Kia ora koutou katoa

Today I heard the quote, 'Life works better when we work together', which bought a smile to my face as it perfectly reflected what we have been striving to achieve at Pembroke School through our vision of 'Succeeding Together'.

It beautifully sums up the importance of school and home having a great child focused partnership and that we can achieve so much better for our tamariki when we work together.

Already we have had wonderful parents stepping up this year through our PTA and getting organisation underway for our upcoming Show and Shine on 16th March and others who are helping to coach our touch teams, thank you!

As you will have read our PTA are focusing on two key fundraisers this year. The Show and Shine on Sunday 16th March at the Stratford A&P Show Grounds and our Pembroke Country Carnival in November. In order for this day to be the best it can be we will need parent helpers. Keep an eye out for information coming out this week on ways that you can help out on the day. As you will see in this newsletter the funds raised make a big difference to what we can offer our students.

Today our Year 7 and 8 students who have put themselves forward to be considered for Head and Deputy Boy/Girl presented their Head Student speeches to our school. Eight students presented very impressive speeches, they made not only themselves, but their whanau and school very proud with the mature, thoughtful and well presented speeches made to the school. Year 7-8 and staff have the opportunity to vote and we are looking forward to annoucing the results this week.

We are looking forward to another great Pembroke Whanau Backyard Potluck BBQ this coming Thursday 13th at 5.30pm. We had a great turn out and a great time last year. If you have a brazier that you can bring along for Marshmellow Roasting this would be very much appreciated. See you then!

Kia maiea tō rā

Wendy Single

It is important that children come to school each day in the correct uniform, showing Ambition in their desire to wear our uniform correctly and Respect for the fact we have a particular uniform that everyone is expected to wear. Thank you to all those parents who consistently support your child/ren and ensure they are in correct uniform.

If your child is not in correct uniform they may be provided with the correct items by the school for the day.

A reminder about our Pembroke School Uniform.

Compulsory items:

Pembroke School Polar Fleece and blue Pembroke Polo.

It is also compulsory that the leggings, skirt or shorts are either plain black or alternatively your child can wear the Pembroke shorts or skort.

In Terms 1 and 4, the Pembroke School or school provided blue bucket hats are the only sunhats to be worn.

Additional items:

In Terms 2 and 3, children can wear the Pembroke School Beanie.

A jacket is also available for purchase, these match our school colours but do not have a school logo making them more versatile.

Further clarification about uniform items:

Shorts: Shorts are to be plain black, although shorts with the Canterbury Logo or other small plain logo are acceptable, this does not include league shorts such as Warriors shorts that are multi-coloured. Shorts with white rims around the bottom of the legs are also not school uniform.

Long legged Colourful Underwear is not to be wore under shorts. We have reinforced this time and again with our male students. If they are wanting to wear long legged underwear under their plain black shorts this underwear MUST also be plain black.

Skirts and bike shorts: Skirts and shorts must be at least mid thigh length. School is a very active place and it is important that the length of skirts and bike shorts allow for students to participate in all school activities whilst maintaining modesty.

We have worked very hard over the past few years to ensure that our students and school have a uniform that we can all be proud of whilst also making it accessible to all whanau by minimising costs and if necessary allowing for payment plans. If at any stage you are struggling to provide your child with the correct uniform, please discuss this with Carol at the school office or email admin@pembrokestratford.school.nz.

Please support your child/ren to wear their correct school uniform everyday.

Just a reminder as we head into a new year in regards to communicating with teachers. If you have any low level, day-to-day issues that you want to discuss with the teacher or something that is important that they know in relation to your child please feel free to pop in and discuss this with them at the beginning or end of the school day. Please keep in mind that beginning of day is often used for prep time to set learning up for the day and welcome and settle students and at the end of the day teachers may have meetings or professional learning they are attending.

It is very important that if you have any issues that require more indepth discussion or you are in a hightened or upset state about a matter that you book an appointment to see the class teacher. You can do this through Carol in the school office or by emailing the teacher directly.

ben@pembrokestratford.school.nz

irene@pembrokestratford.school.nz

carylanne@pembrokestratford.school.nz

vincent@pembrokestratford.school.nz

For the most part we have part we have parents who are highly respectful in their engagement with both staff and students. Very occasionally we encounter situations where parents are not following this process and are behaving in a manner that does not align with our School Community Code of Conduct. We take this very seriously. Any staff member is able to ask a parent to leave school grounds if they are breaching our Code of Conduct, if this occurs you are to leave immediately without further incident. The matter will then be passed onto the principal and if appropriate the School Board.

It is very important to us that any conduct on school grounds or at school events is appropriate, respectful and considerate of the fact that Pembroke School (and all activities associated) is a child centred environment. If you as a parent see behaviours from parents, caregivers or other members of the community that are in breach of this then please let a staff member know as soon as practicable.

If at any stage you have issues or concerns pertaining to the school, please follow our school

concerns and complaints procedures in regards to Raising Concerns and Complaints, this can be found on our SchoolDocs Website:

https://pembrokestratford.schooldocs.co.nz/

If another parent has a concern or complaint pertaining to the school, please share the above information with them, the school is always more than happy to work through concerns with all parents.

It has been some time in the planning and working hard behind the scenes but we are very proud to finally have our tamariki looking awesome in their new sports tops. Thanks to a generous donation from NZCT (New Zealand Charitable Trust) Mr Sharp and I have been working with Knock Out Sports to come up with a design that not only represents our kura but also stands out amidst the sea of blue at sports days. Our new sports uniform uses our school logo to bring a modern and bold statement to the sports field! As all of you know our tamariki always do us proud, giving 100% and upholding our school values, they well and truly deserve to look great while they out there doing their best and making themselves and all of us proud. You will notice our schools Māori name on the back Te Mangarangi o Te Kura, flowing through the blue koru that represents our connection to the Mangarangi Stream that we are studying this term. The blue Koru also represents us learning alongside our community as we seek to use the our community bringing in a 'flow' of knowledge into our kura to enhance our learning opportunties.

Touch has become a really popular sport for Pembroke students.

Thank you to our coaches who have either voluteered or in some cases have been voluteered to assist this season. Year 2-4: Christine Bevins, Year 2-4: Anna Singh, Year 5-6: Gina Vecchia and Lynette Chesswas, and Year 7-8: Shane Morgan. We really appreciate your support and helping to make this season great for our tamariki!

Each year whanau are asked to sign three permission slips:

1. Image Consent Form

2. Technology Agreement (to be signed by parents/caregivers and students)

3. General Consent Form - allowing your child to go on trips within the local area so that you don't have to sign a permission slip each time for events such as Americarna, trips to the pools or library, Rural Cluster Events etc.

Carol has put these up on the Etap App and you are able to sign these on the App.

If you haven't signed these forms please make contact with Carol as soon as practicable.

They are also available in paper form if required. Our first school outing is next week to Americarna next Friday, general permission slips will need to be signed. Please ensure you have done this by Monday next week. Thank you!

Check out some of our Year 8's below in their new Year 8 Hoodies...so cool that they don't want to take them off in this hot weather! A student lead initiative when we were upgrading to our new uniforms was a letter to the School Board asking if Year 8's can have a hoodie in recognition of the special part they play in our kura as amazing rangatahi. The School Board in the past has donated $20 towards each school hoodie to help make them more affordable for whanau. The PTA have kindly agreed to cover this cost as well as a donation towards the end of year Year 8 Leavers Dinner!

Other Happiness Highlights this week:

1. Our tamariki having a great time in playing collaboratively, including some great creative play in the sandpit. They were very happy when Mrs Single paid a visit to the Hospice Shop to top up the 'cooking' equipment. They have also been very diligently hunting white butterflies, so some new butterfly nets to help with the 'hunting' was a welcomed addition to the break time activities.

2. Mr Sharp is Super Bowl mad and turned this into a great learning experience for Rimu Class this week who enjoyed some Super Bowl traditions, cooking some Super Bowl treats - American Hotdogs and Buffalo Wings with varying degrees of hot sauce. They had a great time playing some American Football, watching some of the Super Bowl and learning some surprising facts about this significant sporting event.

3. Our amazing kaiako (Teachers) and kaiāwhina kaiako (TAs) who are putting in extra hours and effort completing professional learning to stay up to date with the changes in our curriculum and the new programmes we are implementing, thank you!

One of the things we are continuing to focus on in 2025 is student attendance. You will hear us talking about this with you, with our students and it remains a strong subject of conversation in the staff room.

If a student misses one day of school every two weeks, they miss more than a whole year of school by 16 years of age. As a parent or caregiver, you, alongside our school, play a key role in building strong habits of regular school attendance.

All students are legally required to attend school every day and it is a shared responsibility to make sure students attend and engage in learning from when they first start school.

You must let the school know if your child is going to be absent or intends to be absent for a portion of the school term for whatever reason, like a tangi or medical procedure. Family holidays or taking time off for extracurricular activities (not organised by school) are not acceptable reasons for being absent.

If you're struggling at home with getting your child to school, talk to us.

If you are finding it hard to get your child to school, please talk with us so we can work together. Our school is committed to supporting your child to attend school.

If you have any attendance queries and issues, please contact us so we can work together.

A reminder, if you are not on the Etap App then please see Carol. It really is the best way for you to connect with school. It has a lot of great features including being able to view notices, sign permission slips, see your child's medical/first aid entries and more.

Wow, check out what our PTA have donated to our kura! At the end of 2024 a request was made to the PTA to help fund kitchen equipment so that we are better able to engage students in authentic learning opportunities involving food and cooking. Thanks to the great Waitangi sales were we able to 'get bang for our buck', and the $1000 donation went a long way. We can't wait to see the students making the most of these great new resources.

A reminder that our kura and carpark are smokefree and vape free areas. Please refrain from these activities around our kura and please do not bring related paraphernalia onto school grounds.

February

Thursday 13: Pembroke Backyard Potluck BBQ

Friday 14: Taranaki Regional Council (TRC) Wai Educator Sessions

Tuesday 18: ACTION DAY - come along or maybe see if nan or pop have some spare time on their hands

Friday 21: River Walk and Americarna - Parent help required

Wednesday 26-Thursday 27: Learning Conferences

Friday 28: Mangarangi Stream Study with TRC Wai Educator

March

Wednesday 5th: Tawa Class School Sleepover

Friday 7th: Stratford and Inglewood Kahui Ako Combine Teacher Only Day

Monday 10th: Taranaki Anniversary

Thursday 13th: Rata Class Dinner in Totara - students stay after school

Sunday 16th: Pembroke School Show and Shine - Parent help required

Tuesday 18th: Rural Cluster Swimming Sports for Championship Swimmers

Thursday 27th: Rimu Class Meet the Scientist EnviroSchools Trip to Pukeiti - Parent help required

WEEK 10: Whole School - Wai (water) Study Week

April

Saturday 5th: Day Light Savings Ends

Tuesday 8th: Junior Year 1-4 Rural Cluster Athletics at Ngaere, PP 9th

Thursday 10th: Top House Pizza Lunch and Rimu Class Totara Sleep Over

Friday 11th: Star Student Assembly and Shared Lunch, school finishes at 1pm