Weekly Wrap 2 May 2025

Kia ora koutou

Welcome to the first newsletter of Term 2! I hope you all enjoyed some time to relax and recharge over the Easter break and it has certainly been good to see students back to school this week, full of energy and enthusiasm for the new term.

You may recall me writing about ANZAC Day in my last newsletter of Term 1 and I was honoured to join our student leaders at 3 local services last Friday. They were all filled with a sense of pride as they represented all the students and staff of Paraparaumu College. It is always a highlight to see them together in such good numbers, together with their mates from Kāpiti College, paying tribute to all those who have served and continue to serve our country. The picture below shows the team gathered at the Paraparaumu Beach cemetery.

After seeing our student leaders doing such a great job on ANZAC Day it prompted me to use this image with students in year level assemblies this week and to think about some of the words and phrases it conveys. We talked together about how our student leaders were modelling our CARE values and demonstrating behaviours such as leadership, community, service, teamwork and pride. We also talked about how they were great role models, they were proud to be PC students, and how they were proud to serve their community.

We have these same high expectations of all our students and these same CARE values and behaviours apply to us all, each and every day. We are proud of all our young people and the vast majority always do the right thing, which is fantastic. However, there were some examples towards the end of Term 1 where a small number of students started dropping litter around the school, and some minor damage has been done, particularly in some of the block toilets. In order to further tighten up on this students will now only be able to leave classes during the day by obtaining a blue permission slip as it was evident that a small number were congregating and sometimes then making poor choices.

As we enter the colder months, and the weather certainly has taken a turn this week, we have also reminded students of our uniform regulations. The key items students sometimes get wrong include socks, with some choosing to wear white socks that are not part of uniform; shoes, which must be plain black; and outdoor coats / jackets which must also be plain black. A reminder that hoodies are not part of our school uniform. You can also check on any of our uniform requirements by following this link to the school website.

Thank you very much to all our parents and caregivers for your support in reinforcing these high expectations at home - your help is very much appreciated.

Improved road markings

You will notice at the main entrance to the college that there are new road markings defining the bus bays inside the gates, as well as new yellow lines around the large flower bed at the front of school. There has been some confusion as to where parents and visitors are able to park their vehicles, particularly during commencement of school and at the conclusion of the day which has caused some issues with buses being unable to access the bus bays. We hope these new defined spaces will help to alleviate this issue and we thank you for your support in not parking or waiting in these restricted areas. This will also serve to reduce the number of vehicles attempting to enter the school site at the end of the day, which will make the exit points from school far safer.

Save the Date - Tuesday 3rd June at 6:30pm

There will be more information to follow, but I am delighted to confirm that we have booked Rob Cope, an inspirational and hard hitting speaker on the subject of online digital safety. Rob will host a 2 hour information session in the auditorium from 6:30pm to 8:30pm on Tuesday 3rd June. He is in high demand and this is one of only 2 dates he has available this year so we are lucky to get him. Please note that this session is for adults only and is not suitable for children, as Rob’s talk is aimed at parents and caregivers. Tickets are likely to be priced at $15 and we will be back in touch as soon as they are available.

Winter Sports begin this weekend

The very best of luck to all our winter sports teams for the season ahead, and particularly for the teams who begin their competitions this weekend. A number of away games have been cancelled due to the amount of rain experienced in Wellington over the last few days, but our grounds here have held up very well. Our 1st XI Boys’ Football team kick off at home against Rongotai 1st XI at 10:45am, and both our 1st and 2nd XV are at home on Saturday, kicking off at 2:30pm and 1pm respectively. Both teams play sides from St Bernards College. Finally, all the best to our 16 netball teams who all start their grading games on Saturday morning at Te Atiawa Park.

Senior (Year 11 - 13) Parent/Teacher Interviews - Thursday 8 May

Parent Teacher Interviews for Year 11 to 13 students will be held on Thursday 8 May with their respective subject...

Term 2, Week 4 Learning From Home

In week four of term two, many of our Year 11 - 13 students will be sitting their NCEA corequisite literacy and...

Year 11 - 13 Working in the Cloud Trip - Tuesday 20th May

On 20th May we are excited to take students from Years 11-13 to Working in the Cloud at Shed 6, Wellington City. This is a dynamic careers event designed to showcase the incredible opportunities available in Aotearoa’s thriving tech sector.

If your student would like to come on this trip parental permission forms can be found at:

https://www.sporty.co.nz/viewform/352528

Alternatively, a hard copy can be obtained from the Careers Office. The trip is free and runs from interval to 3.30pm on 20th May.

We use our School App and Facebook page for any urgent messages and to highlight student success and we would love you to follow us. You can find the links at the bottom of this newsletter along with a link to our Instagram page and Youtube.

Kia pai tō rā whakatā

Mark Robinson
Tumuaki | Principal