St Benedict's School Pānui ā-rorohiko (Online Newsletter) Term 4, Week 2, 2025

Upcoming Events from our Calendar

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Term 4

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 

Week 3
Monday 20 October:      Wellington Free Ambulance
                                               NZ Athletics - Qualifying team Year 4 - 8 
Tuesday 21 October:      Kelly Sports - Rooms 9 - 13 
                                               St Patrick’s Transition - Year 8
Wednesday 22 October: Te Reo Lessons with Whaea Adrienne Rms 5 4 3 12 extension / Kapa Haka - Matua Hemi
                                                Year 7/8 Technology - Mt Cook School
Thursday 23 October:    STRIKE DAY - School Closed

Week 4 
Monday 27 October:        LABOUR DAY - School Closed
Tuesday 28 October:       Kelly Sports - Rooms 9 - 13 - 9 - 12:30
Wednesday 29 October: Te Reo Lessons with Whaea Adrienne Rms 5 4 3 12 extension / Kapa Haka - Matua Hemi
                                                 Year 7/8 Technology - Mt Cook School
                                                 Board Meeting 

  Thursday 30 October:  Kelly Sports - Rooms 2 - 8 
                                                Class Mass - 9:00 am -Rooms 8,9

Friday 31 October:            All Saints Liturgy @ 10:00am (School)

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School Board News

The School Board have received informal notice of planned strike action from 7am until 7pm on Thursday 23 October by employees who are members of NZEI Te Riu Roa and who are covered by the following collective agreements:

Primary Teachers' Collective Agreement
Primary Principals' Collective Agreement
Support Staff in Schools' Collective Agreement
Kaiārahi i te Reo and Therapists Collective Agreement

Strike action will be confirmed on 20th October as required under the Education and Training Act 2020.
If strike action is confirmed the Board has decided that the school will be closed on 23 October.

Catholic Character

Sacramental Programme 2025
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

WelCom is the monthly newspaper of the Archdiocese of Wellington. 

Tumuaki Korero

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 Speech Competition 21st November and our Book Character Dress Up Day 28 November. This book week we are bringing back the Scholastics Book Fair, a great place to look for those last minute Christmas presents and a way for us to earn reward points to change into new books  for our library.  

Staff Changes 2026
Clare Short has successfully gained a position teaching at Newlands Intermediate for 2026 onwards. Our school has been so very lucky to have Clare on staff for the past eight years and she is looking to further her skills in leadership and mentorship in a new environment.

 We hope you can join us at our poroporoaki on the last day of this term to celebrate Clare’s new role and Gill’s (Mrs Grice) move to the Hawkes Bay which we shared with you last term.

Wellbeing focus
Thank you to everyone who shared valuable feedback with the School Board and Staff during the art exhibition week. We listened, and one area you highlighted  in the opportunity section was mental health. which is already a primary focus for us.

We're proud of the substantial work we’ve done over the last four years, collaborating with experts to significantly increase our staff's knowledge of Wellbeing. This learning is translating directly into our daily school life through key initiatives like Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) and KiVa and our staff are committed to continuous professional development in this area every term.

To better partner with you, we're launching a new section in our upcoming newsletters dedicated to this topic. This section will allow us to share our school's progress in the Wellbeing space and provide practical resources that you might find helpful for supporting your family at home. We're excited to bring this valuable resource to you.

Below is a  taster of what you will have to look forward to in it’s dedicated section:

Over this year our teachers have had continued PLD in the area of Wellbeing with Anne Minto our Wellbeing lead. We have been focusing on emotional regulation and strategies to support this such as breathing. The following two videos are ones we use in our classrooms and you may wish to use at home.

Term 4 Wellbeing Focus: The Gratitude Wall
Our focus for Term 4 is centered on actively fostering gratitude within our school community, starting with the creation of a beautiful Gratitude Wall in our main foyer.

We are inviting our tamariki to kick off this project over the Labour Day long weekend. The simple task is to take a photo of something they are truly grateful for and email it directly to their class teacher.

When we return, teachers will lead discussions where students can share the story behind their photo, explaining their reason for the choice and how that subject makes them feel. These shared moments will then be correlated into a class collage, which will be the heart of our new Gratitude Wall display.

Expressing gratitude is a highly effective, research-backed way to boost personal well-being by intentionally shifting our focus to what is going right. Sharing this gratitude with others allows us to broaden and build on these positive feelings, benefiting not only ourselves but everyone who hears about the things we value in our lives.

(References: Frederickson, B. (2003); Algoe, S. B., Haidt, J., & Gable, S. L. (2008))

Later in Term 4, we will continue to enhance our social and emotional learning framework by collaborating with the RTLB (Resource Teacher: Learning and Behaviour) service to integrate Circle Time methodology into classroom practice.

P.S. If you are interested in exploring Positive Psychology and Wellbeing for your own professional or personal development, we highly recommend looking into the Diploma of Positive Psychology offered by the Langley Group Institute that I have just completed. It is my favourite thing to talk about, so if it sounds like a bit of you then pop in and see me. 

Any changes for you? 
As we begin planning for our 2026 classes, please let us know if there are any upcoming changes, such as the lure of the sunshine of Australia, that might affect your family’s plans to continue attending our school. 

Class Organisation for 2026
Our teachers will be actively involved in the classroom placement of students for next year. Their professional judgment is vital, as they bring essential knowledge about which students work well together, who benefits from separate groupings, and the specific needs of each child.

Our Placement Priorities
Teachers dedicate considerable time and effort to create balanced class compositions that support a positive learning experience for all students. The key factors we carefully consider are:

• A balanced mix of students’ learning abilities, behaviours, and dispositions.
• An appropriate gender balance.
• The age range of students within the class.
• The specific needs of all students.
• Appropriate friendship groupings.

We use an APP called Class Sorter to corelate all this information and support us with class placement.

If you have a specific concern you would like us to consider during the placement process, you are welcome to email me.

We will always take your input into account. However, our final decisions must prioritise the overall balance and educational needs of all students. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that any specific request will be reflected in the final placement. For example, it is not possible to accommodate requests for specific individual teachers.

Our goal is to ensure a consistency of learning programs and behaviour management across the entire school. This unified approach provides assurance of a quality and equitable experience for every student.

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

We warmly welcome Benji, Brother of Ollie, to Room 2.

National Shake out day 

Today we participated in the National Shake out day with an Earthquake drill, tamariki were reminded of the 'Drop, Cover & Hold' and 'turtle pose'.  

Year 7 & 8 Camp 

The Year 7 and 8 tamariki were excited prior to departing to Makahika camp in Levin.  We will share photos with you on their return.

Mental Health Awareness - Jump Jam

Thank you to parents and younger siblings who joined us for the Jump Jam on Friday.

2026 Attendance Dues 

St Benedict’s Speech Competition 2026

The St Benedict’s Speech Competition takes place on Friday 29th November.  Tamariki  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 short poem, including nursery rhymes,  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.

Inspire Photography

Student Celebrations

Our students continue to be EPIC

Congratulations to two of our Year 7 boys who participated in a Kung fu tournament recently. Both boys did well and had been training hard for the past couple of months. Each receiving medals, a silver and a bronze medal in their respective events.

Congratulations to Hugo who participated in the U12 Ice Hockey Regionals in Christchurch recently. Hugo did extremely well! He saved many shots that were commented on by other coaches. Hugo played 20 games over three days and saved 42 shots in four of those games where only 7 goals got through. The team played against some of the toughest Dunedin and Queenstown teams! Based on his stats, only 3 out of 20 games were other regional teams able to get more pucks past him than he saved!  Well done Hugo.

Well done to Siobhan who participated in the Wellington Kids Sing organised by the New Zealand Choral Federation held at Samuel Marsden School recently. Around 800 children from different primary age choirs in the Wellington Region attended. This is the third year Siobhan attended and it’s always a great experience not just sharing the same love for music with her choir but with other kids who love it just as much.

Congratulations to Edward who completed his grading recently for Karate Orange belt. 

Jina has been very busy rehearsing and would love for you to watch her perform.

The Wellington Youth Orchestra, Wellington Youth Sinfonietta and Wellington Youth Choir are joining forces for a one-of-a-kind concert at the Michael Fowler Centre on Sunday, October 19 at 3pm.  This unique collaboration promises an unforgettable afternoon of music you won't want to miss.
The performers will be playing music by Runestad, Mantyjarvi, Hopkins, Rameka, Thomas, and Schubert. Wellington Youth Orchestra's concerto competition winner Solace Ward will perform the Ritchie Concerto for Viola and Orchestra.
Earth Tickets are ON SALE NOW!https://www.ticketmaster.co.nz/earth-wellington

You’re warmly invited to our students’ very first music recital, a performance they’ve worked hard to prepare!
From classical pieces to familiar New Age tunes, playful duets and lively ensemble works, we’ve put together a program full of variety—no chance to get bored!It’s the perfect afternoon for families to relax and enjoy music together.
Sunday, the 26th at 3:30 PM Free admission Come and immerse yourself in joyful music that suits the warmth of spring. We would love to see you there!

Hello my name is Seb and today I am going to talk about my painting that I made with my Grandma. We started by doing the sky, then we did the clouds with a wide brush and we used white mixed with pink. We put the cloud color on the painting then we got a thick paint brush and pushed hard on the clouds to make them expand.

 Next we started doing the mountains in the background, Then we worked on the path. For the path we made 7 new colors and we made a main color. With every color we used we mixed it with the path colors to make it blend, then we finished the path,

 We did the grass around the path and then we got the blow dryer out and dried the grass then we kept on doing that and adding more layers, Then we did the field we used pale colors for it,

 Next we did the trees, The way we did the trees is we got a piece of paper and then got green colors on the piece of paper and dabbed the trees and repeated what we did with different colors then we got the blow dryer and dried everything and then we were done. We used acrylic paints.

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 

Scholastic Book Club

Scholastic brochures were distributed last week and all orders are now due at the school office by Friday 17 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 17 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. 

FWFC

Kia ora e te whānau ō Hato Penetika,

Welcome back to Term 4!

Term 3 - Father’s day breakfast and second hand uniform sale events:

Thanks to everyone for their support and help in putting on the Father’s day breakfast, in particular Lucy Forgie who led the event. We raised around $2,000.

Thanks for the support also with the second hand uniform sale – we raised around $800 and importantly reused and recycled uniform stock! Thanks to Chrystal O’Connor for her leadership for this event.

 Term 4 – our main event this term will be a Frosty Friday. We’ll confirm the date as soon as we can.

Looking ahead – we will be looking for new members and a new Chair for 2026, so please have a think if this is a role that you would be interested in.

As always, please reach out if you have any questions or ideas for FWFC to: 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

Wider Community Notices

Join the Kids’ Kaukau Challenge!
Come along to the Kids’ Kaukau Challenge on Sunday 9th November — a 4.6km family-friendly run/walk for kids aged 4 to 18 to the top of Mt Kaukau and back, followed by fun, food, and festivities at Khandallah School.
Register now at https://events.barefootsport.co.nz/event/1205. Early bird registrations before 19th October include a personalised race bib.
Find out more here: https://khandallah.school.nz/a/RIpXDh7.
There’s a prize for the participants from the school with the most registrations, so get your friends together and sign up today!

ezlunch lunch orders