Newsletter 12- Term 3
Principal’s Message
Dear Parents and Whānau,
Welcome to Week 5! It is hard to believe we are already halfway through our 10-week term. There is a fantastic energy around the school as our staff and students maintain a strong, dedicated focus on learning and growth.
We have just wrapped up Maths Week, which was a fantastic success across all year levels. It was brilliant to see our students celebrating, enjoying, and engaging deeply with mathematical thinking. Math is all around us, and I strongly encourage you to keep this momentum going at home. Playing board games, solving puzzles, and taking on fun daily challenges together as a family is a wonderful way to build confidence and foster a positive, resilient mindset toward problem-solving.
Looking ahead, our students are working hard toward the personal learning goals they set at the beginning of the term. You will have the opportunity to see their progress firsthand during our Student-Led Conferences at the end of the term. These conferences are a powerful way for children to take ownership of their learning journey and share their achievements directly with you.
To make the end of term even more special, our Art Exhibition will be running alongside the conferences. You will be able to tour the hall which will be transformed into an art gallery and enjoy the incredible creative talents of our students.
Both the Student-Led Conferences and the Art Exhibition will take place on 16 and 17 September. Further details regarding booking times for the conferences and opening hours for the Art Exhibition will be shared in the coming weeks. Thank you for your continued support and partnership in your child's education.
Ngā mihi nui,
Phebe Rossiter
Principal
Pigeon Mountain Primary School
Student Achievement and Celebration
Year 5 and 6 Speech finals: A huge congratulations to all the students who presented their speech in the Year 5 and 6 Speech finals. Kayley (Year 6) was selected to represent our school at the HPPA finals this week, where she placed 3rd overall. Well Done Kayley!
Year 5 and 6 Speech finalists
ICAS: We have had a number of students Year 3-6 enter the ICAS exams. This year we have offered Digital technology, Writing, English, Spelling, Maths and Science. For specific dates and times, please refer to the school calendar or website. We wish all participants every success.
School News and Announcements
Whanau hui Invite: On Wednesday 26 August we will be hosting a Whanau Hui 3.30pm - 4.30pm in our school. This year the Hui will include a performance from our Kapa Haka group and a range of activities centered around the Mana Model. An invite has been sent to our Maori, Pacifika families and parents of students in Kapa haka.
Students demonstrating our school values:
We are thrilled to announce that Yuchan Kim (Junior High Division) has achieved outstanding success at the prestigious International Robot Olympiad (NZRO) Demonstrating exceptional talent in engineering, programming, and innovation, Yuchan earned the following awards:
Bronze Medal: Creative Tech, Tech Medal: Battle Cube Single, Tech Medal: Physical Computing
Congratulations to Yuchan on this incredible achievement!
Daffodil Day: We are proud to support the Cancer Society’s Daffodil Day on Friday 28th August to raise vital funds for cancer research and support.
Please make your donation online via Kindo. 100% of all funds raised go directly to the Cancer Society. We encourage all staff and students to add a splash of yellow to their school uniform! Wear a yellow scarf, lei, hat, or even a pair of goofy yellow glasses—anything bright and fun goes.
PB4L: This week in our values lessons, we have been focusing on showing responsibility by making positive choices with our hands and feet. Students are learning to keep their hands and feet to themselves, respect personal space and take responsibility for their actions.
School uniform: A friendly reminder to all families regarding our school uniform policy: we have noticed a variety of non-uniform socks appearing in classrooms lately.
To keep our students looking smart and consistent, please ensure all socks and tights worn to school are plain navy (not black). Girls may wear plain navy tights or knee-length navy socks, while all students (both boys and girls) are welcome to wear plain navy crew socks. For full details and examples of our official uniform guidelines, please visit the school website.
Afterschool: We are thrilled to see our playground being enjoyed after hours under our new policy! Just a friendly reminder that students are welcome to use the play equipment after the bell only if a parent or caregiver is actively supervising them on site. If you are unable to be on school grounds to watch your child, please ensure they leave the property promptly by 3:15 PM. Teachers are not on duty after this time, and the school office is closed. If you require dedicated after-school supervision, we highly recommend our on-site care partner, BizzyBodz. You can reach out to them directly at eastakl@bizzybodz.co.nz to arrange care.
Cohort entry: Thank you everyone who completed our survey. 92% of parents were supportive of the move to cohort entry with 8% neutral response. The feedback was generally supportive of the proposal for its potential to reduce classroom disruption. It did highlight some parent anxiety around year-level placement and start dates. We hope to make this clearer on our website. Next year we will be using a cohort entry system.
2027 Year 1 and Year 0 start dates
Entry point 1: 3 February 2027
Entry point 2: 8 March 2027
Entry point 3: 27 April 2027
Entry point 4: 31 May 2027
Entry point 5: 19 July 2027
Entry point 6: 23 August 2027
Entry point 7:11 October 2027
Entry point 8: 15 November 2027
Enrolment - Important: If you have a child in Year 6 please ensure that you have enrolled either in-zone or out-of-zone for intermediate school. In zone enrolments help the school to know how many out of zone places may be available.
If you have a younger child turning 5 in 2027 please can you complete an enrolment form for them so that we can start planning staff and classrooms.
We have some out-of-zone places (see below) available at Pigeon Mountain Primary School for 2027. Please complete the Out-Of-Zone applications form on our website before Wednesday 14 October.
Year 0: 50 places
Year 1: 18 places
Year 2: 15 places
Year 3: 9 places
Year 4: 13 places
Year 5: 8 places
Year 6: No places available.
Teacher Only Days:
At our school, we are dedicated to staying at the forefront of curriculum implementation to ensure the very best learning outcomes for our students. In Term 4, our teaching staff will participate in two dedicated Professional Learning days, during which the school will be closed for instruction.
Friday 23 October: We will be working alongside mathematics expert Sue Pine to implement and embed the refreshed mathematics curriculum.
Friday 6 November: We will be working with writing expert Murray Gadd to focus on best practice and student engagement in writing.
We appreciate that school closure days require extra planning for families, and we thank you for your ongoing support and partnership as we invest in our staff's professional growth.
Important Dates and Reminders
Term Dates
Term 3: Monday 20th July - Friday 25th September
Term 4: Monday 12th October - Tuesday 15 December
Curriculum Day (Teacher Only Day) Friday 23rd October
Labour Day – Monday 26th October
Curriculum Day (Teacher Only Day) Friday 6 November
Important event dates at Pigeon Mountain Primary School:
Please check our school website which has a link to our Pigeon Mountain Community Calendar
Community Notices
Art with Janet
PMPS Wednesday after school art class
Art class: drawing. painting. oil pastels drawing
Day: Wednesday
Time: 3.15pm-4.15pm
Fee: $17 per hour
Classroom: Room 23
Please phone: 027-6555574 Janet
Email: janeto@xtra.co.nz
