St Benedict's School Pānui ā-rorohiko (Online Newsletter) Term 3, Week 8, 2025

Upcoming Events from our Calendar

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Term 3, 2025

Week 8
Monday 1 September: Assembly R3
Tuesday 2 September: Pickleball Wellington - Rooms 9 - 13 - 9 - 12:30
Wednesday 3 September: Kapa Haka @ Library 
                                                    Year 7&8 Tech 
                                                    Board Meeting
Thursday 4 September: School Open Day 
                                                Class Mass - 9:00 am -Room 13
                                                Class liturgies 9-9.45am, Rooms 5,7
                                                Pickleball - Rooms 9 - 13 - 9 - 12:30
                                                Art Exhibition 3-6pm and strategic plan contribution
Friday 5 September:        Father’s Day breakfast - 7:15-8:45am

Week 9 
Monday 8 September:          Year 1 - 4 Futsal Festival; Akau Tangi - 9am - 3pm (slightly late return)
Wednesday 10 September:  Te Reo Lessons R 5, 4,3 ,7,2,12 / Kapa Haka 
                                                       Year 7&8 Tech
                                                       Softball  11am - 2:30pm (Rms 8, 7, 5, 4, 3/2)
                                                       Year 5 - 8 Futsal Festival; Akau Tangi - 9am - 3pm (slightly late return)
Thursday 11 September:       Class Mass - 9:00 am -Rooms 8, 9 /  Class liturgies 9-9.45am, Rooms 2,3,4
Saturday 13 September:       Kapa Haka Festival - 8am - 11:10am performance
Sunday 14 September:          Confirmation

Week 10
Monday 15 September:        Assembly 
Tuesday 16 September:       Pickleball Wellington - Rooms 9 - 13 - 9 - 12:30pm
Wednesday 17 September: Te Reo Lessons Rms 4,9,8,3,13 / Kapa Haka - Extension group celebration
                                                      Choir to Malvina Major
                                                      Year 7/8 Information Evening 5:30pm
Thursday 18 September:     Class Mass - 9:00 am -Room 12 / Class liturgies 9-9.45am, Room 13
                                                      Pickleball Wellington - Rooms 7-2 at 9 - 12:30
Friday 19 September:           Non-uniform day to raise funds for Parihaka visitors centre

Thursday 2 & Friday 3 October:  School Office Open

Saturday 4 October: 2-3:30pm - FWFC Second Hand Uniform Sale / New items also available

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Account information
Absences notification and rate of absences. 
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School Board Elections

Our current voter return rate is 41% well done St Ben's Community We have received four nominations for our School Board. Please keep an eye out in your inbox for your link for voting and information about our candidates.  Voting closes 10 September 4pm

Catholic Character

Sacramental Programme 2025 have been confirmed
The full Programme will run over Term 2 and into term three finishing on the 16th November with the First Communion Mass.
The Timetable is as follows...
                 Sunday 7th September 11.15am Confirmation Session 2
                 Saturday 13th September 2.00pm Confirmation Practice
                 Sunday 14th September 6pm Confirmation Mass with Archbishop Paul Martin
                 Sunday 2nd November 11.15am Communion Session 1
                 Sunday 9th November 11.15am Communion Session 2
                 Saturday 15th November 2.00pm Communion Practice
                 Sunday 16th November 2.00pm Communion Mass
Please note that the Sunday Sessions start immediately following the Sunday Mass and all participants and their families should attend Mass before the sessions.
The Programme is being run on behalf of the Parish by Pat Collier and Natasha Telles.  
Please contact via email: sacramentalprogramme@stfrancisohariu.nz

Tumuaki Korero

Tēnā koutou e te whānau ō Hato Penetika,

I am looking forward to taking your orders at the FWFC Father's Day Breakfast tomorrow morning! How can it be Fathers Day already!!

Art exhibition
The galleries are all set up and ready for our exhibition attendees! Our tamariki can not wait to share their art with you (3-6pm). There is a definite fizz of anticipation in the air. And check out the lost property displayed in the library – an avant-garde art piece with multiple artists.

While you are walking around the exhibition be sure to stop by the Strategic Plan review board to share your ideas for the future of St Ben’s with us. 
This session will use a SCOT review process to gather your feedback. A SCOT review focuses on:

• Strengths: What are we doing well?
• Challenges: What are the obstacles we face?
• Opportunities: Where can we grow and improve?

Your valuable insights into these areas will help us create a strategic plan that truly reflects our mission: "To provide a challenging, co-operative, supportive environment which incorporates Catholic ideals, attitudes and practices where children, teachers, parents and community work together to continue the full development of the child in learning for life".

The current strategic plan focuses on three key goals:

• Excellence in Education: Providing a tailored curriculum that ignites a journey of discovery and excellence.
• Catholic Character: Nurturing a transformative Catholic education that sparks the flames of faith and deepens bonds with our parish community.
• School Climate: Cultivating a positive school climate through improving communication, enhancing environments and strengthening governance.

We will have dedicated feedback station set up during the exhibition and members of the school board will be available to discuss your ideas.

Grant
The Board are pleased to announce we were successful in receiving a Grant from The Trusts Community Foundation (TTCF) for Physical Education and IT equipment. Our class ball sets, Ki-O-Rahi set and new pickleball nets are on display in the foyer. We are awaiting delivery of 40 Chromebooks and four new TV’s. We are so grateful for the generosity from TTCF in supporting our community.

NIWA Science fair
We are so proud of our Science Fair top 10 who represented our school at the NIWA science fair. A special mention to Ezra, Esther, Emma and Jillian who won awards with their entries.  

Working in partnership growing our tamariki:  Positive Behaviour for Learning - Children’s language
Every generation re-appropriates language and changes the meaning of words. In our fast-paced media environment words, phrase and hand gestures become popular via memes or TikTok videos. It is often fun to share these with family or with friends. We are noticing an increase in language use that isn’t appropriate in an environment which is for 5 year old to 13 year old tamariki.  With older students using words that seem innocuous with younger students but have unkind connotations. With all aspects of behaviour, we need to ensure our tamariki have clear guidelines as to what is and isn’t acceptable at St Benedict’s. You can support us by ensuring when your tamariki are experimenting with new language and meanings of words and hand gestures that they are aware of the contexts these words are appropriate to use within.

Social Justice Week and Te Wiki o Te Reo + Non-uniform day last day of term. 
Next week is Social Justice week followed by Te Wiki o Te Reo. Our house groups are practicing waiata together as we get ready to celebrate our Te Reo moment. You may remember that I was privileged to visit Parihaka at the beginning of the year. Parihaka is a wonderful example of peaceful resistance and social justice from Aotearoa and the whānau of Parihaka have worked closely with Caritas to create resources we use in school. Parihaka is developing a visitors’ centre and on the last day of term we will have a non-uniform day with a gold coin donation to support this venture.   

Year 7 and 8 Information Evening
Year 6 families, please join us for an information evening to meet the Year 7 and 8 teachers, see the classrooms, hear about the classroom programme and listen to some former students' experiences. This is a great chance to get a feel for our Intermediate school and ask any questions you may have. We hope to see you there on Tuesday 16 September @ 5:30 pm in Room 13. 

Summer uniform coming up
We are fast approaching the summer term. Please ensure you order items you need early so you do not miss out.

AIMS Games

Aims games
This week our school has been represented by athletes in gymnastics, cross country, tennis and basketball. We are so proud of our Immy, Eliana, Winston, Noah, Raff, Charlie, Dominic, Ezra, George, Harrison and Hosea as we  have heard amazing stories about their EPIC values on display. Thank you to Jana, Jason, Mana, Kaye, Amanda and Nick without the wonderful whānau support we would be unable to attend this tournament.  Our basketball team has their final game tomorrow and has made it into the top 37 teams in the competition. We will share other results in our next newsletter.

Library Help Can you help us?
We are looking for volunteers to support the preparation of new resources and the ongoing upkeep of our library. These tasks are perfect for a quick 20-40 minutes in the morning or prior to pick up and are toddler friendly. It doesn’t need to be each week, just when you have the time to help.  We will even provide hot drinks!

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

We warmly welcome Georgia (Room 2) and her family into our school community.

Mandarin lessons

During mandarin lessons, Room 12 students were lucky enough to try on some tradition clothing.

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Room 13

This term, Room 13 has been inquiring into the Middle Ages for the art exhibition. The class has read about important people and events that shaped this era; eg: The Black Plague, The Knights Templar, Joan of Arc and Edward the Confessor.

Year 7 and 8 Information Evening

Year 7 and 8 Information Evening Year 6 families, please join us for an information evening to meet the Year 7 and 8 teachers, see the classrooms, hear about the classroom programme and listen to some former students' experiences. This is a great chance to get a feel for our Intermediate school and ask any questions you may have. We hope to see you there on Tuesday 16 September @ 5:30 pm in Room 13. 

St Patrick's Primary School - 100 years

St Patrick's Primary School, Kilbirnie, is celebrating 100 years on its current site.  All Welcome Mass: Sunday 14^th September, Time:10:30am Where: St Patrick's 3 Childers Tce.  Followed by a Luncheon in the School/Parish Hall (Food supplied by our current families)

Sports Update

Whole School Athletics Day – Monday 6th October

Our annual Whole School Athletics Day will be held on Monday 6th October (Postponement Date: Tuesday 7th October) at Nairnville Park, from 9:00am to 2:30pm.

We are looking for parent and whānau volunteers to help run a variety of events such as vortex, long jump, high jump, and more. No experience is necessary — clear instructions and support will be provided on the day.

If you’re available to help, please get in touch with Molly Kelly via email at molly.kelly@st-benedicts.school.nz.

Your support makes a big difference — thank you!

Touch Rugby - Term 4
Is your child keen to play touch rugby for St Ben's this summer? There is a great local competition on a Monday afternoon at Alex Moore Park in Johnsonville running from Monday 3 November to Monday 8 December and children of all ages and abilities are welcome to join.
Touch rugby is a fun team sport which compliments skills from a lot of sports and we've had a growing number of children at St Ben's joining in.
Please register your interest at the following link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfHEkRPFqXyMbHE6Qa8g1bT_5JVwvutbYbEKcxxtlzLNxg4cg/viewform?usp=header
We will also get our fun Sunday sessions at Nairnville back up and running in term 4 for anyone keen to join (no need to join a team for these).   Stay tuned for further details on these.
Please email touchrugby@st-benedicts.school.nz with any questions.

New Sport Shed System 

We are introducing a new system for the use of sports equipment from the top P.E. shed. The bottom P.E. shed is strictly only for teachers when they wish to play a game with their class.
When students wish to use a piece of sports equipment at morning tea and lunch the students will line up at the top P.E. shed outside of Room 3 and 4. The sports monitors will be outside the shed for a period of 10 minutes at the start of playtime to issue sports equipment to play with (we will record the students name and classroom).  The monitors will not open the shed after that period of time. When the first bell rings to signal there is 5 minutes of playtime left the sport monitors will be waiting to check off students who have returned their piece of sport equipment. If a student does not return the equipment they issued twice, then the student is not allowed to issue sport equipment for a period of 1 week.
This makes sure that P.E. equipment is not left lying in the playground and is available for everyone to use.
Written by Winston, Year 7 Room 13

KINETIC YOUTH

Kinetic Youth! Designed for athletes aged 7–13 years old this programme focuses on building strong athletic foundations through a fun, play-based approach to movement. Each session will help participants develop dynamic movement patterns that support overall athleticism while highlighting softball-specific skills. Perfect for young athletes at all levels, this programme is all about moving with purpose, building coordination, and laying the groundwork for success in softball and beyond. The programme will run for three consecutive weeks in each regional hub, so every athlete has a chance to get involved.

• Link to register: https://www.sporty.co.nz/viewform/361234

Student Celebrations

Our students continue to be EPIC

Congratulations to the students who received awards at our recent Assembly 

Congratulations to the tamariki in Brigidine and Evans house, who received ice-blocks as thier EPIC award.

Summer Uniform Orders

Please email your summer uniform requirements to the school office by Wednesday 10 September. 

New items will be available at the FWFC Second Hand Uniform sale on Saturday 4 October from 1-2:30pm.

ASC Book Now – Holiday Programme Week 1 (22–26 Sept)

We’re excited to invite your tamariki to join us for a fun-filled Holiday Programme running for Week 1 only: Monday 22 September to Friday 26 September.

You can start booking your tamariki now to secure their spot. Bookings will close on Monday 8 September and spaces are limited, so don’t miss out!

We’ve attached our brochure with all the details, and you can use the link below to book: https://forms.gle/UcSH16TVauj2cuBz8

We’re looking forward to an exciting week together!

School dates 2025 and 2026

School dates for 2025 
Term 3  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)

School Dates 2026
The Ministry of Education (MoE) have allocated two school days for delivering the new mathematics curriculum in 2026. Our Professional Learning and Development (PLD) days have been allocated at the beginning of the school year and subsequently make our start for 2026 a bit unusual.  The School Board have approved the following dates for 2026.

Please note there are two Teacher Only Days that are yet to be allocated in Terms 2-4, we will confirm these once they are allocated:

Thursday 29th and Friday 30th of January Whānau teacher Meetings
Monday 2nd and Tuesday 3rd of February MoE Mathematics PLD Staff only 
Term 1 Wednesday 4th of February  - Thursday 2 April 
Term 2 Monday 20 April - Friday 3 July 
Term 3 Monday 20 July - Friday 25 September 
Term 4 Monday 12 October-Tuesday  15 December 

FWFC

Kia ora e te whānau ō Hato Penetika,

Friends and Whānau Fundraising Committee 

Kia ora e te whānau,

Father’s Day Breakfast: This Friday, from 7.15am-8.45am!
*Menu*Eggs & Bacon/Sausages - $5Egg & Bacon Bap or Butty - $5Ham & Cheese Croissant - $3Sausage & Bread - $2 Hashbrowns - $2 Home Baking - $2
Bring cash (and lots of coins) to play in the raffle, the Hole-in-One Comp and guess the lollies in the lolly jar! Eftpos will be available at the main food purchase counter only.

Raffle prizes include an 8 week membership to WellFit Studio (valued at $240), a $50 MyRide Wellington Voucher and a $25 TeaPea Voucher.  Raffle tickets will be also be available to purchase at the Art Show. 
Siblings are welcome. We look forward to seeing you there!
Disco: Thanks again to everyone who attended and volunteered their time to support the disco. It was a fantastic event. We raised around $2,000.

Please contact Sarah or anything FWFC related: sarah.garty@hotmail.com 

Entertainment Book

'Yummy Stickers'

Thank you to Rosa, Ariane and Edward for their collection of stickers.  We now have 2400 stickers.

This promotion runs until 20 October so send in your stickers and keep munching on 'Yummy Fruit'.   

Sticker sheets can be found on the 'Yummy Sticker' website: www.yummyfruit.co.nz or just pick a sheet up from the office.

Children's Opera - "Noyes Fludde"

Call for chorus members in Children's Opera - "Noyes Fludde"

NOYES FLUDDE is a work by renowned composer Benjamin Britten, telling the story of Noah and the Ark, which we will be performing on October 17 and 18.
We are currently looking for children to take part in the 'chorus of animals' - no audition is required, just a desire to sing and be part of what will be a terrific occasion!
 Any enquiries should be directed to Michael Stewart at dom@wellingtoncathedral.org.nz

Drama Lessons available at school

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

ezlunch lunch orders