Term 3 Week 10 Newsletter #15

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 10 21 September 2023 Newsletter #15

Principal’s Message

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

A huge “thank you” to all of our school community who have been so involved in school life over the last few weeks. Our St Joseph’s School Centennial was a great success. Friday was a highlight for me beginning with our Centennial Mass celebrated by Bishop Steve Lowe, Frs Robert Steele and Thomas Park, and visiting priests Frs Peter Gray and Mark Napa. Special guests included representatives from the Catholic Education Office, principals from our Catholic Kāhui Ako, and five of our RNDM Mission Sisters; three of whom have taught here in the past. We also had two of our past principals: Sr Margaret Monaghan and Mrs Jocelyn Uasike attending; both were delighted to come back to celebrate with our school. After the Mass, there was a powhiri welcoming Bishop Steve onto our school grounds for the first time, and a luncheon organised by some of our parents. That afternoon the students were able to enjoy Ako 2’s performance “Home and Away”, the story of Euphrasie Barbier and the Mission Sisters’ arrival in Pukekohe.

A special moment on Saturday was when the old school bell was rung officially for the first time since the 1980s when the original building was demolished as it was an earthquake risk. Mr Tim Reynolds had a new “clapper” made for the bell and it is he who was responsible for its restoration some years ago. We had a wonderful day with our students and staff involved in cultural and individual performances, as well as our student ambassadors showing visitors around our school. Children’s learning, focused on our school’s foundation history, was on display and our students and teachers now have a stronger understanding of our school’s charism. Next time you are in school, take a look at the history panels and house information boards that are in our school administration entrance/stairwell.

A great amount of work took place by many in preparation for our school’s centenary and I want to especially thank our centennial committee, and those associated with it, for putting the weekend’s programme together and our school staff who went above and beyond to ensure that St Joseph’s School was seen in its best light. We received many compliments about how the school was looking and the centennial was a wonderful opportunity for people to reconnect; I know many, including the staff, enjoyed the Saturday night function.

Last week was another great opportunity for family engagement during our school’s Pasifika Week celebrations. Mrs Lori Mravicich and Mrs Nia Ali organised an amazing week of cultural activities supported by our Pasifika parents. All of our children were exposed to the diversity of the many Pacific cultures we have in our school. Our children enjoyed participating in their performance groups. We were delighted to welcome back a past pupil, Caitlyn Smythe and her sister Beatrice. Caitlyn is currently Miss Earth New Zealand 2023 and she will be representing New Zealand in Vietnam later this year. After speaking with our Y7&8 students, she performed a Tongan Tau’olunga for us at our cultural assembly. During the week, St Joseph’s School also hosted the Franklin Schools Pasifika Speech Competition – another example of celebrating our Pasifika people in our community.

I am sure you are looking forward to having time to spend with your families over this term break. I know many of us are ready to wind down, rest and rejuvenate as we approach our final busy school term as it will be another eventful one. I’m sure you will understand some of the complexities we face as we end this era as a Year 1-8 school. I will endeavour to guide the school through this time of transition to the best of my ability and I ask for your prayers and support as we navigate this significant change to our school’s future.

Nga manaakitanga ki a koe me to whanau.

Special Catholic Character

Values Awards

Cooper McCarthy- Gallagher & William Kempthorne: Arahi and Ako – for leadership, voluntarily staying after school to organise our chrome books in their own time.

Sign of the Cross Challenge

Thank you to all tamariki who participated in the Sign of the Cross Challenge.Your videos have been forwarded to NCRS, the Catholic Curriculum office, for use in the New RE Curriculum here in Aotearoa.

Here is a video we’ve made of all those who entered: https://clipchamp.com/watch/ip63RBebMgr

Mufti Day this Friday for Caritas Emergency Relief

Please can tamariki wear mufti this Friday and bring a gold coin donation for Caritas who are supporting communities on the ground in Morocco, Libya and other places in crisis at the moment.

Centenary Mass

Following from what Mrs Hall has already recounted about our beautiful Centenary Mass, our Arahi students did us proud in leading the Mass and the participation from the whole school was outstanding. Special thanks to Davina West for playing the piano for the Mass, to Jomel Vicente for assistance with AV and to Jean Kiely for assisting with Mass preparation. Arahi students carried forward symbols of our school’s past and present: our Centennial candle, our Centennial banner, a hand bell, a carpentry tool for St. Joseph, a photo of Euphrasie Barbier and the RNDM cross. Some special guests were presented with lei during the offertory procession, and our Centenary badges were carried forward to the altar. Some photos of the Mass will be included in the Centennial Magazine.

Production: HOME AND AWAY – The Life of Euphrasie Barbier

Congratulations to Ako 2 on a wonderful production. A superb team effort!

Special thanks to all the staff and volunteers who helped.

Key Dates

Term 3 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

School Board

Congratulations to the centennial committee for planning and running our centennial celebrations. It was wonderful to see the impact that our school has had over the past 100 years. Thanks also to those in our community who donated their time and other resources to help make the weekend a success.

Thank you to our students and staff for another successful term. We hope you enjoy a safe and relaxing holiday and return fully recharged for term four.

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 1, Term 4: Friday 13 October. 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 new email address schoolboard@stjosephs.co.nz

School Notices / Upcoming Events

Attendance Dues

All Term 3 attendance dues should now be paid.

Term 4 attendance dues should be paid by 30th November 2023.

Term 3 Learning Conversations

During the next two weeks, if you have any questions about your child’s learning progress, you have the opportunity to book in a conference with your child’s kaitiaki/teacher. Alternatively, teacher’s will be contacting any parents they would like to speak with.

These conferences are by request of the parent or teacher. Some parents already keep in regular contact with their child’s teacher and may not require a set meeting at this time. These can either be face to face, through Zoom or Google Meets, or a phone call – whatever works best for you.

If you would like to request an appointment, please directly message or email your child’s teacher to arrange a time to meet/talk. Remember you can make an appointment to see your child’s teacher at any time, however, we have staff/team meetings after school on Monday and Tuesdays, so those times are unavailable. Remember to bring your child with you to be part of this learning conversation.

2023 School Magazine Orders: Purchasing our annual school magazine is a lovely record of your child’s year at school, especially in their final year and the school’s centennial year. The cost of $26 will be added to your school account however the purchase is optional. If you do want to buy this year’s magazine, payment will need to be made by November 17th. The magazine is printed in December and distributed at the end of the school year.

Second Hand Uniforms

As we move into our summer uniform in Term 4, please donate any uniforms your children have outgrown that are in good condition. There are a number of students leaving and many families have greatly benefited from these uniform donations over the years.

Summer Uniform: For Girls this is our green and white tunic with Black or brown leather sandals. The sandal must have a heel/ankle strap, and no colour variations are allowed. Roman sandals are an acceptable option.

For Boys this is grey shorts (light weight), short sleeved polo shirt (logo on front) with Black or brown leather sandals. The sandal must have a heel/ankle strap, and no colour variations are allowed. Roman sandals are an acceptable option.

Girls in Year 6, 7 & 8 while it is still our preference that you wear your summer uniform, if you have outgrown your summer uniform you can wear your winter uniform until the end of the year.

The second hand uniform shop will be open during the school holidays in the second week on Wednesday 4th October, 10.30am – 2.30pm. Please feel free to bring in any of your unwanted uniforms on this day as well. We have very low stock of small summer dresses.

School Class/Portrait Photographs

These should be available within the next 4-6 weeks. If you have any questions, please contact Masterpiece photography Ph: 07 823 4306

Centenary Photos

Photos of centenary events on Saturday can be purchased by contacting Athol Corbett. athol.corbett@xtra.co.nz Electronic Copy $20, Hard Copy Mailed $30, Flash Drives of all images $40 NZ $50 overseas. 02-1242-0326219-01.

Centenary Magazines

Centenary Magazines are now available to order for $30, please contact the office if you would like to purchase a copy.

NEW ENROLMENTS 2024

If your child, or someone you know, is turning 5 years old next year,

we need them to enrol at St Joseph’s School now!

Knowing how many children are coming helps us to plan ahead for our staffing.

Please contact the office stjoesoffice@stjosephs.co.nz

Celebrations

Pasifika Week: Thank you to all the parents and whanau that helped to make our Pasifika Week such a success. The students loved hearing about different cultures, trying different food, and participating in the Pasifika Week house competition. Many thanks to Losa Helu and Telesia Halapio that helped to prepare the panikeke, otai and chop suey lunch orders as well as the shared lunch for the speech competition.

Congratulations to the winners of our Pasifika Week Colouring Contest:

Aroha: Joshua George

Ako 1: Eddie Wynne

Ako 2: Izrael Sau-McLaren

Arahi: Grace Fonseca

Pasifika Speech Competition: Congratulations to all our students that competed last week in the Franklin Pasifika Speech Competition. We had 17 entries from St Joseph’s and 8 of our students were awarded first place trophies. Congratulations to: Elijah Koaneti, Aria Bal, Vaiola Setefano, Tita Teoro, Veronika Tewete, Terubeiti Ruben, Pitas Baraniko, and Apenisa Lesavua.

Cultural Day: The students looked amazing in their cultural dress on Friday and it was wonderful to see all the different cultural groups performing and all the different cultures represented at our school.

Thank you to all the families that sent in items for our shared cultural lunch, it was a special day for all our students.

Aroha News

We have thoroughly enjoyed the last few weeks of celebrations. Some highlights have included our centenary celebrations and Pasifika week. Through these many experiences children in Aroha have been able to add new vocabulary into their writing. Check out some of our amazing writing below:

Today we tried Koko Alaisa it’s a dessert from Samoa. It looks so lumpy and mushy. It smells strong like coffee. It tastes chocolatey and fruity. It feels gooey, runny and squishy to make Koko Alaisa. These are the ingredients you need: Koko Samoa, rice, coconut cream, lemon leaves, sugar and water. Mrs Waru loves Koko Alaisa because she’s from Samoa.

By Natalie (Year 2)

The Koko Alaisa has kind of a strong taste. I really like it so so much. I will say yummy! Yummy! It was Mrs Waru’s favourite food when she was a little kid, she likes it so so much.

By Hannah (Year 1)

Today Mrs Harrington showed us special treasures. The treasures are from the Cook Islands. So Mrs Harrington had to get everything ready for us so she can do things one by one. So first she can talk about her clothes. So she was wearing a dress. It was so lovely to me. It has flowers on it. The lovely dress was yellow too. It was yellow as the sun and she was wearing a pearl. After that she got out a big big shell! It was so cool and Mrs Harrington had a yellow hat. It has green things too and she has a lot of shells from the Cook Islands.

By Pamela-Velvet (Year 2)

Mrs Harrington went to the Cook Islands. She saw some shells and some pearls. I like to look at the coconut.

By Jianna (Year 0)

I saw a coconut because Mrs Harrington went to the Cook Islands. I like the fish because I have seen it before and I like the fish and I like the starfish and I like the rainbow fish.

By Billie (Year 0)

Tonga is a group of islands in the Pacific. Some things I learnt are…

-Tonga has a king

-They can surf

-The country shuts on Sundays

By Xanthe (Year 1)

-There are big volcanoes and just 4 volcanoes.

-There is very big humpback whales

-There is a King

By Jakob (Year 1)

I saw a coconut and Mrs Harrington pearls.

By Lachlan (Year 0)

Ako 1 News

Ako 1 visited the Church today to meet with Father Robert for a lesson about the sacred vessels used during Eucharist. We found out the special names of the vessels, uses and what they are made of. We also have learnt all about who makes the wine and bread. We ended our time at Church with Father Robert leading us with special prayers. We thank Father Robert for such an interesting lesson.

Community Notices

Be Part of a Maths Survey for Massey University

A team from Massey University are undertaking a project on New Zealand children (aged 10 – 15 years) experiences related to financial situations. The survey will take around 10 minutes for the adult to complete and then around 15 minutes for the child to complete. We will be using the information gathered to develop mathematics and financial education tasks for teachers in New Zealand to use as well as to inform the overall research project. We would greatly appreciate it if you take the time to please complete the survey link below with your child

https://masseybusiness.asia.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9yFKOFhlUFB7pTo?fbclid=IwAR0qRXcLBuuRDVNJ8fv77Zi_pduO3K9Oh8HhiT_bwFKKKNiosEU9MAQdjHE”

St Pat’s Kids Choir

New members are welcome to come along to our Thursday practices at the Church.

Please note these dates on your calendars:

1) We will have practices on Thursdays this term 3pm – 3:40pm

2) There will be no practice Thursday 21 September

AKOTECH CodeCamps October School Holidays – FREE PRIZE & EARLY DISCOUNTS

Our holiday camp allows children from the ages of 7-12 to develop 21st century skills in a fun and action packed environment. Create and train your own AI Avatars, make games, code drones & go to work for a simulated Tech Gaming Studio to build games for a big client.

Develop confidence & initiative through design, creativity, solving problems, presenting & collaboration. Create your own games, worlds and apps to make our world a better place.

We also have Literati Lab just for girls, which includes AI Art & Animation.

Enter our competition to win a FREE 4 day pass to one of our CodeCamps

Pukekohe Christian School: 25th – 28th September

Book Now at www.akotech.nz

Competition: www.codecamp.co.nz/competition

EarlyBird Save Up to 21% Until 25th Aug

Siblings Save 6%