Gala:  The School Gala is on Friday 14 November. Planning for this is well underway. This is the time when we call on the wider school community for your help and support. We will be having a hangi. For this to be a successful fundraiser we need a lot of donations, onions, kumara, pumpkin, potatoes, butter. If you would like to help towards the meat then a small cash donation would be greatly appreciated as we can then purchase the correct cuts. We also need grocery items and bottles of wine for raffles and spot prizes. For the nacho stand we are wanting mince, cheese, nacho chips, tinned tomatoes, chilli beans and sour cream. For the sweet stand we will need fudge, coconut ice, chocolates, cake pops, sherbet, toffee apples etc and biscuits (home baking.).

In regards to any donations please bring them to school over the next couple of weeks. With regards to the perishable items please let the office know of your intended donation and they can put your name down.

We will need volunteers the night of the gala and the week leading up to it, so please if you are able to help let the office know. We will have a roster system so you are still able to enjoy the night with your family.

We had such a successful gala two years ago. We made just over $10,000. This was due to the overwhelming support from all our families. Please help us to make this gala just as successful.

Home and School News: Calf & Lamb Day

Calf and lamb day is next Thursday (23rd October). Below is a timetable of the day. We will be having a bbq for sale. Sausage and bread $1.50 and Pattie and bread $3.00. We will also have a raffle of 10 bags of calf meal. We need some more helpers for the day so if you are available for a couple of hours, please let the office know. You don’t have to know anything about the animals, it’s just record keeping.

Indoor exhibits. The students are working towards a piece of art and photography in class. As well as this contribution of the following categories are open to all students. These must be completed at home and brought to school by 10.45 as the judging will start at 11am.

Yr 1-3 Vegie creation, Decorated biscuit, decorated bike

Yr 4-6 Decorated cupcake, edible jewellery, decorated bike

Yr 7-8 tastiest fudge, decorated cupcake.

Each class is also creating a piece of Art and a Photo.

Timetable of day:

CALF AND LAMBS

10.30 Registrations open for calves and lambs

11:40am Calf Judging starts

12 noon Lamb judging starts

1:00pm Parade and prize giving

1:30 pm Mini gala

INDOOR EXHIBITS

11am Judging starts

12.50 Indoor exhibits open to public

Whats on this Term!!!

Lots of things are happening this term in the classroom. Students will be learning about fire-safety, bike safety, and keeping ourselves safe. Seniors will also be looking at Career Education. We have the Life Education Trust at the end of the term. Due to ongoing costs, this year we will be charging $5.00 to cover the cost of Life Education. This can be paid at the office at any time. Kapahaka students will be performing at Puanga Festival. We will also be getting ready for break-up at the end of the year.

 We will also be involved in

Interschool Soccer

Interschool Academic Day

Moa Cluster Digi Awards

Please keep a close eye on the newsletter and the school web site calender for all upcoming events and dates.

The Home and School will also be arranging a number of BIG EVENTS that need your support!! More later in the newsletter from the Home and School.

Opunake Primary

Board and Principal News

Our Board of Trustee have been reviewing various aspects of our curriculum delivery and implementation. As part of this review, we looked at Year 7 and 8 Technology currently being delivered by Opunake High School.

As a result of this review the Opunake Board of Trustee decided to apply to the Ministry of Education to host our own Technology. The Ministry of Education approved our request today. The approval was given after the school submitted extensive planning and preparation for 2015. This had to be completed so that the Ministry of Education could ensure we had the capacity and in-depth curriculum knowledge to deliver the programme.

We are very excited about being able to once again offer technology from within our own school. This is great opportunity for us to provide a range of different options for our senior students.

 Over the past few weeks I visited schools offering a variety of (DPE) programmes and I was really interested in what I saw and heard. So we have lots of fantastic ideas “swimming around in our heads”. We can’t wait to get started!!!

Opunake Primary will be providing Design and Production Education from the beginning of 2015. We will continue to offer the traditional aspects of technology such as cooking, woodwork, sewing and engineering. We will also be commencing robotics as a module. The intention is to provide a more integrated approach which will enhance current Year 7 and 8 classroom learning.

The benefits to our school by delivering the new (DPE) programme are….

·       Students will be in smaller classes and have more contact time with teachers
·       The ability to plan units of work that relates to our school curriculum
·       Greater autonomy to design programmes that meet our students needs and interests
·       We can create content that is reflective of our own school community and our needs
  The facilities that we will be setting up will be available to all classes to use when they are not being used for our Year 7 and 8 classes

·       We will be able to use local expertise. I have already spoken to some trained teachers for part time work next year, including a trained primary technology teacher

We will continue to support Opunake High School, as we have done for many years. Our schools have historically worked closely together and we look forward to continuing this relationship.

I would like to conclude by saying this is a great opportunity and much of the planning for 2015 has already been completed and “peer reviewed” by the MOE. We will also be working closely with some of the schools in our area to share ideas and equipment. Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions.

Lorraine Williamson

MOA Awards

Our teachers and students are currently working on movies and still images to enter into the awards. I am really pleased with the level of work being completed across the school. This is an area where some students are really excelling.