From the Principal

Today our roll is 560 . Welcome to our new students: Leo Xiao, Bianca Hu, Eric Zhang, Cameron Tom, Sarina Nak-iam, Victor Wu, Rohan Prasad, Wendy Zhang, Aidan May, Karen Wang, Yuchen Xie, Ella Campbell, Tina Qiu, Marissa Qiu, Abby Huang, Jasmine Chambers, Cici Huang, Vincent Qi, Steven Wang, Amna Hammad.

We wish you much success with your learning at Pigeon Mountain School.We are currently in a very important period of time for Education in our country.

In the next 2 weeks, consultation closes on the review report from the Tomorrow’s Schools Taskforce. This report was written on the basis of a number of limited consultations and a small  quantity of surveys and submissions. It has made a number of radical proposals for the future of schooling in NZ, and it is important that you have a say if education or schooling is important to you.

The review has made a number of statements and is proposing making changes based on these findings;

  1. The Board of Trustees self-governing model is not working consistently well across the country.
  2. The nature, type, provision, and accessibility of meaningful schooling for all New Zealanders is inadequate.
  3. Unhealthy competition between schools has significantly increased, and has impacted on the ability of some students and whanau to exercise choice.
  4. Students with learning support requirements should have the same access to schooling as other students, and it is clear that currently they do not.
  5. The quality of teaching is the major ‘in-school’ influence on student success but our teacher workforce strategies lack the necessary support, coherence and coordination.
  6. Leadership is central to school improvement and yet we have few formal and planned structures to develop and sustain school leaders.
  7. The overall resourcing in the compulsory schooling sector is currently inadequate to meet the needs of many learners/akonga and those who work in it.
  8. A number of significant structural issues and policy settings make it difficult for the central education agencies to be as effective as they might be.

We have been part of a number of events sharing our perspectives on the impacts of these recommendations on our school if they are adopted without appropriate consultation or thought, but we encourage all members of our school community to make informed responses before time runs out. There are a number of ways to make your voices heard;

Provide a written submission by emailing the Taskforce Secretariat at

tomorrows.schools@education.govt.nz

Provide an oral submission by calling the free phone number (20 minute limit)

0800 FOR TSR (0800 367 877)

Complete an online survey in your chosen language

https://conversation.education.govt.nz/tsr

Contact your local MP Simeon Brown through email : simeon.Brown@parliament.govt.nz

Email Chris Hipkins (Minister for Education)

chris.hipkins@parliament.govt.nz

Principal’s Email Group

Thank you to the parents who took part in the first email group of the year. The focus was on ‘School Facilities’ and the outcomes are already helping us to identify priority areas for this year and next. You can view the complete results at https://www.pigeon-mountain.school.nz/2019-peg-school-facilities/

If you would like to be added to the mailing list for this feedback group, please email iand@pmps.school.nz

The latest group short survey will be sent out this week.

3 Way Conferences.

These are scheduled for week 10, Wednesday the 10th and Thursday the 11th of April.  A notice will be sent home with booking details this week.

Policy Review

WE NEED YOUR INPUT: POLICY AND PROCEDURE REVIEWS—Term 1

This term, we are reviewing a number of school policies and procedures. We would value your input in the areas of Alcohol/Drugs and Other Harmful Substances and  Legislation and Administration Policy. The process for adding your thoughts and feedback is simple.

  1. Visit the website.

http://pigeon-mountain.schooldocs.co.nz/1893.htm

  1. Enter the username (pigeon-mountain) and password (pmps1439).
  1. Follow the link to the relevant policy as listed.
  2. Read the policy.
  3. Click the Policy Review button at the top right-hand corner of the page.
  1. Select the reviewer type “Parent”
  2. Enter your name (optional).
  3. Submit your ratings and comments.

If you don’t have internet access, school office staff can provide you with printed copies of the policy and a review form. 

Staff News

During this term, we have welcomed 2 new teachers to our growing team, and we will shortly be fare welling 2 valued members of staff. A month ago, we officially welcomed Ms Tineke Oed, who will be leading Room 13 from the start of Term 2. Mrs Janet Fletcher was also welcomed onto our team, and will start her position as New Entrant teacher in Room 5 at the start of Term 2.

We are very sad to be saying farewell to Mrs Lucy Barker at the end of this term. We were delighted when Lucy accepted the post of Room 13 teacher for the opening term of 2019 after Mr Cox’s departure, and Lucy has proven to be an amazing teacher, much loved by her students and colleagues. She sets out on a cycling odyssey across Europe during the Easter break, and anticipates being back in NZ at some point in Term 4! We hope to see her back in our school again in the future and thank her for the mark she has left on our school!

The end of this term will mark the end of an era for our school, with the departure of Mrs Sharon  Clark as our Administration Officer. She is departing NZ to begin a new chapter in her life in Australia, close to her daughter and grandchildren. Mrs Clark has been connected to Pigeon Mountain for 24 years now, and has become synonymous with the warm welcome and friendly face people expect from our school. We are holding a number of celebrations in Mrs Clark’s honour, including a school-wide assembly on Friday 5th April. I am sure you will joining me in wishing her well for her new life across the Tasman, and wishing her a huge ‘Thank you’ for everything she does for us all!

Diversity Day

In addition to the Diversity Day celebrations, our community donated over $800 which we will pay into the official ‘Give-a-Little’ page to support the victims of the Christchurch tragedy. Furthermore, each of our teams identified a book they would like to donate to a Christchurch school. These books were carefully selected by the students, and are based on a number of themes including Resilience, Empathy, Diversity and Friendship. We hope the children in these schools will enjoy our gifts.

Lego in the library

This has been a huge success with 150 students visiting the library on Friday. A big thank you from Mrs. Brown to those families who contributed Lego to our library

School Donation

The Board Of Trustees have set the school donation for 2019 school year at $230.00 per student.   Donation tax credits are also available from the Inland Revenue.    There are several options to pay:

  • Direct credit a/c 02 0168 0210765 00 (please use your child’s name as a reference).
  • At the school office by cheque, eftpos or cash.
  • On-line through Kindo

BOT News

The next BOT Meeting will be on the  1st May  at 7 pm.  Parents are welcome to attend all board meetings.

PTA News

The next PTA Meeting is on the 3rd April  at 7:00 pm in the staff room.

School’s Online Shop

Your families Kindo account can be used to book, pay and provide permissions. No cash, no paper, no hassle. Setting up an account is very quick!  Visit www.mykindo.co.nz and click ‘create account’.  Use caregiver or parent details for the Account Holder and student details for Member.  Links are also available on the school website.

To pay through Kindo, you can pay –as-you-go, or add funds to your account in advance.  Bank transfer (via internet banking or POLi) are free and there is a small charge for credit/debit card.  Kindo supports American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Union Pay.

If you have any problem with registration or using myKindo, please phone the helpdesk on freephone (09)869-5200, visit support.mykindo.co.nz or email hello@mykindo.co.nz.

Absentees

If your child is absent from school on any given day, their absence must be reported to the school in the morning before 8.50 am.  There are various ways of doing this—  by phone – leaving a message on the absentee line: by fax 534 9760: emailing the school at absences@ pmps.school.nz, or via Skoolbag or the school’s website.  When informing the school of an absence, please state the reason for the absence.    Children who are sick should not come to school.

If your child is late for school, a parent must sign their child in at the office.   THE ROLL IS CALLED AT 08.50 am.

SKOOLBAG:

Skoolbag is a mobile app that communicates directly to parent smartphones.  It provides access to key school information via one single communication centre for both parents and students.  Pigeon Mountain has Skoolbag for Apple and Android devices.  To download Skoolbag on your IPhone, simply search for your school name in the APP store on your phone, PC or Mac, and install.  For Android users, search for the school name in the Google Play Store on your phone, PC or Mac, and install.

Dates for the Diary

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