Term 1 Week 3 19 February 2026 Newsletter #1
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tena Koutou Katoa Talofa Lava Kamusta Malo e lelei Mauri Malo ni Faka talofa atu Namaste Greetings to all
We have had a very settled start to our 2026 school year and look forward to this continuing as the term progresses.
Last week, we were pleased to greet our families at our Meet the Teacher/Whaanau picnic, which began with open classrooms. This annual event provides an important opportunity for parents, students, and teachers to connect in a relaxed, informal setting. I always hear from our working parents that they value the opportunity to see their child’s classroom and meet their teacher. Our PTA parents were encouraging parents to get involved in our upcoming School Fair. Please help where you can.
On Tuesday, our School Dedication Mass took place and our new Year 6 student leaders and staff were commissioned for 2026. St Joseph’s School is a Mission Sisters school and as such we are asked to serve one another and our community – To be in right relationship with God, ourselves and others and with creation. We are thrilled to have such quality of students to choose from for our leadership and service roles. We know that, with support, they will carry out their roles responsibly, with care and kindness.
That night, our teachers joined other teachers in our Auckland Diocese Catholic schools in a Teachers’ Dedication Mass concelebrated by Bishop Steve Lowe. Several of our teachers were acknowledged for gaining their individual classroom and leadership level certificates, as well as completing professional development courses in 2025. Teachers in Catholic schools are expected to complete 12 hours of Religious Education professional development each year. To achieve classroom-level certification, our teachers need to complete 100 hours of study. This is a big commitment on top of all other curriculum expectations, and I commend them for their continued dedication to Catholic education.
Yesterday, we held an Ash Wednesday Liturgy at school to mark the beginning of our Lenten season.
Lent is a time of preparation for Easter Sunday, the most important celebration in our Catholic Church. Lent is a time for us to renew our baptismal promises through prayer, charity, and fasting. Pope Leo suggests that we fast from words and disarm language that wounds, that we speak kindly to and of others. At St Joseph’s, we will be encouraging everyone to do this.
The Ministry of Education’s priority for 2026 continues to be Attendance and Achievement; improved attendance supports improved achievement. The MOE’s goal is that 80% of students attend more than 90% of the time. This year, all schools have to have an Attendance Management Plan in place. The emphasis will be on the individual students and how often they attend. Please continue to inform the school of your child’s absences. If your child is regularly absent, or has patterns of absence, I will be contacting you.
We are very excited about our upcoming school fair. We have a dedicated group of parents & teachers working hard to ensure this event is a success. If you can help in any way (sponsorship, raffle or donation of goods), please contact your child’s teacher, Renee Farrell, or email pta@stjosephs.co.nz . Every class has a stall allotted to them and a PTA liaison person. We ask that all parents/families give one hour of your time to support a stall on the day. Our Fair is now only 3 weeks away, and we appreciate you supporting the school. All funds raised by the PTA go directly to helping to make our school a better place for your children.
We look forward to a productive school year.
Nga manaakitanga ki a koe.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Special Catholic Character
|
Dedication Mass
On Tuesday, we began our school year with a beautiful Mass celebrated by Father Robert. Our Year 6 students led the celebration with reverence and confidence, setting a wonderful example as they step into their roles as strong leaders for the year ahead.
During the Mass, we proudly commissioned our school leaders for 2026. It was a special moment as they accepted their responsibilities and committed to leading our school community with faith, integrity and service. We look forward to the positive impact they will make throughout the year.
 School Leaders
Our 2026 school leaders were announced at our Dedication Mass.
School Captains: Zoey Talavou & Matthew Stallworthy
Pasifika Leaders: Anthony Helu, Bruce Ramoni & Zoey Talavou
Taha Maaori: Kara Knight & Harry Mills
Peer Mediator Leaders: Sophia Hewitt & Mackay Methven
May God bless our 2026 school leaders with wisdom, courage, and kind hearts as they serve others and lead by example. May they use their gifts with joy and confidence, growing in skill and compassion as they care for our school community throughout the year.
Teacher Dedication Mass
On Tuesday 17th February, our Teaching Staff and Senior Leadership joined other Catholic Schools from around Auckland. Bishop Steve Lowe celebrated Mass and encouraged us as teachers to be the Light of Christ within our schools. During Mass, members of our staff were presented with certificates acknowledging the certifications they have received in the past year. They are as follows:
Classroom Level: Jenni Logan, Morgan Jones and Ashley Clarke
Leadership Level: Tiana Farrell and Amy Massey
Leadership Level Endorsed: Linda Sokimi, Ursula Hall, Joanna Wilcox and Lesley Wallace
Completed Having Life to the Full: Tiana Farrell and Ashley Clarke
Ash Wednesday
On Wednesday, 18th February, our Year 5 classes led the school community in a beautiful and reflective liturgy to mark the beginning of the Lenten season.
As we journey through these 40 days of Lent, we are reminded of the importance of praying, fasting, and giving — growing closer to God and to one another through acts of compassion and faith.
We thank our Year 5 students and teachers for helping us begin this sacred season with prayer and reverence.
|
|
|
Term 1 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
|
|
|
| |
|
HEADS UP!
Auckland Council Pipeline Project
We understand that work on the water pipe running through the school driveway, from Seddon St to Dublin St, will start on Monday, 23rd February. This project is supposed to last 2-5 days. At this stage, we do not know how it will affect you dropping off or collecting your children to/from school. We do know that staff will be unable to park in the school grounds. You will only be able to access the school through the pedestrian gates. We will provide you with further information when we know more.
SCHOOL POLICIES
SchoolDocs T1 Review: This term we are reviewing some of the policies in the Safety On and Off School Grounds section: Alcohol, Drugs, and Other Harmful Substances Policy (board), Sun Protection (board), Digital Technology and Online Safety (board), and Cellphones and Other Personal Digital Devices. Review closes 2nd April
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.
Thank you to our school community for participating in our triennial board elections.
If you would like to contact the Board directly at any time, please do so through our email address schoolboard@stjosephs.co.nz
Our next School Board Meeting is Wednesday 25th March at 7.00pm
|
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.
St Joseph’s School Pukekohe Attendance Management Plan
There are a number of different codes the Ministry of Education requires us to use. Any time your child is not at school is considered an absence and impacts their overall attendance, but within the overall absence category are a number of different codes that are assigned depending on the reason given for the absence.
J – This means the absence is explained and justified within school policy, for example, attending a funeral.
D – An approved external appointment, which includes going to the doctor or dentist.
E – An explanation was provided but is not considered justified, for example, keeping a well child at home because their sibling is sick or an explanation of ‘family reasons’ without providing sufficient information for us to judge whether it is considered a justified absence.
G – We use this code when a child is on holiday during term time. As mentioned above it does mean that while an explanation was provided, it is not considered a justified reason.
T – This means the child is considered truant as the child is not at school and no explanation was given.
In addition to these absence codes, there are other codes we use to ensure we accurately track your child’s attendance.
L – If your child arrives after 8:45, they will be marked as late. In this instance, your child should come through the office and sign in using the tablet. While we understand there are situations beyond your control that mean your child may be unavoidably late on a rare occasion, we were concerned about the number of students who were regularly arriving late in 2025. We hope to see this improve in 2026.
Q – This code means the child is engaging in Board-approved off-site learning, which includes things like camp and a small number of situations that may be specific to a student.
While we understand family situations can impact school attendance, we ask that you prioritise your child being at school whenever possible. If they are unable to attend, please notify the office with a reason by 9:15 am via the school app, school website, by phone or by email. If we don’t hear from you, we will send a text to follow up.
For any questions or concerns regarding attendance, your child’s teacher should be the first point of contact. Requests for holidays during term time or for extended periods of absence should be submitted to the principal – Principal@stjosephs.co.nz
|
School Notices / Upcoming Events
|
Term Dates 2026
Term 1 – Tuesday 3rd February – Thursday 2nd April
Term 2 – Monday 20th April – Friday 3rd July
Term 3 – Monday 20th July – Friday 25th September
Term 4 – Monday 12th October – Tuesday 15th December
Please email the office if your children are taking a holiday during the school term. stjoesoffice@stjosephs.co.nz
School Attendance Dues
Attendance Dues for Term 1 should be paid by week 5.
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. We are limiting purchases to 1 item of each article of clothing per child, per term. All students should now be in their summer uniform.
New items can be purchased from The Uniform Shoppe on Glasgow Road, Pukekohe
Scholastic Book Club
Our school receives Scholastic Book Club brochures twice a term. These brochures offer a range of books and resources, direct to you, for purchasing. Brochures are distributed to your child’s classroom and taken home. You can order directly online using LOOP, or you can fill in the order form and return to school, along with the correct cash. Brochure 1 will be issued this week, all orders must be completed by Monday 23 February.
Health and Safety Update
Student Illness
We have had a number of students ill with vomiting bugs over the last week. When determining how long a student should stay away from school if they are ill, we follow guidance from the Ministry of Health and may also get advice from a medical practitioner. More information can be found here.
Cybersafety
Please consider signing up to the Qustodio Parent App (free through our school portal).
As a parent or caregiver at St Joseph’s, you have free access to Qustodio, a parental control tool that helps you monitor and guide your child’s online activity, and an online safety hub with digital safety advice.
Click here to access the St Joseph’s School Online Safety Hub
About halfway down the front page, you will find the section for Qustodio. If you would like to create a free account, you need to use the link from the St Joseph’s School Online Safety Hub.
Qustodio allows you to:
- Filter content and apps
- Monitor activity
- Set time limits
- Locate family
- Track calls and SMS
- Receive reports, alerts & SOS
You will only have access to Qustodio while you have a child attending St Joseph’s School, and for as long as we are able to include this as part of our Linewize subscription.
If you have any questions or issues regarding your Qustodio account, please contact their support team – myschool@qustodio.com
|
|
|
Ako
Ako has had a wonderful start to the year and have all settled well into our new phases of learning after our restful holiday break. Swimming lessons have begun and our Ako tamariki have been loving growing their water confidence in the pool on these hot Summer days. This week the tamariki have been talking about our Lenten promises and enjoyed celebrating Ash Wednesday during our school Liturgy.
Arahi
Arahi has enjoyed a settled and positive start to the year. We’ve loved getting to know our students as we dive into the heart of our learning, establishing class treaties, and building our classroom community.
In Year 6, students kicked off their creativity with “abstract self-portraits.” Given the creativity to represent themselves through an abstract lens, the results were wonderful. It has been fantastic to see their individuality shine, and the completed gallery of portraits on our wall looks incredible!
|
|
|
|
|
PTA/Friends of St Joseph’s School Notices
If you are interested in sponsoring or helping our fair in any way please contact
us at pta@stjosephs.co.nz
Please contact your child’s classroom teacher to see where you can help out at the fair. We would appreciate all families/parents to contribute
one hour of their time to help at a stall for our fair.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
St Ignatius enrolments for 2027 opened on Monday 1st September 2025 for students going into Year 7 in 2027. Applications close tomorrow at 9am, Friday 20th February 2026.
Please see their website for details https://www.ignatius.school.nz/admissions
  
 
https://www.sporty.co.nz/viewform/476755
Please register by the 15th of March
For more information email stjoesnetball@gmail.com
Pukekohe AFC Football (Soccer) Update
Registrations for all players from 5 to 17 years old are open. Please follow the registration link on the website.
Musters for this age group begin on Sunday 1st March. Schedule and information on the website.
For girls aged between 5 and 12 we are running the Milos Fantails Programme. This is a free programme that runs every Wednesday evening at Bledisloe Park. Week one has already kicked off, but we still have 7 weeks to go. Look for the Fantails page under the Juniors tab on our website.
Whether your child is a confident performer or just discovering their love for the stage — this programme is the perfect school holiday experience.
Register now — spots will fill fast! https://forms.gle/5VXWjwjXoinFmA2s6
|
|
|
|
English
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
French
German
Italian
Maori
Samoan
Spanish
