St Benedict's School Pānui ā-rorohiko (Online Newsletter) Week 10, Term 3
- Catholic Character
- School Board Update
- Tumuaki Korero - A word from our Principal
- Congratulations to..
- St Benedict's Speech Competition
- Dental Van for those we missed!
- EPIC Gratitude
- Our St Ben's Wellbeing Journey
- Term 4 - Summer Uniform Order form
- St Benedict's Sports
- Lost Property
- ‘YUMMY’ STICKERS’
- Helping Our Kids
- Entertainment Book
- Attendance Dues
- Parent Road Patrol Roster
- Wider Community Notices
Catholic Character
The Archdiocese of Wellington and the Ecology Justice and Peace Commission have signed up to the Laudato Si’ Action Platform.
You are invited to celebrate this commitment.
Sacred Heart Cathedral, Sunday 2 October, 10.30am Mass, St Thomas More Church (30A Worcestor Street, Wilton). All are welcome to attend this Eucharist presided by Cardinal John Dew on the last Sunday in the Season of Creation 2022. Cardinal John shares his thoughts on the Season of Creation in his fortnighly newsletter below:
Kia tau te rangimārie ki a koutou
We have known from an early age that we have four seasons of the year, spring summer au-
tumn winter. We have known most of our lives that we have liturgical seasons, Lent, Easter, Advent Christmas.
We are currently in the liturgical Season of Creation which will run till the feast of Saint Fran-
cis of Assisi on 4 October. This is a new liturgical Season for us, from 1 September – 4 Octo-
ber; it was called for by Pope Francis in 2015 when he issued his encyclical Laudato Si.
I have heard of many initiatives that have been taken around the Archdiocese for this year's
Season of Creation, thank you to all who have been creative and imaginative and have taken
the initiative to engage in “ecological spirituality” and to “discover God in all things”.
I very much appreciated the lines early in Laudato Si in which Pope Francis quoted Patriarch
Bartholomew. The Patriarch was reminding us to look for solutions to environmental problems not only in technology but in a change of humanity; in other words, it's a call to everyday con-
version for everyone. Patriarch Bartholomew said, “we are asked to replace consumption with sacrifice, greed with generosity, wastefulness with a spirit of sharing, an asceticism which
entails learning to give and not simply to give up. It is a way of living, of moving gradually
away from what I want to what God's world needs”. (LS 9)
We all are asked to make efforts to protect and care for “Our Common Home,” to act with re-
sponsibility, to be creative in the way that we engage with others and dialogue on how we can acknowledge the challenges we face globally and about what we as individuals we can do to
make a difference. This Season of Creation calls us to deep prayer and reflection; there are
many recourses available, many prayers produced. Perhaps what is needed is for each one of us to pause, to step aside and listen carefully to the created world around us, to stand in admi-
ration at a daffodil or a jonquil, to hear the song of a tui, to be still and to know God.
In the remaining days of the Season of Creation what are you going to do, not just as a one- off
effort, but in a serious long-term effort to care for and protect “our common home”?
Nāku noa. Nā
+ John
We gain the strength of the temptation we resist.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882) - American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, slavery abolitionist and poet
School Board Update
Closure of St Benedict’s and St Andrew’s Churches early 2023.
Please refer to the Parish newsletter dated 25 September for full details.
The closure of St Benedict’s church will affect the delivery of some parts of our RE curriculum and the students' encounter with Christ in a sacred space. The School will also lose a near-by place in which we can gather as a community.
Our Parish of St Francis of Assisi Ohariu is very conscious of the loss to the School of St Ben's church. The Parish is working with St Benedict’s staff and the Board of Trustees to explore ways in which such losses can be mitigated or compensated for.
It is our joint objective that the School's Catholic worship, liturgy, religious education and gathering should continue to be available in sacred spaces. In such spaces our School community's faith will continue to grow and be sustained.
We will keep you informed as more information comes to hand.
Property Update
DRIVEWAY Over the school holidays, it will be resurfaced. The asphalt requires a couple of weeks to set before being used so we expect that we will continue using the alternative entrances at the beginning of Term 4.
LIGHTING Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, the lighting install is now happening in Term 4.
Tumuaki Korero - A word from our Principal
Tena koutou e te whānau,
Tu Meke to our Kapa Haka performers
I started my last newsletter highlighting what an amazing community we have and how wonderful it was to see it in action through the HoK run events of the Father's Day Breakfast and Disco.
Last weekend was another opportunity to marvel at our community - in particular our staff who have worked tirelessly to prepare our Kapa Haka performers. Every class teacher has contributed by supporting the learning of our Kapa Haka waiata within class. Miss Simpson, Matua Hemi, Whaea Adrianne and Clare who have worked each week to prepare our tamariki to perform.
Our performance in the St Brigid's Kapa Haka Festival was a return to an event we have not participated in for approximately 10 years. It was a journey of two years to get there as it was cancelled last year. This journey was facillitated by our previous Principal, Mr Hinds, and our Board by allocating resourcing and appointing the wonderful Matua Hemi and Whaea Adrianne. HoK funded our beautiful uniforms which further installed our tamariki with pride in their performance. Thank you also to Mary Anne who sewed extra uniforms for our younger tamariki at the last minute.
The prepartion to depart St Ben's was supported by Coralie, Mary Anne, Nic, Clare, Jacqui, Annabel, Jana, Tessa, Lucy, and many other whānau who helped dress and ink a child.
I hope you also feel the sense of pride, accomplishment and mana when viewing the video of our performance embedded below. We have had lovely positive feedback from our whānau who were part of this event, with permission, I have shared an example of this below the video. Thank you for acknowledging our teams mahi - we all love being part of St Ben's and the way our whānau community support us.
Kapa Haka
Whanāu feedback:
I just wanted to drop a line to say thank you to all the wonderful teaching team for the hard work and preparation that went into today’s performance and for giving up their Saturday morning to organise, transport and support the St Ben’s tamariki.
It was such a joy to watch the performance which I thought was top notch. I was reflecting on how much can change in three decades since I was that age where kids have the opportunity to learn Te Reo with confidence and take pride in being part of Kapa Haka.
It was such a highlight. Thanks again to all involved. As a parent I so value what my child has been able to learn but also the efforts on a weekend.
Crystal.
Term Dates 2023
Term 1: Feb 1-6 April
Term 2: 24 April-30 June
Term 3: 17 July-22 September
Term 4: 9 October- 15 December.
1 and 2 of February will have whānau conferences to support a seamless and positive start to the year.
The school will open on Wednesday 1 February, with this day and the following day, Thursday 2 February, used as conference days for teachers and families. Every family will book a 20-minute slot with each child’s teacher. It means that parents will not be required to fill out mountains of forms over the first few weeks, children will have access to devices from the first day of school (as Responsible Use Agreements will be signed) and we will not be asking parents to attend a separate goal setting meeting. Around 25 January, parents will be sent a form titled Ko wai ahau/Who I am. This needs to be completed by the child and their family before they come to the Whanau Conference and will be shared with the teacher. Bookings will be open after classes are finalized.
The purpose of the conference is for the teacher/family to meet and discuss:
- Parent/student ideas about areas of strength and interest
- Possible areas of challenge or concern for your child in their learning, behaviour or social/emotional needs
- Any worries or anxiety around starting a new year with a new class and teacher
- Class routines and expectations (going through the school wide expectations, behaviour management document)
- Initial goal ideas for the first term
- Shared expectations about Responsible Use of Devices = going through the agreement and signing off by students and parents.
- Consent and health forms.
- Any other topics that will assist a positive start to the school year
Mā te Atua koutou e manaaki, e tiaki hoki,
May God bless and care for you,
Tania Savage - Principal
Congratulations to..
ICAS University of New South Wales Assessments
The results from our ICAS assessments are starting to flow in. This week we received the results for our Digital Technology entrants.
13 students participated in the assessment and the awards presented at assembly this week went to the following students.
Distinction: Isabelle Aduna Year 8
Credit: Eli Brunel Year 4, Liam Novilla Year 4, Sarah Choi Year 5, Hannah Zych Year 5 and Nisha Agarwal Year 8.
Merit: Ella Kraus Year 6 and Eliasz Zych Year 6.
Well done to all of the students who entered this assessment.
Basketball Representatives
Aston Jetly, Isaac Willoughby and Joseph Byrne, who have been selected for the “Coast to Coast U13” Basketball team. They have been attending a Basketball Skills Clinic every Thursday morning before school in Term 3 and had to trail to make the U13 team. All their hardwork has paid off and they will play in the upcoming tournament in Term 4.
St Benedict's Speech Competition
The St Benedict’s Speech Competition takes place on Friday 2nd December. 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. Preparing for speeches will replace homework over this time.
Dental Van for those we missed!
We had a very busy time at St Benedict's School but unfortunately did not get to check all students. If your child was not seen by us during our visit please contact the Dental Hub to make an appointment. Thank you.
Raroa Dental Hub - 0800 825 583
EPIC Gratitude
Certificate Recipients
Year 8 Camp- Raukawa
Our Year 8 campers are currently finishing their last activities and loading up the bus to return home to us. We can't wait to hear about their adventures when they return.
Camp Y8
Year 7 EOTC
Rock climbing, swimming, Capital E, making toys for the SPCA, yoga, forensics. Fantastic week, the students were great. We are very thankful for all the parent helpers.
EOTC
Our St Ben's Wellbeing Journey
Thank you very much for helping us with our ‘Contributing to St Benedict's Wellbeing Journey’ survey. We really appreciate you taking the time to help us.
We are unpacking all the responses and will follow up on the information we received. We are using the information to develop the wellbeing model for our school community, and to build on wellbeing practices previously started at the school.
Wellbeing is an important focus for staff. We have been fostering ways to improve ourselves and kura with professional development through Core Education and New Zealand Institute of Resilience and Wellbeing. We have worked on how to recognise strengths in our staff and students. This is a great exercise to try at home strengths survey here.
We also, looked at ways to reinforce our pou (walls) using Te Whare Tapa Whā wellbeing model explanation, as well as how to incorporate gratitude into our daily practices, to name a few areas of development. If you have a chance, check out our gratitude wall (near Mrs Savage’s office). There are some wonderful reasons to be grateful click here.
We would love you to add to our poster and partake in our wellbeing journey. We have also begun to look at ‘Appreciative Inquiry model”. As you can appreciate, our journey is very much in its infancy and will require us working together to build a wellbeing model to continue to strengthen our communities mahi.
Ngā mihi Sarah Woods
Term 4 - Summer Uniform Order form
If you require summer uniform, please email your requirements to the office, a price list can be found below. If you are able to make the second hand sale on Saturday 15 October you can also purchase new items. Thank you.
St Benedict's Sports
We have had a busy few weeks of sport here at St Benedict's. We had James Mazur, Raff Hogan, Eli Benison, Kit Hanlon, Alice Mazur and Kate Howard at the Wellington and Kapi Mana Tennis tournament. A special mention to Alice and Kate who made it through to the quarter and semi finals of their competition.
Last week we also had the Inter-Zone Swimming Sports at Wellington Regional Aquatic Centre. There were 9 athletes who qualified to represent St Benedict's. They were Emma Marks (50m freestyle), Asha Hastings (25m breaststroke), Felicia Stevens (25m breaststroke and 25m backstroke), Lara Garrity (25m breaststroke), Elise Peet (25m breaststroke), Xander Breslin (25m freestyle, 25m backstroke, 25m butterfly), Alice Mazur (25m freestyle, 25m backstroke, 25m breaststroke), Anya Guevara (25m Freestyle) and Shane Pieres ( 50m freestyle, 25m freestyle, 25m backstroke). Everyone swam their hardest and represented our school well.
Congratulations to Octavia Burns and Albert O'Brien who represented Wellington at the Inter Regional Cross Country in Nelson yesterday. Octavia raced with the Year 7 girls, coming 16th and Albert, AWS, coming 1st. Well done to you both.
Paul Cunningham - Sports Co-ordinator
Basketball and Miniball registrations for Term 4
Registrations have now closed for Miniball/Basketball. Everyone who has registered please pay your fee of $40. We are in the process of putting teams together, you will receive an email in the next few days. Teams will be displayed on the Sports Noticeboard in Term 4.
All the best to the teams and remember play fair and have fun!!
Miniball
Miniball is for Year 3-6 only. Year 3 & 4 play on Mondays, and Year 5-6 play on Tuesdays. Games will be scheduled between 3.20 pm – 6.50 pm.
Basketball
Basketball is for Year 7 & 8 only. Basketball will be played on a Friday. Games will be scheduled between 3.30 pm – 9.00 pm.
Touch Rugby
Is your child interested in playing Touch Rugby in Term 4? Total Touch holds a competition for school teams on a Monday afternoon/evening at Alex Moore park in Johnsonville. The competition runs for 6 weeks from 31 October to 5 December 2022. It is a great team sport and a fun game for all ages!
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.
The fee for entering a team is $165 so this amount will be split between the number of players in each team (likely be between $20-$25 per player). Registrations close on 24 October.
All teams will need a coach and a manager. For the coaching you don't have to know a lot about the game, generally just a few basic rules. If your child is interested in playing or you are keen to help out with the coaching please contact me at lizziemid@gmail.com and I can help you form a team (depending on numbers).
Lost Property
We have a size M and L unnamed P.E. jacket and a number of unnamed sweatshirts in the office, please claim if you think one belongs to your student.
size 6 - x1 / size 8 - x3 / size 10 - x1 / size 12 - x 1 / size 14 - x1
‘YUMMY’ STICKERS’
Celebrating their 25th anniversary of running this promotion for schools.
Please remember to save ‘Yummy’ Stickers for our collection in 2023
* Thank you to those families who have contributed to the 3260 stickers we have sent to the Yummy Fruit Company for counting. We look forward to spending our allocation reward money on sports equiptment in Term 4. Last year we had $554 to spend!
Thank you to George Treder, Lucia & Lachie Pope, Henry & Elise Peet, Jax Sharah and Emma for their sticker collections.
* Collect your sticker sheets from the office or visit www.yummyfruit.co.nz. Let's get munching.
Helping Our Kids
Secondhand uniform sale
2pm -3.30pm, 15 October 2022
HOK are holding a secondhand uniform sale for summer uniform items. The sale will be in the library with eftpos available.
KAW Kids Art Work
You may of heard from your child that your child’s art can be made into affordable calendars, cards, and sketch pads. These make unique Christmas gifts for family and friends and are perfect for posting overseas. Look out for further details and order forms early in term 4.
Fathers Day Breakfast
Disco ’22
After a one year break the St Ben’s disco returned – this time better than ever. The twilight,
decorations, music, stalls, DJ, food and atmosphere made an excellent night for everyone. Thanks to Jo Prince for leading the huge team of HOK and school volunteers who worked hard to make it
happen.
We raised $2500 from ticket sales and sales on the night. Thank you for your generosity.
If you haven't paid for your disco ticket/s yet, please pay into the HOK account ASAP. We'll be
chasing up any payments that haven't come through by Friday.
The following items were left behind at the disco. Please claim from the office if they are yours:
- red jacket with '16' on the front (size 5) - not named
- minion wallet
- blue fingerless glove
- butterfly notebook
Where the money goes
Money raised at both events will go towards HOK purchases for the school this year - these have
already included items from teacher's wishlists including classroom learning supplies and furniture, as well as a fantastic new bbq for the school for all those sausage sizzles and Father's day bacon sandwiches. We have also purchased new basketball hoops which will be installed as soon as we can safely access the driveway with the scaffolding required to put them up, and we've committed to funding the new newsletter to make it easier for families to know what's going on at school.
Upcoming fundraisers
We have a few more fundraisers this year, including:
a portion of school photo sales (get your orders in by 22/9!),
Secondhand uniform sale 15 October 2-3:30pm: -HOK are holding a second hand uniform
sale for summer uniform items. The sale will be in the library.
Children’s art in calendar and stationery form, ideal for Christmas gifts: details coming soon
and a Frosty Friday/Sausage sizzle is on the cards for Term 4.
Thanks for your ongoing support of HOK and St Benedict's school.
The HOK committee is made up of parents from the school who volunteer their time to
make stuff happen.
HOK are always on the lookout for fresh ideas and new members. Let us know if you want to join our next meeting at school on 26/9 and see what we do and how we work. Contact Johanna (HoK secretary) for details: johanna_reidy@hotmail.com
Entertainment Book
Attendance Dues
Message from The Attendance Dues Team
Now that we are sending all invoices/statements by email to families, please contact us if you have changed your email address so that we can update your account. Invoices will still be posted to families without an email address.
The Term 3 invoice will be emailed to all families shortly. Please check that the invoice has not gone to your Spam/Junk Inbox and that all your children are listed on the statement. If you have not received any invoices this year, please contact us.
Financial assistance is available to families experiencing financial hardship (loss of income/redundancy, family reasons, etc.). It is a condition of the assistance application that the family has an affordable regular payment in place.
If you have any questions, please contact us:
Phone: 0800 462 725 Email: dues@wn.catholic.org.nz Text: 021 08907902
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
| Term3/4 | 2022 | |
| Thursday | 29 September | Rubio family |
| Friday | 30 September | Schultz family |
| Monday | 17 October | Siby family |
| Tuesday | 18 October | Southee family |
| Wednesday | 19 October | Stephen family |
Term 4
| Thursday | 20 October | Stevens family |
| Friday | 21 October | Subra family |
| Monday | 25 October | Taylor family |
| Tuesday | 26 October | Tocker family |
| Wednesday | 27 October | Tralli family |