Newsletter 27 June 2024
From the Principal
End of Term
This has been a very successful term. We have seen many improvements including the new Pak Heights Learner Dispositions that will you see at the back of your child’s report, the almost complete new senior school COLA (Covered Outside Learning Area), new water fountains around the school and of course, new students and families have joined our school.
We have had a number of events and occasions this term including the middle school visiting MOTAT, James Russel author visit, Showquest and the term long Weaving Wellbeing Programme for the senior students which is a programme that helps them to understand their strengths, build positive relationships, and develop resilience and confidence to navigate their world.
Despite the wet weather this term has also been a busy sporting time with inter-school netball, rugby and soccer field days.
Student Reports and 3-Way Conferences
Teachers are currently busy assessing the progress your child is making at school. You will receive your child’s report on Friday, 9th August.
You have the opportunity to discuss this report with your child’s teacher at the 3-way conference (teacher-student-parent) on Wednesday, 14th and Thursday 15th August. School will close at 1pm on Wednesday 14th August for parent interviews. Bookings will open in Week 2 of Term3. More information will follow closer to the date.
Matariki
Māori believe that the appearance of Matariki in the morning sky in mid-winter marks the Māori New Year, or Te Mātahi o te Tau. It signals a time to remember those who have passed, celebrate the present and plan for the future. It’s a time to spend with whānau and friends – to enjoy kai (food), waiata (song), tākaro (games) and haka.
We will hold a special assembly on Thursday, 27th June to celebrate what we have been learning about Matariki. More information about this assembly will go out in the coming days.
A reminder, Friday 28th June is a school holiday.
Property update
The senior COLA is nearing completion, with the Tiger Turf being laid during the upcoming school holidays. We should be able to use this area on the first day of the new term.
Construction of the new sandpit across from the hall has started and if all goes according to plan this too will be ready for use on the first day back next term. Thank you to our hard working PTA who have contributed a substantial amount of money towards construction costs.
On Thursday 1st August, starting at 8.45am, PhotoLife will be at school for class, individual and sibling photos.
The sibling photos are scheduled for the morning tea break at 11am (please check with the school office staff for further details) - if you would like your children to have a sibling photo, you will need to collect a sibling photo form from the school office and complete and return before Thursday 25th July.
Please note sibling photos are only available to children attending Pakuranga Heights School. Any families wanting sibling photos with children not enrolled at the school, can call PhotoLife on 0800501040 and organise a studio booking placement for this.
Photolife Shoot Keycode card
Approximately 2 weeks after photo day, you child will come home with a Photo Shoot Keycode card. This keycode is a unique individual code for your child. This code is issued for ordering photos online at www.photolife.co.nz. If you do not have access to a computer, our office staff will happily assist in placing an order on your behalf.
Please ensure on this day that your child is wearing the correct school uniform.
Lockdown Drill
On Friday, we practised our emergency procedures under the guidance of Harrison Tew ® , who specialise in emergency management planning for schools and educational facilities.
The procedures we follow allow us to respond safely and quickly to a range of situations, eg swarm of bees, aggressive dog on school grounds or something happening in the vicinity of the school, not necessarily on our grounds.
We are pleased to inform you that our practise today went very well with our students responding safely and calmly.
During the year we will continue to practise our emergency procedure exercises to ensure all staff and students remain familiar with them.
Should you become aware of a lockdown or an evacuation at the school, can I please ask that you do not attend the school or phone, as we will not be able to respond. Your presence or contact may make it more difficult for us or the emergency services to manage a situation. Any information pertaining to an emergency occurring at the school will be updated on our website as regularly as possible.
We believe that it is important that we conduct regular practices for lockdowns and evacuations so that we can all be well prepared and familiar with our procedures should an emergency occur.
We thank you for your support.
House Day
This year to further promote house spirit and our school values we are be holding a termly house values day. The Term 2 day will be held this Thursday 27th June. Students are invited to exchange their uniform t-shirt for a top in their house colour and/or wear accessories in their house colour. They will still need to wear their school uniform shorts or skort.
This term the activities will follow our special Matariki assembly. The event will finish by morning tea time for children to spend the rest of the day in their classes.
If your child is unsure of their house or house colour please contact their teacher.
Celebrating Excellence
In Room 10, we wrote about lions and made some lion art for our sound of the week, /l/. We used lots of different adjectives to describe the lion, such as scary, fluffy, orange, soft and big!
We first learnt how to draw a lion face to make our lion art. We then coloured in our lion faces. Finally, we glued and rolled colourful strips of paper for the lion’s mane!
Room 12’s Awesome Trip to MOTAT - our thoughts about the trip!!
On Tuesday morning Middle School went to MOTAT. It was a cloudy day so we all took our rain jackets.
First, the educator took us to the meeting spot and after that, we went to the science room. She had set up tables with different objects. One of the tables which was my favourite was the one with the reflections. The other tables had magnets and sounds. There was also a bucket and inside sounded like thunder.
Sports News
Football Field Day 2024
On Tuesday 4th June, almost 50 senior students went to Meadowland Park Reserve to participate in a thrilling day of football. We had 5 teams entered into the competition, with each team playing 4 games throughout the day. Although it was a fun and participatory field day, every team shone with competitiveness, making their presence known on the field. Their positive attitudes, teamwork, and commitment to fair play thoroughly displayed the school values and dispositions. A very special thank you to the parent volunteers that helped make this day possible.
PTA News
Pakuranga Heights Needs You!!!
Do you have skills or expertise in any of the following areas?
Events, Design, Advertising, Finances, Building and construction, Fundraising and sponsorship, Goods and services
If you do, the Pakuranga Heights School and the PTA would love to hear from you! The PTA is in need of helpers to run school events and support school development projects throughout the year - this can be in the form of advice, planning or running events and projects. All welcome, so if you think you could help, please get in touch with Monique Brown or email PTA@pakurangaheights.co.nz
From the Community
