Principal's Message
Kia ora koutou
Thanks to the multitude of
parents and whānau members who attended our events on Friday. The Fun Run and School Picnic were such great fun for everyone, though I question the addition of the slime pool during the run …. just glad I wasn’t hugged by any kids after the event!
Huge thanks to our wonderful Parent Teacher Association for their huge efforts at both these events, as well as our staff who were happy to sizzle sausages, whip up coffees and shower kids with coloured powder.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to attend these events, simply because they build community and emphasise the sense of belonging for all our kids. They love sharing their learning, their fun times and their school environment with you; it makes them feel proud.
In Term 2, there are at least three events for parents to attend as well, so keep your ears to the ground. The first of these events is our Cyber Safety parent education evening on Thursday, 4 May. Then in late June we will be holding our mid-year Learning Conferences and our Matariki night!
Dates for your diary:
- Term 1 ends on Thursday, 6 April (this week)
- Term 2 starts on Wednesday, 26 April
Parent Education Evening on Cyber Safety – Thursday, 4 May at 7pm (more details below)
PRINCIPAL’S GREAT NEWS CORNER:
Sharing good news spreads positivity, changes attitudes and ultimately leads to more people feeling encouraged and happy
Oh what a slippy, sloppy, colourful time we had at the PTA Fun Run! See pics below.
Have an enjoyable Easter weekend. We will see you all back in Term 2!
Ngā mihi nui,
Jess Ward
Principal ~ Tumuaki
Fancy Feet & Wheels
To celebrate the end of term and the end of Movin’ March, we will have a Fancy Feet and Wheels dress-up and parade tomorrow. Students can dress up their feet, their wheels, or themselves. There will be prizes for the best dressed.
Any student can take part in the parade whether they are dressed up or not, so don’t worry if you don’t have time to get organised, just send them to school with their bike or scooter!
Welcome to Our Recent New Students
There were no new students this week
Have You Checked Out Our Community Notices Directory?
Do you need to advertise your business, an upcoming event, need child care, or looking for a gift or new club to join? Check out the PBS Community Directory on our website https://kapiti.pbs.school.nz/
Office and Medical Room Temporary Relocation
As you may have noticed, the Office and Medical Room have relocated temporarily to the Takahe Room (old ICT suite behind the library). The temporary office can be accessed from the side door to your left just after coming through the Gray Ave gates.
This will be from Week 10, Term 1 until further notice.
Cyber Safety Parent Evening - Thursday, 4 May at 7pm
Attention all PBS Parents
We want our school community to be as safe as possible for kids
Times have changed so much since we were all children. Today our tamariki face challenges and harm online that we need to talk about and tackle together. As such, we have organised Author, Filmmaker and Speaker Rob Cope, producer of the documentary “Our Kids Online” to come and give what promises to be a humorous and eye-opening evening talk to our parent community.
His talk will cover
- Cyberbullying – How cyberbullies can reach our kids 24/7
- Social media – The pressure for kids to build an online brand that is often far removed from their authentic selves
- Gaming and the developing brain – An oversupply of dopamine leading to dopamine deficiency, synaptic pruning, and the underdevelopment of social skills and empathy
- Inappropriate Selfies – The pressure to send photos
- Online predators – The methods they use, how to spot them, and how to get out from under their control if your child has been trapped
- Online pornography
Solutions
- Filters – Which filters are best and how to install them
- Smartphones – How to lock down a smartphone to make it a safe phone
- Boundaries – How to put good boundaries in place around device use
- 3 golden rules – The 3 golden rules that will keep your kids safe
- Talking to your kids – How to have difficult conversations with your kids
- Challenging our own phone and device usage – Reconnecting as a family
Here is a promotional video for you to watch Our Kids Online Parent Evening.
The talk will be held in our school hall on Thursday, 4 May from 7-9pm. Gold Coin entry.
We would request that at least one adult from each family attend, this topic is too big for us not to pay attention.
Thank you – Jess Ward
Kid's Quote
The nutty wisdom of 10 year olds …… “You can use a frisbee instead of a plate – then it would be a “dinner spinner”!”
Adult Classes in Te Reo Māori
If you have registered for these classes, then Kāuru Education will be in touch. PBS is providing the venue and the awesome Kāuru team are handling everything else.
Whānau Rōpū
Mihi nui to those who have returned their slips indicating they are happy for me to pass on information to Rae Bolton.
It is not too late to return your slip if you are still wanting to be part of the Whānau Rōpū.
If you have any pātai (questions) please contact me at school.
Ngā mihi
Vicki Wilson
Student Council
Congratulations to the following students who are officially PBS Student Councillors for 2023 (photo to come next term):
Annabelle Webb
Ella Stevens
Heulyn Corlett
Keely Collier-Fiske
Lily Pou
Mackenzie Shaw
Madi Shalders
Marcin Stus
Mia Thomson
Raegan McGregor
Ruby Blake
Ruby Graham
Ruby Knap
Sienna Connolly
Solomon Bolton-Smithson
Digi Corner
Tik Tok has been in the news a lot lately. TVNZ’s current affairs show SUNDAY shared how government officials from around the world have serious concerns about Tik Tok and are even considering banning the social media platform. It has over a billion users but what many of them don’t know is that the business is collecting an unprecedented amount of their personal data. It is worth watching if your child is a regular user of the social media app.
Coffee Cart Wednesdays
You may have noticed that the Coffee Cruizers visit us on Wednesdays before school. The staff love this mid-week coffee fix and I know some parents line up to indulge as well. Although this service is adult-driven, we have not stopped the odd student buying a hot chocolate (kids will not be served coffee). However, we just wanted to signal a few issues we’re experiencing with the kids. At this stage we’d like to try and navigate these rather than banning kids.
Issues and solutions:
- Kids need to buy hot drinks before 8.45am to give them time to drink it all before the bell (extra milk is always added so these are not overly hot).
- Kids need to consume drinks outside their class not inside
- Kids should only buy a drink for themselves. Adults should only buy a drink for their child. This eliminates pressure put on the purchaser and also ensures kids are not consuming things their own parent may not want them too.
Matariki Celebrations
This year’s PBS Matariki Celebration is scheduled for 27 June. The postponement date is 28 June, at the end of Term 2.
Last year’s event was such a success due to the generous donations received from our
community. Donations included: lights, money, firewood, a truck, the precious time given by volunteers and numerous other donations.
To run this celebration again, we are asking for donations to help make this another
successful event. At the beginning of Term 2, a detailed notice will come home with more information regarding donations and ways you can help.
Thank you.
Lost Property
Lost property will be on display by the netball courts each fine day this week and next week. Anything un-named or un–claimed by the end of term will be donated to the Koha Shed.
New Entrant Parent Information Presentation – Tātahi Syndicate
A New Entrant Information Presentation will be held for all parents of new children on Friday, 28 April 2023 from 10.00-10.30am in the staffroom.
This session will :
· provide an overview of the ‘Transition to School’
· provide an overview of the New Entrant Programme in reading, writing and mathematics
· highlight how you can help at home with learning
In Tātahi Syndicate, we believe that successful partnerships between home and school are established when both parties have a shared expectation and knowledge of their child’s learning. We would love to see you there.
Te Moana Cake Raffle
The Te Moana cake raffle was won by Karel ESTERHUIZEN (Wihan’s Dad). Congratulations!
PBS Hockey
Registrations are now open for Hockey. Hockey is a great game and PBS has a strong tradition of awesome players and coaches. There is Hockey available for all students from Years 1-8. Please follow this link to the Google Form to find out more and to register your child for Hockey, starting in Term 2.
Contact Caty Spencer (cspencer@pbs.school.nz) with any questions or if you would like to get involved with coaching this year. https://forms.gle/JLy8FmeNDXWSW4ML7
Recent Student Achievements
Tennis: Congratulations to Joel, Jamie and Devin who won all their games this season with a total of 53 points out of 56 points! (The next highest score was 40 points so they played exceptionally well!) The league they played for is the ‘Kapi Mana Mixed Junior Interclub’ – Mixed Green Hot Shots Interleague U12. The league competes with teams from Tawa, Pukerua Bay, Waikanae and Otaki – 11 teams in total. Super proud of them – all really good players.
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
