News & Events

Paid Union Meeting (1 March) – Confirming Child Care

Wed Feb 22 02:33pm

Hello Berhampore Families,

As part of our preparation for the Paid Union Meeting on Wednesday 1 March, we are asking parents to confirm whether their students will need child care on that day as all the teachers will be off site at the meeting. 

Please use the following link to let us know if your child will need care on the day of the Paid Union Meeting.

Child Care for Paid Union Meeting (Wednesday 1 March)

If you have any questions, please get in touch with your student’s classroom teacher or the Office.

Kind regards,

Berhampore School

Board of Trustees meeting

Mon Feb 20 02:55pm

Kia ora koutou,

The agenda for our next school board meeting is attached. The meeting will be held at 6:30pm on Wed 22 February in the staff room.

School Board meetings are open for all to attend, and we encourage you to get involved.

If you are planning on attending a board meeting, please RSVP to boardchair@berhampore.school.nz ahead of the meeting so we know to expect you.

You can view our meeting schedule, as well as recent meeting minutes on the Berhampore school website.

Ngā mihi
Berhampore School Board

View PDF

Message from Mons

Tue Feb 14 08:05am

Mōrena koutou

It’s a pretty wild weather day but school is open and we have no flooding or damage. Please make sure that your children wear suitable clothing to keep warm and dry. Gumboots are a great idea if you have them!!

Starting tomorrow the staff will be having weekly admin meetings between 8.15-8.45am. This will mean that staff are not  available for students or whānau until 8.45am. We have decided to move our meeting from the afternoon so that more staff can attend and be informed of what is happening in the school. It also means that our after school meetings can focus on teaching and learning which is our priority.

We are looking for a few parents who may be able to take on road patrol duty for us on Wednesday mornings so that all staff can attend the meetings. This is from 8.30-9.00am and training will be provided. Please send me an email or call the office if you are able to help.

Stay safe, dry and warm and let us know if you require any support.

Ngā mihi mahana

Mons

principal@berhampore.school.nz

Message from Mons

Fri Feb 10 03:49pm

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to you all for making me feel so welcome in my first few weeks. I have really enjoyed meeting you and loved the opportunity to chat with you at our mihi whakatau and whānau picnic.

Here are a couple of updates and reminders for you:

If your child is late to school please ask them to go to the office and sign in and get their hand stamped so that the teacher knows they have been there.

We are working on getting the water fountains up and running but in the meantime, please provide your child/ren with a drink bottle if you can.

Wheels Day is on Fridays. Children can bring along bikes, roller skates, skateboards, ripsticks, scooters but these need to be used with a helmet. These are only to be used on the netball court and on Fridays other games need to be played on the field.

A reminder that toys are not allowed at school as they are a taonga and we don’t want the m to get lost or damaged. This includes trading cards like Pokemon cards. We would really appreiate your support in supporting this.

Have a fantastic weekend.

Ngā mihi mahana

Mons

Mihi Whakatau and Whānau Picnic

Wed Feb 08 04:49pm

We had a really special Mihi Whakatau at school today to welcome new staff, students and whānau to our kura. As a new staff member I felt a very warm, Berhampore welcome and I know that our new whānau felt this too.

Thanks to Jamie and the senior team for organising the mihi whakatau for us. We look forward to continuing to develop our tikanga and kawa going forward.

Below are a few photos from today.

Also a reminder that we have our whānau picnic tomorrow on the field between 6.00-8.00-pm. Bring along your own food, picnic rug and non alcoholic drinks. I look forward to meeting you all and spending time getting to know you.

Ngā mihi mahana

Mons

 

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EOTC and Communication Methods

Tue Feb 07 08:28am

Kia ora koutou

Here’s an update on EOTC and some information about how we communicate with whānau.

I hope that you all celebrated Waitangi Day and that you have a great week ahead.

EOTC heads up 

Unfortunately, this term there is a massive scheduling conflict with EOTC/Year 6 Camp and a Paid Union Meeting for teachers. There is only 1 Paid Union Meeting for Wellington City teachers and it is scheduled for Wednesday, 1 March which is the first day of our EOTC/Year 6 Camp week. This is a very important meeting for teachers and one that we cannot miss or reschedule so we have made the tough decision to move EOTC and Year 6 Camp to Term 4. We hope this also gives families who want to come along on EOTC or Year 6 Camp the time to fill out the necessary Police Vetting paperwork as well as organize leave from their work. If you have any questions about this, please speak to Michelle (the Senior Syndicate Lead Teacher).

EOTC for the junior students (Years 1 – 3) will go ahead from Wednesday 1 March – Friday 3 March. We are currently developing a programme that enables us to look into experiences that are local, with a focus on place based learning. We will need parent support to help with these experiences. More information will come out shortly.

 

Communication platforms 

There are 3 communication channels that we use at Berhampore School:

Whole School emails – most information is sent out via whole school email to Berhampore families. We update our parent/caregiver information yearly and ask that families let the Office and their student’s classroom teacher know of any changes to contact details.
SchoolApps –  This app is free to download from the Google Play Store (Android) or Apple App Store (iOS). Most information sent out via email will also appear as an alert on this app. Parents/caregivers can find school information, contact teachers and report absences through this app.
Facebook – The Berhampore School Facebook page is mainly used to advertise upcoming events or celebrate people and events in our community. Not all information that goes out via whole school email or the SchoolApps will be on the Berhampore School facebook page. 

Ngā mihi mahana

Mons

Upcoming events and information

Fri Feb 03 04:31pm

Sorry about the number of communication messages over the last few days – there is a lot of start of year information to share. We have a few events planned for next week so we wanted to get this information to you before the weekend.

Mihi whakatau 

Tēnā Koutou Kātoa

We will be having a mihi whakatau (a modified form of a pōwhiri) next Wednesday to welcome the new children, teachers, teacher aides, and Mons, to our school.  At 10:30am we invite new tamariki and their whānau to meet outside on the court area.  (Guides will be on hand to show you where to wait).  You will be welcomed onto our ātea as the Berhampore School whānau welcomes you to our school.  All whānau are welcome to attend. If you are are not new to the school you will be with the rest of the school welcoming the new people. We hope to see you there.  In the case of bad weather, this will be postponed and a new date will be chosen.

Staff Only Day 

A heads up that there will be a Staff Only Day on 24th April. This is a Ministry directed day so school will be closed for the day. Once the Ministry have advised us of dates for the rest of the year, we will let you know the dates for terms 3 and 4.

Picnic – Thursday 9th February, 6pm

We are having our annual beginning of the year picnic next Thursday. This is a good time to meet/reconnect with other families and come socialise together as a school community. Please join us on the school field from 6pm. BYO picnic (food), and something comfortable to sit on.

Room changes and where staff are

You may have noticed some new signage around the school on our classroom blocks. The three teaching blocks have taken on new names and new numbers. Our classroom teaching blocks are as follows:

Tūī Block (old Montessori block)

Tūi 1 – empty class 

Tūī 2 – Montessori, Years 1 – 8 (Dimitra. Gill, Lois & Helena – Kowhai Team)

Tūī 3 – Years 5/6 (Ally – Kahikatea Team)

Hihi Block (junior block)

Hihi 1 – Years 0/1 (Kylie – Pohutukawa Team)

Hihi 2 – Years 0/1 (Anastasia & Rajeshree – Pohutukawa Team)

Hihi 3 – Years 0/1 (Alice & Rekha – Pohutukawa Team)

Hihi 4 – Years 2/3 (Amber – Pohutukawa Team)

Hihi 5 – Years 2/3 (Johanna – Pohutukawa Team)

Hihi 6 – Years 1/2 (Courtney – Pohutukawa Team)

Ruru Block (old senior block)

Ruru 1 – Book Room 

Ruru 2 – Tuatara Room

Ruru 3 – Years 4/5 (Peter P – Kahikatea Team)

Ruru 3 – Year 4 (Jamie – Kahikatea Team)

PB4L – Jill

Our school values are:

We care

We are celebrated

We can be ourselves

We are connected

Our values were established as part of our strategic plan, in consultation with whānau, staff and children. These values are discussed and taught in class. When staff see the children showing our values in the classroom and playground they receive tokens which are collected to build towards a whole school celebration.

Ngā mihi mahana

Paid Union Meetings

Fri Feb 03 08:32am

Kia ora koutou

NZEI are holding a Paid Union Meeting for all teaching staff on Wednesday 1st March. Usually they provide a couple of options for us to choose from and we can spread teachers across these meetings, but this time there is only one Wellington meeting.

This means that we won’t have enough staff to operate classes on the afternoon of the 1st March. If you are able to collect your child at 1.30pm on this day we would be very grateful. There will be some staff on site to supervise those who can not be collected.

Please contact the office if you need your child/ren to stay at school from 1.30pm on 1st March.

I’m very sorry for the inconvenience but this is an important meeting that the teachers need to attend.

Ngā mihi mahana

Mons

Communication with Staff

Thu Feb 02 03:08pm

Kia ora e hoa mā

As a staff we have been discussing the best way for whānau to communicate with teachers regarding your children. We have agreed that teachers will aim to respond to emails within a 48 hour period and between the hours of 7.00am to 7.00pm. To inform the school that your child is late, at an appointment, is being picked up by someone else etc please contact the school office as it is easier to have one point of contact.

We would really appreciate it if you could please keep to these guidelines. Please come and chat to teachers at school if you have any questions or concerns about your child/ren. Remember that the leadership team are also available to support students and whānau.

Ngā mihi mahana

Mons

Message from Mons

Tue Jan 31 12:07pm

Kia ora e ngā whānau

I’d like to take the opportunity to briefly introduce myself and welcome you to the start of the 2023 year at Berhampore School.

My name is Simonne but I prefer to be called Mons (only my mother calls me Simonne when she is annoyed with me!!) and I’ll be the Acting Principal for the next 2 years while Mark is in the role of NZEI President.

I was the Deputy Principal at Berhampore School from 2006-2008 and have been Principal at Randwick School for the past 10 years.

I was drawn back to Berhampore School because I know the school values inclusion and diversity and I love the vision “Berhampore School is everyone’s school.” I’m really looking forward to getting to know the students, staff, whānau and community and plan to be a very present principal.

I intend to send out a weekly notice to whānau to keep you updated and I know that you receive regular updates from the staff on the week ahead.

It was nice to meet some of you at the “Meet the Teacher” meetings and I look forward to meeting you all over the next few weeks. Please come and introduce yourself. I hope to be at the school crossing as often as possible and be visible and present in the school so please call in and say hi and have a chat.

Ngā mihi mahana