"Together we are lifelong CREST learners"
Principal's Message
Kia ora whānau,
Firstly, I wish to congratulate our newly elected Board members; Sarah Hinder-Boyd, Moroni Sunnex, Stephen Monu, Jake Wills, Shaun Ferris and Rachel McDowell (staff rep). I feel very excited to work with each of you to achieve ongoing success for every PBS student and our school community!
Whole-hearted gratitude to everyone who stood in this election – the fact we had more nominees than places was a sign of strength and commitment to PBS. NB: Full election results can be found later in this newsletter.
In other important news, this week we join the rest of Aotearoa in celebrating Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. It’s a chance to honour te reo Māori as a taonga (treasure) that carries the stories, values, and identity of this land. Every word spoken helps keep the language alive for future generations. By using and learning te reo, we not only strengthen the language but also deepen our understanding of Aotearoa’s history and culture. Mā te kōrero ka ora te reo. Kia kaha tātou ki te whakamahi i te reo Māori ia rā, i te kāinga, i te kura, me te hapori.
In an effort to all do our part, why not take some time this term break to learn our school pepeha alongside your child/children! Kia kaha koutou 🙂
Please keep reading this newsletter for information on:
- Full Board Election results
- Class Request Process for 2026 (for exceptional circumstances)
- Syndicate Structures for 2026
Upcoming dates of importance:
- Friday, 19 September – last day of Term 3
- Monday, 6 October – first day of Term 4
Ngā mihi nui
Jess Ward
Principal – Tumuaki
P.S. Got a suggestion? Let us know through our online suggestion box.
PRINCIPAL’S C.R.E.S.T CORNER:
At PBS we champion our school C.R.E.S.T values in everything we do.
Curiosity. Respect. Excellence. Self Management. Teamwork
Earlier this term, a number of our students took part in the Kiwi Academic Competition run by the University of Canterbury. We were thrilled with both their enthusiastic participation and their wonderful results!
Congratulations to: Aglika Angelova, Emily Kaye, Charlotte Huse, Frankie Fiddymont, Sunny Dou, Adian Robertson, Jericho Harris, Lani Collier-Fiske, and Jack Wilson for earning Merit and Achievement Awards.
Special recognition goes to:
- Charlotte Chisholm and Pranav Nayanar for achieving Excellence in English
- Jackson Ferris, Devin Direen, and Finn Little for achieving Excellence in Maths
- Maxwell Willis and Finn Little for achieving Excellence in Science
We are incredibly proud of these students and the way they represented our school in this nationwide competition.
Welcome to Our Recent New Students
Shylah – Rm 4
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/
Board Election News
Voting for our school board elections has now closed! The Paraparaumu Beach School Board received a total of seven nominatons for five vacancies when nominations closed.
These candidates are elected to the Paraparaumu Beach School Board and take office on Wednesday, 17 September.
We would like to congratulate those who were nominated and have joined our board. Thank you to all of our whānau and families who took part in the school board elections this year.
Using Māori Language at Home
Learning another language provides many benefits including greater academic achievement, greater cognitive development, and more positive attitudes towards other languages and cultures. So, let’s give it a go and help to revitalise this unique language to Aotearoa for our tamariki. Each week our newsletter will include words or phrases that you might like to try out at your kāinga/home.
Here are some essential kupu that you may hear ia ra (everyday)
Give these phrases a try this week:
Karawhiua! – Give it heaps!
Kia maia! – Be brave!
Ka mau te wehi! – Thats outstanding!
Haere tonu! – Keep going!
Out of Zone Applications
Twice a year we will call for applications for five year old new entrants who are living out of the school zone. This will be for those students whose birthday falls between 11 November 2025 and 3 July 2026. The next round of applications will open on 19 September and will close at 4pm on 13 October.
If you have a five year old new entrant due to start school during this time, then please contact the office on 298 5775. Thank you if you have already been in touch with your details. We will email the documents out to you at the end of this week.
Class Request Process for 2026 - For Exceptional Circumstances
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. Therefore, 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, 17 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, Jess Ward
Syndicate Structures for 2026
I wanted to let you know about a change we’re making to our school structure for 2026. After working with the Government’s refreshed curriculum documents this year, we have decided to align our syndicates to better fit the new learning phases. This means we will be moving from four syndicates down to three.
The phases are:
- Curriculum Phase 1: Years 0-3 (NB: Tātahi is likely to have a mixture of Year 0-1 classes and Year 2-3 classes)
- Curriculum Phase 2: Years 4-6 (NB: Te Moana is likely to have a mixture of Year 4-5 classes and Year 5-6 classes)
- Curriculum Phase 3: Years 7-8 (NB: Te Motu class structures will remain unchanged)
With this change in mind, our teachers have been brainstorming the aspects of syndicate practices and schoolwide systems that will also require adaptation (e.g. breaktimes, camps, teaching resources).
We believe this change will help us better support our students’ learning as they progress through the school. We will keep you updated as we work through this change.
Tournament of the Minds
On Saturday, an amazing team of Year 7 and 8 students; Aidan Robertson, Ali Akbaba, Jackson Cooper, Pranav Nayanar, Emily Kaye, Nanami Burton and Gryphon Corlett, competed in the National Tournament of the Minds competition.
Their category was Language and Literature. These students had 3 hours to create a presentation that included criteria given to them at the start of the challenge. This was presented in front of an audience and 3 judges. They also had seven minutes to
complete a spontaneous challenge in front of 3 judges. They were judged on creativity, meeting the challenge brief, presentation and other criteria.
Facing teams from all over New Zealand, the team represented PBS with awesome CREST values. Their presentation was great and, although they did not place, we are very proud of the team.
We would also like to thank David Parr and Teresa Robertson for supporting the team on Saturday. A big shout out also needs to go to Demet and Tugra Akbaba for bringing lunch in for everyone. It was delicious and most appreciated!
Netball
Netball tops and shorts – can you please keep these coming into school. There are still a lot outstanding. They need to be washed and dried and handed into the Office.
TE MOANA FUNDRAISING
Midweek Munchies
Lost Property
Lost Property will be on display by the tennis/netball courts each fine day before end of term. Anything unnamed or unclaimed will be donated to the Koha Shed.
Recent Student Achievements
Hockey: Congratulations to Luke who won the Spirit of Kapiti trophy at the junior club hockey prizegiving this weekend.
Recent Student Achievements
Netball: Congratulations to Alyssa Hudson! We are very proud to announce that Alyssa Hudson was awarded the Zespri AIMS Sportsmanship Medal in Netball. This
special award was nominated by another team in recognition of Alyssa’s outstanding fair play and positive attitude throughout the tournament. She consistently showed respect towards both her opponents and the officials, representing our school with pride. Ka mau te wehi, Alyssa!
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
Entertainment Book Fundraising
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