Term 3 Week 9 Newsletter #9

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 3 Week 9 19 September 2024 – Te wiki o te reo Māori Newsletter #9

Principal’s Message

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

Term 3 is quickly drawing to a close and although officially Spring, our weather is still damp and cold. I’m sure everyone is looking forward to our term break.

This week we celebrate Te wiki o te reo Māori. Māori Language Week celebrates the presentation of the Māori Language Petition to parliament on the 14th of September 1972. It has been marked every year since 1975. This year’s theme is ‘Ake ake ake – A Forever Language’. We are reminded that Bishop Pompallier learnt to speak Māori three months after arriving in Aotearoa from France in 1838. He was pivotal in establishing the first printing press. The printery, at Kororareka (Russell), is now New Zealand’s oldest industrial building, and it was here that the French Marist Brothers translated Latin religious texts into Te Reo Māori. In eight years the missionaries printed almost 40,000 publications in te reo. Something that might encourage us to learn te reo too.

I was honoured to be part of the Catholic Diocese of Auckland’s Tainui Catholic Schools hikoi with the CDA Vicar for Māori, Manuel Beazley, to attend the tangi of Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, Māori King and Paramount Chief of Waikato-Tainui, at Tuurangawaewae Marae in Ngaaruawaahia. We were invited to travel with St Ignatius College and I was able to take three students and a parent accompanied us. It was a privilege to be part of such a historical event.

During the second week of the school holidays, I am joining a Principals’ Study Tour in Finland. This tour offers participants an overview of the Finnish education system and the role of pedagogical leadership, as well as an up-close and personal view of the daily life of Principals in Finnish schools. I am hoping to gain some valuable insights and ideas to inform my future strategic planning for St Joseph’s School. While in the Northern Hemisphere, I will take a quick trip to England to catch up with family. I arrive back in New Zealand during Week 1, Term 4.

Some of you will be aware that Ms Mairead Gallagher is leaving St Joseph’s School at the end of this term. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms Gallagher for her contribution and dedication to St Joseph’s School; especially as our Director of Religious Studies. Her commitment to Catholic education has been appreciated by our school and parish, and we wish Ms Gallagher many blessings and thank her for her service and commitment to our school and wish her every success for the future.

I would like to remind you that there are two Teacher Only Days set aside in Term 4. One MOE day and the other is an additional callback day for teachers outside of the term dates. These dates, Friday 8th and Monday 11th November, are on our school calendar.

In recent weeks, St Joseph’s School has been part of Operation Kia Mataara – Pukekoheko; a pedestrian crossing safety programme for pedestrians and drivers. Although our tamariki might better understand pedestrian safety and using our crossing, it is disappointing that parents continue to cross in front of the school gate. Please be a good adult role model by using the pedestrian crossing and following the directions of our student road patrollers.

As we approach the end of the school term, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our students, parents, and staff for their hard work and commitment throughout the term. It has been a pleasure to witness the growth and achievements of our students, and I am proud of the strong sense of community that exists within our school.

Nga manaakitanga ki a koe.

Special Catholic Character

Values Awards

George Farrell ARAHI: For tenacity during a difficult situation when he supported his team showing leadership. A wonderful role model.

Pamela- Velvet Bhana AROHA: for the care you show others. ARAHI: for being such a wonderful role model.

Zachariah Afoa-Talavou ARAHI: for service in coming to School-Assisted Mass early to help set up.

CHRISTMAS APPEAL

St. Vincent De Paul MUTFI-DAY Friday 27 September

Instead of collecting cans this year, we have been requested to fundraise for St. Vincent De Paul’s Auckland Christmas Appeal. Therefore we will have a gold coin mufti day next week on Friday 27th September.

Social Justice Week 2024

Last week we celebrated Catholic Social Justice Week with a theme of Choose Forgiveness, Know Peace. Each day our tamariki watched a Caritas video about this theme to explore key messages. Our Year 5 / 6 students led a liturgy on Wednesday which was very special. We performed songs about peace and forgiveness as well as exploring the Prodigal Son parable and doing an examination of conscience. Each class did at least one of the Caritas lessons. Some of our Aroha students made lovely peace plates which are in the photos below.

Miha Māori 2024

As part of Māori language week, we celebrated a wonderful Māori Mass this afternoon, with Fr. Rodney Smythe presiding. This is our second year doing the full Mass in Te Reo. Our Kapa Haka group has shown great leadership in leading this Miha. Thank you whānau for your generous donations to the Parish Food Bank, in response to the current appeal.

St. Pat’s Kids Choir

Practices have concluded for the term (so no practice next week).The time will be changing to Wednesdays at 3:30pm next term.

Key Dates

Term 3/4 Key Dates

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

School Board

SCHOOL POLICIES

A link to our school policies can be found on our school website or through www.schooldocs.co.nz

Go to www.schooldocs.co.nz/
Click Search for your school
Start typing the school’s name (St Josephs School Pukekohe) and then select it from the dropdown list.
Enter the community username: stjosephspukekohe and password: mission.

SchoolDocs: This term the Board is to review the following policies: Concerns and Complaints, Performance Management, and Protected Disclosure. The following reviews are open to the staff and the school community: Media, Professional Development, Staff Conduct, Staff Leave.

Our next Board meeting date is 6th November 2024

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

The St Joseph Award

ST JOSEPH’S CATHOLIC SCHOOL PUKEKOHE wishes to recognise outstanding voluntary service to St Joseph’s Catholic School by any member of the St Joseph’s school community.

Selection will be of a person, or persons, who are recognised by the school community as having provided exceptional service to the school and have met at least one other of the following criteria:

Consistently shared their knowledge and skills
Contributed significantly to student learning opportunities
Contributed to the overall growth & development of the school
Supported the Catholic Character of the school by living out the gospel values and providing exemplary pastoral care to others.

If there is anyone you would like to nominate, please collect the criteria and nomination form from our school office. Nominations need to be submitted by the end of Week 3 Term 4: Friday 1st November. There is no requirement that this award will be presented each year.

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

School Notices / Upcoming Events

School Attendance Dues

Term Three School Fees should now be paid.

Please pay your account in full at the beginning of each term, or by regular automatic payments into our account: ASB 12-3023-0338374-01 ref: student’s name

We would like all 2024 Attendance Dues to be paid in full before 30 November.

The Catholic Character Contribution is a voluntary contribution forwarded to the Catholic Education Services Board. The St Joseph’s Development Trust Contribution is a voluntary contribution which the Trust is extremely grateful to receive. This is used in our school for improvements to our site and facilities.

Both of these voluntary contributions are tax deductible.

School Start Time

Students are expected to be at school by 8:30 am. Teachers are not in class until 8:15 am.

Any children who come to school earlier than 8:15 are not supervised.

Second-Hand Uniforms

The second-hand uniform shop is open on Mondays and Thursdays 2:30-3:00 pm.

If we want the Second-Hand Uniform Shop to continue to run we need a parent who is prepared to come in on a Monday and or a Thursday. Please let the office know if you can help.

During the school holidays the uniform shop will be open Wednesday 9th October

10:00 am – 2:00 pm

In Term 4 students wear their summer uniforms. Lightweight grey shorts for boys with a short-sleeved school polo. A summer tunic for girls and black Roman sandals for boys and girls.

We expect all students to be dressed in their correct summer uniform by Labour Weekend.

New Enrolments

Now is the time to get enrolments in for next year, 2025. If you have a 4 year old child we would like you to come and collect an Enrolment Pack please. If you know of another family who is thinking of enrolling at St Joseph’s please let them know we need to hear from them now.

Enrolment documents can also be found on our website.

Knowing the number of new students starting in now assists us with our 2025 staffing allocation.

School Photos

Our school photos should be available after the school holidays. Please contact Masterpiece

if you have any queries, Phone 07 823 4306 or masterpiece@xtra.co.nz

Attendance

As you know the government is placing a high priority on student attendance. At school we know the importance of children attending school daily, but did you know that even small bits of time off school can add up to significant amounts of time over their primary years of schooling? Check out the graphic below that shows the impact of different times away from school over the years at school.

Here are five ways that whānau can support their students in improving attendance.

Celebrations

Aroha

For our concept learning “Nourish to Flourish” we went on a trip to Ambury Farm. We had a fantastic day of learning which included feeding chickens, sheep and goats and even giving baby lambs their bottle of milk. We also were given a demonstration of how they shear the sheep wool to keep them healthy. In class we have been learning about where our food comes from, so it was so cool to see a cow being milked right in front of us! We had such fun learning on the farm, thank you to the teachers and parents who came on the day to make this rich learning experience happen for our young tamariki. Ka Rawe Aroha!

Some of our Aroha Children enjoyed planting potatoes with Mrs Irwin

Ako

In Ako we have been expressing our imagination in our writing. For the last few weeks we have written our very own fractured fairy tale based on Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Three Little Pigs and many more. We created our own characters, settings, problems and solutions. We have also started some expressive poems using our five senses to help us describe and image the world around us. Have a look at some of our examples below. See if you can tell which sense each sentence is referring to.

Arahi

Renzo and Taylor represented St Joseph’s School at the Catholic Cross Country event at Monte Cecilia Park. This is a first for our school and we are extremely proud. Renzo and Taylor placed very well in 3rd and 6th. An amazing achievement.

Arahi team have started our Athletics training on Thursdays. This includes the high jump, long jump, sprints, relays, discus and shot put. We have a lot of Olympians in the making!!

Two groups of students from Arahi attended the Franklin School’s Basketball tournament this week. They both played very well, the boys placed 5th and the girls took out the competition placing first! Most importantly played with tenacity and great sportsmanship. I would also like to thank Emma Wallace who trained the girls team and our parent helpers, Casey Morrison, Shelly O’Shaughnessy, Hayden Onehi and Peni Helu. Without your help and support we would not be able to have provided this opportunity to the students.

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori 2024 – Ake Ake Ake: A Forever Language

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori is an annual celebration for all New Zealanders to show their support for the Māori language, an official language of this country. The theme for Te Wiki 2024 is ‘Ake ake ake – A Forever Language’. It represents the resilience, adaptability and endurance of our language. It also reflects the commitment New Zealanders have to embracing and learning te reo Māori long into the future. At St Joseph’s we incorporate te Reo into our daily activities and karakia. There is a strong connection between Māori and Catholics in New Zealand, as mentioned above in Mrs Hall’s letter. To use this is very special and something we are very proud of. Just as the students are learners, the teachers are learning too. This week, not only are we celebrating with a Miha Māori, fully in te Reo, but also through extra lessons in the classroom, fun language quizzes during the morning announcements and language challenges to participate in. The week will finish with a house language competition on Friday, to see which school house can take out the top prize as Te Wiki o t Reo Māori champions.

Be on the look out next week for a video compilation of the language challenges that the students have participated in. Here is a sneak peak… tutira mai.mp4