Week 9, Term 4, 2024

A message from the Senior Leadership team

Kia ora, Talofa, Malo e leleli, Kia orana, Fakalofa lahi Atu, Taloha Ni, Ni sa bula, 你好 , Namaste, 안녕하세요, Hola, Sat Sri Akaal.

As we approach the end of another busy year, we want to take a moment to reflect on the many achievements of our amazing school community. From academic successes to sporting triumphs and cultural celebrations, our students have had many opportunities to excel and achieve this year. Our final assemblies have been an opportunity to showcase this across the teams as well as recognise the recipients of the ‘Adventurous Learner’ awards in each classroom.

Teacher Farewells

At the end of every school year, we take the opportunity to acknowledge staff moving on to different opportunities and welcome new staff to the team.

Congratulations to Lee Vaughan who is moving to Tauranga Intermediate School as the Head of Sport. Anna Bruning is moving to Tauranga Boys’ College to teach English. Sasha Groufsky is moving with her family to Singapore and Shannon Dobbs is moving to Greenpark School. We also farewell Simon Franks, a longstanding PPS teacher, who is retiring this year.

I know you will join us in wishing them well as they begin a new adventure and thank each of them for everything they have contributed to our school.

New Teaching Staff

A warm welcome to Sara Dennis who is joining the Tīrairaka team and Portia Clayton joining the Moa team. We also have some part-time teachers joining us to provide classroom release: Welcome to Bethan Fine and Samantha Jaram. Later in this newsletter are the teaching teams for 2025.

Activity Fee

Like most schools, we offer many learning experiences to enhance the curriculum. Most of these extra learning experiences that involve leaving the school site have a cost. The Board of Trustees has set an annual activity fee for each student to help us provide experiences above and beyond the basics in the classroom and support us in achieving our vision, ‘Adventurous Learning’. You will find this activity fee in your child’s HERO account. This activity fee helps us to continue providing the variety of experiences that make being in our kura a special place to learn. We thank you for your support.

Looking Ahead to 2025

We have an exciting year ahead, with several events planned:

Gobsmacked Show: Get ready to be amazed by our talented Year 2-6 students as they take to the stage in our Gobsmacked Show at the end of term 1. Our Year 1 students will perform their own mini production.

Dancing with the Stars: Join us for a black-tie fundraising PTA/BOT event, ‘Dancing with the Stars’ in Term 3. This time it will be our talented parent community showcasing their talents.

Te Rā Rēhia: We're thrilled to be hosting our annual Kāhui Ako Kapa Haka event, Te Rā Rēhia, in Term 4 for the first time. All schools in the local area will be performing.

As we head into the summer break, we would like to thank some key groups in our community. In particular, our BOT and the PTA who have supported us throughout the year to ensure we are providing the very best learning experiences possible. The time and commitment of these parents are much appreciated by all the PPS staff. We also acknowledge our main sponsor ‘ Barfoot & Thompson’ for their support this year and into 2025. We appreciate your commitment to us.

Best wishes for a safe summer and holiday break, and we look forward to a very exciting 2025 ahead.

Ngā mihi nui,

Jacq Price

Tumuaki/Principal

Featured Sponsor

Pillans Point School would like to thank our featured sponsor - Barfoot & Thompson - for their support. Click the image below to contact our local agent, and view their listings.

New Staff Introductions

Portia Clayton | Moa Teacher

I’m Portia Clayton and I’m very excited to be relocating to sunny Tauranga and joining Pillans Point School in 2025.

I have been teaching in the Manawatū for 16 years including serving as a Deputy Principal for the last three. I gain immense pleasure from coming to school each day and thoroughly enjoy connecting with the minds of our incredible young people.

I have four lovely children aged 22, 18, 11, and 9 and a funny labradoodle called Peggy-Sue. In my free time I am generally outside; hunting, fishing, camping, and enjoying all that our beautiful country has on offer.

I am looking forward to meeting with the adventurous learners and the Pillans Point School community.

Sara Dennis | Tīrairaka Teacher

I feel very lucky and excited to join the teaching team in 2025. I am already a member of the Pillans school community, through my daughter, and have relieved here a number of times this year. I know that I am joining a wonderful team.

I am an experienced teacher, with 12 years spent in primary schools and 6 years in ECE. Most recently I have been relieving at Pillans Point and other local schools.

I am passionate about creating learning environments where learners feel safe and valued for who they are. I am married and have 2 beautiful daughters who will also be at Pillans in 2025. In my spare time I love baking, music, spending time with my family and being creative.

Bethan Fine | Release Teacher

I am excited to be joining the Pillans Point team next year as a part-time teacher.

I live in Arataki with my husband Tim, our twin boys Charlie and Leo (6) and our daughter Keira (1). In our spare time, we enjoy exploring new places and love to get outdoors and active whenever we can.

I have taught in a wide range of educational settings both locally and abroad and have recently specialised in supporting learners with additional needs.

It has been lovely to spend some time in the Tūī team this term and I look forward to getting to know more tamariki and their whanau in 2025.

Samantha Jaram | Release Teacher

Ko Samantha Jaram tōku ingoa. My name is Sam and I have been living in Tauranga for most of my life.

I have been teaching for 14 years, most of them being at Omanu School in Mount Maunganui.

I am a busy Mum with a 3 year old daughter, and 1 year old son that keep me on my toes! I love being active, outdoors, and connecting with my family and friends.

I am very excited to become a part of the PPS staffing team and working with, and alongside the amazing tamariki!

Ngā mihi, and have a wonderful summer break.

Whooping Cough (Pertussis)

What is whooping cough?

Whooping cough is an infectious disease caused by bacteria and is spread through the community by coughing and sneezing, in the same way as colds and influenza. Young children, especially babies under six months, can become very ill from whooping cough. Older children and adults get whooping cough too, which if not diagnosed and treated, may spread to young children.

What are the symptoms?

Whooping cough starts with a runny nose and dry cough. The cough gets worse over the next few weeks, often developing into very long coughing attacks. In babies and children, these coughing attacks may end with a ‘whoop’ sound when breathing in, or end with vomiting.

What should be done to help prevent whooping cough?

Immunisation is the best prevention - Parents should ensure that their children are up to date with their free routine childhood immunisations which include the immunisations against whooping cough. Children are further protected with booster vaccinations at four years and 11 years of age.
Whooping cough immunisation is also recommended and free for women during pregnancy as this helps protect their baby from getting whooping cough when they are very young and before they can get their own routine immunisations starting at six weeks of age.
A free dose of Pertussis vaccine (which also covers Tetanus and Diphtheria) is recommended for adults at age 45 and 65 years.
Good hand hygiene is always beneficial, and it is important to remember to cover your cough and not to cough on, or near, babies.

If anyone has symptoms of whooping cough they should stay away from school and see their doctor for assessment and advice.

If a child or staff member is diagnosed with whooping cough by their GP they need to remain away from school until:

They have completed two days of the antibiotic Azithromycin, or
Five days of other appropriate antibiotics (including Erythromycin), or
Three weeks from onset of cough if no antibiotics given.

Further information on whooping cough and immunisation:

Whooping Cough | KidsHealth NZ

Sport

WOW, what a big term of sport we have had!

We have had kids involved in tennis, athletics, orienteering, cricket, squash, American flag football, rippa, volleyball, kiwi-tag, flippaball, and more! It has been a great term for sport with so many awesome opportunities for our adventurous learners.

A big shout out to all our volunteer coaches and managers we have had this year! Thank you so much for everything you do. It makes my job so much easier when as many of you as possible select YES to the coach and manager questions. You guys ROCK!

I am trying something different with sports registrations for Term 1. I will open them up next week, Friday 20th December, and leave them open until Monday 27th January, 2025. Please encourage your children to give as many opportunities as possible a go.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and create some treasured family memories.

Meri Kirihimete to you all!

Ngā mihi nui,
Hayley

Sports & Events Co-ordinator

Keen to Korero

Our Keen to Korero leaders have done such an amazing job this year. A special shout out to Lily, Alexis, Frankie, and Mackenzie for all the lunch times they have given up to help teach words, phrases, games, songs, and numbers. Ka Mau te Wehi. This week, our tamariki enjoyed a Kahoot that tested their knowledge of feelings. It was great to have a packed space with lots of enjoyment.

Notices

Readers & Library Books

All readers and library books need to be returned to school. Please check to see if any school resources are hiding in bookshelves, under beds, and behind couches.

School Site Closed | Monday 13th January

Due to health and safety, the school site, including the pool, will be closed to the public on Monday 13th January. On this day, we have a team of arborists working at school. This will include regular maintenance of our trees, as well as removing the magnolia tree by the school pool. This tree has grown too close to the powerlines on Maxwells Road and, when investigated, was found to be diseased. We have begun planning how this space could be used once the tree is removed.

OfficeMax

We know getting ready for the first day back at school can be a challenge for parents and kids. That’s why we’ve teamed up with OfficeMax to make your back to school shop super easy. And if you order in December, you’ll go in the draw to WIN 1 of 5 $1000 cash prizes*.

Your child’s class list is already loaded. Just jump on myschool.co.nz. Simply choose the year your child will be in for 2025, add your details, then click and confirm - and OfficeMax will get your delivery underway. We encourage you to order early to ensure your child has all their stationery requirements ready to go in plenty of time for the start of Term 1. Order in December and choose to receive your order straight away or in January.

So, go ahead and beat the back to school rush, order today and give them the best start possible.

Please remember that book bags are optional if you already have one. Click the trashcan icon next to the book bag to delete this product.

OfficeMax makes it super easy with these great benefits.

· Free delivery on orders over $70* - Consider teaming up with a friend, or topping up your order with home stationery needs!

· Pay now or in easy instalments - internet banking, credit card, debit card or pay in 4 interest free payments over 6 weeks with Zip

· School Rewards - when you shop on myschool.co.nz we earn rewards* that can be used to purchase extra resources for school

· Beat the back to school rush - avoid queues and busy malls by shopping online from the safety and comfort of your home

· WINZ quotes - available by contacting 0800 724 440 or via email enquiry@myschool.co.nz

#Zip Pay in 4 is available to approved applicants only and subject to completion of satisfactory credit checks. For more information visit myschool.co.nz/zip. T&Cs and late fees apply. Zip Co NZ Finance Limited FSP 598969.

*T&Cs apply, see myschool.co.nz for details.

If you prefer not to purchase directly from OfficeMax, you can also pre-order packs from our school website with no shipping fees. Pre-ordering on our website is only available until January 15, 2025.

We look forward to your child having a successful start to the new school year!