Level 1 Creative Design Gallery Trip
Last Wednesday, our Level 1 Creative Design students visited the Toi Tauranga Art Gallery to experience the interactive exhibition by local artist Kereama Taepa. This visit came at an ideal time, as students are currently developing their own digital outcomes for a specific target audience.
Kereama Taepa’s work showcases a powerful fusion of traditional Māori whakairo with contemporary digital technologies, including 3D modelling and augmented reality. Through engaging with these works, students were able to see how cultural narratives and design practices can be reimagined in a digital context.
This was a fantastic opportunity to connect classroom learning with real-world practice and to explore how digital innovation can honour cultural traditions.
Smokefree RockQuest Heat – Saturday 23 May
The Smokefree RockQuest Heat will be held this Saturday 23rd May at Holy Trinity Church in Tauranga. 60 bands performing from across the Bay of Plenty. Come along and support our following students if you can!
11:00am session:
Pugmen: Ollie Joyce, Hugo Joyce, Oscar Downard, Harry Mills.
Pipeline Punks: Nirvana Hartley, Anika Te Nana, Georgi Gregory.
2:00pm session:
Edyn and Assi: Edyn Tukaki & Addison Dawson.
4:30pm session:
Headspinz: Perth Chareenchit, Oskar Haskett, Jamie Simon, Jack Culver.
Grizzly Fish: George Cowan, Damian Mazzutti, Jude Chua, Adam Sushames, Caleb Friar.
Hangtime: Madden Jamieson, Iro Angell, Zen Miyanami, Jackson Jane, Osman Keenan, Chris John.
Technical Difficultiez: Sciennaj Belcher, Tye Belcher, Emy Greaves, Ayla Mears, Charlie Downard.
Do you have a Digital SLR Camera you no longer need?
Our Kura offers digital subjects and each year the number of students wanting to study these continues to grow. We are now looking to set up resources for our Junior classes to use.
We are wondering if anyone in the community may have a Digital SLR camera they are no longer using and might like to donate to our Art Department. They will be used to teach camera basics and offer a chance for the students to learn photography conventions which they can put into their projects for design and photography.
If you have any questions, please contact: Susan Blakemore, sblakemore@otc.school.nz
Cameras can be dropped off to the Main Office during the day – between 8.00am and 4.00pm.
Improving Road Safety Near Schools
Tauranga City Council has resolved to reduce speed limits outside school gates following a review of the safety risks and strong community support for lower speed limits.
They’re reducing speed limits outside Tauranga schools during drop-off and pick-up times to make it safer for people to move around.
Speed is a critical factor in whether a crash is avoidable or, if it does happen, how serious it is. Speed limits have a key role to play in keeping people safe, especially people walking and cycling.
As our roads become increasingly busy, the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and children is of increasing concern. The roads outside schools are often perceived as dangerous for children, with school communities concerned about the speed of vehicles travelling past their school, drivers not stopping at zebra crossings, or insufficient gaps to enable school patrols to put out signs.
Introducing variable speed limits
They’ve developed a speed management plan that will see a 30km/h variable speed zone outside school gates during school drop-off and pick-up times. This is a change from our original speed management plan which proposed a 40km/h variable speed zone and follows a Ministry of Transport amendment for the setting of speed limits in late 2024.
They’ll activate the new 30km/h variable speed limit on a rolling basis between late May and June 2026. All signs are planned to be operational by July 2026. You can read more about the speed management plan here.
In the Bellevue School, Ōtūmoetai Intermediate and Ōtūmoetai College zone (see map below), the new 30km/h variable speed limit will apply between 8.10 to 8.55am and 2.45 to 3.30pm. Outside of those times, the variable speed limit will revert to the normal permanent speed limit.
Thank you for helping keep our children safe on our roads. If you have any questions, please email saferspeeds@tauranga.govt.nz
Access to Period Products in Schools
Matariki Art Competition – Registration
If you are interested in entering the Matariki art competition, please fill in this form.
The competition is on the 1st of July so you have AGES to plan and execute an awesome artwork that could win you maunga points AND cash prizes.
We will have a senior and junior section, as well as a People’s Choice Award.
The Ruamano Kōmiti
Academic Mentoring Programme
At our kura, we offer a free of charge academic mentoring programme where senior students support younger peers to become more confident in their subjects and achieve success.
Mentoring will be starting at the beginning of Term 2. If you are interested in getting mentoring for your student, please fill in this form.
This form stays open all year, so even if your student does not need mentoring right now, they can sign up at any time in the future.
Feel free to contact mentoring@otc.school.nz with any questions.
Collective Hope Night – 16 June
The school community has been invited to an Eating Disorders & Youth Mental Health Night for students & families in Tauranga. Tuesday 16 June, 7.00pm – 9.00pm, Equippers Church, Tauranga.
This event will be led by trained speakers with lived experience of recovery and aim to provide hope, education, and support around eating disorders, body image, anxiety, and youth mental health.
The event is suitable for students, parents/caregivers, school wellbeing staff, counsellors and health teams.
