Newsletter 8 - Term 4
Principal’s Message
Tēnā Koutou, Fakaalofa Lahi Atu, Namaste,
What an incredible start to a busy and exciting term!
Cultural celebration seems to be a real focus this week, and it has been wonderful to see our students embracing the diversity of our community.
Our Kapa Haka students represented our school with such mana (prestige) and pride at the regional festival. It was a truly special day, performing alongside students from local schools and taking part in a heartfelt pōwhiri (official welcome).
This week, we also celebrated Niue Language and Culture in our Monday morning PB4L assembly, where students learned greetings and other cultural insights. Our student cultural leaders have done a fantastic job of keeping the celebrations going with colouring competitions and quizzes this week!
Finally, we would like to extend our very special wishes to all our families who celebrate Diwali, the Festival of Lights.
At Pigeon Mountain, we deeply value the sharing of our cultures. We thank our students for bravely sharing their stories, singing, and henna art, and for being such engaged listeners and learners. These moments of sharing and understanding truly enrich our school environment.
Ngā mihi nui,
Phebe Rossiter
Principal
Pigeon Mountain Primary School
Student Achievement and Celebration
Te Tai o Rēhia:
What a truly memorable day at the Te Tai o Rēhia Kapa Haka Festival on Thursday, October 16th!
In a powerful display of kotahitanga (unity), our students joined rangatahi (young people) from Mellons Bay, Bucklands Beach Primary, Pigeon Mountain, Owairoa, Macleans Primary, Bucklands Beach Intermediate, and Macleans College for a wonderful celebration.
The day began with a moving pōwhiri (official welcome) into the new covered dome at Macleans College. Our school's Kapa Haka group then took the stage, their strong practice shining through in their powerful performance of waiata (songs) and haka. The pride, mana (prestige), and wairua (spirit) brought by all the groups truly embodied the spirit of te ao Māori (the Māori world).
A huge congratulations to our dedicated students for representing our school with such passion and excellence!
EPro8 Challenge: We are absolutely thrilled to celebrate the outstanding success of our students who competed in the EPro8 Challenge, the inter-school Science and Engineering competition!
We had two excellent teams represent our school, and their collaborative spirit and problem-solving skills were on full display.
A massive congratulations goes to our top team—Cooper, Darin, Joe, and Jeremy —who worked brilliantly together to achieve an incredible 2nd place overall in the local interschool competition! This team will be competing in the Auckland Semi Finals later this term.
Congratulations also to our second fantastic team—Angelia, Anne, Ashton, and Daniel —for their enthusiasm and hard work throughout the event. We are so proud of all eight students for demonstrating such impressive skill, creativity, and teamwork in this challenging event!
Mathex Marvels:
We are bursting with pride for our exceptional team who competed in the HPPA Mathex Competition last week!
After weeks of dedicated training, Kayley, Emily, Hayden, and Jeremy demonstrated remarkable focus and teamwork on the day. They performed brilliantly, achieving a flawless score of 125 points in under 30 minutes! This incredible feat earned them a well-deserved 2nd place overall in the competition.
Their commitment, speed, and accuracy are a testament to their hard work. Congratulations to all four students on this outstanding mathematical achievement!
Student led event: Last Friday night was a huge success, thanks to the creativity and hard work of our amazing student leaders: Momo, Amelia, and Lydia!
Our leaders planned, organized, and hosted a fun-filled Games and PJ Night for students. Attendees enjoyed a great range of games, with every win earning them an entry into the main prize draw. The popular Prize Wheel also gave students a chance to win 10 minutes of extra free time! The event was so popular that the sausage sizzle completely sold out.
A special shout-out goes to Momo for designing and creating the main prizes using his 3D printer. Congratulations to the nine lucky winners who took one of his unique prizes home!
We are incredibly fortunate to have such a dedicated and talented team of student leaders!
Welcoming Our New Music Specialist, Lynnette Leggette!
We are delighted to formally welcome Lynnette Leggette to our teaching team as our new Music Specialist!
Responding to valuable feedback from our parent community, we introduced a dedicated music programme to further enrich our students' learning experiences. Lynnette brings a wealth of passion and expertise, and some of you may already know her from her fantastic work with Children's Musical Theatre.
The programme is off to a vibrant start! Just today, our Year 6 students were actively engaged, learning to play the ukulele and trying their hand at the energetic practice of bucket drumming.
We look forward to all the wonderful musical opportunities Lynnette will bring to students across the school!
School News and Announcements
A Happy Diwali to Our Community
To all our students, families, and staff celebrating, we would like to wish you a very Happy Diwali!
We hope the Festival of Lights brings joy, peace, prosperity, and happiness to your homes and your hearts. May your celebrations be filled with light, laughter, and aroha.
Before school routine:
We wanted to send a huge thank you to all our parents for your fantastic support with the new before-school routine this week.
We know any change takes a little adjusting, but the shift in arrival times and where to meet has already made a noticeable difference in ensuring a safe, calm, and supervised start to the day for all our students. The children are settling in beautifully, and the new routine is truly working to ensure their safety and well-being.
Thank you again for your patience and cooperation as we prioritise a clear and safe environment for everyone!
A reminder of our new routines:
No Early Arrivals Before 8:15 AM: Students must not arrive at the school grounds before 8:15 AM, as we do not have supervision available before this time. Please plan your drop-off accordingly.
8:15 AM – 8:30 AM: Supervised Waiting Area: Parents and students may enter the school site during this time. Students must wait under cover in the Tiger Turf area. This will be the only supervised space before 8:30 AM.
8:30 AM: Classrooms Open and Outdoor Play: From 8:30 AM, students will be welcome to enter their classrooms to prepare for the day, or they can enjoy play outside on the courts, the turf, or the field.
Playground Closed Before School: For safety reasons, the playground is strictly off-limits before school as it is not a supervised play space during this time.
8:50 AM: Learning Time Begins: When the bell rings at 8:50 AM, we ask that parents leave the classrooms promptly so that our learning time can begin without delay.
Fruju Friday: We will start our newest fundraiser next week, Friday 31 October and every following Friday up to and including Friday 5 December. Frujus are being sponsored by Pak n Save Highland Park and all monies raised will go towards a new set of basketball and netball hoops.
Second hand uniform shop: Please note we have a second hand uniform shop. Pre-loved uniform can be purchased on KINDO and delivered to your child's class. If you have any good quality uniform that you would like to donate please, send it along to the office and we will use funds raised from the uniform shop to improve the outdoor learning areas at school.
Strike Day: The strike day has now been confirmed for Thursday, October 23rd. The school will be closed.
Throughout our collective agreement negotiations, we have raised critical issues that would make a significant difference to our students’ learning and wellbeing. We feel the Government is not genuinely listening to or understanding what our schools and students truly need.
Our key priorities are:
More Support for Learners: We are asking for more resources to support all students, including the provision of a dedicated teacher aide for every classroom.
Valuing School Staff: We need the Government to value all school staff fairly to help attract and retain great people in our classrooms, rather than losing them to overseas opportunities.
Maori and Pasifika Whanau Hui - 12 November 2025
We will host our final Whanua Hui for the year on Wednesday 12 November 3.30pm - 4.30pm at the school. We will have a range of activities for families to engage with weaving, poi, titi torea, Rakau sticks and more. We will have some kai following a performance from our kapa kaka group. We will be sending out an invite to this Hui to our Maori and Pasifika families and families of students in our kapa haka.
Mark Your Calendars: Athletics 2025!
It's time to lace up those running shoes! We are hosting two separate days this year to ensure a fun, focused experience for all our students:
Senior Athletics Day (Years 4–6): Friday, November 7th
Junior Athletics Day (Years 0–3): Monday, November 24th
Next Level Competition: The top performing Year 4–6 students will earn the chance to represent our school at the HPPA Interschool Athletics Day on Friday, November 21st.
Come and join us! We encourage all parents and family members to attend and lend your enthusiastic support to our athletes on both days.
Further details on times and organisation will be shared with you shortly.
School hats: Students must be wearing a hat at school next week after labour weekend if they are playing outdoors. We recommend that your child puts on sunscreen before school and has a water bottle (water only) available. We have large shades over the playground and our tiger turf is covered for sun safety. If students do not bring a hat they will need to play in covered areas or the library.
PB4L
Over the past couple of weeks, our PB4L lessons have focused on revisiting our class matrices to help reset expectations for the new term. Our class matrices outline our school values through clear ‘I can’ statements that describe what these values look like in action. By revisiting these expectations together, students have been reminded of how they can demonstrate our school values in the classroom.
We have also explored what it means to be a good friend and how showing respect through kindness, listening, and including others- helps us build and maintain positive relationships within our class.
School Parking Reminder: Let's Walk a Little!
With the warmer, drier weather finally here, it’s a perfect time to help us reduce congestion around the school!
We encourage all families who drive to consider a "Park and Stroll" routine. If you can park a short distance away and have your children walk the last few hundred metres, it makes a huge difference to the flow of traffic and student safety right outside the gates.
We've noticed a few common parking issues that create hazards:
Parking on yellow lines (which are there for a reason!).
Blocking or parking over resident driveways.
Dangerous U-turns being performed in busy areas.
Please take an extra moment to choose a safe, legal parking spot. Your cooperation keeps our car park area safe and moving for everyone!
Last day of school: Please make a note that the last day of school for the year is Friday, December 12th.
To celebrate the end of a fantastic year, we will be holding our special End-of-Year Celebration Assembly from 11:30 AM to 12:20 PM. We warmly welcome all parents to attend this assembly! Students will be collected from their classrooms.
Following the celebration, students will be finishing school early at 12:30 PM. Please ensure you have made arrangements for their pick-up at this time.
Attendance Information
As we enter the final term, we want to emphasise the importance of consistent attendance right through to the last day of the year.
This is a 10-week term, and we have planned for every single day to be utilized for important learning, reflection, and preparation for the year ahead. Every day counts toward your child's success and progress.
Please note that the final day of school is Friday, December 12th.
If you plan for your child to finish earlier than this date, please contact our office by phone 09 534 9765 or email general@pmps.school.nz
Thank you for partnering with us to ensure your child gains the maximum benefit from every minute of their learning journey this term.
Term 4 - Important Dates and Reminders
Term 4: Monday 6 October - Friday 12 December
Term 4 dates:
Tuesday 21 October - HPPA Touch rugby
Thursday 23 October - strike day - School closed
Monday 27 October - Labour Day - school closed
Tuesday 28 October - RUNA sailing room 16 & 17
Friday 7 November - Senior Athletics Day
Monday 10 November - RUNA Sailing room 20 and 21
Wednesday 12 November - Maori and Pasifika Whanau Hui
Monday 24 November - Junior Athletics Day
Friday 28 November - Year 6 Rainbows End trip and Movie trip
Tuesday 2 December - Junior water fun day
Thursday 4 December - End of Year awards Year 1, 2 and 3.
Friday 5 December - End of Year awards Year 4, 5 and 6.
Monday 8 December - Reports to go home
Friday 12 December - Last Day of school for the year, 12.30pm finish for students.
