Sunhats 2

Daffodil Fundraiser 2

PTA 3

ERO Booklets 3

Yr5/6 Crosscountry 4

Bookweek photos 4

Wednesday 10 September, 2014

Issue 13, 2014

YEAR 6 STUDENT

COMPETING AT AN

INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

Mereana R has been selected to

be in the Junior New Zealand

Waka Ama team to compete in

Samoa later this month. Mereana

will also be in a television

documentary to highlight young

people achieving in sports at an

international level.

I would like to wish Mereana all

the best in Samoa.

FANTASTIC RESULTS AT

INTERSCHOOL CROSS

COUNTRY

On 27 August students in Year

5 and 6 competed in the North

Counties Cross Country Group

Day at Te Hihi. There were

some stand out performances.

Talia R came first in the Year

5 girls, Connor G came first in

the Year 6 boys, the Year 5

boys team came second, the

Year 6 boys team came second

and the Year 5 girls team

came first.

After the North Counties Year

7 and 8 competition we had a

number of students go on to

compete at the Counties

Competition at Te Hihi on 2

September. I could see that the

competition was very tough

but I saw some standout

performances. Ronan 8th Year

8 boy, Logan 7th Year 8 boy,

Paiwand 7th Year 7 boy, Kate

4th Year 8 girl and Georgia 1st

Year 8 girl. In addition the

Year 8 girls team came first

and the Year 8 boys team came

second. They, with several

others, will go on to the

Auckland

Championship

at Muriwai

Beach next

Thursday. We

wish them

luck.

OPAHEKE TAKES OUT PAPAKURA SPEECHES.

The school speech finals for Years 5 to 8 were held on 2 September and the standard

of the speeches were very high making the first place decision very hard for retired

Principal, Mr Grant Barnes from Ardmore

School, who was our judge on the day. Kate M

won the Year 7 and 8 competition with her

speech ‘Confusing Parents’ and Luca W won

the Year 5 and 6 competition with his speech

‘The Evolution of Primary.

I then saw both students represent the school

at their respective Papakura Competitions,

both taking out first place—a fantastic

accomplishment and the first time the school

has won first place at both competitions.

PRINCIPALS MESSAGES

Tasman Drive office@opaheke.school.nz

Papakura 2113 www.opaheke.school.nz

Phone 298 5410 Fax 2980739

Opaheke School Newsletter

CAN YOU

HELP?

I have two

appeals for parent

or grandparent

assistance. The

first is for

someone who can

be a relieving

caretaker for

when Mr Chester

is away sick or on

leave. The person

would be

compensated for

their time.

The second appeal

is for some

parents who

wouldn’t mind

spending a few

hours each term

volunteering their

time in the school

library helping

out with

resources.

STUDENTS GO TO CISV MINICAMP

Ten students from Opaheke School attended the Children’s

International Summer Villages Mini-Camp in Hunua last weekend.

The students experienced many things they had never done before.

They talked about the bee scavenger hunt, the night angels and

having to jump after eating, thanking the cooks for the food in a

mixture of Finnish, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish languages. Some

of our campers said they met the children who have just been to Spain

and the children about to go to Costa Rica on month long camps. A few

of the children said they were already saving for a month long camp

for when they are the right age in a couple of years. They all said they

will be going to the next mini-camp in March next year.

Georgia A.

who came first

in the Y8 girls

Insi

de t

his

Page 2 Opaheke School Newsletter

Opaheke Stars –Future Ferns Best Attack Player - our apologies to Natalia M. whose name was left off our prize winners list for the end of season netball awards.

OUT OF ZONE ENROLMENTS

If you live out of our School Zone and have

a child/New Entrant starting at Opaheke

School in 2015 you will need to make an

application for an Out of Zone Enrolment.

Forms are available on our website and

from the school office and applications

will be accepted up to and including

Wednesday, 17 September.

DAFFODIL DAY Daffodil Day on the 29 August raised

a total of $604.40 from staff and

students.

PLEASE UPDATE YOUR CONTACT DETAILS

Has your phone number, address or other details

changed? Please let the office know by sending an

email to office@opaheke.school.nz

UNIFORM SUNHATS

Monogrammed Sun Hats $20

Non-monogrammed Sun Hats $14

All children will need to have this

uniform item at the beginning of next

term, so time to get them out of the

closet! Hats are available from the

school office only. This is a uniform

item and variations of it are not

acceptable. Under the school’s sunsafe

policy children not

wearing the sunhat will

need to stay in the

shaded areas when

outside. Thank you

in advance for your

co-operation with this.

What do you think of ERO’s parent booklets?

The Education Review Office (ERO) publishes a series of five booklets for parents and caregivers.

We want to find out how useful the information is to parents, how the booklets can be improved, and if parents would prefer to receive the information in a different way.

We’re starting with a survey of How is my child doing? To take part in the survey go to www.ero.govt.nz – Featured Publications. The survey runs until the end of September and only takes a few minutes to complete.

Meanwhile if you would like a copy of one of the booklets email info@ero.govt.nz

Dee Warring

Communications Adviser

LEARNING

CONFERENCES

These will be held Thursday 18th

September. They will take place

from 3-5.30pm for parents of Yr1-4

pupils who have a conference due.

Parents of these students, have

been contacted by letter to arrange

an appointment and time. If you

have not received a letter your

child is not due for a parent

conference at this time.

ADVERTISING LEAFLETS As a school fundraiser we often allow small

businesses to advertise through the school.

You may receive leaflets home for these

businesses.

We would like to make everyone aware that

this in no way means the school endorses

these businesses and we encourage you to

make inquiries yourselves about what they

are offering before using their services

LOST PROPERTY

We have a huge amount of lost property in the area outside Room

6 and 7. Please look through this with your children.

Opaheke School Newsletter Page 3

PTA NEWS

Gala Donations!!!! White Elephant! We’ll take any household items that you don’t want anymore (no electrical goods thanks), plus old crockery for smashing. ps: keep the toys, books and keys coming! Please remember that we only want items that other people might be interested in—please nothing broken or in a condition that nobody else would want.

Gardening Tools: Do you have any unused gardening tools that our students could use in our new Opaheke School Community vegie garden. We have some seedlings that our Yr 5 & 6 garden monitors planted as seeds into the greenhouse about 6 weeks ago that we are look-ing to plant out into our new garden before the school holidays. So any garden tools, such as small garden forks, spades or anything else that may be useful for our students to use would be much appreciated. Many thanks.

BOOK WEEK WINNERS

Congratulations to the

following students who

won Whitcoull’s gift cards

after their names were

drawn for the correct Book

Week word find entries.

Taylor Room 23

Imogen Room 7

Edward Room 1

Below: Scenes from Wheels Day on

Thursday 21 August organised by

the student Travelwise Team

INTERMEDIATE NETBALL

TEAM FINISH THE SEASON

ON A HIGH

The Intermediate Netball

Team, Opaheke Storm, won

their entire competition at the

decider against Drury. Their

Coach, Mrs Viki Chatterton

said that the team got better

and better with every game and

the team really worked well

together. The team also won the

trophy for the most goals scored

during the season.

Above: The School Councillors helping the

PTA at the Bunnings Sausage sizzle on

Saturday.

Above: The winning team at the floor hockey

championship in the school hall on Sunday

31 August.

Page 4 Opaheke School Newsletter

Upcoming Events- Term 3 Fri 12 Sept NC Badminton for Yr7/8 students

15—16 Sept Year 6 Bike Skills

Tues 16 Sept NC Basketball for Yr7/8 students

Wed 17 Sept Out of Zone enrolments close, PTA Meeting 7pm

Thur 18 Sept Learning Conferences for children in Yrs 1-4 who are due for National Standards Reporting

Fri 19 Sept Counties Badminton for Yr7/8, Rocky Shore Trip Year 3 and 4, Rear Factor Competition Y7/8,

Junior Folk Dance in the School Hall

Wed 24 Sept Wacky Wednesday

Fri 26 Sept End of Term 3 school closes at 1.30pm and Ponga Rd bus leaves at this earlier time. Children

dismissed from the Hall.

TERM DATES FOR 2014

TERM 3: Monday 21 July—Friday 26 September

TERM 4: Monday 13 October— Tuesday 16 December

“Don't wait for the storm to pass, learn to dance in the rain” ― Paige Toon, The Longest Holiday

The Year 5/6 Cross country team competed in the North Counties Interschool Cross Country races at Te Hihi on

Wednesday 27th August against ten other local schools. It was a most enjoyable day for all who took part and also a

successful day. Pictured are Opaheke students Talia R. winning the Year 5 girls event and Connor G. winning the Year

6 boys event. The Year 6 boys team took second place as did the Year 5 boys team. The Year 5 girls team placed first.

Book Week Parade:

A wonderful day for

everyone as a variety of

costumes and book

characters were brought to

life.

Park Estate Kindergarten invites parents,

whanau and pre-schoolers to an open day on

Saturday 13 September—10am-12pm.

Morning tea and sausage sizzle will be

available.

Build a LEGO® house for Habitat! Join the Build Challenge: build a house out of LEGO® for

Habitat for Humanity and make a difference! Be in to win some

great LEGO® prizes too. Join one of our fun local events during

the school holidays, or build at home (27 Sep - 12 Oct). Check

www.buildchallenge.org – registrations open from 27th Sep.

Play cricket for your local Club - Papakura Cricket Club: Registration Website: www.sportsground.co.nz/papakuracricketclub

or Tuesday 9th September, 6.30 – 7.30 pm, Saturday 13th September, 9.30 – 10.30 am at Bruce Pulman Park, Gymsports Build-

ing, (Upstairs Conf Rm) Junior Fees (for payment prior to 31 October) Year 1 $50; Year 2-5 $85; Year 7-11 $95 ($20 extra per

grade after 1 Nov.) Registrations Close – Friday 19th Sept. Enquiries to Shelley 027 227 3416 OR Russell 027 687 3912