Dear Parents

This morning we celebrated Mass as a school for the first time since Term 1, 2020. Our thanks to Monsignor David for celebrating the Mass for us. It was lovely to see so many parents and parishioners join the school for this Mass. The students sang beautifully in full voice. The students who had various roles throughout the Mass, carried them out to perfection. It was truly an amazing celebration to be part of.

Today you will have received an email from AskYourTeam. This email contains a link to our annual Community Involvement Survey. The survey is open from today through to Monday, 13th November. This survey is completed by parents, staff and students. It has been carried out annually since 2019. It provides us with community feedback and assists us with our planning for the 2023 school year. We would really appreciate all parents completing the survey.

If you cannot locate the email in your inbox please check your Spam. If you still cannot locate it, please email Lizzy – secretary@sj.school.nz – and we will organise for you to receive an email with the link.

Please check out the information below on upcoming school events. There are a number in the weeks ahead and we look forward to all parents joining us for them.

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

• Paws For Reading
• Parikaha
• Auckland Council Libraries
• All Saint’s Day/All Soul’s Day/Friday School Prayers
• Swimming
• All-School Mass
• Covid Guidelines
• Yummy Stickers
• SKIDS Job Vacancy
• 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
Tumuaki

Read-a-Thon – Time to collect sponsorship funds!

Please return sponsorship money by Friday, 4th November

Thank you to all our students for participating in the read-a-thon over the past four-weeks. We hope they found some new favourite books as they worked their way through the challenge!

As the read-a-thon is now finished, we ask students to collect and return their sponsorship money by Friday, November 4th.

There are two ways to return the sponsorship money:
Deposit funds directly into the PTFA bank account using your child’s name, HG and Read-A-Thon as the references.
PTFA Account: 12-3026-0316672-00
Place the sponsorship money and read-a-thon form in an envelope and drop it in the PTFA box in the school office.
To be eligible for prizes, please make sure your child’s forms are returned to school even if you have deposited the funds into the PTFA’s bank account.
The PTFA would like to thank everyone for their support of this initiative. All the money raised will go towards fundraising for the new junior playground, which will be needed over the next 2-3 years, as our current one reaches the end of its lifespan. Thank you!

Volunteers needed to help run the Scholastic Book Sale

Friday, November 4th – Thursday, November 10th

As part of Book Week, the school is running a Scholastic Book Sale. The sale provides an opportunity for families to purchase books for home; and the school also receives a percentage from every book sold, which goes towards purchasing new books for our school library – a win/win!

The Book Sale will be open from 8am – 9am, 12.50pm – 1.30pm and 2.50pm – 4.00pm on school days, from Friday 4th November to Wednesday 9th, November. We need volunteers to help run the stand. This will involve helping students select books and taking payments.

We will also need helpers on the afternoons of Thursday 3rd, November and Thursday 10th, November to set-up and pack-down the sale.

There is no need to commit to helping throughout the week – you can just volunteer to help for a single shift.

If you are available to help, please pop your name into the days and times you are available on this roster.

Initiatives like this can’t happen without the support of our community so we are very appreciative of any time you are able to offer. Thank you!

Reminder: Book Week Character Dress-Up Parade & Whanau Breakfast

Monday 7th November

As part of our PAWS themed Book Week in Term 4, we will be hosting a character dress-up parade for all students on Monday, 7th November! This will involve students coming to school dressed up as their favourite book character.

Whanau breakfast: With maximum cuteness anticipated, we’d also love to invite all whanau to join us on-site for breakfast (7.30am – 8.45am) and to watch the parade (9.00am – 9.30am) on Monday, 7th November.

We hope to see you there!

Click here to learn more: PARIHAKA

Click here to fill in your details.

All Saints Day & All Soul’s Day

This coming week as a church we celebrate All Saints Day on 1st November; and All Souls Day the following day.  These two days give us a chance to remember the Saints who embody the work of God & inspire us to be better people. We pray for those who have gone before us and who have left their mark on us. Let us remember them in our prayers this month.

Friday School Prayers

And just a reminder to parents – you are more than welcome to join us on Fridays at 8.50am in the school hall for prayer. It’s a lovely way to end our week coming together in prayer.

Swimming Reporter: Janine L.

This week and last week, St Joseph’s School students were treated to some swimming lessons! Middle classes and Senior classes shared buses and every trip was well synchronized to drop off and fetch us from the pools.

Students used boards and noodles to hold onto while they were swimming, while the Millennium swimming teachers gave instructions on what to do. One of them said “Keep your arms glued to your ears, looking down and blowing bubbles.”

One group might be rotating their arms, along with small kicking and splashing and improving their freestyle ability. Another group spent time rolling – to learn to breathe. Another group was doing backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. Most kids stopped to catch their breath, because it was very exhausting! But, the teachers told them to keep going. Others were accidentally bumping into each other while swimming!

On the last day of swimming, one of the groups did diving and pencil dives in the deep water, and treading water. They also did relays at the end, as the teacher showed which swimming style you’re supposed to do while racing. The fast swimmers had their freestyle speed tested. We really enjoyed swimming lessons and are looking forward to coming back!

Term 4 Mass 2022 – reported by Yuan

This was our first Mass since Term 1 2020! All of us were quiet throughout the Mass. The introduction was led by James. It talked about the Gospel, of how Jesus calmed the storm. He said that our lives also have moments when we are stormy, and how the gospel is a good reminder for us to not stay stormy on the inside. Then Violet, Willow, and Arianna read from the bible.

Monsignor David told us about the different storms we could’ve been through. People shared their ideas. Mons David explained that he was referring to more of a specific storm – like emotions or problems in life. There were now different replies, about being grumpy, annoyed, when you’re working on your chromebook & parents turn it off, and when you disagree with each other. Mons David’s message was that we should let God in our hearts whenever we’re in a storm.

After that, there were prayers of the faithful, read by 1 student each from HGs 4 through 11: Alexandra, Josh, Oliver, JK, Lachlan, Kyra, Chloe and Lydia. Next, it was preparation of the gifts, with children from Kiwi team – Violet Tilly, Cyrus, and Lorien – and Kea team – Patrice, Hannah, and Lino. They were led by Chad and Maddie.

Monsignor David told our teacher that he was amazed at how well the children behaved in Mass and the singing was lovely. We all enjoyed being back to normal again after two “Covid years”.

The Ministry of Education now expects schools to follow the Ministry of Health COVID guidelines for both the students and staff. According to these guidelines household contacts:

• Test daily using a rapid antigen test (RAT) for five days from the day that the person in your household tested positive.
• Avoid or minimise contact with the person with COVID-19 as much as possible during their isolation period.
• Wear a mask whenever you leave home. Wearing a mask is particularly important when visiting vulnerable people, like elderly or immunocompromised people, using public transport or when in a crowded indoor space.
• Monitor for symptoms for 10 days.
• Go about your normal daily activities, provided you have no symptoms and your tests are negative.

Thank you for everything you are doing to keep our staff and tamariki safe.

Thank you to everyone that took part in this fundraiser – St Joseph’s School has received a $180 voucher from this promotion to spend on new sports equipment for our school.

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.