Principal’s Message
Kia ora koutou katoa,
Term 3 is shaping up to be a busy and exciting one, filled with rich learning opportunities and events that support our students to grow both academically and personally. This term is often where we see students make strong progress towards their learning goals, as they build on the foundations laid earlier in the year and gain confidence in their abilities. We’re also excited to be putting the finishing touches on our brand-new school website, which we look forward to sharing with you in early August—it will provide an updated, user-friendly platform for staying connected with what’s happening at school.
As mentioned in a recent email, we’re thrilled to welcome Ms. Susie Allan to our leadership team as Deputy Principal. Susie brings a wealth of knowledge and experience and will be supporting our junior school and leading our Literacy programme. We look forward to the positive impact her leadership will have across the school.
Ngā mihi nui,
Phebe Rossiter
Principal
Pigeon Mountain Primary School
Student Achievement and Celebrations
Mid-Year Achievement Data
We are proud to share our mid-year achievement data, which shows a high percentage of students achieving at or above curriculum expectations across reading, writing, and mathematics. Mathematics continues to be a particular strength across the school, with the highest number of students reaching or exceeding expectations. Our focus now turns to supporting and accelerating progress for those students who are not yet meeting expectations. This includes targeted support programmes, additional in-class teaching, and identifying and addressing specific gaps using research-based strategies known to have the highest impact on student learning.
Parent Feedback on Written Reports
Thank you to all the parents who took the time to share their thoughts on our written reports. Overall, the feedback has been very positive, with many families valuing the clarity of the new descriptors and the detailed, personalised comments from teachers. The reports are seen as a helpful tool in understanding each child’s progress, strengths, and areas for growth. We also heard some helpful suggestions—particularly around making achievement information more detailed, refining the “Help at Home” section, and improving communication during the term. These insights are invaluable, and we are already looking at how we can make further improvements to ensure our reports remain clear, meaningful, and supportive of every learner’s journey. Our end of year report will look a little different to accommodate some of these changes.
Senior School Speech Competition
We are incredibly proud of all our Year 3–6 students who took part in this year’s Speech Competition. Every student put a great deal of effort into writing and presenting their speeches, and the standard was exceptionally high. The theme for 2024 was Whenua – Whatungarongaro te tangata, toitū te whenua (As people disappear from sight, the land remains), and it was inspiring to see how thoughtfully each student connected with this important idea. A huge congratulations to Lydia Liu, our Year 6 winner, and Kayley Lin, our Year 5 winner. We wish Lydia all the very best as she represents our school in the upcoming HPPA Interschool Speech Final.
Senior School Cross Country
Our Senior School Cross Country was a fantastic event, with students rising to the challenge of a new, longer course and giving it their all. The spirit on the day was electric—our House Leaders led with pride, chants, and colourful outfits that brought great energy to the event. We were also fortunate to have support from Macleans College students, which added to the sense of community. A huge thank you to the parents who helped supervise the course, our dedicated teachers, and Miss Donaldson for her excellent organisation of this big day. We wish our top 8 runners in each category all the very best for our HPPA/ Interschool cross country event next week.
Boys Competitive Football:
Our boys’ competitive football team recently wrapped up their two-day tournament after a week of unpleasant weather. Each day was packed with back-to-back games against some tricky opponents. Over the tournament, our team grew in confidence, developed our skills, and strengthened our teamwork. We were proud to come away with a few solid wins and some impressive goals. We were also very lucky to have students from Macleans College coaching and supporting us on both days.
School News and Announcements
Out of Zone applications:
For all Term 4 2025 New Entrant students – Applications close on Wednesday 20 August with the ballot happening on Friday 22 August 2025 if required.
For all 2026 students in Year 1-5 – Application closing date on Wednesday 8 October 2025 with the ballot date – Wednesday 15 October 2025.
Board Elections: Our upcoming Board elections are a great opportunity for parents and caregivers to play a key role in shaping the direction of our school. Being a Board member is a chance to support our vision of “education with a heart” by helping make decisions that are in the best interests of all students, staff, and the wider community. Board members are representatives—not advocates—who bring a balanced, thoughtful perspective to their governance role. While the responsibility is significant, it’s also a deeply rewarding way to get to know the school and contribute meaningfully. We welcome interest from anyone, especially those with skills in finance, employment, law, or health and safety. Please consider putting yourself forward for this important role. An nomination form has been sent to your email from ‘Election Pilot Mission Control.’
School Health Consultation: In New Zealand, primary school boards are required to consult with the school community about the delivery of the health curriculum at least once every two years. This consultation helps ensure that the school’s health education program aligns with the community’s values and needs.
Please ensure that you have read our 2025 update on our current Health and Wellbeing curriculum.
The link has been emailed to you.
Your questionnaire is anonymous, all responses will remain confidential to the Principal
Once it has been collated the overall results will be shared back with you in the school newsletter. Please complete this survey by Monday 4 August 2025 at 1.00pm.
2025 update on Health and Wellbeing Education at Pigeon Mountain Primary School
Health Education at Pigeon Mountain Primary School is aligned with the New Zealand curriculum and incorporates our school vision and values.
Our health program reflects the key concepts of:
- Personal well-being and physical development
- relationships with others
- healthy communities
Students well-being is integral to our four school values of Responsibility, Respect, Resilience and Excellence and our goal is to support students’ development into productive future citizens. Teachers integrate Health and Physical Education into daily programs as well as specific units of inquiry throughout the year.
Current features of our health program are:
PB4L: The PB4L programme teaches students about our School values of Respect, Resilience, Responsibility and Excellence. Weekly assemblies, classroom lessons and everyday interactions reinforce these values to students. Student PB4L monitors and the use of restorative practices are embedded in a daily practice. Reward systems around school are based on PB4L values and the schools management system records trends and patterns in behaviour.
Well being education: Our schools third strategic goal is to “grow the well-being of all in our community” This program explicitly teaches students mental and emotional well-being strategies and skills. We monitor the impact of these programs using tools like NZCER Well-being@school survey in years 4-6 provide which valuable insight into students wellbeing at school. We also have an A.U.T student councillor on a regular basis to provide further support and guidance to students. Furthermore we’ve engaged and begun our journey with Mitey which focuses on mental health.
Digital citizenship: All students are taught age appropriate digital citizenship skills. All students enrolled our school must complete a digital citizenship agreement outlining expectations for online behavior.
Education Outside the classroom:
We offer school camps. Year 6 attend a 3 night, 4 day camp at Lakewood Lodge and Year 5 attend a 1 night 2 day camp at Willow Park.
Each Year group attend trips to local attractions including the Zoo, Kelly Tarltons, Maritime Museum etc.
External providers: We utilize external providers to teach elements of the health curriculum.
- The Life Education caravan is used to provide learning which is age appropriate for our students and meets the needs of students at the time. Life Education caravan comes into school every two years.
- All Year 5 and 6 students are provided the opportunity to learn about changes that happened to the body during puberty and these sessions are taught by Nest Consulting.
- We utilise community swimming which provides free swimming lessons for all our Year 3 and 4 students.
- RUNA sailing is a session for our Year 5 students to learn water safety skills and how to sail.
Regular physical activity: This is built into our weekly program including the importance of healthy eating, being safe at school, being SunSmart and personal hygiene puberty. We also have a specialist PE teacher and specialist dance and drama teacher.
We have school wide sporting events – Swimming Sports, Cross-country and Athletics.
Our senior school students take part in a range of inter school competitions including swimming, Cricket, Netball, Rugby, Football, Chess, Gymnastics, Softball, Hockey, Speech competitions, Athletics, Literacy Quiz, Mathex, Touch Rugby, Dance festival.
Attendance Information
The Importance of Attendance
Regular attendance at school is one of the most important factors in a child’s learning and success. Every day matters—students who attend consistently are more likely to stay engaged, make steady progress, and feel connected to their peers and teachers. Being at school each day helps build strong learning habits, confidence, and a sense of belonging. While we understand that illness and family circumstances can occasionally impact attendance, we encourage all families to prioritise being at school whenever possible. Together, we can support every child to make the most of their learning opportunities
Important dates and Reminders
Term 3: Monday 14 July – Friday 19 September
Term 3 dates:
1 August – Junior school cross country
4-8 August – Year 5 and 6 Cycle skills
6 August – ICAS Digital technology
13 August – ICAS English
21 August ICAS Science
22 August – Grandparents Day
28 August – ICAS Maths
28 August – Daffodil Day
1 September – Curriculum Day (Teacher Only Day)
4 September – Māori and Pasifika Whanau Hui
11 September – Chinese Parent meeting
11 September – Silly Socks day and Pizza lunch day
15- 19 Māori Language week
17 and 19 September – Student Led Conferences
Art classes with Janet
Wednesday – 3.15pm – 4.15 pm – Art and Drawing Classes
Drawing, Oil pastel, Sketching, poster Painting
E-mail: janeto@xtra.co.nz
Phone Janet 027-6555574
