TERM 4 – Week 2: Newsletter – Birkdale Primary School

FRIDAY 20th October

Kia ora e te whānau o Birkdale,

Although the term hasn’t started so great for me – being hit with COVID this week, for everyone else it seems to have started strong with learners settling back into learning well.

At the end of last term, there was a reminder to prioritise attendance. Thank you for listening and prioritising this with us. We’ve hit the ground running, going from 82.5% the average end of last term to 87.5% so far for Term 4; well on our way to 90%. Let’s keep this going all term and end the year strong!

Stay tuned for a variety of school events this term that we would love to see you at.

Ngā manaakitanga,

Whaea Natasha

2024 TERM DATES

Term 1 – 7th February – 12th April

Term 2 – 29th April – 5th July

Term 3 – 22 July – 27 September

Term 4 – 14 October – 20 December

TERM 4 EVENTS

Ngā Māhuri Y5/6 Camp

On Tuesday morning, our auraki Y5/6 students will go on a 3 night camp to Mangawhai. They’ve been looking forward to it all year. It’s been a while since students in Auraki have been able to go on overnight camp so I’m glad our DP, Matua Laurie, took the challenge to get this started again bi-annually. Overnight camps are a great chance for students to spend productive time with friends, try new things they wouldn’t normally, without the comfort of family close by. You get to witness some great examples of resilience, team work, and grit on excursions like these.

PRIZE GIVING

We have had some great discussions recently about what we value as a learning community. We feel our prizegiving should reflect those values so have come up with awards to recognise them. Prizegiving this year will still be at Birkenhead College but from next year on, the plan is to move it to our school under the shade (more on that below)

Family of award winners are invited to attend. Your child’s teacher will get in touch if your child is getting an award at prizegiving.

LEARNER HUI

The learner hui this term are optional. If whānau | families would like to see their child’s teacher you are welcome to book a time. Booking information will be send via seesaw.

Otherwise, class teachers will only be contacting whānau of specific students who would benefit from additional whānau support this term.

FAMILY FUN NIGHT

Happening in the end of week 6, our Family Fun Night will be a chance to spend time, eat and end the year together. This event is instead of our usual gala.

The occasion will still bring everyone together, but the purpose will be relationships rather than fundraising. There will be food to buy, performances and activities to participate in, but the focus will be on relaxing and hanging out.

Y6 CELEBRATION and GRADUATION

Last year was the inaugural Y6 Celebration in the evening at school. We had lots of great feedback from the Year 6s so will continue this for future years.

Like last year, it will be the same day as the prizegiving in W10. Students will come back to school in the evening. More details to come, closer to the time.

Y6 LEAVERS ASSEMBLY

This year we are not giving out leaving certificates for Y6s at prizegiving but will have a short special assembly for them on the last day of school where they will feature. We felt that having prizegiving and their leaver certificates in the same event, made them too rushed. We’d like to farewell them properly. Whānau of Year 6 students are encouraged to attend.

PROPERTY UPDATE

Durham Hall is being refurbished inside. The area is fenced off. Contractors are making good progress and should be finished on time. Toilets are being replaced with 2 self-contained toilets; electrical work is being replaced; the floor is being resurfaced and the inside is getting painted. The budget hasn’t stretched to the kitchen completely. The only change in the kitchen will be a new ceiling.

Reminder: SKiDs (after school care) is still operating out of Nikau while this work is being done.

Courts: We continue waiting to get approval, funding from MOE for this. Most places want the shade to be up before they will resurface which puts us in a tricky spot with the delays we’ve had there. In the very short term, we are looking into a solution that won’t look pretty but will allow us to take down some fencing.

COLA: I was given a date for this work to commence a little while ago, but didn’t put it in the last newsletter as I wasn’t sure they were going to honor it. To say we’ve had some disappointing work ethic from the company involved, would be an understantement. It’s been a very frustrating time for me and the BOT. Last week, they confirmed they were still on track to start and complete the project by the end of November … time will tell, but I’m feeling hopeful! We have notified the MOE of this company – apparently we aren’t the only school being treated like this.

School speakers: Getting replaced in the next week or so.

PICK UP and DROP OFFS

Auckland transport has now finished the work on road safety around our school. It feels like a good time to remind everyone of the expectations around pick up and drop off:

1. Pick up and drop off only in the bays provided and where there are NO yellow lines. Please don’t stop at crossings or in the middle of the road and ask your children to jump out, or park in the staff car park. It’ll save me having an awkward conversation with you 🙂

2. The parking bay on Salisbury next to the pool is a ‘Kiss and drop’ this means you shouldn’t be getting out of your car. Your child will be ok walking into school by themselves, and it keeps the bay flowing for others to drop off. Pick ups are different.

3. Don’t park in driveways close to the school so our neighbours continue liking us.

4. Please don’t turn around, do a U-turn right outside the school gate opposite Bishopgate st. It’s dangerous. U-turning anywhere around the school is dangerous. It isn’t too much further to go to the end and use the round-about.

5. And lastly, please don’t turn into the school gate and drop off – we have too many children around that area.

I know picking up and dropping off can feel frustrating – but we’d appreciate your help in keeping everyone safe.

SAVE THE DATES!

TERM 4

Week 1

11 Oct – House Assembly wear house colours

Week 2

19 Oct – Shake out earthquake day @ 9.30am

Week 3

Mon 23 Oct – Labour Day (school closed)

24 – 27 Oct – Auraki Yr 5/6 EOTC Camp

Week 4

30 Oct – Photolife Class & Individual photos

31 Oct – Yr 4 trip to Millenium pools

30 Oct – 02 Nov – Optional Learner Hui

1 Nov – House Assembly wear house colours

2 Nov – TP whānau hui

Week 5

7 Nov – School Athletics Day

Week 6

13 Nov – Teacher Only Day

17 Nov – Ngā Kākano MOTAT trip

17 Nov – Birkdale Family Picnic

Week 7

22 Nov – House Assembly wear house colours

23 Nov – Interschool Athletics

Week 8

23 Nov – Saver day for Interschool Athletics

Week 9

4 Dec – BOT Meeting

Week 10

14 Dec – End of year prizegiving 2023

14 Dec – Y6 Graduation Celebration @ 4-6pm

Week 11

18 Dec – Moving up/ transition block

20 Dec – Y6 leavers assembly.

End of Term 4 – 1pm finish

ENROLMENTS

2024 Enrolments

Out-of-zone auraki and rumaki enrolments for 2024 have closed. As advertised, we had very limited space in both areas of the school. The next ballot will be held in March when our numbers have settled back for the new year. If you are hoping to enrol your child, keep an eye out for the ballot notice.

For rumaki, you can find an expression of interest form, indicating your intentions. This is no guarantee but lets us know who is interested. Numbers in rumaki have been capped due to the increasing difficulty of finding and retaining kaiako in our area.