Term 3 Week 9 11 September 2025 Newsletter #9
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Tena Koutou Katoa Talofa Lava Kamusta Malo e lelei Mauri Malo ni Faka talofa atu Namaste Greetings to all
Term Three has flown by.
Many thanks to our 2022-2025 School Board parent representatives for their service to St Joseph’s School: Denis Murphy, Elvira Balle, Carla van Tiel, Luke Kneebone and Davina West. Elvira is not seeking re-election after 6 years service on the board, and Carla after 3 years. Voting for this year’s 2025 School Board Elections is now closed. We wish all nominees all the best as our Board election results are published on 16 September. Our Proprietors’ representatives on the Board continue to be Fr Robert Steele, Losa Helu, Joseph Emelio and Nicola Hewitt. The first meeting of the 2025-2027 School Board will be held at 7:00 pm on Wednesday 29 October.
Last week, our DP, Robin Burns, along with two parents and five of our Maaori students, joined the hikoi with our other CDA Tainui schools led by our Vicar for Maaori, Manuel Beazley, to attend the first anniversary of the Koroneihana (Coronation) of Kuini Ngawai hono i te po at Tuurangawaewae Marae in Ngaaruawaahia. This was a valuable experience for everyone and we anticipate this will now become an annual event.
St Joseph’s School continues to provide many opportunities for our students. Over the past weeks, we have had a musical instrument show, basketball, Jump Jam, Franklin Y5/6 Mathex competition, the Y2-4 EOTC Caritas Challenge, and currently, the EPRO8 activities. On Tuesday our Y5/6 participated in the annual St Anne’s Shield Competition – a real favourite in our school. The St Anne’s Shield is a multi-code sport competition, which has been running for many years (1963) among our South Auckland Catholic Primary schools. We are proud of how our students participate and mix with other Catholic school children.
Next week marks the 50th anniversary of the first Te Wiki o te Reo Maaori. The 2025 theme is “Ake ake ake – A forever language”, promoting the long-term sustainability and use of te reo Maaori. Following Bishop Pompallier’s example, our Catholic schools are committed to the promotion of te reo in our schools. Our school will be participating in a Miha Maaori (Mass in te reo) next Friday at 1:00 pm. Paa Pita (Fr Peter McDermott) will be saying our Mass for us. This is another great opportunity for our school to bring goods to contribute to our parish food bank.
During the first week of the term break, our Senior Leadership Team (AP, DP and Principal) will be attending a two-day leadership professional development course. We are looking forward to having the time to connect and learn together outside of the school environment.
With the end of the term in sight, I’d like to thank our students, parents, and staff for their hard work and commitment. It’s been inspiring to see the growth and achievements of our students, and I’m proud of our school’s strong sense of community.
We hope to see all our students at school tomorrow for our school photos.
Nga manaakitanga ki a koe.
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Special Catholic Character
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School Values Awards
Stella McAlister, Saige Alderton, Maaike Ferguson
Arahi – for their dedication and service in selling photo raffle tickets. You all certainly have the missionary spirit for raising funds for our school camp.
Imanol MacGilloway
Arahi – for noticing what needs to be done and doing it without being asked
Jairus Mundolil
Arahi and Aroha – For running past children and then stopping his play to go back and help them all.
An amazing upstander!
Stella McAlister, Hana Aiavao, Gaby Heaton, Rose Emelio and Marjiam Pena
Arahi – for always stepping up and leading our singing during school Masses
Marlowe Farrell
Arahi – showed leadership and common sense in stopping younger children from doing something dangerous.
SVDP Can Drive Mufti Day – Gold Coin Donation
Next Wednesday, 17th September, we are having a mufti day to support the annual St Vincent de Paul Can Drive. Funds donated will go towards the cost of the collection of cans from other schools across Auckland. You can appreciate that Pukekohe is the furthest to drive to, and the organisers have asked that we support them in this way.
Miha Maaori
Please join us for our annual Miha Maaori which will be celebrated on Friday 19th September at 1pm at St Patrick’s Pukekohe. This year we will be joined by Paa Pita McDermott who will celebrate Mass for us. We are asking all whaanau to bring an item of non-perishable food for our Parish Foodbank.
Save the Date – School Assisted Mass
Our next School Assisted Mass will be on the 19th of October at 10am. Please put this date in your diaries.
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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
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MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD
Congratulations to the following parishioners
who have been reappointed as Proprietors’ Representatives on the School Board:
Fr Robert Steele, Losa Helu, Joseph Emelio and Nicola Hewitt
VOTING HAS NOW CLOSED FOR THE BOT ELECTIONS YOUR NEW BOARD WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON TUESDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER. NEW BOARD TAKES OFFICE ON WEDNESDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER.
SCHOOL POLICIES
In Term 3, the Board, staff and community are asked to review the following policies: Child Protection (board), Abuse Recognition and Reporting (board), Food and Nutrition, Safety Checking (board), Police Vetting, and Missing Student Procedure
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 Joseph’s School Pukekohe) and then select it from the dropdown list.
- Enter the community username: stjosephspukekohe and password: mission.
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 2, Term 4 Friday 17th 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 email address schoolboard@stjosephs.co.nz
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At St Joseph’s, we know that regular school attendance is essential for every child’s learning and success.
Our goal is for 80% of our students to attend school at least 90% of the time.
 
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School Notices / Upcoming Events
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Photo Day TOMORROW!
https://masterpiece.queensberryworkspace.com/stjcp25
LAST DAY TO ORDER INDIVIDUAL OR FAMILY PHOTOS TODAY Thursday 11th!
Term 3 School Attendance Dues are now overdue!
Dues should be paid by Week 5 of every term into our
ASB account: 12-3023-0338374-01 ref: student’s name
These can also be paid at the school office by eftpos or cash.
Thank you to the families who have made the effort to get their dues paid.
When making a payment, please help us by telling us what you are paying for.
Ref: Student’s name
Particulars – What payment is for.
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.
Parents, you need to ensure your child is at school by 8:30 every day. Thank you.
Please note that any children who arrive at school before 8:15 are not supervised.
Some children are arriving at school before 8:00 am!
Second-Hand Uniform Shop
The Second-hand uniform shop is open on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons 2:30 – 3:00 pm.
It will also be open in the holidays on Wednesday 1st October from 10:00 – 1:00 pm.
We are limiting purchases to 1 item of each article of clothing per child, per term. The children will be in their summer uniform next term.
New items can be purchased from The Uniform Shoppe on Glasgow Road, Pukekohe
Understanding Your Child’s Learning
Remember to check out the Ministry of Education’s Parent Portal for useful tips on how you can support your child’s education.
https://www.education.govt.nz/parents-and-caregivers/schools-year-0-13/understand-your-childs-learning/new-zealand-curriculum-year-by-year-learning-guide
Road Safety Update
IMPORTANT! We were notified by a parent who was supporting the Seddon Street crossing on the morning of Wednesday 10 September that there continues to be dangerous drivers. After dropping off their child (St Joe’s student) they sped through the crossing almost. We constantly see people still parking on yellow lines, which restricts our vision on the crossing and doing dangerous U-turns in front of the crossing. The sad thing is, that many of these dangerous acts are done by school parents. Please drive safe, slow and follow the road rules at all times. This is to ensure the safety of all our children.
Parking in front of the school is limited, however the church parking lot is safe and free to use. Please consider this as a safe alternative.
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Aroha
What a wonderful few weeks! We loved the Musical Instrument show and were spellbound looking at the home made versions of the instruments. We learned all about how sounds were made by looking at these.Then we had so much fun playing with real and homemade instruments in an orchestra. At the moment we are learning about how to be Peacemakers in our Caritas Social Justice week. A big focus in our current RE learning has been about showing respect through making good choices.
Ako
On Monday, the 1st of September Ako team had a Caritas Challenge day. We got to experience how people live without electricity. It was a very fun day. First, we were playing with rākau (sticks). Then we had to make tents for shelters. It was really hard because it was so windy. It would be tough to live like that all the time. Next, we made ropes out of flax strings. I like tying it up and twisting the strings. You could use it for a skipping rope. After that, we made fires using flints. It was fun making the sparks. Lastly, we cooked doughnuts over a fire. They were delicious and yummy. I liked all the activities, but I wouldn’t like to live like that all of the time.
By Archie O’Neil, Year 3 Ako LS.
Arahi
Wow, it’s been a busy couple of weeks. Selected Students from across Years 5 & 6 have been able to compete in the Auckland Strictly Jump Jam. Last week, Year 2 – 6 competed in the Proclaim the Word competition, which was held in St Patrick’s Church, Pukekohe. Good luck to Leanne who will represent us at the next Proclaim the Word competition. For the last few weeks, Arahi have been training for St Anne Shield day which will take place in Week 9. This is a highlight for us, we can’t wait!
By Hana Aiavao and Rosalinda Emelio
Amazing effort, Macey Donelley, who represented St Joseph’s School at the annual Catholic Cross Country Competition. We are very proud!
Franklin Mathex
On Friday 5 September two teams of Year 5&6 students competed in the annual Franklin Mathex competition. There were 32 teams solving complex number problems and racing to beat the clock. It was a very tough competition. One of our teams placed 4th, but after the 3rd place tie breaker, it left us in 6th place. Either way, we are extremely proud of our achievement.
Country Life Themed Disco
Thank you to everyone who supported the recent disco. It was great to see all the children and teachers dressed up. Jenna from Footsteps kept the party going by teaching us some awesome choreography and dance moves. The funds raised are helping to support our school camp.
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PTA/Friends of St Joseph’s School Notices
Call to Action – St Joseph’s School Fair 2026!
Calling all families and friends of St Joseph’s. If you or your friends own a business that would be interested in supporting us to raise funds for our new sensory playground and to upgrade our senior playground please get in touch with the PTA.
 https://www.sporty.co.nz/viewform/327827
“Seasons For Growth” is a grief, loss and change Programme for children dealing with challenges in their lives such as separation, divorce, death, or other family changes. Our Afterschool Programme starts next term on Thursday, 16th October. It is held in Pukekohe and runs once a week on Thursdays, over 8 weeks. An optional Parent Programme also runs at the same time.
For enquiries or enrolments please phone/text Marisa Skilton 021 142 5812, office (09) 238 7228, or contact seasonsfranklin@xtra.co.nz.
For more info, please go to www.pukekohecommunityaction.co.nz/seasons.
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