Pinehill School News, 8 December
8 December 2021 - Week 8, Term 4
Message from our Principal
Kia ora tātou,
Thank you Parent Helpers!
Usually, this is the week we would hold a special onsite morning tea for all our parents who volunteer their time to help us out throughout the year so we can say thank you! Unfortunately, our Level 3.2 procedures mean we are unable to host an onsite morning tea this year. However, it is important we acknowledge our wonderful parents.
We are very fortunate with the help we receive. We have parents, grandparents and family members come into our classrooms each week to help with a multitude of things. These include helping with reading or learning support in the classroom, being a parent helper on class and school trips, and leading the Walking School Bus. We have parents who volunteer to help on road patrol all year in rain, hail, thunder and when lucky, a beautiful summer's afternoon.
We value your time and support. When a parent tells us that they have time to come in and help in the classroom, or on a trip, it’s a bit like a Lotto win for us. We get very excited! And of course, the children love you being a part of their school day too. Thank you parents and family members for volunteering and giving your time. We really value this!
An extra special THANK YOU shout out to Grant Fickling and Calla Cheng who have supported us with morning and afternoon road patrol on a daily basis whilst we have been in Level 3.2 and have been unable to have our students out patrolling.
A special THANK YOU shout out also to FOPS (Friends of Pinehill School). This group of mums work tirelessly on fundraising for our school. Multiple lockdowns this year did not slow them down! This year the FOPS group have organised and run fundraisers such as Fun Food Friday, second hand uniform sales, food stalls at our picnic, disco, and the list goes on. Thank you FOPS for all you do to fundraise for our school. You are amazing! Jessica Ke, our FOPS chairperson, thank you for leading the FOPS team always with a bright smile and calmness.
Although we are unable to host a morning tea, we have sent out an electronic morning tea e-card to all our helpers with background music and a Thank You message as a small token of our appreciation.
Thank you parents, grandparents and family members for volunteering and giving your time to the Pinehill School Family.
Staff Updates
Nancy Beedell has been successful with a position in another school which will commence next year. Nancy's last day with us will be Monday 20th December. We wish you all the best with your exciting new journey ahead Nancy and we will miss you after your nine years of loyal service to the Pinehill School staff and community.
Welcome to Christine Johnston who is joining our Year 5/6 teaching team in 2022. Christine is an experienced teacher and team leader, who joins us from Marina View School. Her children spent some time at Pinehill and she looks forward to rejoining the Pinehill Community.
Farewell to Wendy Chatterton and Samantha Peacock who have been in fixed-term teaching positions during 2021 covering teacher leave. We wish Wendy and Samantha all the best with their future endeavours. We really appreciate all their hard work and dedication to our Pinehill learners.
Jen Powell is moving to an office position at another school. Jen's last day with us will be on Tuesday 14th December. We wish you all the very best with your new journey ahead Jen.
Chloe Warwick (Year 2 teacher) has exciting news to share! Baby Ava was born on Wednesday 1st December at 10:41pm weighing 3.2kg. We are absolutely delighted for Chloe and her family. We know they will be enjoying this magical, special time.
Next Year's Teacher
Also in the last couple of weeks at school, another event that would also take place is a ‘Meet your new class teacher’. This is timetabled so that students can go along to their new class for the upcoming year, meet their new teacher, and also the classmates who will be in their class with them.
Unfortunately, with our part time, full time and distance learning school, this is another event we have also planned for differently this year. Instead of an onsite visit, which isn’t possible with staggered days, our teachers are all working hard on an Introduction flyer! This is a one pager, including the teacher’s name, room number, photograph and write up all about them. This flyer will be included in the report envelope pack which goes out in the last week of school. Please take time to read through the teacher introduction with your child, discuss the new room number and year level, and read about the teacher together. During the holiday break please feel free to visit the school and show your child where their 2022 classroom is located.
Reports
The Year 0-3 students have their last onsite day (aside from the full time registered students) on Wednesday 15th December. Our Year 0-3 students will receive their end of year school report on this day to take home.
The Year 4-6 students will receive their end of year school report on Thursday 16th December to take home.
If your child/ren are remaining at home to do online learning for the remainder of the year, you are able to pick up your child/ren’s school report from the school office on Thursday 16th (Y0-Y3) or Friday 17th December (Y4-Y6) before midday. Please ensure you wear a mask and sign in on the QR tracking code.
A reminder that our last day of school is on Friday 17th December and we close at 12:00pm. Please ensure that your child/ren know the early finish arrangements for the last day of school.
Reminders from last week's newsletter
Student collection of belongings (please see Foodbank notice also for if you would like to contribute)
Now that we have confirmation as to what the remainder of the year will look like, we are aware that some children will remain at home for the rest of Term 4 and access learning from the distance learning model. With this in mind, please support us in collecting your child's belongings so that teachers can do their end of year class clean up. Teachers will collect all your child’s belongings and place them in a bag. The bags will be labeled with your child's name and room number and delivered to the school hall. The deputy principals and myself will be located in the hall on Thursday 9th and Friday 10th December (9:00am-2:30pm) for you to come into the car park and pick up your child/rens belongings. Please come up the main hall steps. One of us will be there to collect your child's bag for you. Please wear a mask and sign in on the QR barcode on the hall door.
Prizegiving / Graduation Year 6
As we remain in Level 3.2 we know prizegiving, unfortunately, can not take place in its traditional form. We will go ahead with a Level 3.2 Prizegiving plan which meets our Health and Safety requirements.
We invite all Year 6 students to attend a prizegiving/graduation onsite on Wednesday 15 December. This is not an onsite learning day but a special invitation to Year 6 graduating students. It will be held outside under the Taumaru (covered basketball court by the field). It will begin at 9:15am and will be approximately one hour, after which students will need to be picked up.
Year 6 students can arrive at the Spencer Road entrance from 8.40 and go to their classrooms.
PIck-up from Spencer Road at 10.30.
Unfortunately, parents will not be able to attend prizegiving this year, as we adhere to numbers and guidelines. Students will sit in their class lines spaced out with their Year 6 teacher and will be required to wear their mask.
We will have a prizegiving table set up and run through a presentation like we would if we were in the hall. We have organised Marie Homan to take photographs and to video the Year 6 prize giving/graduation. The video will be available for our families to view at home. Parents whose children are receiving cups or certificates this year will be notified. If you are able to drop your child off and collect them from this special end of year ceremony that would be great.
Please complete the survey to confirm your Year 6 child’s attendance to help us prepare seating for this event.
We unfortunately won’t be able to hold our Year 6 graduation breakfast this year. However we have a group of parents who have been busy behind the scenes putting together graduation bags for our Year 6 students to collect at the prizegiving/graduation.
We will also be able to involve our Year 6 students in the traditional tree planting ceremony that would usually take place at the graduation ceremony with social distance.
Year 1-5 Prizegivings
The prizegiving ceremonies in all our other year levels will take place during a day students are scheduled onsite for part time school. These will all be held outside under the Taumaru and will include a slideshow and acknowledgment of certificate recipients.
The dates for the different year level prizegivings are as follows:
- Year 1/2 - combined on Tuesday 14th Dec at 9:15am (a junior day at school)
- Year 3 - Tuesday 14th Dec at 10:00am (a junior day at school)
- Year 4 - Thursday 16th Dec at 9:15am (a senior day at school)
- Year 5 - Thursday 16th Dec at 10:00am (a senior day at school)
TOY AND FOOD BANK DONATIONS
As we all know Christmas will be here soon. Traditionally, this is the time of year we get to celebrate and spend time with whānau and friends. We give and receive gifts, eat yummy food and relax and enjoy each other's company. For many in our community the last two years have been particularly tough. In keeping with our Pinehill Way value of Te Manaaki (Respect) we are organising a collection of toy and food donations which we will pass on to the Albany Bays Salvation Army to distribute to those in need in our community.
Things to donate:
non-perishable food items like canned goods, rice and pasta in non-perishable packaging, or UHT milk that does not require refrigeration.
New children's books.
New toys.
Ways to donate
Tamariki who are currently attending school in person can donate by bringing in their items and giving them to their classroom teacher.
Parents who are collecting student belongings this Thursday 9th or Friday 10th December can drop their donations into the box in the hall.
Thank you for helping us care for our community.
Full School Assembly - Monday 13th December at 9:00 am
This will be our final whole school zoom assembly for the 2022 school year!
Families at home are welcome to join us. Please ensure your child’s microphone is on mute so there is no background noise while the assembly is running. Details for the Zoom assembly are below.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83508818242?pwd=N3p4OWJ5Ny9sNTl1VXA5THRrbnZSUT09
Meeting ID: 835 0881 8242
Passcode: J9v27Y
As always, please let us know if there is anything you need to support you and your tamariki during this time.
Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini
Success is not the work of one but the work of many.
Ngā mihi nui,
Carla Veldman, Principal
Board News
Board of Trustees Policies
All school policies are available through School Docs - click here
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board@pinehill.school.nz
Families leaving the school
If your family is leaving our school and moving to another school that does not use ezlunch or Kindo for school payments, you need to close your account. If you’re not sure about the new school, log in, go to My Details and click on the list of schools, scrolling to find your new school.
If your new school is NOT on the list, use the 'close account' button on that screen. You can choose to donate your balance to school or have it paid out to your nominated bank account.
Basketball 2022
Splash Polo 2022
Mid Bays Music School 2022
Mid Bays Music School 2022 enrolments open on the 1st of December!
Our highly qualified tutors make learning music relevant and enjoyable.
Any enquiries, please email mbmusic@mbi.school.nz
Music tuition for $150 - $250 for the whole year. (This includes the book hire but NOT the instrument hire)
When: Weekdays after school or Saturday mornings
Where: Murrays Bay Intermediate School
Start date: Early February (exact date to be confirmed)
Age: Group lessons are open to 6-12 year olds but there are age requirements for some instruments. Please check our website for more information.
Instruments offered: Drums, Bass, Guitar, Ukulele, Saxophone, Clarinet, Keyboard, Trumpet, Recorder, Flute, Violin, and Viola. Here is a page to find more about each instrument.
Enrolments will be through Kindo so make sure you have an account. Any troubleshooting solutions will be online at www.mbmusic.org Spaces are limited and some of our instruments have sold out within the first 48 hours! So get in quick!
Contact Us
Email: info@pinehill.school.nz
Website: https://www.pinehill.school.nz
Location: 2 Hugh Green Drive, Pinehill, Auckland 0632, New Zealand
Phone: 09 4780301