaf (according to Statistics NZ), awareness about sign language and alternative ways of communication is imperative. On Wednesday we had complete silence in the library for the day. Communication was done either with sign language, facial expressions, hand signals and writing which for some was a huge frustration and for others a chance to show (and teach) others Sign. It was certainly a learning experience with several students asking more about learning sign language. If you know sign language, and feel confident to participate with a group of students, please contact me at the library imogen.mcleod@otamatea.school.nz.

The annual New Zealand High School Esports Clash

The annual New Zealand High School Esports Clash started up on Thursday this week. The Esports Clash is run by the University of Waikato who is NZ Esports accredited Academic Tournament Organiser. This university offers a Bachelor of Design in which students can major in Computer Games Design. This year five of our Year 12 students entered the Valorant clash that is played every Thursday from 4:30 to 5:30 at the school. It is a round robin competition for 9 weeks and then in Term 3 the top 8 teams will battle it out for the top spot. The same students competed in the Rocket League Championship last year but Rocket League is not available this year, so Valorant it is. 50 teams from schools from across New Zealand have been registered.

Helping Paws

A group of students have begun to volunteer every week at Helping Paws, a cat rescue center in Mangawhai. At the rescue they team up with other community volunteers to tidy up, feed the cats, and give them lots of love and attention. The centre is run by community volunteers and it takes a huge amount of work to look after all the cat residents. The purpose of these visits is to help the students achieve their personal learning goals in their individual learning plans. This includes gaining work experience, or practising social skills. One student will also be able to use the experience to complete tasks for their Level 1 New Zealand Certificate in Skills for Living. Volunteering in the community is an invaluable opportunity for the students to partake in activity that enables them to contribute meaningfully to society. Most importantly the students had lots of fun and really enjoyed their visit.

Clay Bird Shooting

The second round of the Northland Secondary Schools Clay target series was held at Kaitaia Clay Target Club on Wednesday 8th May 2024 - Kaitaia certainly had the sun shining!
Well done to the team; Aaron Westlake, Connor Alcock, Nayte Davies, Flynn Ellis and Ava Morrison.
Congratulations to Connor Alcock who ranked 3rd for the Senior Boys in Points Score (57/60)

Parent Teacher Interviews – Wednesday 15th May starting 1pm

All parents are encouraged to attend.

The online booking app opens at 10am Tuesday 30th April and closes at 12pm on Tuesday 14th May.
To book appointments parents/caregivers should log on to: www.schoolinterviews.co.nz the event code is ypvz6.
Those families who do not have internet access, are encouraged to ring the school office and we will make the bookings for you.

Buses will run at 12.30pm on Wednesday 15th May

Hall Seating Plan

Community Notices

Table Tennis at Paparoa

Kids / Teens coaching starts again next Tuesday 30th April, 5.30 - 6.30pm at Paparoa Sports Pavilion. Ages 7 and up.
Bats, balls, tables and coaching all provided and all FREE.
Contact Pete - 021 0567 163