Newsletter Term 1, Week 2

Term 1 Week 2 – Friday 12 February 2021

Principal’s Chat

Kia ora everyone, and happy Chinese New Year

Welcome to the 2021 school year at Long Bay Primary.  I am certainly very proud of our community school, and it has been lovely to see all of our returning families, and be back at school with our wonderful staff.  A big welcome to the new students and their family members to our school. It is always a pleasure to see new friendships developing at the beginning of the year as students work with new children and others they may not have had the chance to know so well in the past.  Our community is growing and we have welcomed 39 new students to Long Bay so far this year.
In addition to our new students, I’d like to formally welcome our new teachers; Jonathon Oates (Nikau team) and Elisha Russell (Totara team). An outline of the school structure in 2021 is given further on in the newsletter.

Keeping Well
Please know that we are continuing with the hygiene schedule that we established to manage the pandemic outbreak last year, including asking students to wash/sanitise their hands on entry to the classroom. If your child is unwell please keep them home until they are recovered. If symptoms are similar to a cold or flu, do contact Healthline (free calling on 0800 358 5453) and follow their advice. These measures will help to keep our community safe.
Our hearts are with people who have been affected by the Coronavirus overseas, and we hope everyone’s relatives are well.

A Working Bee on 19 February after school
During the term break we have had a new safe-fall surface constructed beneath our school adventure playground. As part of this project the existing bark has been transported to under the library tree, under the climbing tree. and we have the left over bark in piles on the bank.
The intention is to move the bark mulch pile on to the Ngahere Ako garden, which is next to the pathway to the field. We would really appreciate some help with moving the bark so have planned a Community Working Bee for the afternoon of Friday 19 February, starting at 3.15pm.  All family members are invited to put on their gumboots and help us mulch our lovely native garden. If you are able to bring along a wheelbarrow, a spade or bucket that would be really helpful too.
Many hands make light work so fingers crossed lots of our community members can come along to help us!

School Dates and the Goal Setting Interviews
The newsletter is designed to help to keep our community aware of the events happening within the school, so please keep an eye on the upcoming events. We also ask that you log in to the Seesaw accounts that your class teacher will send home information about, so that you are connected with the classroom learning and notices.

On 23 February we have a meeting planned from 2.00pm till 2.50pm for parents who have English as a second language. The purpose of this meeting is to share aspects of our school organisation that parents may not be familiar about, e.g. how to enrol your child in a sport, how we report to parents on their child’s achievement etc and also to answer any questions parents may have about school organisation.

A hui for our Maori and Pasifika whanau will take place on Thursday 25 February at 3.20pm. We are looking forward to catching up with parents of our Maori and Pasifika children and developing our plans for 2021 together.

A date for all parents to be aware of is the Goal Setting Conferences coming up on 24 February – these are for all students apart from Kowhai team (whose conferences are held later). In order to have time to see all of our families, usual instruction finishes at 12.30pm on this day, so please arrange alternative care for your children from 12.30pm (other than the Kowhai children in Rooms 2, 3 and 5 who will have their usual full school day). If you cannot arrange alternative care do let the office know so we can plan supervision for them.
We do encourage all students to attend their learning conference and talk to the teacher with their parents.

Celebrating Success
A full school assembly, to share our learning and school notices and to celebrate success, is held every second Friday morning at 9am in the hall. Family members are welcome to attend.
If your child has had a special achievement, this could be in sport or with a cultural group, then do encourage them to share this. They would need to write out a little blurb and share this with their teacher before Friday’s assembly so we can add it to the assembly agenda. We look forward to hearing about our students’ achievements.
The next full school assembly is 9.00am on 19 February.

I hope to see many of you at the Working Bee next Friday and the Goal Setting Evening on 24 February, if not before.

Linda
Linda Barton, Principal

School App and Website

2021 Upcoming Events

2021 Term Dates

2021 School Structure

Our school structure remains very similar to the previous year. We retain our six teaching/learning teams, named after New Zealand native trees. We continue with our composite class structure which caters for the range of learning levels within classes and allows for growth across the school.

The 2021 school teaching team structure is as follows:
Kowhai Team Year 0-1:  Tarina MacKay (team leader, R2), with Irene Navarro (R3) and Jitka Bloomfield (R5)
Rimu Team Year 1-2:  Dianne Mayall (team leader, R10), Fenneke Gingell (R11) and Shelley Findlay (R12),
Manuka Team Year 2-3: Lisa Leggett (team leader, R8), Rebekah Webb (R6), Diane Edgoose (R7) and Amber Hobbs (R9)
Nikau Team Year 3-4: Steve Anderson (team leader, R14) with Kate Porter (R15) and Jonathon Oates (R16)
Totara Team Year 4-5: Ellis Walker-Bell (team leader, R23), Elisha Russell (R25), Pip Rive (R22) and Kathryn Hohaia (R20)
Kauri Team Year 5-6:  Miranda Kelly (team leader, R17), Mark Wallace (R18) plus John Keoghan and Nikki Douglas (R19)

Our specialisation and leadership release teachers in 2021 are:
Nikki Douglas – drama specialisation, and sport lead teacher
Ann Grayson – dance specialisation and release
Louise Lumsden – music specialisation
John Keoghan –  digital technology specialisation
Victoria Koopen – te reo Māori specialisation
Anne Kelly – Reading Recovery and learning support teacher
Briar Porter, Emily Sherpa and Helen Fairclough – classroom and leadership release teachers:
Our school is also part of the Oneroa Community of Learners, and our Kahui Ako Within School lead teachers in 2021 are Miranda Kelly, Lisa Leggett and Kathryn Hohaia.

Our senior management team continues with our two Associate Principals, Jo Patrick and Julie Butler, and myself.
The following support staff members are with us in 2021; Christiane Checksfield, Ruth Swift, Katie Henderson, Kaylee McDonald, Sabine Berkman and Lisa Dunlop continue with learning support. Sandy Tickner, Sandra Nicholls and Lorna Corrie provide administration, and John Underwood continues with his role as property manager.

Carolyn, Nick and Mary also return with their music tuition programmes. We are also continuing to work with Long Bay College and their music tutors, who provide our students with an opportunity to learn a wide range of orchestral instruments (please see the note further on in the newsletter about enrolling for music tuition).

Student Leaders: Our students play an important role in assisting with the running of our school (assisting with road patrol, as office, elearning and sports monitors, as leaders of kapahaka, Team Green and the Travelwise team and so on).  As well as the class and school-wide monitors we also have students who represent our school in the Oneroa Kahui Ako (our 7 cluster school community of learning). In 2021 our student leaders are Ben and Regan, with Maddy and Xavier in the deputy roles.

Board of Trustees: Our Board of Trustees are the elected governing body for our school, and hold two meetings each term. Parents are welcome to attend. Meeting dates are advertised in the newsletter and the next meeting is on Monday 22 February at 6.30pm.

Parent Teacher Association: Our PTA play an important role in both fundraising and organizing community events. There is a PTA section in each newsletter and the community is invited to the PTA meetings. New members are always warmly welcomed. The first PTA meeting will be held in the school staffroom at 7.00pm on Tuesday 16 February.

Goal Setting Conferences

The Goal Setting Conference provides an opportunity for parents to meet their child’s teacher and discuss the initial learning goals.

Within each school day your child is expected to be an active participant and is encouraged to be reflective about their learning, so our students are all encouraged to attend the goal setting conference with their parents.

The Goal Setting Conferences this year will be on Wednesday 24 February, with the first interviews at 1.00pm and the final interview at 7.20pm. To enable all families to make a time to meet, the usual class instruction finishes at 12.30pm on the 24th. Please make arrangements for your child to be collected from school at 12.30pm.

On 24 February after school care will begin as usual at 3.00pm. If you are unable to make alternative arrangements for your child/children from 12.30pm we will have school supervision in the library until 3.00pm.  You must email mailto:admin@longbayprimary.ac.nz or call 473 6077 (the Office) if you require supervision for your child/children.

The Okura bus and the Torbay bus will only run at 3.00pm that day. No bus at 12.30pm.

Bookings for the Goal Setting Conferences will OPEN on Friday 12 February and CLOSE on Monday 22 February at 10.00am. To make a booking please click on the following link https://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/ and enter the following school code:

                                        3g3ae

 **There are no Goal Setting Conferences for Rooms 2, 3 and 5—these classes will have a normal school day on 24 February.**

Important School Reminders

Absence from School

If your child is going to be absent from school, please email admin@longbayprimary.ac.nz or call 09 473 6077, option 2 and advise the Office to avoid your child being marked as truant.

If your child arrives late to school, they MUST call at the Office window for a late pass. This is so we know they are safe.

If you are collecting your child early from school, all parents/caregives need to sign them out at the Office. Children are not allowed to leave school grounds early unless they are signed out. Where possible, please do not arrange to collect a child during break times, as it is extremely difficult to locate them. Morning tea is 11.15am to 11.45am and lunch is 1.15pm and 2.00pm.

Buses

If your child/children catch the Torbay bus, please ensure they have their AT Hop card and it has a sufficient amount of money on the account to cover their bus fare. Cash is not accepted. AT Hop cards can be topped up online, at bus stations and at some local retailers.

Eating at School – no nuts or nut products, or birthday treats please. Remember to be wrapper free

We know that parents try and provide healthy lunches for their children at school. Please ensure that children’s lunches don’t include nuts or peanut butter, as we have a number of children who are fatally allergic to nuts. 
Each child does need a drink bottle every day for water only. Please do not send any sugary drinks.
We are encouraging children to eat healthy food that will give them energy to learn at school. So please provide fruit and healthy options – and restrict the amount of sugary foods (ideally no lollies in school lunches).  

We have told the children that they are not to share any food at school. This is because we have children with allergies, and also because parents want to provide their own food so they know what their kids are eating.

For the same reason, please do not send lollipops or cake to school when it is your child’s birthday (no balloons either please as they are so dangerous when kids walk home – choking or chasing an escaped balloon onto the road). This request is also on behalf of parents who have expressed concern about the amount of times their children were offered extras to celebrate other children’s birthdays.

We are aiming to reduce waste, especially plastic, and encourage care for our environment. Please do your best to follow the wrapper free guidelines.

Road Safety

Please remind your children when they are travelling to school that they need to use the school road crossing outside the school gate. To keep them safe they are not to use the crossing at the top of our school street, Ralph Eagles Place.  Also speak to your children about the need to look both ways before crossing, even on the pedestrian crossing areas as we do get reports of children just stepping out on to the crossing by the College without checking that a car is going to stop for them.
Can parents please model good road safety behaviour too, please use the crossing, don’t take a short cut down the bank. 

Collection from School – Please be patient and considerate

Please be attentive when driving (please don’t stop your car on the pedestrian crossing and do wait till the crossing is completely clear on both sides before driving on). Thank you.
Parking is limited, especially once all of the College students return. Patience is the key for managing the after school traffic.  Come early to get a park, park a bit further away and walk to collect, encourage your child to go on the bus, or walk if close enough. Alternatively wait in the car queue by the cul-de-sac and collect your child at the 2 minute pick up area.  YOU CANNOT LEAVE YOUR CAR IN THE 2 MINUTE PICK UP AREA – please just roll down with the queue and wait till your child is there.
If you park on the other side of the road from school, you must use the pedestrian crossing to get there. Only cross to the middle parking area if your car is parked there – and never allow your child to cross there alone. 

To keep our children safe – do not U-turn outside the school gate.

If your car is parked on the pedestrian crossing or on the yellow lines either side of the pedestrian crossing, you are likely to get an Auckland Council parking warden fine.

Please note that the carpark on the school grounds is for school staff only. The school gate will be locked in the afternoon and reopened once the crossing comes in from duty. This is to make the area safer and the traffic flow easier after school.

School Adventure Playground

Please remember that the playground is out of bounds for all students before school.  Children who are accompanied by their parent may play on the playground after school and on the weekends. Children cannot stay and play on the playground after school unless their parent is with them.

Before and After School Care – Kelly Club

Kelly Club is available at Long Bay Primary from 7.00am until 6.00pm in the afternoon.  Please contact Kelly Club on 027 363 3329 or at longbay@kellyclub.co.nz if you have any enquiries or wish to make a booking.  Kelly Club will be using the hall and Room 4 for Before and After School Care this year.

Communication

Our school newsletters are sent out fortnightly and it is really important that parents read the notices. They are sent via email and available on the school website.  Those with Hotmail addresses need to enable Etap as a safe email sender (Etap is the school administration IT system). 

Please update your 2021 child’s/children’s room number/s on the LBP Shop/Kindo. This is required for all sports and PTA sausage sizzle and iceblock days etc.

Sports Buzz, Week 2

Rippa rugby is AVAILABLE NOW in the LBP Shop/Kindo for students in Years 3-6. 

Netball and Hockey – these will be available in the Long Bay online shop within the next few weeks – please keep an eye on the shop, and your emails, if you would like your child to play these sports this year.

Kauri Waterwise Training

PTA News

The next PTA Meeting is on 16 February at 7.00pm at the staff room, all welcome as we plan our fundraising for the year.

Our AGM will be held on 16 March, 7.00pm in the staff room where we receive the annual reports and accounts. The PTA Chair, Secretary and Treasurer will be elected at this meeting.

If you are new to the school, or have been here a while and would like to be part of a friendly and supportive group, we would love you to come and join us.  If you want to know more, email us on longbayprimarypta@gmail.com

Community Sport and Events