Term 3 Week 6 Newsletter #8

Term 3 Week 6                          29 August 2024                                            Newsletter #8

Principal’s Message

Special Catholic Character

Values Awards

Tupou Vaiaku ARAHI: Servant Leadership – he always steps up to help whenever he sees a need.

Isla Shields AROHA: always showing kindness and helping her teina whenever they need it!

Eli Leaupepetele ARAHI: always showing leadership and responsibility in completing his year 6 duties. Eli is an exemplary service leader to our school. 

Rosalinda Emelio, Zachariah Afoa-Talavou, Fatai Helu, Daniel Waru, Mika Ramoni, Veronika Tewete, Terubeiti Ruben, Okusi Puamau ARAHI – Leadership: for all of their help and support during Pasifika Week

George Farrell ARAHI – Leadership: He is always willing to step up and help where he sees a need. He was exemplary for our school Olympics Day, encouraging others.

Father’s Day School-Assisted Mass – 10am this Sunday, 1st September

Whānau attendance is expected at this Sunday’s School-Assisted Mass. We will have a Father’s Day theme and look forward to celebrating this special Mass with you all. Here is what you need to know:

1. Tamariki are to wear school uniform, arrive at 9:45am and sit to the East side of the Church (organ-side).
2. Years 4 – 6 are bringing baking, which they can leave in the foyer before Mass (plates and recipes go home today).
3. Years 1 – 3 are to bring food items to support our Parish Food Bank. These can be placed in the grey baskets before Mass. Demand for food parcels continues to be high, so many thanks in advance. 
4. Bring some cash if you wish to purchase baking afterwards in support of our Year 6 Camp.

Assumption Mass

One of our favourite Masses of the year is the Feast of the Assumption of Mary on August 15th, and this year was no exception. Year 5 ākonga were commissioned to lead the ministries, which was a great opportunity for them as upcoming leaders next year. We sang our usual repertoire of Mary songs, along with ukuleles and Mrs Waru on the organ. 

We had a special Mary altar with flowers and a picture of the RNDM cross to honour our school’s founding order of Mission sisters. It was wonderful to witness our Christian charity in how much food had been donated for this Mass. This was much appreciated by the Parish. Thank you all for giving so generously.

Mary’s Magnificat prayer was very moving, which we sang for the psalm. A lovely group of girls were leading the sign language and Leanne Domingo did a speaking part. Mary’s Magnificat is the longest discourse recorded of Mary in Divine Revelation, as it was pronounced by Mary herself as she carried the Divine child Jesus in her womb.

Mary’s Magnificat – Luke 1:46-55

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
for God has looked with favour on the lowliness of the Almighty’s servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;                                                                               for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is God’s name. God’s mercy is for those who fear God from generation to generation.
God has shown strength with God’s arm; God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
God has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;
God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.
God has helped servant Israel, in remembrance of God’s mercy,
according to the promise God made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.

Reuben O’Neill Bursary

St. Pat’s Kids Choir

Practices are each Wednesday at 3pm at the Church. 

No practice Wednesday 25th September. 

We will sing on Sunday 15th September at 10am Mass.

New members email maireadg@stjosephs.co.nz

Key Dates

Term 3 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 Notices / Upcoming Events

School Attendance Dues

Term Three School Fees are now due.

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.

Second-Hand Uniforms

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

If there are any parents who can help in the uniform shop either on a Monday or Thursday we would love to hear from you.  We have been relying on one parent for a long time now.

New Enrolments

Now is the time to get enrolments in for 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.  Knowing the numbers of new pupils now, ensures our staffing for the following year.

Today is the last day to order photos!

Celebrations 

Aroha

In RE this term we have been learning that every human person God creates is part of God’s whānau. God’s family is ginormous. God’s family started thousands of years ago when the first people were born. God is the Father of the whole human whānau. Yesterday Aroha students led our liturgy showing our learning. Aroha’s beautiful singing and dancing inspired us to remember that we are all a part of God’s whānau who love and care for one another. 

Ako

We have had a very busy few weeks. Inside the classroom we have started Geometry in Maths, and students are enjoying their RE lessons around the Fruits and Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Outside the classroom we have had a fantastic time being a part of our School Wide Olympics Day and Pasifika Week celebrations. 

Our Year 3 girls participated in the Franklin Schools Netball tournament. They had an amazing time, participated with great spirit and sportsmanship and to top it off they came 3rd in their grade. 

Arahi 

Arahi has had a massive few weeks with Netball, Pasifika Week, and St Anne’s Shield Tournament yesterday. Many of our Arahi students participated in these events and made us all so proud, representing St Joseph’s in such a positive way. Of course, these events would not have been possible without the support of our parent helpers. Our learning so far has been surrounding the Olympics, now we are heading out into the world and exploring other countries and their folktales and representing these through art! We look forward to seeing the end product. 

Pasifika Week

What a wonderful week celebrating our Pasifika cultures. We were blessed with many learning opportunities starting with a visit from Pukekohe High school Tongan group, then beautiful displays in our library, talks and sharing of knowledge from our pasifika fanau, yummy Otai, Panikeke & Chop Suey, a beautiful fashion show & amazing performances and much much more. We finished off the week with an amazing multicultural day where students were proud to dress in their cultural clothing which was worn with so much pride. Our Pasifika group also performed and amazed us with a new Tongan item. We are very blessed to have such a wonderful diverse community.  A very special thank-you to Joseph Emelio for supporting and leading our Pasifika group. Also to our Pasifika families who spent many days in the kitchen and behind the scenes to make this week possible. O le tele o sulu e maua ai figota, e māmā se avega pe a tāamo fa’atasi”  – “My strength does not come from me alone but from many”. Fa’afetai lava thank you!

Franklin Pasifika Speech Competition

On Thursday 22nd August St Joseph’s school hosted the annual Franklin Pasifika Speech competition. We had 8 Year 5 & 6 students who prepared and delivered a speech either fully in their native language or bilingual. We are proud of our speech makers; Veronika Tewete, Terubeiti Ruben, Fatai Helu, Rosalinda Emelio, Mika Ramoni, Zachariah Afoa-Talavou, Daniel Waru & Aria Bal. A special congratulations to our trophy winners;

• Veronika Tewete – Year 5 & 6 Kiribati Bilingual
• Terubeiti Ruben – Year 5 & 6 Full Kiribati
• Fatai Helu – Year 5 & 6 Full Tongan
• Daniel Waru – Year 5 & 6 Full Samoan

Thank you to our fanau who supported our students to succeed with this competition. Malo Lava!

Kia Mataara Pukekohekohe

Over weeks 4 & 5 St Joseph’s road patrollers worked with Auckland Transport by participating in a variety of activities to raise awareness among drivers around our school. The activities were a Speed Gun and Safety Around Our School Gates. These were important to show how unsafe the roads around our school can be, especially before and after school. We also had Zara the Zebra and our local Constable work with our Year 0 & 1 classes on how to cross the road safely at the zebra crossing. 

A few reminders for our school families

• Please park in the designated areas and stay away from the yellow lines.
• Cross at our two crossings (one on Seddon St & Dublin St).
• No U-turns please.

Community Notices

NZMSM Exam Results

Congratulations to the following children who had wonderful results in the NZMSM exams last week.

NZ Modern School of Music practical exam results:

Initial exam – Piano

Marjiam Pena – Distinction

Adeline Shields – Distinction

Sofia Bautista – Honours

Initial exam – Keyboard:

Rosalinda Emelio – Distinction

Jake William – Pass

Preliminary exam – Piano

Leanne Domingo – Honours

Isabella Summerville – Merit 

Well done!

THE GREAT BRICK COMPETITION

 We are reaching out to our local community schools to share information about a totally FREE competition open to our passionate young primary, intermediate & high school Lego/brick builders.

The competition is being sponsored by Buckland Hall in conjunction with Callander Construction and will be based loosely around the Lego Masters concept.

 Our goal is to encourage and recognise creativity and storytelling across three age groups and also to celebrate the achievements with a public display and participation with a voting process.

 We also welcome pre-built adult creations to be brought along to include in the public display.

 The event will take place at Buckland Hall on Sunday 15 September

 Full information is contained on our website www.bucklandhall.nz/brick-competition which also has a link to the entry form.

Entries are open now and close on 1st September.

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