School Newsletter
20 May 2022, Term 2 - Week 3
Dear Parents, Whānau and Caregivers
A special welcome to Thomas who has started at Paparangi in Team Pounamu - Nau mai, Haere mai! Welcome also to Jesse who has started school in Uenuku. Kia ora and welcome to our friendly school!
Thanks for coming to your child's Learning Conferences
We had a pleasing turnout with 60% of parents coming to see their child's teacher this week. Teachers enjoyed connecting with parents and talking together about student's learning progress, social skills and contributions in class. If you weren't able to attend Learning Conferences this week you are welcome to contact your child's home class teachers to make an alternative time within the next two weeks.
Covid Update
We continue to have excellent hygiene measures in place, especially now that we encounter cooler weather and other winter illness arise. We are experiencing a surge of children unwell from other illnesses apart from Covid. Parents will be asked to collect their child if they are unwell at school for any reason. We strongly encourage Y4-6 students, all staff and visitors to continue wearing face coverings when indoors.
22% of our children and staff have tested positive since our first student Covid19 case in March and we currently have two active cases across the whole school. That means there is just under 200 children and several staff who haven't had Covid. Therefore if we have an increasing number of cases within a class, syndicate or across the school, we will implement compulsory mask wearing for everyone’s safety for a set period of time. We will keep in touch with families if the situation changes for us.
Community Consultation about Health Education at Paparangi School
Next week parents, whānau and care-givers will be invited to share what is important to them in relation to Health Education and the needs of their child/ren. Your opinions are important and are considered when determining the Health Education programme at Paparangi School.
You will be invited to take part in a survey about Health Education, which will take you to a google-form - please allow 10 minutes to complete the survey. Each family who completes the survey before the closing date has a chance to go into a lucky prize draw to win a $50 grocery voucher. The survey will be sent by email in the middle of next week and closes at midday on Friday 10 June. Along with the survey instructions you will be sent guidelines about the Health Education programme that is currently provided at Paparangi School. This information will help you to complete the survey.
Teacher Only Day Reminder - Combined Local Schools Event
Our local intermediate and four primary schools are uniting to share knowledge and skills at a Professional Learning Day to be held on Friday 3 June (attached to Queen's Birthday weekend). Our teachers and teacher aides are looking forward to attending this event where we can learn about the amazing things that are happening in each other's schools.
Ngā mihi nui
Tracey Arthurs
Principal
Sports News
Well done for Cross Country Race Day!
What an amazing day we had last Thursday for the school cross country! There was an amazing display of GRIT from our runners and caring for 'Others' with our supporters. It was wonderful to see so many parents come along to support everyone after such a long time of not being able to do this. Well done to everyone who took part, and to the following senior students from year 4-6 who are heading to the Northern Zones event next week. We wish you all the best, take GRIT with you, go out and have fun.
Year 4
Curtis, Noah M, Veer, Levi W, Toby
Tegan, Josie, Piper, Willa, Harleen
Year 5
Kaitiaki, Joey, Dominic W, Cooper W, Evan
Lauren, Holly, Eliza, Siena, Emma P
Year 6
Xavier, Archie, Oscar W-H, Zach, Rocky, Max G,
Mila R, Stella, Cherrie, Izzy S, Saniyah
Jumping June
We are very excited to be launching our Jumping June charity fundraiser for The Heart Foundation. This event will be held on Thursday the 30th of June at school with lots of exciting jumping activities planned for that day. Jumping June is all about FUN! Our children will have the opportunity to skip alongside their classmates, with even the teachers getting involved. More information about how the fundraiser works will be coming out soon so please keep an eye out for it. There are many exciting prizes that can be earned along the way too. So get jumping, get excited and keep an eye out for more information.
Netball
Our netball teams are underway with their season! Have a great season, learning new skills on the court and building new friendships as you play. Good luck for the games this weekend!
Hello from the Home and School Committee
Term one was a very quiet term for the Home and School Committee under Red Traffic Light settings but we are looking forward to having a few fun things happening in the upcoming months. We welcome Shayna McGee and Emma Randell who have joined the team and we thank them for their time and enthusiasm.
With the Grant application process underway for the new playground and surrounds, our role is to continue to focus on smaller things for outdoor improvements and fundraise for those. If you have any ideas of what you would like to see around the school grounds, please send us an email, we would love to hear your ideas, paparangihomeandschool@gmail.com
Now that we are able to finally hold larger events - we are so pleased to be able to run a Matariki Disco on Friday the 17th June. More info will follow but please book in the date. Keep your eyes open for our great Winter Holiday Packs for those long winter days - order forms will be out at the end of week 4 and this year we will have the items out on display for you to look at throughout the sales period.
Thank you for your continued support and if you would like to join our amazing team please contact us through the office or send an email.
Nicola and the Team
Friendship Week & Pink Shirt Day
Lots of fun friendship activities have taken place this week, highlighting two of our GROW values 'Respect' and 'Others'. Yesterday's special notice was all about Pink Shirt Day so check it out if you're interested in tips about friendship and anti-bullying. Here are a few photos to enjoy of our pink day!
Welcome back to Paparangi School - Life Education Trust and Harold the Giraffe!
Just after Queen's Birthday weekend, starting on Tuesday 07 June, Life Education and Harold will be coming for a visit. Class lessons have a health focus with all children taking part in this programme. Please give a $6 donation per child towards the costs of running the Life Education programme. Payment can be made on Kindo, internet banking or please send a named envelope to the office with the money enclosed.
Winter illnesses
With Autumn nearly over and winter around the corner, we’re looking ahead to what might come next – not just from COVID-19 but the upcoming cold spells and illnesses that may come with it. With New Zealanders mostly sheltered from exposure to flu in the last two years, as you may know health experts are concerned about NZ's lower immunity to flu. This winter there is the very real possibility of getting the flu and COVID-19 within a short space of time. This may lead to very serious illness and high mortality rates.
If you are normally someone who doesn’t have a flu vaccine, you are strongly encouraged to get your one this year and ensure your children and extended whānau are up to date with any other vaccinations (for example, measles, whooping cough). In 2022, flu vaccinations are free for:
- people aged 65 years and over
- Māori and Pacific people aged 55 years and over
- people who have a long-term medical condition like diabetes, asthma, or a heart condition (ages 6 months+) or are having a baby
- children under the age of four who have been in hospital with respiratory illness such as asthma
There is further information about the symptoms and danger signs for flu on the Ministry of Health website.
As always, we want to keep our students and staff as safe as possible from the harms from illness and to have as many tamariki learning on site for as much as we can. All those good actions we already have in place to reduce the risk of harm from COVID-19 will also help to prevent seasonal illnesses including:
- staying away if unwell and seeking advice about getting tested
- regularly washing hands
- using well-ventilated spaces
- wearing masks when indoors
- cleaning and disinfecting high-touch surfaces regularly
- covering coughs and sneezes
- having a highly vaccinated community (and not just for COVID-19)
You can do the same at home and hopefully together, we will keep our community healthy this winter. As always, if you have any questions about our health and safety plans please get in touch. Paparangi's Orange Health and Safety Plan is on our website and outlines the steps we are taking to minimise the risk for staff and students.
Term 2 Dates
- Northern Zone Cross Country - Tuesday 24 May & pp 26th May, Y4-6 runners
- Samoan Language Week - starts on Monday 30 May
- Cross Country invitational, Thursday 2 June and pp 9 June, Y1-3 runners
- Teacher Only Day, Friday 3 June (school closed)
- Queen's Birthday Public Holiday - Monday 6 June (school closed)
- Life Education Health Lessons, Welcome Harold! Tuesday 7 June - Thursday 16 June
- Matariki Disco, Friday 17 June Y1-3 and Y4-6. More info from H&S on the way!
- Matariki Public Holiday - Friday 24 June (school closed). The inaugural Matariki public holiday that recognises Te Ao Māori will be celebrated this term.
- Last Day of Term 2 - Friday 8 July at 3pm
- Term 3 begins - Monday 25 July at 8:55am
Community Notices
Marrzipan
Wellington Brick Show - Lego Show
over 70 Lego displayed. This show will be raising money for Scouts NZ.
When: 4th and 5th June
Where: Whirinaki Whare Taonga, 836 Fergusson Drive, Upper Hutt
Cost: $7.00 Adult / $5.00 Child (Eftpos available)
Tickets available at www.well-lug.nz/tickets
Bigair Gymnastics
If your child loves doing Cartwheels, Handstands & Flips, then they will thrive at Bigair Gym! TERM 2 CLASSES ARE STARTING NOW, SO DON’T MISS OUT, BOOK IN TODAY! Bigair Gym classes are excellent for fun, focus and fitness! Children learn new skills and develop personal confidence and self-achievement! The structured classes follow a Bigair Badge Programme, which creates focused learning, and allows children to achieve and progress! Inquire about Bigair BIRTHDAY PARTIES too! Its easy to book online at www.bigairgym.co.nz or contact our Bigair Gym office. Bigair Gym Tawa ph.232 3508 e.office@bigairgym.co.nz
Contact Us
Parents, please use the App to send a message about a student absence. It is our preferred method of contact for non-attendance and is quick and easy to do.
Email: office@paparangi.school.nz
Website: https://paparangi.school.nz
Location: 57-59 Beazley Avenue, Paparangi, Wellington 6037, New Zealand
Phone: +64 4-478 6617