Play That Funky Music

Kia ora, Ni hao, Hallo,

Welcome back to term 2.  I hope you enjoyed some family time over Easter.  A big thank you to our new road patrollers and supporting parents.  You are doing a fantastic job at getting us across the road safely.  We are enjoying having parents back on the grounds before and after school, even if the masks make it hard to recognise each other.   Thank you for all wearing a mask - it is another layer of protection which is important as we are starting to see cases rise in the community again.  If there is a case in your child's class, we will continue to email and let you know.  Please continue to keep the office updated on new cases and keep your child home if they are showing any cold and flu symptoms.  We did really well and had low Covid numbers at school last term, thanks to the community working together.  I'm sure we can do the same for term two.

Property Update

The bell can be one of the most cheerless sounds to puncture the school day or the sweet sound of freedom, all depending on when it's rung and where you happen to be standing in the school.  For students at BBPS, it no longer dictates their day. The bell has been scrapped in favour of snippets of music. The feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive, though students are very keen to have a say on the playlist.  The new system also means that individual classes can be contacted over the PA system, without needing to disturb the whole school.   This is one of the projects that we have achieved with the extra property funding the government allocated to all schools at the end 2019.  Covid has a lot to answer for the delay!  The other projects that this money is covering are clearing the drains so they can cope with heavy rainfall, remodelling the administration block to make better use of the space and providing bigger offices where meetings are able to be held.  All going well, this will be underway later in term two.

The PTA has kindly funded a shade sail to go between the library and room 10, and they are also funded SchoolTV, which is a resource for schools that sits on the school website, created to educate parents and support families across all areas of mental health and wellbeing.  The SchoolTV platform provides an extensive range of wellbeing resources for parents, so they can work together in partnership to ensure better wellbeing for all students.  Thank you to our past PTA, who tried to soldier on between lockdowns. You can access School TV here.

The PTA is now on hold due to Covid restrictions and some PTA members having other commitments.  The secondhand uniform shop will continue to run, but will be taken over by the school office. Further details in "office musings"

Finally, our next five year property plan is being formulated.  You will be pleased to hear the hall is our priority area to update.  I look forward to updating you with more details when the Ministry has signed off on our next plan.

Start of the School Day

A reminder that school starts at 8:50am.  Students should arrive between 8:30am and 8:45am.  We understand that some days this isn't possible due to traffic etc, but expect most students to be in class at the start of school. When students arrive late the morning's instructions have to be repeated and they miss out on building relationships through conversations prior to the bell.  Many thanks for your help with this.  

Have a wonderful week.