St Benedict's School Pānui ā-rorohiko (Online Newsletter) Term 3, Week 4, 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 4
Friday 16 August  Handball Tournament Year 7/8 - Akau Tangi - 8:50 - 2:50
Sunday 18 August Confirmation 2pm @ St Francis of Assisi Parish Church

Week 5  - ICAS test Science held this week.  Production update will be sent home.
Monday 19 August School camps and activity and service programme meeting
Thursday 22 August Kōwhai City to Sea  trip - see APP for further details

Week 6  - ICAS test Maths held this week
Tuesday 27 August Whole School Production Rehearsal - Nairnville - 9am - 2pm
Wednesday 28 August John Parsons Cyber Safety Training Tamariki/Kaiako and whānau - see article in this newsletter to register
Friday 30 August Father's Day Breakfast - see FWFC section of this newsletter for further details

Week 7 PRODUCTION WEEK
Tuesday 3 September Whole School Production Rehearsal - Nairnville - 9am - 2pm
Wednesday 4 September Production dress rehearsal the evening performance Hutt City Church 6pm show
Thursday 5 September Production 6pm show Hutt City Church

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

Updates from the recent board meeting

We recently warmly welcomed Fr Alfred to the board. It's great to have one of our parish priests as an active and engaged member of our school board.  Fr Alfred shared his excitement that there are currently 70+ children participating in the sacramental programme. 

We would love to hear from anyone interested in joining the board, particularly someone with skills or experience in property.  Being part of the board is a great way to contribute to the school community.  Please contact Tania for further information if you're interested.

As you would have seen already, the board was able to confirm the court upgrade and canopy installation. This is a significant milestone for the school and a lot of hard work has gone in to getting to this stage.

Upcoming focus for the board includes preparing for the ERO (Education Review Office) audit and a redesign of the school website to ensure it is user friendly, modern and better meets our community's needs.

Tumuaki Korero - St Ben's Achievement Data

Tēnā koutou e te whānau ō Hato Penetika,

Over the past few weeks, there has been significant discussion regarding the recent decline in Year 8 mathematics achievement. The Prime Minister announced that only 22% of Year 8 students are achieving at or above the curriculum expectations. This statistic has been widely discussed in the media, raising questions about how the data was gathered and its accuracy.

It’s important to clarify that this data was derived from a very small sample size (42 schools and 833 children) using assessments based on the newly refreshed curriculum, which is still in draft form and uses different metrics. The students assessed had not been taught using this new curriculum.

For a more accurate picture of national achievement, the National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement (NMMSA) offers a broader assessment across a mix of schools. The last NMMSA report for Maths, conducted in 2022, showed little to no decline in Year 8 mathematics achievement from 2013 to 2022. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is another respected measure, comparing our students against their peers across OECD nations. The most recent PISA results has New Zealand students in 7th place in the world, well above the OECD average.

In light of the broader discussions around student achievement, my focus remains on St Benedict’s School and the outstanding results our students are achieving. For this newsletter, I’m pleased to share insights from our recent PAT (Progressive Achievement Test) results, which many of you might remember from your own school days. 

This year, we introduced mid-year testing using the PAT tool, in addition to our end-of-year assessments. The results speak for themselves: 98% of our Year 3-8 students are achieving at (49%) or above (49%) their year level in Mathematics and Statistics. These excellent results reflect the hard work of our tamariki and the commitment to effective teaching of our kaiako and learning support kaimahi.

Our Reading Comprehension results for Year 4-8 students are equally impressive, with 92% of students achieving at (52%) or above (40%) their year level.

At St Benedict’s, we believe in the importance of a well-rounded education and the arts play a vital role in this. As we prepare for our upcoming school production, it's clear that the creative experiences our students engage in—whether in drama, music, visual arts, or dance—contribute significantly to their overall development. The breadth of the New Zealand curriculum, which includes The Arts as a key learning area, supports not only our academic achievements but also fosters creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration skills. These experiences help our students excel across all areas of learning, as evidenced by our strong PAT results.

While our tamariki are achieving excellent results, we recognise the need for additional resources and professional learning development (PLD) in Mathematics. We would wholeheartedly welcome these, as our teachers are also lifelong learners, dedicated to providing the best resources and practices for their tamariki. However, the most pressing issue identified by educators across the country is the significant gap between the funding for learning support and the actual number of students who require that support. Currently, at least 30% of students in need are not receiving the necessary assistance due to these funding shortfalls. It is the government's responsibility to address this gap, yet successive governments have failed to do so. Closing this gap is essential to ensure that every child receives the support they need to reach their full potential.

At St. Ben’s, we are committed to closing this gap for all of our tamariki, regardless of funding constraints. Our School Board has always prioritised learning resources, and this is where the bulk of our operations grant is spent. Through small group sessions, 1:1 support, and engagement with specialists, we work hard to stretch our budget to provide the necessary support for all students.

The box graphs below compare our data against the national norms (grey box), clearly illustrating how well our students are performing and the effectiveness of our teaching methods. Our data also shows a much smaller achievement gap compared to the national average. I am incredibly proud of our kaimahi/staff and the wider school support systems we deliver which is making a real difference for our tamariki.

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

Cybersafety Parent Evening with John Parsons

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!

Student Celebrations

All Blacks Captain's Run

Cohen, Charlie, Ru, Noah and Magnus were lucky enough to be invited to watch the All Blacks training and practicing the haka.  The players came up into the stands to sign autographs afterwards.

Dame Malvina sings for her 104-year-old friend

• Stuff News – 10 August 2024

Happy 104^th Birthday to Ginny!  Benji and his family celebrate the birthday of his Great Grandmother.

Congratulations to Raphael, Harry, Hamish, Ben, Luca, Max and Emett who competed at the Wynton Rufer Football tournament recently and came third. Isla McG also played in an all girls team and came away with a fourth and Maisie, Isla O and Sylvie made their debut in an all girls team too. 

A big thank you goes to FWFC for the new Gazebo.

Sports Updates

A big congratulations to our Year 1-4 netballers who finished their season last week. All the players were amazing and were a credit to St Benedict’s with their enthusiasm!!

An enormous thanks to Waimarie Marks, Bridget Clarke, Hannah Anderson and Emily Featherstone for their support and expertise with our youngest netballers. They are very lucky to have had you all!

Good luck to our Year 5-8 players in their last weeks of the season.

2024 Construction St Ben's

Update 15 August

Next week  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. 

The teaching walls are about to be installed in these classrooms and will be a fantastic modernisation of these classrooms. 

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:  Declan for his 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.

FWFC

Kia ora e te whānau ō Hato Penetika,

Friends and Whānau Fundraising Committee update:

Disco: Thank you to everyone who came along, volunteered and got involved in our school disco last week! It was a big success. We raised about $1,300, and it was so much fun seeing our kids and community dancing the night away. Special thank you to our Disco Queens Rachel Austin, Theresa Pardo, Aime Peters and Disco King George Going for the huge amount of time and mahi you put into this event. 

Father's day breakfast: Friday 30 August, at the School library 7.15-8.45am:
The event of the year is just about here, our famous annual Father's Day breakfast! Join us to celebrate dad or a father figure with breakfast, coffee cart, baking, lolly jar guess competition and of course the BIG raffle draw. This event is our major fundraising drive this year as we work towards the $50,000 goal from FWFC to support the canopy build on the courts! Your support helps us achieve this goal and with all profits from this event and the raffle going towards this target.

Bacon & eggs/ Bacon & egg butty - $5   /  Ham & cheese croissant - $3  / Sausage & bread, Hash brown & Home baking - $2                                                                                                                           

Please remember to return all raffle ticket stubs to the school office no later than Monday 26 August (kids will be eligible for 'house points' for returning these!). If you are unable to sell your tickets please return them sooner rather than later so we can reallocate them. Any questions please contact: HoK@st-benedicts.school.nz

FWFC on your socials: please remember to follow us on social media for all the latest info on upcoming events and key dates:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stbens_fwfc?igsh=MXBuaDhtdWFoNDJvZQ==Our username is: stbens_fwfc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/St.Bens.School.FWFC?mibextid=LQQJ4dOur FB page name is: St Bens Friends & Whānau Fundraising Committee

Disco fun

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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

Challenge 2000 Fundraiser

Challenge 2000 run our Seasons for Growth course and provide liturgy experience for our school. They also support our schools wider Catholic mission by their engagement in our parish. 

Challenge 2000 warmly invites you to our movie fundraiser "Ghostlight"  when a construction worker joins a local theatre's production of Romeo and Juliet" the drama onstage starts to mirror his own life.  - Sunday 1st September 5pm Penthouse Cinema Brooklyn.  Contact Gabrielle Lawson gabriellelawson@challenge2000.org.nz to book your ticket.  If you are unable to attend, but would like to sponsor a ticket please let Gabrielle know.  All proceeds will go towards unfunded programmes - counselling services, youth activities and group work.  We look forward to seeing you there.

Wider Community Notices