St Benedict's School Pānui ā-rorohiko (Online Newsletter) Week 6, Term 1

Catholic Character

Lent is a season of reflection and preparation before the celebrations of Easter. It is an opportunity to renew our faith and commit to a closer relationship with God. As parents, you can help your children understand the meaning of Lent and develop a meaningful focus for the season. Here are some ideas:

1. Prayer: Encourage your children to set aside time each day for prayer. You can help them create a prayer space or corner in their room where they can pray and reflect.

2. Fasting: Fasting is an important part of Lent, and it doesn't have to be limited to food. Encourage your children to fast from something they enjoy, such as video games or sweets, and use that time to reflect on their faith.

3. Giving: Lent is also a time to focus on giving to others. Encourage your children to find ways to give back to their community, such as volunteering at a local food bank or donating to a charity.

4. Reflection: Encourage your children to reflect on their faith and what it means to them. You can provide them with prompts or questions to guide their reflection, such as "What does God mean to you?" or "What can you do to be a better person?"

5. Reading: Encourage your children to read the Bible or other religious texts during Lent. You can provide them with age-appropriate resources or devotionals to help guide their reading.

Remember, the focus of Lent should be on growing closer to God and developing a deeper understanding of our faith. Encourage your children to choose a focus that speaks to them and helps them grow in their relationship with God.

Newsletter Highlights

Thanks to Seb and Grace for recording our highlights this week 

School Picnic TOMORROW

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

The whole school will travel to Eastbourne at 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.   Unfortunatley due to the date change we are unable to use the swimming pool.

Your child will need:

• a big packed lunch and a drink bottle filled with water
• personal sunscreen
• sun hat
  
• 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.

* There will be no lunch orders delivered, please pack a generous lunch for your student/s

Tumuaki Korero - A word from our Principal

Tena koutou e te whānau,

Possible Strike Action

As you are aware the Teachers and Principals union are currently in Collective bargaining with the government for a new contract. The current offer has been rejected and all union members have been balloted as to whether they will take strike action with the Secondary School teachers next Thursday 16 March. As yet, we do not know the outcome of this vote. Our school is fully unionised and if the decision is made to strike by the union members our school would be unable to open.

Better Start Literacy Whānau Hui

On Tuesday night we held our Better Start Literacy whānau hui for 2023. The evening started with a sausages sizzle cooked by Ms Barnett and cake provided by Mrs Wood's daughter Bonnie. And the opportunity to catch up with fellow Manuka parents.

The catch up was followed with a presentation by the Manuka kaiako led by Mrs Wood who is our Better Start Facilitator, including some audience participation in a spelling tests!   Each whānau were given some activities to use at home to support their tamaiti/tamariki  reading and writing journey. I was  blown away by the number of whānau who were able to join us and very proud of the wonderful Manuka team of Mrs Minto, Ms Kriechbaum, Mr Havell, Ms Barnett and Mrs Wood. Their participation in the  Better Start Programme micro-credential through the University of Canterbury is completed on top of their usual work load and the passion they have for offering the best Literacy programme for their tamairki was evident to all who came to the meeting.  

This is the first in a series of whānau meetings we wish to offer over 2023. The next series will again be offered to our Manuka Syndicate and focus on our Catholic Faith through the Families of Faith programme on  Thursday 11th of May @ 5:30pm and Thursday  15th June @ 5:30pm. 

Better Start Whānau Meeting

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Movin' March

Students at St Bens have begun  Movin' March with enthusiasm, some bringing scooters to school, encouraging their parents to let them get out of the car further away from the school gate in order to walk to school, or meet up with classmates to walk as a group. There are lots of ideas for added some physical activity to your day on the website :   schooltravel.gw.govt.nz/walk-or-wheel-programmes/movinmarch. Passports are available each morning and there are giveaways, colouring competitions and prizes. 

Ko tā Māehe Haere he whakatairanga i ngā hua o te hīkoikoi, pānukunuku me te kake paiki ki te kura.

Movin’March celebrates the benefits of walking, scooting and biking to school.  Greater Wellington encourages schools and whānau across the region to get active to/from school over March. Movin'March is FREE for schools and ideally suited for Years 0-8. Walking, biking, and scooting to school can help increase independence, physical and mental health, decision making, and road safety skills for tamariki - and the school benefits from less chaos at the school gate.

Sea Week: 

https://www.seaweek.org.nz/whats-on  Get Involved!!!  Clean up your local stream or  beach, find out what's happening in your area.  A Wellington event: 
Hirepool Big Clean. Saturday 11 March.10am – 1pm . Location: Petone Beach, Wellington
We hope you’ll come celebrate Seaweek and get stuck in to clean Petone beach and the surrounding coastline. Hirepool wants cleaner coastlines for us all, so we will be working with local community groups to have the biggest possible impact on cleaning up the rubbish found in and around the beach. Register on the seaweek website.

Assemblies, House Meetings and Buddy Classes

Assemblies, House Meetings and Buddy Class activities help to build our Tuakana Teina culture across our school. 

Over the past two Mondays we had our first Celebration Assembly for 2023 and our first House Time gathering. Brigidine was awarded the Epic Edwina award for assembly engagement and Room 6 was awarded Epic Eddie for their amazing Google Classroom skills. Congratulations to our certificate recipients. 

Over the past few weeks, I have enjoyed popping in to buddy class times to witness the burgeoning relationships between our older (Tuakana) and younger (Teina) tamariki. Last week Room 11 and Room 5 created parachutes with a carry case  for an egg - in the current egg crisis, Ping-Pong balls stepped in for the eggs. 

Room 5 and 11 Buddy Class STEAM activities

Congratulations 

We love celebrating our communities successes and this week our spotlight is on Mel Belford who is a wonderful example of our EPIC value of Perseverance. Mel took up a new sport of weightlifting 7 months ago.  Last week she won three Gold medals in the Masters Weightlifting World Championships, Oceania Championship and Commonwealth Championship including breaking a NZ record with the clean and jerk lift. Congratulations Mel!

Mā te Atua koutou e manaaki, e tiaki hoki,
May God bless and care for you,
Tania Savage - Principal

St Patrick's Day come in green

Non-Uniform Day St Patricks Day - wear green

March 17, 2023

St Patrick's Day in Ireland dates back to the 17th century, as a religious feast day that commemorates the death of St. Patrick in the fifth century. Patrick is credited with having brought Christianity to Ireland and as such became a figure of national devotion and, in due course, the nation's patron saint.

The Brigidine Sisters who originally ran St Benedict's were established in Ireland. Wear green to celebrate our Catholic faith.

Year Six Camp

Former Students Visit

In February we had a visit from past students, Cole Stockler, Harrison Musker and Ben Brown.  The boys were enjoying their last day together before Harrison left for Christchurch to begin his first year at University, Cole and Ben will be completing their studies in Wellington.   We were grateful for their visit and to Caroline Stockler for the below photos.   We  wish them all success for the upcoming years of study. 

We also had a visit from Alice, Lucy, Kate and Isabelle who shared with our current Year 7 and 8 students how well their transition to college has gone. 

Miniball/Basketball Registration

Miniball/Basketball Registration - Terms 2 and 3.  Please register your child for miniball/basketball with the Google Form link below.  More information will come after registration about payments. It is $35 per term.  Registrations close on 22nd March.  Please contact janatocker@gmail.com with any questions. Miniball/Basketball Registration

ezlunch Easter Promotion

Order ezlunch for delivery from Monday 27 March to Thursday 6 April and go in the draw to WIN a Lego Creator 3-in-1 White Rabbit. The winner will be drawn on Thursday 6 April 2023 and be notified by phone and/or email. Every lunch order gets another chance to win. Go to www.mykindo.co.nz to start ordering.

Are you and your whānau protected from measles?

With people travelling overseas again, there’s a risk that someone with measles could unknowingly bring the disease back to Aotearoa.

Measles spreads easily and quickly, usually between people who are unimmunised or only partially immunised. It can be serious and life threatening. In the 2019 measles outbreak in Aotearoa more than 30% of the people infected had to be admitted to hospital. 

The best protection against measles is the free MMR vaccine. It will protect you and your whānau, and prevent the virus from spreading.

You will be protected against measles if you:

• had 2 doses of the MMR vaccine
• had measles before
• were born before 1 Jan 1969.

If you’re unsure if you or your tamariki have had any or both doses of the MMR vaccine, check by calling your GP or hauora provider. Alternatively, check your Plunket Well Child Tamariki Ora book. If you’re still not sure, be safe and get immunised – there are no safety concerns with having an extra dose. MMR vaccines are free at your local health provider and many pharmacies.

As measles still occurs in many countries, if you’re travelling overseas these holidays it’s especially important to be immunised to prevent the risk of being unknowingly infected and causing an outbreak in Aotearoa on your return.

More information about the measles vaccination can be found here:

Measles vaccination – Ministry of Health

Netball Season

Netball registrations are now open for Year 1-8 for the 2023 season.

Please complete the attached form. One form per player you wish to register please. (NB: If
you played last year the Year 1-2 sessions are different this year, they are run in Term
2 and we have to register in teams of 3-6 players, each team must have a star helper
and parent helper per team). Please message the netball co-ordinator with any
questions.

https://forms.gle/6EdLahXBqNdT2cEHA 

Registrations close:  Friday 10 th March
The netball guidelines with more information are available online: http://www.st-
benedicts.school.nz/?page_id=3646. Parents need to agree to the guidelines when
registering players. These guidelines are final and by registering you are agreeing to
follow them.
Netball fees for 2022: Year 5-8 $55, Year 3-4 $50, Year 1-2 $45. Fees must be paid
before the 24 th of March. The netball bank account number is: 12-3141-0242445-02
Preseason training: Run by senior students from WGC and supervised by netball
co-ordinator. Coaches and parents are welcome to learn new drills and assist.
These trainings are optional but a great way to refresh skills before the season
starts.
Monday 3rd April – 4-5pm Year 5/6
5-6pm year 7/8
Sunday 16 th April – 2-3pm Year 5/6
3-4 pm year 7/8
Sunday 23 rd April - 2-3 pm Year 5/6

3-4 pm Year 7/8

This will be my last year co-ordinating netball and someone will need to take it on for
netball to continue next year. If you are interested in helping co-ordinate netball this
year please get in touch through the email below. Your help would be gratefully
received!
Any questions or if you require any further information please contact netball@st-
benedicts.school.nz

Helping Our Kids

Term 1 2023, Week 4 newsletter

HoK for newsletter 9-3-23

We need you to be a HoK class rep!
A class rep passes on information about upcoming HOK events to parents and caregivers via class
facebook/whatsapp/email groups.
This is a really useful role - families find it helpful to be reminded of an upcoming event and if they
have to do anything for it/send their child with something.

If your child’s in Room 5, 7, 8, or 9 and you’d be willing to be a HOK rep for that class please email
Johanna Reidy (Hok Secretary) johanna_reidy@hotmail.com
Thank you

Frosty Friday
Thank you to all those who supported Frosty Friday and to those who pitched in to make it happen!
We raised $635

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