Principal's Message
Kia ora koutou 
What an amazing day to be out and about! He rā tino ātaahua tēnei. All our syndicates have their cross country events planned for this week, so hopefully the good weather continues. Te Moana (Year 5-6 students) are running today, Tatahi and Ngaru kids (Years 0-4) have their event on Thursday at 2pm, and Te Motu (Years 7-8 students) are scheduled for 10.30am this Friday. Karawhiua – Give it heaps!
Today’s newsletter is packed with useful information for our whānau, with a few highlights being:
- Mid-year learning conferences – Tuesday, 20 June
- Primary Teacher and Principals Collective Contract negotiations
Upcoming dates for your calendar:
- Screening of ‘Our Kids Online’ 1.20pm – 3pm this Wednesday in Room 20, or this Thursday in Room 13 at 3pm – 4.40pm
- King’s Birthday weekend – Monday, 5 June (school closed)
- Learning Conferences – Tuesday, 20 June – Make a booking and bring your child along (school closed for instruction)
- Celebrating Matariki -Tuesday, 27 June – Activities throughout the school day
PRINCIPAL’S GREAT NEWS CORNER
Sharing good news spreads positivity, changes attitudes and ultimately leads to more people feeling encouraged and happy
Pink shirt day was amazing last Friday. Thanks to everyone for the great level of participation. The Student Council and Sarah Chambers did an incredible job organising this event – THANK YOU TEAM!
Unfortunately bullying does occur in schools, in communities, in work places, in sports, in government – in fact anywhere there are people bullying can occur. We have to keep standing up to bullying and work together to resolve issues.
Check out some photos of our Pink Shirt day later in this newsletter.
Ngā mihi nui,
Jess Ward
Principal ~ Tumuaki
Welcome to Our Recent New Students
Amelia – Rm 10
Ihaia – Rm 23
Lucia – Rm 25
Jax – Rm 25
Jack – Rm 25
Montana – Rm 25
Eleora – Rm 7
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/
Video Screening of "Our Kids Online" - This Week
Did you miss Rob Cope’s presentation “Our Kids Online”? Parents who were able to attend were rocked but left feeling very informed. We will be showing the video of Rob Cope’s 1.5 hour video presentation at the following times: (we hope you’ll be able to come along)
NB: This presentation is not suitable for preschoolers, children, teenagers
- 1.20pm this Wednesday in Room 20
- 3pm this Thursday in Room 13
Tuesday, 20 June Learning Conferences - Don’t Forget to Bring Your Child Along!
This year we are bringing our mid-year learning conferences forward, to hold them at the end of Term 2 rather than the start of Term 3. Our Board has granted us a Teacher-Only day to run these important conferences. This means parents will need to book in for an interview slot and bring their child/children along at that time. Normal teaching will not occur on this day. Please put this date in your diary and book yourselves in on on the Skool Loop App. Download the app now on Google Play or the App Store (bookings will be available shortly).
Ten minute conference time slots will go through the day until 6pm. Whilst we prefer face to face, zoom slots can be offered. Please note that there will not be time to raise complex social issues or confidential matters, but you can arrange a time to do this with your child’s teacher at another time by emailing them.
Primary Teacher and Principals Collective Contract Negotiations
You may have heard lots in the news about the ongoing collective contract negotiations affecting many sectors of the Education workforce. At PBS this includes all our teachers and myself as the Principal.
Firstly, I want to thank our school community for their support as we fight for change. Working in the primary school sector has changed over the decades, and our current negotiations are not merely about keeping up with the cost of inflation. So what are primary educators concerned about?
Teacher Negotiations – With better conditions we can do more to support our students:
- Class sizes can still be high; the recent reduction to 28.5 kids per Year 4 – 8 class is merely how the government calculates how many teachers your school will receive, not how many students you will actually have sitting in your classroom.
- Lack of financial support for students with additional needs – All schools are welcoming in increased needs – children who have learning needs, children who have behavioural needs, children who have experienced trauma, children who need assistance with health and hygiene needs – yet the government continues to fund the bare minimum of support. We want these kids to thrive as much as any child and sometimes we feel we are failing because the dollar won’t stretch far enough.
- Classroom release time – Currently teachers get 10 hours per term out of their class to undertake planning and assessment work. Teachers already do so much in their weekends and term break time – however, when it comes to individually assessing students this needs to be done when children are actually there in front of you. The workload of teachers unfortunately puts many people off becoming a teacher.
Principals Collective Negotiations:
- In a nutshell, I have worked closely with secondary principals over the last decade and value the incredible mahi they contribute. However, I do not believe I put in any less effort, aroha or time. The government needs to give a definitive answer as to why they deem primary principals to be undeserving of parity with secondary colleagues. Primary principals are responsible for the education and well-being of some of the youngest and most vulnerable members of our society; we deserve the same terms, conditions and compensation as secondary leaders.
Thank you for reading – Jess Ward
Kid's Quote
Teacher “Pop down to the office and ask for some blu tack.”
Senior Student A returns “Mr Trask gave me this!”. The student opens their hand to reveal a blue drawing pin. “He says it’s a blue tack!”
Senior Student B “Man, he’s so dry!”
Building Planter Boxes - Can You Help Out?
Some of our eager Enviro kids would love parent help to build new planter boxes behind Room 28. Our old boxes have rotted and fallen apart. If you are able to give an hour or so of your time or some timber, we would love to hear from you. Just email jtrask@pbs.school.nz
Thank you
Using Māori Language at Home
It’s important for all Kiwi to learn te reo. Each week our newsletter will include phrases that you might like to try out at your place. After all, it will take the whole nation to keep this unique language alive.
He rangi hāuaua – It’s a rainy day
All these sentences below are different variations on the same sentence:
It is raining
Kei te ua
E uau ana
Kei te heke te ua
Kei heke ana te ua
It is raining
ua=rain
hāuaua=rainy
rangi=day
heke=fall, drip
Everyday Māori:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/263436354660573/
From the Student Council
Thank you for supporting Pink Shirt Day and our Kindness campaign last Friday! There was loads of pink to be seen at PBS. Well done to everyone who made it around our Pink Shirt themed Scavenger Hunt. Here’s a few photos we took at playtime.
PBS Junior (Yr 0-4) Cross Country
Te Motu Cross Country
The Te Motu cross country will be held at Mazengarb Park this Friday, 26 May (pp date Tuesday, 30 May). We will have our competitive races (Year 7 Girls, Year 7 Boys, Year 8 Girls, Year 8 Boys) followed by a fun relay for everyone. Please feel free to come down to the Park to support our runners.
We will head over to Mazengarb straight after the roll on Friday morning and aim to start at approximately 9.20 am, or earlier if we are ready before that.
Te Moana Camp Hotdog Fundraiser
Pre-orders MUST be received no later than 3pm this Friday, 26 May
Fizzy Drink Bottles Wanted
1.5L fizzy drink bottles are needed for our rockets.
Wood Donations for Matariki Hāngī
We’ve got some lovely Manuka drying in preparation for our hāngī thanks to the Miratana family but we are also looking for other dry wood to get the fire super hot.
If you have any odd dry rounds, oddly shaped pieces or just some dry firewood at home that you’d like to donate, please contact Ginny Hawke on ghawke@pbs.school.nz
Out of Zone Applications (Closing 29 May)
If you have any children due to start school soon that you have not let us know about, or if you have friends or neighbours who don’t currently have a child at PBS, but may be hoping to enrol a student here in Terms 3 or 4, please ask them to contact our school office asap. Thank you.
“Out of Zone” applications for Terms 3 and 4 Yr 0-4 students are currently being advertised in the Kapiti Observer.
Applications close at 12 noon on Monday, 29 May.
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
Please Support Making the 2023 Census a Success
Dear whānau,
We are supporting Stats NZ to encourage everyone to complete the 2023 Census. So, this is a reminder that you need to return your census forms if you have not done so already.
Census data is used to make important decisions that affect us all. The census is the official count of people living in Aotearoa New Zealand, and everyone who was in the country on Census Day, 7 March 2023, is required by law to complete a census form.
Your participation will help ensure that our community receives funding for services for the number of people that live in our community. That includes education, health, and social services.
To complete the census, you can do it online at www.census.govt.nz using one of the access codes provided in the letters sent to your household. Or you can fill out paper census forms if you have them. To request a new access code or paper forms, freephone 0800 236 787 (0800 CENSUS) or order online at www.census.govt.nz.
The 2023 Census closes on 30 June, so you should do them online now or as soon as practicable. Ensure your paper forms are posted so they arrive with Stats NZ by 30 June.
Census collectors are no longer visiting households providing help to complete census forms (except in the cyclone-impacted areas of the Far North, Te Tairāwhiti, and Hawke’s Bay). If you need assistance or more information:
• You can attend a census support event and get face-to-face help to complete
forms (for more information go to www.census.govt.nz/census-support).
• We encourage you to help whānau, friends, and neighbours complete their forms.
• There is information in New Zealand Sign Language, Braille, Easy Read, Large Print, and Audio formats, as well as in 29 different languages at www.census.govt.nz.
• The 0800 CENSUS (0800 236 787) helpline will be open until 30 June.
Thank you for your support in making sure our community is accurately represented in the census.
