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,

Happy 1st day of August.  The icy cold, wet weather this week has definitely reminded us that we are in the winter season.  Please remind the children to pack a jacket in their bag for those colder days.  The winter season brings with it the usual bugs so thank you for monitoring your children's symptoms and keeping them home when they are sympomatic.  This helps keep everyone as well as possible.

It was lovely today to join Rooms 2,4,7 and 10 at the Parish 9.30a.m. Mass.  We always receive a warm welcome and Fr. Andrew is so wonderful at including the children.  Sadly for us as a faith community, we are losing Fr Andrew to Nelson Districts and his last Mass with us will be on 1st September.  We are really sad to see him go and we have loved working with him planning Masses, etc.  The children will miss his smiling face and funny jokes.  We wish him well in Nelson and look forward to hearing who his replacement will be.

This term we will celebrate our 75th Jubilee with a Mass and morning tea.  Please join us on Thursday, 12th September 2024 from 9.30a.m. - 11.30a.m. at school.  If you know of anyone who may wish to attend, please fill in the Google Form. https://forms.gle/zKhwTKGHVCBQyFJD6

Last week we highlighted the turf, sandpit and painting that have transformed the school.  These projects are nearly finished and have depleted funds from many years of fundraising and careful financial management.  We still have other exciting upgrades and projects in the pipeline, so this means we need to keep the focus on fundraising, going forward.  We need to set a date for our 2025 Fair but before we do this, we need a volunteer to take on the role of co-ordinator for the Fair.  This role can be shared and works with a great team of stall managers.  Please let me know if you are interested in taking on this role so we can set the wheels in motion.

Huge thanks to Libby Baker for co-ordinating the Mid-winter Raffle.  This is a great fundraiser and will help us to finish off the turf and sandpit area.  There are still over 50 raffle books that haven't been returned and we would love to get those in before it is drawn tomorrow.  Please check bags, etc. and send them back sold or unsold.  A reminder also of the bonus children's raffle (which includes a treat for the adults).  These raffles are $2 per ticket and can be purchased from the Office.  The children just bring along their $2 and Gina will put their name in the draw.  

How exciting to get our first 2 medals on the board in the Paris 2024 Olympics.  The children have been tracking the progress and there was a bit of excitiment in the staffroom yesterday with our first gold.  Check out our progress here https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/medals/new-zealand.  Go New Zealand!

Kia pai tō rā whakatā - Have a great weekend.

Donna McDonald - Principal

What a way to start the term.  Well done to all our SPARKs this week for setting a good example for everyone.  Ka pai!

We have been doing Olympic Games writing this week. First we imagined we were an athlete competing at the Olympic Games. We wrote about how we played our sport and what we needed. Then we learnt about the history of the Olympic flame. It started in Greece and made its way to Paris. 10,000 athletes had a turn at carrying the Olympic Torch part of the way to Paris. That's a lot of athletes.
For PE we are doing Olympic Games sports and we have 4 teams - Jamaica, Brazil, Fiji and Austria. We even use their flags.
Some of us have been designing and creating a plan for a new village. We had to think about roading, buildings and what the village needs. 

Reporters: Ted Barber and Skylar Garthwaite

As of yesterday afternoon, only half of our families have returned their books.  Please get yours back by 9a.m. tomorrow morning and you will still be in the draw to win one of the 5 gorgeous gift baskets.  We're ready and waiting to add yours to the rest.

As always, we have 8 children's prizes which will be drawn tomorrow.  Each prize includes a bottle of wine for the adults!  Send in some coins and your child may be one of the lucky ones!  Tickets available from the Office.

These interviews take place on Tuesday, 6th August and Tuesday, 13th August starting at 3p.m. and run for 15 minutes.  To book your appointment, please go to schoolinterviews.co.nz and use the event code fbkaw (case sensitive) to book your slot.  It is an expectation that all families make an appointment to meet with their child's teacher.

Please mark this in your calendar and spread the word!
Thursday, 12th September 9.30 - 11.30a.m.
Archbishop Paul Martin will be celebrating Mass followed by the blessing of our art installation, the sharing of stories of the past and present and light refreshments.  For catering purposes, please click on the link if you know you will be attending.

Summer Olympics - Paris 2024

Visit the St Theresa’s Learning Hub WebApp here to see the new Olympics 2024 dedicated Dashboard. 

Full of team information, game schedules, history, games to play and more.

Take a tour of the Book Awards Dashboard here. You can find all the finalists in our school library

This term (14th August) the winners in the 2024 Awards will be announced. The Hub Leaders are busy reading the books and researching the authors to be as familiar as they can be with them all before our annual trip to the city in Week 4.   We are always excited to meet and talk with the authors and illustrators. Getting our books signed is always an added bonus too!

An annual highlight on the Learning Hub calendar for the Hub Leaders and a key week in their Y6 leadership levels.  

Checkout the finalists for yourself here

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.  You can also refer to the calendar on our website.

Term 3 .......... so far!

Tuesday, 6th August - Parent/Teacher Interviews
Friday, 9th August - Uniform fittings - Please call the office to book an appointment
Tuesday, 13th August - Parent/Teacher Interviews
Wednesday, 14th August - Powhiri and Mass of Welcome
Wednesday,  14th August - Board of Trustees meeting
Tuesday, 27th August - Year 5 & 6 Parumoana Swimming Competition
Thursday, 29th August - Kapiti Scripture Competition
Friday, 30th August - Uniform fittings - Please call the office to book an appointment
Sunday, 1st September - Whole School/Parish Mass
Wednesday, 11th September - Board of Trustees meeting
Thursday, 12th September - Celebration of our 75th Jubilee 9.30 - 11.30a.m.
Thursday, 19th September - Children Only Bring and Buy Day
Friday, 20th September - Uniform fittings - Please call the office to book an appointment
Friday, 27th September - End of Term 3

Please return all ticket stubs and money by 9a.m. tomorrow so you can be in the draw!  The lucky winners will be drawn at Assebmly.   

 You've got to be in it to win it!

All funds raised from this raffle will go towards equipment for our turf/sandpit/play kitchen area.  Many thanks, in anticipation, for your support of this initiative.

For Term 3:  There will be a total of 10 Fridays that pizza will be available for you to order - that is for every Friday of the term.  This term's fundraising is for Camp 2024 and will be administered by parents whose children are attending camp this year.  We will revert to the general fundraising for school in Term 4.

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 10 WEEKS this term. So if ordering for the term, just multiply by 10. 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 - between $20 - $30 per bag depending on the size you pick.  We have 3 different size bags and these are being stored in the shed at school.  If you want to purchase some, please let either Mrs. Fitzsimons (trish@stp.school.nz) or Mrs. MacLean (pauline@stp.school.nz) (or the Office)  know that you will be collecting after school and they will get that organised for you.  Please return your bag after use.
Pine firewood (trailer load) - $350 (includes splitting and delivery) Partly dry
Trailer of pine rounds (unsplit) - $50
Bring your own trailer and pick your own wood - Donation to school

PAYMENT:
For pine cones, please use the reference 'Pinecones' and your name.  
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.

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.