O.I.S. Newsletter - 7 March, 2025
Our Purpose: To prepare students to be active participants who will contribute to their community.
Tēnā koutou katoa, Malo e lelei, Talofa lava, Bula vinaka
It is hard to believe we are over the halfway point. Congratulations to everyone who participated in the Rippa rugby tournament today, it was awesome to have 120 students involved. At OIS, we provide many opportunities for students to participate in winter sports, such as hockey, netball, and basketball. Our local clubs provide football and rugby. We enjoy seeing our students immerse themselves in the opportunities we provide.
I am a firm believer that students who participate in a team activity get to experience more opportunities. Engaging in team sports is important for more than just physical fitness. Playing sport often means being part of a team and this allows for building skills in a whole range of areas. Children can also develop their life skills as well as learning all the techniques involved in the sport. Playing team sports encourages cooperation and sharing, resilience, goal setting and building relationships. Learning to lose is also an important skill that’s often uncovered through playing sports.
At OIS we talk about being IDEAL students, no matter where we are in our community, I am well aware that we are all human and can all make mistakes from time to time. As you will know, some of our best lessons can come from our mistakes. One of the greatest things we can do when we make a mistake is own it and put it right, because we can’t take it back, and we can’t undo the action. A huge part of growing up is taking responsibility for our behaviour, and understanding that we can only control our behaviour and our response to others. As parents and caregivers, we need to let our children take responsibility for their behaviour by supporting them to do the right thing. If you do have anything you want to discuss regarding your child, we do encourage you to be in touch with your child’s teacher, it is important that we are all on the same page.
Cyber Safety
Over the last two weeks, several members of our team have engaged in conversations with students about unsafe and unkind online behavior. While this isn’t occurring at school, often the aftermath spills over into our playground and classroom, prompting teachers to step in and support students. If your child has access to online platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Discord, or any other, it is crucial that we actively participate in monitoring our children’s online presence and pay attention to whom they are communicating with and adding as friends online.
At O.I.S., each child agrees to a Digital Citizenship Student and Parent Agreement upon enrolment, granting them their individual login. While logged into their O.I.S. account, all activity is recorded and tracked by the O.I.S. filtering system.
Please discuss the importance of not sharing personal information and passwords. We also strongly discourage students from joining large group chats that involve more than five students. We know our students are active online, and I believe the best approach is to educate them while ensuring that we, as parents, have measures in place to keep our children safe.
Attendance Matters
Regular school attendance is pivotal for academic success and overall development. We know that consistency of attendance ensures an uninterrupted flow of learning, offering new opportunities to expand knowledge, engage with peers, and interact with teachers. In addition, by being present consistently, students establish strong foundations, build habits, and set themselves up for success in high school. As a parent, the biggest way we can support our students' education is by ensuring that they are attending school every day, please make school a priority for your child.
If you require any support with getting your child to school, please make contact with your child’s teacher. The Public Health Nurse, Youthline Counsellor, Truancy Officer, and Learning Support Coordinators are only too happy to support our tamariki regularly attending school.
If your child is sick, it is important that you contact the school office. If your child is going to be late for any reason, they must sign in when they get to school. A reminder that school starts at 8.45 am each morning and we finish at 2.45 pm.
Policies & Procedures - School Docs
School Policies are monitored by School Docs and updated, modified, or created in response to changes in legislation, significant events, Ministry guidelines, reviews/requests from schools, and regular reviewing from the SchoolDocs team.
Our board of trustees has the opportunity to view changes and additions and comment on them before they are implemented.
We will advise you when policies are up for review and how you can take part in the review.
Username: oamaruint
Password: oispolicy
Have a great weekend!
Rebecca Meek
Principal