29th May 2020
Tauranga Primary School Newsletter
Principal's Message
Tēnā koutou katoa
Ngā mihi nui, kia koutou katoa - Warm greetings to you all.
Kia ora koutou,
Thank you all for your support with the Level 2 procedures around drop off and pick times. We know that it is different and for some not ideal. However, we continue to be impressed with the self-manager skills of our learners, and how many children, who thought they couldn't come into school alone, have really stepped up and met the challenge well.
As we are staying in Level 2 for a few more weeks parents are asked to:
- continue to kiss, hug and drop off at the gate in the mornings.
- wait outside the school grounds for pick up in the afternoons (remember to use social distancing while you wait).
- come onto the school grounds (if needed) with "purpose", observe physical distancing and sign into the school site.
- stay outside of classrooms. Please email teachers with any non urgent queries.
- have only one adult when entering the school site with a child.
- leave the school site as quickly as possible.
Next week, we will reduce the entry points for adults to the two gates on Fifth Avenue.
These gates will have hand sanitiser and registers for parents to sign in.
The gates on Arundel Street, Cameron Road and Sixth Avenue will be children only entry and exit points.
We are very keen to meet with parents to discuss your child's learning progress, how they have settled back into school and some next step learning goals. We plan to host Learning Conferences on the 17th and 18th of June - 3:15pm-7:00pm. There will be a mini report to accompany this conference; it will focus on Literacy and Numeracy achievement levels and identifying the next learning goals to work on. This report and conference process is different from our normal approach due to COVID-19. We recognise the importance of connecting individually with parents, and would like to do this in a timely manner.
Detailed information about the conferences will be sent out on Tuesday June 2nd.
Travel Safe Messages:
If you are crossing on Fifth or Sixth Avenues with children, can you please use the zebra crossings. When parents model safe road crossing behaviour it is a lot easier to teach it at school.
Please note that the accessible car parking space on Fifth Avenue now has yellow road markings painted, please only use this space if you have a mobility parking permit.
The A block building project is coming along nicely, and we are pleased to report that the refurbished senior toilet block will be up and running on the 4th of June. The building project is tracking well for the middle school to move into their new rooms mid August.
A very warm TPS welcome to Braxton Vickers, Jash Sandhu, Niko Davis, Jethro Gosling, Stithpragy Narang, Emily Robertson and Ruamoko Taurima-Baker who started recently at our school. We are glad to have you and your family as part of our TPS TEAM.
Enjoy the long weekend ahead, with Monday being Queen's Birthday, and we will see you all at school on Tuesday.
As always, thank you for your continued support.
Ngā mihi
Fiona Hawes
School Assembly on Zoom this morning
Sport
How exciting is it that due to the hard work of our team of 5 million, we can now begin the journey back towards life as normal (whatever that may look like after Covid-19). This means there is now the potential to play sport again, and we can start planning the reintroduction of sport for our budding young athletes.
Sport New Zealand has created three clear phases that our local sporting associations will use as a guideline to produce a timeline for the winter sports season.
Phase 1: Get Ready to Train – 15th to 24th May
During this time, TPS has created their own plan on how we can provide a safe environment for our sports teams. I will now begin to take sport registrations via email on sport@tauranga.school.nz.
Please include the following in the email: your child’s name, sport(s) they wish to play, year group and class number, if you are able to help coach or manage your child’s team, and any other requests you may have.
School shop will open once I have confirmed dates and costs from each sporting code, and you will then need to re-register on school shop with payment.
TPS will enter teams into the local basketball, netball and hockey competitions. Registrations via email are needed asap for basketball as this is set to start on the week starting Monday 8th June. Information about the winter season is at the end of this sports newsletter. Please read this as there are some important changes.
Phase 2: Prepare to Play – from 25th May
From this date, TPS sports teams can be established and begin to train. At this stage, all sport trainings must currently have no more than 10 team members participating, including the coach. Parents can attend, but must observe trainings from a distance and be mindful of the 2m distancing rule. We must be able to trace all those who attend the trainings, so names must be recorded and a photo of the team taken and sent to Jo Taele via email on sport@tauranga.school.nz. Everyone must hand sanitise before and after trainings. All equipment must be cleaned. Athletes must attempt to maintain a safe social distance, there will be no physical contact. If your child is unwell they must not attend training, this includes the coach.
These guidelines will be updated as information is received.
Phase 3: Return to Play
Sport BOP have given the local sporting associations a competition window to set their start and finish dates. This window is Saturday 6th June to Saturday 4th October. Each sporting code will set their own dates within this window frame.
Game days will look very different as they will be adapted to adhere to the appropriate gathering numbers, sanitation processes, and contact tracing will be carried out. Parents may be required to assist on game days to help things run smoothly.
Further information about the dates and the format of game days is included in the description below about the winter sports.
Please note that I will update any of these phases as changes are communicated by Sport New Zealand.
TPS CROSS COUNTRY
We have decided to reschedule the TPS cross country to Thursday 2nd July. We are running the event despite the cancellation of the South Cluster cross country event, and the WBOP and BOP cross country events. We feel it will be nice for the kids to do the cross country to top off all the hard work many have been putting in over the lockdown. The courses will be the same as last year, but the day will be formatted differently. Each year group will compete separately, and each year group will leave before the next one arrives to keep in line with the social gathering number limits. Approximate timings of the races will be given closer to the date.
Our fabulous Sport Leaders will run with all of our Year 0-4s, leading the way and helping those who need extra assistance.
Spectators will be asked to remain in the designated areas and the spacing and numbers will depend on the Covid-19 level at the time.
Remember the TPS cross country is mainly about fun and participation, but also allows the kids to challenge themselves and be proud of their efforts.
CANCELLED TERM 2 EVENTS
WBOP Inter-school Amazing Race
Friday 15th May
WBOP Rippa Rugby World Cup
Wednesday 20th May
BOP Rippa Rugby World Cup
Wednesday 10th June
BOP Primary School Squash Competition
Thursday 11th June
South Cluster Cross Country Championships
Tuesday 9th June
WBOP Cross Country Championships
Wednesday 17th June
BOP Cross Country Championships
Tuesday 23rd June
Primary Gymnastics Competition years 3&4 and years 5&6
Friday 19th June
Tauranga City Basketball Miniball World Cup years 5&6
Date TBC June
SUMMER SPORTS TEAM UNIFORMS TO BE RETURNED
Please return all School PE tops, and any other sports equipment borrowed in Term 1, as this will need to be redistributed to our winter sports teams.
DETAILED INFORMATION FOR OUT OF SCHOOL SPORT
Future Ferns Netball run by Harbourside Netball Centre
Harbourside Netball Centre have changed the format for Saturday netball in order to follow the guidelines and restrictions set from the Government for Covid-19. Teams will be allocated court times determining when teams must arrive and leave the grounds. It is also probable that spectators will be kept to a minimum, and only one spectator per player will be allowed to enter the venue. There will be other health and safety rules which will be explained further with the team lists.
Year Groups
Year 1&2
Year 3&4
Year 5&6
Dates
Saturday 25th July to Saturday 26th September
Court times
10:50am – 12:05pm
10:50am – 12:10pm
Or
12:15pm – 1:35pm
12:15pm – 1:35pm
Or
1:40pm – 3pm
Cost per player
$50
$50
$56
ANZ Future Ferns Netball includes small-sided games as it has been proven that this is the preferred method to improve fundamental movement and ball skills.
All games are played at Harbourside Netball Centre, Blake Park, Mt Maunganui.
All players will be provided with either a netball dress or a netball skirt. Skirts are to be worn with the TPS PE top which can be purchased from the office for $26.50 or borrowed from the sports office.
Each team will require someone to coach, manage and umpire the team. I do know of a few college students who may be willing to coach and / or umpire, but they will expect to be paid for the umpiring: $5 no qualifications, $10 junior qualified, $15 senior qualified. Let me know if your team would like the opportunity to have a college student involved.
The draw will be posted on the sports notice board outside the school library, plus can be found on the following website:
BASKETBALL run by Tauranga Basketball Association
Tauranga City Basketball have made changes to the competition structure and rules for the 2020 basketball season. The most significant change allows Tauranga City Basketball to align with the 100-person limit restrictions. There will be no spectators at any of the games, therefore, parents must drop off and pick up. Only coaches and managers will be allowed in the venue with the players. There are other hygiene and safety rules that must be followed, and these will be explained with your team lists.
LITTLE LEAGUE
Years 1&2
MINIBALL
Years 3&4
BASKETBALL
Years 5&6
Dates
Monday 8th June to Monday 17th August
Tuesday 9th June to Tuesday 22nd September
Friday 12th June to Friday 18th September
Venue
QEYC
QEYC and / or Trust Power Arena
QEYC and / or Trust Power Arena
Round times
4:00 – 5:00pm
30 minutes per round
4:00 – 5:30pm Trust Power Arena
4:00 – 6:30pm QEYC
545minutes per round
4:00 – 9:30pm Trust Power Arena
4:00 – 7:00pm QEYC
45 minutes per round
Game times
20 minutes games
5 minutes warm up
2x12 minute halves
10 minutes to leave venue
5 minutes warm up
2x12 minute halves
10 minutes to leave venue
Cost per player
$52
$100
$100
Tauranga City Basketball modifies each grade to allow the players to learn the game and be more successful.
All players will be provided with a TPS basketball singlet which is to be worn with TPS school shorts to all games.
Each team will need 2 parent helpers; one to coach and the other to manage the team and do the score bench. These will be the only 2 adults to enter the venue with the team.
The draw will be posted on the sports notice board outside the school library, plus can be found on the following website:
www.taurangacitybasketball.co.nz
SMALL STICKS HOCKEY run by Tauranga Hockey Association
I am still awaiting information from the Hockey Association. Please still email me your registration if your child is interested in playing hockey this season.
TPS Translators
Some of our school families speak various languages (other than English) as their first language. As we have moved to an online learning environment, we are relying heavily on phone calls and emails to communicate with parents. At times, this has been a barrier for some families to gain a comprehensive understanding of what we are trying to communicate. We thought it would be good to set up a TPS database of parents, who speak languages other than English, and would be confident to help us share school information with other school families if needed. For example, a teacher might ring you to ask you to help explain how to log onto seesaw to another parent in their first language, or maybe just to enquire if they are okay and if there is anything they don't understand about school correspondence. If you would be happy to assist us in this way, please email your name, your child's name, and the languages you are confident in to admin@tauranga.school.nz . Thank you
School Calendar
10th June- Wednesday International Student Learning Conferences
15th June- Monday 7:00pm BOT meeting
17th/18th June- Wed/Thurs 3:15- 7:00pm Learning Conferences
2nd July-Thursday 9:00-1:00pm TPS Cross Country, Memorial Park
NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY
No dogs on the school site
Signs have now been installed on school fences, we are asking that all parents, the farmers market and other after hours users of our site are respectful of this new rule.
Contacts
Principal
Fiona Hawes
07 578 6222
Deputy Principal
Cathy Ediker
Assistant Principal
Robyn Caley
Junior Team Leader
Pam Wilkins
Middle Team Leader
Jason Morgan
Acting Senior Team Leader
Jo Howard
International Student enquiries
Cathy Ediker
Business Manager
Susan O'Neill
Office Administrator and Enrolment Officer
Barbara Turley
FOTS meeting (Friends of the School)
With current restrictions and guidelines around numbers of people onsite, contact tracing and sharing food we will not be running any FOTS activities in Term 2.
However we thought it would be good to get together for a quick catch up in Week 8 - Tuesday 2 June at 6.30pm in the staff room. We can discuss a plan for Term 3 or whenever restrictions are lifted and refine our list for fundraisers across the year.
All are welcome, you will be asked to sanitise, sign in and maintain social distancing.