The school roll on our first day this year was 418 (including 10 international students) and is now 494 (including 1 international student).     

Our vision is for “inquiring, connected, resilient and future-focussed learners, who give 100%” and we value: Excellence, Effort, Resilience, Respect, Responsibility and Inquiry.

The school’s strategic direction has continued to drive annual goals, and there has been a particular focus on engaging students in their learning, particularly our national priority students, raising our writing capability across the school, and implementing year one of the PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning) programme.  The students and community were surveyed, and our school values were refined down to four big ideas: respect, responsibility, resilience and relationships.

A high level of community participation and support in school events has continued including attendance at sports events, fantastic syndicate productions, open days and conference evenings. We praise the work of he P.T.A. and helpers, who have supported ongoing activities and were actively involved in fundraising to help with the cricket nets, kapa haka uniforms, enviro, chess  and many other ventures across the school.   

With our ever increasing roll, we were gifted a new prefab to kit out, and we upgraded the Oasis Room, which is now our ESOL space.  New turf has been laid under the playground,   Other upgrades across the school include new carpet, and the purchasing of new touch screen televisions.  Our five year property plan has been accepted by the ministry, and we look forward to continuing to upgrade around the school.  The Board has been active in all its dimensions of governance.

School Organisation & Staffing

The school has continued to be organised into 3 teams for 2017:

Junior Team:             Years 0, 1 & 2           led by Lisa Ray (T1 & 2)  & Carole Crompton (T3 & 4)

Middle Team:            Years 3 & 4                led by Debbie Rist

Senior Team:             Years 5 & 6                 led by Jillian Redpath

A sports teacher has worked two days per week with middle and senior school students. The primary focus was encouraging participation, enjoyment and improving the development of fundamental skills across a wide range of sports.  

We also have a specialist ESOL teacher four days per week working with students who come from bilingual families.  She has also been training teaching assistants throughout the year to enable them to support our students in classes.

A consultant digital specialist  teacher has worked in classrooms throughout the year, to increase student knowledge and to support teachers with e-learning.  BYOD continued in Years 4, 5 and 6 during 2017. The Board committed to providing lockup cabinets in all Year 4-6 classrooms and in addition a television screen and four touchscreens have been purchased for classrooms.  Four desktop computers are about to arrive for rooms which are without them.  In addition they have continued with a lease of a number of classroom ipads.

Special support was provided for students through Ministry and Board funded staffing. Programmes offered included remedial Mathematics (Accelerated Learning in Maths) and English Language Learning (ELL). Additional learning support was provided in all classes by Learning Assistants. Reading Recovery was offered by one teacher, who participated in ongoing training.  Eleven six-year-old students received this extra specialist literacy support.

Student Achievement

Student achievement improved in reading and mathematics, and we held our writing results despite the number of students who are English language learners increasing considerably this year.  This is thanks to a real focus on writing by the staff, having a dedicated ELL teacher, and the training undertaken by teaching assistants this year.

The school had target groups of students, who were our priority learners in 2017, with the goal of making accelerated learning.  These students have been monitored carefully over the year, with teachers coached to use specific interventions to accelerate progress.

In the International Competitions for Australasian Schools (ICAS), which some students choose to enter, we were pleased to note some high achievement:

Mathematics: 3 students achieved Distinction.

English: 4 students achieved Distinction.

Science: 1 student achieved Distinction.

Digital Technologies: 4 students achieved Distinction.

Writing: 1 student achieved Distinction.

Spelling: 1 student achieved Distinction.

Reporting Individual Student Progress & Achievement

In February “Getting to know our students” conferences were well attended. In July, three-way conferences were offered to all families. Extra conferences for students have been initiated by parents and teachers where needed. In term four students in Years 4-6 received an End of Year Report. The reporting schedule for students in the first three years of schooling aligns with birthdates. Therefore, by the end of term four  all students took home either a Progress Report or an End of Year Report.  The school continues to keep folders of reports and assessments to share with the following year’s teacher.

Curriculum Delivery

Students at B.B.P.S. have received a broad enriched education. We continue to be proud of the varied opportunities provided for students to develop interest and talents in areas of the curriculum other than literacy and mathematics. There have been a series of after school science lessons, and many classes were taught Mandarin. Inquiry learning has provided rich opportunities for students to learn in authentic contexts and to apply meaningful learning to situations of relevance to them. E-learning, Te Reo and enviro have been integrated into the curriculum.  The BBPS website, and new app have informed parents of ongoing events, along with assemblies that have enabled us to share and celebrate events and learning. A range of newsletters are sent out now via the website and app.

There was a Parent evening where the specialist in digital technologies spoke to parents about how they can guide their children in being responsible digital citizens.  This was recorded for those who missed the evening and can be found on the school website.

The well-being of students is a priority and pastoral care included working in partnership with parents to be fully inclusive of students with special needs.  Kagan Cooperative Learning Strategies continued to be used in 2017. Local Resource Teachers of Learning and Behaviour (RTLBs) and an MOE psychologist continued to provide guidance as needed. An in-depth well-being survey to all year five and six students informed the school of student perspectives so that staff could work to ensure all students feel safe at school.  

Programmes have increased student awareness of safety in digital citizenship and cyber safety. Walking School buses continue to be a popular, safe form of transport for children coming to and from school. Six Travelwise Student leaders were appointed and have successfully been involved in a number of Travelwise initiatives – ‘back to school’ campaign, poster competition, Travelwise prizes for safe crossing users and scooter riders (wearing helmets and using the scooter tracks correctly). Other opportunities for learning have included education outside the classroom, with all classes making educational trips beyond the school grounds.

The junior school visited Ambury farm to learn about the changes we experience in Spring as well as what living things need to thrive.  Ambury is a working farm with a varied assortment of cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, horses and pigs.  They saw a barn, a woolshed and a milking shed, all with fascinating, functional machines. The area was formed by a volcanic eruption 20,000 years ago, and its numerous stonewalls, mounds, house sites and middens bear testament to how rich the land was during early Māori occupation. The coastal reefs and inlets on the park’s foreshore are home to more than 86 species of birds and during big autumn tides, thousands of migratory birds congregate along the shore. Children experienced a guided farm walk, a crutching demonstration, a milking demonstration and a walk along the foreshore.  

The middle school visited the Bucklands Beach community, visiting Musick Point, Pigeon Mt, and Eastern Beach. Following on from the inquiry into their community the students questioned different community groups and planned and held a week where they provided activities for these groups. These included a family picnic, games for Juniors and a bake sale. The proceeds from the bake sale were used to purchase tables for student use. All students were given the opportunity to have hands-on experience in experiments involving chemical reactions.

The highlight of Term 4 was the Middle Team’s production Circus Circus, where each student was given the opportunity to choose and perform in the item best suited for them. Acts included dance, clowning, gymnastics and the use of the school’s twenty djembe drums.

Middle school students attended the Science Roadshow and had school visits from Life Education and visited Te Tuhi art gallery for a hands – on art experience.

The senior team’s year began when whanau leaders received leadership training at Willow Park.  Year five students participated in a Surf Safety Day at Red Beach and also visited Te Tuhi (Centre for the Arts) . Year 6 students attended a three-night camp at Lakewood Lodge, with one night a survival night camping in tents in a field when the weather allowed. We have booked to go to Camp Adair in 2018.   Year six also experienced sailing at Little Bucks, led by the Bucklands Beach Yacht Club.  Senior students also attended the annual Science Roadshow and had school visits from Tread Lightly, Science in a Van show, Watercare (including a visit to Macleans Stream), Vector and Life Education .  

The Enviro Group continued to work in liaison with the Trees for Survival group. The TFS students and staff have worked regularly on a “Trees for Survival” programme that involved nurturing hundreds of trees. Thirty very keen students and a large group of adults visited a property at Waiau Pa to plant over 700  native trees. This was the tenth year that our students have planted out seedlings. Again, we received positive feedback from the organisers about both the enthusiasm of the children and the excellent quality of the trees they had nurtured.

The Half Moon Bay Rotary are continually working towards updating and repairing the planting unit.  Thirty students attended the Manukau In Bloom Festival. Three students entered the arts competition.

Our Whānau Leaders ably led assemblies, organised a disco and the fun water day.

Highlights of the Enviro Group work included:

• School-wide Green Days
• Establishing understanding of  Guiding Principles with leaders, group, staff and whole school.
• Visited local Mangere Mountain and Marae to explore Maori Perspectives within the school programmes and initiatives.
• Orchard Development: fertilised and maintained to add the total to 81 fruit trees in the school grounds.
• Patch to Plate Term 3 and 4 – energetic students from all teams researched about what we could make with our school produce. We had fun making and testing the home grown produce.
• Leaders created Beeswax lunch wrappers for every New Entrant as part of our Zero waste initiative.
• Nude Food Fridays was maintained and celebrated.
• Fortnightly website and assembly reports given my Lead teacher plus student leaders.
• Green Days each term – classes enjoyed and shared successful actions.
• Enviro Council included within the Student Council to drive student- led initiatives.: sub-groups created.
• Students continued to be actively involved in recycling bins with every class having a Paper 4 Trees green bin and new worm bins to coincide with the Care Code.
• Our mobile community stall and produce have continued to grow and harvest.

The ten Enviro Leaders wore their bibs with pride and responsibly performed duties in a rostered system and were involved in several key leadership opportunity days.

Travel Wise Leaders were an enthusiastic bunch of six students – involved in getting the Travel Wise message out to students.  

We were awarded the GOLD Level for being a Travelwise school.

Travel Wise activities:

• Slogan Pen competition
• Poster competition
• Caught being Travel Wise prizes given out – one day per week.
• Scooter training

An Enriched Curriculum has been offered.

• Children were able to play chess at lunchtime at the chess club which was offered on a Monday.  The senior school chess team participated in inter-school chess competitions during the year and after school chess classes were also available.  Great success was achieved at inter-school level and the Year 6 boys chess team qualified for the National Chess tournament in Hamilton.  The team placed 9th out of 20 schools and in the individual placings, Yuke Chan came 7th out of 98 players.

• Three robotics team entered two competitions this year into First Lego League.  
• A past pupil, who has now moved on to BBI, has helped train the team this year.    Fundraising included a cupcake day for entry fees and a new competition set.
• Six students attended the Teachers’ Digital Technologies Conference held in Hamilton in October to demonstrate to teachers from other schools their skills in electronic circuitry and robotics
• Seventy nine students ably led workshops for students from other schools at the Google Educators’ Student Summit held at Ormiston School.  They got fantastic feedback.

• Whānau Days were held where students were grouped with buddies in their whanau from across the school to celebrate important days including Matariki.

• Senior students took part in the Interschool Technology Competition at Point View Primary. A Middle School team participated in the Top Trumps Science Challenge at the same venue.  
• A group of students also participated in the EPro8 Technology Challenge.
• A team of students competed in the annual Mathex competition held at Sunnyhills School, gaining fourth place out of 22 entries.
• Year 6 students competed in a school Literacy Quiz. Eight students from BBPS were selected for the NZ Literacy Quiz held at Baverstock School. These children had to become familiar with 16 books from the 2014 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards. They did a wonderful job under tough competition.  Our top team received our best result ever!
• A senior school speech competition was held, and the winner went on to compete at the Howick and Pakuranga interschool event. The Middle school held an Oral Reading competition for Year 3 students and a speech competition for Year 4 students.
• One dance group, comprising Year 4,5 and 6 students performed well at the Howick and Pakuranga Schools’ Dance Festival.  
• The Kapa Haka group performed with enthusiasm, talent and pride at the local Koanga Festival.
• B.B.P.S. held its own team sports days in swimming, cross country and athletics.  The junior school held tabloid sports each week during term four, with Year six students taking on a leadership role in this.
• Students were involved in many sporting field days and inter-school events. Throughout the year, students participated in: netball, rugby, soccer, rippa-rugby, touch rugby, rugby sevens, Barbarians rugby, cricket, hockey, basketball, athletics, cross country, swimming, gymnastics and softball. Students were coached and trained for competitive events and many individuals and teams have performed to a very high standard.  Students have proudly represented BBPS, demonstrating excellent behaviour and sportsmanship.
• Bucklands Beach Primary again retained the Interschool Cross Country Cup.
• BBPS were fortunate to have a third year of a Mandarin Language Assistant through the Confucius Institute teaching Mandarin in all classes, as well as a teacher from Macleans College teaching Mandarin each week in Year 6.

Sporting highlights throughout the year are summarised below:

• The rugby team was represented in two grades, Under 45kgs & Under 35kgs and performed well with many Year 4 students being given an opportunity to represent the school. 
• Winner of the Interschool Cross Country.
• The soccer team performed admirably in their pool group narrowly missing out on a semi-final spot due to a 2-1 loss.
• BBPS entered two teams in the Eastern Basketball League, which was run on a Thursday night at Pakuranga College and Howick Recreation Centre . We are very appreciative of our parents who managed the team.
• This year a softball team participated in field days and performed well.
• Teachers have offered lunchtime sports and games for all students.    
• The Lloyd Elsmore Summer Hockey League was a huge success for our students this season, with a Year 5/6 team and a Year 3/4 team entered.
• We participated in Tip Top Schools, with a large group of students making up eight teams. We were the largest school participating in regard to the number of teams.
• BBPS were also represented at the Barbarians Rugby Field Day and the Weetbix Tryathlon.
• A number of children joined together to run in the Howick Fun Run and BBPS came away with the Crawford Medical Cup for coming first in the 8.5km Primary Schools division for the second year in a row.
• The Auckland Marathon 2017: our Kids Marathon team completed either the full marathon distance or the shorter 5km race on event day.
• We entered one team in the inter-school netball competition. We also entered the HPPA netball field day with 6 teams.
• BBPS was responsible for the organisation of the Howick and Pakuranga schools local Interschool Gymnastics competition.  This competition was held over two days and was run by the Howick Gymnastics Club. The event was hugely successful, and sixty eight BBPS students performed creditably. We  entered a year three team. Coaching involved three staff members. A team of year five  girls, a year four boy, a year three girls team and a year six boy advanced to represent BBPS at the Auckland Champion of Champions competition. Fourteen children is the highest number we have had to represent at this level.

• In the HPPA inter-school cross country competition, BBPS came first overall with individual students performing to high standards. We performed very well in inter-school athletics too.  We again came first overall in the interschool competition.  Year five boys first, year four girls first  (two girls coming in top two places), year six girls came third,and  year six boys came second.
• BBPS entered a team into the HPPA Touch Field Day.
• Our cricket team was mainly comprised of year five players, and while there was a huge amount of interest at the trial stage (more than fifty students) we were only able to select a wider squad of siteen. They performed well on the tournament days reaching the second round.
• This year we set up girls soccer. We entered two teams in the interschool soccer from year 5s and 6. We played against other schools in our area and one team made it to the finals.
• We also took part in a girls soccer field day.
• We also arranged  girls summer soccer playing against other soccer clubs.

Our sporting programmes, competitions and cultural events are indebted to the contributions of staff and parents, who provide coaching, transport and other support regularly.  Thank you to you all.

Community links

• PTA

A big thank you to the hard working PTA and to all of the parents, teachers and board members for their support of P.T.A. events and fundraisers.

• Transition to school

Due to our overflowing roll and lack of space, we have moved to four to six transition visits instead of Smart Start.  This is giving students a good sense of what is to come, and has worked well.  Part of the new Junior Team Leader’s job next year is to review and build on our transition programme.

Finances and Property

This year we saw the amazing make over of the Oasis Room, which has transformed the space.  The surface under the playground has been replaced with new underlay  and turf, making it safer and a much more attractive space.  Many small but important jobs have been undertaken across the school such as new carpet, replacing windows, and installing new cricket nets.  We have spent considerable time with our building advisor putting together our five year property plan, and look forward to more improvements next year.

At the time of preparing this review, 71% of our families have supported BBPS by paying the school donation requested. Financial support of the school is needed for us to provide the current level of services and programmes, and we are deeply grateful for your donations.

Professional Learning and Development

Professional learning and development opportunities for teachers have been prioritized with generous funding by the board. The major foci have been writing, establish PB4L and assisting priority learners.  We applied for and were awarded 100 hours professional development from Dr Alison Davis, to work with us on writing.  Six teachers attended the Growing Great Leaders course, and Open to Learning Leadership, through Auckland University.  The Ministry significantly funded professional learning in the teaching through Accelerated Learning in Mathematics Programmes, and the PB4L initiative which we will continue to be a part of next year. Other professional development has been targeted to specific needs.  

One teacher completed two papers towards her Masters in Educational Leadership, with another teacher completing her Post Graduate Diploma. One teacher has completed TESSOL papers during the year to help the school with supporting students from bilingual families.  Three teachers completed NCEA level 2 in Te Reo Maori. Two of our teacher aides completed qualifications to become English Language Learning Assistants this year, with a further three teacher aides doing papers in Working with English Language learners here at school.

Staffing

At the beginning of the year we welcomed Ms Foulger in Room 8, Mrs Anushka Patel in Room 16 and Mrs Michelle Murray-Brown in Room 10.  During the year we also welcomed: Mrs Miriam Giles and Mrs Sue Everard in Room 6, Ms Anna Madgwick and Mrs Marlene Jackson in R20 and Miss Sarah Millinchip in Room 21.  Mrs Rowlands joined us in term three, as an Associate Principal.  Mrs Robyn Millinchip joined us in Week 3 of Term 4 to cover for Mrs Cindy Christensen who is currently on maternity leave.   Mrs Diana Spencer continued as our ELL teacher.  Mr Michael Grimmer worked three days per week, two of which doing sports with our middle and senior school students.  We also thank our treasured regular relievers.  

Mrs Donna Gormley, Ms JayJay Snider, Mrs Connie Cheng, Mrs Rachel Ciechowicz, Mrs Stella Williams, Mrs Camille Daniels-Sanileva,  Mrs Sunny Shen, Mrs Fion Yim and Mrs Jielin Chan are also thanked for their work as Learning Assistants.  

We farewell Mrs Louise Johnson, Miss Laura Ahern, and Miss Amber Davidson at the end of 2017.  We thank them for their many and varied contributions to what BBPS has offered.  

Thank you to

• The BOT, PTA, parents and community members who give wonderful support and contributions that enable the school to offer more and more opportunities each year to our students.
• The whole staff of BBPS for their personalised care of students, dedication, expertise,  and professionalism. This includes teachers, learning assistants, office and library staff, and our property manager. Special thanks go to Carole Crompton, Moira Rowlands and team leaders. Together, you are a great team who  I am privileged to work with.

Best wishes for a happy and safe Christmas and holiday period. We look forward to seeing you all in the new year.

Kelly Slater-Brown

Principal

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