Newsletter 24th March 2025
From the Principal
Dear Parents
A warm welcome to our new families. It has been a busy two weeks and we have plenty of exciting opportunities for the students this term including student leadership development, sporting and music.
Arriving at School
It is really good to see the majority of our students arriving at school between 8:30 and 8:45am. Arriving around this time gives students enough time to get themselves organised for the day, say good morning to their teacher and have some free time with their friends before the 9am bell. Thank you for supporting your child's learning by ensuring they arrive with enough time in the mornings.
HELL’s Pizza Reading Challenge
We have once again registered to do this in 2025 Last year 850 schools and libraries in New Zealand took part in this programme and the feedback from teachers, librarians and parents has been that the scheme has hooked so many reluctant readers into books.
Here’s what you need to know:
The HELL Reading Challenge is free, and it is so easy. Children receive a stamp on their pizza wheel for each book they read, and once they have read seven books, they can exchange their completed wheel for a free kids’ pizza at HELL.
Reminder - Safety Barrier Arm
The barrier arm is operational from 2.00 pm until 3.15 pm each school day. It is operated by a code that is available to parents with a disability card or issued by Pukeko Day Care. The code will be updated in the next two weeks, existing holders will be notified separately.
In order to be fair to everyone we will ensure the government guidelines for the use of disability cards are followed. Please see Ariane in the office for the code. You will need to bring your disability card and car registration number.
Please help us keep your child safe by using the crossing, not stopping or parking on yellow lines, calling your children across the road etc. Thank you to everyone who is being safe and considerate.
Lockdown and Emergency Procedures – What We do
At Pakuranga Heights Primary we take health and safety very seriously and employ a specialist company to audit us once per year in undertaking a lockdown. We also carry out regular emergency drills to practise and hone our procedures. There are clear, simple instructions for each drill displayed in every classroom and around the school. Teachers go over the drills with the students each term to make sure they are familiar with the procedures.
Fire drills are carried out once a term and we will be having a drill before the end of the term. When the fire siren rings, we all make our way sensibly to the class names on the field fence. Class rolls are called to ensure everyone is present.
Lockdown drills carried out each year. We have contracted to an outside company to train and keep staff up to date on the latest procedures. On hearing the lockdown signal, students and teachers remain in classrooms, or make their way quickly to the nearest classroom. Doors locked. Depending whether the lockdown is real or precautionary, students and teachers either assemble on the floor silently at a safe place in the classroom, or continue to work quietly at their desks. We ask that you do not contact the school via phone, or come to the school in a lockdown. Communication between the school and the community in a lockdown will take place via Facebook, School Website and Schoolzine to keep parents fully informed and to keep phone lines free for communication with the police.
An earthquake and tsunami drill is in Term 3 to coincide with International Shakeout Day. When the earthquake signal starts, students drop, cover and hold in the classroom before they follow their teacher to high ground via agreed routes.
I hope that we never need to evacuate for a real situation but at least we know we have systems and procedures in place if it occurs.
Assemblies
All parents and whanau are invited to our full school and team assemblies. It was great to see so many parents at our school assemblies. The assemblies are run by the students as part of our student centered approach as this impacts significantly on their growth, confidence, self-worth and leadership. It is always inspiring to see your children stand up and lead our school events with confidence and skill.
Reminders
Last Day of Term 1 - April 11th - Friday at 3.00 pm
First Day of Term 2 - April 28th - Monday at 9.00 am
Upcoming Events
Junior School Assembly - Friday 28 March at 9.15 am
House Colour Day - Friday 4 April
Teacher Only Day - May 30th - School Closed - Ministry of Education Numeracy Curriculum Day
School lunches
Thank you for sending your child with healthy snacks and lunch. The quantity and type of food definitely impacts on learning and behaviour. Below is a sugar picture of popular drinks. We thank you for sending the children to school with water only.
Book Day
What a spectacular book parade we had on Friday! The creativity and variety in the costumes that were created was outstanding and we really appreciate the hard work that went into these. Book day is always a special opportunity to celebrate books and the joy of reading.
Celebrating Excellence
In Room 10 we made self portraits! We started by drawing our self portraits on a piece of paper. We then painted a rainbow background for our self portraits using cardboard strips to scrape the paint across the page. Finally we glued our self portraits onto our rainbow background.
Sports News
From the Community
