Principal's Message
Tena koutou PBS parents and caregivers
As we steadily approach the end of another fantastic year (NB: school finishes at 12.30pm this Friday), I feel pride and gratitude for the incredible times we have shared as a school. 2023 has been marked by numerous achievements, memorable events, and the unwavering support of our kind spirited community. Genuine thanks to everyone who has played a part in making this year a success; it takes mahi-tahi to grow such great Kiwi kids like yours!
Here’s just a few highlights that have defined 2023 at PBS:
- Educational Adventures: Memorable school camps to Nelson and Kaitoke, Learning at Te Papa, Trips to Whakarongotai Marae, Beach trips, Inter-school sporting events and National Young Leaders day
- Te Ao Māori Growth: Te reo Māori night classes for staff and parents (with 29 graduates!), Kapa Haka performances which made us so proud, weekly Waiata Māori sessions with Matenga Baker (for all students), our Whānau group which goes from strength to strength, and Matariki celebrations.
- Community Engagement: Parent education sessions on “Our Kids Online” with Rob Cope, New Entrants Parent Education sessions, survey and feedback engagement, Learning Conferences, Fantastic PTA fundraisers including the wet and colourful Fun Run and high speed Grocery Grab.
- Artistic and Creative Achievements: Incredible productions and showcases featuring our students’ and staff talents, Wearable Arts, the NZ Opera’s “Sleeping Beauty” show, and enthusiastic participation in E-Pro 8 and Tournament of Minds competitions
- Sportsmanship and Achievements: Physical pursuits and successes featured highly this year including volleyball, netball, Kiwisports, futsal, touch rugby, rippa rugby, cross country, gymnastics, tennis, padder tennis, softball, hockey, basketball, athletics, golf, and more! Ka rawe!
- Community Support: Our annual Pink Shirt Day for anti-bullying received overwhelming support, charity fundraisers for Cyclone Gabrielle and Little Hearts, and our own support fund “PBS Aroha” which looks after those in our school community in times of need.
- Professional Development: Our staff undertook professional development in many aspects of the curriculum and child development, with the majority of our focus targeting maths pedagogy, healthy active learning, on top of nine staff who graduated from Te Ahu o te reo Māori.
- Property Improvements: The refurbishment of Rooms 28, 29 and the administration area, an outdoor stage on the field, a new wheelchair-accessible bathroom in our junior block, and new autex wall linings in Rooms 21, 25 and 26.
So as we bid farewell to 2023, I want to express my deepest gratitude to the exceptional staff of Paraparaumu Beach School. Their dedication, passion, and hard work have made all these opportunities possible for our students, your kids.
Special acknowledgement to teachers Ginny Hawke and Larisa Mckenna who are leaving PBS to move further afield. Thank you for all the energies you have invested in your time at PBS, the kids, staff and community have benefitted from your aroha and mahi. Additional thanks to Melissa Chrystal, who left PBS to pursue a new role as Attendance Awhina, but whose teacher aide skills will not be easily forgotten – thank you Melissa. Finally to Lorraine Rigg, Gill Snowsill and Liz Bell thank you for joining us for large stints when teachers needed to take leave; we are so grateful for your support.
Last but not least, farewell, ka kite, goodbye to all our Year 8 students. It was lovely to see you all dressed up at your Leaver’s Dinner last week; you all looked so grown up. We wish you all the very best for your years at college and your future studies and careers. You will always be part of the PBS family, so please stay in touch. Kia kaha!
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a restful summer break. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Thursday, February 1, 2024, for another year of growth, learning, and shared successes.
Ngā mihi nui,
Jess Ward
Principal ~ Tumuaki
Below: Photos of some awesome kids:
In today’s newsletter you can read about:
- Senior Prize Giving
- Transition visits – to meet classmates and teachers for 2024
- End of Year reports
Upcoming dates for your awareness:
- Tatahi’s Annual Christmas sing along (Year 0-2 Syndicate)- Thursday, 14 December -2.15pm
- Year 5-8 Prizegiving – Friday, 15 December 9:30am in the school hall
- Last day of school is Friday, 15 December – School closes at 12.30pm on this day
PRINCIPAL’S GREAT NEWS CORNER:
Sharing good news spreads positivity, changes attitudes and ultimately leads to more people feeling encouraged and happy
Last Wednesday at our final whole school assembly we celebrated tamariki from Years 1-4 who have role modelled our school’s CREST values consistently throughout the year. Congratulations to the following students from Tātahi (Years 0-2) and Ngaru (Years 3 & 4):
Tatahi
Room 18 Briella Nielsen and Jack Kelly
Room 19 Aafryn Kaur and Alf Wills
Room 20 Layna Nayanar and Nikau Monu
Room 21 Lucy Jacobs and James Cartmer-Strauss
Room 22 Scarlett Christensen and Kaia Monu
Room 23 Lucas Sanders and Addisyn Caldwell
Room 24 Dhyey Shastri and Mila Mordaunt
Room 25 Hannah Ransfield and Montana Hemi
Ngaru
Room 5 Avah Latimer and Lachlan Moeau-Tutt
Room 6 Hana Tomita and Riley Wood
Room 10 Matilda Cowper and Maxwell Willis
Room 11 Joey Olsen and Maria-Grace De Roo
Room 12 Beibei Zhuang and Jai Marryatt
Welcome to Our Recent New Students
There were no new students this week
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/
Senior Prize Giving
PBS Senior prize-giving 2023 (Years 5-8) is being held this Friday at 9:30am in the school hall. This is a formal occasion to celebrate student successes from throughout the year. Parents, caregivers and extended whānau members are welcome to attend. Seating is limited. The event will be live streamed with the link being shared via Skool Loop on Friday morning.
A list of the award recipients will be shared on our school website on Friday afternoon.
End of Year Reporting
At PBS all our reporting is online throughout the year. Parents can access their child’s learning progress via the @Schoolapp for students in Years 3-8 and SeeSaw for students in Years 0-2.
Learning Summary: On the @Schoolapp dashboard click on the icon called “Learning Summary”. This will have a downloadable end of year learning summary which will be accessible in the last week of school. To view the learning summary, push the button titled “Learning Summary End of Year”. Then on the next page push the button for the learning summary you would like to view. In this view, you can print down the learning summary if desired. Please note the graph which enables you to track your child’s curriculum level progress against previous years.
What else can parents see on the @Schoolapp dashboard? You will also find other spaces which shows your child’s learning and other online reporting options. These are Learning Space, Spotlight and the Blog. SeeSaw is the app platform that is used for students in Years 0-2. These platforms give parents the opportunity to log in and view their child’s progress and evidence of their learning at any time during the school year. Throughout the year, teachers will upload progress on your child’s reading, writing and maths, as well as general comments on learning, attitude and behaviour.
When you are viewing reading, writing and maths comments about your child via these portals, you will notice a reference to the NZ Curriculum level your child is working at, at the beginning of the comment: For example EL1 = Early Level 1, L1 = Level 1, EL2 = Early Level 2, L2 = Level 2 and so on.
NB: Typically students in Years 0-2 are working at NZ Curriculum Level 1, Years 3-4 students are working at NZ Curriculum Level2, Years 5-6 students are working at NZ Curriculum Level 3 and Years 7-8 students are working at NZ Curriculum Level 4.
What are the benefits of online reporting: The benefits of reporting online mean that the information parents are receiving about their child’s progress is more timely and accessible. This new way of reporting enables teachers to support students with individual goals throughout the year.
With Spotlight, the Blog and SeeSaw students have greater ownership of their learning, especially when they can upload evidence to show their achievements. Furthermore, parents have the ability to comment on their child’s progress, which helps to encourage and reinforce the gains they are making.
Classes for 2024 and Transition Visits - Tomorrow
In preparation for 2024 we have scheduled ‘Transition Visits’ to allow students in Years 0-7 to meet their next year’s teacher and classmates before Term 4 ends. This year transition visits will take place tomorrow. On this day students will spend about 40 minutes with their 2024 class. Class lists will then be displayed in the Library windows from Thursday, 14 December (morning) onwards.
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.
Christmas time has arrived – Kua tae ki te wa Kirihimete
Merry Christmas – Meri Kirihimete
Seasons greetings – Ngā mihi o te wā
Greetings to you – Ngā mihi o te Kirihimete ki a koe/korua/koutou
Merry Christmas – Ngā mihi nui mō te kirihimete
Happy New Year – Ngā mihi o te Tau Hau
Christmas – Kirihimete
Christmas card – Kāri Kirihimete
Christmas feast – Hākari Kirihimete
Wrapping paper – Pepa ruruku
Christmas tree – Rākau Kirihimete
Decorations – Whakapaipaitanga
Angel – Anahera
Present/gift – Koha
Christmas stocking – Tōkena Kirihimete
Father Christmas – Hana Kōkō
Christmas lights – Mārama Kirihimete
Kids Quote
Staff member “Morena, how are you today?”
Student “Beans”
Basketball
We had 4 teams competing in this year’s Year 7 & 8 interschool basketball competition. A big thank you to our volunteer coaches for dedicating time and energy into our tamariki: Ben Brown coach of the PBS Comets, JJ Scholtz coach of the PBS Taniwhas, Pete Robinson coach of the PBS Warriors and Sarah & Tristan Chambers coaches of the PBS Manta Rays.
Final results for the season are as follows:
PBS Comets = winners of the Girls A grade
PBS Taniwha = 4th place in Boys A grade
PBS Warriors = 2nd place in Boys B1 grade
PBS Manta Rays = 7th place in Boys B2 grade
Lost Property
Please remember to check the lost property which will be on display by the netball/tennis courts on fine days. Anything unnamed or unclaimed will be donated to the Koha Shed.
Tātahi Christmas Sing-along
The Tātahi Christmas sing-along will be held on Thursday, 14 December 2.15pm outside Rooms 19/21 if fine. It will be held in the hall if wet.
School Leavers
If anyone has any PBS school tops that you will no longer be needing, can you please donate these to the school to be used by students representing us at school events who do not own a school top.
Any school hats would be appreciated too 
Regional Athletics
Last Tuesday we had a team of athletes compete in the Regional Athletics in the Kapiti team at Newtown Park in Wellington. It was a tough competition for our athletes but they all gave it 100% and should be so proud of their sportsmanship and efforts.
The following students placed in the top three for their event. WELL DONE EVERYONE!!
YEAR 8 BOYS
Jonathan Naude – 2nd in Discus
YEAR 8 GIRLS
Anika Rehal – 1st in 100m relay
YEAR 7 GIRLS
Mia Thomson – 1st in 1500m, 2nd in high jump, 2nd in 100m relay
Phoebe Corin – 1st in discus and shotput
Holly McCullagh – 2nd in 100m relay
YEAR 5 GIRLS
Lucie Thomson – 2nd in 800m, 1st high jump
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
School Leavers - Notice re ezlunch / Kindo School Shop
If you are leaving our school, here’s some information to make your changeover streamlined for all your students.
School Leavers – Notice re ezlunch / Kindo School Shop
- If your family is leaving our school and has been using ezlunch or Kindo, please make sure to stop any regular automatic payments that have been set up before the school year finishes. You may also need to transfer or close your account which can be done as follows: Not sure if your new school is using Kindo? If you’re not sure if your new school is using Kindo, you can either ask them directly or go to “My Details” in your Kindo account and click on the list of schools to see if your new school is listed.
- New school IS using Kindo. If your new school is using Kindo, simply click on the new school from the list in “My Details” of your Kindo account and you’ll be attached to the new school’s menu. Any balance on your Kindo account will remain available to spend with the new school.
- New school is NOT using Kindo, or you no longer need Kindo. If you need to close your Kindo account, use the “Close Account” button within the “My Details” section of your Kindo account. You can either withdraw your account balance or choose to donate your balance to the school. Please note that all withdrawals will be made via electronic payment to your New Zealand bank account. Kindo is unable to process cash withdrawals.
If you are wanting to withdraw your Kindo account balance or make a donation that exceeds Kindo’s threshold (currently more than $10,000 total within one year), Kindo may need to undertake some identity checks on you to comply with its obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Act 2009. Please action the withdrawal or donation in your Kindo account as outlined above and if these AML checks are necessary Kindo will advise of the next steps required in this regard. Kindo has endeavoured to make this process as pain-free as possible and appreciates your patience.
