Newsletter – 28 August 2020 – Pakuranga Heights School

Welcome back

Covid-19 Level 2
Thank you for your continued support as we reintroduce strict health and safety requirements.

Health and Safety at Alert Level 2
What has changed?

Face coverings
Face coverings are not required in schools and early learning services at any alert level. Any children, young people, parents or teachers who wish to wear face coverings at schools or early learning services may do so if they want to.

Who can go to school?
All children can attend school at this level. Schools must be open.

Who should not go to school?
If people are sick, they should stay home (phone Healthline or their GP and get tested if a doctor or health professional recommends to do so).

Anyone who is self-isolating, or who has been advised by health authorities to remain at home while they wait for their COVID-19 test results, must stay home.

Health requirements at school?
At Alert Level 2 the disease is contained. It is safe for children and staff to attend schools, early learning services and tertiary education. There will be appropriate measures in place

Public health measures at all alert levels?
If people are sick, they should stay home (phone Healthline or their GP if they have COVID-like symptoms and tested if advised to do so):

Staff are required to observe students on arrival checking for symptoms and ask those presenting as unwell to go to the office and arrangements made for parents and caregivers to come and pick up.

We will revise basic hygiene rules with all students e.g. wash and dry hands, cough into elbow, do not touch your face.

Distancing rules apply to outside visitors.

Can you come onto the school grounds?
The simple answer is yes, although if not necessary, we ask you to avoid coming into school instead arrange a meeting place outside the school grounds to drop off and pick up your child. Anyone coming on site will sign in or use the app, sanitise and wear a mask in order to reduce the risk to our community. When staff are not on the main gates then all visitors must come and sign in at the office.

Can I pick my child up early?
Yes, during level 2 we arrange to release the children from 2.30 pm in order to avoid disruption.

Please let your child’s teacher or the office know so we can ensure your child is ready and waiting at the designated time

Drink bottles
All children need to bring their own drink bottle as the water fountains will be closed as part of the health and safety requirements.

Sanitise and Good Hygiene Practices
Important elements to ensure everyone stays safe. Hand sanitiser, paper tissues are available in all classrooms and spaces around the school

Any concerns or queries please email your child’s teacher or the school.

School Events Changes

Cultural Festival
Due to Covid 19 and the uncertainty, we have decided to cancel our school cultural festival until next year. We appreciate this is disappointing not only for the students, and families but for the staff. The decision to cancel this year was difficult as consideration given to Covid- 19 level requirements, costs of cancelling stage and sound hire, costumes, class time for practices etc. Our focus upon the return of all students next week will be on quality teaching and learning time and restoring a sense of normality.

Assemblies
Cancelled for the remainder of the term. We will review at the end of this term taking into account what Covid-19 level restrictions ae in place.

Senior School Speech Competitions
This will take place in Week 9 with restricted numbers. The senior school team will send out further details.

Upcycle Challenge
The Upcycle Challenge is still able to go ahead with some changes to the organisation on Thursday, 10 September. A separate notice will go out later this week.

Interschool Events
All Howick and Pakuranga school events planned for the remainder of Term 3 are now cancelled. The only exception to this is the speech competition finals and we will know more details this week.

Touch Rugby (scheduled for Week 2, Term 4) cancelled at the organising school’s request.

We hope to be able to proceed with other Term 4 fixtures depending on the organising school and Covid-19 Alert Levels.

School Projects

Middle School
The middle school playground completed during the next school holidays and then AstroTurf laid. We want to avoid damaging our new AstroTurf, which will have a basketball, soccer and four squares playing areas. The sunshade umbrella design for the middle school playground has been problematic due to Council requirements, however, now approved and we are the first school in NZ to have this particular design.

Senior School
Room 19, Room 20, and the toilets in the senior school completely overhauled during the Christmas holidays.

Student Leaders Projects 2020
Every year our students work on projects to make our school a better place under the superb guidance of Mrs. Libby Slaughter. The student leaders then present their ideas to me and we go from there. This year we have had some wonderful ideas.

Student projects this year:

Tyre Worms – these are now in place and ready to be painted
New Soccer/Ruby Field Posts these will be replaced in 2021
Soap making fundraiser, more information to come.
Cake Bake Fundraiser to take place later in the year
Murals around the school, this project is underway,
Talent Show – being organised
Tiled Room numbers, a plan is in place.

Well done to the leaders as they have put a lot of work into researching their ideas and taking them forward.

Environment Focus
Howick Ward Schools – Waste Minimisation Project 2019/2020

Our school was selected to participate in the Howick Board funded Waste Minimisation Project in November 2019. As part of this project, we applied for and received funding to support waste reduction. The project coordinators set a target of a 40% reduction for each school. According to our last waste audit, there has been a 52% decrease in waste at our school.

Garden Club
Each week, weather permitting; approximately 15-20 Junior and Middle School students attend Gardening Club. The club runs year-round and students learn a range of horticulture skills through their experiences in the gardens. All the produce grown in the six large garden beds is sent home to school families. Depending on the season, students may be carrying carrots, courgettes, feijoas, squashes and beans, back to class after garden club.

Kaitiaki (guardian of an environmental area or resource)
This term the focus for the Kaitiaki leaders is to encourage students to bring waste free lunches to school. Every week there will be one day when Kaitiaki leaders will go around each class and give out coupons to every student who has a waste free lunch. These coupons then go into a weekly prize draw.

Recent Improvements to our Garden Space
Over the past year, we have improved the garden space in a number of ways. Part of our goal is to turn the gardens into a more usable space for classes and the community. The water tanks below donated by a local business and installed by our property manager Mr. Mears. Special thanks to Mr Mears for his hard work and ingenuity!

Next Steps…
While we are proud of the steps we have taken towards minimising our waste, we are excited to continue the journey. In order to maintain our progress we will continue a number of the actions that we have started during the last year such as the waste free lunch campaign, classroom learning about waste, and community outreach.

Additionally, below are some of the actions that we still plan to work on:
Reduce amount of paper used by staff and explore paper-free alternatives used in classrooms.

Provide new entrants with products to support waste-free lunches.
Replace large external waste bins with small classroom bins. Each classroom will have a small recycling, paper and landfill bin. Monitors in each class trained to check and empty them at the waste station. Monitors will receive training and rewards.
Take part in TerraCycle Writing Instruments Recycling Programme to recycle writing instruments. Set up a local bin in school to collect writing instruments.
Review school events such as discos, movie nights and PTA fundraisers for avenues to reduce waste with coordinators.
Each of the four inquiry topics throughout the year will have an environmental focus i.e. pollution, global warming, recycling, deforestation, wildlife habitats.

None of this happens by itself so a big thank you to our Enviro team of Mrs. Neva Bassingthwaite, Mrs. Theresa Louisson and our dedicated students.

Father’s Day, Sunday September 6th

Beginnings
The mother of Father’s Day

When Sonora Louise Smart Dodd from Spokane, Washington, was 16 years old, her father became a widower left to raise Dodd and her five younger brothers alone. In 1909, Dodd was listening to a Mother’s Day sermon when she realised the need for a day to celebrate fathers, especially her own.

Father’s Day in New Zealand is a special day to recognise and celebrate the role fathers play in our life. Whether it is your Dad, step-Dad, foster Dad or just a special father figure who has helped you along the way, Father’s Day NZ is your chance to say ‘Thank You’. From my own experience a card or hug goes a long way.

Stay safe
Fintan Kelly

Need to Know

Eastern Busway fortnightly update 11 August 2020
Kia ora, winter is now in full swing so we hope you are all keeping well. This update includes the latest progress on the construction of the Eastern busway, as well as some of what is coming up over the next few weeks.

Some of the recent highlights include the traffic signalisation at Queens Road, Panmure Station busway and Lagoon Drive, the opening of the car park at the top of Lagoon Drive, laying of the base concrete for the busway from the top of Lagoon Drive, breaking through Tamaki Bay Road, and pouring the cycling path and footpaths from the Panmure bridge to Ti Rakau Drive.
Read on for more

As always, thank you for your cooperation and patience as work progresses.
AMETI Eastern Busway Team

What we’ve achieved recently
On the Pakuranga side, we have achieved the following milestones in recent weeks:

Pakuranga Road (between the eastern end of Panmure Bridge and Ti Rakau Drive) Busway, cycleway and pedestrian path construction on the programme. You can clearly see the busway taking shape, bus stops are under construction and trees have been planted.
Busway concrete poured through the Williams Road intersection and Tamaki Bay Road cul-de-sac
Bridge update; East Span;
This week –
Upper steel to form busway lanes installed to bridge girders
Position two rollers on Pier 2 for the second bridge push.
Forthcoming –
Prepare for the second bridge launch, week commencing 3 August 2020.
Second push to extend the bridge, week commencing 10 August 2020.
Delivery of girder bridge steel, for west span, 21 & 24 August 2020.
Bridge update; West span;
This week –
Removal of temporary works and beams for Pier 1 boat anchors.
Fabrication of reinforcing steel for the two columns on the west pier.
Forthcoming –
Install concrete reinforcing and the outer formwork that create columns to Pier 1 week commencing 3 August 2020.
Concrete pours of two columns week commencing 10 August 2020.

On the Panmure side;

Busway has been poured beside the terraced retaining wall on the Corner of Church Crescent and Lagoon Drive
The new car park at the top of Lagoon Drive is now open. This will be a great car parking opportunity for people shopping in Panmure
Panmure Roundabout, Jellicoe Road and the beginning of the busway is now open

Final layout of the Ellerslie – Panmure Highway, Queens Road, Jellicoe Road, Lagoon Drive and Ireland Road signalised intersection

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