Newsletter 5 - Term 3
Principal’s Message
Kia ora koutou katoa,
What an exciting time it is here at Pigeon Mountain Primary School! As we head into a new week, our school continues to be a vibrant and busy place. The grounds and classrooms are looking fantastic, thanks to the hard work of our students and staff.
I'm also thrilled to announce that our new school website is now live! If you haven't had a chance to visit it yet, I encourage you to take a look at www.pigeon-mountain.school.nz. The site's design was inspired by our school logo, featuring the beautiful native wood pigeon, or Kererū. The colours and shape of the Kererū's wing inspired the design, and we hope you love the look as much as we do.
Thank you for your ongoing support in making our school such a special place to learn and grow.
Ngā mihi,
Phebe Rossiter
Principal
Pigeon Mountain Primary School
Student Achievement and Celebration
Grandparents Day
What a huge success. It was so lovely to see so many grandparents, parents, aunties, uncles and family friends. There were lots of exciting learning activities including games, gardening, interviewing family members, boat building, colouring and more followed by a hall packed with families sharing a special lunch together.
Gymnastics
Congratulations to our Gymnastics team who represented the school on 14th August. The team trained hard in preparation for the day and performed their routines with confidence. A special congratulations to the following students who placed and will be representing the school next week at the Auckland Champion of Champions event.
School News and Announcements
Out of Zone applications:
For all 2026 students in Year 1-5 – Application closing date on Wednesday 8 October 2025 with the ballot date – Wednesday 15 October 2025.
Māori and Pasifika Whānau Hui
We would love to connect with our Māori and Pasifika Whānau on Thursday 4 September from 3 - 4.30pm. We have not met together as a group this year, so this will be a relaxed afternoon with a sausage sizzle, games and performance from our Kapa Haka group. The aim of the afternoon is to share together and get to know our whānau. An invite will be sent out shortly to these families.
Litter Free lunch
This week, we are excited to launch a new initiative at our school: "Litter-Free Lunches." A litter-free lunch means packing your child's meal in reusable containers, rather than disposable packaging like plastic wrap, foil, or single-use bags. We will be discussing this with students in their classrooms to help them understand the concept and its importance.
This initiative is a wonderful way for our students to embody one of our core school values: responsibility. By reducing waste, we are teaching our children to be responsible not only for their own actions but also for the well-being of our school environment and the wider community. A cleaner, more sustainable school benefits everyone and sets a positive example. We encourage all families to embrace this change and help us make a significant impact, one lunch at a time. Thank you for your support.
Year 5 & 6 Positive Puberty whānau information evening
Date: September 9
Time: 6pm
Venue: school hall
Parent/Whānau Information/Education Evening
This is offered prior to the programme starting and lasts about 60 mins and includes:
• a run-through of the student programme
• anatomy and physiology 101 memory joggers and an outline of normal growth and
development expected at puberty
• an update on all available menstrual products (incl. recyclable, washable, organic and supermarket items).
• Included throughout are tween parenting tips & question time!
The feedback from this evening is always extremely positive: a fun, inspiring and educational night.
If you have concerns about your child attending, we encourage you to attend the Whānau Information Evening for more information before deciding whether to include your child.
We value your Feedback! A summary of results from our 2025 Health Consultation
Thank you to everyone who participated in our health and wellbeing parent survey 2025. We are very pleased with the results, which show that our school community is largely satisfied with our current program. Your valuable feedback has been shared with our staff, and we have already begun identifying the next steps to build upon our successes.
Here's a summary of what you told us.
The top three areas you ranked as most important in the Health curriculum are Mental Health, Body Care & Physical Safety, and Physical Activity.
Mental Health was a clear priority, ranked first by more than half of all respondents.
Most of you feel the current Health and Wellbeing curriculum is good, with some suggestions for improvements, particularly regarding communication, consistency, and the handling of hurtful behaviour.
Key Programmes and Initiatives
Your feedback on specific school programs was very clear and positive.
Year 5 and 6 Puberty Sessions: A significant majority (96%) of you feel it's "very important" that the school offers age-appropriate puberty sessions.
"Confident Kiwis" Programme: There is strong support for this new programme, with 100% of respondents saying they would support it.
School Camps: A large majority (83%) of you support having school camps as part of the EOTC program.
Bullying Prevention & PB4L: Satisfaction with the school's approach shows a large majority (86%) are satisfied with our approach to the prevention of bullying and whole-school approach to teaching positive behaviour.
School Operations and Community
You also shared valuable insights on other school-wide topics.
Class Trips: Most of you (81%) think two class trips per year is a reasonable number.
Yearbook: The vast majority (87%) of respondents would consider purchasing a school yearbook for their child.
Specialist Subjects: When asked what new specialist subjects you'd like to see, Music was the most popular suggestion. Other ideas included Chinese language, Visual Arts, and Food Technology.
Feeling Included: You shared excellent suggestions for improving a sense of belonging, such as more frequent communication, after-school sports, creating more opportunities for parents to connect through informal class meet-ups, family picnics, and cultural events. You also recommended structured activities like buddy systems or small group work to help students mix outside their usual friend groups.
Proposed School Improvements based on Survey Feedback
Curriculum & Wellbeing
We will further develop our current PB4L, Mitey and Restorative practices into a consistent, school-wide approach to Mental Health and aim to launch a Garden to Table programme to teach food and nutrition in the next few years. The Confident Kiwis programme will be offered to all Year 1-4 students starting in 2026, and we'll hold regular puberty sessions for our senior students each year. We are also considering adding Music as a specialist subject.
Communication & Community
We are committed to refining our communication, including a clearer promotion of the PB4L programme in our newsletter and improving how we share learning through Class Dojo. To enrich learning, we will plan for two class trips per year, and a school Yearbook will be available for purchase in 2025.
Thank you again for your thoughtful responses. We will be using this feedback to guide our decisions and will continue to update you on our progress. If you have any further questions or feedback, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Strategic Planning 2025- 2028
Strategic planning is how our school sets its long-term direction, deciding where we want to go over the next three to five years. It's a collaborative process, and we use your feedback to ensure the plan reflects the needs of our entire school community. The survey below has 9 short questions that require a rating and 1 open question if you would like to give written feedback.
Your partnership is so important to us, and we are incredibly grateful for your participation in our recent surveys. Your feedback is already helping to shape our strategic plan for the next few years.
To give us time to implement the changes and plans we've developed together, we won't be sending out any more major surveys this school year.
Parent feedback on strategic plan: https://forms.gle/CGe1crh87MTcWDcU8
Attendance
Attendance is a Superpower: Did you know that the single most important factor in a child’s school success is their attendance? It’s more significant than family income or even the school they attend. Just by being here, your child is already on the path to success!
Every Day Counts: We often think about big absences, but it's the small ones that add up. Missing just one day of school per fortnight results in a child missing nearly an entire year of school over their time from Year 1 to Year 10. That's a huge amount of learning and connection missed.
More Than Just Academics: Coming to school regularly isn't just about learning maths and reading. It's about building friendships, learning social skills, and feeling a sense of belonging. The routines and connections children make at school are vital for their well-being and confidence. When they are here, they are part of our special community.
The Power of Connection: Children with good attendance are more likely to have stronger relationships with their teachers and peers. This positive connection helps them feel more confident and engaged, making school a place they genuinely want to be.
PB4L
PB4L is a framework we use to create a safe, positive, and effective learning environment for all students. Rather than just reacting to bad behaviour, it's a proactive approach that teaches and encourages good behaviour, helping students learn to make great choices.
It's a whole-school effort, meaning our entire community — students, staff, and families — works together to create consistent expectations for everyone. We focus on a few key values that are explicitly taught to our students, just like any other subject.
Our goal is to create a culture where every student feels safe and respected, which helps them feel more engaged and confident in their learning.
In week 7, students learned different responses to their actions. To go to BED - (To blame, excuse and deny) or to go to BAT ( Be brave, admit and tell the truth). We encourage students to choose the BAT response which shows our school value of Responsibility in action.
Term 3 - Important Dates and Reminders
Term 3: Monday 14 July – Friday 19 September
28 August - ICAS Maths
28 August - Daffodil Day
1 September - Curriculum Day (Teacher Only Day)
4 September - Māori and Pasifika Whanau Hui
10 September - Parent BOT Elections Close 4pm
11 September - Chinese Parent meeting
11 September - Silly Socks day and Pizza lunch day
15 - 19 September - Māori Language week
17 and 19 September - Student Led Conferences
