Newsletter 20 February 2025

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Principal’s Message:

We want to take a moment to thank you for your support and partnership. It has been wonderful seeing you engage with your children’s teachers and each other. We welcomed new learners to our school this year with 19 new learners in Year 1 and 12 students in Years 3-6 so far.

Here is a little information about me, for our new families. My name is Devika Tagg and I have been part of the Takapuna Primary School family for over 11 years and Principal for almost 5 years. I have had a rich and varied career in Education spanning over 20 years. I love being a Principal and I am passionate about supporting teachers to deliver high-quality education and engaging children to want to learn!

Education: Bachelor of Education, Post Grad Diploma in Education, Masters of Education (1st class honours) & Post Grad Certificate in Digital and Collaborative Learning.

Family:  My husband and I have two amazing daughters (12 years and 15 years) who both attended Takapuna Primary School.

Interests: My family and I love to travel around the world experiencing different cultures and countries. We also spent two years teaching abroad and living in Abu Dhabi.

Student Achievements and Highlights:

Our Whānau Kererū students have been busy thinking about the concept of Leadership! I had the privilege of working alongside our senior leaders on Wednesday afternoon. We spent time sharing our views on leadership and engaging in important conversations on what makes a great leader. Many of our Year 6 students are busy thinking about, planning and applying for our Student Leadership Programme.

Upcoming Events and Important Dates

School Board Meeting:

Monday 24 February. If you’re interested in finding out about how a school operates and want to make a valuable contribution to our school, please consider joining our Board. You can find out more by emailing board@tps.school.nz

Team Newsletters:

These will be shared via Hero by the end of the week, they will also be linked to our school website.

Teacher Only Day:

This is the first Ministry of Education Curriculum Day and will be on Friday, 11 April (last day of Term 1). 

Health and Safety updates:

Anzac Street carpark is closed for safety reasons between 2.45pm and 3.15pm. Please avoid parking here after school, if you do, a reminder to be patient as the gates are locked.

Killarney Street carpark is currently closed due to renovations in Rooms 6d and 6e. There is one mobility park available for permit holders. Children are using this space. We must keep it clear.

First Aid:

Recently, our teaching staff have all completed their Basic First Aid training with St Johns.

School and Community News

Family Picnic:

What a lovely Wednesday afternoon we had together with families bringing along a picnic blanket and some food to share. Thank you to the School Community Group (SCG) who sold a few extra items. If you’re interested in finding out more, please contact scg@tps.school.nz 

Spotlight! 

This week’s spotlight learner is Emily (Year 2 learner) from Room 5A. Her teacher and I are very proud of her writing achievement this week. She has written a beautiful piece about her puppy, Maple.

Parent drop-in sessions:

We would like to offer a few sessions for parents to come along and chat with the Principal (and/or a member of our senior leadership team) to ask questions or discuss general school-related topics. This will suit parents who have general wonderings or are curious to find out more about education. The purpose would be an informal occasion, to better understand our school and a bonus would be for families to meet each other in a group setting. We plan for the first session to be Friday 7 March at 8:30am in our school staffroom (by the office). Come and join me for a tea/coffee. Feel free to email me devikat@tps.school.nz if you have any questions or thoughts.

Please note: we will not be talking about any students, teachers or families. This is not a feedback session, you are welcome to make a time to discuss this with me directly.

Chinese New Year 2025:

We wish to acknowledge students, friends, family and our community who celebrated Chinese New Year 2025 – Year of the Snake. We hope you have enjoyed this special occasion. 

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 us at office@tps.school.nz

Reporting Absences:

Please use the HERO APP to report absences/lates  

Here is how:

Medical:

Please note, if your child is vomitting or vomitted at school and sent home, they must NOT come to school until they have stopped vomitting for a full 24 hours.

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 

Order and Win with Ezlunch

Swimming:

Please support your children in remembering to bring their togs/towel on their allocated class swimming days. They will not want to miss all the fun!

TPS SPORTS:

Colour Dash

Last week, many of our learners took part in a Beads of Connection activity as part of the inaugural Colour Dash event. Colour Dash is a fully inclusive, fully accessible run, walk, or push around the Ngataringa sports fields in Devonport, taking place in March. In the build up to the event, children and adults from across the community are making personalised bracelets with motivational words which participants will receive on the day of the event. TPS students created some absolute beauties alongside Emma and Katherine, two recent recipients of awards from the Liz Soper Foundation of Care, the charity behind the event, fostering a strong sense of giving, community, and awareness of differences.

For more information about Beads of Connection and Colour Dash, visit www.colourdash.co.nz Nominate TPS in the referral box by February 28^th to go in the draw to win a Free Family Pass for a friend.

IMPORTANT DATES

Friday 7 March                    Drop in Sessions (8:30am Staffroom)

Friday 11 April                     Teacher Only Day (NO school)

Click here for School Calendar

2025 Term Dates

COMMUNITY NOTICES: