Term 2 Newsletter 1

Principal’s Message

A warm welcome from your new Principal!

Kia ora koutou katoa,

It is with excitement and pride that I start at Pigeon Mountain Primary School community as your new Principal. Today marks the beginning of a new chapter, and I am truly honoured to be a part of this vibrant and highly regarded school.

For those of you I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting yet, my name is Phebe Rossiter. I come to Pigeon Mountain Primary with many years of experience in education. I have been an educator in local schools for 21 years with 11 years experience as Deputy Principal including experience as Acting Principal, at both Bucklands Beach Intermediate and Cockle Bay School. I am committed to ‘education with a heart’, ensuring our school is a place where staff are empowered, students thrive and the community is actively engaged. My hope is that students, staff and their families feel a strong sense of belonging to our school and the school values of resilience, responsibility, excellence and respect shine through all that we do.

My first day has already been filled with a Mihi Whakatau (formal Māori welcome ceremony) and warm welcomes from the staff and students I’ve encountered, and I am incredibly grateful for such a positive start. I am eager to get to know each and every one of you – the students, the dedicated teachers and staff, and the supportive whānau.

Over the coming weeks and months, my priorities will be to:

Listen and Learn: I want to understand what makes Pigeon Mountain Primary so special and to hear your aspirations for the school’s future.
Build Relationships: I believe strong partnerships between home and school are crucial for student success. I look forward to connecting with you at before or after school and at school events.
Support Our Amazing Team: Pigeon Mountain Primary has a fantastic team of teachers and support staff, and I am committed to working alongside them to continue providing high-quality learning experiences.
Ensure a Positive and Inclusive Environment: A safe, respectful, and inclusive school culture is paramount, and I am dedicated to fostering this for all our students.

I am genuinely thrilled to be joining the Pigeon Mountain Primary whānau and look forward to working collaboratively with you all. Please feel free to say hello if you see me around the school!

Ngā mihi nui,

Phebe Rossiter

Principal

Pigeon Mountain Primary School

pheber@pmps.school.nz

Student Achievement and Celebrations

Year 5 Camp at Willow Park

We would like to wish our campers all the best for their overnight camp this week at Willow Park Eastern Beach!

Three-way conferences

Thank you to all our parents and families that were able to attend our Three-way conferences at the end of last term. Our teachers proudly shared that their students had been really successful in sharing their learning. These conferences are a great time to celebrate your child’s successes and strengthen the home-school partnership.

School News and Announcements

Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L)

At Pigeon Mountain Primary School PB4L is a school-wide framework that focuses on creating a positive and supportive learning environment by explicitly teaching expected behaviours and celebrating student success.

Our whole school focus for the first week is to review our class Matrix from Term 1. Each class has written their own Matrix using ‘I can..’ statements related to our school values of respect, excellence, responsibility and excellence. For example, I can… work hard, be kind to others, write neatly in my book or bring my book bag to school everyday.

Wet weather School Pick up and drop off

As we head into a potentially wet Term 2, please be mindful of the conditions during school drop-off and pick-up times. Increased traffic and slippery surfaces can make these times busier and require extra caution. Please allow extra time and consider alternative parking options if needed to ensure the safety of all our tamariki and whānau.

Uniform

Remember that in Term 2 there are changes to the school uniform. School hats are not required and your child can wear long pants if they would like.

Property

As you may have noticed our fencing project is well underway and is expected to be completed in 6 weeks time. This project will fence around the outside perimeter of the school. The Board approved this project to ensure improved child safety when accessing the school.

There will be 10 gates to access the school and we would like to remind our school community that they are welcome onsite at any time to enjoy our school grounds.

During the day the gates will be closed but not locked. If you have a younger child that you are dropping off after the bell has gone and you may need to open the gates for your child as they pull lock is at the top of the gate.

Key:

Each of the yellow circles are gates. Please note gate 5 (G5) is a vehicle access gate.

Red line – Black fencing

Blue line – timber fence

Walkway between BBI and PMPS

You may also notice that the walkway from Pigeon Mountain Primary School to Bucklands Beach Intermediate has a new fence installed. This Property Project is planned and funded by Bucklands Beach Intermediate. While the new walkway is beautiful we would encourage students and their families to access Bucklands Beach Road using our own school driveway, pedestrian crossing by the barrier gate and the path around the BBI turf.

Attendance Information

In April last year the Government announced a regular attendance target of 80 percent of students to be present for more than 90% of the Term.

Four attendance categories have been developed to help you understand how frequently your child attends school.

Regular school attendance is crucial for maximizing a student’s learning potential and ensuring they stay on track with their academic journey. It also helps students build positive relationships with teachers and peers, and develop essential routines for future success.

Please find a summary of Term 1 2025 data from Pigeon Mountain Primary School.