WE HAVE A FACEBOOK PAGE.

We are hoping that all parents and caregivers will support us and sign on to follow this page. This is really handy if we having to get a message out to parents quickly. In the past we have used this when we have high winds and busses cannot run.

Just send a friend request to ‘Ongaonga School

Noticeboard’.

Please note this is only available to Ongaonga

parents and caregivers.

ONGAONGA SCHOOL NEWSLETTER 3RD FEBRUARY 2021

Greetings to the Ongaonga School Community. Ngā Mihi nui ki a Koutou.

Welcome back everyone to the new school year! As always, we hit the ground running with many activities in the first few weeks so please keep an eye out for notes home. These notes will also be put on Skool Loop, and once we have everyone signed up, we can hopefully eliminate the paper versions! We have also put a Term calendar together with activities and dates to help with planning. New Staff This year, our wonderful staff has been joined by Carl Woodhams who will be teaching in Room 6. Mr Woodhams brings his expertise in Science that will hugely benefit all our students. Jaynie Chard joins us as teacher aide and she will be working alongside Mrs Beamish and the students in Room 1. We are very lucky to have these two new staff members in our school who will offer so much for our students. New Students New students Leo Dean and James Cowley are joining us in Room 1 - we warmly welcome both boys and their mum Kelsie back to Ongaonga School. Lilly Gibbons joins us this year in Room 5 and we extend a warm welcome to Lilly and her grandmother, Kat to our school community. I know that everyone will make them feel part of our whanāu very quickly. Classes 2021 Room 1 Theresa Beamish Yr 0-2 Room 3 Rose Illsley Yr 3-4 Room 5 Amy McCormick Yr 5-6 Room 6 Carl Woodhams Yr 7-8 School BBQ A social get together at the beginning of the year is a great way to involve community and whanāu. We invite everyone to join us on Wednesday 24th February at 6pm for a BBQ. The classrooms will be open for parents to visit, there will be activities for the students to be involved in and the pool will be open. We look forward to seeing you. Swimming Pool The swimming pool has been utilised extremely well over the summer by our community. A great decision to open-up. Many thanks to all the parents and teachers who carried out their rostered duties to ensure we were able to achieve this. Thanks to Mrs Beamish for her organisation. The pool remains open for students during the school day and the community after school hours. Vandalism Sadly, our school has been the victim of vandalism recently. A car has created a dreadful mess on Bridge Park and part of our playground has been damaged. I have remnants of the car’s headlight that was used to ram into the play equipment and will contacting the police. If anyone has any information, please contact the office. A final thought... ‘The future belongs to those Who believe in the beauty of their dreams’ ~Eleanor Roosevelt Karen Barkle

Results, Draws & Sports News

Tennis Hot Shots Tennis starts up on next Wednesday, 10th February at 3.30 pm All age groups will be at the Tennis club this term. (This is for children who registered last year) It will be hot so please make sure your children have a hat and drink bottle. There are still spaces left for private coaching lessons but spaces are limited please contact Jane 0273600834. Tennis Coaching for 5-7yr olds Are your 5,6,and 7 year olds interested in tennis coaching? If so please call Jane Wyn Harris on 0273600834 before this Friday, 5th February.

This Club is all about the community and they are offering 20 FREE entries to EACH event. They know many kids missed out on the Weetbix Try due to cost being a barrier and they wanted to reach out to the community with this professionally run, timed event. See the below ad regarding this…. “Tri HB are proud to host the Ironkids Events on 7th and 14th Feb at Ocean Spa, Napier for kids aged between 7-13. To celebrate we are giving away 20 free entries to the first 20 who enter using these links and codes. For 7th Feb event https://events.onetime.sport/event/831 and use the code SCHOOLDEAL7FEB2021 OR for the 14th Feb event https://events.onetime.sport/event/832 and use the code SCHOOLDEAL14FEB2021 (all upper-case). All event details are on the link. If you miss out on the free entries, it is only $10—$20 per person to register thanks to our sponsors the Scott Clinic. Flutterboards are available for kids that need them and this is suitable for complete beginners. Lots of spot prizes and lollies at the finish line!”

First Aid Course The Ongaonga staff are booked into renew their First Aid certificates on Tuesday, 16th February from 3.30pm –7pm and are looking for some more participants to keep costs down. If you would like to participate in this or would like more information please contact the school office on 8566840.

8th Feb Waitangi Day holiday

10th Feb AgriKids practice

13th Feb AgriKids Regional Camp

16th Feb Weetbix Tryathlon

16th Feb First Aid Course @ Onga School

17th & 18th Feb Parent chats

22nd Feb Swimming Sports Practice

23rd—25th Feb Life Education Trust

24th Feb School BBQ 6pm

26th Feb School Swimming Sports

24th Feb School BBQ 6pm

1st—5th Mar Bike Week

5th Mar School Triathlon

11th Mar CHB Swimming Sports

24th Mar Tough Kids

24th Mar Bus Monitor training

26th Mar Inspiration Day for Yr 7 & 8’s

31st Mar Easter Day @ School

16th Apr End of Term 1

3rd May Term 2 starts

Teamw ork, Respect , Ef for t & Empathy

SCHOOL NEWS & COMMUNITY EVENTS THANK YOU to the pool helpers for doing such a great job throughout the holidays—Lisa, Maddie, Mel, Cara-lee and John. Really appreciated. Volleyball and Tough kids Challenge notices are coming home today with your child. Please check their bag and respond. Thank you. Ongaonga Home and School Group (SSG) —we would really love someone in our school community to take the reins, form an action group and plan fundraisers to support our students. If this sounds like you, we’d love to have you on board! Please see either Karen or Theresa or email principal@ongaonga.school.nz. Public Health Panui Feb 2021 Tena Koutou Whanau, I hope that everyone has a lovely summer and managed to get some time with whanau and friends. I have two public health messages for our community at the start of the school year. The first is around the ongoing vigilance we need around Covid, which still poses an enormous threat to our personal health, public health and our country. Key messages for us all are

HANDWASHING is still the number one thing you can do to prevent spread. SCAN using the Covid app, wherever you go. Turn on BLUETOOTH function. Cough etiquette. Stay at home is you are sick and swab on advice from G.P or healthline. Role model this behaviour at home and when you are out.

With this new strain of Covid around, it is important to remember that everyone has different symptoms. The last case in Northland only has aches and pains, no other symptoms at all, so if in doubt, STAY HOME AND GET TESTED. The second message is for our Rangitahi and young adults, so please pass this message on to those in your whanau between the ages of 15-30. We have seen a spike in measles cases on and off over the last few years. Measles is highly infectious (more so than Covid) and can have lasting and life changing effects. People aged between 15-30yrs, may have missed out on the second MMR vaccine due to a change in the schedule. Phone your G.P or check your Plunket/Tamariki Ora book to see if you have had two doses. If you have only had one dose, or no doses, or are unsure, then you are eligible for a free MMR vaccine. Unichem pharmacy in Waipukurau can provide this service for those aged 16-30yrs and the G.P can provide for those aged 15-30yrs. Free of charge. The last thing we need on top of Covid is a preventable outbreak of measles. Nga Mihi

Lou Macklow | Public Health Nurse (Works Wednesday- Friday) CHB Health Centre. Ph 06 858 9090 ext 5542 cell:027 203 1947 . www.hawkesbaydhb.govt.nz

SCHOOL BBQ: A social get together at the beginning of the year is a great way to involve community and wha-nau. We invite everyone to join us on Wednesday, 24th February at 6pm for a BBQ with BYO drinks. Proceeds from the BBQ will go towards this year’s Year 7 & 8 Camp. The classrooms will also be open for parents to visit, there will be activities for the students to be involved in and the pool will be open. We look forward to seeing you.

We will be selling Burgers for $4.00, Sausages for $2.00 and Drinks for $2.00

Scholastic Book Club booklets/forms are coming home today. A reminder when you put in an order we as a school accumulate points and we use these to buy books for our library. See Book Club LOOP advert for help with ordering.

Second Hand Uniform We have the following 2nd hand uniform available for a gold coin

donation per item of clothing. Please remember to name your uniform once

purchased. Polo Shirts in Sizes 4, 6, 8,10, 14 Shell Jackets in Sizes 6, 8, 10, 12 14 Polar Fleeces in Sizes sm, med , lge Skorts in Sizes 4, 6, 10, 14 Trackpants in Sizes 4, 10, 12, 14 Wide Brimmed hats in sizes 55cm, 57cm