Kia Ora, Nǐ hǎo, Greetings,
I trust you enjoyed the holidays, and managed to keep warm and dry! Welcome to our new students and their families that have joined us: Fatimah Hossain, Danica Wu, Lawrence Lin, Eva Yang, Ehab Jatoi, Tim Shi, Harry Luo, Larry Zhang, Charlotte Robinson & Wian Smit. Welcome also to Moira Rowlands, our new Associate Principal, who is sharing Carole Crompton’s office. The Kapa Haka group did a fantastic job of welcoming new staff on Friday. They have clearly been working hard in preparation for the Koanga Festival later in the term.
New School App
I’m excited to announce we have a school app called ‘Parent Teacher Calendar’. You will be able to view the newsletter, school calendar, receive instant messages about events or reminders, receive sport cancellation notices and report absences through the app. The app is a free download from either the App Store if you an Apple phone, or from Google play for other phones. Search for ‘Parent Teacher Calendar’ and choose our school once it has installed.
New Physical Activity Guidelines for Children and Young People
Recently I received a notification about the Sit Less, Move More, Sleep Well – Physical Activity Guidelines for Children and Young People that include new sleep recommendations as well as updated advice on the amount of physical activity children and young people need and I thought it may be of interest to parents.
The updated advice for school-aged children and young people (aged 5 to 17 years) for a healthy 24-hours includes:
- quality uninterrupted sleep of 9 to 11 hours per night for those aged 5 to 13 years and 8 to 10 hours per night for those aged 14 to 17 years, with consistent bed and wake-up times
- an accumulation of at least 1 hour a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity (incorporate vigorous physical activities and activities that strengthen muscles and bones, at least 3 days a week)
- no more than 2 hours per day of recreational screen time
- for the remainder of the day: sitting less and moving more – break up sitting time participating in structured and unstructured light physical activities.
Children and young people not currently meeting these guidelines should make a progressive adjustment towards them, as the benefits of following these guidelines far exceed potential risks. For more information on these recommendations, download: http://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/pages/physical-activity-guidelines-for-children-and-young-people-may17.pdf
Board of Trustees News
The Oasis room is up and running as our ESOL room. It looks fantastic! Thank you to Rachel Penny and John Rist for working so hard to create a warm and inviting space.
Our new prefab also arrived in the holidays, and will be transformed into another much needed classroom when we get Council consent.
PTA News
We are still on the hunt for a new chairperson to carry on the excellent work of the PTA. Our next meeting is on the 1st of August at 7:30 in the staff room. We would love to see you there.
This term we have two fundraisers planned – a maths-whizz-athon and calendars. More details will follow.
Enviro News
Wet, wet and more wet! The gardens, fields and orchard are soaked but the trees are surviving. Thank you to a Grandparent, Mr Kelvin Davies for your continued support of the school.
Our Trees for Survival Group headed off to a local farm on Friday 28th of July to plant several hundred native tree seedlings which they have cared and nurtured all year. Thank you to Mrs Howie and the local Rotary club this fantastic opportunity . We had a great day, the weather was kind to us and we planted about 800 trees plus we had the satisfaction of knowing they are helping with Riparian initiatives in the Manukau Harbour region.
Room 2 planter box outside the Senior block looks amazing. Well done to the initiative of these students to plant the bulbs for daffodils and freesias at exactly the right time. The flowers brighten the school!
BBPS is thrilled to announce that we applied and have been offered the support of a volunteers day from the Bank of New Zealand. Our BOT chairperson, Kieran Turner prompted this application and we are planning to make the best use of a group of BNZ employees on Wednesday 23rd of August for a whole day of gardening, painting and general working bee activities which support us. Thank you in advance to BNZ and Mr Kieran Turner.
Enviro activities are embedded within our school programmes and any parents wishing to volunteer, we run teacher led lunchtimes on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays! Any offer of help is appreciated. See Mrs Riach in Room 1 or contact Julie in the office.
Sports News
Hockey Field Day
Well done to all the year 5 and 6 teams for a very successful Hockey Field Day at Lloyd Elsmore Park. Your skills and team work were outstanding! Thank you to the parents for your support!
Gymnastics Competition: Wednesday 23rd of August
The Gymnastics teams are now polishing their routines as the final trials finished this week. The 59 students will all attend the Wednesday sessions of the local Eastern Zone competition.
A notice will be handed out next week at training and all students in the teams are invited to attend not only the Wednesday sessions, but the before school gym sessions in the hall at 8.15am. The four Ps are showing in our progress: Preparation, Prevents, Poor, Performance!
We would like to thank the many parents who have popped by and offered their 5-20 minutes of support of the teams.
The enthusiasm and effort shown by all of the gymnasts has been excellent so far and we hope to have another year filled with success.
BBI Enrolments
Reminder: Y6 BBI Enrolments for in zone students close on Wednesday 30 August. Please take all applications directly to Bucklands Beach Intermediate School. The closing date for out-of-zone enrolments will be Wednesday 30 August. A ballot will be held for out of zone Year 7 students on Wednesday 6 September.
Incredible Years Parenting Course
A free parenting course is being offered at Pakuranga Intermediate School. This is 14 sessions, for two hours per week, and will be held on Wednesday nights, starting on Wednesday 9 August. Incredible Years is a well-researched, practical and effective course and anyone who has done it speaks very highly of the useful strategies. For more information please go to the website:
http://pb4l.tki.org.nz/Incredible-Years-Parent
To enrol, or if you have any questions, please contact Jeanette on 021612430.
Kind regards
Kelly Slater-Brown
Community Notices
BUCKLANDS BEACH TENNIS CLUB – Kids and Parents…it is time to start thinking about Summer sport and why not let your kids learn a sport that will last a life time… TENNIS !!!
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