Principal's Message
Kia Ora parents, caregivers and whānau
It’s getting wintery – check out this wonderful umbrella crew who came into school at the same time this morning! They all arrived warm and dry.
Yesterday we had around 80 students at home sick. Don’t panic – this is not because we have high numbers of Covid cases, this is because awesome PBS parents are following our request to keep sick kids at home. Thank you to those who have kept their kids home with sniffles, coughs, tummy bugs and alike – this helps everyone to stay as healthy as possible.
Like every school we have some students who have poor immune systems, however they still want to be at school like everyone else. By keeping sick kids at home in bed, these children feel safer to come to school when other kids in the room are not coughing and sneezing.
On the Covid front, we are still experiencing low but constant numbers of this in our school community. The Ministry has provided us with lots of Rapid Antigen Tests (R.A.Ts) for staff and community use. As mentioned last term, we will never test your child for Covid whilst they are under our care, but if you need tests for your household just give us a call and we can sort some for you.
Some key dates for your Term 2 diary include:
- Fri 20 May – Pink Shirt day (Part of Bully Free NZ Week)
- Mon 6 June – SCHOOL CLOSED for Queen’s Birthday (Nationwide holiday)
- Tues 7 June – SCHOOL CLOSED for Staff Only day
- Wed 8 June – Interschool Cross Country event
- Wed 22 June – School celebration of Matariki – day time and evening events at school
- Fri 24 June – SCHOOL CLOSED for Matariki (Nationwide holiday)
PRINCIPAL’S GREAT NEWS CORNER:
Sharing good news spreads positivity, changes attitudes and ultimately leads to more people feeling encouraged and happy
A highlight from my week last week was watching Te Motu’s Music Challenge for 2022. Wow, what a varied and fun-filled show! Each class was designated a genre of music to perform to. Within that genre they could choose the song or artist to create a performance around. Every student needed to be involved in some way. These performances included dance, acrobatics, humour, storytelling, clever props and wigs galore!
Don’t forget it’s Pink Shirt day this Friday!
Ngā mihi nui
Jess Ward
Tumuaki ~ Principal
Welcome to Our Recent New Students
There were no new students this week
From the Student Council - Bully Free NZ Week is This Week!
Kia ora PBS Whānau!
Bullying-Free New Zealand Week is being held from 16-20 May in conjunction with Pink Shirt Day on Friday, May 20. The theme for the week is: He kōtuinga mahi iti, he hua pai-ā rau: Small ripples create big waves.
For us at PBS it’s all about KINDNESS. See below for what we’ve got planned for each day of the week to support this kaupapa. How much pink gear can you wear on Friday?
How to talk about Bullying – From the Parenting Place
There are no two ways around it, bullying is very distressing. No one wants their child to be bullied and no one wants their child to be a bully, hence it’s something we need to keep talking about.
Children need to know they have our support, no matter what. Sometimes a victim of bullying can be afraid to tell anyone else what is going on in case they get into more trouble with the bully. Every child needs to know they have a safe person on their side who will take them seriously. Lots of open and honest conversation in general will help our kids know they can talk to us about any-thing and everything. But we get it, some conversations can be tricky!
When it comes to bullying, how can we have conversations that help our kids head out each day with important tools to look after themselves, as well as bucket loads of resilience, empathy and kindness? Good question!
(For greater detail about the bullet points listed below visit Parenting Place)
- Be a great listener
- Sensitive listening helps a child feel heard, which communicates love and support
- Explain what might be going on inside a bully
- Help your child identify the qualities of a good friend
- Give your child some words to ‘bounce off’ unkindness
- Help them build assertiveness skills
- When we demonstrate calm and effective ways to deal with conflict and tension, our kids get to see how it is done
Practically speaking
- Take a little bit of time each day to debrief and ask two important questions: “What was the high of your day?” and, “What was the low of your day?”
For more information on this topic click here.
Can You Name the 9 Stars of Matariki?
With our upcoming celebration of Matariki, we are running weekly competitions to encourage our ākonga to be curious, research and present their findings.
This week’s question was “What are the 9 stars of Matariki called”? All correct answers went into a draw where five lucky winners were pulled out of a box. Congratulations to Avah, Kaysi, Frankie, Ripeka and Ruby for being our first prize winners.
Board Elections - September 2022
The three-yearly school Board elections will be held in September. As we get closer to the election date, we will provide information and updates about the election process and how you can participate. We also hope to offer opportunities for you to speak with current Board members about the role. Please start thinking about whether you are interested in contributing to the governance of PBS – I can certainly vouch for how rewarding the role is and what a privilege it is to be part of a strong and supportive team.
If you want to learn more, why not join us for our next Board meeting on 31 May (7pm in the school staffroom) – sit with a cuppa and watch what’s involved.
Ngā mihi,
Zoe
Board Chair
NB: If you’d like to know more about the role of the Board, there is useful information on the New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA) website at https://www.nzsta.org.nz/assets/Information-for-parents/A-parents-guide-to-the-role-of-the-board-of-trustees.compressed.pdf
Dogs on School Grounds
From time to time we allow supervised dogs on site, but this requires staff permission. Your child may have arranged to bring their dog in for news, or we may have an educational visit from guide dogs, police dogs or conservation department dogs, or a class/teacher maybe hosting SPCA puppies.
We allow these visits if it is regarded as enhancing an educational programme or social need. However, we have “No Dog” signs at both entrances and do not permit dogs on our grounds without prior arrangement. This is for three main reasons:
- Some children are fearful of dogs and do not know how to react to them
- Some students have allergies to animals
- All Students should be able to enjoy the playgrounds and outdoor spaces free from dog poo
Unfortunately, usually after weekends we return to school to dog poo issues. Students have been finding these unpleasant deposits on the field more regularly. So, if your family sees anyone walking or playing with their dog in the school grounds during weekends or term breaks, please politely remind them of this.
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.
Saying sorry – There is no direct equivalent of “I’m sorry” in te reo Māori – but here’s some phrases you could use:
Noku te he – is an expression of ownership of the wrong/my fault.
Mō taku hē – My apologies/sorry for my mistake.
Aroha mai – Have compassion on me/asking someone to show sympathy for you.
Spotlight News
What is in the App?
This is the place you need to go to change your password and to enable notifications.
Enabling notifications lets you know when new content is available to view in the app.
You will also need to go to your own device settings and ensure you have allowed notifications there.
Kid's Quote
On Friday I hosted a meeting for local Principals from Otaki to Pukerua Bay. Later on one student asked a staff member….
“Who were all those old people at our school today?”
Should I tell the other Principals? I think not.
2022 PBS Junior Cross Country (Year 0-4)
Coming Up – PBS Junior Cross Country will be held next week on Wednesday, 25 May. The event will begin at 9.15am and will run for approximately 1 hour. Tātahi races will start the event and then Ngaru students will run.
As cross country is part of our PE and Sports programme, we expect all students to participate in this event. Year 0/1/2 students will run 1 lap of our school field, Year 3 and 4 students will run 3 laps of the field.
To add a bit of fun, we’d love all our runners to wear their whanau colours – top 10 places will earn points for their whanau group.
Spectators are warmly encouraged – it’s always good to have rowdy cheerleaders on the side. The students really lift their pace when they see or hear people on the side-line!
We look forward to seeing you.
Yr 6 & 7 Students on Camp in 2023
This is a reminder that there is a meeting in Room 14 this Thursday, 19 May for any parents and caregivers of current Year 6 & 7 students who are interested in helping with fundraising for camps in March 2023.
This is not a meeting to give details about camp. If you can not make it to the meeting, please send your name, phone and email details to Alice Graham – agraham@pbs.school.nz.
Hope to see you there!
School Enrolment Scheme - Terms 3 & 4 New Entrant 5 Year Olds
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 new entrant child 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 new entrants was advertised in the Kapiti Observer on Thursday, 14 April and applications close on Monday, 30 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
Advertise in our Community Directory
Do you have a business and want to support PBS through advertising?
Check out the Community Directory on our website https://kapiti.pbs.school.nz/ You can advertise your business here for a small contribution. Businesses can list their services, events and opportunities all here for others in our large school community to see and access. This helps us support local businesses, encouraging PBS parents to support your business, and keeps all listings in one easy to find spot. Below are a few screen shots of what you can find. Click on a listing and explore the content!
