From the Acting Principal
Kia ora e te whānau,
This week’s newsletter is packed with highlights from the past fortnight, including an action-packed Year 6 camp, our students’ impressive efforts at the Howick Rotary Fun Run, and a special visit from our Year 4s to the local kindergarten. We also have updates on upcoming sports events and a fantastic community initiative through New World Howick’s ‘Howick Heroes’ campaign.
In addition, we’ve uploaded our 2025 Implementation Plan to the school website. This plan outlines our key focus areas for the year ahead, ensuring we continue to provide the best possible learning experiences for our students.
Ngā mihi,
Dylan Marshall
Acting Principal
Teaching and Learning (Akoranga)
Year 6 Camp – A huge success!
Last week’s Year 6 camp at Lakewood Lodge was an absolute success! Our students returned with beaming smiles, full of stories about their adventures. I had the chance to visit on Tuesday, and it was fantastic to see their enthusiasm firsthand. Highlights so far included the flying fox and the teamwork challenges on the low ropes course. Many students proudly shared how many times they had conquered the mud run—some still carrying a little “souvenir” of it in their ears, even after a shower!
It was also wonderful to see a group of students calmly taking turns riding and leading the horse, while others battled it out in a fiercely competitive archery challenge.
Outdoor education camps require a huge amount of preparation, and we are so grateful to our incredible Year 6 teachers and Nicky King for their efforts in making this camp such a success. A heartfelt thank you also goes to our parent volunteers, who jumped right in and cared for our students so well. Lastly, thank you to all parents for preparing your children so well for the week. We encourage you to keep building on their experiences, reinforcing the independence and responsibility they developed during camp.
Titoki’s trip to the Kindergarten
Our Year 4 team, Titoki, have been visiting the local Kindergarten as part of their current inquiry unit – Who We Are: Relationships involve a complex range of interactions. By going to the kindergarten, interacting with the younger children and giving back they were learning about how they could contribute meaningfully to our community.
Extra Curricular
HPPA Cricket – 6th March
The cricket team had a great day; they showed excellent sportsmanship and teamwork throughout the matches. They also demonstrated impressive skill and determination, showing their school values of excellence, resilience, and respect towards the umpires. They may not have won the day, but they left it all on the field.
The cricket team return to the pitch this week for their second day for the tournament!
Howick Rotary Fun Run Event – Sunday 16th March
Sunday provided perfect conditions for the 5.9km race from Stockade Hill. This year, we were excited to open the event to Year 4, 5, and 6 students, and we had a fantastic turnout of 30 participants. Our students proudly represented the school in their sports uniforms, demonstrating all of our school values. Many even surprised themselves with the impressive times they achieved!
A huge thank you to Mrs Gupta for managing the team and to Libby and her family for running alongside the students, offering motivation and encouragement—especially when the race got tough.
We are still waiting on a few sports shirts to be returned. If you have one at home, please send it back to school as soon as possible.
Swimming – 21st March
We have a team of 20 swimmers attending the HPPA competition this Friday. We wish them all the very best for this event after all of the early morning training sessions this term.
Orienteering – Every Tuesday
For the last few weeks we have had a fantastic turn out for the Orienteering Sprint Series with courses in many of the local schools. We thank Claire for taking the time a couple of weeks ago to show our students some courses from previous years and noting that anyone can win if they finish with a smile on their face!
School Community Events
New World Howick’s Giveback Campaign!
A reminder that New World Howick’s ‘Howick Heroes’ campaign includes Pigeon Mountain Primary throughout the month of March. You have the power to help us secure a share of $3,000 this month.
This is a fantastic opportunity to give back to our school—every token will help us fund new basketball boards and hoops for our students. Spread the word, encourage friends and whānau to get involved, and let’s work together to make this happen for our tamariki!
Thank you for your support!
Salvation Army Cans Collection
A big thank you to everyone who contributed towards our cans collection in Week 6. This is a very worthy cause that we have supported for quite some time, it was amazing to see the overall support!
Dates for your Diary
Wednesday 19 March – HPPA Cricket
Wednesday 19 March – Rooms 3 & 4 Kindergarten Visit
Wednesday 19 March – Rooms 20 & 21 Beach House Visit
Friday 21 March – HPPA Swimming
Policies and Procedures
Enjoying our School Grounds
We love seeing our school grounds enjoyed by families and the community outside school hours! To keep them safe and welcoming for everyone, we ask that you show respect for our environment and take responsibility for looking after it.
To protect our facilities, please avoid riding e-scooters and e-bikes on our turfed surfaces. If you see anything suspicious, please report it to the school or the appropriate authorities. Together, we can keep Pigeon Mountain Primary a place we’re all proud of!
Car Park Safety
Our car park is strictly out of bounds for students, including before and after school. We kindly remind you to use the designated pathways around the buildings rather than walking through the car park. This helps us reinforce road safety awareness for your children.
School Grounds at the end of the day
We have a policy that our playground is not allowed to be used after school until 4pm. We stipulate this time as it gives children enough time to go home, have a snack and return with adult supervision to play. A reminder that all students should be off site by 3:15pm unless they are in BizzyBodz.
2025 School Donations
@school parent app
Please ensure that you have downloaded the @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.
Absences from School
Please use the @school parent app to report an absence or the school website
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.
Current Contact Details
It is important that we have current contact details for our students. If you have moved house, changed your email address or mobile number, please contact the school office to have our records updated. You can check the contact information that we have for your child on the parent app.
Community Notices
Lego After School Steam Classes
Guitar lessons with Ben
Table Tennis
