Pāpāmoa Primary

Attendance Matters: Every Day Counts!

As shared in our previous communications, attendance is a major priority for schools nationwide. The Government has set a target for 80% of students to be at school for at least 90% of the time. In practical terms, this means having fewer than five days away from school per term.

While this is an aspirational national target, we recognise that "life happens"—children get sick, and there are times when being away is unavoidable.

To keep you informed, we will provide regular updates throughout the year on our school-wide attendance trends. We will also contact you at specific points to update you on your child’s individual attendance percentage.

How you can help: As parents and caregivers, it is essential that you notify us whenever your child is absent and provide a reason. This ensures our records are accurate and that absences are coded correctly.

The Image Below: This shows you how we are tracking in the first 3 weeks of Term 3 2026.

Kindo is getting a fresh new look from early August, designed to make paying and completing forms simpler.

Keep an eye out for the update, and check your email for what's new.

Learn more https://bit.ly/4pAel6D

Scabies

The Public Health Nursing Service has observed an increasing number of whānau currently affected by scabies.

Scabies always requires treatment, with thorough cleaning of the home environment in order to successfully eradicate the infestation.

Whānau should visit their GP or healthcare provider and ensure that everyone living in the household is treated on the same day, even if they are not experiencing symptoms.

Treatment and environmental cleaning must be repeated 7 days later. It is important that all household members participate in both treatments; otherwise, the infestation may persist or return.

If treatment is required for a large household, Public Health Nurses (PHNs) may support the coordination of treatment. Please discuss any referrals with your PHN.

School Attendance

We also wanted to share the following resources, which provide helpful guidance on when children are well enough to attend school:

Knowing if your child is well enough to go to school — guidance for parents and caregivers.

We love seeing our tamariki embracing technology, but we need a little help from you regarding smartwatches.

To help keep our classrooms focused and learning environments disruption-free, please remind your child that smartwatches need to be either switched off or zipped away in their school bags during school hours. When watches beep, ring, or receive messages during class, it can be a big distraction for your child, their peers, and their teacher.

Thank you so much for your support and partnership in keeping our classrooms a great place to learn!

Hi everyone,

Touch Rugby registrations for Term 4 are now open on Kindo!

I need to register our school teams with Touch Papamoa by Wednesday 12 August, so Touch registrations are opening ahead of all our other Term 4 sports. Please register your child as soon as possible.

The following sports will also be offered in Term 4. Registrations will open once I receive confirmation from the following associations.

• Flippaball – Sundays (Years 3–6)
• 3v3 Basketball – Mondays (TBC) (Years 1–6)
• Volleyball – Friday evenings (Years 3–6)
• Hockey – Day (TBC) (Years 3–6)

If your child is interested in playing Touch Rugby this term, please jump onto Kindo and register as soon as possible.

To enter teams, we rely on parent support.

Manager

Each team requires a Manager to liaise with the Sports Coordinator & communicate draws and team information to families.

Coach

Each team requires a Coach to lead trainings, warm-ups, organise positions & provide sideline support during games.

Umpires

Each team must nominate two umpires. This can be a coach, parent or other suitable volunteer.

Team Preference.

When registering, you can indicate a preference for a mixed, girls, or boys team. Please note that while we will do our best to accommodate preferences, we cannot guarantee placement in a specific team. Touch Papamoa requires schools to enter a mixed team before entering a girls or boys team. Mixed is considered the premier grade & has always been one of the unique strengths of Touch, promoting inclusion & giving all players the opportunity to play together.

Registration Deadline.

Kindo registrations close on Monday 10th of August.

This allows me 24 hours to finalise teams before Touch Papamoa registrations close. Please note that after registrations close, it may take 1-2 weeks before team lists are finalised and you hear which team your child has been placed in. If your child is interested in playing Touch Rugby this term, please jump onto Kindo & register as soon as possible.

Kindest Regards,

Kirsten Crossan

Sports Coordinator.

The extremely popular Fun First Football are back with their energetic fun Programme on our School Field in Term 4 every Thursday after school for kids aged 4-9yrs old. Book early as they are 50% Full already!

Book @ https://funfirstfootball.co.nz/ before they fill up - Free Trials available :)

Growing Through Grief is currently running the Seasons for Growth programme at Papamoa Primary for 2026.

In small groups, young people are assisted to understand their experience of change, loss and grief. The programme provides a safe learning environment for young people where they can give their voice to their experiences, understand their feelings, learn skills that help them adapt, connect with others, and recognize ‘I’m not the only one’.

Young people attending may: • have a parent absent from their lives due to relationship breakdown or separation • have lost a close family member due to illness, age, suicide, violence, or accident • have a close family member absent due to time spent in mental health units, prison, or rehab • be living in alternative care away from their own parents or home • be experiencing other loss or change in their family life.

STORMBIRDS PROGRAMME – NEW ADDITION.

In addition to this programme and following the impact of recent weather events (flooding and slips) upon our region we are offering a new programme for tamariki which is aimed at managing post-disaster stress. This small group programme is called Stormbirds and provides tamariki who have lived through a natural disaster/natural weather events the opportunity to examine the impact of this experience on their lives. It supports them in understanding and managing the changes they have experienced, learning they are not alone in dealing with the impacts and supports them to develop coping, problem solving and decision-making skills.

If you would be interested in your child attending either of these programmes at school, Please fill out an online referral form on the Growing Through Grief website: https://acw.org.nz/acw-programmes-enrolment-form/

Both programmes have a cost of $20.00 per student. An invoice will be sent out by the school for any child/children attending prior to the programme commencing.

Any further questions please contact Jemma Rapson – (SENCO) or Tauranga Growing Through Grief Coordinator- Tracey Maris: tracey.maris@acw.org.nz

Tweens to Teens!

Your pre-teen girl is changing fast… and she doesn’t have to navigate it alone.

Hi, I’m Mariana Sala, founder of Tween to Teen Queens — a confidence and wellbeing programme for girls aged 8–12 designed to support them through the powerful transition from childhood into the teen years.

Through small group coaching, fun activities, creative tools, and real conversations, we help girls build confidence, emotional awareness, healthy friendships, resilience, and a stronger connection with themselves and the adults supporting them.

I’m so excited to now be working with the community at Papamoa Primary School and to introduce myself to families who may not know about Tween to Teen Queens yet.

Thursdays | 2:45pm–3:45pm

Room to be confirmed

Expressions of interest for upcoming terms are now open.

Please click this link to access our School page to register.

https://subscribe.entertainmentnz.com/fundraiser/944j172

School Starts 8:40am

Morning Interval 10:30am - 11:00am

Lunch 12:40pm - 1.30pm

School Finishes 2:35pm Years 0-2 and 2:40pm Years 3-6

Phone: 542 3261 (absentee message service)

or

Email: papamoaprimary@papamoa.school.nz

or

Website: http://www.papamoa.school.nz/report_an_absentee

Please include your child’s name, team and room number and reason for absence.

If your child arrives at school after 8.40am they are late. Please ensure they sign in at the office before going to class. Thank you.

As part of our attendance communication system, an automated text message will go out to all unexplained absences. This number is a reply once only.

While we understand that families sometimes need to take time away from school, it is essential that we as a school are notified.

Any absence longer than 20 school days will need to be approved in advance by the school principal. You can do this by sending an email to papamoaprimary@papamoa.school.nz explaining the reason for your child's absence and the dates they will be away. If your child is absent for longer than 20 school days the MOE instructs us to remove a child from our school roll. If you live outside of our school zone there is no guarantee that your child will be able to re-enrol at Pāpāmoa Primary School. It's important to keep communication open between us. If you have any questions or concerns about this process, please feel free to reach out to us.

Thank you for your cooperation and support in your child's education.

You can order (or cancel) any time before 9am on the day or schedule in advance.

Lunch will be delivered to the school in time for lunch.

Get started now… Click here or go to www.mykindo.co.nz and click ‘create account’.

Help? Visit support.mykindo.co.nz or tel. 0800 EZLUNCH (0800 395 8624) week days 8am-4pm.

In the event of an emergency, sickness or injury we need to be able to contact someone who can collect your child.

Office staff will only administer medicines to students once a form has been completed and signed by a parent or caregiver.

Would you like to know more about our School Policies and Procedures?

We invite you to visit the site at https://papamoa.schooldocs.co.nz
(note that there's no "www.").

Our username is "papamoa" and password "3118".

Phone: 07 542 0865

Location: 312 Dickson Road, Pāpāmoa

Email: admin@papamoa.school.nz
Website: www.papamoa.school.nz
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PapamoaPrimarySchool/