Principal's Message
Kia ora e te whānau,
Firstly, thank you to our
wonderful community for all your donations of clothes, sheets, duvets and towels for those affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. We are in contact with two schools in the Hawkes Bay who will be receiving and distributing these items to their own parent community.
Secondly, I want to keep you all up to date with some school procedures we are currently reworking; 1. Animal Welfare/Dogs in Schools, 2. Student Cellphones and Smart watches
- Animal Welfare/Dogs in Schools: We have long had an ‘Animal Welfare’ procedure but additional information is being added to this to more clearly define the responsibilities of staff having puppies or a dog in their classroom. Thus far, we have witnessed educational, behavioural and emotional benefits to having dogs and puppies in the school environment. This is reflective of international research showing animals in school can help with emotional regulation, encourage positive peer and social interactions, and act as non-judgemental participants in learning. In addition to these benefits, children take great enjoyment from interacting with dogs and puppies. The dogs that we permit on site are those owned by or fostered by school staff. Whilst we recognise that the presence of animals in our school can provide a valuable learning experience, we are cognisant that animals cannot be allowed to affect health and safety or disrupt learning. Our new procedures ensure we are proactive in considering the risks and putting steps in place to ensure a positive experience for everyone.
- Student Cellphones and Smart watches: Our Student Cellphone procedure is also about to get a revamp to reflect the distraction Smart Watches are now causing in classes. Unfortunately, students are gaming on these and parents’ phone calls to kids are interrupting learning, which cannot continue. Our current cellphone procedure requires students to hand their phones into teachers for storage between 9am and 3pm, and now we need to consider how we manage smart watches. I will update you in due course.
Dates to remember:
- NEXT WEEK : Tues, 28 Feb – School closes at 12.30pm – Teachers Paid Union Meeting
- Fri, 3 March – School closed – Teacher Only day
- Fri, 31 March – School Fun Run (PTA) and evening picnic
PRINCIPAL’S GREAT NEWS CORNER
Sharing good news spreads positivity, changes attitudes and ultimately leads to more people feeling encouraged and happy
Unless you wander in our playgrounds at breaktimes it can be hard to truly appreciate how awesome PBS kids are. Yes, there’s the odd niggle or disagreement (there are 530 kids though), however we find that busy kids are happy kids! It’s awesome to see the variety of ways kids use their downtime, from chess games, reading in a shady spot, to highly energetic games of basketball, scootering, and even teamwork to carry a friend around on a plank…we’ve seen it all!
Ngā mihi nui
Jess Ward – Principal~Tumuaki
Welcome to Our Recent New Students
Jack – Rm 18
Have You Checked Out Our Community Notices Directory?
Do you need to advertise your business, an upcoming event, need child care, or looking for a gift or new club to join? Check out the PBS Community Directory on our website https://kapiti.pbs.school.nz/
Kid's Quote
When speaking to a few junior students about some playground silliness, one very serious voice piped up ….“Are you going to fire us?”
Massey University Evaluation Consent Form
This week a consent form will come home from Massey University to some of our students from across the different year levels. In 2020/21 Massey University carried out an evaluation of Manawakura – The Healthy Active Learning initiative, coordinated by Sport NZ, the Ministry of Education and Health NZ. Now, in 2022, the University are assessing any changes that have taken place in PBS, and other schools across New Zealand with the aim of promoting physical activity and healthy eating in school children. Your child may have taken part in 2020/21 – thank you!
Massey University appreciates everyone’s participation. Please return a signed consent form to the school office if they would like to take part in 2022/23.
Using Māori Language at Home
Learning another language provides many benefits including greater academic achievement, greater cognitive development, and more positive attitudes towards other languages and cultures. So, let’s give it a go and help to revitalise this unique language to Aotearoa for our tamariki. Each week our newsletter will include words or phrases that you might like to try out at your kāinga/home.
The Story of our syndicate names:
TĀTAHI – Year 0-2 Syndicate
Tātahi are the fine grains of sand on the beach
NGARU – Year 3-4 Syndicate
Ngaru are the small waves that greet the sand
TE MOANA – Year 5-6 Syndicate
Te Moana is the open ocean
TE MOTU – Year 7-8 Syndicate
Te Motu is the island
Digitech Corner
Cell phones can be very disruptive to our learning environment and can lead to unsafe behaviours e.g. online bullying, so we have very clear procedures regarding their use. Please be assured that if you need to communicate a message to your child, you can do so through our school office.
At Paraparaumu Beach School:
• Student cell phones are handed in to the class teacher to be stored between 9-3pm
• If the cell phone is not handed in, the school takes no responsibility for the safety of the phone. Additionally, the student may be asked to leave the phone at home
• In exceptional circumstances, a pupil may seek prior permission from a staff member to use the phone to check or send a message during the school day
• If a cell phone is used for purposes other than stated above, the teacher may ask for the phone to be handed in and it will be held by the teacher/Deputy Principal until collected (at a specified time)
• If the above procedure is broken students may lose the right to bring their cell phone to school
Netball
Year 1 – Year 2 netball is about to start again. More information and how to register can be found on our kura (School) whārangi Pukamata (Facebook page).
PTA AGM
The school PTA is holding its Annual General Meeting on Thursday, 2 March at 7.30pm in the School Staffroom.
If you want to come and be part of a fantastic team of parents who work towards raising funds for all the tamariki at Paraparaumu Beach kura and the kura we would love to have you join us.
(As an aside from the Principal, I must say that the school is so grateful for our PTA. From the outside it looks like a very fun and motivated group to be a part of. Your teamwork, your positive energy and the benefits for our kids are incredible. I also hear your meetings are full of delicious nibbles! Thank you all, Jess)
Home Reading Book Amnesty - 20-28 February
We have lots of home readers missing and as they cost $10.00 each book we are desperate to get them returned.
Can you please have another look at home (under the bed, in the cupboards/bookcases) for any readers. Then drop them into the labelled book box outside the staffroom. Thank you ☺
Future Student Achievements
If your child has an achievement you would like us to share in our newsletter, then please send details (and a picture if you would like) to mbarfoote@pbs.school.nz
