Notices

Dear Parents/ Caregivers,

I am pleased to share the details below for this year’s Maraetai Beach School’s Athletics Day.         
                         

Year 3-8 MBS Athletics Details:

Venue: Te Puru Park

Time: 9.00am - 2.40pm

Date: Wednesday 28th October (Save Day Thursday 29th October)

The students will require the following for the event:

• Students will need to be wearing their full sports uniform and their hats.
• They need to bring adequate protection from sun, rain and cold. 
• It is compulsory that students wear sand shoes/track shoes with spikes removed. 
• They will also need a full lunch and a drink bottle.

Trials & Finals

Y5 - Y8: 300m and 400m trials for MBS Athletics Day Finals will take place week beginning 19/10/20 at the school. The ‘Top 8’ selected from each year group/gender.

Y5 - Y8: 800m heats and finals will take place at school week beginning 26/10/20.

Relays:

There will be House competition relays for Y3 - Y8 run at school week beginning 26/10/20.

It should be a fantastic day and we hope to see you there to support your child. 

For this event to go ahead we need parents to support teachers at the field events. Please e-mail by Friday 23rd October to let me know if you can assist on the day.

Click here for the day's timetable

Best regards

Phil Greene

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

MBS PE/Sport

Dear Parents/Caregivers

I am sure you were as pleased as I was to hear the Prime Minister’s announcement about moving to Alert Level 1.  For us this means there is an extremely low public health risk from the virus at Alert level 1.

As a school we will continue to maintain our good hygiene measures such as regular cleaning of commonly touched surfaces and washing of hands. It is no longer necessary for children to sanitise their hands on entry and exit to rooms however this will still be available. It is very important that if your child/ren are unwell they stay at home.

At level 1 there are no restrictions on personal movement and contact tracing registers are not required. Early pick up times for our junior school children will no longer continue and school will finish for all children at 3pm. Parents are welcome to come into school however we are encouraging parents to continue to drop off and pick up from the school gate. Parents have noted increased independence and confidence in their children and for many parents a much quicker and easier school drop off and pick up. From a school perspective we have noticed a positive impact on the start and end of the school day for students, teachers and parents. We have also noticed the improvement with parking around the school. Senior Leaders will continue to welcome children at the gate in the morning and wish them farewell in the afternoon. 

We do note though that often the experience of drop off and pick up time is a way to meet other families in the school community and during term 4 we will have a number opportunities for parents to come into school. Also, at any time you wish to speak to your child’s teacher please come in to do so or alternatively contact them to arrange a meeting.

We are supporting contact tracing by having QR code posters at our entrances – so if you haven’t already downloaded the NZ COVID Tracer app the Ministry of Health’s NZ-COVID Tracer app page has information to help you do that. As always during school hours please ensure you go to the school office and not directly to your child’s class. 

We will no longer have staggered break times. We have a number of events planned in term 4 and school assemblies will resume. Parents are encouraged to attend. All events are on our school calendar.

Finally, thank you for your support and we look forward to a highly successful term 4. 

He waka eke noa
(We’re all in this together)
  

Mark Keenan
Principal

This year the decision was made the Showquest was going to be online. 50 Year 7/8 students took part in creating MBS entry. Our students were directors, choreographers, dancers, actors, film crews and editors. What a talented bunch we have.

Here is the youtube link,

Dear Parent/Guardian, 
 

Our Fun Run is re-launching and will be held on Wednesday 16th September
 

After the impacts of Covid 19 - Maraetai Beach School are excited to announce the ‘re-launch’ of our 2020 School Fun Run. Our students have been looking forward to taking part in this event and now our plans are back on track and our students can’t wait! 

At Maraetai Beach School we understand the value of comfortable learning environments for our students.  We know that providing all children with an optimal learning environment will assist them on their learning journey. Comfortable surroundings will contribute to their success here at our school.  The funds raised from this event will go towards the installation of air-conditioning units in classrooms. 
 

How will this fundraiser work? 

This year we have partnered with New Zealand based online fundraising company Raise It.  Raise It specialise in working with New Zealand schools to maximise their fundraising efforts.  As we know collecting sponsorship online makes it super easy for everyone - no more door knocking, your child can collect more donations from further afield (e.g. friends and family living overseas, work colleagues etc) and no need to worry about handling all that cash and bringing it into school!  

How do I sign my child up to fundraise online? 

If you already signed up before lock down your child’s fundraising page & donations will still be there. If you didn’t then each child can sign up for their very own web page to send out to collect online sponsorship.  

Just go to our Maraetai Beach School Fundraising Hub page at:                 

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• You will find the REGISTER link to set up their account on this page 
• You will need to choose your child’s classroom as their fundraising team 
• If you need any help email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for direct assistance 
• All student totals update in real time and your donors can leave you messages of encouragement 
• The online Fundraising Hub website can be viewed to see the top classes and individuals at any time

 
What do we do with cash donations? 

We understand not everyone can donate online so we have cash sponsorship forms that will be sent home in hard copy MBS Fun Run Offline Sponsorship Form. Children can bring in all funds raised after the event. As we don't want these children to miss out on including these amounts in their Online Totals we will enter these amounts against their online account. Note: this can take up to two business days once the school office notifies Raise It of the cash donation amount. 

Alternatively if you do not wish to set your child up with an online fundraising page, please just return the cash with a cash sponsorship form to the office and it will be loaded to your child’s class total. 

We have some fantastic prizes this year for the children. 

Prizes (most money raised individually)
1st Prize Bike worth $350.00 
2nd Prize $200 Warehouse voucher 
3rd Prize $100 Warehouse voucher 
4th and 5th Prize $50.00 Warehouse voucher 5th to 10th Prize $25.00 Warehouse voucher.

We will also be giving away spot prizes between now and the event. Every Wednesday and Friday we will announce 5 spot prize winners.  To win a spot prizes your child must be registered on the fundraising website. 

The first class to have everyone registered will receive ice blocks for morning tea and the first class to raise over $1000.00 will also get ice blocks! 

Last year we raised over $12,000 for this event.  This year, if we manage to raise more than last year each section of the school will have their own fun afternoon planned to celebrate.  More info on this to come. 

What happens on Event Day? 

We will have an amazing obstacle course set up on the day taking the children on a fun and challenging course throughout the school.  All health and safety requirements will be met in regards to Covid-19.  Unfortunately due to contact tracing protocols we can not have visitors on site.  The children have thoroughly enjoyed the day in previous years and all going well and we are still in level 2 or 1 we will have another great day for them this year! 

We will need some parent helpers on the day so if you are keen to be involved and help out please email Lisa Vermaak at the school on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

 We’re really looking forward to a fun day!

Kindest regards, 

Maraetai Beach School PTA

Dear Parents/Caregivers

We are looking forward to welcoming all our students and staff back to school on Monday following the return to Alert Level 2. Our health and safety plan is in place as it has been under every alert level, and you can be assured we’ll continue doing everything we can to keep children safe. My thanks to all the staff who have been onsite during level 3 looking after the children of essential workers. 

At home, please continue with good hand hygiene, cough and sneeze etiquette, appropriate physical distancing when out and about and keeping your child home if they are sick.

Face coverings are another way we can help keep ourselves and others safe. The Prime Minister has announced that face coverings will be required on public transport from next Monday, at Alert Level 2 and above. This does not apply to any child who is under 12 years of age.

Public Health officials have advised that children under the age of 6 should not wear face coverings.

Children and young people do not need to wear face coverings at school. Other public health control measures are in place including children and staff staying home if they are sick, contact tracing, and hygiene requirements. However if your child/ren does want to wear a face covering, that’s fine.

We are continuing contact tracing by having QR code posters at our entrances and asking all parents to drop off and pick up outside the school gate unless it is essential to enter the grounds. If you do take your child to class you must sign the contact register that will be placed outside every classroom. 

To prepare your child/ren for a return to school on Monday it is important to please discuss the following with them:

• Good hygiene practices which includes everyone coughing into their elbows
• Regular handwashing and drying
• Sanitizing hands, all children will be required to sanitize on entry and exit to classrooms
• Respecting others space and staying outside others  breath zone – not getting to close to each other
• No games where they touch one another at break times. As part of the return to school we will be teaching some distance games children can play
• No sharing of food
• Please do not bring in any balls, toys etc from home 
• Having their own named drink bottle - school fountains are closed
• Drop off/Pick up routines outside the school gate

Unfortunately we have had to make the difficult decision to cancel our school wide production and this will now take place in 2021. A newsletter will be sent out next week outlining the focus for learning in classrooms now that there is no production as well as upcoming term 3 events and events that have been rescheduled. All inter school sports have been cancelled for the remainder of the term and our Fathers Day morning scheduled for next Friday will not be going ahead.

Next week we will also be sending home a survey regarding your experiences with distance learning. This will help inform our teaching and learning programmes if, in the future COVID-19 alert levels prevent a return to regular school attendance.

Once again thank you for your support and understanding. He waka eke noa -We are all in this together!

Kind Regards
  

Mark Keenan
Principal

Dear Parents/Caregivers

I trust you are all well. I am looking forward to being back at school and seeing all the students again. We are following the  strict Public health Requirements for schools during level 2 to keep our students and staff safe. This is the same system as when we entered into Level 2 last time to minimise the number of people we have coming onsite. Please take the time to read the information and email me if you have any questions.
 

Drop- offs:

• Please have your child at school between 8.30-8.45am. 
• If they can walk in from the school gates please do you goodbyes from there and send them into school. Senior leaders (Mark, Wayne and myself) will be on the gates during this time.
• Only come onto site if absolutely necessary. If your child needs you to come into their classroom then you can come in but we ask that you are as quick as you can be. 
• Stay with your child as they do their morning routine and then give them a hug and leave. 
• If your child is unsettled please take them to their classroom teacher or learning assistant in the room. If they continue to be unsettled over the next few weeks please speak to your classroom teacher about how we can support your child during this time.
• We ask that you do not stay and chat in the playground or let siblings play on the playground equipment.
• Anytime you enter the school grounds you have to record your name, time in and out onto the contact tracking sheet outside the classroom. If you go to multiple classrooms you will have to fill out multiple sheets.
   

Pick-ups

• In order to reduce the number of adults in the school at pick up time only junior parents will be able to come on site to collect children. Again please only come in if absolutely necessary. Ideally we would prefer you to have a meeting spot for your child outside the school gates. 
• This can happen between 2.55-3pm. 
• If you need to pick up your child go straight to your child's classroom (you do not need to wait for the bell) and ask for your child. 
• The teacher will send them to you straight away. 
• You will not be able to collect older siblings from their classrooms during this time. Under no circumstances can parents go to any other classrooms.
• Teachers will release junior students when the bell goes at 3pm as usual and they can walk out and meet you at your designated meeting spot. Again Mark, Wayne and myself will each be on a gate if your child does need reassurance. Please let your child's classroom teacher know if you would like them released to walk to the gate at 3pm to meet you.
• If you have an older child at our school you can also arrange for them to collect their younger sibling and take them out to meet you at a designated meeting point outside once the bell goes at 3pm. 
• If your child is part of Kidz club, Kidz club staff will still collect them from their classrooms and take them over to Kidz club as usual.

I recommend that you have a conversation with your child about what drop offs and pick ups now look like. The more the students understand the process the smoother it will go. We thank you in advance for assisting us with these systems. I will be in contact with you over the next few weeks as guidelines change.  We appreciate that some of the rules outlined above may provide extra challenges as your child settles back into school. However, I can reassure you that myself, Team Leader Stephanie White and the classroom teacher will all be on hand to provide support. Any questions that you have please feel free to email me.
 

Kind Regards

Kate Deane