Principal's message

By Rebecca Meek | Posted: Thursday February 24, 2022

Tēnā koutou katoa, Malo e lelei, Talofa lava, Bula vinaka

It is hard to believe that we are at the end of February already, it has been a very busy term so far. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the students who have really stepped up with our IDEAL values and settled back into routine at school. I really do thank the staff for their ongoing commitment to ensuring that Oamaru Intermediate is a place of positive, fun learning opportunities. Believe me when I say that they go above and beyond to ensure that we have a wide range of opportunities, learning, cultural and sporting.

Often parents ask me "what they can do to support their child's learning"? One of the most important things you can do for your child is to prioritise school attendance. Ensure that your child comes to school everyday ready to learn. We all know ourselves that we don’t function well if we have had late nights, poor nutrition and lack of sleep. It is our responsibility as parents to ensure that we set routines and provide an environment where our children can be set up for success. By prioritising school attendance, you as parents, are sending a clear message to your child that education is important, and their academic and social wellbeing is important. If your child is going to be off school for more that three consecutive days, please don’t be offended if we ask for a medical certificate. It is also important that you keep in touch with your child's teacher to help support their learning on return to school.

For a number of our students at O.I.S they use digital platforms to engage with others online. I am aware that a number of our students use online games, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and other social media platforms - a majority of these platforms have an age restriction of 13 and over.

Over the last few weeks we have been having a number of conversations with groups of children around social media, and these conversations have been around the inappropriate content of messages that have been sent. Often these messages are sent on group platforms where there is more than one student involved eg games like Fortnite where some students are swearing, saying racial comments and threatening others. As these conversations are taking place outside of school, we are limited to what we can do to support students. The best approach is to educate students and us as parents, to ensure that we have measures in place to keep our children safe. It is important that you take an active role in what digital platforms your child is on.

At O.I.S each child signs a Digital Citizenship Student and Parent Agreement on enrolment which gives them their own log on. While they are logged in their O.I.S account, all activity is logged and tracked by the O.I.S filtering system. We do ask that when students are at home they sign into their home personal logins rather than using their school account.

COVID 19 update from the Ministry

This week with the shift to Phase 3 of the Government’s Covid Response, there are a few simple messages we want you to know about how we intend to respond to Covid cases in our school community.

Please continue to keep a really close watch of your whānau for anyone with symptoms. If unwell, please stay at home and get advice about getting a COVID-19 test.

With Phase 3 of the Omicron Response, the key change is that it is only confirmed cases and their household contacts who need to self-isolate. Everyone else, including those who may have had close contact with the case, but aren’t in the household, must continue to monitor very closely for any symptoms of COVID-19.

Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) are now being used to diagnose COVID-19 as well as PCR tests. This means that you will get an almost immediate test result back if a RAT is used.

If anyone in your family is confirmed as having COVID-19, you will be asked to notify your close contacts yourself. Please get in touch with us at Oamaru Intermediate via the school office during the day or email principal@oamaruint.school.nz out of school hours as soon as you can if your child has tested positive for COVID-19.

Finally, we know how hard the impacts on COVID-19 have been for many families in New Zealand. If you know of a family in your community who is struggling, please encourage them to reach out for support for example to access food, medicine, or access financial support: Help is available – COVID-19 Health Hub.

If you have any concerns about sending your child to school, please do get in touch. We are here to help.

School shoes

We still have a number of students who are not wearing correct black leather shoes, please ensure that your child has the correct shoes over the weekend. If for some reason you are unable to do this please bring a signed note to your classroom teacher on Monday. We have really high expectations with our uniform and we need the correct shoes in the technology rooms.

Continued reminders

  • STAY AT HOME: If your child is unwell then they must stay at home. If your child becomes unwell during the school day you will be phoned to collect them ASAP.

  • HYGIENE: Continuing a high level of hygiene is important - handwashing, sanitizing and elbow coughing/sneezing.

  • MASKS: Students and staff must wear a mask when inside at school. Masks are not needed when students are outdoors. Students can wear medical grade or fabric masks, please ensure the mask is named. Teachers will continue to encourage regular breaks to allow students to take their mask off when outdoors.

  • SUNHATS: Students will need to wear a sunhat outside. Please ensure your child has a sunhat so they are able to spend time outside. Caps are available from the school office for $8.

  • VENTILATION: Class windows and doors will be left open to help air circulate in the room.

  • PARENT MEETINGS: All parent meetings need to be prearranged, you can do this via phoning the school office or by emailing the applicable teacher.

  • OFFICE: If you come into our school office please ensure that you sign in, scan, wear a mask and respect a 2 metre distance if another person is in the office.

Touch

The North Otago Touch Association has let us know that their Touch Tournament is requiring Vaccine Passes for all coaches, managers and players over the age of 12 years 3 months. They will have a committee/referees viewing the vaccination passes on the field before games start. In order to keep numbers down, unfortunately spectators can not be at the games.

Help

We are looking for someone who can weld and would like to donate some time, we have bike racks that need a few adaptations. If you are able to help, please contact the school office.