Week 1, Term 2 Newsletter

Principal’s Message

Dear Parents and Whānau

Kia ora koutou

Welcome to the start of Term 2. There has been glorious weather over the school holidays and I hope you all got out and enjoyed it.

A special welcome is extended to Room 31 teachers Mrs Vanessa Short and Mrs Laura Edgar, and their new students who start school today. We hope new students and their families become fully involved in our school community. Welcome also to Mrs Kate Yee who joins our Learning Support team today.

During the holidays our fencing project got underway and will take another month to complete. It is Ministry funded, and aims at keeping our children safely inside the school grounds. The community will still be able to enjoy the facilities after school and at weekends. The layout is different at reception, to avoid the risk of students walking through the main car park.

Rooms 7 and 8 are now operational again, after the fire last year. The portacoms will be removed soon. The resilience and adaptability of our staff and students impacted by the fire is acknowledged, particularly that of teachers Vicky Warner and Louise Parker and caretakers Nick and Colin.

Reminders:

Road Safety:

Students are encouraged to walk to/from school, and drivers are encouraged to find parks further away from the school. All drivers are expected to obey road rules around stopping for drop offs and collects. Parents are encouraged to supervise students crossing at the Litten/Sandspit/Paparoa Island intersection, as near misses are often reported to us. 

Attendance:

Attendance has been of media interest lately. Schools will be reporting to the Ministry on attendance weekly this term. We will be monitoring late arrivals and absences weekly, and contacting parents where there are concerns. You must let the school know if your child is going to be absent for a day or intends to be absent for a portion of the school term for whatever reason, like a tangi or medical procedure.  Family holidays or taking time off for extracurricular activities (not organised by school) are not deemed by the Ministry to be acceptable reasons for being absent (Please email the principal if in this situation). If you’re struggling at home with getting your child to school, please talk to us so we can help!

Sick children, who may be contagious, or who are feeling poorly and are therefore not ready to learn, should stay home. Students who test positive for covid are asked to inform the school and remain at home for 5 days. After vomiting/diarrhea students need to remain at home once symptoms are gone for a further 2 days The school contacts parents of students who become sick during the school day, so please ensure the office has your correct contact details. 

Please use the Cockle Bay School Website Quick Link ‘Report an absence’, to report any absence and reasons. The school checks attendance at 8.45am and 1.30pm daily, and as a priority follows up on unexplained absences. This can be a time-consuming job, so your attention to reporting absences and reasons is appreciated.

Here is further MOE Advice for Parents around attendance.

Conferences: Teacher led conferences are scheduled for next week, Thursday 9 May 1:00 – 7:00pm. Students are asked to go home at 12:30pm on that day. Please check you have booked a conference and advised us of what your children will be doing at 12:30pm on 9 May.

Term 2 Parent Teacher Conferences: Thursday 9th May, 1pm – 7pm

Students are asked to go home at 12:30pm

For students to reach their potential and take full advantage of the learning opportunities provided at school, it is important that parents and teachers need to work together. To promote a constructive home-school learning partnership, individual conferences between parents and teachers will take place to discuss progress and student needs, and it is hoped that all families will participate. 

Term 2 Parent Teacher Conferences are being held on Thursday 9th May, 1pm – 7pm

This Parent Teacher Conference is an opportunity for teachers to talk about how students have settled into their new year level, and home and school can work together to support shared goals and progress.  This will help you and your child’s teacher to support your child, and continue to foster positive learning experiences. 

Please note that school will finish at 12.30pm on this day and you are asked to collect your child/children at this time. If you cannot do this, the school will provide supervision, but as most teachers are involved in conferences, we hope you can help us by making alternative arrangements. Please fill in the form that is to be shared by your child’s teacher so we know your plans for your child/children. Thank you.

Parents are always welcome to speak with class teachers during the year as needed. This is best arranged through an email or by popping in before/after school to make a time. Team leaders, our SENCo and the senior leadership team can always be available for unresolved concerns.

CBS Annual Shoe and Coat Collection

It’s that time of year again, when you get your children to try on their winter coats and shoes and NOTHING fits! We know many items will be in great condition and we would love for you to donate them to our PTN.

For the past six years, we have collected coats and shoes in good condition and donated them to an Auckland school. This year is no different, and we are excited to team up with Ruapotaka School in Point England. Ruapotaka has 124 students, and they also support siblings, the wider whanau and local community. So as you are cleaning out your wardrobes these school holidays, please keep these items aside.

We are happy to collect adult and kids-sized coats and shoes, as well as sports shoes – washed and in good condition please.

Collections will be before and after school on Thursday 9^th and Friday 10^th May, and on Saturday 11^th May (time TBC) at Room 33 (by the old Kiss and Go). More details to follow.

Each term we review the content and implementation of our school policies and we ask our school community to participate in this process. Please go to our website, and under “Our School”, select “Policies and Procedures”. Here you will find a Push Button that says “Go to Policies” and this will take you through to the SchoolDocs site where you will see a blue button labelled “Reviews”. Select the policy that you wish to review from the list of topics, then select the push button “Start your Review”. Username: cocklebay. Password: sandspit.

This term the policies under review are:

Te Tiriti o Waitangi

Board Responsibility

Parent Involvement

Communicating with Parents

Community Conduct Expectations

School Planning and Reporting

Reporting to parents on school progress and achievement

Collect the Yummy cut-out labels from bags (each cut-out label is worth 10 stickers) and individual Yummy apple stickers for your school’s share of the $200,000 free Sport sports gear prize pool. Yummy apples are available from New World, PAK’nSAVE and participating Four Square stores. The more you collect, the more sports gear you get, so get going and start collecting your Yummy cut-out labels and stickers now!

Sticker Collection Sheet