Dear Parents and members of the Pukekohe Christian School community,

Thank you so much to those of you who were able to attend the meeting with the PCS Board and Trust held last night at the Anglican Church Hall. I am very aware that this is a busy time of year for all of us and that many parents would be unable to get to the meeting and so I am following up with the key information.

• In 2018 PCS will move to one class per year level in the primary school for the first time ever. This will allow teaching staff to focus their planning and teaching on one age group and also means that for 2018, the classes will be much smaller than 2017. It also provides us with the option to move students, depending on their ability, to another class for a specific subject. This is most useful in Maths, especially for children new to the Cambridge curriculum.
• The new classroom block has arrived and will be sited in December. It will be attached to the current room 10 and will include 2 large classrooms and a third smaller classroom for students working with a teacher aide. This block has been fully funded by the PCS Trust at a cost of $245,000. It will be used for the Year 4 and 5 classes.
• Growth in the High School will now be limited as there are very few available spaces in Years 7-13. The Strategic Planning Committee plan to consider opening a second Year 9 class in 2023 and that will lead to the growth of one class per year level each year until Years 9-12 have a 2 class intake. The school will not grow further than this.
• This predicted growth will allow us the opportunity of offering more options at senior level. These include Music, P.E. as an academic subject and a language.
• It is important to note that this will still allow us to continue to have very small classes for senior options when students split off to study their chosen subjects.
• The PCS Board have recently launched the new website (www.pcschool.co.nz ) and are now looking at rebranding in the continued pursuit of excellence. This will be a long term project.
• The Trust have been considering 2 main options to solve the parking problem. The first one is a drop off area at the road side, slightly cutting into the existing field to enable parents to drop their child without entering the property. The second one is incorporated into the main building project planned for 2018. The Trust are also communicating with the Council to try to change the speed limit on Yates Road and increase the amount of signage leading up to the school.
• The Trust have drawn up plans for an extensive building project, with a view to begin this during 2018. The project includes the following; a hall for full school assemblies, indoor sport, drama, productions, musical performances etc, an ablution block and a new Art and Technology block. This will all be sited on the bottom paddock. The car park will be extended so that parents will be able to drive down to the lower paddock area where there will be a safe drop off zone, close to the hall where line up and school day will begin. There will also be additional courts for netball,tennis etc. and parking space for staff and students.
• The intended project is extremely exciting for the PCS community and our most ambitious one to date! God has truly blessed us in the last few years and we are looking forward to the future and all that He has in store for us as a school. At this stage, with the money raised by the Trust and money borrowed from the bank, there is a substantial short fall which is a barrier to the project moving forward. The Strategic Planning Committee will be launching a community campaign which will be communicated to the school in the new year. We believe that by working together, we can make this project happen and give our children and teachers the fantastic facilities we know they deserve.

Thank you so much for your ongoing support. Our community is an amazing place and we all play a crucial role in nurturing and educating our children. I look forward to the next year at PCS with enthusiasm and excitement.

Yours in Christ

Clare Humber, Principal on behalf of the Pukekohe Christian School Board