Cameron Thompson, Piper Wilson

Good Afternoon Parents, Caregivers and Children,

Today I would like to acknowledge and celebrate some ex Puketaha Students who have reached their final year at secondary school and are being recognised for the leadership and positive influence they have and continue to make in their respective schools. Charlotte McKinnon (2016 leaver) was announced as Head Girl at Fairfield College, Aiden Payne-Isaacs (2016 leaver) has been announced as Deputy Head Boy at St John's College and Joseph Grigg (2016 Leaver) was announced as a school prefect and Head of Fitchett House at St Pauls Collegiate. All of these are well deserved and significant achievements for these three outstanding young adults. It is very rewarding to hear of their success and like their secondary school, we have full faith that they will serve themselves, their family and their school with courage in these leadership roles. Well done to the three of you!

This week we have held our first Whanau/Teacher Catch up's. We are delighted with how these have gone and the opportunity it has provided us to strengthen the learning partnerships that exist. Our feedback from our teachers has been very positive. They have enjoyed the one to one approach with yourselves and the time to just chat as adults about your child's learning and personalities. So far this change in our reporting to parent process has been a positive one and it is a reminder that sometimes we too often look at the risks associated with change, rather than the opportunities that change may bring or even the risks associated with not changing. Thank you for your support with this.

Finally, at the end of last year we asked you to fill in a survey around the new Relationships and Sexuality Education that is being asked of us to deliver within our programmes. A part of this process was to consult with our community in regards to the delivery of this programme. Thank you to the 62 families who completed this survey. The results of the survey can be found here. Community_Survey_Results_2020.pdf 

As a teaching team we will now take some time to reflect on this feedback and look at what a learning programme may look like. Before any programme takes shape in the classroom we will consult with our B.o.T and host at least one parent evening (likely Term 3) to gain further feedback from you.

Tomorrow we have our first Powerful Learning Assembly for the year. We hope to see many of you there.

Warm Regards

Geoff

It is with great excitement that we are able to say our pool is open and ready for swimming! 

This fantastic asset for our school will be enjoyed for many years to come.

We have had amazing support for this project.

Firstly, I would like to thank our B.O.T for their willingness to commit. It is not everyday that you sign up to a school project of this size and nature. Thank you for your courage. 

Our P.T.A for your support with fundraising efforts to help secure our financial certainty. Our P.T.A donated $30,000.00 towards the build.

Our parents and wider community. Your interest and support has been welcomed and we are all truly humbled with how you have supported us. Thank you for this and for your patience. 

Finally, to Shane Naylor and his team. Their commitment to getting the sheds in as soon as possible has been appreciated. Shane and I had several conversations through this project and at the centre of it all, was let’s get this done so the children can be in swimming. Thank you.

While children can start swimming tomorrow. We have an official opening day planned for Thursday April 1st (Grandparents Day). More information about this will be given in the next newsletter. But for now please save the date. 

Hello Puketaha Parents/Guardians,

The Puketaha PTA operates as a registered charity whose purpose is to provide a benefit to our School’s community by way of social activities and helping provide improved facilities and opportunities for its members.  We do this primarily by fundraising efforts during the year, and funds raised get directed back to the school to benefit our children today, and in the future. Examples of ways funds have been used are contributions towards larger capital expenditure such as the big kids playground or more recently the swimming pool upgrade, plus annual events such as subsidising school camps and various teacher learning initiatives.

The PTA have had their first meeting of 2021 and have discussed quite a lot of varied plans for their year ahead.  Examples for this year’s events are: A Scrap Metal Drive, Calendar Art, Wine Sales, A Quiz Night, A Movie Night, Golf Tournament, and the big one, Spring Fair. Plus of course barbeques/bake sales at sports events. Your support of these initiatives is vital to their success. If you can help with events or want to be involved with the PTA please come along to our next meeting (Tuesday 23 March 7pm School staffroom) or message me your details if you would like to help with specific events.  We operate on the many hands make light work philosophy, so would love to hear from you.  You can contact me on pta@puketaha.school.nz or 027 629 6820.

Kind regards,

Merynn Connors

Chairperson

The Junior swimming event is being held at 1pm on Thursday 18th March.  This will be a fun event to celebrate the opening of the new pool and give our Year 1 & 2 children a chance to enjoy water activities. Parents and caregivers are welcome to come along and support.

Hi Families,

It is school policy that no medication be administered without formal parental consent. Parents/caregivers need to complete a medicine authority form.

The swimming sports events for Years 3 - 8 will be held at Fairfield College Pool on Wednesday 17 March from 11:00 - 2:30pm.

Two pools will be operating with competitive and confidence building events.
Children will travel on buses. Please give your children pemission to attend via Kindo. Parents and families are welcome to attend.

All children will need:

• togs
• swimming cap, goggles and earplugs (if required)
• 2 x towels
• sunhat
• Sweatshirt (very important)
• A drink bottle with water only.

Dio Open Day

Friday 19th March 10am- 12pm