Kia Ora Whanau

Welcome to our final term for the year. It is lovely to have all the students back at school.

The term has got off to a busy start with Team Kakapo and Team Kakariki attending their swimming programmes at the Millennium. The students are continuing with the “Paws for Reading” readathon and next week we will be celebrating our first school Mass since Term 1 of 2020.

Whanau are welcome to join us at the school Mass next week, Friday 28 October beginning 9.15 am. The school will be leading the weekday parish Mass which is held each Friday at 9.15 am. At school Masses, students are seated in their home groups and whanau sit on seats at the right hand side of the altar, as you face the altar. The students are in the main body of the church and the choir are seated on the left hand side of the altar next to the organ.

Please keep an eye on the school calendar (on the school website) throughout the term as there are a number of events occurring leading up to Christmas. Please also keep an eye out for Principal Messages and School Notices on the school website. Notifications, as to when these are posted, are sent to parents’ email addresses that we have in our system.

I wish you an enjoyable long weekend. Our school is closed on Monday 24 October as it is a public holiday. I look forward to welcoming the children back on Tuesday 25 October.

The following topics will be covered in this week’s Principal’s Message:

• Reminder – Labour Day Weekend
• Welcome
• Prayers
• Life Education
• Market Day
• Paws for Reading
• Seatbelt Checks by Police
• Drop Off – Not Before 8am
• Watch Speed Through Drop-off/Pick-up Lane
• Covid
• Hats
• Sacramental Programme
• Children’s Mass of Thanksgiving
• Situation Vacant at SKIDS
• Community Notices

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at principal@sj.school.nz.

Take care

Ka manaakitia e te Atua

Alister Bridgman
Principal

The school will be closed Monday, 24th October for the NZ public holiday, Labour Day.

Prayer is an important part of our school day.

Each team does it slightly differently but our day begins and ends with prayer. You are welcome to join your child’s Home Group for prayer in the morning.  We also include the saying of Grace at lunchtimes and at least once a week the students participate in Christian meditation.

Life Ed Caravan  – Kakariki Team

At the end of Term 3, all classes enjoyed time in the Life Education Caravan. So many primary school students in New Zealand have had an interesting time learning about intriguing aspects of modern day life: how to be safe online, identity, resilience, relationships, bullying, etc.

There were two opportunities to visit the caravan and enjoy two interesting lessons. This time it was about how our brains grow.  In the Kakariki team, the Year 5 and 6 students also got to take home a folder called “Caring Connections”, to discuss at home and colour and draw in it.

Many children were eager to find out more about how the brain develops as we grow older. They discovered the amygdala is activated if they get into a scary or frightening situation, often reacting in “Fright or Fight”. This is what she called a more primitive brain use. 

She also showed recent research that demonstrates how long it takes for our prefrontal cortex to develop. Men are in their early thirties! This helps with decision making, problem solving and having self control with our emotions. Children were taught how to be calmer, have less anxiety and to find ways to problem solve, using our words or thoughts, rather than just being afraid or hitting out. 

It was also surprising to learn that most of us are not getting enough sleep. The brain has a special function at night. It helps us to recharge, renew and repair our memories. If we don’t get enough sleep the brain is tired and memories are not well developed. 

We always enjoy a special visit from Harold – no matter what age the students are! Harold is timeless! 

Kakariki Market Day

On the 30th of October, the last day of Term 3, The Kakariki Students at St Joseph’s (Year 5&6) held a Market Day. Food and product stalls filled the Kakariki classrooms upstairs and the games stalls filled the hall. Split into different groups (Kiwi, Kea and Kakapo), students came around with a few dollars to buy the Kakariki students delicious brownies, waffles and lots more; or to have a shot for a prize at one of the many game stalls. It was also great to see lots of our community come along to support us.

The Kakariki students spent 5 weeks planning, advertising and organising for this day. We had to come up with an appealing name, eye-catching posters and make a quality food, product or stall. Some names of stalls included Huka (Sugar) Overload, a stall that sold delicious, mouth-watering brownies, marshmallow pops and lolly jar guessing games. Other stalls included Simply Pottery, Rugby Toss, The Sweet Box and lots of other exciting stalls.

We had a goal to raise money for our three chosen charities: Orange Sky, Starship Hospital and SPCA. Orange Sky is a charity that helps the homeless and less fortunate. They go around in a truck to give these people a shower, new clothes and have someone to talk to. Starship, everyone has probably heard of before –  it is a hospital for children, which is a wonderful cause to raise money to help children to get the support that they need. SPCA – we all love animals, and this charity helps stop cruelty to animals.

Market Day was a great success and a fantastic end to the term. This week, the Kakariki students are focusing on reflecting on the process, counting up the money and working out our profits!

We are now ready to reveal… that we made… a total of… $3,441.35!!!

Market day was a great experience for the Kakariki students to learn about finance, budgeting, advertising, sales, customer service, baking/making products and working together with friends.

Thank you to everyone that helped in the lead up to this event and to everyone that supported us on the day. We really appreciate it.

By Charlie & Violet

Dates for your diary:

• Oct 3 – 28: Read-a-thon + collect sponsors 
• Oct 29 – Nov 4: Collect Read-a-thon sponsorship and return forms + funds to school

• Nov 4 – 10: St. Joseph’s PAWs Themed Book Week!

• Nov 4: Petting Zoo on-site for class visits 
• Nov 4 – 10: Scholastic Book Sale on-site for whanau and students to purchase books
• Nov 7: Book Week Character Parade + Whanau Breakfast (7.30 – 9.30am)    

Please see the following link for more detailed information that you need to know about our PAWSome Book Week!

Wednesday this week we had the police checking student’s seatbelts. A number of students were either not wearing their seatbelts when their car arrived at the school gate or were wearing them incorrectly.

Please ensure your child stays fully seat belted until you come to a complete stop, either at the drop off zone or parked in the carpark. Students cannot undo their seatbelts on the road, or down the drive, in preparation to exit.

Police will continue with spot checks in order to support our families in keeping their children safe in their cars.

Please…

Can parents, who bring their children to school before 8 am, ensure their child stays in the car until 8 am. At 8 am the child can get out of the car and wait at the back of the church. This procedure is in place to ensure the safety of the children.

We ask that parents please drive SLOWLY at all times from entry onto the property, until exiting the property. The speed of some drivers is concerning, considering there are children around, and their movements can be unpredictable.

We continue to experience a limited number of COVID cases in our school community. Please ensure that you keep your children at home if they are showing any signs of being unwell. Parents will be contacted if their children develop any symptoms during the school day and asked to collect them. Thank you for your support in keeping our school community healthy.

In term 1 and 4, students are required to wear school hats (navy blue sun hat – wide brimmed or bucket – no label) as part of their uniform. All students will be expected to wear their school hats beginning Tuesday next week. Please ensure your child has their hat on Tuesday.

This recommences this week. We ask our school community to pray for the students and families who are preparing to make the Sacraments of First Holy Eucharist and Confirmation in their prayers.

The St Joseph’s Parish Takapuna is holding a Children’s Mass of Thanksgiving on Sunday 30th October 2022 at 10.30am. If your child would like to be involved in any part of the Mass, from singing in a group, to reading a prayer, to bringing up the offectory, please contact Annette Woodhead (annettew@sj.school.nz) who will forward your contact details on to the parish team that are organising this Mass.

SKIDS After School Care

Position Available for Term 4

SKIDS St Josephs Takapuna is seeking a permanent staff member for our growing AfterSchool Care Programme.

The hours of work will be in the morning from 7 to 8:30 am and in the afternoon from 2:30 to 6pm. Holiday Programme work possible.

The ideal candidate should have:

– experience with primary school children

– is energetic, motivated and vigilant with plenty of enthusiasm

– have a cheerful and friendly disposition

– is confident in leading and instructing children and other staff members in a calm and friendly manner

– team player

You will go through mandatory training and a Police Check before starting.

Applicants for this position must have NZ residency or a valid NZ work permit.

Please send CV to Elena Watson @ stjosephstakapuna@skids.co.nz or call: 022-067-4840 to make an appointment.

 Click here – latest community notices – to check out what’s happening in our community on our school website.