Welcome to the 2024 school year, we appreciated the opportunity to meet with many of you on our Mahi Tahi - working together sessions last week.  
Since the start of school we have been enjoying our newest play space - the outdoor stage area beside the pool.  Students have already performed songs and dances and it is fast becoming a favourite eating space for outdoor lunches.  
We are very appreciative of the mahi of our Parent Group and the generous support and incredible workmanship of Richard Affleck and his team of builders and Cole Pemberton, Southern Rustic Art.

Our 2024 professional learning focus is mathematics working with national facilitator Rob Proffitt- White around tools and strategies to actively engage learners and foster mental computation i.e. basic facts.  
We will also be continuing to develop our local curriculum working with professional learning provider Field Based STEAM alongside experts from Otago University and Greening Taupo as well as many of our local experts.  
We look forward to sharing our learning with you as the year progresses.

Carla Werder
Kia ora.  I feel very lucky to work in a school that goes the extra mile to support ako in their learning, and that as the Deputy Principal I get to work across the school and in our community.  I am passionate about all aspects of learning, but particularly the outdoors, and am privileged to be able to include the reserve into our classroom and school learning.  I look forward to working with our wider school community in 2024 bringing enriching experiences to our tamariki.

Emma Williams - Kahikatea Room 11/12

Kia ora. This is my fifth year at Otatara School and I love being a part of this learning community, it is such a special place. As a teacher I am particularly passionate about play, inquiry, the arts, kindness and wellbeing. I have a 12 (almost 13) year old son and a cute cat, and my favourite place to be is Queens Park. I can be found there most days saying hello to the animals and walking through the gardens.

Lauren Wells - Kōwhai Room 1
Kia ora koutou, I am excited about our learning year and supporting learners with new experiences, challenges and discoveries. I look forward to exploring the tamariki's interests in a welcoming and positive classroom environment.

Megan Packham - Mataī Room 3
Kia Ora, I am excited to be teaching again in Mataī this year. I really enjoy teaching in the junior school and have taught Year 2 for many years.  These past few weeks in Mataī has been about establishing classroom routines to encourage independence. Helping develop strong foundations in literacy and numeracy to support these young learners as they move through the school is important to me.  I enjoy teaching art and the creativity it brings into all aspects of the curriculum.  We are going to have a fun-filled year in Mataī, I can't wait!

Emma Scott - Tōtara Room 4
Kia ora, I have the pleasure and privilege to be teaching the tamariki in Tōtara this year. As a junior school teacher, I value the importance of establishing a secure foundation for learning that enables tamariki to transfer their skills. I look forward to creating, exploring and nurturing new learning along our journey. My passion is literacy and my goals this year include growing my own te reo Māori and using the arts to share and showcase our learning.

Hannah MacIntosh - Ponga Room 5
Kia ora, I am very excited to be back in Room 5 - Ponga this year with a keen bunch of Year 3 students. I endeavour to create a fun, flexible and inclusive learning environment for my tamariki, providing inspiration for each child's individual learning journey.  I love to challenge and excite children with new learning and experiences.

Bridgette Parsons - Mānuka Room 6
Kia ora everyone! I have the pleasure of teaching the tamariki in Mānuka - Room 6 this year! This is my third year at Otatara School and I am looking forward to another fantastic year. I am passionate about teaching and learning all aspects of the curriculum but in particular I enjoy literacy, numeracy, and digital technology. This year I am looking forward to getting to know my learners in Mānuka and starting up the new Otatara School News Team. Ko te mutunga oranga, he timatatanga kaha - bring on 2024!

Stacey Seager - Akapuka Room 7
Kia ora, I have lots of ideas and enthusiasm to share with my students. I have a passion for music and art as well as getting out and about in nature. I have recently developed an interest for gardening and am in charge of the school garden.

Gillian Donnelly & Becks Haig - Tī Kōuka Room 9
We have the pleasure of working together this year with a great bunch of Year 5 and 6 students. We enjoyed working as neighbours last year and are really looking forward to all the exciting opportunities ahead of us this year. Becks loves her sport and will enjoy weekly catch ups with the sports mad kids and Gillian is still excited about Jump Jam on Fridays.

Nichole Finlay - Pōkākā Room 13
Kia ora, I have taught for a number of years in Invercargill and am excited to join the Ōtātara team this year. I enjoy teaching across the curriculum, and have a particular passion for the areas of literacy and art. I look forward to supporting the Pōkākā children to grow as learners and leaders within our school in 2024.

Georgia Tisdall - Tarata Room 14

Kia ora everyone. We have lots of opportunities planned for education outside of the classroom this year. I am excited about the programme we have planned for Tarata. We want to engage as leaders in our community through native bush regeneration projects, and being citizen scientists working alongside Sustainable Coastlines. This year our focus is on developing leadership skills in the children, lifting the mana of our school and showcasing our students as role models.

Nicola Graham
Kia ora, I’m excited to be working across all year levels this term, sharing my passion for the arts and mathematics as well as supporting students with their everyday learning. My little family of 3 is about to expand very soon so I am excited for this new chapter of my life and can’t wait to continue my Otatara school journey in 2025.

Elaine MacPherson 

Tēnā koutou katoa,  It’s a privilege and a pleasure to teach within all the classrooms as the classroom release  teacher.  My goal is to provide a stimulating teaching environment that will empower your child to be inquisitive and curious about the world around them.

Alison Rodway
Kia ora, I am responsible for the Reading Recovery programme and look forward to supporting the selected children to strengthen their reading and writing skills so they can participate with confidence in their classrooms. This specialist programme is jointly funded by the Ministry of Education and the school.
 
Support Staff
Our teaching staff are capably supported by a wonderful team of support staff made up of Noelene Mitchell office administrator, with support from Rachel Clarke, Pete Morsink school caretaker, Amarjot Kaur librarian and ICT support, and our highly skilled team of teacher aides - Deidre Murphy, Ange Strachan, Juliette Clark, and Sharon Wilson.

Sharon Livingstone - Tumuaki 
I have the privilege of being the Principal of Otatara School where I get to learn alongside our highly skilled and committed staff, our talented students and our supportive whānau.  I am looking forward to another exciting year of learning within our learning community and am especially excited about our field based STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) journey, in particular, how we may be able to contribute to enhancing the mauri of our local environment.

For 2024 Tuesdays are our Chatbus counselling days with our counsellor Miles.  As parents you can refer you child/ren by emailing Miles at miles.chatbus@gmail.com, contacting your child/ren’s teacher and they can make a referral or using the online form from our website.

Education is constantly changing, evolving in response to the changing needs of students and emerging research about how we learn.  Engaging in professional development increases our understanding of how students learn enabling us to better meet their changing needs,

The Board has recently approved 4 teacher professional learning days (also known as teacher only days) for the 2024 school year.  

School will be closed for students on Tuesday March 26 for teachers to engage in mathematics professional learning alongside national facilitator Rob Proffitt- White and then again on Tuesday September 10th to again work with Rob.  

For the 26th March day after school care service provider XO have offered to run a user pays day programme at their premises. More information to come.

These 2 professional learning days for teachers will add an additional two learning days for students to our school year meaning we will finish for the year on Wednesday December 18th.

Two further days have been given to all New Zealand primary schools to work on the changes to the New Zealand Curriculum - these days do not add additional days to our school year but do have to be taken within a certain time frame to encourage schools within regions to close on the same days.

Our Board has selected Friday 31 May for the first of the Ministry provided days.  The other day must be taken between 21 October and 15 November - as yet a date has not been decided for this however we will let you know as soon as possible.

On Tuesday 13 February our Year 6 students spent the day at Ōreti Beach with trainers from Surf Life Saving learning about safety in the surf and the amazing work that they do to keep our beaches safe.  This day is a very important part of our health and physical education programme and contains valuable life lessons.

Friday 16 February – 2:00pm Whole School Assembly

Friday 23 February – 2:10pm Junior School Assembly

                           Morning                     Afternoon

Monday            Lizzie Stephenson     Sharon Livingstone
Tuesday            Kate Tiriaere              Kate Tiriaere
Wednesday     Shelly Blackler          Carla Werder
Thursday         Lea Melrose               Lea Melrose
Friday               Sonja Cowan             Carla Werder

 

Parent helpers please be at school by 8.20am for the morning patrol and 2.40pm for the afternoon patrol. If for some reason you are unavailable on your rostered day please swap with another parent.