Principal's Message
Kia Ora
Welcome to Term 4!
I hope you got to spend
some quality time with your kids over the term break. I was fortunate enough to spend a week on the west coast of the South Island. I was stunned by the natural beauty of sights along the Coastal Highway, the Glacial Highway and the Alpine Highway.
Reefton was a slight detour on my travels, but I wanted to pop in to visit former PBS teacher Tony Webb (now Principal of Sacred Heart School in Reefton). Tony proudly showed me around his school and the township. Reefton is an incredible little town, which is going through a bit of a revival. I encourage you to stop in if you’re ever down that way.
I was also impressed with the high levels of compliance, in following the Covid rules and precautions, shown in every township. Whilst there are no Covid cases in the South Island, the residents and tourist operators were doing their part to keep everyone safe. Ka rawe mainlanders!
On the Covid-19 front the advice from the Ministry is that if we stay at Alert Level 2 for Term 4 we will need to make alternative arrangements for our Prizegiving, end of year concerts and our Year 8 dinner etc. This is because these events bring a large number of people together. We are working on alternative plans at the moment and we will be letting you know in the coming weeks how we hope to address this.
Before I sign off this newsletter I want to make a gentle plea. Term 4 is only 8 weeks and 2.5 days long and I am hoping that in that time families who have not yet made payments for school donations, payments for Education Perfect (Year 7-8), IXL and Tech Centre costs (Year 7-8) etc will be able to do so. Every little bit helps us tremendously. If you have any contributions outstanding we would really appreciate your support.
Ngā mihi
Jess Ward – Tumuaki ~ Principal
Welcome to Our Recent New Students
Lacey – Rm 20
Poppy – Rm 20
Rico – Rm 20
James – Rm 20
Mateo – Rm 20
Jayden – Rm 20
Lillian – Rm 20
McKenna – Rm 20
Heidi – Rm 20
Playground News
Thanks to the members of our school community who dropped what they were doing during the term break and responded to a PBS Facebook post to help move the playground materials which had been left unsecured on site. The 14+ helpers who turned up almost immediately enabled us to get everything stored in the hall within 30 minutes. You really are a remarkable community!
After long delays, our playground is finally being installed this week. Whilst it would have been nice for the students to come back from the holidays to see a completed project, the excitement of watching it being built is a flip side of this delay.
Process for 2022 Class Requests
The process of putting class lists together for a new year is an extremely complex and time consuming task. There are many variables to consider, for example; equal class sizes, the gender balance in each class, the distribution of students with social/behaviour and learning needs, medical needs, splitting cousins/siblings, and so on.
In a small school there may only be one class at each level and therefore no opportunity to group students in different ways. In a school our size, whilst we do have the advantage of flexibility, the process takes time and consideration. I can assure you that we act professionally and thoughtfully when placing students in classes.
We ask that parents are understanding and supportive of the complexities involved.
At PBS we prefer that parents do not submit requests unless there are exceptional circumstances. If parents want us to consider any exceptional circumstances that their child may have in regards to class placement for next year, then the formal process below must be followed:
*Requests must specifically describe the exceptional circumstances around the child’s needs
*It is preferable that parents do not request a specific teacher by name
*Requests must be from the child’s parent/legal guardian
*Requests must be in writing to the Principal jward@pbs.school.nz
*Requests must be received no later than Friday 29 October
Whilst we allow parents to submit such requests, we do ask in return, that the final decision on class placement (whether or not a request has been met) is both respected and promoted positively by parents to their child.
Thank you.
Emergency Management
In Term 4, on Wednesday 17 November, we will be practising our Tsunami evacuation procedure, which involves everyone at school evacuating to Mazengarb Reserve. This is a large undertaking but one we need to practise. During this practice the whole school walks briskly to the Reserve. More details will be published in upcoming newsletters.
Our school is situated in the Civil Defence’s Yellow Zone for tsunami risk. The Yellow Zone is the lowest of the coastal risk areas. It is at risk only in what is termed an ‘extreme event’ e.g. the largest possible tsunami. The Paraparaumu-Raumati coastline is partly protected by the presence of Kapiti Island; this can be seen in normal conditions with the much smaller swell and surf compared to further north and south.
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 aha tēnei? What is this?
2022 Term Dates
Term 1
Wed, 2 February – Thurs, 14 April (11 Weeks)
Waitangi Day – 7 Feb
Easter and Anzac Day fall in term break
Term 2
Mon, 2 May – Fri, 8 July (10 Weeks)
Queens Birthday – Mon, 6 June
Matariki – Fri, 24 June
Term 3
25 July – Fri, 30 Sept (10 Weeks)
Term 4
Mon, 17 Oct – Thurs, 15 Dec (9 Weeks)
Labour Day – Mon, 24 Oct
Were Your Ears Burning?
Staff Gratitude Section
Thanks to our Te Moana teachers: Vanessa Brewer, Kyle Reesor, Bek Winter, Ginny Hawke, Shelley Evans and Hillary Houston for the preparation and planning they’re putting in camp for our Year 5-6 students. These classes are off to camp in Kaitoke in week 3, but this wouldn’t be possible without lots of planning!
Kid's Quote
A 5 year old stopped Mr Trask in the playground towards the end of Term 3.
“You look a bit like my dad. My dad’s underpants fell down at work yesterday!”
Needless to say John Trask didn’t know what to say in response!
Board Outstanding Achiever Award
The Board is seeking nominations for this year’s Outstanding Achiever Award.
The purpose of this award is to acknowledge students who have achieved at a very high level, and to promote these students as role models throughout our school community in a manner that reflects and incorporates our school CREST values. We encourage nominations from Years 4-8 students.
This award is made annually to students who attend the school and who during the previous 12 months have made an outstanding contribution (in-school or out-of-school) in areas of academic, cultural, sports, community service or other activities.
You can download the PDF nomination form and further information here OAA 2021 to nominate your child or another PBS student. Copies are also available from the school office.
The nomination closing date is Friday, 5 November.
For further information on the awards process, please contact Assistant Principal, Vicki Wilson during school hours on 298 5775.
Road Safety - Vehicles & Pedestrians - REMINDER
Drop & Go Zones:
One is on the east side and one on the west side of Gray Avenue. They operate between 8.30 – 9.30am; and then again from 2.30 – 3.30pm Monday to Friday. Before school you should drive into the drop and go zone, let your child/ren out of the vehicle and then drive off. After school you cannot park and wait for your child/ren in the drop and go zone. You should only pull into the zone space once your child is waiting there for you.
Broken Yellow Lines:
These show that a clearway operates in Gray Avenue around our school. There are also signs to remind drivers of this. The clearway operates on the west side of Gray Avenue from 8.30 – 9.30am and then again from 2.30 – 3.30pm Monday to Friday. You cannot stop on the yellow lines and let your child/ren out, nor can you park on them and wait.
School Crest Values:
As adults we all need to model our school values, especially the value ‘Respect’. Please respect our school neighbours and do not park over their driveways. If you do park over a driveway, please move on if you are asked to move!
Pedestrian Crossings:
The final reminder is to do with our students crossing Gray Avenue and Martin Road. It has been brought to my attention that a number of children are crossing these busy roads from in-between cars and not using the school pedestrian crossings. This is a dangerous practice, as drivers cannot see a child when they dart out from between parked cars.
If you live on or park your vehicle on the non-school side of Martin Road or Gray Avenue, please reinforce to your child the importance of walking to the school pedestrian crossings and using these correctly.
Thank you – Vicki Wilson
Yummy Stickers
Keep munching all the delicious Yummy fruit and collecting the stickers so that we can get lots of FREE sports gear!
Can we beat last year’s total of $901 worth of free equipment? The more stickers and ‘cut out’ labels we can get, the more we get for free. Due to Covid, the cut-off date has been extended until Friday, 29 October.
Please send your collection sheets to Mrs Evans in Room 2. (More collection sheets are available at the school office).
Ezlunch Lunches - Mondays Being Added Soon
Lunches are currently available from Ezlunch via your Kindo account every Wednesday and Friday. From 1 November they will also be available every Monday!
You can view our lunch menu here: https://shop.tgcl.co.nz/shop/pdf/school/paraparaumu_beach_school/Menu.pdf
Recent Student Achievements
Basketball: Lewis Chandler and Sam Scriven were selected for Kapiti Basketball U13 Representative teams for 2021. Although the main BBNZ tournament was once again cancelled due to Covid restrictions, the Kapiti teams were able to play in a number of smaller regional tournaments over the last 5 weeks and were very successful, winning against top rep teams from Wellington, Hutt Valley, Porirua and Levin.
An awesome achievement for the boys!
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
Looking For Your Next Running or Walking Challenge?
You don’t need to look any further than your own backyard. The brand new Kāpiti Half is here and uses the best roads and trails on offer starting and finishing at Paraparaumu Beach.
No excuses. Join us for stunning sealed and hard packed gravel surfaces with distances to suit every ability. All our courses are wheel chair, buggy and walking friendly including a Half Marathon, 10km, 5km and our kids 2k.
All information online at https://kapitihalf.co.nz/
Advertise in our Community Directory
PBS has 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 view the new community directory and for instructions on how to advertise, please click here
