Hello, Kia ora, Talofa lava, Hola, Namaste, Mabuhay, Ciao, Kia Orana, Ahalan,  Konnichiwa, Ni hao, Selam,  Xin chao,  Bonjour,  Bula, Dzien/Dobry, Shalom,  Dia duit, Mauri, Halo, Bom dia, Gidday, Guten Tag, Hej   

Mai i te Kopae ki te Urupa, tatou ako tonu ai - From the cradle to the grave, we are forever learning.

Kia ora koutou e te whānau,

This week, we have been working with Dr. Viv Aitken from Massey University.  Viv is well known to us as we have worked with her over the last 5 years in Dramatic Inquiry, Local Curriculum and creating our E-book.  This professional development was partially funded through the Ministry of Education's Centrally Funded PLD and also through the Board of Trustees resourcing.  We are grateful to Viv for the energy, enthusiam, passion and commitment she has shown when working with us.

Structured Literacy Approaches: You may have heard lots of discussion around the Government's intended new approach to Literacy.  Below is a link to the announcement.

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/transforming-how-our-children-learn-read

At St. Theresa's, we have been on a structured approach to reading and writing for several years now, working with Dr. Helen Walls and the Massey University, Literacy@Massey training programme.  Whilst our professional learning has been schoolwide, our initial focus has been Years 0 - 3, where you will have noticed a greater focus on sounds and the use of decodable text.  We have decodable texts avaliable for older readers however, we are guided by the experts on this as it is an area still being researched.

We know handwriting and spelling have a vital role in writing and that handwriting affects spelling and reading acquisition.  These form an important part of a balanced Literacy programme and we are pleased with the results we are seeing.  New areas of our refreshed curriculum include storytelling and a love of reading.  Developing  and sustaining a love of reading is essential to Literacy success and the importance of reading with and reading to your children can't be stressed enough.

We are encouraged to try out new resources and continue to watch, think and respond to our learners as we implement any new practices.

Tomorrow is Pink Shirt Day at St Theresas.  The children can wear something pink with their uniform and are asked to bring a donation that will go to the Mental Health Foundation to help support their continued work.  By supporting Pink Shirt Day we are all doing our bit to eliminate bullying by celebrating diversity and promoting kindness and inclusion. 

Today we celebrated Support Staff Day which is an opportunity for us to acknowledge the wonderful people who work in our school, supporting teachers and students in so many ways.  Thank you for the flowers and greenery that the children brought in; these were made into beautiful bunches of flowers that we presented to support staff at morning tea.

Donna McDonald - Principal

Kia pai too raa whakataa

Outstanding school accounts have been sent home this week.  This covers the whole year’s activities and will be the only account you will be sent all year.  Some accounts reflect only what remains unpaid.

If not paying in full or per term, we strongly encourage you to set up an Automatic Payment.  If you forsee any problems paying this account, please call or email the Office to make an appointment to meet with Donna.

St T’s Stars - 2  Papakōwhai Blues - 8
After just 2 games, the children are really starting to get the feel of the court.
POD - Zoey Finiki for her outstanding defending in the circle and Magic Moment - Lucy Barber for her great shots on goal.

Just a reminder that there will be no school for our children on our Teacher Only Day on Friday, 31st May as well as Monday, 3rd June which is King's birthday.  

2024 Scholastic Book Fair coming soon!

When: Wednesday, 12th June - Wednesday, 19th June
Where: In the Learning Hub

More details to come later!

The theme has been selected and the planning is under way for this annual Bookish feast of fun and reading adventure. Decorations are being made and designs to transform the LH into a magical woodland/forest - wonderlands are being created. 

The 2024  theme is “Woodland/Enchanted Forest”. 
Think the “Faraway Tree”, “The Lorax - Truffula Forest”, “The Shire”, “The Hundred Acre Wood”.  So many magical, fictional woodlands to explore so what’s your favourite fictional storybook land?

Start planning your costumes. Prizes to be awarded. Get creative now!

Bookish events and happenings in the Learning Hub Term 2:
Autumn display in the library entry foyer
Week 3: Pink Shirt Day display
Week 7: Scholastic Book Fair arrives - more info to follow
Week 7: Friday, 14th June - Book Character Dress Up Day - start planning your costume
Week 8: Final Book Fair shop days
Week 9: Matariki library display

Please mark this in your calendar and spread the word!
Thursday, 12th September
Much more information to follow.

It may be worth making a note of the following important dates for this term, however, more may be added or removed so keep a check and you can also refer to the calendar on our website.

Friday, 17th May - Pink Shirt Day
Friday, 17th May - Uniform Fittings
Wednesday, 29th May - Baptism 10a.m.
Friday, 31st May - Teacher Only Day - NO SCHOOL

Monday, 3rd June - King's Birthday - NO SCHOOL
Thursday, 6th June -  Parumoana Cross Country
Wednesday, 12th June - Scholastic Book Fair starts
Friday, 14th June - Uniform Fitting
Wednesday, 19th June - Board of Trustees Meeting - 6p.m.
Wednesday, 26th June - Matariki Celebration at school
Friday, 28th June - Matariki - NO SCHOOL

Tuesday, 2nd July - Regional Cross Country Competition
Friday, 5th July - End of Term 2

As part of our Camp 2024 fundraising efforts, here are some great offers to ward off the cold:

Bags of pine cones - $25  (approx. 15 - 20kg dog food bag)
Pine firewood (trailer load) - $350 (includes splitting and delivery)
Trailer of pine rounds (unsplit) - $50
Bring your own trailer and pick your own wood - Donation to school

For pine cones, please use the reference 'Pinecones' and your name. Once paid, pop into Room 10 straight after school to collect. Please return your bag after use.
For wood, please use the reference 'Wood' and your name.
Payment should be made to our school account 12 3254 0109325 00.

For all other details, please contact Karl Simonlehner on 027-4862871 or email him on simonlehnerkarl@gmail.com and he will tell you how it works.  Well worth finding out more about it and then we're all winners!

Please feel free to spread the word beyond our school community.

If you have any of those large dogfood bags, please send them along to Room 10.

AVAILABILITY OF THE ABOVE STARTS AFTER 26th MAY.

For Term 2:  There will be a total of 8 Fridays that pizza will be available for you to order.  They are:

Weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, NOT in Week 5 (31st May - No school - Teacher Only Day), 6, 7, 8, NOT in Week 9 (28th June - Matariki - No school) and then again in Week 10.  

To order pizza and/or ice blocks for your child, please follow ONE of the two processes below:
1. ORDERS FOR THE TERM: Pizza will be available for 8 WEEKS this term. So if ordering for the term, just multiply by 8. If you decide part way through the term, then calculate how many Fridays are left. Send an email to the team, outlining the following information for each child you are ordering for BUT in one email is fine.

Child’s Name:
Room No.:
Number of pizza slices - please specify if gluten free
Number of ice blocks
Cost: $1.50 per pizza slice and $1 per ice block
Multiply the order total by the number of Fridays.

2. WEEKLY ORDERS: These need to be sent to the same email address, with the same order details as in Option 1 and also paid into the same bank account number.
VERY IMPORTANT: The deadline for weekly orders is at 3p.m. on a Thursday. Unfortunately, no late orders can be accepted.

If you would like to pay in advance for a set number of weeks but not all
the weeks in this particular term, please feel free to email these details to
the team.
If your child is new to our school and only starts part way through the term,
simply adjust the number of weeks for the remainder of the term.
kaiorders@stp.school.nz
Payment by internet banking only to 12 3254 0109325 00 using the
reference PIZZA. The team would appreciate a screenshot of your
payment, sent to their email address.

If you would like to order a picket, please complete the attached form and return to the Office.  The cost is $35 per picket.

NEWSLETTER APP
Here is the link to download the Schoolzine App.  At the end of set up, you are asked for a passcode and this is 3025. 

An important update for SZapp has been released to accomodate for iPhones which have been intermittently receiving push notifications.

SZapp is available from the App Store now.

Users with automatic updates enabled on their device will recieve this update automatically.

Community Connections

School Calendar

We're still collecting Yummy stickers which earn us points for sports equipment.  A chart is attached for you to use and copies are also available from the Office.