Newsletter – 15 May 2024

Principal’s Message

Dear Parents and Whānau

Kia ora koutou

Pink Shirt Day Friday 17 May

New Zealand’s Pink Shirt Day is this Friday 17 May. Pink Shirt Day is about working together to stop bullying by celebrating diversity and promoting kindness and inclusiveness. It’s about creating a community where all people feel safe, valued and respected, regardless of gender, age, ability, religion or cultural background.

At Cockle Bay School our values are the 4Cs – continuous improvement, caring, collaboration and celebration. Some students find these more difficult than others. Parents can help by teaching their children to consider how their actions might affect others and how to care for all.

All students at school are encouraged to manage minor difficulties independently, using the school’s Wheel of Choice. For more challenging situations, teachers are there to help students. Parents are encouraged to let teachers know if their child has a problem that needs adult support. The student councillors are promoting Pink Shirt Day by leading lessons about how to be ‘caring’, one of our 4Cs.

If you would like to support Pink Shirt Day, your child is welcome to wear something pink (or red/orange) to school on Friday. 

Thanks to Parents of Year 2 

The afternoon tea you provided for our staff on Parent Conferences night was incredibly generous, and very much appreciated by the teachers. Thank you ever so much!

Room 10 Toilets Upgrade

Today an upgrade of the Room 10 toilets is expected to commence. Students from Room 10 will be using Room 8 toilets for 3 or 4 weeks. There is a health and safety plan to manage the project. 

Please use the main entrance for access to the school rather than the path at the top of the school (closest to the shops) and the top of the walkway during this time. Thank you.

Ngā mihi

Dorothy Bigwood

Cockle Bay School Learner Profile

Our Cockle Bay School values are the 4Cs.  These are: Continuous Improvement, Collaboration, Caring and Celebration.

We also have a Learner Profile which summarises the curriculum.

You may have seen visuals for these in the office and classrooms around the school.

The Learner Profile includes the capabilities that we hope our students demonstrate across all areas of their learning. 

The four capabilities are:

• Culturally and Socially Connectedness
• Awareness of Self and Others
• Communication and Collaboration
• Creative and Critical Thinking

Students’ mid-term reports include a Learner Profile Comment.  

To help our parents, whānau and wider community become more familiar with our Learner Profile, each newsletter this term will outline one of the capabilities with examples of how students can demonstrate them.

This week we are focusing on: 

Communication and Collaboration

Examples of what students may be doing from Year 0-3

• Listening to others and waiting for my turn to share
• Saying what I think in a kind way
• Taking an active role within a group
• Supporting my group to be successful

Examples of what students may be doing from Year 4-6

• Are respectful and empathetic towards others
• Listening to others
• Taking on different roles when working in a group
• Recognising when I agree or disagree and explaining why

PTN AGM: Tuesday 4th June – 7:30pm

The next PTN meeting will be held Tuesday 4^th June at 7:30pm in the staffroom, and will include the AGM, where we will also vote in the PTN Executive Team. The position of Treasurer is currently vacant. 

Nominations for all executive roles are also welcome. Roles are: Chairperson, Deputy Chair, Treasurer and Secretary.

If you are interested in applying for any of the roles above and have questions please email me at cbsptn@cocklebay.school.nz. All applications should be sent to Dorothy Bigwood via email principal@cocklebay.school.nz and include any relevant experience/skills. 

Applications close Friday 31^st May.  

Anna Coates
Chairperson

PB4L

Last term years 2 and 5 won the PB4L termly reward for getting the most mahi pais. It was awesome to see these students get rewarded for displaying the Cockle Bay values. The mahi pai system will continue over the year and motivate students to show the 4Cs (collaboration, continuous improvement, caring, celebration).

PB4L monitors have been hugely involved in setting up this system. Hear it from the monitors themselves:

“It has been amazing being a PB4L monitor this year and being involved in the new reward system for the school.  Being a PB4L monitor we have lots of jobs which include brainstorming the mahi pai term rewards, handing out mahi pais, counting the mahi pais and announcing mahi pais and year level winners in assemblies. As a PB4L monitor, it is really cool seeing students work hard to get a mahi pai and then get picked to choose a prize at assembly”. – Eric Le

In the first few weeks of term, classes need to review the 4Cs, what they look like around the school, and the expectations of students in the classroom. Therefore, as part of PB4L teachers and students have been revisiting their classroom promises, treaties, or matrices. 

CBS Annual Shoe and Coat Collection

COAT AND SHOE DRIVE – LAST DAYS!

Reminder – we are collecting coats and shoes in good condition and donating them to an Auckland school. This year we have teamed up with Ruapotaka School in Point England. Ruapotaka has 124 students, and they also support siblings, the wider whanau and the local community.

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

We have 2 collection days – before and after school on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th May at 8:00-8:45am and 2:45-3:30pm. Please bring items to Room 33 (by the old Kiss & Go).

Uniform Shop

We have families looking for small-sized uniforms – specifically sizes 4/6/8 and 10.  

If you have any uniforms you no longer need and would like to donate them they will be gratefully received.  They can be dropped off at the school office or the uniform shop when it’s open.

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

After School Soccer

To register click here

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