Pāpāmoa Primary

Kia ora koutou,

I have deliberately held off sending a newsletter until now, as we recognise the volume of communication you've already received via Seesaw and from your child's teacher. If you are not yet connected to Seesaw, I strongly encourage you to do so, as it is an essential platform for staying informed about your child’s learning and school updates.

Staffing Updates

Many of you will have heard that our SENCO, Hannah Mortimore, has been appointed as the new Principal of Rangiuru School. Hannah will finish with us this Friday, and we sincerely thank her for her dedication and impact on our school community.

Stepping into the SENCO role is Jemma Rapson, who previously taught in Tuhua. Jemma brings a wealth of experience, having worked as a SENCO for 10 years in her previous school in Wellington. To ensure a smooth transition, Emily Jones has joined our team and will be taking over in Tuhua 2. While we acknowledge that the timing of these changes is not ideal, they are a natural flow-on effect from Hannah’s appointment. We are fortunate to have secured high-calibre staff for these roles, and a thorough handover process has taken place.

A Great Start to the Year

The first three weeks of school have been very settled, with both staff and tamariki enjoying the start of the year. Many children are already engaged in classroom learning as well as extension and intervention groups, which is fantastic to see. Swimming and KiwiCan have been key highlights of the term so far, and it’s great to see students making the most of these opportunities.

Triathlon & Colour Run

Last Friday’s Triathlon and Colour Run were awesome events! Congratulations to all our tamariki who took part, and a special mention to our race winners for both the Triathlon's and Aquathon's. We were proud to celebrate their efforts at our first assembly of the year. The Colour Run was an absolute hit, creating fun memories for students, staff, and parents alike. What a great way to wrap up the week!

Hosting Japanese Students from Sunnyside International School

Next week, we are excited to welcome 12 students from Sunnyside International School in Gifu, Japan. These 11- and 12-year-old students will spend the week with us, working alongside our Year 5 and 6 tamariki in Motiti and Te Manawanui. I have been fortunate enough to visit their school and meet with their Principal, Mr Watanabe, who will be travelling with the group. We hope this is the beginning of a long-standing relationship with their school, with visits becoming an annual event.

Board of Trustees Update

Our Board of Trustees held its first meeting of the year last night. We officially welcomed Danielle Thomson, who has been selected onto the Board following Sarah Webb’s departure at the end of last year.

For those interested in learning more about the Board, including meeting dates and previous minutes, this information is available on our school website.

Looking ahead, 2025 is a Board election year. As our school operates under a split election system, three positions will be available in the September elections. More details will be shared later in the year for those interested in standing.

Building Update

Our new six-classroom block is progressing well, with interior work nearly complete. However, significant work remains on the deck, veranda, and surrounding landscaping.

In the centre of the school, our new library and universal learning support bathroom will be craned onto site on March 13th. This project is expected to move faster than the classroom block, as it involves only four modules instead of thirteen. Landscaping will follow to complete the space.

At this stage, we are on track to have these new spaces operational from the beginning of Term 2.

Following this, the building works moves onto the remediation of the leaky admin building which has a late May early June completion day.

Parking & Pick-Up

Parking has long been a challenge for our school due to our increase in roll numbers, and unfortunately, we do not have the facilities to accommodate all vehicles. Simpson Reserve is not school or Ministry of Education land, so we are unable to use it for parking.

We ask that all families make a clear plan for parking and meeting their children at pick-up time. One option I recommend is parking on Papamoa Beach Road and using the beach walkway off Simpson Road Reserve.

Looking Ahead

We have a lot happening over the next few weeks, and I look forward to seeing you at events, trips, and activities around the school. Thank you for your continued support—let’s make 2025 a great year for our tamariki!

Ngā mihi,
Matt Simeon
Principal

Papamoa Primary School

Kia Ora from the Kiwi Can team

We have been so excited to get back into Kiwi Can this year! This term we have been focusing on Whakawhanaungatanga/Positive Relationships which is all about the strong connections we build with others. The past few weeks we have looked deeper into the importance of positive communication and how that helps build our relationships. The way we speak, act and express ourselves can really make a difference in how we connect with others.

Some energisers and activities we have included to help the tamariki practice these topics are; role play scenario, 'if anyone can a kiwi can', Flags, action twist and traffic. We also told our version of 'How Māui slowed down the sun' to show teamwork and cooperation.

Term 1: 03 February – 11 April

Term 2: 28 April – 27 July

Term 3: 14 July – 19 September

Term 4: 06 October – 16 December

School Starts 8:40am

Morning Interval 10:30am - 11:00am

Lunch 12:40pm - 1.30pm

School Finishes 2:35pm Karewa and Matakana 2:40pm Tūhua and Mōtītī

Please contact the office if your child is going to be absent from school on :

Phone: 542 3261 (absentee message service)

or

Email: papamoaprimary@papamoa.school.nz

or

Website: http://www.papamoa.school.nz/report_an_absentee

Please include your child’s name, team and room number and reason for absence.

If your child arrives at school after 8.40am they are late. Please ensure they sign in at the office before going to class. Thank you.

As part of our School-Links communication system, an automated text message will go out to all unexplained absences. This number is a reply once only.

While we understand that families sometimes need to take time away from school, it is essential that we as a school are notified.

Any absence longer than 20 school days will need to be approved in advance by the school principal. You can do this by sending an email to papamoaprimary@papamoa.school.nz explaining the reason for your child's absence and the dates they will be away. If your child is absent for longer than 20 school days the MOE instructs us to remove a child from our school roll. If you live outside of our school zone there is no guarantee that your child will be able to re-enrol at Pāpāmoa Primary School. It's important to keep communication open between us. If you have any questions or concerns about this process, please feel free to reach out to us.

Thank you for your cooperation and support in your child's education.

School lunches are available everyday. Orders can be made via the School Shop by clicking here! Just one login for every school payment. Simple and easy!

You can order (or cancel) any time before 9am on the day or schedule in advance.

Lunch will be delivered to the school in time for lunch.

Get started now… Click here or go to www.mykindo.co.nz and click ‘create account’.

Help? Visit support.mykindo.co.nz or tel. 0800 EZLUNCH (0800 395 8624) week days 8am-4pm.

It would greatly assist us if you could please advise the office if you have any changes of address, phone numbers or emergency caregiver details.

In the event of an emergency, sickness or injury we need to be able to contact someone who can collect your child.

All students are required to hand in prescribed medications to the office.

Office staff will only administer medicines to students once a form has been completed and signed by a parent or caregiver.

Would you like to know more about our School Policies and Procedures?

We invite you to visit the site at https://papamoa.schooldocs.co.nz
(note that there's no "www.").

Our username is "papamoa" and password "3118".

Phone: 07 542 0865

Location: 312 Dickson Road, Pāpāmoa

Email: admin@papamoa.school.nz
Website: www.papamoa.school.nz
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PapamoaPrimarySchool/