Newsletter – 29 May 2024

Principal’s Message

Dear Parents and Whānau

Tālofa Lava! This week we celebrate Samoan Language Week with our Samoan families. The week is an annual event that celebrates the culture and language of Samoa and runs from 26th May to June 1st. It is celebrated through language, song, dance, cultural displays and community events. 

Winter Illnesses

COVID-19, colds and winter flu are hitting schools hard, with significant staff and student absences daily. An Auckland-wide shortage of relieving teachers makes covering staff absences challenging and often results in us having to ‘split’ classes (where students from one classroom are split into smaller groups and merged with other classes). Depending on the number of teachers absent, this may mean spreading the split class between year levels. 

We are doing our best to continue to deliver quality learning experiences for your children. Our ‘well’ staff are pitching in by teaching bigger classes, and our deputy principals and SENCo have been in classes, teaching to cover shortfalls. 

Nothing about this situation is ideal. The worst scenario, and one we wish to avoid, would be to ask students from a class/year level to engage in distance learning at home. This would be a ‘last resort’ action, and we would give you as much advance notice as possible. Let’s hope the current wave of ill health soon passes. You can help by ensuring that children stay home if they are likely to spread illness by coming to school.

Knowing just how sick children need to be to justify staying at home can be a difficult decision for parents. As a general guide, children are unlikely to learn and behave well if they feel ill, so staying home is the best option. If they are likely to be contagious, we don’t want them at school spreading their virus. Please see below for Ministry guidelines on this.

Coming to/Leaving School

More students seem to be arriving late, some regularly. Please aim to get your children to school soon after 8.30am. If you need support in this, please contact us.

After school, children are expected to go straight home unless they are with a parent, or are waiting for collection. Some parents want their children to wait at the gate, others prefer them to wait inside the school grounds. Please note that staff are not rostered to provide direct supervision of students after school. All children should be collected before 3.30pm at the very latest, or Bizzy Bodz should be considered as an option.

Dorothy Bigwood

Cockle Bay School Learner Profile

Our Cockle Bay School values are our 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 in classrooms around the school.

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

The four capabilities are for learners to be:

• Culturally and Socially Connected
• Awareness of Self and Others
• Communication and Collaboration
• Creative and Critical Thinker

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 we will be outlining one of the capabilities with examples of how students can demonstrate them.

This week we are focusing on: Awareness of self and others

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

• be kind and friendly to others
• use the wheel of choice to help me solve problems
• be a role model by making good choices
• keep trying even when things are hard

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

• Talk about my strengths and goals
• Recognise how they are feeling and how others are feeling
• Have a growth mindset
• Be a good role model 

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

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:

Equal Employment Opportunities

Relief Teacher Cover

Police Vetting

Classroom Release Time

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