St Benedict's School Pānui ā-rorohiko (Online Newsletter) Before Term 1 start, 2025

Upcoming Events from our Calendar

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Term 1, 2025

30 & 31 January - Whānau meetings

30 January - FWFC second hand uniform sale / New items also available

Week 1 Term 1
Monday 03 February - Term 1 begins
Tuesday 04  February 7pm St Benedict's School Jubilee 2027 brainstorming session 
Thursday 06 February Waitangi Day School Closed

Week 2 Term 1
Wednesday 12 February Lunch orders available
Friday 14 February School Picnic @ Bishop Park

Week 3 Term 1 
Tuesday 18 February BSLA Whānau Evening Mānuka Syndicate 5:30 Sausage sizzle meting begins at 6pm 
Friday 21 February School Picnic @ Bishop Park postponement day

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

Tumuaki Korero

Tēnā koutou e te whānau ō Hato Penetika,

Welcome to the 2025 school year. We are looking forward to our Pōwhiri followed by our School Blessing next Monday morning. 

School Date Changes
We have now been allocated our MOE Mathematics PLD days. We had no choice over the days and have been allocated Friday 4 of April and Thursday 19 of June. The below term calendar for your fridge has been updated with the new staff only days. 

Communicating with Teachers
Our teachers work incredibly hard to support and nurture our tamariki every day. To ensure they can continue to bring their best to the classroom, we encourage whānau to be mindful that teachers are not available 24/7.
Emails and messages will be read during school hours from Monday to Friday and responded to within two working days.
If your enquiry is urgent, please reach out to the school office, and we will do our best to assist you. Thank you for your support in helping us create a balanced and positive school environment for all.  

Driveway and Playground Changes
The works on our new playground are well underway. Currently the team are working on removing the old surface and building up the new surface. This involves numerous trucks coming and going over the next five weeks. Once school starts each day the driveway will have restricted access until 2:30pm. You will still be able to go up the footpath but may need to wait for a truck crossing. 

The playground space has been much reduced until the court works are completed. Access to the junior playground will be by the internal staircase in the foyer. At this stage we will have an open and mixed playground as usual, apart from the age level restrictions on the junior and senior playgrounds.  We will closely monitor the first week and bring in changes to the games that can be played and the areas for each age level if it is required. 

Emergency evacuation 
If we need to evacuate, the school will gather on the far end of the turf while the court is out of action. 

Uniform Reminder
We expect correct uniform from day one at school, including black shoes or sandals and sun hat. Please make sure you check your uniform and pop up to the uniform shop for second hand or new uniform prior to school starting. 

After School Care
We currently have vacancies for each day within our After School Care programme. Please contact Emma in the office if you wish to register. ASC has now moved into it's own dedicated space in old Room 5. 

Invitation to Jubilee planning meeting
2027 marks St Benedict's 75 Jubilee. We want to make sure that our Jubilee year is full of celebration and ensure that all that have attended St Benedict's have the opportunity to be part of these celebrations. To get our planning off the ground we are holding a brainstorming session on the 4th of February 2025. The session will start at 7pm and will be held in the library. All are welcome! Please RSVP to me directly.

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.

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

School dates 2025

The downloadable PDF  below will give you a printable calendar for your fridge. It has been updated to reflect the new MOE Maths PLD days. 

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. Unfortunately we have not been able to choose our dates and have been allocated the following dates Friday 4 April 2025 and Thursday 19th of June.

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 –11 April ( Easter and Anzac Day in holidays)
Friday 4th April MOE Mathematics PLD teacher only day. 
Term 2  28 April- 27 June (Includes Matariki and Kings Birthday)
Staff call back day in school holidays Friday 11 July
Thursday 19 June MOE Mathematics PLD teacher only day. 
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)

Sports Updates

Student Celebrations

Cancer Fundraiser

After growing her hair for two years Immy donated 40cm to Freedom hair in Dunedin for use in making a wig for someone who needs a wig. Often this is because of the side effects of cancer treatment.

As part of her hair growing adventure, Immy also decided to fundraise money for the Cancer Society. In the end she raised $1530.

She took the money to the Cancer Society during the school holidays.

Many thanks to everyone who donated.

FWFC

Kia ora e te whānau ō Hato Penetika,

Friends and Whānau Fundraising Committee 

Welcome back to school, whānau!! The FWFC are holding our annual AGM on Monday 10 February, up at school at 7.30pm. All are welcome, including anyone interested in joining or wanting to hear more about what we have planned for 2025. We'll put out a calendar of events for the year in an upcoming newsletter. Any questions or comments please contact: sarah.garty@hotmail.com 

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_fwfcFacebook: 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 

ADW Attendance Dues

Raroa Music Centre Registrations

RĀROA MUSIC CENTRE REGISTRATION FOR 2025

Rāroa Music Centre offers Saturday morning group music lessons for primary and intermediate school children at low cost ($70 per year + $40 koha or parent volunteering).  We offer music basics, cello, clarinet, drums & percussion, flute, guitar, keyboard, orchestra, recorder, saxophone, ukulele, and violin.

You are welcome to come along to see what it’s all about.  We have our end of year concert on 7^th December 2024 at 10:00am.

To register for 2025 visit our website and enrol online.  Registrations close 22^nd February 2025.
www.raroamusic.org.nz

Homestays - St Patrick's College

St Pats (Wellington) is reaching out to families who are keen to host international students in 2025. We have students coming for the whole year (from China), and are keen to find them a good home. We are also expecting various groups (staying from 9 days to a whole term from March onwards).

Starting in 2025 St Patrick's College is increasing the homestay fee to $360 /week, $75 for 14 nights or fewer (and $120 if hosting 2 students; this only applies for short stays)

If you or anyone you know is interested in hosting next year, please contact me. Happy to send you more information or ring to discuss further.

Carolina Miranda

International Student Coordinator

Tel: 049393070 9 (EXT 264)    Mobile: 0211684265

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