What a wonderful start we have had to Term 3. It was great to see children returning to the classroom excited to be back with a fresh enthusiasm for school! Everyone had a lot of fun on ‘Book Character Dress Up Day’ with some truly fantastic costumes on show at our parade. This event is part of our Book Fair, which has also been running this week. Thank you so much to those who donated a book from the fair to the school library. This really supports us in maintaining this wonderful resource for the children. I would also like to thank Mrs DG, our librarian. Tracey works extremely hard through these times to ensure that the library runs smoothly, student librarians are engaged, and the Book Fair is a success – thank you!
This term, our teachers have been continuing their professional learning focus of Structured Literacy. If you have been following this topic in the media, you may be aware that our understanding of how children learn to read has developed in recent years. Neuroscience has had a significant influence, informing us on a deeper level how the building blocks of learning to read fit together. Any kind of change can be challenging for us as teachers and parents. As a school, we are investing heavily in professional learning to ensure that our practice is in line with up-to-date information. As parents, you may notice some changes in the way reading is taught, including a stronger focus on phonics and the sounds that make up words. As a result, there can be a slower move to children reading their own books, however, please be assured that we are working through a learning process that is being facilitated by external experts and linked with the Ministry of Education’s strategic direction.
As a staff, we are very excited about what we are seeing and look forward to sharing more with you throughout the year. There are many interviews and pieces of information regarding Structured Literacy currently circulating. I would encourage you to watch the interview from TVNZ below.
Nga mihi,
Marcus Norrish
Principal
'Donate A Book' Fair
5th & 6th August
Senior Coastal Discovery
9th, 10th & 11th August
WBOP League - 9 Aside Tournament
11th August
Choir Rehearsal #2 - Tauranga Intermediate
12th August
PTA Disco
12th August
Stories At Your Place - Minis
13th August
Rugby 7's Tournament
17th August
Accord Teacher Only Day - School Closed
23rd August
PRODUCTION PHOTOS
OTUMOETAI INTERMEDIATE SHOWCASE
LIBRARY
Book Character Day
There was an array of sparkles, colour and drama as our book characters paraded along the cat walk compered by Bottomley Potts and her spots (aka Miss Lambert). Our librarians (including a set of crayons) and Mr Hantler spotted awesome book characters amongst the children and teachers. Thank you to those children and families that put in time and effort in preparation for Book Character Day. What a wonderful way to celebrate books and the lead up to our annual Donate A Book Fair.
Donate A Book Fair
Earlier this week, our classes had the opportunity to look at the books displayed for the fair in the library. This is a great opportunity to see the new books before they get added to our library collections. Every year we are reminded how much our community appreciates the importance of reading as they support the Matua Donate A Book Fair!! This year there has been a focus on non-fiction and middle school novels. Donated books will be returned to children and family to read over the next 3 weeks.
Overdue Books
Thank you for your support in returning overdue books to school. Every week overdue book emails are generated by our new library system to help jog memories of our busy community. Please remember that these books can be easily renewed if your children require another couple of weeks to finish books. It will also happen that emails are sent before some classes have had a chance to get to the library, so please don’t panic. This new system allows us to keep a regular tab on where the books are in the school and community.
JUNIOR BADMINTON
Nathan from Room 3 travelled to Palmerston North in the first week of the school holidays to play in the Junior Badminton Team Nationals as a BoP U13 rep player. He was the youngest player there. His team came 5th out of 8. Room 3 and his family are super proud of him, an impressive sporting achievement.
PTA
PARENTING SUPPORT
TERM DATES 2021
Term 3 – Monday 26th July – Friday 1st October
Term 4 – Monday 18th October – Wednesday 15th December
Term 1, 2022 – Tuesday 1st February 2022
MUSIC HUB – GUITAR LESSONS
Kid’s Guitar Lessons at School 3pm Wednesdays
Joe has a couple of places available for a beginners guitar group after school each Wednesday
For more information please go to https://musiqhub-bop.co.nz/info or Text Wayne 027 271 7685
We’ll be in touch right away with any other information and enrolment details!
KIDS CAN RIDE
The senior school got lucky with the weather and have enjoyed being on their bikes for week one of the term. The Yr 5 students gained confidence on the field learning safe biking practices and road rules. The Yr 6 students extended their skills by biking on the roads in small groups. They learned about hazards to watch for and road rules which apply to everyone who uses the road. You should notice many more students on their bikes who are showing improved awareness of road rules over the next few weeks!
SPORTS
RUGBY MATCH
Our girls and boys rugby teams played against Pillans Point School on Thursday. Lots of parents & whanau came out in the rain to support our amazing teams. Both games were incredibly exciting. The girls won their game 25 – 10 and the boys lost 15 – 25. Huge congratulations to all our students and a big thank you to Joe Hull for coaching the teams.
LUNCHTIME CLUBS
LUNCH ORDERS – WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY
Day change to Wednesday from Term 2!
Now with two days of ezlunch each week, your kids will have a great variety of healthy and tasty school lunches. Simply order by clicking here.
Order (or cancel) any time before 9am on the day or schedule in advance.
Order anytime before cut-off or schedule in advance. Lunch will be delivered to school at lunchtime on a Wednesday for Pita Pit or Friday for Subway.ezLunch orders are made online through your myKindo account. You can order lunch by simply going to www.mykindo.co.nz
Click here to view the menu.
Help? Visit support.mykindo.co.nz or tel. 09-869 5200 Mon-Fri 8 am to 4 pm.
Find out more ezlunch.co.nz or mykindo.co.nz
OUR SCHOOL APP
Our School App
We have a new school app to keep you up to date with events and notifications. Click on the button below to check it out.
SETTING UP KINDO
Setting up with Kindo
Kindo is our new prefered payment and permission system. To help you learn how it works, we’ve added their new help sheet and video. We hope it helps.
