Principal's Message
Kia ora everyone
From my home to yours, I
hope you are all doing okay during this Level 4 Lockdown. It’s easy to go stir-crazy but if we follow the rules outlined at this link, then hopefully we’ll be released from this sooner rather than later. Please continue to look after yourselves and those in your bubble. https://covid19.govt.nz/alert-levels-and-updates/alert-level-4/ I have included some further information about Learning from Home later in this newsletter.
On another note, our school community is having a really tough time this year. Many of you will already know that, school parent, Renee Cooper passed away last Friday. To everyone in our community who helped renovate the Cooper’s house in recent weeks – thank you so much for your work, love and support. There are of course some particular people who drove this work, but they will not want to be singled out, so I thank you all. Out of privacy for the family I will leave it there. You remain always in our hearts.
Be kind, stay safe and stay in your bubble,
Jess Ward – Tumuaki ~ Principal
Welcome to Our Recent New Students
There were no new students this week.
Learning from Home
Alert Level 4 is continuing until at least the end of this week, which means your child’s teacher will be facilitating learning from home. If your child doesn’t have adequate resources at home or if they usually use a school device for their learning, then your child’s teacher will arrange to have something delivered to you.
Teachers have special dispensation to go onto the school site, collate and deliver resources to your gate (contactless delivery). We have already carried out most of these deliveries, however if you are stuck please contact your child’s teacher. Obviously, I want to limit the number of times my teachers are out doing these deliveries, so they can remain safe at home. Therefore, whilst we remain under level 4 I am restricting teachers to one delivery slot each week.
LEARNING AT HOME
We are really keen to stress to parents to just do what you can. Below I’ve compiled some do’s and don’ts:
DOs
*Do focus on emotional well being. Find time to laugh and keep things light and positive
*Do fun, low-key activities with your kids: Read to your child, play games, do puzzles, draw, bake…
*Get kids out in the backyard for fresh air and exercise
*Have lots of discussions with your child – oral language is great for brain development
*Try to balance device time with hands on tasks and physical activity
*Find ways for kids to keep in touch with friends e.g. phone calls, zoom, share photos of what they’ve been up to etc
*Reach out if you are feeling stressed e.g. email your child’s teacher, email me, talk to a friend, call a helpline
DON’Ts
*Don’t sit your child down between 9am and 3pm and try to recreate daily life at school. Doing this is likely to stress you and your children out
*Don’t feel the need to complete every single task your child’s teacher sets. We will simply be offering a range of things to select from
*Don’t worry about your child’s learning progress. All NZ kids are in the same situation and they will be ok
Remember that the Ministry of Education also has two websites, “Learning from Home” and “Ki te Ao Mārama”. These websites include resources for parents, students and teachers. The information and resources are available at https://www.learningfromhome.govt.nz/
and https://www.kauwhatareo.govt.nz/ki-te-ao-marama/
Finally, if you are an Essential Worker who may need to send your child to school when we move to Level 3 then please email me on jward@pbs.school.nz so we can prepare in advance for their needs.
Thank you – Jess Ward
Diversity at PBS
A few weeks back I mentioned the cultural make-up of our school community in the newsletter. You may recall that we have families from the following backgrounds; Māori, NZ-Kiwi-Pakeha, Cook Island Māori, Samoan, Tongan, Indonesian, Fijian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tokelauan, Australian, British, Irish, Welsh, Scottish, Indian, German, Russian, Polish, Argentinian, Greek, Bulgarian, Croatian, Turkish, Italian, South African and Belarusian.
We would now like to know if there are any significant cultural events or festivities you think we should acknowledge/celebrate at PBS?
Developing cultural competence requires students to understand that each culture is unique; people from different countries may behave differently, and have different values and beliefs. Understanding and celebrating how we are culturally unique is the first step towards acceptance and inclusion.
We love diversity!
Social Media, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat ...
Do you know what your child is doing online outside of school hours? The digital world is easy for students to navigate and they quickly learn how to use new apps faster than adults. Recently I’ve been made aware of some of our Year 6 – 8 students who are not using social apps in appropriate ways. Their messages to one another have not always been kind or age appropriate. Due to our internet safety services at school, we know that these interactions are not happening here but we know they are occurring outside of school.
If you are not already doing so then please, please, please monitor your child’s online presence at home. As adults, we must all do our part to safeguard kids from getting out of their depth online.
Kid's Quote
No kids to quote this week, though I’m sure you’ll have a few beauties from your bubble! Feel free to email us in funny ones for our next newsletter 🙂
Were Your Ears Burning?
Staff Gratitude Section
Thanks to my staff – you’re simply the best!
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.
Kia haumaru – Be safe
Calendar Art Deadline Extended
If you would still like to order calender art please order via Kindo and hold on to your order form. Once we have a plan for collecting the forms and a final cut-off date we will be in touch.
@School App
Future Student Achievements
LOOK WHAT'S NEW
Support Our Community, Support Our School
Our school community is a huge asset. We want to highlight the incredible work done in the area and support local businesses to thrive. PBS has now launched an online community directory for the Kapiti Coast.
The Paraparaumu Beach School Community Directory is an online, user-maintained list of businesses, events, and opportunities in the Kapiti area and gives local businesses the opportunity to support PBS while promoting themselves and improving their search engine visibility. It has replaced the community notices section of our school newsletter.
To visit the new community directory and for instructions on how to advertise, please click here
The Shielded Site Project
The Shielded Site Project has made asking for help safer than ever. They have created a tool for victims of abuse to ask for help, without fear of it showing up in their browser’s history or an abusive partner ever seeing it.
If you need help but are worried about repercussions from a controlling or abusive partner, this is a safe way to find it. With The Women’s Refuge Shielded Site, victims of domestic violence access a shielded portal through which they can contact us, find out how to make a plan to safely get out of a dangerous situation, learn how to stay safe online and get answers to questions about what comes next – all without fear of it showing up in their browser history for anyone else to find.
Click on the logo at the bottom of our school website page here for more information.
