NEWSLINK
TERM 3
2013
What’s on Top?
Tena Koutou E Hoa Ma
Due to the great run of weather this
year, our Cross Country events have
been able to be run on the allocated
days for the first time in quite a while.
Participation in the cross country has
been outstanding. Students have been
training hard and have shown
determination to improve their times and
enjoy the event. Our thanks once again
go to John and Lynda Mathews and
their team of horticulturalists, led by Jean
Paul, for the use of the stunning Waireka
Estate. Visiting schools commented on
o u r f a n t a s t i c ve n u e a n d c o u r s e .
Congratulations and thanks also to Pat
for organising and running the four
events. Pat has it down to a fine art!
3D conferences have been completed
this term and we hope everyone found
t h e m i n f o r m a t i ve a n d u s e f u l f o r
supporting students to achieve success in
all areas. Please take time to speak to
teachers as often as you feel the need
throughout the year about progress or
issues; you do not need to wait for
interviews to do this. Communication is
the key in any relationship and our
relationship with our community of
parents is the key to success for our
students. So t hank you f or your
Cross Country Brilliance
Chris and Kate
attendance and continued support of the
school.
Continuing to learn and keep up to date
professionally is a key part of what all of
our staff do. Professional development
refines and develops our skills. We are
all learners and are responsible for
continually enhancing our practice.
‘Who dares to teach must never cease to
learn’ - John Cotton Dana.
Professional development for staff has
centred around a Ministry funded writing
project, ‘Accelerated Literacy Learning’,
and leadership development. Some staff
have also been involved in special
education training and of course, Pat has
been involved in extensive science
development during his fellowship.
We are very proud of our year 7 and 8
students for both the quality of their
learning outcomes and the growth in
maturity that happens during their last
two years at Omata. This time in R6
enables our students to enter their
secondary years ready and able to
adapt to the secondary system. The high
school principals and deans comment on
how responsible and well prepared our
students are and they really look
forward to having them enrol.
Pat and Jemma (who also teaches
regularly in Room 6) are expert,
experienced teachers for this very
critical stage in a child’s life when they
are entering adolescence. They provide
a challenging learning programme
along with the emotional and social
support that is needed during the
student’s growth towards independence.
While adolescence is a time of
tremendous potential, it is also a time of
considerable risk, during which social
contexts exer t power ful influence.
Ensuring students get positive guidance
during this time of physical, emotional
and intellectual change is so important.
The Y7/8 class is off to Wellington next
term in November for a week. Thanks to
everyone who has supported their
fundraising endeavours and we look
forward to hearing about their exciting
experiences in the capital.
Thanks to everyone who participated in
the community survey recently. We
appreciate your ideas and opinions as
we review and prepare our strategic
plan. Safe and happy holidays to you
all. Enjoy the spring break.
Ka Kite Ano Karen Brisco
Omata School Play-Group
We invite all pre-schoolers and parents to
play-group held every Thursday in the hall
from 9-11am. Phone Rachel Alford 7511957
Huge thanks to Rachel for running our
popular playgroup so well.
Term three was highlighted by our wonderful cross-country. The weather played its part and both days. The Omata and
Coastal cross-country events had full participation from students and great support from parents and wider community.
Many thanks to John and Lynda Mathews for their continued support providing the venue.
At the last Board meeting Bridgit Barleyman and Vicky Aylward presented curriculum reports. Bridgit with Special Needs
spoke about how we deal with all different students needs and when support staff are brought into the class, along with
professional development for teachers that has taken place.
Hamish
Vicky tabled the Social Sciences report and talked us through how the social sciences area is covered and the way it is
worked into the whole curriculum throughout the year and all linked together to help develop a well-rounded student.
Logan
The Student Council is very active within the school and gives regular reports to the Board of Trustees. These are valued
Chairman
by the Board and show us the high level of self-management and student voice within the school. Well done Student
Council. 3D conferences were well attended and give us another opportunity to be involved in our child’s learning along
with informative discussions with staff.
Many thanks to those who took the time to fill out the parent survey. We have had a good amount of feedback, with both things that are
going well and some that we could review. We, as your Board, value your input and ideas and are taking the time with a special meeting to go
through all of your feedback and review how we can continue to improve. Again many thanks.
Board of
Trustees
Update
Class Acts
ROOM 1
We are busy constructing dioramas that show
our understanding of the water cycle. It has
been exciting learning about ice melting and
freezing under different conditions and
understanding that the changes of state
involve a transfer of energy. In Room 1 we
have been focusing on observing closely and
explaining what we see using science
vocabulary.
Our current topic is centered around Pet Day
and how the S.P.C.A. helps in the community.
For mathematics, we are beginning a fractions
study, identifying, ordering and solving
fraction problems. We are continuing learning
our basic facts and graphing our results in our
mathematics books.
Have an enjoyable holiday with your family.
Regards, Bridgit
ROOM 2
Simple Machines was our science topic for
term 3, with the children identifying examples
of simple machines in everyday life and
spending time experimenting with pulleys,
levers and other simple machines.
In Maths, our focus was on fractions, before
moving onto measurement. Speeches have
been our focus lately and the children should
be proud, of not just the quality of their
writing, but also in the way they delivered
their speeches in class. We have also recently
been looking at newspaper articles and
writing our own newspaper reports.
In PE we, once again, had gymnastics and it
was great to see the children willing to give
the activities a go, and at times, step outside
their comfort zone. The cross country was
another success and it is great to see so many
Omata students qualifying for the Taranaki
champs.
I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday
and look forward to seeing you all again in
term four.
Kind regards, Stuart
ROOM 3
The start of the term began with Room 3
putting on our science hats and investigating
what causes thrust or forward momentum. We
did several investigations to demonstrate this
using balloons. In groups, we created jet cars
and learnt about fair testing to find out which
one was the best. We then identified what
improvements could be made to improve the
vehicle.
Home &
School
News
Rachel Alford
Chairman
Currently we are involved in pet week where
we are learning about the needs of our pets
and our responsibilities as pet owners.
In literacy, we have been writing speeches
and will be ready to share some next term in
assembly.
In mathematics, we are doing a measurement
unit where ‘Time’ is the main focus. The
children are learning to tell the time using both
analogue and digital clocks. Our expert time
tellers have moved onto learning about the
24hr clock.
Have a safe and happy holiday.
Regards, Vicky
ROOM 4
This term has been very mild weather for a
winter term, but unfortunately the children in
Room 4 (and myself) have been laid low with
a range of ongoing illnesses with many
absences.
Despite this, it has been a busy term. I
i n t r o d u c e d a n e w l e a r n i n g t o l e a r n
programme after researching with experts in
Auckland, and have called it "Class Dojo".
This has had a positive impact on how the
children learn to learn with others. For the
new children who started school this term, it
has provided the scaffolding to help them
adapt to routines and expectations in the class
environment.
Jump Jam has been a big focus in preparation
for the cross country. I hope hope you all
made it to Room 4's assembly item when the
children showed their co-ordination and agility
with the jump jam moves for the song, ‘Five
Hundred Miles' by the Proclaimers. A great
memory track for me.
Happy holidays.
Regards Viv
ROOM 5
Our main focus for Term 3 has been a science
topic about the changing states of water.
Children learnt to think like scientists by
making observations and asking questions.
We completed many fun experiments including
creating an ice balloon and mini ice blocks.
In writing, we learnt how to record our
observations using diagrams, labels and log
books.
In maths, we have been concentrating on
multiplication and division, with a strong focus
on skip counting knowledge in twos, fives and
tens. We have also explored some new
problem solving strategies which focus on the
use of mathematical language to explain our
ideas and answers.
Once again we have enjoyed participating in
Jump Jam led by Room 6 students with the
support of Karyn. This was a great way to get
fit for our school cross country race and work
on our co-ordination and movement skills.
Pet week has been a fantastic way to finish off
the term with many interesting pets coming to
visit school. It is great to hear the children
share all the ways they care for their pets at
home. Have a restful and enjoyable break
over the holidays.
Regards, Alex
ROOM 6
Now that we are reaching the end of Term 3 it
seems that I have never been away. My
S c i e n c e Te a c h e r Fe l l ow s h i p , wo r k i n g
a l o n g s i d e t h e Ta r a n a k i b a s e d D O C
biodiversity team, now seems like a lifetime
away. It is now payback time, as the purpose
of the experience was to provide teachers like
myself with a real experience of science in
action and bring this learning back into the
classroom. There is also an expectation to
lead future science development school wide.
I’m looking forward to the challenge.
While my personal focus will be in making
more effective use our lowland bush reserve
as a teaching tool, I will also be looking into
building up beneficial working relationships
with groups of people, such as Waireka,
doing scientifically driven work out in our
community. The big picture component is to
look at science at Omata School in its entirety
and the driving force behind this will be,
considering; ‘what do we need to teach our
students to enable them to become science
literate citizens of the future?’ This is more than
just learning about science, it is about looking
into the nature of science as well. This not
surprisingly is the over arching strand of the
New Zealand Science Curriculum.
We have recently just completed our Cross
Country season. I was very proud of our Year
7 and 8 students for the way the competed in
their events, for the way they helped set up
the course and in the responsible way they
acted as track marshals. What was also
special was the way all of our students
brought the event alive, by making a big effort
to celebrate and encourage all runners
making the whole event even more exciting
and fun to take part in.
Once again, my thanks need to go to JohnPaul and the staff at Waireka who have been
very supportive and we really appreciate
being able to use this venue to create a ‘real’
cross country course.
Regards, Pat
Our yearly calendar fundraiser is in full swing. Thank you to all those who have volunteered their time to
getting these processed. The calendars are very popular as gifts while at the same time raising money to
assist the students with their summer projects.
We will kick off next term with providing sunblock for each classroom to help keep the students safe while
they are out enjoying the sunshine. I wish everyone a relaxing and happy school holidays and we all look
forward to a summer filled term four.