Term 2 Week 8 Newsletter #09

Term 2 Week  8                               15 June 2023                                     Newsletter #09

Principal’s Message

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

We have had a busy few weeks at school; the first of our teams, Ako 2, have been to the Howick Historical Village, with Ako 1 visiting today, and Aroha going at the start of next week. It is wonderful to have our students participating in trips off site again and getting the opportunity to see what our community has to offer in educational experiences outside the classroom. I am sure you can all recall the trips you took as a young student and know that the memories do last a lifetime. 

We have also had our Yr 5-8 students participating in the Epro8 Challenge in our school hall, putting their engineering and problem solving skills to good use to construct a working dunk tank, a motorized certificate dispenser and a gearbox to use in a well. It is also exciting to see so many of our students participating in the House Netball challenge during lunchtimes. Even with the strong desire for their house to win, the sportsmanship consistently evident on the court highlights our school values of showing love and leadership being displayed by our students. 

Next week, we are taking our Year 6 cohort to a combined Kahui Ako South Auckland Catholic Schools mass. Almost a thousand of our catholic primary aged children will come together to celebrate a special mass together. We are ever mindful that this is the last year for our Year 6’s as well as our Intermediate students, and so we are grateful to have opportunities like this to give them a time to spend together as a year 6 cohort before they move on to their new schools next year.

Lastly, this coming Friday will be a challenge for us all, with our ‘Stop It’ CARITAS mufti day fundraiser where we will all attempt to abstain from technology for the entire day. Monday morning’s power outage was a good reminder for us all how dependent we are on technology to help us in our daily lives, and hopefully the day will remind us how nice it is sometimes to turn off all the distractions and spend some quality time together as a family and a community. As we prepare for our school centenary, many of our students are researching what school and life was like ‘Now and Then’. This would be a great opportunity for discussions and comparisons around what your homes and classrooms were like when you were growing up and to see how much has changed over the last few decades. 

Enjoy the last few weeks of the term, and we hope to see you all at our Grandparents Day/Matariki Day celebrations on the last day of the term, Friday, 30th June.

God bless

KEY DATES

 Term 2 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

Caritas Stop It! Challenge & Mufti-Day
On Friday 16 June, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, our tamariki will participate in the Caritas STOP IT! Challenge. This means we will observe one whole day without the use of devices, which encourages us to appreciate that the material luxuries we are so used to are not a reality for tamariki in other countries such as Fiji. Students will be expected to ask whanau and friends for sponsorship for this 24 hours off devices. Sponsorship forms will go home in the coming days. Sponsorship money can be paid directly to Caritas online or else to us here at school. All info will be on the form. That day we will also have a gold coin donation YCC Day (Your Choice of Clothiner – Mufti) All money raised will support the work of Caritas in Fiji.

Aroha Assembly Liturgy: 
Our beautiful tamariki from Year 0-2 lead a wonderful liturgy about how the Holy Spirit is the spirit of Peace, Joy and Love. What great examples you have shown through your singing and role plays about how the Holy Spirit guides us and prompts us to make good choices in our lives. The Holy Spirit is inside of us all the time, when we play, when we learn, when we sleep, when we are at school and when we are with our whanau. Ka Rawe Aroha! Awesome work!

School Board

The Seddon Street pedestrian crossing is well underway. Thank you for your ongoing patience and consideration when dropping off and picking up your children from school.  We can confirm that the crossing is on track to be completed by the end of term and will all enjoy the added safety it will bring to our school community.
– Nicola Hewitt, Board of Trustees Secretary 

Our Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) policy review is still open until the 30th June. If you would like to have your say, please visit the school docs site.  
To review:

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

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

Community Health and Physical Education Consultation

According to the New Zealand Curriculum in Health and Physical Education students learn about their own well-being, and that of others and society, in health-related and movement contexts. At the heart of the Health and PE curriculum are the following four interdependent concepts:
Hauora – A Maori philosophy of well being that includes the dimensions of taha wairua, taha hinengaro, taha tinana and taha whanau.

Attitudes and Values – A positive, responsible attitude on the part of students to their own wellbeing; respect, care and concern for other people and the environment and a sense of social justice.

A socio- ecological perspective – a way of viewing and understanding the interrelationships that exist between the individual, others and society.

Health Promotion – a process that helps to develop and maintain supportive physical and emotional environments and that involves students in personal and collective action.

The Education and Training Act of 2020 requires the Board to consult with our school community in order to create a statement on the delivery of the Health and Physical Education Curriculum that meets the expectations of our community and the needs of our students.

Please share your thoughts with us by following the link below, which will help us to draft a Health and Physical Education plan that meets the needs of our students and school community. There will be a chromebook in the school office if you would like to complete the survey at school. 

https://forms.gle/vqcKmtXLRUT75v9L9

Lost Property :  we have a large amount of clothing in the lost property box.  It has been put out for students to look at several times but does not get any smaller.  It will be displayed on Tuesday 20th June at lunchtime and will stay out until 3.10pm so parents can also check and see if there are any items that belong to their children.  If it isn’t claimed it will be cleaned and put into the 2nd Hand Uniform Shop.  Please note it is very important that you name your children’s school clothing.  Some of the items have past pupils’ names on them and some are almost brand new with no name.

Aroha News
It has been another busy few weeks in Aroha. We have started learning about Probability in Math, justifying our mathematical ideas using a continuum from impossible – possible – certain (Tricky stuff!) We have also been learning a lot about important symbols that are special to our school and are learning about the past in preparation for our upcoming trip and centennial celebrations. Two of our classes were lucky to have Mrs Irwin take us on a special tour of the Church for our RE learning, where we learnt about special people and places in the Parish. Writing daily about our personal experience has been exciting, as we are learning how to use wow words and interesting vocabulary to describe what we did (like the awesome disco we just had)! Every day in Aroha brings new opportunities for learning and we are loving every moment. Tino Pai tamariki keep up the amazing learning in Aroha!

Ako 1 
Ako 1 have been comparing school in the past to school today.  We have learnt a wide variety of things from folk dances to how to code on the computer. We have also learnt about how Eupharise Barbier, the founder of the Mission Sisters, planted an oak tree near the Church. We then collaboratively created our own oak tree. We are looking forward to our visit to Howick Historical Village to see what school was like in the olden days.

Arahi News
Firstly, thank you to everyone who has been supporting our fundraising efforts. Our Year 7&8’s had a wonderful time hosting the school disco last week, and it looked like everyone had a wonderful time dancing, singing, eating and having a great time with their friends and teachers. Save the date for Friday 4th of August for the next one. Over the last two weeks the students have been learning about the changes in schools and technology over the last 100 years. Needless to say they have been shocked with some of the findings and are feeling quite grateful for the opportunities that they have at school nowadays. We look forward to sharing our work next term during the Centennial celebration. In maths, we have shifted our focus from working with fractions to statistics. The students have been very excited to work on their statistical inquiry collecting and presenting data using Party Mix Lollies…they may even get to try a few once the work has been completed. 

A sample of some of the timelines.

School Disco

Kapa Haka
It is with great pleasure that we have opened up our Kapa Haka group to new students. On Tuesday we had over 60 students taking part in our Kapa Haka group. Our tuakana students supported the new children by teaching them the haka and the poi. We can’t wait for our next performance during Grandparents Day on the last day of term.

School Events 

School Centennial 8-9 September

Registrations for our School Centennial are now open. Please fill in the form at the following link https://www.stjosephscentenary.co.nz/register-now We look forward to reminiscing and celebrating with you.

Grandparents Day
On Friday 30th June we will be hosting our annual Grandparents Day. We would like to invite all of our grandparents to come and enjoy a special day with their grandchildren. Please join us between 11:30 and 1pm to participate with some activities that we have organised for our children. The day begins with our Kapa Haka Matariki performance in the hall at 11:30 followed by an open morning in the classroom. At 1pm, we will have a special light lunch in our school hall, provided by our PTA, to be enjoyed with your grandchild. After lunch, we invite all our grandparents to join us for a school Maori mass at 1:30pm at St Patrick’s Church. Your child is most welcome to bring along another significant or special person in their life, if a grandparent is unavailable.

Movie Fundraiser for Winter Camp
Save the date for our fun night out at the movies, the Barbie Movie! No doubt this movie will bring back some memories and nostalgia. Anyone is welcome. Tickets will go on sale next week. Tickets will be limited so keep on the lookout next week for the order form.

Samosas
If you and your family like samosas, you are in luck. An order form will be coming home on Monday next week. 1 order form per family. Check in with family and friends to see if they would like some too. Orders must be in by 28 June. Samosas will be delivered on 21st July. Please collate your orders and make one payment to the school.

Community Notices

 ‘Young at Art offer Children’s, Teens & Adult Art classes in Pukekohe.  Our Winter holiday workshops are open for booking (Papier Mache, Acrylic & Watercolour Painting, Collage and Dreamcatcher workshops). Term 3 after school classes are open for booking in groups for children aged 6-9yrs, 9-12yrs and 13yrs+. Term 3 also offers a special Watercolour 4 week course for teens and tweens.  If there is no space in your chosen class, please email Anna to join the waiting list we often have an odd spot come up at the beginning of term. Adult workshops include a Family Dreamcatchers (adult and child), Watercolours Lillies, Resin Art & Resin Cheeseboards and Acrylic Painting. For more information or to book please check out:   http://www.youngatart.co.nz/  email: admin@youngatart.co.nz.  Bookings are essential as places are limited’.