Kia ora whānau

Happy Father’s Day gentlemen. I am sure you will all have a great weekend with the whānau.

It was lovely to have so many of you join us for the BBQ breakfast this morning, and then at school prayers. What a lovely way for your children to begin your special weekend. For those fathers who were unable to attend, you were not forgotten. The children blessed all our Fathers at school prayers and said an ‘Our Father’ for you all.

School prayers also saw us welcome the children who had their first day at school on Monday. This is always a special celebration that sees both new students and new families receiving their welcome certificate, being blessed by the school children and then the tamariki singing them a welcome song.

We also welcomed Mrs Miranda Engström who is teaching HG 16 two days a week. Mrs Engström replaced Mrs Viskovich who took maternity leave earlier in the term.

We are delighted to be able to announce that Mrs Viskovich and her husband, Mr Cunac, are the proud parents of a baby girl, who arrived in the world last weekend. Congratulations to them both and welcome to this AWESOME world, Baby Cunac.

Thank you for sending your child with a gold coin donation for Daffodil Day. We will be sending $546.20 to the Cancer Society. They are an amazing organisation who take such wonderful care of people, and their families.

We have two teams of students going to participate in a Jump Jam competition tomorrow. They have been rehearsing their moves in their lunch hour over the last two terms. We wish them every success and know that they will have great fun with their performance.

Yesterday our Kapa Haka group performed at the North Shore Catholic Schools Cultural Festival. They were outstanding and they did themselves, their whanau and our school proud. They also performed this morning at school prayers as part of the welcome for students and staff.

Next week you will receive an email from AskYourTeam on the evening of Tuesday, the 3rd of September. This is our annual Community Involvement Survey. If you do not receive it, please check your spam box. If, once you’ve checked your spam, you find you do not have the survey, please contact the office. There are some couples who share the same email address. You will only be receiving one survey.

The annual Community Involvement Survey is completed by Year 3 – 6 children, staff and parents. It is a great way to see what we do well and to hear of some possible new ideas and directions from the school community. Please complete it by Sunday, September 15th. 

Have a lovely weekend & take care,

Ka manaakitia e te Atua

Alister Bridgman
Tumuaki

The Principal’s Message will cover the following topics:

• Welcome
• St Joseph’s PTFA Presents Musical Bingo
• Father’s Day Breakfast
• Home Group 9 – Spreading Sunshine on Daffodil Day
• St Joseph’s Got Talent – Term 4, Weeks 8 & 9
• Thank You!
• Final Call for Touch Rugby Players in Term 4
• Checking Measles Immunity
• Hato Petera
• Term 4 Hockey
• Parish News 
• Community Notices

We would like to extend a very warm welcome to the new students & their families who joined our school community this week: 

Hannah, Isaac, Jakob, Kayla, Olivia, Risteena, Risto, Ryan, Sierra, Tamara and Yohanna

Here’s hoping you have a wonderful here at St Joseph’s – enjoy the journey! 

Tickets are selling fast for the St Josephs Musical Bingo Night and Fundraising Auction so don’t miss out!

The Details: 

Date: Friday 13th September 2024

Time: Doors open 6.30pm for a 7:30pm start

Where: Bar Africa – 1b William Pickering Drive, Albany (Drinks and Food available on the night)

What: Four entertaining rounds of Musical Bingo (no quiz knowledge needed) with a Live Auction, Raffle and Bottle Board on the night. 

Tickets cost $20 each and can be purchased at stjosephspta.org.nz

Tables can accommodate between 6-10 people, so get a group together, select a table that suits the number of people in your group and make sure you all buy tickets for that table number to ensure you all sit together.  If you don’t have a team, don’t worry! You can join one of the social mixed tables and have the chance to make new friends. These mixed tables are a really fun way to meet other parents in the school community.  More tickets will be released if needed. For any assistance, feel free to reach out to us at pta@sj.school.nz 

Please note as it is being held at a bar this an 18+ event and is not suitable for children.

A big thank you to all of the parents that have helped with Book Week Sales and the whānau breakfast! We couldn’t do these events without you.

– Registrations close at 9 am on Friday, 6th September 2024.

– Touch Rugby – Years 1-6
Location: Sunnynook Park
Day: Thursday
Game Times: 4:00pm, 4:30pm, 5:00pm, 5:30pm, 6:00pm (6:30pm if needed).  The Y1&2’s tend to play the earlier game times, and the Y5&6 the later times. But there are some overlaps, and often double-headers.

Season Dates: 24th October to 12th December
Game Duration: Two 15 minute halves with no break time

FEES: $45 per player 

*Please note we can enter Girls only, Boys only and Mixed teams.  For Mixed teams there needs to be at least 4 girls registered and 3 girls on the field at all times otherwise they need to be entered into the Boys only grade.

Aotearoa is at very high risk of a measles outbreak and not enough of us are immune.

To be immune, you must have had measles before OR at least two doses of a measles vaccine after the age of 12 months.

Local childhood immunisation rates are declining. Low immunity and the close contact nature of education settings means one infected person could quickly expose and spread measles to many others, starting an outbreak that could be hard to control.

People can be infectious before they develop measles symptoms and know they’re sick. Being immune is important for everyone’s safety – it’s the only way to make sure you won’t get or spread measles, even if you’ve been exposed.

It’s a good idea for all parents to check the immunity of themselves, and their children, to measles. See information on checking immunity here:

Measles Immunity – Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
My Health Record – Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora

If you aren’t immune, or you’re not sure, two doses of the measles mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is your best protection. You can book a vaccine online:

Home – Book My Vaccine

Please notify the school immediately you have a family member with measles.

Over the last two years, we as a school, have been on a journey in partnership with the Māori Achievement Collaborative (MAC), Catholic Office, and Kahui Ako (Our Community of Learning)  committed to the goal of raising Māori educational success as Māori and honouring the bicultural partnership of the Treaty of Waitangi. Our Kaiako (Teachers) and Kaimahi (Staff) have been working hard to increase their knowledge of Te Reo, Tikanga and Te Ao Māori. They have been attending Kapa Haka at Carmel, led by the amazing Matua Maurice from Carmel College and participating in MAC professional development, as well as many of them working on individual PD.

This has benefited our Akonga (Students) who have been increasing their knowledge and understanding also. Our Kapa Haka have been working alongside our Kaiako, as well as Whaea Te Awhina and Matua Talen. They are preparing for performances later this term.

Through this work, we have begun to establish relationships with the Kaumatua at Te Kamaka Marae Committee and interim Governance group. They have a few dates coming up for any whānau available and wanting to get involved with our journey. Please see the attached flyer for more information or contact the school.

• 28 September for a working bee; and
• 9 November for a hui-a-whānau. 

https://hatopetera.com/calendar/

Is your child interested in playing hockey in Term 4? Please fill out this  Expression of Interest form to see if we have enough players for a team.

Latest News from St Joseph’s Takapuna Parish

Please check out the latest community notices  which you can find on our school website.