St Benedict's School Pānui ā-rorohiko (Online Newsletter) Week 6, Term 4

Upcoming Events from our Calendar

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Recurring events
Tuesday Mānuka Athletics Skills Week 4-9 ; NZ Football at School - Kowhai Syndicate Week 4-8 (final session on Thursday)
Thursday Library Liturgy (click here for schedule); NA Football at School - Kauri Syndicate  Week 4- 8 (final session on Tuesday)

Week 6 
Friday 17th November Teacher Only Day 

Week 7
Library Stocktake - please ensure you have returned your library books. 
Tuesday 21st November Year 4-8 Advent Reconciliation @ 9:00am in school library (Communal Rite)
Thursday 23rd November Year 8 College Transitions days St Mary's, St Patrick's and WGC
Friday 24th November School Speech Competition 9-12:30

Week 8
Tuesday 28th November House Captain Voting
Wednesday 29th November Staff Students Netball game 
Thursday 30th November Year 8 combined retreat with St Brigid's School. 
Friday 1st December Manuka Syndicate Athletics at Nairnville
                                           Frosty Friday
                                           1:30pm Jack guitar group performance
                                           2:15pm Year 8 Assembly

Items found in the School APP
Teacher Messages
Term 4 Syndicate Newsletter
Documents Section
2024 School Dates
Summer Uniform Order form
St Ben's Handbook
Widget link
Newsletter
SchoolDocs (Board Policies) 
Account information
Absences notification and rate of absences. 
School Calendar
MyKindo for lunch orders
HoK Facebook and Instagram
Coming Soon: Road Patrol Roster 

@School App Access on Work phones
We have recently been made aware that some whānau are unable to download the @School APP due to work phone security settings. If this affects you, you can access the @School APP through safari or chrome browsers using the same log on details we have provided. We encourage use of our @School APP as we regularly send out communication through this.

Catholic Character

CHRISTMAS FAMILY MASS GOSPEL PRESENTATION

PHOTO SHOOT SUNDAY 26^th Nov after 10:00am Mass

Calling all parish children who would like to be part of our Gospel powerpoint presentation at our Christmas Eve family mass.

The Christmas story will be narrated accompanying a prepared powerpoint presentation.

The presentation will be compiled from photos of our own children in costume.

A photo session will be held after the 10.00am Mass on Sunday 26^th November. We invite all children who would like to be part of this to come along. If you come to this session we presume you give permission for your child’s photo to be used.

Costumes will be provided.

Each child attending on 26^th will be given a gift.

Any child not able to attend on 26^th November can still participate in our Christmas mass. We would like children in costume [provided just prior to Christmas Eve] to greet people as they arrive, dress our crib, and be our offertory procession. If you would like to be part of this please contact: Pat Collier, email—tchpat.collier@gmail.com

Board update

The school board met on Wednesday 1 November.  The following was discussed

- Provisional staffing allocation from Ministry of Education for 2024 based on our predicted roll.        Receiving the Provisional staffing allocation enable the Board to set the budget for the next year and approve staffing for 2024.  Which in turns enables decisions being made on number of classes.
- Draft budget presented.  This will be finalised at the December meeting.
- After schoolcare holiday programme report following September programme.  Approval given to roll this out again next year.

Tumuaki Korero - A word from our Principal

Tēnā koutou e te whānau,

Reminder of Teacher Only Day Friday 17^th November
We have our final Teacher Only Day for 2023. Friday 17^th of November is the MoE mandated Curriculum Refresh Day.  Our school will be closed for instruction on this day.

Gumboot Day 
Thank you to all who participated in our Gumboot Friday fundraiser. We raised a total of $348 that will support tamariki across the country to access free counselling. 

Court updates and building work
Last Monday I received confirmation that the Archdiocese of Wellington (ADW) will be refurbishing our lower courts. This is currently in the planning stage and will involve levelling the courts, adding astro turf to the side that currently houses the basketball court and resurfacing the rest of the courts with asphalt.

As well as the courts ADW will also be recladding the end of Room 9 and 10 to remedy leaks cause by old Hardy Board and upgrading the staircase behind our main block.  

As you can imagine this is a significant investment in our school which is funded by the contribution our community makes by paying attendance dues. We are very thankful for the team of architects, project managers and contractors that will be involved in both these pieces of work and ask that you keep them in your prayers.

EPIC student awards
As part of our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) development plan we have implemented and been using EPIC tokens to reinforce positive behaviour that we spot going on around the school.

Staff are always looking in the playground, around the school and at after school care for positive behaviours to reward with an EPIC student token.  These go into the fishbowl in the foyer and each assembly we draw out 20 – 30 tokens and the lucky students can select a prize out of the prize box.

These also attract house points for the winning students. If you see someone being EPIC in our community please nominate them for an EPIC token 

Phone request

Do you have an old iPhone X or above that you no longer need? We are looking for three iPhones for use by the staff to connect with the community.  If you have one available please drop them off at the school office.

Te Reo in Term 4

Throughout Term 4, Whaea Adrienne and our Kaiako have focused on the sentence structure to express gratitude or to bless another person during prayer time. Practising gratitude can support us to build wellbeing and resillience. I hope you enjoy this short video from Room 6 sharing the phrases they have learned. 

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

St Ben's Pre Christmas Holiday Programme

Following the success of our holiday programme in October we have decided to plan another onsite programme from  18 - 21 December 2023.

Again we have capped this at 20 children and will be taking registrations on a first in first served basis. We will need to have enrolments for 20 children to proceed with the programme. At this stage we will also be giving preference to families who would like their children to attend from Monday to Thursday.  However if you would prefer part of the week we will take your name and details and make contact should spaces become available. 

Whilst our schedule is still being drafted, all days of the programme will be onsite. There will be different activities each day, opportunities for free play and a wind down period.  Feliz and I will be working at our programme. Details are as follows:

Time:  8.30 - 5.30pm Monday to Thursday

Cost : $50.00 per child per day 

Timetable for activities to be advised. 

Thank You

Donna Wilson

If you are interested in enrolling your child(ren) in our program please contact Donna by emailing asc@st-benedicts.school.nz no later than 25 November 2023.

St Benedict’s Speech Competition

The St Benedict’s Speech Competition takes place on Friday 24th November.  Students are selected
after presenting to their peers to go into this competition. This competition is judged by members of Toastmasters Wellington. The Year 8 winner has their name engraved onto the trophy and receives a gift card.

Though it is always a bit of a squeeze, you are very welcome to join us in the library on the 24th of November. 

Congratulations to....

Bookmark Winners, Assembly Certificate and EPIC Lotto recipients

Congratulations to Reuben who has been awarded a Four Year Academic Scholarship at St Patrick's College, Silverstream.  Well done Reuben.

Congratulations to Zara and Sophie (X-student) who competed at the Neon dance society competition held at Aotea college in their first ever dance competition as a duo coming first in the 10-12 years lyrical/contemporary category. 

Congratulations to Raff who had qualified for Central Regions Schools finals after the Wellington Primary Schools tournament last month. Yesterday Raff represented St Benedicts in the Central Regions Primary Schools finals in Palmerston North. Central Regions is Taranaki across to Hawkes Bay and down to Wellington. Raff made the final and placed runner up receiving a medal.  A great tournament for Raff. 

P.E. Uniform

P.E. Uniform Orders now open We are currently taking orders for P.E. uniform items and these will be delivered at the beginning of Term 1, 2024. Students from Year 3 are required to wear P.E. uniform on sports days. The P.E. uniform consists of a compulsory P.E. top and blue shorts or track pants. The P.E. jacket is optional. Samples are available to try on at the school office.  Please complete the form via link below.

St Benedict's PE Uniform order form

This order form is now OPEN. This form will close on the 5 December 2023 Once you have completed your order please deposit money into the school bank account  12-3141-0242445-000, including the following as a reference: Your child’s name and P.E Uniform. You can expect delivery of your items early in Term 1 2024.  We will notify you when orders have arrived. If you require multiple items of the same type or are wanting to order items for another child, please submit a new form each time. Thank you

Helping Our Kids

Teatowel Fundraiser - Thank you so much to all those from our wonderful community who have  supported the teatowel fundraiser!  We raised $2, 000. 

The Famous Frosty Friday is coming! Friday 1^st December at lunchtime: $2 for a sausage, $1 for an iceblock. 

The HOK committee is made up of parents from the school who volunteer their time to make stuff happen – come and join us!  We’re always on the lookout for fresh ideas and new members.

Let us know if you want to join our next meeting to see what we do and how we work.
Contact Johanna (HoK secretary) for details: hok@st-benedicts.school.nz

Lost Property

Entertainment Book

Yummy Sticker Collection

Thank  you to the families who have collected 'Yummy' stickers for our school in Terms 2 & 3.  We have been allocated our spending and are very happy to hear that Ms Kelly, our Sports Co-ordinator has $740 to spend on sports equipment.  Each sticker is worth one point so every sticker counts.

Holiday Programme Musical

Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon

The Wellington event will be held on Sunday 17th March at Kilbirnie Park and Wellington Regional Aquatic Centre. If you would like to register your tamariki for this event, please click HERE.  This will take you to the link for the St Benedict's School team.  Please visit the website: https://tryathlon.co.nz/info/ for more details and information. 

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

Wider Community Notices