St Benedict's School Pānui ā-rorohiko (Online Newsletter) Term 4, Week 2, 2024

Upcoming Events from our Calendar

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Term 4, 2024

Week 2 
Friday 25 October  Curriculum Refresh Day  School Closed

Week 3
Monday 28 October - Public Holiday - School closed for instruction
Tuesday 29 October - SNAG Golf Room 6-9
Wednesday 30 October - Pōwhiri to welcome new students
Thursday 31 October - SNAG Golf Room 12 -13
                                             -Mānuka Get set, Go!
                                             Class liturgies 9-9.45am, Room 8&9
                                             Class Mass 9-9.45am Room 4&5
Friday 1 November - All Saints Liturgy @ 10:00am (School)

Week 4 
Monday 4 November - NZ Athletics - Years 4 - 8 qualifiers
Tuesday - Friday -Year 8 Camp Year 7 EOTC
Tuesday 5 November - SNAG Golf Room 6-9
                                             - Mánuka Get set, Go!

Week 5 BOOK WEEK
Monday 11 November -  Parent meeting Recap PB4L6-6:30pm  and KiVa 6:30-7pm 
Tuesday 12 November - House Challenge Book quiz
                                                - SNAG Golf Room 6-9
Thursday 14 November- SNAG Golf Room 12 -13
                                                  - Get set, Go!
Friday 15 November- Dress up Day Book Week
                                           - Visiting author

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

Welcome to St Ben's...

We warmly welcome Clara who joins Henry and Lily (Room 8), Josiah (Room 2) and their families into our school community.

Tumuaki Korero - Welcome to Term 4.

Tēnā koutou e te whānau ō Hato Penetika,

We hope you’ve all had a restful break and are ready for an exciting Term 4! As we begin this final term, please ensure your children are wearing the summer uniform. It’s important we keep everyone sun smart as we move into the warmer weather. New hats can be purchased through the school office. 

This term is packed with special, community-wide events, so please mark them on your calendars and let us know in advance if your child will not be attending. Key highlights for our tamariki include Book Character Dress Up Day 15 November and our Speech Competition 29th November. We know these events are much anticipated and we can't wait to see the creativity and confidence shine through!

Date Change for Thank You Morning Tea We have had to move our Thank You Morning Tea to the 6th of December, so please make a note of this change. We look forward to celebrating with those who have supported our school throughout the year.

Education Review Office Visit Next week, we will have the Education Review Office (ERO) visiting our school. This is an exciting opportunity to showcase the wonderful learning and vibrant community here at St Benedict’s. We’re looking forward to sharing our successes and working with ERO to continue growing.

Pōwhiri to welcome new community members and our ERO team is scheduled for Wednesday 30 October, 8:50am on the turf. 

Whānau Hui We have two upcoming whānau hui. For our Mānuka Syndicate we have our Families of Faith programme 4th November, please see the flyer in your school APP. We also have a rerun of the meeting run earlier this year  of our PB4L6-6:30pm  and KiVa 6:30-7pm on the 11th of November. Please let us know if you are attending.  

Prayers for the Berry Whānau Lastly, we ask that you keep the wonderful Berry whānau and their son Jake in your prayers. Mads and Dave have been key members of our school community, and this is our chance to help them in return. You can offer support by visiting their Givealittle page. More information is available in the “Berry Whānau” section.

Enrolments for 2025 Please ensure that you have completed enrolment papers for your pre-school  tamariki who are joining us in 2025. This allows us to plan a great transition from Early Childhood Education to School through a series of visits. Equally if you have whānau or friends who are considering enrolling their tamariki, please encourage them to make appointments so we can accommodate these new enrolments. 

Class Organisation for 2025
Our teachers will be involved in the placement of students into classrooms for next year as they bring knowledge of who works well together, who might benefit from being in a separate grouping etc. Much time and effort is dedicated to getting a good mix for everyone as we look for:

• A mix of students’ learning abilities, behaviours and dispositions
• A good gender balance
• The age range of students
• Specific needs of students
• Friendship groupings

Occasionally parents may email me with a specific need they would like us to take into consideration when making these placements. We will always take this into account but cannot guarantee they will be reflected in the final decision as this must take into account the balance and needs of all students. For example, it is not possible to accommodate specific requests for individual teachers you or your child might like to have. We aim for a consistency of learning programmes and behaviour management across the school which provides an assurance to parents of a unified approach and quality experience for all students. 

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

Assembly Award recipients 

Mánuka Syndicate visit Otari Bush

On Wednesday 23 October Mánuka Syndicate visited Otari Wilton Bush as part of their Turangawaewae inquiry.  The educators provided a range of interesting activities including searching through leaf litter and using microscopes.  The tamariki loved exploring the walks, listening to the variety of manu and planting kohai seeds in a paper pot they had made themselves.  Overall a wonderful day of learning .  Thank you to our wonderful parent helpers on the day.

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Berry Whānau Give a little

The Berry family’s world was turned upside down on October 5th when Jake suffered a VERY rare spinal stroke, leaving him paralysed from the waist down. Jake is a bright, kind-hearted 16 year old lad who loves skiing, mountain biking, and hanging with his mates. His resilience and humour during this challenging time have been nothing short of inspiring. Despite the huge changes in his life, Jake is taking it all in stride, with the unwavering support of Mads and Dave by his side.

As Jake begins his rehabilitation journey at Burwood in Christchurch, the Berry whānau is navigating the various complexities of living between Wanaka and Christchurch.

Many have been asking how they can help Jake, so we've created this page to offer a way for those who wish to contribute. Whether big or small, every koha will go toward supporting Jake’s recovery and helping to improve his quality of life.

Thank you for your kindness and support in helping Jake recover and get back to enjoying life again.

Student Celebrations

Congratulations to Hugo who represented Wellington at the U12 Ice Hockey regionals in Christchurch recently.
Hugo and his team 'Superman' played 21 games over the last 2.5 days coming 5th overall (out of 21 Regional teams). Hugo played very well and had 5 ‘shut-out’ games out of 21 - meaning no goals were scored against him for those games.

Congratulations to Benjamin, who represented Wests Rugby Club in the Global Games Rugby Tournament held in Taupo last term and has since learnt he was selected as the ‘Best and Fairest U10 Player of the Tournament’  a great result with there being teams from all over NZ and Australia.  

Congratulations to Harrison, Dominic and Hosea who represented Wellington Basketball in the U14 Development Squad at a three day competition at the Akau Tangi Sports Centre in Kilbirnie recently.  Hosea played in a separate team which also included x-student, Liam Belford, playing six games and making it to the Semi Finals.  Dominic and Harrisons team made it to the finals, with a heart stopping game - trailing by one or two points most of the game and winning by one point in extra time. Harrison scored an extraordinary twenty points!

Congratulations to Samantha who competed in the Neon dance competition last weekend, competing in four dances coming 1st place in three and 2nd place in the fourth dance.  

Congratulations to Eleanor & Peyton who during the term break played in the winning U10 girls team at the Mike and Mari Tournament also Grace, Hazel and Charlotte played in the U12 winning team. Hamish, Max, Luca and Harry played at Wellington United Tournament and won U7s. 

Football Success

Congratulations to Charlotte, Kenzie and Jina, who recently attended the Junior Theatre Festival in Auckland.

JTF was such a fun experience, I met so many talented kids and some of the shows we watched blew me away. JTF stands for Junior Theatre Festival and it is held once a year in Auckland, New Zealand. Birmingham, UK. Atlanta, USA. New castle, Australia and Sacramento, USA. Festival events include adjudications, student workshops, professional development for teachers and an awards ceremony. I went up with the theatre group called Fast forward musical theatre, Fast forward does a show in a week, the last one we did was Shrek jr. and in the holidays 52 kids came from 9-5 Monday-Friday and rehearsed for the two shows on Friday night.

Not all the people that did Shrek came up to Auckland with us but a good 22 did. I went up with a group but some people from my team went up a week before and did a show in a week as a pilot program. My group drove up on Thursday and performed 15 minutes of Shrek jr. on Saturday.  Saturday was the day adjudications happened and it was so fun to watch 15 minutes of all these cool shows. The whole experience was so fun and I got to go up with some of my closest friends and that made it so much better.  By Kenzie, Year 7.

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. 

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

Scholastic Book Club

Scholastic brochures were distributed last week and all orders are now due at the school office by Thursday 24 October.
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 October 24 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. 

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 –10 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 Video now live

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

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. 

2024 Construction St Ben's is DONE

Please feel free to climb the new stairs and visit the redeveloped classrooms.

YUMMY STICKERS

‘YUMMY’ STICKERS’ – Sent for collation for 2024.   

Thank you to our wonderful families for their collection of stickers.  

We sent away  2948 stickers for collation and await our allocation of spending on new sports equipment.

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

* Collect your sticker sheets for 2025 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:  Thanks so much to those that came to the school uniform sale on 12 October. We raised over $1,500 which will go to the school canopy project! 
Outside of our sales, you can purchase second hand items from the office during school hours, we have a selection of sizes for items available. For those that have winter school uniform items to donate, our storage is currently full so we ask you please keep these with you at home until next year when we have some space.

The FWFC will be supporting the school photos this week (22 and 23 October).  Thank you to Sarah S and also to  Sarah L for her help on both photo days.  Next up is Frosty Friday (likely 22 November).  

FWFC on your socials: 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

Any comments or questions on FWFC, please get in touch: sarah.garty@hotmail.com  

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

Homestays needed - St Mary's College

We are keen to hear from families who would like to  host students coming from Japan to study at St Mary’s College. We need places for Term 1, 2025. The girls are here to improve their English language skills and to experience life in New Zealand.

The host family needs to offer a warm comfortable room, lots of chat and outings to showcase our beautiful city and surroundings. The fee paid to families is $350 per week, Payment is made fortnightly.

 It can be a  rewarding , educational and  fun experience  for all the family.

If you think your household would like to be a part of our school's  International family please get in touch with Philly Smyth, HomeStay Coordinator, 044735554, philippa.smyth@stmw.school.nz.

She will send out the Guide to Homestay booklet for you to see if your family and lifestyle  would be a good fit for our international students.

Wider Community Notices