St Benedict's School Pānui ā-rorohiko (Online Newsletter) Term 3, Week 2, 2024

Upcoming Events from our Calendar

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Sports Uniform Days   Kōwhai and Kāuri Tuesday 
                                                Mānuka  & Rooms 6 & 7 Thursday 

Term 3, 2024

Week 2
Monday 29 July Assembly Room 6

Tuesday 30 July Kōwhai Te Aro Pa trip - 9.20-2.50 (Room 9, 8, 7, 6) (Postponed - 22 August)

Friday 2 August Cup Cakes ($2) for Morning tea (Netball fundraiser)

Week 3 

Monday 5 August House Meetings 1:45
Thursday 8 August Australian Maths Comp                
                                        Cricket in School

Items found in the School APP
School Notices
Teacher Messages

Documents Section
Syndicate Newsletter  Term 1 and 2 
2024 School Dates
Winter Uniform Order form
St Ben's Handbook
Road Patrol Roster 

Widget link
Newsletter
SchoolDocs (Board Policies) 
Account information
Absences notification and rate of absences. 
School Calendar
MyKindo for lunch orders
HoK Facebook and Instagram

Tumuaki Korero

We warmly welcome Ruby & Alex (brother of Ben) to Room 2, Mikayla, (Room 4) and returning family, Alexander, (Room 7) and Emmeline, (Room 12).

Tēnā koutou e te whānau ō Hato Penetika,

Thank you for attending our recent Parent-Teacher Interviews. We truly enjoy sharing insights about your child's learning journey with you. Your kind messages of support for our staff over the past few weeks have been greatly appreciated. We are proud to be part of the St Benedict's community.

Upcoming Production: Robyn and the Sherwood Hoodies
As shared in last weeks Syndicate newsletter we are excited to announce our upcoming whole school production, Robyn and the Sherwood Hoodies. The show will take place at 6pm on September 4th and 5th at Hutt City Church. We will send further communication regarding the production as the term progresses regarding costumes. ticket sales and timings. All of our classes have a role in this show and are working  hard to perfect their acting and dancing talents. Please remember to respond to the T-shirt order that was sent out last week.

Pest Control Update
We have recently addressed an issue with mice, which has been noticed due to the building site adjacent to our school. We have engaged a pest control company to implement a regular monitoring and disposal schedule. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please reach out to Tania.

ADW Donation Clarification
We apologise for any confusion regarding the new ADW donation included in the invoice. This is not a scam; in October last year, the Archdiocese of Wellington informed schools about a $50 donation to support Catholic Education. This donation is necessary to maintain the level of Catholic education supports provided to our schools and is already implemented in other dioceses.

Please note that this donation is not compulsory and is separate from the Attendance Dues, which are mandatory and fund property development. We regret that the Archdiocese did not communicate this clearly to our community, leading to misunderstandings.

Kapa Haka Festival
We are proud to host the St Brigid’s Kapa Haka Festival along with Newlands College and St Brigid’s School during Week 8, on September 14th. We will be seeking support from our community to help with the logistics of this event. More details will be provided in Week 4's newsletter.

Our Year 4-8 Kapa Haka members will also be performing at our Catholic Kāhui Ako Cultural day on the 19^th of September.

Assumption Mass
We will be holding  a mass to celebrate the Assumption Feast day, 15 August 11:30am, at St Francis of Assisi Parish. We hope you can join us.

Cybersafe Support 
You are warmly invited to attend a special Parent Evening with John Parsons from Citizen21 on August 28 at St Francis of Assisi Parish Church. This event is an excellent opportunity to gain insights into cyber safety and the digital landscape that our children navigate daily.

Event Details
Date: August 28
Time: 6:30pm
Location: St. Francis of Assisi Parish Church

About John Parsons
John Parsons is a renowned cyber safety and risk assessment consultant who works extensively with students, staff and parents. On this day, he will engage with our students during school hours, provide professional development for our staff after school and conduct an informative session for parents in the evening.

Support Offered by John Parsons
John provides a range of support focused on empowering our community to navigate the digital world safely and responsibly. His expertise includes:

• Cyber Safety Education: Workshops designed to educate children and parents about safe online practices, helping them understand the risks associated with digital communication.
• Empowering Parents: Guidance on how to support children in their online activities, including recognizing and addressing cyberbullying and online predation.
• Workshops for Educators: Training for teachers on the ethical use of digital technology in the classroom and how to foster a safe learning environment.
• Community Engagement: John emphasizes the importance of community involvement in promoting digital safety and the rights of children in the digital age.

We encourage all parents to attend this valuable session, as it will provide essential tools and knowledge to help keep our children safe online. Please use the following link to register for the parent meeting 

Thank you for your continued support and involvement in our school community!

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

Principals Appreciation Day

Today we celebrated our Principal with dress up, beautifully made cards from the Tamariki and a special morning tea.  We thank Tania for her hard work and dedication to our school.

Matariki Evening Artwork

Library Help

Do you have any spare time to help Donna cover new books in the library?  If so please contact Donna to set up a day which suits you other than Wednesday.  librarian@st-benedicts.school.nz

FOUND: Size 8 sweatshirt which was found by one of our students in the Khandallah Village.

Rail Safety Week 5-9 August 2024

In Khandallah we have a number of spaces that our tamariki and whānau interact with rail lines. Next week is rail safety week and we encourage you to share the message "Steely Stare. Steely Stare. All clear.” 

Scholastic Book Club

Scholastic brochures were distributed last week and all orders are now due at the school office by Friday 2 August.
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 August 2 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. 

Student Celebrations

Congratulations to Jina, Room 7 who participated in the Hutt Valley Performing Arts Competition during the school holidays receiving four medals.

-A sliver medal in String Solo for violin.
-A silver medal in Concerto Movement for violin
-A silver medal in Jazz Piano Solo
-A silver medal in Scholarship for piano.

Congratulations to Natalie, Room 5 who participated in the Wellington openings for Rhythmic gymnastics on the weekend.  It was her first competition and she placed 4th.  Well done Natalie.

Congratulations to Dominic, Harrison & Hosea (Rooms 13 & 9) who trialled for the Wellington Basketball Rep teams which included College students and were successful making the Wellington U14 C Grade.  

Congratulations to Ellie, (Room 9) and her hip hop crew who won their last two competitions - the last competition qualified them for Nationals.  Ellie dances for Wellington Dance Academy. 

2024 Construction St Ben's

Update 1 August

The work is now moving at pace. You will notice the scaffolding starting to come down in some areas of the build site. In the last weeks of August Room 7 will move in to old Room 9 for a month to enable the rebuild of the decking and staircase to Room 7. The new staircase will take up a similar space as the current temporary staircase. 

We expect that the work will be completed in time for the start of Term 4. 

Construction @ St Ben's

YUMMY STICKERS

‘YUMMY’ STICKERS’ – Now until the end of Term 3.   

Thank You to:  Alex & Chessie, George & Luca for their collection of stickers.  

We now have 1737 stickers 

Last year our collection of stickers earnt us $720 to spend on sports equipment.   

It’s time to start collecting yummy apple stickers and the cut-out labels on the yummy 1.5kg apple bags.  You will find all your favourite yummy apples at your local New World or Pak’n Save (and some participating 4 Square stores).  Plus three new varieties now.

Eat ‘Yummy’ and support our school.  Crunch on apples and collect ‘yummy’ sports money. 

Collect the ‘cut out’ labels from the 1.5kg bags of ‘Yummy’ apples or individual ‘Yummy’ apple

stickers, available from New World and Pak’n Save stores.  Cash them in for Rebel Sports

gear for our school.  Send all your ‘Yummy’ stickers to the office.  

* Collect your sticker sheets from the office or visit www.yummyfruit.co.nz.  Let’s get munching.

Helping Our Kids

Kia ora e te whānau ō Hato Penetika,

FWFC Update: Welcome back everyone to term 3! Hopefully you all had a read of the 'Friends and Whānau Fundraising Committee newsletter' from last week. You will have clocked we have renamed from HOK, to a name we think is more representative of our function and purpose. We have lots of cool events coming up this term starting with the school disco!!    

When: Friday 9th August 2024 Years 0-4: 5.30 - 7pm   |   Years 5-8: 7.30 - 9pm Where: The Village Church Hall, Ganges Road, Khandallah.  Please RSVP here to register details of the children who will be coming to the disco, and let us know how you can help on the night. Disco tickets are $10 per child, or $30 total for families with three or more children attending. Disco entry A 'ticket' includes entry to the disco, pizza and unlimited water. Fizzy drinks, lolly bags, candy floss, popcorn and merchandise will be available to purchase.

There will be a face painter at the early session and an Instax photo booth at the later session. Everything will be $1 - $4, so bring your gold coins! So we can plan our catering & merchandise, RSVP & payment is required by Friday 2 August 2024. Please pay into the HOK account (12-3141-0352804-00), referencing your child's/children's name/s and room number/s. The disco is open to current St Benedict's pupils only, and all children must be collected by a parent or supervising adult - they will not be released otherwise. You are welcome to stay for the disco.

Please note there is no parking available in the church grounds on the night. Church parking must be kept free for church businesses, emergency vehicles and people with limited mobility.  Please find a park in the nearby streets (not New World!) and walk the short distance to the church.

Entertainment Book

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