Pāpāmoa Primary

Kia Ora Whānau

I hope you have all managed the parental juggle of school holidays with your tamariki.

As we head back to school on Monday I would like to update you on a couple of things in preparation for the term and a safe return to school.

Teacher Only Days

I know you’ve probably seen a lot of news lately about Teacher Only Days (TODs), especially with David Seymour making some bold statements. I want to clear a few things up and let you know exactly what’s happening from our school’s perspective.

Why Teacher Only Days?

First off, Teacher Only Days aren’t something new. They’ve always been an important part of the school year, giving our staff the chance to dive into professional development, plan ahead, and make sure we’re giving our tamariki the best possible education. If these days happen during term time, we have to make them up at the end of the year by adding extra days—this has always been the case.

It’s also important to understand that getting the right Professional Development providers is no small task, and often, they are booked up during the school holidays. This means we sometimes need to schedule TODs during term time to secure these experts, which again means adding extra days at the end of the year to meet the Ministry of Education’s expected number of instructional days.

In recent years, the government has given schools additional TODs as part of collective agreement bargaining. This is because the education landscape has been constantly changing with new priorities and curricula from different governments, and teachers need time to work through these changes.

David Seymour’s Comments?

David Seymour has said a lot recently about Teacher Only Days, suggesting that we’ve been given too many, what was not as clear is that his proposed changes would come into effect from 2026.

What hasn’t been mentioned is that just days before his media comments, schools received emails from the Minister of Education via the Ministry of Education (MoE) confirming that we would be granted two extra Teacher Only Days specifically to prepare for the rollout of the new Maths Curriculum in 2025. These days don’t have to be made up at the end of the year.

It’s a bit confusing when you hear one thing in the media, but in reality, the Minister and Ministry is giving us the time we need to get our heads around these changes before they come into effect. We’re still waiting for more details on this new Maths Curriculum, including who will be running the professional development sessions, so until then, we’re in a bit of a holding pattern.

What’s Happening at Our School?

We’ve already confirmed and advertised a Teacher Only Day this term for Friday, Nov 15, so please mark that in your calendars if you haven’t already. On that day, our team will be working hard to ensure we’re well-prepared for the upcoming changes.

Looking ahead to 2025, we’re still waiting for information from the Ministry of Education about the Maths Curriculum changes and the professional development that will go along with it. Once we have that information, we’ll be able to set our Teacher Only Day dates for next year and give you as much notice as possible.

We Appreciate Your Support

We understand that Teacher Only Days can be tricky for families, and we don’t take that lightly. But these days are crucial for us to stay on top of the ever-evolving education landscape, and ultimately, they benefit our tamariki.

Thanks so much for your continued support. If you have any questions or need more information, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me directly or even better contact the MOE.

Hats - Term 4 and Term 1

Term 4 is the start of our two terms, during which Tamariki are expected to wear their school hats when outside.

The success of this comes down to the school and parents being on the same page. With term 4 just around the corner, now is a good time to dig out those school hats and get ready for next term.

We accept there were mixed messages and confusion around hats in term one, so this information will hopefully clarify things moving forward.

Hat Requirements:

All students are required to wear school-approved sun hats whenever they are outside during school hours in terms 1 and 4.

This includes breaks, Physical Education (PE), sports, and any outdoor class activities.

Students without hats must remain in designated shaded areas during break times and outdoor activities.

Designated Shade Areas are:

Matakana/Hall Shade, Decks of Karewa, Tuhua Shade by the new playground, Te Manawanui and Motiti, Karewa Sandpit and shade area.

As the poster attached outlines No Hat? = No Sun - You're in the shade for Fun

We strongly encourage you to name your child's hat. Many hats end up in lost property, and if they are named, it is much easier to return them to your child's class.

We appreciate your support as we move into term 4.

Building Update

Many of you will have either been at school with your children over the holidays, using the school playground or will have driven past and seen the activity onsite.

To date we have had what was known as Block T demolished in readiness for our new 6 classrooms to be delivered to site later in the term. We have also have a major power relocation completed as well as a number of other minor preparation works around the site. A next major milestone will be the removal of the dirt 'bund' that runs down Parton Road which for many of the long serving staff and board members is something they are excited to see happen as it will tidy up an area of the school that has been really hard to maintain and give a completely new window into our awesome school.

The building site is now completely fenced and we are making plans for each class to visit the site/fence with their teacher on Monday to talk about the being safe on our side of the fence.

Many whānau used the gate at the southern end of Dickson road next to the older junior playground. Please note this entry is completely out of action and part of the constructions site now. We suggest you will need to make a plan with your children for a new meeting point and pick up location.

I have attached some photos below to show some of the progress.

Parking

An ongoing frustration for us here at school is the pick up area, especially after school. We know the set up of our school is not ideal for how many kids we have, and it is certainly not set up with pick up and drop off bays like all of the newer Papamoa Schools. Sadly, this is not going to change any time soon as it is beyond the school gates it becomes a council issue.

We would AGAIN like to reiterate the following

1. The car park at the front of the school is NOT a drop off and pick up zone. Please do not use these car parks as collection and points for your children after school. The visitor parks are for visitors to the school.

2. Please do no park on the yellow lines or the bus stop. While you might just think its just for a couple of minutes, when there is a constant line of people doing this is becomes more than just a couple of minutes.

One of the main factors for not parking on those lines - aside from being agains the road code and law - is that our tamariki who are on road patrol need line of site to safely operate the crossing.

Reduced Carparks on Dickson Road

Over the next few months, parking on Dickson Road will have two less car parks than we currently have to allow access to the building site. You may see a black Watts & Hughes Ute parked in one of those parks, this is the site managers ute. We ask you to please respect these parks morning and afternoon.

I hope the above information give you some insights into what is happening at school and the set up for term four. Should you have any questions or queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

Ngā mihi

Matt Simeon

Principal

Hats are available to purchase from the school office or on our school shop: https://www.papamoa.school.nz/shop

Children in Year 6 at Pāpāmoa Primary next year will have the option of wearing a ‘Year 6 Hoodie’. Should you wish your child to have a hoodie, please place your order on our school shop (under School Uniform) https://www.papamoa.school.nz/shop

The cost of a hoodie is $73 each and can include your child's name.

The name must be a maximum of 14 characters. It should be their first/last name or both, a shortened name will be accepted, but please, no nicknames.
Examples: Corban - Corbs = Yes, Olivia - Liv, Livvy, Livs = Yes, Sam - Sammy = Yes, Jorgia - Jorg = Yes, Matt - Big Dog = NO

We have very limited samples (Size 11-12, S Adult, M Adult) in the office for the children to try on for the correct size if you would like to do that.

Orders close on Sunday 13th October 2024 and this will be the only opportunity to order a personalised hoodie.

Hoodies will arrive early in Term 1 2025.

If you have any questions, please email admin@papamoa.school.nz

Our school website has the link to our school events calendar. Click on the link below to see all of the term events that parents need to know about.

The calendar has been updated with our Term 4 Events:

https://www.papamoa.school.nz/news-events

The mobile dental unit will be onsite from Monday 14th October to Thursday 12th December 2024

The dental team will be seeing the most overdue tamariki/children during this visit. As the clinic will be prioritising all their appointments, it may not be possible for the dental staff to see all students during this visit.

Our dental team will notify the whanau and families prior to their tamariki’s dental appointment.

When you receive this notification, please contact the team to update any contact details, confirm medical details or renew permissions for examination and dental x-rays.

Current service demands and delays weigh heavily on our teams and your kindness and support is appreciated.

If you have any queries or urgent dental concerns, contact (027 303 5416) or 0800 TALK TEETH for further help and advice.

The extremely popular Fun First Football Programme is back on our Pap Primary sports field on Thursday after school in Term 4! This is their busiest term so Book early to guarantee a spot for your child as they will fill up fast . This is for kids aged 4yrs old - 9yrs old. Simply go to https://funfirstfootball.co.nz/ for more info or to Book today!

Term 1 05 Feb – 12 Apr

Term 2 29 Apr – 05 Jul

Term 3 22 Jul – 27 Sep

Term 4 14 Oct – 18 Dec

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, room 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.

The mobile dental unit will be onsite from Monday 14th October to Thursday 12th December 2024

The dental team will be seeing the most overdue tamariki/children during this visit. As the clinic will be prioritising all their appointments, it may not be possible for the dental staff to see all students during this visit.

Our dental team will notify the whanau and families prior to their tamariki’s dental appointment.

When you receive this notification, please contact the team to update any contact details, confirm medical details or renew permissions for examination and dental x-rays.

Current service demands and delays weigh heavily on our teams and your kindness and support is appreciated.

If you have any queries or urgent dental concerns, contact (027 303 5416) or 0800 TALK TEETH for further help and advice.

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/