Term 2 Week 2 Newlstter #06

To Love/AROHA	To Learn/ĀKO	To Lead/ĀRAHI

St Joseph’s Catholic School

“Excellent Education befitting our Catholic Character”

94 Seddon St Pukekohe 2120

Term 2 Week 2 4th May 2023 Newsletter #06

Principal’s Message

Tena Koutou Katoa Talofa Lava Kamusta Malo e lelei, Mauri Malo ni Faka talofa atu Namaste Greetings to all

Welcome back everyone and a warm welcome to all the new students that have started with us this term. The children are looking very sharp in their winter uniforms and a reminder that with the abundance of wet weather, please make sure to send your child to school with the appropriate wet weather gear including black, waterproof shoes.

In the next week, we will be starting a Term 2 initiative of a Basic Facts House Challenge. Over the term, children will learn their times tables to earn house points for their house with a special reward going to the winning house. Knowing the times tables (and their associated division facts) supports mathematical learning and understanding, and those children who have a strong grasp of them early on, tend to find it easier when attempting to learn more complex concepts in mathematics such as algebra, division, and fractions. Recalling times tables also improves memory skills, which is a transferable skill that will help your children throughout school and into adult life. Please support your children by encouraging them to practise their times tables each evening and test them as often as possible. If your child is just starting school, knowing their numbers facts from 1 to 20, eg; 6+3=9, 10-4=6, or knowing the numbers that come ‘before’ or ‘after’ a number is a great start on their maths journey. More information about this challenge will be sent home next week.

As you would have noticed, the roadworks have begun again on Seddon Street. These will continue for the remainder of the term, and while we encourage you to use Dublin Street for pick-ups and drop-offs, please be mindful of the yellow lines. Please urge your children to be mindful when walking to and from the school of the new crossings and redirected traffic flow. From another health and safety perspective, can we please ask again that no parents drive into the school parking lot to drop their children off in the morning. This is only for staff and creates congestion around the narrow Dublin Street entrance as we now use this as our main entrance and exit.

We would like to congratulate Mrs Bridget Hartland, one of our Arahi Year 7&8 teachers, for being appointed to the position of Head of Department – English at the soon to be opened, St Ignatius College. Mrs Hartland will finish at our school at the end of week 5, and we wish her all the best in her new role. It will be wonderful for all our students moving on to St Ignatius next year to see a familiar face in the hallways. In week 6 we will welcome Mrs Upashna Nadan to our staff as her replacement until the end of the school year

Our school principal, Mrs Ursula Hall, has begun her term’s sabbatical with visits to other Mission schools around the North Island and she has informed me, she is finding it very rewarding. In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

KEY DATES

Please note these dates are subject to change For further dates see calendars on the Skool Loop app or at: www.stjosephs.co.nz

Special Catholic Character

Values Award Recipients

Lucas Kriletich: Arahi – For Your keen attitude in helping to organise the tomb for our Easter Liturgy.

Zach Afoa-Talavoa: Aroha – Thank you for offering to carry something for the teacher. Acts of service like this are an important part of living like Jesus.

Ashlyn Ephrem: Aroha – For consistently makes great learning choices and always offers to help others in the classroom.

Lauren Hartland: Aroha – For helping the younger members of our community to take risks in their learning.

Mika Ramoni: Arahi – For showing leadership by using his initiative when caring for the classroom environment.

School-Assisted Mass – Sunday 28th May – SAVE THE DATE

Please mark your calendars for our School-Assisted Mass this term, which will be Sunday 28th of May at 10 am. This will be Pentecost Sunday, a Holy Spirit-filled Mass and we look forward to celebrating it with our Parish.

Easter Liturgy

Our Ako 2 akonga did very well in presenting some of the Easter Story at yesterday’s assembly. Easter is a very joyful liturgical season filling Christians everywhere with the hope of Jesus’ Resurrection. The Easter season spans from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday (which is the last Sunday of May this year). The liturgy opened with Andrew Chinn’s joyful “Rise Up!” song, leading onto a simple re-enactment of the Easter Gospel from Easter Sunday this year, with Meg Noble as Mary Magdelene and two boys as the apostles Simon and Peter – Fatai Helu and Renzo Johnston. This was followed by some Q&A for the Gospel reflection and some singing and prayers of intercession. Well done to everyone in Ako 2. We wish everyone a joyous Easter Season filled with hope and light.

School Board

Several projects are underway which will enhance our school. The pathway between our newly painted school mural and the prayer garden has been flattened and widened to make the entrance by the cemetery more accessible.

Our long-awaited Seddon Street pedestrian crossing is also underway. Although it is currently a huge inconvenience for pick-ups and drop-offs, once finished, it will be of great peace of mind to know that our children can cross this road safely. We appreciate your continued patience throughout its construction. Please continue to cross your children at the area which has been designated by the roadworks team.

Kind regards,

Nicola Hewitt

School board secretary and proprietor’s representative

SchoolDocs: Time to review our EOTC policies and procedures.

Parents can view our school policies and procedures online by visiting the schooldocs website. SchoolDocs updates, modifies, or creates policies in response to changes in legislation or Ministry guidelines, significant events, reviews/requests from schools, and regular reviewing from the SchoolDocs team. To review:

1. Visit the website https://stjosephspukekohe.schooldocs.co.nz/1893.htm
Enter the username (stjosephspukekohe) and password (mission).
Select the Parents and Whanāu section on your SchoolDocs site

If you don’t have internet access, school office staff can provide you with printed copies of the policy and a review form.

If you would like to contact the Board directly at any time, please do so through our new email address schoolboard@stjosephs.co.nz

School Notices

It’s That Time of Year Again:

With the colder weather months comes an increase in the number of both staff and students who are unwell. We have already noticed a spike in the number of tummy bugs, flu symptoms, and cases of Covid. Please keep your children at home if they are unwell, Covid test them, and please inform the school if they test positive.

Winter Uniform: From the beginning of Term 2, all students are expected to be in winter uniforms.

Girls:

Green tartan pinafore/skirt. Years 0-4 wear a pinafore, Year 5-8 girls wear a skirt at least knee length which is the same material as the pinafore.
White Blouse – Year 0- 4 girls wear a white winter weight school blouse and Year 5–8 girls wear a white school blouse which is a short-sleeved blouse with a split hem.
White ankle or knee-high socks and black leather/waterproof school shoes.

Boys:

Grey shorts (heavy weight)
Grey Polo shirt with logo, long or short-sleeved.
Grey knee-length socks and black leather/waterproof school shoes.

School Jersey/Polar Fleece: for boys and girls. This is a regulation green woollen jersey/or polar fleece.

Polar Fleece Vest: Boys and girls may wear the school green polar fleece vest as an optional extra.

School Beanie: Terms 2 & 3 only. Please note no other type of beanie or winter hat should be worn.

Optional: Green ‘Stormdri’ Jacket with school logo. It is for outdoor use and is not permitted to be worn in class.

OUR CENTENARY MURAL has now been completed. The theme was “Standing on the shoulders of those who went before us” and so we see the depiction of our founding Mission Sisters in their traditional habit, the habit they would have worn when they last taught here in the 1980s, and a lay teacher today, The children on the mat are wearing uniforms from different decades also. There is a lot of symbolism in the mural. The oak tree depicts our origins; the tree Euphrasie planted in the convent grounds – the start of our history. (We have an oak growing on the top field from the original tree.) The lily is of course carried by St Joseph and is for us a symbol of care for the environment. The hill in the background is Pukekohe with planted fields. There was a row of pine trees across the bottom field in the past. The first St Joseph’s School building, along with the presbytery, was one of the first brick buildings in Pukekohe. The arched lettering is now over our front gate. The bell, being rung by children, was a ship’s bell donated to the school. The tui lived in the Banksia tree by the staff driveway and is a symbol of God’s creation.

School Centennial 8-9 September

Please register on www.stjosephscentenary.co.nz Registration does not commit you to attending an event. We do need numbers for organisation purposes. Thank you.

Take a look at the beautiful painting welcoming our whanau to St Joseph’s School.

In 2021, after giving our St Joseph’s statue a repaint, Jean Kiely, from our parish, told me she would paint me something for our school entrance. Jean has painted a significant image of Jesus, Joseph, and our school children, and the connection between parish and school. This has taken her two years to complete and I am sure it will be admired by many. There’s lots of symbolism within the artwork including images of the church and the school, Mary hidden in the Church window, Jesus holding his three fingers (symbol of Divinity), and Joseph carrying our Maori tapestry. I know she would have painted this with love and devotion and many of you will know her service role within our parish. I think we can accept this painting as an icon, a real taonga for our school. – Ursula Hall

School Events

Our House Points Maths Challenge: will be starting next Friday. A notice will be emailed to families with all the details. Please help support our initiative by helping your children learn their times tables.

Steam Club and Little Steamers: starts this coming Wednesday the 10th of May running at the same time 3-4pm. Notices have been emailed to the parents of children attending. Please notify the school if your child would no longer be able to participate this term as our waiting lists are long.

Aroha News: It has been a fantastic start to learning this term in Aroha. Students have been busy learning how to be super independent learners in their classes through all of their learning areas. We have been busy expanding our vocabulary through ANZAC baking and Art, reading stories, oral language, sharing news, making, and creating to name a few. In Maths we are learning how to turn and talk to share our Maths ideas with our buddies. We are learning how to find a half and recognising what are equal and unequal parts. What a busy few weeks it has been. Ka Rawe! Awesome work Aroha whānau!

Ako 2 News: Ako 2 has had a busy start to Term 2 with very meaningful learning about ANZAC Day and the eight months our soldiers spent in Gallipoli. Our tamariki wrote letters from the trenches and did some silhouette art. They also listened to several ANZAC stories and shared thoughts and insights, as well as, participating in an ANZAC Liturgy to start the Term. A group went to zone orienteering with Mrs McArthur on Tuesday and represented themselves and our school with excellence. Our girls got 1st place, and our boys placed 5th, great effort, Tino pai!

Arahi News: We are underway in writing our 2023 speeches. The students have been analysing famous speeches and reading through various examples of persuasive speeches to help gather ideas for their own. We will be teaching the students how to form their opinion and use emotive vocabulary to get their points across, so we apologise in advance if they try to persuade or convince you with their thoughts. We are also very excited to support the house challenge in raising basic fact achievement. As the leaders of the school, the Arahi students will lead the way in helping the younger students to memorise their facts as well. In our Inquiry research, students have been learning about how technology has changed over the past 100 years and were very surprised to find out that smartphones are such a recent invention.

Community Notices

St Pat’s Kids Choir: Practices are on Thursdays 3 pm-3:40 pm at the Church. Students aged 5-14 are welcome. Come along any week if you are interested in joining. We will be singing on three Sundays this term: 7 May at 10 am, 11 May at 5pm, and 2 July at 5 pm.

Franklin Family Support Services in Pukekohe is a leading agency for social services in the Franklin District.

Franklin Family Support work with a range of people to explore the stress and anxiety they may be experiencing and help them resolve issues in their lives that are making it difficult for them to live happily and positively. Their services are free and include: