St Benedict's School Pānui ā-rorohiko (Online Newsletter) Week 8, 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 8
Friday 1st December Mānuka Syndicate Athletics at Nairnville
                                           Frosty Friday
                                           1:30pm Jack guitar group performance
                                           2:15pm Year 8 Assembly

Week 9 
Tuesday 5 December House captain vote
                                             Regional Athletics - Newtown
Thursday 7th December Regional Athletics PP date 
Friday 8th December End of Year School Mass Bus leaves school at 11am - Mass begins at 11:30am
Sunday 10th December Kapa Haka perform at Khandallah Fair - 10am

Week 10
Monday 11th December School Picnic at Eastbourne Park
Tuesday 12th December Reports go home
Wednesday 13th December Morning in new classes
                                                          School Picnic PP day 
Thursday 14th December 6:00pm Buddy Class Christmas Carols and Year 8 Prizegiving @ St Francis of                                                             Assisi Ohariu Parish Church
Friday 15th December  House Carols followed by Poroporaki for all leavers - 12pm.

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 Library Liturgy

As the year draws to a close, we bid farewell to our final Library Liturgy for 2023 with immense gratitude for the unwavering support and dedication shown by Challenge 2000 and St Francis of Assisi Ohariu Parish towards the nurturing of St Ben's faith development.

These moments of collective worship and reflection have been made possible by the collaborative effort of our Parish, enriching our spiritual journey and fostering a deeper connection within our community.

Looking ahead to the coming year, we aspire to expand this shared experience and hope  members of our community are able to join us. Put Library Liturgy in your calendar for 2024.

Board update

The school board was scheduled to meet on the 29th of November. Due to illness, the Board was unable to make quorum and this meeting will be rescheduled. 

Tumuaki Korero - A word from our Principal

Tēnā koutou e te whānau,

As it is such a busy time of year we will be putting out an extra newsletter next week and week 10. 

Summer illness
While we had hoped the illnesses of winter were behind us the last two weeks has shown a late seasonal surge. Many of our teachers have also been struck down and we are not always able to replace them with relievers. Many thanks to Mrs Taylor who keeps that part of the day to day of school running each and every week. Often, when we have no relievers our teachers will give up release to support a class. Many have done that this week. 
Today our numbers have dropped back to below 5%. We hope that through increased hygene practices and keeping your tamairki at home if they are unwell we have stopped this outbreak. 

Reports
Reports will be heading home with your tamariki on Tuesday 12th December.

Speeches
We had hoped to have the video of all of the speeches edited in time for this newsletter but unfortunately have hit our upload limit for this week. The full speeches will be viewable in next weeks newsletter. 

Results
Year 1 Participants
Josh 
Aidan 
Annabelle 

Year 2 Participants
Max 
Maddison 
Maisie 
Olliver 

Year 3 
Agustin - 1st
Miriam - 2nd
Leo 
Beau (replacing Mimi (Carminho)) was a finalist however was unwell on the day)

Year 4
Eleanor -1st
Isla -2nd
Benjamin 
Lucy 

Year 5 
Ellie - 1st
James -2nd
Lucia 
Esther 

Year 6
Immy - 1st 
Amara - 2nd
Henry 
Dominic 

Year 7
Isabella - 1st 
Shenaya -2nd
Charlotte 
Louie 

Year 8
Addy - 1^st
Frankie - 2^nd 
Reuben 
Posy 

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.

Celebrating the Success of the Year 8 Retreat and Liturgy!

A heartfelt round of applause goes out to the incredible organisers behind the highly successful Year 8 Retreat and Liturgy! This inaugural event brought together tamariki  from both of our parish schools for a day filled with camaraderie, enlightenment and shared experiences.

The retreat was a special opportunity for our Year 8 students to come together, fostering connections and friendships as they transition to College.

A special mention of gratitude extends to Fr Pete and Joe Green who ensured the beauty of the day was encapsulated by the stunning crosses, as part of the liturgical celebration. While the delightful pizza lunch was the cherry on top. 

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Guitar and Ukelele performance

Thank you to Jake Church and his students for their shared performance today.  Guitar and Ukelele lessons will continue in 2024.  Contact Jake (jakechurch7@gmail.com) if you would like your child/ren to start lessons next year.

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

Interzone Athletics

Congratularions to all of the students who represented St Benedict's and Northern Zones in the Interzone Athletic competition on Tuesday 21st November at Newtown Park.  Everyone gave it their all and it was a very enjoyable day, despite the drizzle keeping us cool!

A special congratulations to Albert and Lucia who qualified for Regionals in Long Jump, Albert also qualified in the 100m and 800m race and to Harrison who qualified in Vortex.  They will have the opportunity to compete on 5th December.  

Molly Kelly

Teacher/Sports coordinator

Mánuka Syndicate Athletics

A cold but fun morning was had at the Mānuka Syndicate Athletics.  Thank you to our wonderful parent helpers.

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.

Congratulations to....

Bookmark Winners, Assembly Certificate and EPIC Lotto recipients

Congratulations to Jack who recently competed in the National FMC cubing competition, held simultaneously in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch.

FMC (Fewest Moves Challenge) is an event where competitors are given a scrambled 3x3 cube and have 60 minutes to solve the cube with the fewest moves possible. During the 60 minutes alot of different algorithms are tried and noted down for the final algorithm in the correct notation. 

Jack did really well and placed 3rd in Wellington and 5th overall in New Zealand.
Jack really enjoyed the competition and his next event is the big one - the Speed Cubing Nationals 8-10 December.  We wish Jack good luck for this upcoming event.

100th Birthday celebration

Happy Birthday to the much loved great, great Aunt of Siobhan and Isabella Fouhy, Sr Helena Fouhy csb (Brigidine), who celebrated her 100th birthday party last weekend

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

Frostie Friday: Thank you for your support today and to our fantastic helpers who we appreciate very much.  We raised $813.20.

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

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