From the Principal
Staffing News
It is with mixed feelings that we announce the departure of our amazing Deputy Principal Tracy Leader at the end of the 2019 year. We are delighted to announce that Tracy has been appointed as the new Principal of Anchorage Park School, and wish her well as she begins a new adventure in her
education career. Tracy has been at Pigeon Mountain School for 13 years, and leaves behind a significant legacy of inclusion, tailoring learning to meet the needs of individuals, and strong relationships between school and parents. We look forward to the remainder of term with Tracy, and know how lucky Anchorage Park are to have appointed such a brilliant educator as their new Principal.
Apart from our search to replace the amazing Mrs Leader, we have now completed our new appointments ahead of next year
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- Sarah Tallack
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- Alice Kemp
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- Caitlin Myers
We welcome Sarah Tallack, Alice Kemp and Caitlin Myers to our teaching team for 2020. Sarah joins us from the UK, having most recently been an Assistant Headteacher in South London. Alice will be beginning her teaching career at Pigeon Mountain, but will be familiar to families who use BizzyBodz, having worked there during her studies. Caitlin has been with us since mid 2019, but we are delighted to have now recruited her on a permanent basis. We welcome our new teachers to the Pigeon Mountain community and know they have lots to offer our school, our children and our families.
The new teachers have been recruited to replace or cover a number of teachers who will be leaving us at the end of 2019. We farewell the Pohutukawa Team Leader Deb Crowley who is moving to a teaching position at Kings Prep School. Paige Jarvie, who has been travelling from Miranda on a daily basis for the past 2 years, has been appointed at Hingaia Peninsula School to be significantly closer to home. Finally, Samantha Jonson is becoming a mum for the first time- we hope to see Samantha back in 2021!
We are also farewelling Janet Fletcher, who joined us on a fixed term basis to lead our New Entrants in April. Janet has been appointed to a leadership position at Elm Park.
We wish all our departing teachers the best of luck in their new roles, and thank them for their incredible efforts for our school.
Toilets
It is our important responsibility to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all our students, and we have noticed there are a number of adults at the start and near the end of the school day using children’s toilets while school is still open for learning. Bathrooms in school are for the exclusive use of children- even staff do not use these facilities! Unfortunately, we do not have adult toilets around our school- in an emergency, we have adult toilets in the administration building- but adults should note, CHILDREN’S TOILETS ARE FOR CHILDREN!
Parking
Once again, we are experiencing some very inconsiderate behaviour from parents who think traffic rules do not apply to them! We ask that drivers please RESPECT the road code, and show RESPONSIBILITY by not parking on yellow lines or across driveways. Our parent crossing monitors try to point out infringements to drivers at the time they happen BUT some people choose to ignore this, and some have even been disrespectful to the parents! However, we do take pictures of people who continue to infringe and put our children in danger (note the picture of a car parked on yellow lines, and student exiting the car directly into oncoming traffic), and we forward these on to Police to ask them to take further act
Policy Review
Our school policies are all available online through the SchoolDocs site and can be accessed at any time. We encourage you to participate in our ongoing cycle of policy review, and we are currently looking at the content and application of both our EOTC and SunSafe policies. You can contribute by visiting SchoolDocs and following the simple steps.
If parents/caregivers are involved in this review, send them the following instructions:
- Visit the website https://pigeon-mountain.schooldocs.co.nz/1893.htm
- Enter the username (pigeon-mountain) and password (pmps1439).
- Follow the link to the relevant policy as listed.
- Read the policy.
- Click the Policy Review button at the top right-hand corner of the page.
- Select the reviewer type “Parent”.
- Enter your name (optional).
- 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.
Homestay Families Needed!
Our school will be expecting visiting students from Japan during Term 1 2020 staying for a week. We are looking for homestay families to host them. Hosts will be paid $300 per student, per week – usually placing two students per home. Students can share a room but must have their own bed. If you would like more information or an application pack, please contact Debbie from Student-Care NZ Limited on debbie@nzstudentcare.com or 09-390-7838.
Dates for your Diary
Interzone Athletics Tuesday 19 November
BBI Orientation Day Friday 22 November 9.00am – 10 am
Farm Cove Intermediate Orientation Day Friday 29 November 1.20 – 2.30pm
New Parent Induction Meeting Thursday 5 December 1.45pm
All comers Christmas Choir 5 December
Year 1 -3 Prizegiving 6 December 9.30am School Hall
Helpers Morning Tea 11 December
Year 4 – 6 Prizegiving 16 December 1pm BBI Hall
Welcome to
Lucas Liu Rm 5, Amelia Reed Rm 8
BOT News
Next Meeting Thursday 21 November
PTA News
Next Meeting Wednesday 4 December 7.30pm
Upcoming Events
All comers Christmas Choir 5 December
Year 1 -3 Prizegiving 6 December
Helpers Morning Tea 11 December
Year 4 – 6 Prizegiving 16 December 1pm BBI Hall
End of School Year 19 December 3pm
2020 School Year Commences Monday 3 February
