Newsletter 7 February 2025

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IMPORTANT START OF THE YEAR INFORMATION

We hope you have had a wonderful holiday break, children have settled in well and teachers are spending time reinforcing our school values, systems and processes. We’d love your support with getting your children to school on time, every day and supporting us to reinforce these life skills. Please find below key reminders to kick off our 2025 school year to ensure a successful start.

English and Mathematics Curriculum:

The new curriculum for English and Mathematics has been rolled out across New Zealand, effective 2025. There are some similarities and differences that all schools are spending time unpacking. Takapuna Primary School is very well placed with our current teaching and learning programmes and professional development pathway to teach effectively from day 1 of 2025. Teachers continue to upskill in both Structured Literacy, Writing, Handwriting, Spelling as well as engaging with experts in the Mathematics field.

Attendance and Lateness:

Schools and kura, along with whānau/families are legally responsible for making sure students attend school every day, on time. Please find included in this newsletter, key information you need to know. We ask that you do not take children out of school for long weekends, or holidays and to plan these around break times whenever possible. Holiday leave can not be approved by the Principal.

Sports Coordinator:

We are very excited to begin 2025 with Valerie taking leadership as Sports Coordinator. We will be planning to involve families with some information sessions once she has had some time to settle into her role. Please keep checking your Hero communication page for details and we will include information in school newsletters.   

Staff:

A warm welcome to Harmony, our specialist Music/STEM teacher. Children have already started lessons with Harmony and they are loving it! Harmony is teaching in the block by the staff car park, alongside Kipa (specialist Te Ao Māori) and Tash Giles (ESOL teacher).

Hannah is our new teacher at TPS, working in room 6B with our Year 1 learners. Hannah comes to us with lots of experience working in a school environment and has settled so beautifully already at TPS. 

Before and After School

Classrooms open to children from 8:30am. A reminder that there is no supervision of children at this time as school begins at 9:00am. We suggest a good time for children to arrive at school is 8:45am to give them enough time to put their bags away and follow any routines in preparation for the 9:00am start.

School finishes at 3:00pm. If any children are not supervised after school, they will be asked to go to the office where we will call parents. If you are going to be late to collect your child, you must call the office before 3:00pm.

School Uniform – compulsory

We will be asking all children to wear the correct school uniform, including the uniform top.

• Jewellery should be left at home and we prefer children not to bring watches to school as they are easily lost. For those with pierced ears, studs only.

Any clothing underneath uniforms are not encouraged but if worn must not be visible or be black or navy blue.

Water Skills for Life

This is not an option. Like all curriculum areas, teachers will be teaching and assessing their progress. If there are medical reasons, we ask for a written note from your child’s GP, in which case we will make alternative arrangements.  

Phones and Phone capable Smart Watches:

The Government has regulations around cell phones in school. If a student does bring their cell phone for emergency contact or health reasons, the phone must be handed to the office before school starts.

If a parent or caregiver needs to contact their child urgently during the day, they should call the school office.

Please feel free to contact your child’s teachers or any of the leadership team if you have any further questions. We are excited about a fantastic year of learning at Takapuna Primary School. We will be in touch via Hero and through our school and team newsletters.

Teacher Only Day:

Please note in your calendar there is a Teacher Only Day on the last day of Term 1 – Friday 11th April.

Regards, Devika and the TPS team.  

Attendance:

We believe that regular attendance is key to your child’s success. Every day of school provides valuable learning opportunities that build upon each other. Missing school can lead to gaps in knowledge, making it harder for students to catch up. Consistent attendance helps children develop good habits, improves social skills, and fosters a sense of responsibility. Please make sure your child is attending every day, ready to learn, grow, and succeed!

Your child is legally required to be at school every day, unless they are sick.  All unexplained absences will be followed up by the office staff, firstly with a text and secondly with a phone call. If we have not had an explanation for an absence by the end of the week: 

• Your child’s absence will be marked as truant. 
• Repeated unexplained absences will be followed up by the school and referred to outside agencies. 
• All attendance data is sent to the Ministry of Education every day. 

All whānau | family holidays or taking time off for extra activities are not acceptable reasons for being absent.  

Medical appointments: Where possible these need to be scheduled outside of school time. If this is not possible, please return your child to school as soon as possible after the appointment. It is not okay for your child to miss a whole day of school for a 30 minute appointment.

The Importance of being on time to school: Arriving at school on time sets the tone for a successful day of learning. Being punctual not only helps your child start the day with a positive attitude, but it also ensures they don’t miss out on important instructions, activities, or the chance to build strong relationships with their teachers and classmates. When students arrive late, they may feel rushed, distracted, and struggle to catch up. By prioritising punctuality, you’re helping your child develop strong habits that will benefit them throughout their education and beyond. 

If you’re struggling at home with getting your child to school, please talk to us. We are committed to supporting your child to attend school and building a culture that fosters excellent attendance.

Change of Contact Details: (IMPORTANT)

Please be aware, it is very important that the office is notified immediately if you have either moved to another address, or changed your contact phone numbers or emergency contacts.

Please notify the office at office@tps.school.nz

Reporting Absences:

Please use the HERO APP to report absences/lates  

Here is how:

Part Payments in Hero:

Great news! Part payments are now available in Hero. If you would like to pay for larger items by instalments or split payments between caregivers, this can now be done through Hero.

Simply select the item(s) and click through to the next page. From here you can adjust the payment amount (minimum of $10.00).

School Bank Account:

Our school bank account name has changed. It is now TAKAPUNA SCHOOL BOARD.

There has been NO change to the account number.

If you choose to make payments via internet banking you will need to update the payee details. Full account information can be found on the school website under Information / Payments.

This change is to allow for the recent introduction by banks of checking payee account names along with account numbers when internet banking payments are being made.

Please note we prefer that payments to the school are made via Hero.

SCHOOL DONATIONS – An investment in our students

Our mission at Takapuna Primary School is to deliver a great quality learning environment that supports a quality education. To support this, we are seeking your help.

Your school donations make a very real difference to us as a state-funded public school. Our basic costs are met by the Ministry of Education, but it’s the money we receive from our school community that really allows us to provide opportunities, equipment and teaching beyond what is funded by the government. As an example, we would like to undertake further enhancements including sun shades, and also to enable wet weather use. This funding is therefore so important in providing a high-quality learning environment (both in and out of the classroom).

The school donation for 2025 is $250 per student, or $400 for families with two or more students. We can arrange weekly, fortnightly, or monthly instalments via internet banking if this helps spread the cost. Importantly, donations are tax deductible so approximately one third of every donation can be claimed back as a tax credit. That means for a $250 donation you receive $83 back in your wallet. Your actual donation cost is $167.

To make your donation payments please go to the ‘Hero’ app and click on the ‘Finance’ tab. Alternatively, any payments can also be made directly into the school bank account 12 3026 0792484 00 – if doing so, please ensure you include your child’s name and ‘donation’ as reference on the payment.

We do understand these are uncertain times and managing financial priorities can be difficult for some families. 

Any queries regarding payments can be directed to our accounts team: accounts@tps.school.nz

If you would like to know more about how the School Board operates and/or would be interested in understanding how else you can help, please contact: takapunaboard@tps.school.nz 

Thanks so much for helping to support our growing and vibrant community.

Kindest regards

Takapuna Primary School Board of Trustees

Order and Win with Ezlunch

More details to follow ……………………………..

TPS SPORTS:

Splash Polo 

Is your child keen to join a TPS Splash Polo team?

There are two levels that North Harbour Sport offer;

Newbies Splash Polo League (Year 2 & 3) 

Start Date: Sunday 23rd February      

End Date: Sunday 6th April    Game day – Sundays (6 weeks)

Splash Polo League (Years 3 – 6) 

Start Date: Sunday 2nd March     

End Date: Sunday 6th April   Game day – Sundays (6 weeks)

If your child/children are confident swimmers and interested in giving it a go or played in our school team last year, please email Valerie at sports@tps.school.nz  ASAP to express your interest. 

Registrations will be closing early February so please contact me with any queries or your child’s name and age level.

Harcourts Cooper & Co Shore to Shore – Registrations are open NOW

Date – Sunday 6th April 

Registrations are open for Shore to Shore Fun Run & Walk 2025. 

Register Here Click on ‘Register’  then click on “School Registration’ then look for Takapuna Primary School and follow the process. 

Any queries please contact Valerie at sports@tps.school.nz 

Running Club – get fit for Shore to Shore fun run

Weather permitting this will begin Wednesday 12th February at 8:10am meeting at Kereru C (Rangitoto building verandah to drop school bags) and put on high vis vests). This is open to Year 4-6 students and families with younger siblings if whanau are able to support on the run. If you would like to know the route or have any queries please contact Valerie at sports@tps.school.nz 

Swimming Trials in Week 1 

Open to confident swimmers in Year 4-6 who would like to trial for Pupuke Swimming Clusters Sports. Please meet Valerie at our school pool on Friday 7th February at lunchtime 1:10pm to trial for Freestyle, Breaststroke and Backstroke. 

Hibiscus Coast AFC – Girl’s Muster Day on Saturday, 15th February 2025!

Session Details: JUNIORS (Ages 4 to Grade 12)  9:30 am – 10:30 am  Register here

Community Sports notices

North Shore Artistic Roller Skating Club  – is your child interested in skating for fun, fitness, or has dreams of competing in skating. Link to enroll for classes: https://nsarsc.as.me/schedule.php

Class Details:

Location: ActivZone Indoor Sports Arena, Glenfield
Days: Tuesdays & Thursdays
Time: 4:15 PM – 5:15 PM (during the school term)
Ages & Levels: All ages and abilities welcome!

Learn to skate like a pro! Young Guns Skate School will be running classes every Thursday after school, starting Thursday 13th February. All skill levels are welcome. No full term bookings are required, skateboards and helmets provided, or bring your own. Tech Deck prizes to be won at all classes.

IMPORTANT DATES

Wednesday 12 February           School Family Picnic (3:00pm-4:30pm)

Friday 11 April                           Teacher Only Day (NO school)

Click here for School Calendar

2025 Term Dates

COMMUNITY NOTICES: