O.I.S. Newsletter - 29 November, 2024
Principal's Message........
Tēnā koutou katoa, Malo e lelei, Talofa lava, Bula vinaka.
Kia ora whānau
Year 8 Simulation Week – A Huge Success!
This week, our Year 8 students participated in Simulation Week, an exciting opportunity where they moved between different subjects and teachers throughout the day. This initiative was designed to prepare them for the structure of high school while keeping them engaged in various learning experiences. The week was a huge success, with students embracing the challenge, developing independence, and enjoying the diversity of lessons. A big thank you to all our kaiako who contributed to making this a rewarding experience for our ākonga - a special thanks to Vic Forrest for all her work in ensuring that this was successful.
Library Book Returns
As we approach the end of the year, it’s time to stock and organise our library. Please take a moment to check your child’s room for any school library books or resources. Returning the books ensures we can prepare for the year ahead. Simply send any books or resources back to school with your child as soon as possible.
Cell Phones at School
We remind you that while students are allowed to bring cell phones to school, they must place their phones in the class phone box at the start of the day. These boxes are securely locked until the end of the day when phones are returned to students.
Unfortunately, we have noticed that some students are not following this procedure. If a student is found with a phone during the school day, it will be taken to the office and held until an adult can collect it. We encourage whānau to take their time retrieving phones, as this reinforces the importance of following school expectations. Please have a conversation with your child about this.
John Parsons
Yesterday we had John Parsons join us to talk to Year 7s and 8s about the choices they make when they are online. John Parsons is an Internet Safety and Risk Assessment Consultant working with schools, the private sector and the health sector, providing specialist advice and direction on the safe and ethical use of Digital Communication Technology. He works with Police and Health workers across NZ to help support those affected by cybercrime. John was both entertaining and had a great message. He discussed the reality of how easily predators can target people online, what they can do to safeguard themselves, and how they need to ensure their digital footprint represents them as the person they want to be and want others to see them as. Some of his key takeaways were;
en online - your friends friends are not your friends, so don’t use this as a reason to add someone.
Trust your intuition or gut instinct if you feel something isn’t right.
Have a list of trusted people you can talk to if something does go wrong.
Their body is not ‘currency’ and shouldn’t be used to get likes or comments.
They shouldn’t share images if they are from your bedroom, bathroom or in your pyjamas.
What they post online now - pictures or words - can and will affect them when they are looking for jobs later on.
He also ran a parent session last night at WGHS - Thank you to those parents from our OIS community who attended. From this session, John will share with us a variety of resources to support parents and these will be shared with our community when available. You can find out more about him here: https://www.citizen21.co.nz/
John’s key takeaways from last night are;
Ensure your child's digital space has a family presence in it.
Support your child to choose images for profile pictures that show they have a support network and don’t make them look vulnerable.
R18 games are an open portal for accessing content that is well beyond their years - either within the game, as pop-ups or within the conversation - and should only be accessed by those who are R18.
The 90 minutes before going to sleep should be ‘device’ free to support a good sleep pattern.
How essential SLEEP is and ensuring your child is getting enough.
Ngā mihi nui for your support and cooperation as we head into the final weeks of the school year.
Rebecca Meek
Principal