Pinehaven School Phone 04-528-4365 Email: office @pinehaven.school.nz Nurturing and developing our leaders of tomorrow Absentees: [email protected] He Manukura Mō Āpōpō Website: www.pinehaven.school.nz Newsletter No.2 – 22nd February 2018 From the Principal DATE UPCOMING EVENTS Kia ora everyone! I would like to thank all of you 27 February Interschool Kio Rahi ppt 28th who came to meet with us at the Parent Information Evening & Picnic last week. We haven’t changed the 5-9 March Movin’ March – see note below format of the event for some time, but will be 6 March Rhythm Interactive Visiting Performance tweaking the way this event is run next year – we 7 March Top School Interschool Event ppt 14th will let you know the date before the end of this year 9 March School Assembly – 2.10pm Hall as it will be in the second week of school. 13 March Paid Union Meeting for Teachers – early pick up 12.30pm Paid Union Meetings for Teachers 15 March Home & School AGM – 7pm Staffroom All teachers who are union members will be th 20 March Interschool Cricket - ppt 22nd attending a paid union meeting on Tuesday 13 March in the afternoon. All union members are Advanced Notice: legally entitled to attend the meeting to discuss Easter Break – Good Friday, Easter Monday & upcoming campaigns and priorities bargaining for Tuesday School closed – 30 March – 3 April inclusive teachers collective employment agreements. On Arts & Crafts Exhibition – 21-23 September this afternoon, we would appreciate it if you could Family Fun Day (Gala) – 10 November pick your children up at 12.30pm as we will be working on a very skeleton staff of me and the support staff! Please note that school is not officially closed, and if you are unable to collect your child, we will provide an alternative programme for the afternoon. It is important that if this is the case, you let the office know by Friday 2 March so that I can ensure we have enough staff to supervise. We really appreciate your cooperation and support in this matter. Home & School – Calling for a new Chairperson & Committee Members Due to work commitments, our current Home & School Chairperson, Mike Peebles, is standing down at the March AGM. Mike has done a great job looking at the overall fundraising calendar and leading the team over the past 12 months and I sincerely thank him for his work. If you are good at building relationships, keen to help the school with a really important job and well organized, we would love you to consider stepping up to this role. You do not need to have had a long association with the school – there are plenty of people who can help you to get your head around the role. It’s not a difficult job, but does take a commitment of time. The key is building a good team around to help support, so if you are interested in joining the committee, this is also a great way to help. If you have any questions about the positions, or the committee in general, please contact me directly at school ([email protected]) or Mike ([email protected]), our staff rep Michelle Tate ([email protected]) or For Internet Banking our school account is: ASB Upper Hutt 12 3140 0337477 00 another member of our committee if you know who they are – we always happy to answer your questions! The next Home & School meeting and AGM is 15 March in the staffroom. ICT User Agreements For most of you, you will have signed an ICT User agreement with your child when or since they started school. We are just carrying out an audit of the ones we have here and teachers are going over the important aspects of it with the children in class. The actual agreement is not something we go through in detail with our younger children, but we do pull out the important things they need to know (e.g. we only use the technology when an adult is in class, we only use them for learning, etc). It is important that the children understand the consequences if they don’t follow agreements. If your child’s teacher is unable to locate a signed copy for your child, they will be sending one home for signing over the next few weeks. In the case that we have a signed agreement from you and your child already here, we have attached the agreements to the newsletter email so you can refresh your own memory and ask any questions if needed. We are fine tuning our system at the end of the year to ensure all signed agreements get handed onto the right teacher for the following year! There are two agreements and we are also looking at merging them together to make life easier all round! If you have any questions, please ask your child’s teacher. Activity Fees and School Donations Thanks to those of you who have already paid your Activity Fees and/or School Donations. School Donations are completely voluntary, however we do rely on the additional funding to keep the school running! I understand that in 2019 there may be government policy changes that may result in us not needing to seek a donation, but the details of this are not yet confirmed. With regards to the Activity Fee, this covers activities that are over and above the general provision of the curriculum – we plan activities that enhance learning, but are not essential for children to access the curriculum. The Activity payment is $50 for the year or $12.50 per term. We have already had Life Education this term and on March 6th, have Rhythm Interactive, a performance group, visiting the school. Later this week, you will receive a statement via your child’s bag – please check school bags at the end of the week if they haven’t given the statement to you. In order for your child to attend the performance on March 6th, you need to have paid at least $12.50 of your activity fee. Thanks! I want to thank everyone for a great start to the year. A special thanks to Jo Finlay who entered us in a competition to win some sports balls for our PE Shed. We were selected as a winning school and have received the balls. Thanks also to ISPORT Foundation for the donation – as you can see, the kids are already enjoying using some of the balls! Kaylene Macnee Page 2 of 11 School News Easter break Easter is coming up with Good Friday falling on Friday 30th March. Please note that in addition to Good Friday and Easter Monday, schools across the country are also closed on Tuesday 3rd of March. Whooping Cough We have now had diagnosed cases of Whooping cough. It is very contagious and can present as a tickly cough. Regional Public Health have informed us the best prevention is vaccination and boosters are due for children when they turn 11. Please know that fully vaccinated children can still get a milder infection. Please see the fact sheet provided by Regional Public Health - if in doubt, get your child checked. http://www.rph.org.nz/public-health-topics/illness-and-disease/whooping-cough-pertussis/whooping- cough-fact-sheet.pdf Christian Religious Education (CRE) This programme continues this year for those children in Years 3-6 whose families have opted in. If your child is in Year 3, you will receive a letter with a return slip to confirm your permission status. If we do not hear back from parents of Year 3 children, we will include your child in the programme if you ticked permission on their enrolment form when they started school. If your child is in Years 4, 5 or 6, we will continue based on last year’s permission status – if this has changed, please contact the office. Looking for any children (and parents!) Year 3-6 who are interested in competing for Pinehaven School in the Top School competition on the 7th of March at Harcourt Park. We need a team of 5 children and 5 adults. If you and/or your child are interested, contact Sam Blandford at [email protected], first in, first served! Anyone is welcome to come along in support on the evening, there are prizes given to the school with the biggest/loudest support group. 'Superheroes' is the theme for supporters if you are that way inclined! Page 3 of 11 Movin’ March Week 7, 5th to 8th of March Movin' March is an event developed by Greater Wellington Regional Council to promote healthy choices about the way we get to school - by foot, bike or scooter for example. Walking buses set off at 8:30 from around the neighbourhood. They are led by teachers and parents and everyone is encouraged to either join in or pop their child on a walking bus to walk to school in a supervised and social way each day that week. We are looking for volunteer 'Walking bus Drivers' ( ie parents to walk with us or lead the buses particularly on Thursday 8th March) starting at 8:30 from the top of Wyndam Rd Pinehaven Rd Elmslie Rd and The Community notice board at the bottom of Blue Mountains Road. The school bus drops children off at this point so they can be part of the experience too! Each child will have a ticket to bring to school each time they walk/scoot/ride.