St Benedict's School Pānui ā-rorohiko (Online Newsletter) Term 3, Week 10, 2024

Upcoming Events from our Calendar

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Term 3, 2024

Week 10  
Thursday  26  September  Inter - Regional Cross Country- Go Oscar and Winston!!!
Friday  27 September Last day of Term 3 

28 September - 13 October School Holidays

10-11 October - School Office Opens

12 October - Second hand and new uniform sale - 2-3:30pm

Term 4, 2024

Week 1  Term 4 
Monday 14 October Whole School Athletics - Nairnville 9 - 2
                                        Parent meeting Recap PB4L   6-6:30pm  and KiVa 6:30-7pm

Week 2 
Monday 21 October 9am Families of Faith with coffee and muffins
                                        6pm Families of faith coffee and muffins
Friday 25 October  Curriculum Refresh Day  School Closed

22 & 23  October School Photos (Inspire Photography) Summer uniform please. 

Term 1, 2025

30 & 31 January - Whānau meetings

Monday 03 February - Term 1 begins

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 - 2025 Information

Tēnā koutou e te whānau ō Hato Penetika,

As we come to the end of another term, we want to celebrate the success of our amazing School Production and the wonderful Kapa Haka festival, where our students truly shone. Despite facing a range of illnesses this term, we appreciate the efforts of whānau to ensure regular school attendance, which helps keep our students engaged and learning. We appreciate that many of our children have had significant periods of illness and support our whānau focus on ensuring they are fully healthy to return to school.  

Looking ahead, next term promises to be action-packed, with whole school athletics on Monday, week One, followed by whole school speeches, the end-of-year Mass, our annual carol service, the house carol competition, retreats, and farewells to our Year 8 students as they prepare for the next step in their journey.

Information about the Whole School Athletics and Speech Competition are found further down the newsletter. 

Staff Changes 2025
In terms of staff changes, we sadly farewell Miss Simson, who is moving to Blenheim, and Mrs Spiers, who is relocating to Tauranga. We will greatly miss them both and wish them all the best as they embark on their new life adventures in 2025.  

We will be advertising two teaching roles for next year and ask that you support us with your prayers as we move through the recruitment process.

We also want to thank the Friberg and Clarke families as they relocate to another area.  We hope Noah, Arabella and Kiera settle well into their new schools.

Any changes for you? 
As we begin planning for our 2025 classes, please let us know if there are any upcoming changes that might affect your family’s plans to continue attending our school. Your early communication is greatly appreciated and helps us plan effectively for the year ahead.

We hope you have a restful break, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back next term!

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

LOST PROPERTY - Please check the unclaimed items on the table in the foyer this Thursday and Friday and this bike is also waiting to be claimed .

Congratulations to the students who received their First Holy Communion on Sunday.

Parent Road Patrol Roster

The Parent Road Patrol roster for Term 4 for the families with surnames beginning with J -P has been emailed to families.  Please contact another family on the list if you cannot make your allocated day.  Thank you.

Assembly Award recipients 

School Board Update

Strategic plan Goal Three School Environment
The Board and Principal have developed a number of new surveys that we will use going forward to capture regular information to inform our policies and procedures. Over the next term we will be sharing:

• An Induction Surveys for whānau who enter our school in the Year 2-8 levels of the school.
• Exit survey for whānau who leave our school before graduation as a Year 8.
• Year 8 Leavers survey 

Board Training
The board attended training provided by NZ School Boards Association focused on the School Boards governance role. 

KiVa and PB4L
The board are encouraged by the schools continued efforts to embed the Kiva and PB4L programmes. As mentioned in the last newsletter, teachers want to be made aware of behavioural issues as they come up. Please do email your child's teacher if your child has shared with you an issue they are experiencing at school.  

Community Consultation - Health and Physical Education

Health and Physical Education Curriculum Survey

We’d love for you to take part in our Health and PE curriculum survey! Your input helps us make sure what we teach in areas like physical activity, nutrition, mental health, and sexuality fits with the values and needs of our school community.

By sharing your thoughts, you help us shape a curriculum that supports our students’ well-being and reflects what’s important to you. 

The survey has been emailed directly to you and can also be found here: https://forms.gle/KVdzX6QbNvjuzfCp8

When I say I am a Christian - Poems from Room 12

Year 7/8 Class liturgy

We had our Year 7/8 Liturgy this morning (Thursday 19 Sept). We set goals for Term 4 focusing on any struggles that we have had this year and how have we overcome them. We talked about how the Year 7’s are going to step up as the leaders next year and how the Year 8’s have new challenges when they move onto college.

Welcome to St Ben's...

St Benedict’s Speech Competition

The St Benedict’s Speech Competition takes place on Friday 29th November.  Students are selected
after presenting to their peers to go into this competition. This competition is judged by members of Toastmaster Wellington. The Year 8 winner has their name entered onto the trophy and receives a gift card.

• At Year 1 and 2 the students are encouraged to learn a poem and recite it to their class.
• At Year 3 and 4 write and present a speech which is 1-2 minutes long.
• At Year 5 and 6 write and present a speech which is 2-3 minutes long.
• At Year 7 and 8 write and present a speech which is 3-4 minutes long.

The speech can be on a topic of their choice and can be to persuade, entertain or inform their
audience. Props can be used but no slides or power-points displays.

We encourage students to begin working on their speeches during the holiday break and early next
term. 

School dates 2025

We have finalised our dates for 2025. The downloadable PDF  below will give you a printable calendar for your fridge.

Since the Board set the dates, the Ministry of Education has announced there will be two mandated teacher only days to support the new curriculum during the year. Schools will be able to choose when those days occur and need to give a term's notice to their communities.

We have not yet set these dates, as we are still waiting for information on the official providers we can work with for structured literacy in Years 4-6 and the new mathematics and statistics curriculum for Years 0-8, as well as their availability.

Finalised school dates for 2025 are
Professional learning – Leading by Learning 28th January with Geoff Childs
Staff Retreat 29th January with Pa Gerry Burns

30 and 31 of January Whanaungatanga meetings and Staff meeting days 

Term 1   Monday 3 February –11 April ( Easter and Anzac Day in holidays)
Term 2  28 April- 27 June (Includes Matariki and Kings Birthday)
Staff call back day in school holidays Friday 11 July
Term 3 s 14 July – 19 September Kāhui Ako Teacher only day  1st August
Staff call back day in school holidays Friday 3 October
Term 4  6 October- Wednesday 17 December (Includes Labour Day)

Production Photo Gallery

Thank  you to Aneta and Jason Naylor for the fantastic photos taken during the production.  The link has a time delay so please view and download them as soon as you can.

Cancer Society support

Hello parents and caregivers of St Ben's School, my name is Immy Mazur and I would like to inform you that I am cutting off 40cm of my loooooong hair to donate to Freedom Hair to make a wig for someone who needs it. Before I do so, I have a goal of raising $500 to donate to the cancer society so they can use it for good. If you are interested in this good cause, please don't wait and help me reach my goal. There are so many people, young and old, who suffer from hair loss due to cancer treatment and we can play our part in making the world a better place by donating today. It does not matter how much you give because every cent is closer to my goal! 

 If you would like to donate please do the following:

1. Put a donation in the decorated box at the St Benedict's School office
2. Put a donation into the following bank account and mark 'Immy hair donation' – 06-0574-0273550-00

School Photos

The Inspire Photography Team are excited to be back at St Benedict's School this year! We will be photographing your children and their classes on the 22/10/2024 & 23/10/2024.

As part of St Benedict's School’s fundraising for the year, Inspire Photography will donate 10% of all sales made during the first two weeks of ordering directly to St Benedict's School.

What we offer on the day :

• Group photos of each class
• Individual portraits and siblings photos
• A totally relaxed and unique style of photography
• Friendly and easy-going photographers
• Fun, games and general silliness to get even the shyest children smiling

In School Siblings will be photographed during the school day.

About 2-3 weeks after your photo days, our online galleries will be ready to go. You will receive login details from the school office.

If you have any questions, please feel free to get in contact with the Team at Inspire, info@inspirephotography.co.nz or ring 04 384 8009.

Student Celebrations

Congratulations to the King family, a healthy baby brother for Beau.  Rhys Spencer Midgley was born 21 September at 11.38am weighing 3850g.

Congratulations to Jono and his team, Wellington Olympic, who won first place at the U11s Western Suburbs tournament over the weekend.

Congratulations to Isabella who participated at the Horowhenua Netball Centre Spring Tournament. Playing against nine teams from different regions, her team B.O.S placed 1st in the Y7/8 A1 division.

Well done to George, Ezra and Harrison who represented MSP U11s at the Global Games rugby tournament in Taupo over the weekend.

A great opportunity for Isabella and Siobhan who recently sang with their choir Wellington Young Voices in a concert at St Marys of the Angels church with the touring Australian Boys Choir.

Congratulations to Aedan who was awarded Most Committed Player for the U11 Churchills team at the recent Onslow Junior Football Club prizegiving 

Congratulations to Hadleigh & Benjamin who represented the Wests Roosters in the under 10 team at the Global Games Rugby Tournament in Taupo last weekend.

Congratulations to Hazel, Charlotte & Grace, Eleanor & Peyton who represented  the Onslow club at the Mike and Mari two-day girls football tournament.  A successful day with both the Under 10's and Under 12's teams winning their grade.  

Competitive Gymnastics

The 2024 Women's Artistic Gymnastics competition season has come to an end. St Benedict's gymnasts competed for two different clubs, Onslow Gymnastics Club and Twisters Gymnastics Club (Tawa) and took home their fair share of medals (or more).  A summary of the achievements of each gymnast this year are below.

• Elliana, competed for Twisters Gymnastics Club, enjoyed the challenge of Step 4 this year. Her greatest achievement was at their home competition, where she placed 1st equal for her floor routine, 2nd on vault, and 3rd on bar, which earned her a placing of 2nd overall!
  
• Emma competed in Step 5 for Twisters Gymnastics club which saw her travel to Nelson for the first time and compete at Top of the South. This year was a big step up and challenge, however she had some good results with a 1st on vault in her first two-day comp and placing 1st overall alongside her team.  Two 4th placings at other competitions on bar and beam too.
  
• Immy competed in Step 3 for Onslow Gymnastics Club. She had a successful season winning a number of medals at various competitions, and placed 1st overall in the Twisters Competition
  
• Peyton represented Twisters Gymnastics Club in Step 2 this season. Some good results across the competition season which culminated with a season ending 1st overall individual at Kapiti competition, along with a team win as well. Looking forward to Step 3 next year.
  
• Poppy competed for Onslow Gymnastics Club and had a successful competitive season in Step 4, coming 1st on uneven bars at Rimutaka comp, 2nd on beam at Twisters, 2nd on vault & floor at Hutt comp, 2nd on floor, 3rd vault & 2nd over all at Kapiti comp and 3rd on bars at Wellington Champs

• Zoe competed in Step 2 for Onslow Gymnastics Club and had a very successful season with two 1st overall placings (Levin and Twisters comps) and one 3rd overall placing (Capital comp). Her highest placings on each apparatus were 1st place on beam at Levin, Capital and Twisters comps, 1^st on bar at Hutt Valley comp, 1^st on floor at Levin comp and 1^st on vault at Twisters comp "

Sports Updates

Sports Uniform/Sportswear 

Mánuka Syndicate (Rooms 2-5) to wear sportswear on Thursday.

Kōwhai Syndicate (Rooms 6-9) to wear PE uniform on Tuesday.

Kauri Syndicate: (Rooms 12 & 13) to wear PE uniform on a Thursday. 

Northern Schools Netball Tournament
On Tuesday 17th September St Benedict's (Camilla Henry and Sarah Southee) organised and ran a Yr 5 and 6 Northern Schools Netball tournament at Akau Tangi.   This was the first in what we hope is many and was a great way for teams to end their winter netball season by spending a day competing in a mini tournament. 

Each team got at least 4 games in their 8 team pool, with the top 4 teams playing off for placings.  It was an extremely well run, fun day out! The Year 6 Spice Goals had a great day, likewise the Year 5 Smilies had a top day winning their Year 5 pool. 
Huge thanks to all the organisers, volunteers (including Kiwi Whistlers) and coaches who made the day happen.

Touch Rugby

Fun Session at Nairnville Park this Sunday at 3pm
Keen to try out touch rugby?  We will be running a fun touch rugby session this Sunday (29 September) at 3pm at Nairnville park for St Ben's children and all are welcome to join.  Please contact Lizzie at lizziemid@gmail.com for more information.

We are also taking registrations for the touch rugby school module that starts in Term 4. Games are on Monday afternoon/evening at Alex Moore Park in Johnsonville and run for 6 weeks, starting Monday, 4 November. 

Teams can be registered in the following grades: Year 1/2 Open• Year 3/4 Boys• Year 3/4 Mixed• Year 5/6 Boys• Year 5/6 Mixed• Year 5/6 Girls• Year 7/8 Boys• Year 7/8 Girls

If your child is interested in playing, please email Lizzie Hunter at lizziemid@gmail.com. We need to know final numbers by Wednesday 16 October. Please also let Lizzie know if you are keen to help as a coach or manager.

Futsal Festival Update

Years 4-8

Well done to all of the participants of the Year 4 - 8 Futsal Festival on Friday last week.  It was a wonderful day and lots of fun.  Thank you to all of the parents who came along to coach/supervise on the day. 

Whole School Athletics

Whole school athletics will be held on Monday 14th October (Day 1 of Term 4, PP Friday 18th October) at Nairnville.  The Year 4 - 8's will be competing to qualify for Northern Zone Athletics (being held at Newtown Athletics Park on 4th November, PP 11th November).  The Year 0 - 3 will be participating in Athletic skills events run by Kelly Sports.  

We'd like to welcome any parent helpers that are able to come along on the day, especially in Years 0 - 3.  We will start with sprints (Years 0 - 3) and distance running (Years 4 - 8) at 9:30 and then move into our rotations.  Manuka will finish around 12:30pm and stay at Nairnville for lunch before heading back to school for the afternoon.  The rest of the school will be at Nairnville until 2:30pm. 

2024 Construction St Ben's

Update 25 September

Room 7 will be moving back to Room 7 at the end of this week and Room 9 back to Room 9!. 

The Fire alarm and school bell upgrade is nearly complete.  Please note that the second fire exit up to the neighbour's driveway is now electronically locked and will only open when our fire alarm is set off. 

We are so amazed at the team from Freear Philip who have delivered on time and been a joy to work with. 

Construction @ St Ben's

YUMMY STICKERS

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

Thank you to Jax, Henry, Lilly & Isla, Everest, Catherine & Michael for their collection of stickers.  

We now have 2077 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:

School uniform sale: second hand items will be available for sale, Saturday 12 October 2-3.30pm in the school library. The school office will be open at the same time for new uniform sales. 
The key events for Term 4 that FWFC will be supporting are the school photos (22 and 23 October) and a Frosty Friday (likely 22 November).

We decided not to progress the Parent's evening this year given the number of events on and busyness of our community!  Any comments or questions on FWFC, please get in touch: sarah.garty@hotmail.com 

Ngā mihi nui, FWFC 

Entertainment Book

active High Performance sunscreen 

We have the popular Johnson & Wilkins Ltd SPF30 sunscreen available at the office.

100ml - $20 & 500ml - $65  www.activesunscreen.co.nz 

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

Online Parenting Sessions for Whànau

Children's Wellbeing and Resilience with Anna Mowat

• Thursday, October 3rd, 7:30-9pm (with Q&A)
• $18 per person
• https://events.humanitix.com/child-wellbeing-and-resilience-with-anna
  

Overview:

• Join Anna from the Real Parents team for a 1-hour webinar all about nurturing resilience in our children, and supporting them to develop strategies to adapt and manage change - including how as parents we can support our children to recognise their strengths. This webinar isn't just about your kid's resilience though... It's about yours too! Because when we're okay our kids will be too! After the session, you will be given the opportunity to ask Anna your pātai (questions) with a Q&A and discussion. 
  

Future-proofing - what it takes to grow great adults!

• Thursday, October 31st, 7:30-9pm (with Q&A)
  
• $18 per person
• https://events.humanitix.com/future-proofing
  

Overview:

• This is Real Parents' most popular presentation and where we talk about the absolute fundamentals, the key things that our kids need to thrive and grow into great adults. And they're not all what you might think...
  
  Anna will take you through:
  
  • What it takes to build a strong, connected relationship with your kids
  • Identifying your key parenting style and whether this is supporting your kids' best
  • And how we can build a child's self-esteem and confidence

Season of Creation Liturgy

Forum on Housing sponsored by the Ecology Justice and Peace Commission. 10am-3pm Saturday 28th September, St Bernadette’s Church Hall, Naenae.

Adequate housing, a place to call home, is fundamental to living a life of dignity. The Forum on Housing will raise awareness about housing issues in Aotearoa, and provide an opportunity to consider our personal and collective responsibilities as Church. Keynote speakers will provide an overview of current housing issues and group discussions will surface responses for action and advocacy.  This forum is for everyone concerned about housing issues. For more information, please contact Deirdre Meskill, d.meskill@wn.catholic.org.nz; phone:  04 385 8642. A contribution of finger food to share for lunch is appreciated.

Wider Community Notices