LBP Newsletter – Term 4, Week 5

Term 4, Week 5 – Friday 15 November 2024

Principal’s Chat

Kia ora Parents/Caregivers

There is no doubt that helping students to learn to read is one of the core jobs that we do here at Long Bay Primary. As a child I was a reader. I read a lot. Usually books were on ‘repeat’ and they would be avidly consumed before going to sleep. Times however have changed and the way that we all are entertained and informed has definitely changed since then.

This is why events like Book Week are so valuable. By actively promoting reading for entertainment and pleasure we are working to ensure that our current generation of students also catch the ‘reading bug’. My own completely unscientific research (I asked a number of different children) showed strongly that our students greatly prefer reading real books rather than anything on a screen.

This was amplified when the Scholastic Book Fair was delivered yesterday. There was a palpable air of excitement amongst the students who asked me if these were books they could buy and take home.

I am confident that we are developing students with a passion and interest in reading. While this will be reflected in different ways across the school it has to be said that looking around today at the variety of characters on display the love of literature is alive and well at Long Bay Primary School.

Next year we just need to find a day when it is not raining …. However, it has not stopped everyone from enjoying the fun!

Rob Hutton
Tumuaki/Principal

2024 Term Dates and What’s On

Welcome New Students

A warm welcome to our new students who have started at Long Bay Primary since our last newsletter:

Vivian and Astor

2025 Classes

As a staff we are currently working on classes for 2025. This is a complicated process involving finding the teachers that suit each year level the best. Then we consider the type of teacher each student responds to most effectively, along with which peers the students work well with, specific learning needs and the list goes on and on. All classes in 2025 will be single year level (there will be no more composite year level classes).

We have asked the students who they get along with and have already collected this information from them. If you have any information about your children that will help us with this process please send it to info@longbayprimary.ac.nz with your child’s name and 2025 class in the subject line. We will then take this into account as well, or make contact if necessary.

Please do not send in a list of the teachers you do and do not want along with a list of 15 children you would like in the class and 10 you would not. We are interested in information about your child that you may have that we are not aware of that will help us as part of this process. We tried to think of other tactful or politically correct ways of saying this, nothing sprang to mind, sometimes being direct is most effective. Thanks for your help as part of this process. Please note that this is not compulsory, it is available if you have something valuable to add to the process.

If you intend to provide us with your thoughts please do so by Monday 18 November at 12.00pm. Any information shared after this date will not be included in the class organisation for 2025. We will keep it on file for use when we create 2026 classes instead.

Important School Reminders – Please Read

Collecting Children During Whole School Assembly
We are noticing an increasing number of students being collected early from school on Friday afternoons. Please note there are whole school assemblies fortnightly on Fridays and this makes it difficult trying to locate your child/children if they are leaving school early. Your child/children should either be collected at 2.00pm straight after lunch or please wait until the assembly has concluded at around 2.45pm. Your co-operation is appreciated.

Adventure Playground Before and After School
A reminder that students must be actively supervised by an adult at all times when playing on the playground before and after school. We do not have the staff to supervise this space at these times.

Absences and Lateness
If your child/children is going to be late or absent from school, then you must let the Office and class teacher know.

Absences/lateness can be reported by calling the school on 09 473 6077, select option 1. Emailing the class teacher and admin@longbayprimary.ac.nz or through the school website ‘Report an Absence’.

All absences from school must have a reason so your child/children can be coded accordingly on their student record. Thank you for your co-operation.

Contact Details
If your personal contact or emergency contact details need updating, please email admin@longbayprimary.ac.nz It is very important that we have correct details on our student records.

Food Brought to School
Please do not bring food to school to share with others for special occasions like birthdays. With the number of food allergies within our school community this is not a safe practice for some of our students. A reminder we are a nut free school.

Wrapper Free School

Lost Property
Please check the Lost Property box, located at the hall entrance, for any missing items. The box will be emptied at the end of every term.

2025 Enrolment Information

Do you have a child turning 5 at the end of this year or in 2025?

Book Week Dress-up Parade – Friday 15 November

For one day a year we get the chance to let our hair down and recreate some of our favourite book characters. There is always a vibrant look and feel to the day, with a vast array of costumes, footwear and hair styles on display. Our parade in the school hall is always a highlight with the opportunity to appreciate the time and effort that has gone into each other’s costumes (along with some great sounds).

Each team was represented by a winning boy and girl outfit – and they look spectacular! Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate and join in the celebrations. We look forward to doing it all again next year.

Scholastic Book Fair – 15-27 November

This will run from Friday 15 November until Wednesday 27 November. The opening times will depend on the availability of committed volunteers. It usually runs from 3.00pm until 4.00pm every afternoon after school in the Library. There will be at least one late afternoon for parents who would like to shop for Christmas presents. Eftpos available and cash sales accepted. A percentage of each book sold is returned to the school to allow us to increase the number of books we have in our school library. 

For any Scholastic Book Fair enquiries please email fennekeg@longbayprimary.ac.nz

School Library – Book Returns

Please return any overdue books back to school before 28 November for our annual stocktake. Please also be mindful when returning books borrowed from the East Coast Bays Library as we often have to collect our school library books from there.

Festival of the Arts – 21 November

We need your help on the night! Please sign up here if you are able to assist the PTA with the Arts Festival.

Stationery Drive for Kindergarten and Schools in Fiji

Please listen to Hannah’s request via this link

Sports Buzz – Term 4, Week 5

Senior School Athletics
On Tuesday 19 November our senior school students will participate in athletics rotations. This will run from the morning bell at 8.55am until lunch time. Please come along to support our athletes, it should be a great day.

Junior School Athletics
On Tuesday we ran the junior school athletics rotations, these comprised activities that were all run, jump or throw based and develop the skills needed for both daily life and for athletics. Many thanks to the wonderful teachers who ran the stations, the senior school students who helped with the smooth running of the day and to all those parents who came along to cheer on our athletes. 

Yummy Sticker Promotion
Thank you to everyone who ate an apple this year and saved the yummy sticker – we got $1,385 worth of sports gear for the school because of it. Please keep up the good work – they taste great and it’s really doing the sports equipment shed some good!

PTA News

Kelly Club Notices

Please email Kelly Club at longbay@kellyclub.co.nz to register and/or make a booking.

Community Notices and Events