Wednesday 11 December, 2024

Week 9 - Scholastic Book Fair

Tuesday

• Celebration of Learning, Holy Trinity Cathedral, 2pm

Thursday

• Year 7/8 Picnic

Friday

• Book Character Parade
• Assembly: Tainui, Sports

Week 10 - Scholastic Book Fair

Monday

• Waka Challenge Day - Whānau welcome from 2pm on the field.

Tuesday

• Parnell Baths

Wednesday - LAST DAY OF SCHOOL, 1pm Finish

• Year 8 Leavers Breakfast
• Year 8 Graduation Assembly

Week 1 - First Week of School

Monday

• Auckland Anniversary Day - School Closed

Tuesday

• First Day of School!

Friday

• Assembly - Mr George

Week 2

Tuesday

• Meet the Teacher Picnic

Thursday

• Waitangi Day - School Closed

Friday

• Teacher Only Day - School Closed

Week 3

Wednesday

• Whānau and Friends Meeting

Friday

• Assembly - Student Leaders

2024

Term 4: Monday 14 October - Wednesday 18 December (School closes at 1pm)

2025

Term 1: Tuesday 28 January - Friday 11 April

Term 2: Monday 28 April - Friday 27 June

Term 3: Monday 14 July - Friday 19 September

Term 4: Monday 6 October - Friday 12 December

Kia ora e te whānau,

As we near the end of another fantastic school year, I am writing to share some exciting updates and plans for 2025 that reflect our unwavering commitment to providing an exceptional learning experience for all of our students.

Our focus next year will be refining how we deliver key aspects of the curriculum. While inquiries remain at the heart of our learning concepts, you will see a more structured and timetabled approach to classroom learning. Literacy and Maths will be taught with greater explicitness, ensuring every child builds a strong foundation in these essential areas.

New Initiatives for 2025

Here are some of the highlights of the enhancements we are introducing:

• ‘Maths No Problem’ Programme: A structured math curriculum taught 1 hour a day, 5 days a week in year-level groups to support mastery and confidence in mathematical concepts.

• Enhance Structured Literacy for Years 0–3: Evidence-based literacy approaches were introduced in year 0-1 in 2024. We will expand this programme to year 0-3 in 2025 to ensure every young learner develops strong reading and writing skills.

• Music Specialist for All Students: A dedicated music teacher will bring creative and enriching opportunities to every child.

• New Assessment Tools: More precise tools in reading and writing to help us better understand and support each child’s progress.

• Improved Reporting: A new reporting format will give more precise insights into students’ English and Math progress and learning behaviours.

Investing in Every Child’s Success

To ensure all children flourish, we are making significant investments across the school:

• Funding four additional classroom teachers to reduce class sizes and improve the student-teacher ratio.

• Adding a literacy support teacher in Years 0–3 to provide extra help to our youngest learners to ensure every child progresses with the skills they need to succeed

• Introducing extension and support teachers in Literacy and Math for Years 4–8, ensuring we have the expertise to respond to all learning challenges we identify when analysing student achievement data.

• Increasing ESOL support to help all learners ensure every classroom is a place where multi-language learners can succeed.

• Expanding STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) opportunities with specialist teachers for all year groups.

• Ensuring equity of access by purchasing more school-owned digital devices for student use.

• Funding enrichment programmes such as Friday Fizz and OE to provide students with hands-on and innovative experiences.

In order to fund these iniatives, the school will need to raise $510 000, the break down of how we intend to do this is below. We thank every family for their support as we work to ensure every learner is given equitable access to excellent learning programmes.

We are confident these changes will enrich the learning environment while our continued investment in for every child at Parnell District School will see continued success across the curriculum. Together, these initiatives will ensure we continue to provide an education that inspires, challenges, and empowers our students.

We are grateful for the ongoing support of our wonderful school community. We look forward to partnering with you in 2025 as we embark on this exciting journey.

Staffing 2025

As we approach the end of the year, we want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to the staff members who will be leaving us. Your dedication, passion, and hard work have made a lasting impact on our school community. We celebrate all you have accomplished here and wish you the best in your future endeavours. Thank you for everything!

Departing teachers

Lauren Clancy

Miss Clancy joined the team in 2017. We were her first school in New Zealand, and she has grown from classroom teacher to junior school learning leader in that time. For many of our children, Miss Clancy will have been the person who welcomed them into school, from their first school visit. We thank Lauren for her dedication to our children, caring for our youngest learners and advocating for sport and fitness across the school.

Vanessa Sharplin

Miss Sharplin joined the team in 2019, and anyone in her class knows the energy and enthusiasm she brings to her role. She has taught across years 5-8 as a learning leader and led staff professional learning. We all saw her talent as she led our choir at the Prizegiving, but she has shown her skills in music, IT, and creating a room where every child succeeds.

Victoria Walsh

Miss Walsh has been a part of our junior school for the last three years, initially in year 2-3 and this year with our year 0-1 learners. Victoria has a talent for creating a calm and focused learning environment for all learners. As her daughter reaches school age, Victoria has chosen to find a school closer to home to ensure she can be part of her community. We thank Victoria for her unwavering effort in her time with us.

Danielle Duberly

Danielle joined us in the middle of 2023, and we were excited to support her as a first-time teacher. She has grown immensely in her time with us, working hard to ensure every child in her class gets the best learning opportunities. We thank Danielle for her calm energy around the school as she moves to a school closer to home and family.

Seriya Sade

Miss Sade returned to us after leaving in 2023 to help ensure the children of room 20 had a fantastic end to their year. Miss Sade delayed her relocation to Melbourne to finish the year with the wonderful children in room 20; we are truly grateful for that. Miss Sade creates a positive and focused environment bringing her sense of fun to everything they do. We love seeing our departing teachers return, especially when they bring energy and passion to the role. We wish Miss Sade safe travels as she heads offshore for 2025.

While we are sad to say goodbye to these members of our whānau, we are committed to continuing the high standard of care and education our students deserve. We look forward to introducing our impressive recruits to you in 2025 at the Meet the Teacher picnic on Wednesday, the 4th of February. We have a fantastic team of new staff joining us with various skills and talents to further enhance learning for all our students.

Ngā mihi nui,

Richard George

Principal

Join us on the school field (weather permitting) this Friday at 9am for the Tainui Assembly, which will include the Book Character Parade and Athletics certificates.

If it is raining, we will assemble in the hall.

This coming Friday 3 December, 2:30pm - 3pm

Join us and explore ‘Celebration’ through the powerful mediums of Fine Art and Graffiti! Each ākonga will channel their unique perspective into a masterpiece, reflecting cultural festivals, personal triumphs, or moments of unity, joy or loss.

We are excited about our waka challenge day on Monday! Children should wear their waka colours on Monday to represent their waka. When they arrive, they will go straight to their waka area.

Te Arawa – Room 31

Tokomaru - Dance Room

Aotea - Room 16

Tainui - Hall

Children will be in their waka group all day, competing in fun challenges. Parents and whānau, we’d love you to join us at 2:00 pm. Come along, bring a picnic blanket, and join us on the field for our tug-of-war challenge! The Whānau and Friends group will sell ice creams, so bring some money!

From camps outside of Auckland to school-based activities and local walks around Parnell students were involved in a week of activities outside the classroom last week.

Look out for a full rundown of our adventures in next week's newsletter.

We are on the lookout for wool insulation from My Food Bag boxes or similar food delivery services. We need a range of medium-sized boxes please.

If anyone is giving away or getting rid of these items, please bring them to the office or Room 17.

Many thanks,

Sue Lyons

STEAM Teacher

As part of Friday Fizz we run a waterwise programme, which includes sailing, kayaking and paddleboarding for Year 5-8 students. We are looking for parent volunteers to help.

There will be some parent training sessions in late January and early February for parents and teachers who are interested in supporting their children in this programme. (Students are welcome to attend training sessions). There is some theory learning and much practical fun on the water to build knowledge and skills.

If you are interested in training or finding out more, please contact

Suzanne Parkinson

Suzannep@parnell.school.nz

Ph 021331116.

A BIG thank you for the wonderful response to our first ever Summer Reading Adventure. Over 150 tamariki have signed up and will be invited to the library during the last few days of this term to choose their books. It is your family's responsibility to make sure they are all returned by Monday 10 February.

Unfortunately, if your child has not returned their normal library books, they will not be able to participate until they are returned or paid for at the office. Please help your child find them.

Thank you for all your support during this year with your child's reading and helping them return their books. Everything you do to encourage them to read or be read to will help them become confident enthusiastic readers.

I love this quote "Children are made readers on the laps of their parents" by Emilie Buchwild

Happy reading

Kath Twomey

Librarian of the Year

Congratulations to our wonderful Librarian Kath Twomey, who has won Librarian of the Year for 2024 out of all the schools in the country. We are so proud of you!

Reminder: Term 4 is a "Summer" term, which means children must always wear a hat outside. Hats must be:

• navy blue
• bucket-style (a brim all the way around)

Have your children grown out of their uniform? Second-hand Uniform Donations needed!

If you have any spare uniform, would you please consider donating it to our Second-hand Uniform Shop at the office so we can assist families with uniform for 2025.

Thank you in advance!

Our Book Fair is on in Room 7 and finishes this Friday. Pop in before or after school.

Congratulations to Tainui for rounding off our Great PDS Bake Off for another successful year! We'll count up the dollars and let you know the final results soon. Thank you to everyone who provided baking to sell at the waka bake sales throughout the year, and to our wonderful volunteers and waka leaders - we couldn't do it without you all!

With 2025 upon us very soon, Whānau & Friends are beginning to organise the PDS biennial Fete. This is a very exciting day in the calendar with lots of fun, games, food and festivities for all the family to enjoy. If you're having a sort-out during the holidays, please don't get rid of any of the above items - we'd love to sell them at our Fete next year. Already have some second hand goods you need cleared before the holidays? Please drop them into Amy at the Office.

Please ensure all items are good quality and clean. No ripped or stained clothing, or broken toys. No soft toys, electrical items, magazines, or DVDs. Just pre-loved items that you would be happy your child was bringing home.

We still have our fabulous PDS Celebrations Cookbook available for purchase from the office for only $35.

We're always looking to welcome new volunteers to the Whānau & Friends team. Whether you'd like to be a Class Representative, help out at the bake sales, assist with the Fete, or donate your time in another way, please complete our online volunteer form at https://bit.ly/pds-waf. You can also email us at pta@parnell.school.nz..

You can now sign your children up for the Weethbix Tryathlon. The Eastern Auckland triathlon is 30 March 2025.

Simply click on this link and be sure to sign up under Parnell School so we can keep in touch in preparation for the day.

https://raceroster.com/events/2025/93895/central-east-auckland-weet-bix-kids-tryathlon