Term 2 Week 3 Newsletter #4 2026

Term 2 Week 3                               7 May 2026                                           Newsletter #4  

Principal’s Message

Tena Koutou Katoa    Talofa Lava     Kamusta    Malo e lelei    Mauri     Malo ni     Faka talofa atu    Namaste   Greetings to all Welcome back to our second term of the school year. Students are looking very smart in their winter uniforms. This is an eleven week term with three shorter weeks due to ANZAC, King’s Birthday and our last MOE Mathematics Curriculum day on Friday 19th June – which will be a Teacher Only Day.  School attendance continues to be a priority for all New Zealand schools. Please remember that when you organise holidays within term time, and we may understand your circumstances, these days will be noted as explained but not justified and will affect your child’s (and the school’s) regular attendance data.  You all would have received the Term 2 Key Dates so you will see the busyness of the term ahead. This term, major events include: speech writing, Book Week, Life Education and Matariki. Lots for our children to look forward to! Interschool sports are already underway with orienteering and rippa rugby behind us, and more to come particularly for our Y4-6 students. I would like to thank all of you who support these initiatives and are available to help with coaching, supervision and transport. Your help enables us to provide these extra-curricular activities in our school. Next week, some of our student leaders will attend National Young Leaders Day (NYLD). This is a great opportunity for them to be inspired and motivated as positive role models in our school and community. The day’s programme includes quality speakers who will hopefully inspire them. This year, our teaching staff are completing an RE paper through Te Kupenga Catholic Theological College on Catholic Social Teaching. Our teachers continue to grow their personal understanding of our Catholic faith as we live out and deliver our RE programme to our students. Our two Directors of Religious Studies, Flerinda Valondo and Jenni Logan, have just attended a two day conference at Long Bay.  The conference focused on reflecting on the life of St Francis of Assisi in celebration of the Jubilee of his death, while also exploring the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Catholic schools.  We take great pride in our ongoing commitment to our faith; as a school, we consistently seek new ways to grow in Catholic understanding, ensuring that Jesus Christ is always at the very heart of everything we share with our students.  In Week 5, I will be joining other Auckland Catholic principals to attend a conference at the Mary MacKillop Centre in Sydney, at which we will be inspired by speakers such as Brendan Spillane and Fr Richard Leonard. I am sure this will be a very valuable experience for us as school leaders and an opportunity to come together in faith, share experiences, celebrate, reconnect, and fill our spiritual buckets.   Many of you will know that my husband and I have just returned from a 3 week visit with my daughter’s family in England. It was a lovely family reunion that I will treasure, meeting our newest grandson and forming closer bonds with our toddler. Thank you to those of you who have asked after them.   So far, we have been lucky with our autumn weather. Stay warm and dry! Nga manaakitanga ki a koe.

 

Special Catholic Character

Values Awards

Arahi & Aroha 

Julian Lataipangai – For being a wonderful leader and helping keep our classroom clean and tidy.

   

Key Dates

Term 2 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 News

SCHOOL POLICIES SchoolDocs T2 Review: This term we are reviewing more of the policies in the Safety On and Off School Grounds section: Daily School Bus*, School Swimming Pool / Swimming Off Site (board), Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) (board), EOTC Governance Roles and Responsibilities, EOTC Risk Assessment and Management. Review closes 3rd July 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 Wednesday17th June at 7:00 pm

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.

At the end of each term we receive an attendance breakdown from the Ministry of Education. We saw a positive start to the year with an 82% regular attendance rate for Term One. This is a significant step toward our school-wide goal of 90% attendance for 80% of our students. Compared to 77% in Term One of 2025, this improvement is a testament to our community’s commitment. Thank you for your continued support in ensuring your children are at school as much as possible.  

St Joseph’s School Pukekohe Attendance Management Plan

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 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

Thank you to all parents who have paid their compulsory Attendance Dues for the whole year, or for the term, or set up regular payments.

Term 1 Attendance Dues of $136 should now have been paid in full, and Term 2 dues are expected to be paid by week 5 of Term 2 – or a regular payment plan should have been set up.   If paying by instalments, please ensure all dues for the year are paid in full by 30 November.   (See our website Information/Fees & contributions/Financial contribution).  We collect and forward Attendance Dues to our Proprietor, The Catholic Diocese of Auckland.   

If you are experiencing financial difficulties in paying your attendance dues you are welcome to make an appointment to see the Principal in confidence or contact Carol at Auckland Common Fund 09 360 3040.

Bank Account: St Joseph’s School (Pukekohe) Board 12 3023 0338374 01 Ref: student name

Statement from the Ministry of Education about Reporting

We have introduced new curriculum this year for Maths & Statistics and English for Years 0–10. This means we are currently changing from the old to the new curriculum. We want to acknowledge that schools and kura will only have been using the new curriculum from the start of 2026, which includes new teaching and assessment methods and content. Because of this, you could see a change in your child’s progress or achievement compared to previous years, which may be the result of changes in the curriculum expectations for your child’s year level. If you have concerns or questions about your child’s achievement, we strongly suggest talking with your child’s teacher or kaiako. They will also have used their own observations, classroom tasks and other tests when reporting on the progress your child or tamaiti is making.

Understanding Your Child’s Mid-Year Report

In week 11 of this term, Mid-Year Reports will be sent home describing the progress your child is making in Reading, Writing and Mathematics. In line with the Ministry of Education regulatory requirements there are changes you need to be aware of. 

Why the changes?

What we teach in Reading, Writing and Maths has changed this year. We are using the new NZ Curriculum which was updated in October 2025. So, how we assess and check your child’s learning has also changed, which is why we have new reports.

What is in the new reports?

• Progress Descriptors – these show the learning progress that your child has achieved so far this year 
• The report will also show how your child is achieving in the different strands within each curriculum area
• A Religious Education comment
• A record of attendance data

What are Progress Descriptors?

Reports for all children will now have 5 levels of achievement: 

Emerging, Developing, Consolidating, Proficient and Exceeding. 

The aim is for your child to be proficient by the end of the year. If they are consolidating mid-year, that is fine and shows they are currently meeting curriculum expectations. By the end of the year students must be proficient to show they have met the curriculum expectation.

How are Progress Descriptors decided?

The Progress Descriptor, or the level of achievement, was chosen by your child’s teacher, using a range of information, including assessment results, classroom activities, observing your child in the class, and conversations with their teacher.

The Parent Portal

The Ministry of Education has an online Parent Portal that you can use to find out more information about the new reporting, including a full description of the Progress Descriptors, and tips on how to discuss school reports with your child.

Scholastic Book Club Issue 3

Brochures will be sent home with your child this week. Book orders are due in by Monday 11 May. Orders can be made online through their website: scholastic.co.nz/LOOP or by completing the Student Order Form and returning to your classroom teacher.

Second-Hand Uniform Shop

The Second-hand uniform shop is open on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons 2:30 – 3:00 pm. 

All students should be in their winter uniforms.  Boys should be in the darker winter weight short, there are still some boys wearing summer shorts.  

New items can be purchased from The Uniform Shoppe on Glasgow Road, Pukekohe

School Individual/Class Photos

The free shipping and photo ordering function on masterpiece’s website is now closed. If you still wish to order a class or individual photo please contact Masterpiece Photography directly at info@masterpiecephotography.co.nz

To order for these special lunch days you will need to follow the instructions below and order from www.dollarforschools.co.nz

We are excited to be celebrating our bi-annual Book Week in Week 6. 

Things to know:

Theme: Stories Take Us Everywhere

Book Character Dress-Up Day: Thursday 28 May

Perform Education! Treasure Hunt Play: Friday 29 May

This week there will be many fun activities to celebrate and promote a love of reading. 

 

Celebrations 

Aroha

This term we welcomed 7 new students who joined our Aroha team for the beginning of their school journey – Jack, Theo, Niniva, Aadya, Zechariah, Noah and Teo. A big welcome to their families as well.

We have been learning about Anzac Day with a focus on bravery and kindness. We learnt about the importance of remembering those, past and present, and to say “thank you” to the brave people who kept us safe a long time ago and who keep us safe today, so we can play and be happy.  We were honoured to present our Anzac Day Liturgy at the Assembly last week.

Ako

Our tamariki have been exploring the magic of alliteration in their writing. The children have loved experimenting with words to create tongue-twisting phrases and playful poetry. From “sneaky snakes slithering” to “otters eating oats,” their creativity has shone through in every sentence.

The same enthusiasm has carried over to the sports field where our students have spent the term mastering their soccer skills. From precision striking to strategic fielding. It’s been a fantastic season of building teamwork and staying active!

Arahi 

It’s Road Safety Week! Our dedicated Road Patrollers have been hard at work keeping everyone safe around the roads. They’ve gone above and beyond by creating daily educational videos and hosting an exciting coloring competition. A highlight of the week was definitely the visit from Zara the Zebra! 

 

To kick off Term 2, our Year 4 students dove into the creative world of “opposite poetry.” By comparing the best parts of summer and winter, the classes practised descriptive writing before arranging their ideas into verse. The highlight for many was the publishing process; students took to Google Docs and Slides to bring their poems to life, complete with wintry background illustrations.

Last Friday, our Y6’s represented our school at the Franklin Orienteering in Bombay. We had three teams participate and our Y6 Team 1 Boys team came in first overall. A huge achievement considering the sheer number of teams involved. Congratulations to them and the other teams who participated.

Community Notices

PTA/Friends of St Joseph’s School Notices

PTA – Annual General Meeting

Tuesday 23 June 7:00 pm in the school staffroom 

All are welcome to attend. 

Yummy Stickers

One of our wonderful PTA members has offered to collect YUMMY sticker forms on behalf of our school. This will help to earn our share of $200,000 worth of sports gear. All you need to do is either print a sticker sheet to keep at home or use the sheet in the classroom. Once a sticker sheet is fully completed drop it into the PTA box in the office. 

You can use the small individual fruit stickers or the labels from the Yummy fruit bags. 

 

 

 

 

 

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