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Opaki School
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE Dave Finlayson
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Dance Curriculum
Wow what a year. I would like to thank all of the Opaki teachers, administrators, support staff, parents, and students in our community who worked incredibly hard to once again adapt to the new reality of remote learning during the covid-19 pandemic.
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Dance Splash
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School Choir
This change presented challenges for many — parents working and balancing home life, teachers developing remote lesson plans to fit different students’ needs, and students looking for new ways to stay connected to their friends. So many met these new demands with grace and compassion. We all know how adaptable and resilient parents and educators are in the best of times, and through these difficult times you have shown this in more ways than ever before.
200 STUDENTS
21 STAFF
School cross-country races.
We are so proud of our educators, parents, and students who are teaching us all lessons in resiliency and community. This year has shown me why I enjoy working with children and to be working alongside such a dedicated staff who go beyond the call of duty to develop programmes that inspire children to want to learn. It has been a busy year and due to covid many school events either were cancelled or postponed to later in the year. We still have managed to provide a wide range of activities crossing academic, sporting and cultural fields. On the cultural and academic scene our students have been involved in a variety of their passions. •
Jump jam
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Otago Maths Problem Solving
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Kapa Haka
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Masterton and Wairarapa speech competitions.
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Matharapa
Students, staff and parents have worked extremely hard over the past years to develop environmental programmes. Opaki is a Silver level enviro school with the aim of achieving gold in the near future. We have been super proud of our achievements so far with the way that we have worked to improve our own environment and students’ understanding and learning as well as working as part of community projects. We have a very passionate enviro group made up of 16 students who range from 6 years old to 13 years old.
Yr 7 / 8 MiCamp - Students enjoying the Spa Walk to the Huka Falls.
On the sporting front, we have been pleased again with the huge numbers participating in sport. For the size of our school we punch well above our weight and we are lucky that we have the staff and community help in supporting our students in a huge variety of sporting adventures. Also seeing the successes of past students within the Wairarapa sporting fraternity has brought us immense pride. This year we have had a focus on staff and student well-being due to the effects of covid over the past two years. We’ve set up a student council who run many activities throughout the school with the most recent being Gumboot Day in aid of raising funds for resources for mental health in students.
School Enviro garden.
Gumboot Day in support of mental health resources for students.
As term 4 progresses towards the end of the school year, we find ourselves reflecting on another year like no other. We were all excited with the completion of Tipu syndicate. This will leave the school with all syndicates working in collaborative spaces. This year has been particularly tough for our year 8’s with many of the events they look forward to having to be cancelled. We want to wish all our year 8’s the very best as they head off in the next stage of their education. A big thank you to the Opaki community for your continued support and input into making our school what it is today.
Our Masterton speech winners.
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