Message from the Principal

Dear Parents / Caregivers 

Kia ora koutou

Last week of term 1

It is hard to believe that we are about to finish the first term of 2019. While it has gone fast and lots have happened we all can feel well satisfied that the children are doing well with their learning and we are seeing lots of excellent progress across all learning areas this early in the year.

School Rebuild / Upgrade Stage 1 

As you are aware we are underway this week with perimeter fencing being erected and site preparations under way for the learning space block that will be constructed at the back of the school for the first stage of our building development. Excavation will start shortly for the new learning block at the back of our school. Thank you for your patience as we have re directed entry and exit foot traffic in the meantime.

Community Consultation Meeting - 7:30 to 8:30 pm Monday 20th May

A community consultation meeting will be held in our school hall on Monday 20th May 7:30 to 8:30 pm. The meeting will cover the building plans and stages we will be working through as our school buildings are replaced or refurbished and our cultural narrative and how knowing our local environment will guide our building plans.

Janina Konia - Mana Whenua Education Facilitator | Mātauraka Mahaanui - is our Mana Whenua facilitator and has been working closely with the staff and trustees to guide us through the appropriate cultural aspects of the rebuild and refurbishments of our school. Janina will present at the community meeting.

Malcolm McClurg - OPUS architect - is our school architect and will present the overall concepts designs of the initial new buildings: the new classroom block and school Library.

In Zone / Out of Zone Board policy:

At our recent board meeting our board ratified the following policy governing our out of zone enrolments. Please take careful note of the following, which replaces the previous Board of Trustees policy of accepting out of zone sibling children:

QUEENSPARK ZONING POLICY - COMES INTO EFFECT 22 July 2019

1) Students that have a Residential Address in the Queenspark School Zone are entitled to attend Queenspark School.

2) Parents/caregivers of all new students enrolled at Queenspark School are required to sign a declaration:

a)      Confirming the Residential Address of the student.

b)      Agreeing to advise Queenspark School immediately if they move house in the next 12 months

c)      Agreeing that if they move out of the Queenspark School Zone within 12 months, the student is no longer considered in-zone and will need to be enrolled at another school.

d)      Agreeing that if the declaration is found to be false, Queenspark School has the right to annul the affected enrolment(s) and lay a police complaint.

e)      Agreeing that a successful enrolment does not automatically entitle younger siblings to attend Queenspark School.

3) If you are living out of zone and you wish to enrol a sibling of a child that currently attends QPS, the following must apply:

a)     The child was born before 22 July 2016.

b)     The child's name, birth date and gender are registered with the school no later than 5pm, 22 July 2019.

c)     The child has an older sibling that is enrolled at Queenspark School as at 22 July 2019.

DEFINITIONS

4) A Residential Address is the predominant address, ie; the street address that a student lives and sleeps at.

5) Please visit our school website for the map of the Queenspark School Zone: www.queenspark.shool.nz

Lockdown - MOE procedure review

A MOE review of the schools, kura and early learning services citywide lockdown is under way and will close on 7 June 2019. We are encouraging you to take part in this national review by sending your submissions direct to: feedback.Canterbury@education.govt.nz

Please take note of the following MOE media release:

“It is so important that children feel safe at schools, kura and early learning centres, as is a parent/caregiver feeling confident in the safety of their child or children in their early learning service or school environment.

When the NZ Police put a city wide lockdown in place in Christchurch on 15 March, our schools, kura and early learning centres kept everyone safe, in very challenging circumstances.

Schools, kura and early learning services have individual emergency plans in place to ensure they know how to manage an emergency before it occurs. The city wide response affected a very large number of families and occurred at a time of uncertainty has bought into focus that it is important parents are knowledgeable of these processes and know what occurs during lockdown situations.

We are working together with Christchurch principal associations, representatives of the early childhood sector and the NZ Police to look at the whole of our system’s emergency response. We will be looking at our existing guidelines, physical logistics, any processes that could improve lockdown practices, communications and procedures required for multiple lockdowns.

This is an opportunity to learn from the event to ensure the ongoing safety and wellbeing of children, staff and parents. We encourage anyone that wants to provide feedback including parents, staff and students to talk with their school, kura and early learning services or email.”

Queenspark School Lock Down Procedure

1. Lockdown bell students go straight to their classrooms.

2. The roll is taken and reported.

3. Teachers secure the room so that no movement occurs outside between buildings.

4. DP communicates with all teachers and liaises with the Principal.

5. Communications are sent to community informing them of a lockdown in progress. (i.e. School Loop, Facebook, Website, email.)

NB. If a lockdown occurs when there are parents and others on the school campus or coming onto the school campus, the lockdown procedure applies to all. All persons on the school campus come under the control of the lockdown procedure and must follow instructions accordingly. i.e. Moving to a secure place immediately when instructed to do so.

Term 2

Term 2 Industrial Action and planned Learning Conferences

Stop Work Meeting

Queenspark School will be closed for instruction from 12:30 pm on Wednesday 8th May as all primary teachers will be attending a stop work meeting.  MASH have agreed to open on earlier on this day. Please contact them directly to make a booking - PH 366 9408.

Proposed National Strike Day - advanced warning to parents and caregivers.

A national strike day of primary school teachers is proposed for Wednesday 29th May.

Teacher Only Day

Teacher Only Day for 2019 will be held on Tuesday 4th June (This is the Tuesday after Queen’s Birthday Monday.) The school will be closed for instruction. MASH have agreed to open on this day. Please contact them directly to make a booking - PH 366 9408.

Learning Conferences Term 2: Weeks 5 and 6

Learning Conferences for all students will be held in Term 2. Due to potential industrial action next term by teachers we have had to rearrange our learning conferences times. Student digital reports will be published in week 3 allowing parents and caregivers to view their child’s mid year progress report well before the Learning Conference.

Learning Conferences are a very important aspect of a student’s primary schooling. The meeting between student, parent and teacher allows an opportunity At parent-teacher interviews you can find out more about your child’s academic, emotional and social development at school. You can also share information about your child. Going to parent-teacher interviews shows your child that you’re interested in her learning and life at school. You can prepare for interviews by thinking about what you want to discuss with the teacher, as well as any questions about your child’s progress.

It is expected that your child be present for part, or all of this appointment as much of it will focus on discussing their current goals and how this is progressing, next step learning and how teachers and parents will assist them in their learning for the remainder of the year.

Personal issues can be discussed without your child being present. The best interests of the students are served by close and sympathetic co-operation between home and school, and if further discussion is felt to be necessary, do not hesitate to make further appointments.

Learning Conference appointment times will be available online. The Learning Conference days are: 

Thursday 30th May 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm, Wednesday 5th June 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm and Thursday 6th June 3:30 pm to 7:00 pm.

Please note that the school will close early for learning conferences at 1:45 pm on Thursday 30th May and Wednesday 5th June. This allows learning conferences to begin at 2:00 pm.

How to book online:

www.schoolinterviews.co.nz

Enter code: For The NEST up to Year 6: u635t and for YR 7/8 only: df8y2

MOE Principals Sabbatical

I have been granted a MOE Principals sabbatical for next term to pursue professional development. For this term the leadership / management structure will be as follows:

Acting Principal - Pauline Jansen

Deputy Principal - Tony Mabin

Acting Deputy Principal - Kylie Murcott

We wish these people all the best and we look forward to a smooth continuation of our programmes and practices at our school during this time.

The School Trustee Elections are being held this year, and we ask for your involvement please:

Our school is governed by a democratically elected group of people called the Board of Trustees. These Trustees make important decisions about our school’s strategic direction, student achievement outcomes, resources, staffing and much more.

Being a trustee is an important and rewarding role. Parents, families, whanau and people from the wider community can all be trustees. We’re looking for a range of people with a variety of skills, experiences and attributes who believe in making a positive difference to our children’s learning.  It is a great way to get involved with decisions about our school.

If you’re interested in standing for election or nominating someone you know, keep an eye out for voting papers which will be posted to you by 10 May.   If there are more nominations than vacancies for parent representatives, eligible voters will be posted a voting form with candidates statements.  Voting papers will be distributed by 29th May.  Any questions please contact Rebecca Taylor at the school office 383-1578

National Election Day is Friday 7th June 2019

Make sure your vote counts.  All parents of full-time students who are on the school voting roll can and should vote in the elections.  

Regards,

Ross Willocks

Principal