St Benedict's School Pānui ā-rorohiko (Online Newsletter) Week 2, Term 1

Catholic Character

Beginning of Year Mass

Tomorow is our begining of year mass at St Benedict's Church. The mass will begin at 11am and we hope that you can join in this special celebration with us. 

Closing Ceremony – St Benedict’s Church

Please join us for the Closing Ceremony of St Benedict's church on the weekend of 11/12 February, along with St Andrew's, Newlands.

11th February, 7pm - Reminiscences.  Benediction followed by a cup of tea. Silent vigil until midnight. 
12th February, 9am - Closing Mass. Please bring a plate of finger-food to share at morning tea. 
It would be great to see school families at this mass.

Sunday 19 February Opening of the Parish of St Francis of Assisi Parish church at 11am, 37 Dr Taylor Terrace, Johnsonville.  This is a time to celebrate our Parish.It will be a time of gathering and celebration from the opening Processional hymn to the grace of thanksgiving after our community lunch. 

St Benedict's School will have a visible presence with 20 of our students doing a guard of honour to welcome parishoners to this auspicious mass. 
Please refer to the Parish newsletter for more details. 

Newsletter Highlights Video

This year we will be including a quick Principal's message in video form. The video will be under three minutes and will give a brief overview of some of the important information within our newsletter. We hope you find these a helpful. 

Tumuaki Korero - A word from our Principal

Tena koutou e te whānau,

Thank you to all of you who participated in our begining of year whānau hui. This was a huge success! Whānau have shared with us  that they appreciated having a quality 20 minutes with their tamaiti/child's teacher to share the rich knowledge   they have of their child with them. Our kaiako have noticed how settled our tamariki are and our whānau have also commented on the bonus effect of removing some of the begining day nerves for our tamariki. 

Welcome

We warmly welcome the following students into our school community.  Briona, Saxon, Hazel, Inès, Carminho, Siobhán (sister of Isabella).

In Room 2 we welcome Angelique, Keira (sister of Arabella), Kenzo (brother of Ella) and Anna (sister of Agustin). We also welcome back Joshua, Poppy, James, Elliot, Harry and Hamish who started with us in term 4 of 2022. 

Assemblies and House Meetings

This year we will have assemblies every second week alternating with fortnightly House Group meetings. The first Assembly, Room 9's,  will be held on Monday 28 February at 1:30pm in the library. 

School Picnic Friday 17 February

We are so excited to be able to celebrate our school picnic at Eastbourne on Friday 17th of February. This is a non uniform day and Tamariki are encouraged to wear sun smart comfortable sports  wear. 

The whole school will travel to Eastbourne 9:15am. Whānau are  welcome to meet us there.

Events: Sandcastle competition.  Your child is welcome to bring props and tools to make their sandcastle. Swimming is in the Eastbourne Pool.

Your child will need:

• a big packed lunch and a drink bottle filled with water
• personal sunscreen
• sun hat
• swiming costume and towel
• school bag
• optional: props and tools for making a sandcastle. 

Whānau can take their tamariki home from 2pm.  Please ensure your class teacher has ticked your child off as collected on their class list before leaving the picnic. Buses will be provided for tamariki going back to school.

Paid Union Meeting 1st March 1:30pm

As many of you will be aware the Teachers and Principals Collective agreements are currently under bargaining. Both sectors of our education system received an offer prior to Christmas which they are now meeting to consider. As all our teachers are union members our school will be closed for instruction on the 1st of March from 1:30pm to allow our teachers to attend this important meeting.  We appreciate our communitie's supportive actions of picking up your children early on this day. Thank you to our awesome support staff who will  provide limited supervision for those who require it. In order for us to provide safe supervision  please complete the Google Form here 

Teachers love what they do but lack of funding means that they don’t have the support they need to make sure every child has access to quality education. 

The model used to determine staffing levels has been in place for 25 years. The urgent need for fundamental changes was highlighted in the 2021 Pūaotanga report. The Wāwāhi Tahā campaign calls on the Ministry of Education to implement these changes and to take bold action to ensure that all children have the education they deserve.

Year 8 Morning Tea hosted by the Staff

We are so blessed to be a full primary school. This means we both benefit from the leadership of our Year 8 students and can provide an opportunity for responsibilities that help prepare our tamariki for college. This year we have started a new tradition with our staff hosting our Year 8's for a special morning tea. In the video below our Year 8's share their name and what they are most excited about for 2023

Syndicates Newsletter Term 1, 2023

Welcome to 2023 at St Benedict’s School. 

We hope you enjoyed warm, sunny weather and happy times with family and friends over the Christmas break, and are as excited as we are for the term ahead. This newsletter will hopefully help you prepare for the next 9 weeks of school; particularly if you are new to our community. If you are new, and have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with your classroom teacher or syndicate leader.  

Please remember to send your child to school each day with a school sunhat. Term 1 is a  ‘No Hat, No Play’ term. At this time of the year there is an increased risk of over-exposure to the sun’s damaging rays.  Along with the sunhat, please protect your child’s skin by applying sunblock before school, and ensure that they have a full bottle of water to keep them hydrated. Teachers will remind their class to drink plenty of water throughout the day. 

This Term’s Programme 

Religious Education 

We begin the term by exploring what makes each one of us a uniquely special creation, and how we can contribute to our school, local community and beyond. We explore ways to ensure a positive classroom environment and how to constructively deal with conflict. Our school E.P.I.C. values are a key focus.

Later in the term, we investigate the work of Caritas (Catholic Aid, Development and Social Justice Agency) and engage in a school-wide fundraising event for Caritas, our ‘Mission Fair’. This will be organised and run by the Year 6-8 students.

English: Ideas Strand

The term’s English focus is how authors deliver their ideas both visually and through the written word. Recognising themselves as authors, students practise delivering their own ideas in a variety of ways using different genres. They also practise identifying the main ideas in various texts from  other authors. 

Mathematics

Mānuka 

Our number focus is addition, subtraction, the foundational skills for multiplication, and the strategies and basic facts that support computation within groups to 10 and beyond. We also look at Statistics (how to gather, record, display and draw conclusions from data), and probability.

Kōwhai 

Our focus  will be on number knowledge.  We will be refreshing and developing our place value knowledge, recognition of fractions including decimals, basic facts knowledge and number sequencing and ordering.  Later in the term we will be looking at Statistics and linking this into a focus on the Census.

Kauri

Throughout the term we will provide students with the opportunity to work collaboratively and independently on challenging mathematical tasks, statistical investigations, geometry, measurement, algebra and number. We will build on our number and strategy knowledge and develop more advanced calculation skills. 

Te Reo and Kapa Haka

Whaea Adrienne, our specialist teacher in the Maori language, will work with classes on a fortnightly basis. Matua Hemi will continue to develop our Kapa Haka skills each Wednesday morning. We look forward to more opportunities to perform and sharpen our skills this year. 

Physical Education / Sport

Mānuka Syndicate has Run, Jump, Throw every Thursday at school, beginning in Week 2 (6th February). This programme is run by a Kelly Sports coach. Students should wear either sports clothes or the school P.E. uniform on Thursdays, regardless of the weather. Please see Coralie in the school office if you wish to purchase the school sports uniform.

Kōwhai and Kauri are learning to play Ki o Rahi each Thursday with a Kelly Sports Coach. Students should wear the school P.E. uniform on Thursdays, regardless of the weather. Check the video out below to learn about Ki o Rahi. 

Integrated Topic studies 

Mānuka 

Our integrated inquiry is Scooter Safely, with a focus on forces, motion and how to ride a scooter safely. This will be a very hands-on unit  and should prove lots of fun.

Kōwhai

Our integrated topic this term is What’s in my Kete? This is a Social Studies/ Religious Education focused unit focusing on how we are all unique and bring different skills and talent to our school community. 

Later in the Term we will focus on the Caritas  Lent unit  “I am the light of the World” The theme is our journey through Lent centres on the life of Jesus and his call for us to draw closer to God and look to be love and light to others.

Kauri 

This term we will be focusing on an integrated inquiry centred around Kotahitanga (Unity and Togetherness). We will be looking at ways to build our syndicate and class communities, develop personal strengths, a positive growth mindset and create a supportive atmosphere in which everyone is able to flourish. As part of this we will be looking at our whakapapa and aspects of New Zealand’s history such as Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The theme for Lent 2023 is “I am the Light of the World.” Fiji is the focus country for the stories and videos of Lent. Each week we will connect closely with Gospel stories and the Caritas case study. 

Kauri Syndicate Specific

Classroom Programme

In the Kauri Syndicate we run what we call the “Task System”. On Mondays each student will be given a timetable and a list of tasks based on the lessons of the week. They will be responsible for organising their time to complete the tasks by Friday. Much of the timetable will already be taken up with whole-class lessons, group lessons, technology, PE etc, but we will allow the students as much flexibility as possible to manage their own learning. It is our intention to build the independence and self-management skills of our students, and prepare them to be motivated and successful learners in the future. 

Technology

Every Wednesday we go to Mt Cook School for technology classes.  We leave school at 10.20am and arrive back at lunchtime. Over the course of the year the students will have classes in Design/Electronics, Cooking, Woodwork, Coding/Moviemaking, STEM and Sewing. Students are required to wear covered shoes for safety reasons, so please no sandals.

Languages

We will also be studying Mandarin and Chinese this year using a combination of the Duolingo app and a Mandarin learning assistant who will be teaching lessons on a Friday. 

EOTC/Camp

As part of our EOTC programme both the Year 7 EOTC week and the Year 8 camp will be held in week 4 from Monday 20 – 24 February. Please make sure that you have filled out the necessary documents that have been emailed to you. 

We wish you a safe and happy first term full of successful learning.

Kind Regards

Staff of St Benedict’s School 

Touch Rugby

Calling all tamariki interested in playing touch rugby (from Year 1 through to Year 8).  A new 6 week season starts on Monday 20 February 2023 at Alex Moore park in Johnsonville and we are looking to register teams shortly with all registrations to be in by 12 February.

We had a great season in Term 4 last year where we fielded a Year 1/2 team, Year 3/4 team and a Year 7/8 team. If anyone is interested in playing please email Lizzie Hunter at lizziemid@gmail.com for more details and Lizzie can help you get a team together.

It is a great summer game for all!

Helping Our Kids

New HOK Chair

Kia ora Koutou
My name is Kaye Herrick, and in 2023 I’ll be chairing HOK (Help Our Kids).  It’s an easy role
as our committee is made up of awesome parents who run activities and events that ensure
our school is a fun, connected community and help raise funds for school items that Help
Our Kids have a great experience at St Ben's.

 
I joined HOK in 2018 after helping at one of our BBQ events, and it’s been so great to chip in
a little of my time to help the kids and school and most importantly for me, meet other
parents.  We welcome any new member, at any time of the year! Each parent usually has
one event or helping hand to lend, once a year (or more if you wish) and a monthly meeting,
so the time commitment can suit what works for you.
Kaye

HOK AGM

Kia ora koutou katoa

At 7:30pm, on Monday 13 February we will have our HOK AGM (the first one under our refreshed rules)  and our first HOK meeting for the year. The meeting will happen in the school library.

Members of the school community are most welcome to attend.

AGM AGENDA

1. Welcome
2. Apologies and introductions
3. Minutes
4. Annual financial statement
5. Election of committee members
6. General Business

 Johanna Reidy  (HOK Secretary)

Parent Quiz Night is back! 2023
After a year off in 2022 due to COVID restrictions we are bringing back the Annual Parents
Quiz - the first of many exciting HOK events for 2023.
This is a chance to get to know parents within your class and the broader school community
as the year kicks off.  The quiz will be at 7pm, Sunday 19th February 2023 at 1841 Bar and Restaurant, Johnsonville.
Tickets are $20 and payment can be made to the HOK account 12-3141-0352804-00 noting
your name and ‘Quiz’ as reference.
There are prizes to be won. Please contact Sarah Southee if you are able to donate anything,
big or small for prizes: thesouthee8@gmail.com
 
Watch out for the colour run! Details coming soon

Scholastic Book Orders

Scholastic brochures were distributed last week and all orders are now due at the school office by Friday 17 February.

This year we would prefer if people paid online with a credit card, although if needed you can still order with cash (correct change, please).  Return any cash orders to the school office.
To order and pay with a credit card, go to mybookclub.scholastic.co.nz; books ordered online before February 17 will be collated and arrive at school and be distributed. Books ordered online after that date will go to your home and incur a delivery fee.
All orders earn rewards which buy books for the school library.   Thank you.

Parent Road Patrol Roster

NICHOLSON ROAD
(Mornings and Afternoons)
Parents: Please be present from 8:25am - 9:00am and again from 2:45am - 3:15pm

Entertainment Book

Wider Community Notices