In keeping with the new Privacy Act 2020 which replaced Privacy Act 1993. We need to complete a permission form to enable the school to keep our records up to date.

It is important that every family completes this questionnaire before the start of term 4 - please click here

Friday 1 October

• Last day of Term 3

School Holidays - 2 weeks

• First day of Term 4 - 9:30am Whakatauki in the hall to welcome all our new students and their families. Everyone welcome to attend.

Monday 25 October

• School Closed - Labour Day

Tuesday 26 October

• Teacher Only Day - School Closed

Firstly, the Board would like to thank all the Pinehill School community for showing such fantastic resilience during this current lockdown. Feedback from the teaching staff shows that our families have adapted well to online learning once again. We would also like to take a minute to thank our amazing staff who have adapted to life working from home as they continue to deliver a seamless online learning program for our children whilst also balancing their own family’s needs.

The Board has met twice in the last 5 weeks, and we would like to share some of the key topics that we have been discussing.

Once again, we have enjoyed a wide variety of presentations from members of staff. These included Kristen Blanchard (who is our In School Lead for Local Curriculum) who updated us on the progress the school is making on integrating NZ history, heritage and culture into the learning curriculum as per the mandate from the Ministry of Education. Learning about the Treaty of Waitangi, migration and mobility, and land and water resources will become part of every child's learning across NZ schools from Year 0. The school is well poised to integrate this new part of the curriculum to learning at Pinehill School.

Lisa Everett is our Digital In School Lead and presented an update on progress with our Digital Curriculum. Lisa has done a fantastic job in this area over the past 18 months since taking on the role and has worked with the wider team to understand how best to integrate digital learning into our classrooms. There have been many areas of progress in this time with the introduction of basic coding in our classrooms and an increase in digital 'know-how' from both students and teachers (especially with all the online learning). Future focuses include introducing more robotics, continuing to strengthen our teacher’s digital expertise, and incorporating an online writing programme to sit alongside the already successful online platforms for both reading and math.

Jos van Beusekom shared some great planning he has done on the EOTC camp for our Year 5 and 6 students in 2022. Taking both the results of the recent Health Education Survey that parents completed and the current climate we are living in with COVID, the Board is considering options around what the EOTC camp program will look like going forward. This has usually consisted for a 4 night, but Jos presented a number of different ideas to the Board for consideration. We will share more with you on this in the near future.

The top playground nearest to Spencer Road is nearing the end of its lifespan and the Board recently made a decision to fund a new playground from working capital. Before lockdown, a company who specialise in school playgrounds visited the school and collected ideas from our student leaders. The student leaders have then been tasked with gathering feedback from the wider student population. Next steps will include final concepts, budget and timeline discussions. We will update you further on this exciting new project once we have more information available.

Some of our community will be familiar with ERO Reports - this is a report written by the Education Review Office (this is a NZ Government Department) that evaluates and reports on the education and care of students in schools and early childhood services. These usually take place every 3 years. Pinehill School is currently undergoing its next scheduled review and we are looking forward to hosting our ERO partner on school grounds next term to complete our review.

ERO's new model of working alongside schools looks very different from what has traditionally taken place. An ERO evaluation partner works alongside the school and builds a professional relationship with the school over time. Their evaluation role is to connect with each school's strategic planning and reporting cycle as part of an ongoing improvement journey. Under the new operating model, ERO will shift from event-based external reviews to supporting each school in a process of continuous improvement.

For further information on ERO's new model of working alongside schools please visit https://ero.govt.nz/how-ero-reviews/new-schools-operating-model

Once again, thank you for supporting your children at home with their online learning during lockdown, stay safe, and we look forward to seeing everyone back at school when we reach Level 2.

Health Curriculum Review

Every two years the Pinehill School Board of Trustees consults with the school community on the content of the school health curriculum. In June, the consultation took place by way of a survey linked to the newsletter as well as a reminder and link sent through the School App. We had 199 families complete the survey which is a fantastic response -thanks to all those who took the time to offer your feedback. Below is the Board of Trustees' summary of the results.

Our 2021 data shows that the parent community place major significance on the following:

· Learning how to keep ourselves safe

· Learn skills to communicate effectively and learn to solve problems

· To tell the difference between someone being unkind, mean or being a bully

· Risks and dangers of social media and other online spaces

· Knowing that healthy food helps us with our concentration and energy levels

· Recognising what makes a good friend or classmate

· Identify feelings and express them appropriately

· Recognise and accept that people are different

· Taking part in regular physical activity

· Developing respect for others through working in a team or group with each other

We will continue to ensure that the health curriculum delivered at Pinehill School meets the needs of our students and their families. As an outcome from this consultation, teaching teams will analyse the results and use them to inform their planning.

Board of Trustees Policies

All school policies are available through School Docs - click here

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