Newsletter 2022/06

Principal's Message

Kia Ora PBS Parents and Caregivers

Congratulations to Jamie and Kyle Reesor (teacher in Rm 3) who welcomed a baby son, Theodore James, into the world at 1.30am this morning!  We are glad to hear that mum and baby are doing well, and no doubt big sister Bowie is excited too.

I’m hoping that this gorgeous weather continues for the rest of “Moving March”! It’s been great to see parents dropping their kids off a little further away from school to enable them the experience of walking or scootering.  This is also an excellent remedy to traffic congestion right outside the school gates.  This morning I saw a parent dropping her PBS kids at the beach end of Martin Road with their scooters (and helmets).  What a wonderful way to foster independence and get some exercise before school.  Keep ‘Moving’ everyone! 

Unsurprisingly, since my last newsletter, we have seen an increase in student Covid cases.  

We currently have 34 students at home with Covid.  The large majority of these cases have been contracted through cases at home (e.g. parents, teenage siblings, grandparents etc).  Thankfully, this means many students who have come down with omicron were already isolating with the household prior to becoming sick themselves – hence a lower possibility of spread at school. Of course it would be foolish to think that none of these cases are a result of a contact at school, but again this seems to be the minority of cases, given what parents have told us to date. 

Just a reminder – It’s really important that you inform the school if any of your children contract Covid.  This is because PBS has a small number of  students with serious medical conditions who (on medical advice) need to isolate if there is a case in their classroom. 

Fortunately PBS staff haven’t been too hard hit to date, but this is a real possibility.   All our schools on the coast use the same pool of relieving teachers.  This means that over the coming weeks, if large numbers of school staff start to get Covid or need to isolate themselves, it is likely that PBS will experience some shortages. I ask for your understanding if we find ourselves in such a position.  I will certainly do my best to keep the school open.

I truly hope that we are over the peak of this by the beginning of Term 2.  As always the key to Phase 3 is to be calm yet vigilant.

Take care everyone!

PRINCIPAL’S GREAT NEWS CORNER

Sharing good news spreads positivity, changes attitudes and ultimately leads to more people feeling encouraged and happy.

STUDENT COUNCIL 2022

Congratulations to this year’s newly appointed PBS Student Council!

This group of students are highly motivated, hard working, role models of our school values and passionate to represent their fellow students well. 

Back row: Benjamin Ross, Ella Stevens, Hunter Page, Isobella Marshall, Fletcher Cooper, Max Darton, Kayla Turner

Front Row: Alex Kenny-Schlup, Kayla Collett, Jessica Ellames, Peycience Seymour, Bailey Hunt, Monty Parr, Luka Dinou & Samantha Barrington

I look forward to the great work I know this group of awesome students will do this year.

Congratulations from us all!

Mā te wā,
Jess Ward
Tumuaki ~ Principal

Welcome to Our Recent New Students

Scarlett – Rm 22
Rouve – Rm 22

Advertise in our Community Directory

Have you checked out our community directory yet?  PBS has launched an online community directory for the Kapiti Coast.

In the directory is an online user-maintained list of businesses, events and opportunities in the Kapiti area including job advertisements.

To view the new community directory click here and for instructions on how to advertise, please click here

Family Donations

At Paraparaumu Beach School we do our best to keep the Family Donations low, so they are achievable for families to contribute. Our donations are set lower than most other schools of our size and decile.

PBS Family Donations for 2022 are $100 per family or $65 for a single child

For many families this is not a lot of money, and we really appreciate every cent.  Every parent donation is put towards buying educational resources for our students e.g. new reading books, maths equipment and sports gear.  

You are able to pay each term, in one lump sum, or structure any donation to meet your needs. Payment can be made through KINDO.

Thank you in advance for helping PBS provide the educational resources our kids need.

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.

Ngā Pātai/Questions
Kei hea tō pōtae? Where’s your hat?
E hia ō tau? How old are you?
He aha ai? Why?

Spotlight News

What do I do when I need login details?

Please contact your child’s teacher or Vanessa Brewer vbrewer@pbs.school.nz

Log in – School Parent Portal 

https://www.atschool.co.nz › app › login

It is a good idea to log into the app and a web browser.  If you forget your password click on the link.

Each caregiver needs their own email to access the portal – please contact the school office if you need to add a second email.

Student Work

Last week Maxwell from Room 10 shared his brilliant Maths work with me.  Maxwell was very proud to share his measurement work with me.  It was great to see his ‘workings’, showing how he arrived at his final answer.  Great work!

Maxwell

Self Portraits by Rm 14

Check out these vibrant self portraits made by layering a hand-drawn image on acetate over a carefully constructed magazine paper collage.  The end results are so eye-catching!  Great work Room 14!

"Operation Kindness" - Brought to you by the Kids of Room 3

In Room 3, we have chosen to launch a mission to spread kindness named “Operation K,” also known as “Operation Kindness.”

This whole idea came along after a chat we had in Room 3 about how the world is in quite a weird and tricky time. With Covid and war happening overseas, we have been experiencing a lot of different emotions like being scared, sad, nervous and weird. We thought about how this might make our teachers and staff feel as well. Because they are the leaders of our school we thought we could try to make them feel happy so that our school environment continues to feel like a happy place too!

Our mission was to spread kindness by writing kind letters to our teachers and staff. We wanted them to feel encouraged and make their day special. We want our teachers and staff to know that they are appreciated and valued around our school. We placed our beautiful cards in their cubbies (and even sent a note to Ms Staples in America), we also put together a kind video to explain our mission to the school. We have been so excited by the response from different teachers around our school, encouraging us to continue on with our mission.

You can be involved too! We would love for you to join Operation K. A simple mission could even be saying something kind to someone that you talk to today. Believe it or not, it could change their whole day from bad to good!

Room 3, over and out!

Kid's Quote

Paula from the office was attending to a young student in the medical room.

Paula commented “That’s a lovely dress. I might get one”

The students replied “Yes you can but you’ll need it in a bigger size.”

Were Your Ears Burning?

Staff Gratitude Section

Mr Trask, your job takes a lot of hard labour, a whole lot of patience and some MacGyver style skills. Thanks for always smiling and role-modelling to students what an honest day’s work looks like 🙂

Big PBS Thank You To ...

Thank you to school parent Callum Willis for donating a box of hand sanitiser. Thanks for this unexpected gift Callum. We appreciate your kindness!

Netball Update

Friendly Reminder for Yr 3 & 4 Netball

To ensure your child has a spot in a team, you will need to have paid the fees by Thursday, 24th March. No late payments can be accepted, however, if you will have difficulties making payment by this date, you will need to contact Hillary Houston prior to this date.

Thank you to all those who have volunteered to coach, your support is much appreciated. We still need coaches for the Year 3 and Year 4 teams. All coaches/volunteers working with students will require vaccination passes.

If you need further information, please contact Hillary Houston at hhouston@pbs.school.nz.

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

Claim Your School Donation Tax Rebates in myKindo This year

When you make your school donations to Paraparaumu Beach School in myKindo for 2022, you’ll see the option to opt-in to Supergenerous when you pay.

Kindo and Supergenerous work together to lodge your donation rebate claim with the IRD. They do all the hard work for you and give you the option to re-gift your 33% tax rebate to our school as a new donation. It’s an awesome way to make your donation go further.

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