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 celebrated Samoan Language Week.  The children have been learning the Sasa and were well supported by our cultural leaders.  We ended the week with our hotly contested 'Sasa Battle' and although it was a very close race, the judges' decision was final.  1st place went to Rooms 3 and 6 who were proudly led by Brody and Aahil.

The 2024 theme for Samoan Language Week is 'Tautua i le alofa, manuia le lumana’i – Serve in love for a blessed future'.

This theme derives from the overarching Language Week Series theme for 2024, 'Sustainability'.  What does the phrase ‘Tautua i le alofa’ mean? The concept of tautua focuses on the phrase – 'Serve in love'. Love is the driving force of service. No matter what service looks like or who is doing it, service is accomplished through the power of love.  Service begins in the family and continues in schools, villages, churches, in our communities and countries. Service is a practice that is not exclusive to certain people or ages but rather, a process that begins at childhood and continues into adulthood.

On Wednesday, we celebrated the Sacrament of Baptism with a big group of students and their whanau.  Thank you to Fr. Andrew and Olivia McKennie for preparing the children.  Congratulations and welcome to our faith community.

Rooms 1, 2 and 6 had a very special visitor on Tuesday and were able to ask very good questions about the life of a professional athlete.  Thanks to Costa Barbarouses from the Wellington Phoenix for coming and talking to the children and signing their huge variety of merchandise.

Tuesday was a huge day for our Year 5 and 6 students.  They have been preparing hard all term for their moment on the stage and they definitely shone like stars.  They worked together so beautifully, often out of their comfort zones with dancing, helping backstage and programming the lighting.   Thanks to Pauline MacLean for her passion and enthusiasim in bringing this to life and to Arnie Pham, Trish Fitzsimons, Toni Wilson, Sarah Hunt and Sheena Beales for supporting the children on the day.  Also a huge thank you to our whanau for your support to get the children prepared.  We were proud to win 'Best Props' and get a highly commended for our soundtrack.

Just a reminder tomorrow is our Teacher Only Day; this is a Ministry of Education requirement and is 1 of 2 days that they have asked us to take to support the implementation of Te Mātaiaho|the refreshed NZ Curriculum, the re-design of Te Marautanga o Aotearoa and the NCEA Change Programme.  The school will be closed tomorrow.  The Kelly Club After School Care programme will be running up at Plimmerton School and you are very welcome to book into that. 

Kia pai tō rā whakatā - Have a great weekend.

Donna McDonald - Principal

This week, Talia Fuimaono started her school life here at St. T's.  We welcome her and her parents Leemo and Hazel and wish them all many happy and memorable years as part of our special wee community.

The following children were baptised, with their families and the whole school in attendance.  We wish God's blessings on them as the begin their faith journey.

Grace and Flynn Mischewski, Kayla Britz, Finn Sugrue, Willow Cooling and Niamh McMinn

A new consultation document prepared by the bishops as part of the Holy Father's Synod 2021-24 process has been sent to Rome.
This document, titled Towards October 2024, follows the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference being asked to establish a consultation process to discern responses to specific questions related to the Vatican’s Synodal Church in Mission report. That report was published after the First Session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, held in Rome last October.
National Catholic lay organisations, agencies of the bishops conference, religious, diocesan bodies, educational institutions, young people’s groups, parish groups and groups involved in previous synodal processes took part in the consultation, between February and April this year.

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, 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 Fittings  Please call the office to book an appointment.
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

A gift voucher for Serene Massage & Reflexology was picked up outside the school.  If you know it's yours, please sing out to Gina!

St. T’s Stars
St. T's Stars -1   PBK Stars - 3
We played another great game against a fairly evenly matched PBK Stars team. Unfortunately, we struggled to find the back of the net which allowed PBK to sneak the win.
POD - Cooper for amazing defensive work and numerous great interceptions.
MM - Eve for her awesome goal.

Please mark this in your calendar and spread the word!
Thursday, 12th September 9.30 - 11.30a.m.
Much more information to follow.

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.

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.

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.

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