From the Acting Principal

Kia ora tatou, 

With Daffodil Day coming up this week, it reminds me that we’re just one month away from Spring, my favourite season of the year! But before I get too ahead of myself, there’s a LOT happening at school in the coming weeks. This week alone, we’re sending students to compete in the HPPA Rehu Tai Speeches, HPPA Dance, and the HPPA Literacy Quiz! We also have our final ICAS examination in Maths. We wish them all the best!

Looking ahead, we have some fantastic opportunities to connect at school and see the learning in action. We have our much-anticipated Student Council Discos on the 6th of September, our Open Classroom on the 6th September, and Student-Led Conferences on the 17th and 18th of September.

Read on to find out about some of the successes over the past two weeks at Pigeon Mountain Primary School as well as the latest curriculum updates.

Dylan Marshall

Welcomes and Introductions

We are pleased to introduce the latest members of our Pigeon Mountain staff. I’ve asked each of them to write a short blurb about themselves and their new role:

Liz Browne – Teacher Aide

I am a fun – loving mother of four beautiful children who loves dogs, has a great sense of humour and loves the challenge of learning new things. I am working as a one-on-one teacher aide with a few children, and I am determined to have a positive impact on the lives of children at PMPS.

Libby Pellowe – Teacher Aide

My name is Libby and I am a mum of two girls.  I have recently joined the PMPS team as a teacher aide for Rainbow Reading.  I’m loving getting to know the kids within the program and look forward to helping them grow their reading and comprehension skills.

Sandy Wang – Classroom Release Teacher

Kia ora, my name is Sandy and I’m new to this school. I’m one of the Mahuri teachers on Tuesday and Wednesday, and I cover Room 3 on Friday. I look forward to exploring  music in various ways with all the students here!

Francesca Nixon – Librarian

Hi, I’m Francesca Nixon, the new Librarian taking over from Mrs Tina Brown. I am excited to get to know the staff and pupils and look forward to creating a fun and welcoming library space for everyone to enjoy. You can find me and my fantastic team of student librarians in the library Monday Tuesday & Thursday Friday.

Additionally, we want to thank Charmaine Xu for her contributions to Rainbow Reading as well as the Short-term International students this year. Now that we have expanded our support staff team, Charmaine’s will use her expertise to support our ELLS learners. We will miss Nadine Stalker since she departed our team last Friday. Her contributions to the smooth running of our school as Executive Officer were impressive. We wish her well in her next move. Finally, we would like to thank Janelle Sloane in her contributions to facilitating maths interventions this year. Although, she will still be doing this on a part time basis, you will now see Janelle in the reception area providing her support to the administration team. 

Māori and Pacific Hui

In Week 2, we held our Māori and Pacific Hui for the term. Whaea Jordan shared about the positive experiences for our Māori, Pacific and others through our Māhuri programme, the recent noho and hikoi to Ōhuiarangi on Matariki as well as the wonderful cultural learning experiences happening at school. We love connecting at these hui, but don’t just take it from me—here’s some feedback from one of our parents on the usefulness of these gatherings. 

These hui are:

– VERY friendly – A fun and safe space for us to connect with our Tangata Whenua whanau and Island cousins

– a good reason to get “called” in to school

– an opportunity for parents and family to tell the school what their children and family need to happen to feel celebrated and included for their culture and identity

– a recognition that our children are more potent and capable because of their cultural background and identity. 

– a chance for parents/families to grow in their cultural identities

– a chance to share kai! 

If you think that your enrolment may not include your Māori or Pacific ethnicity please contact us to self identify as part of this community!! We would love to connect with you. 

 

HPPA Gymnastics

A big congratulations to our Year 3/4 and Year 5/6 gymnastics teams that competed at the HPPA Gymnastics meet on Friday, 23 August. Each of these students harnessed their inner Simone Biles and wowed on the floor and apparatus demonstrating all of the school values.

The Year 5 and 6 team did so well that they placed on the podium – well done team!

 

Macleans College Connection

The latest of our interschool connections has come in the form of a drama/literacy lesson! Room 15 had visitors from the Macleans College Drama department. This is the first in a series of reciprocal lessons that develop students’ creative and critical thinking. They are working on stories from some of the books they have been reading and turning them into dramas. 

 

Short-term International Student Experience

In Week 5, we said farewell to many of our new friends from China as they headed back home from their short stay at our school. It has been wonderful to share many experiences together – one of their favourites was a visit to Bucklands Beach for a fish’n’chips lunch. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Wendy Hosking, Lisa Cox, and Charmaine Xu for making their stay such a success, and a special thank you to Liz Ross, who had her final day last Friday. Her dedication to her teaching role was truly invaluable!

HPPA Cross Country

Pigeon Mountain was tasked with organising the Cross Country event held at Lloyd Elsmore Park for 13 local schools on Tuesday, 13 August. I had the pleasure of witnessing the students at the finish line. It brought me such joy to see the visible evidence of excellence and resilience at play as our students bolted down the final 100m! It is not a minor undertaking to organise such a large scale event and so I would like to thank the parents and staff that supported our runners. A special mention to Trish Morgan, Lisa Cox, Nadine Stalker, Wendy Hosking, Alex Donaldson, Jordan Broomfield, Kirsty Reed and Amber Cambie who pulled it all together!

Curriculum Updates

We wanted to take a moment to share some exciting updates about the changes in education, particularly around the curriculum. You may have heard about Te Mataiaho, the refreshed curriculum currently in draft development. We’re pleased to let you know that our school is already actively engaging with these new developments.

Our dedicated staff are in the process of unpacking the latest maths curriculum documents, with plans to implement them in 2025. We’re confident that this refreshed curriculum will bring greater clarity for our teachers, students, and whānau alike, ensuring a more focused and effective learning experience.

As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, our Junior school staff have also begun professional learning in Structured Literacy this term. This approach, rooted in the Science of Learning, aligns with the new Ministry guidelines and will further enhance our literacy programmes.

We are excited about these positive steps forward and want to reassure you that these adjustments will only strengthen the solid programme we have in place. We remain committed to providing the best education possible for our students.

Thank you for your continued support. We will continue to provide curriculum updates in the newsletter from our school’s perspective. 

 

Dates for your Diary

Wednesday 28 August ICAS Maths

Friday 6 September – Open Classroom//Special Blokes – 9am – 10:15am 

Friday 6 September – School Disco

Tuesday 10 September – Salvation Army Cans Day

Tuesday 17 September – 3:30 – 6:30pm – Student-Led Conferences 

Wednesday 18 September – 3:30 – 6:00pm – Student-Led Conferences

End of Year Dates for the Diary

Senior Team Prizegivings – Thursday 5 December

Junior Team Prizegivings – Friday 6 December

Year 6 Graduation – Monday 9 December

Last day of the year – Friday 13 December

Transition days – Monday 25 November and Monday 2 December

Absence from School

Please report your child’s absence from school via @school app or our website. Please include the length of time your child will be away and the reason for their absence. If you do not have the app please contact the office to receive a link.

Collecting Students during the school day

If you need to collect your child for an appointment during the school day please contact the office 09 534 9765 or email general@pmps.school.nz to arrange. If possible please arrange to collect your child before or after the morning tea and lunch breaks, as it is difficult to find children during these times. Morning tea is 10.50am until 11.15am, lunch from 12.45pm until 1.45pm.

@ School Parent App

The @school parent app is our preferred method of reporting absences,  accessing student reports, receiving newsletters and school notices. When setting up your app please make sure that you enter yes to notifications –  this will mean that you will get an alert each time a notice/newsletter is available. Please contact the office if you are unable to access the @school app.

Community Notices

Wednesday After School Art Class

 

Guitar lessons