St Benedict's School Pānui ā-rorohiko (Online Newsletter) Term 3, Week 10, 2025
- Upcoming Events from our Calendar
- School Board Elections
- Catholic Character
- Tumuaki Korero
- Te Reo o te wiki
- School Choir and Rooms 4 & 5 visit pen pals at Malvina Major
- Sports Update
- Student Celebrations
- ASC Book Now – Holiday Programme Week 1 (22–26 Sept)
- School dates 2025 and 2026
- FWFC
- 'Yummy Stickers'
- Term 4 Piano Lessons at St Benedict's School
- Drama Lessons available at school
- Parent Road Patrol Roster
- Wider Community Notices
- ezlunch lunch orders
Upcoming Events from our Calendar
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Term 3
Week 10
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: FWFC Second Hand Uniform Sale - 2-3:30pm / New items also available
Term 4
Week 1
Monday 6 October: Whole School Athletics - Narinville 9-2:30 (PP 7 October)
Wednesday 8 October: Powhiri
Te Reo Lessons with Whaea Adrienne / Kapa Haka Lessons with Matua Hemi
Year 7&8 Tech
Thursday 9 October: Cricket NZ - in school session - Year 0 - 8
Year ⅞ Camp - Parent Helper Meeting 8am (Room 13)
Friday 10 October: Mental Health Awareness: whanau invited to class prayers & Manuka Jump Jam
Week 2
Monday 13 October: Inspire photos
Tuesday 14 October: Years 7/8 leave for camp Makahika
Thursday 15 October: Class liturgies 9-9.45am, Room 13
Kelly Sports - Rooms 2 - 9 - 9:00 - 2:15 (see timetable change)
Friday 16 October: Campers return
Items found in the School APP
School Notices
Teacher Messages
Documents Section
St Ben's Handbook
Widget link
Newsletter
SchoolDocs (Board Policies)
Account information
Absences notification and rate of absences.
School Calendar
MyKindo for lunch orders
FWFC Facebook and Instagram
School Board Elections
Farewell and Thank You to Our Departing Board Members
We’d like to acknowledge our three outgoing Board members who are stepping down at this election. Their contributions have made a lasting impact on the governance of our school community.
It’s hard to believe that Aimie Hines has only served one term on the Board. Aimie has packed in an incredible amount into the past three years. She's generously shared her time and expertise, supporting successive presiding chairs and contributing significantly to improvements in Board functioning. Her work across governance, finance, and communications has been much appreciated and instrumental in strengthening the school’s leadership.
Our sincere thanks also go to Duncan McDonald for his quiet, thoughtful contributions. Duncan’s calm and considered approach brought valuable insight to Board discussions.
Finally, thank you to Daniel Marks, who steps down after six years on the Board, having served both as a parent representative and a presiding chair. Daniel has helped guide the school through leadership changes, while maintaining strong oversight of the school’s finances. He was also instrumental in securing the major grant that helped fund our new canopy which is an enduring asset for our school community.
Thank you Aimie, Duncan, and Daniel for your leadership and stewardship. We also extend our thanks to your families for supporting you in your Board roles. Our school is stronger for your service and your contributions will continue to benefit students, staff and families for years to come
The board warmly welcomes our newly elected members Juan, Albie and Campbell. We look forward to working with you. We are grateful to all the candidates who were willing to step forward for our school community.
Catholic Character
Sacramental Programme 2025
Congratulations to the following students who received confirmation on Sunday 14 September:
Charlotte A, Quinn & Eleanor B, Alex & Emmeline B, Henry C, Amara D'S, Gini D, Ollie D, Flynn F, Maisie F, Madeline & Matilda G, Clemmie H, Zach H, Catherine H, Henry H, Jillian J, Alice M, Everest M, Leon N, Sebastian O'S, George T and Harleigh U.
The final part of the programme is preparation for First Holy Communion on the 16th November
The Timetable is as follows:
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,
What an amazing term of learning we have completed in Term 3 and what amazing kaiako we have who have provided these activities this term, we have had:
- Experienced Softball - Thank you Brittany - Wgtn Softball
- Shared learning through Parent Teacher interviews
- Raised money for a bus for camp
- Supported the Ministry of Education Curriculum Insights and Progress Study of Year 8
- Had over 60 Grandparents join us for Grandparents Mass
- Welcomed Rotary to speak to our Year 7/8 about citizenship
- Blew the Year 7/8 competition away at handball
- Enjoyed Theatre in our library with the Maybe a Miracle show
- Practiced our Pickleball skills - Thank you Will - Project Pickleball Academy
- Enjoyed the FWFC Disco - Thank you FWFC
- Took part in Academic competitions for MathsWell, ICAS and Australian Maths and the NIWA Science Fair
- Our Kaiako have continued Better Start Literacy Training – which involves webinars each Thursday.
- Sent wonderful athletes to AIMS games in Tauranga
- Welcomed 32 parents and children to our school Open Day
- Performed in Artsplash Choir
- Turned our school into an art gallery
- Celebrated an excellent Father’s Day Breakfast with FWFC
- Sent over 70 tamariki to a Futsal tournament
- Performed in the St Brigid’s Kapa Haka Festival
- Celebrated 24 tamariki being confirmed at St Francis of Assisi Ohariu church
- Held our Year 7/8 information evening
- Visited Malvina Major to meet Room 4 and 5 pen pals, with the Choir performing for the occasion.
Phew! It’s been a busy term and so much of this relies on our kaiako who go above and beyond for our tamariki every day. Thank you to those who send us lovely messages of thanks for these events. We appreciate your gratitude and acknowledgment of our kaiako.
Next term will be equally as busy. We start Term 4 with full school athletics on Monday and a community celebration for Mental Health Awareness week on Friday. We hope you can join us at both.
Mental Health Awareness Week
Please do join us for classroom prayers and Jump Jam on Friday morning to celebrate two ways we can support our mental health through celebrating our spirituality and physical activity.
Before School activities
Today I had the pleasure of watching the SPLAT drama play. SPLAT runs on Friday mornings and has been a great success. Next term we are looking to also run a before school STEM programme for year 4/8. See poster for details. Thank you to Jennifer for the photos.
Parent Education
Over the holidays our kaiako will be updating their Safeguarding knowledge. We use Safeguarding Children as our provider and they have three resources that may be of interest to you. The first is a free course called Parenting in a Digital World, the second is a page full of resources to support parenting in a digital world and the third is a podcast again about parenting in a digital world.
Summer uniform coming up
We are fast approaching the summer term. We look forward to seeing our tamariki in summer uniform in Term 4.
AIMS Games
Aims games updates from Week 8
Noah gave an outstanding performance in Division 3, which featured a strong field of 32 players. After winning his first two matches, Noah advanced to the quarterfinals on Tuesday morning ultimately securing 6th place overall—a remarkable accomplishment. Noah’s commitment to fair play was noticed and appreciated by his peers, as he was acknowledged in the fair play category during the prizegiving on Wednesday, just missing out on a medal. Congratulations to Noah for a fantastic tournament and exemplary sportsmanship.
Our Basketball team played ten games in five days and gave it their absolute all. The competition featured 87 teams and they punched well above their weight ending up in the top 32 in NZ. When you consider that the schools they were playing against have more Year 7/8 than our full school roll combined you can understand what a phenomenal effort this was. The Boys played their absolute hearts out and we are so proud of them.
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!
I wish you a happy and safe school holidays where we can hopefully all get rid of the coughs and colds that are plaguing us!
Mā te Atua koutou e manaaki,
May God bless and care for you.
Tania Savage - Principal
We warmly welcome Cooper, brother of Finn to Room 2.
PARENT ROAD PATROL ROSTER
The Parent Road Patrol roster for Term 4 for the families with surnames beginning with A - H has been emailed out. Please contact the office if you do not receive yours. Thank you.
Kapa Haka Festival
On Saturday 13 September, our Kapa Haka performed as part of the St Brigid's Kapa Haka Festival. This has become an annual highlight for us! Along with more than a dozen kura, colleges and kohanga, our Hato Penetika tamariki performed waiata and haka - some with poi and rakau - with so much enthusiasm and harikoa/joy. There were a few nerves on the day, and reduced numbers as many of our seniors had sporting and dance commitments, but the almost-50 member rōpū brought their very best performance and were amazing! Massive ngā mihi nui to all the students who stepped up to help with calling, cues, leading actions and more; ngā mihi to the staff and whānau who helped us get dressed, ready and moko on faces in record time; and as always our biggest thanks to Matua Hēmi who has supported us to become an amazing kapa haka. We also thank Mrs Short for her support with their practices and final performance.
You can watch us around the three hour mark in the below link.
Te Reo o te wiki
Rooms 3 and 4 making kumara bread for Te Reo o te wiki
School Choir and Rooms 4 & 5 visit pen pals at Malvina Major
From Albie: I just wanted to say a big thank you for bringing the St Benedict’s school students to our village today. It was such a joy for the residents to enjoy the choir performance and connect with their penpals. We truly appreciate the effort and thoughtfulness you put into making this visit special. Looking forward to more opportunities to build these wonderful connections!
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.
Your support makes a big difference — thank you!
Sports Jacket
In Term 4, we will be ordering our school sports jackets for Years 3-8, please email the office by 10 October if you would like to make an order. Child sizes: 5/6, 7/8, 9/10, 11/12, 13/14 - $85 / Adult sizes: S,M,L,XL - $90
Futsal Tournament
A huge thanks to them all for being easy to organise, listening and getting around different games as a group! Also, thanks for not complaining about lack of game time due to large number in team, 8 boys when only 3 could play at any one time.
Rippa Rugby
On Thursday 12 September there was a Year 7 and 8 team that went to Nairnville for a Rippa Rugby tournament. The competition was very fierce with all the teams being very strong. Our team came 5th out of 6 teams. We all played well, we were positive and we had lots of fun together. A big thank you to JP Tocker for managing the teams and to Amanda O'Brien and Dominic's Grandma for helping us out. We were also lucky to have a photo with the Bledisloe Cup
Written by Winston O'Brien
Manuka Syndicate
In Term 3, Manuka has been doing fitness circuits every morning. The circuit includes running, speed ladder, hola hoops, hurdles and body weight exercises such as plank holds and sit ups!
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/
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.
Well done to the St Benedict's Celtics 3/4 miniball team who finished the term with a 31-14 win.
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 Charlotte who was thrilled to be awarded "Emerging Girls Footballer of the Year" at the recent Onslow Junior Football Club prizegiving.
This a big achievement for Charlotte who has worked hard this year at her football both on and off the field.
Well done to Siobhan who recently sang in the children's choir in the New Zealand Opera production of ‘The Monster in the Maze’ with the NZ Symphony Orchestra at St James Theatre. A really enjoyable experience for her after months of preparation and a buzz with all the energy of two sold out shows.
Miniball
Well done to the St Benedict's Celtics who finished the term with a 31-14 win! Thank you to Chantelle and Javier for coaching the team. We also thank all of our wonderful coaches and managers who have given up their time to support our sports teams this year.
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/
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,
Second hand uniform sale
FWFC are holding a second-hand uniform sale, Saturday 4 October, 2-3.30pm in the school library. We will be selling summer stock to have our kids ready for term 4. The school office will also be open for sales of new items. We look forward to seeing you!
Father's Day breakfast
Thank you to all the fathers and father figures who came along with the children of St Ben's to attend the annual HOK Fathers Day breakfast. It was heart warming to see so many families gather for the event. This year was another great success raising close to $2,000 for the benefit of our students. A massive thank you to Khandallah New World for a full donation of food and supplies for this event.
Congratulations to the winners of our raffle - Ann, Grace and Albie. Thanks to WellFit Studio, MyRide Wellington and TeaPea for their support of the raffle. Thank you to Feijoa for supporting the lolly guess. Finally thanks to all the St Ben's Mums who volunteered to make this event happen, from baking, to setting up and assisting at the event - we couldn't deliver this event without you. Special thanks to Tania who volunteered time to support also.
Wishing everyone a great school holidays! Any FWFC related queries, please contact: sarah.garty@hotmail.com
Entertainment Book
'Yummy Stickers'
Thank you to Cooper, Isla & Lilly, Alex & Harry, Everest & Iggy, Catherine & Michael for their collection of stickers. We now have 2780 stickers.
This promotion runs until the end of Term 3, 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.
Term 4 Piano Lessons at St Benedict's School
Term 4 Piano Lessons at St Benedict's School
With the Wellington Music Academy closing at the end of this term, we’re pleased to confirm that piano lessons will continue in Term 4 through Leit House Music. Lessons will still be taught by Jack England, who has been teaching piano at St Benedict's since term 1 of 2023.
Lessons are open to students of all levels from complete beginners to advanced players. New students are welcome to join at any point in the term provided spaces are available.
For more information or to sign up, please contact us at:
leithousemusic@gmail.com
We look forward to supporting both continuing and new students on their musical journey!
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
| Term 3 | ||
| Thursday | 18 September | Woollaston family |
| Friday | 19 September | Yoon family |
| Term 4 | ||
| Monday | 06 October | Matuszewski family |
| Tuesday | 07 October | Molloy family |
| Wednesday | 08 October | Abro family |
| Thursday | 09 October | Agarwal family |
| Friday | 10 October | Anderson family |
Monday | 13 October | Barber family |
Tuesday | 14 October | Bardell family |
Wednesday | 15 October | Bates family |
Thursday | 16 October | Bebawy family |
Friday | 17 October | Benison family |
Wider Community Notices
ezlunch lunch orders
