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,

Last week, many of our Year 5 and 6 children participated in our school Scripture Reading Competition.  This was a very close competition and the judges made specific mention of how well all of the children did.  The 1st place winners in Year 5 and 6 both go on to represent our school at the  Kapiti-Mana Interschool Scripture Competition which is being held at St. Theresa's today.  We congratulate Lucy Tohill and Sammy Cato and wish them lots of luck.
The Kapiti-Mana Scripture competition brings the Catholic primary schools from Otaki to Tawa together every year to share seen and unseen scripture, make connections and reconnect and share their creative interpretation of scripture.  This competition has been running since 2015 and this is our 3rd time hosting the event.  Our thanks go to Olivia McKennie, our Director of Religious Studies, for all the work she has put into co-ordinating everything and to our Parish for allowing us to use the Church and hall for this occasion.

In this newsletter is an invitation to attend 2 different parent evenings hosted by Kathryn Berkett.  Kathryn is a mother of two adolescents, with a Master of Educational Psychology. Kathryn teaches trauma-informed practice and has trained national and international audiences for over twenty years, working with groups such as Police, Teachers, Parents, Social Workers, NZL Rugby and many more. She also has a TEDx talk online, 'Neuroscience of Device Zombies.'  Our staff have attended many of Kathryn's workshops and attendance is thoroughly recommended.

Kia pai tō rā whakatā - Have a great weekend.

Donna McDonald - Principal

Kaavish Naidu started his schooling in Room 5 last Friday.  He is the brother of Saanvi in Room 3 and the son of Shalvin and Komal.  On behalf of you all, we welcome him and wish him many happy years here at St. T's.

Kia ora,
We had our first Board of Trustees meeting for Term 3 last week.    We discussed a number of things throughout the meeting.   Donna was able to give us a final update on the recent work on the property, with the school being painted and the completion of the artificial turf.  Both have really transformed our school and it is looking in great condition.  Every time I am at school, I see the new artificial turf full of kids playing on it.  It has transformed that area and made it usable all year round.  Work will be done to shape and finalise the mounds at the end of the field which will be another exciting addition.

We had our usual discussions about Finance and Health & Safety.  We have some really good systems and processes in place to ensure that the Board is always fully informed in these areas and accountable for both the financial position of the school and identifying and addressing any H & S risks as they arise.  On that note, we went over the RAMs for the travel portion of the upcoming Year 5 & 6 camp.  They are robust and we are satisfied that the safety of our children is front of mind.  This is an exciting time for our kids and I know they are looking forward to their camp later this year.

As I have said previously, the school is in great shape.  We are really looking forward to our 75^th Jubilee celebration next month and it would be great to get as many people along as possible.

We also finalised the date for next year's Fair, being Saturday, 29th March.  We are looking for overall co-ordinators so please consider this and if you can, put your hand up for this role.  Without somebody volunteering, we won’t be able to have a fair and we have seen the benefits of raising funds for the school.  The fair will be to raise funds to upgrade the pool area, in particular the changing rooms which really need it.

Take care and I look forward to seeing you all at the 75^th Jubilee celebration.

Nga mihi
Mike Tohill - Presiding Member – Board of Trustees

Congratulations to all our children for taking part in Scripture Reading this week. We were very impressed with you all. Congratulations to Lucy Tohill and Sammy Cato who will be representing St Theresa’s at the inter-school competition today. We wish you all the best.

Year 6:  1st Lucy Tohill, 2nd Iris Gair, 3rd Brooke Barber
Year 5  1st Sammy Cato, 2nd Grace Mischewski, 3rd Equal Indie Prinz & Noah Kerr

Samoan
1st Brody Algar, 2nd Charles Tyrell

Some of our St. Theresa's students will be making their First Holy Communion on Sunday.  Please remember them and their families in your prayers.  This is a very important step in their faith journey and we hope the celebration is wonderful!

Lucy Barber, Cooper Baldwin, Frankie Dolan, Pippa Sugrue, Felix McMinn, Charles Tyrell, Addie Johnstone, Emelia Muollo, Isla Giles, Brianna Ball, Eva Savesi, Makin Thompson

What happens on the day:
This is for our children only and is a great shopping experience! It is run by our Seniors (Years 5 and 6) to fundraise for their Camp in Term 4. It is an amazing day for all the children. They're going to love it!
A wee note for parents:  Wait and see what treasures your treasures bring home!

How you can help:
If you have any unused, no longer needed or pre-loved toys, books, ornaments, etc. and would like to donate them to the Bring & Buy Day, please bring/send them along to Rooms 9 and 10. Contributions will be rewarded with a gold token for your child.

For the whole of Week 6 which is next week - 26th August to 30th August - we will have pin on daffodils available at the Office.  There is the option to donate in cash, by Eftpos or using the QR code.  How much you donate is totally up to you.
Thanks in advance for your support.

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.

Big ups for one of our staff members, Aaron de Rose who donated platelets this week.  Please consider volunteering if you fit the criteria.  They're open from 7a.m. - 7p.m.
Let us know if you have and want your photo in the newsletter too!  

NZ Blood - Wellington Donor Centre 

Aotearoa NZ Children and Young Adult Awards 2024 - final update 

WINNERS (follow the link to see all the winners)

Read some reviews of the finalists and winners in our school catalogue

Enjoy these Hub Leaders reports and some photos from the day ….

Our trip to the NZ Children’s book Awards 2024 by Charles Tyrell

On Wednesday, 14th August, 2024 the six Hub Leaders went into Wellington and went to the National Library to meet the finalist Book Award authors and illustrators. 

We got to meet Zak Ātea, the illustrator of “The Dream factory”, Katie Furze and Ned Barraud, the author and illustrator of “Tuatara”, Raymond McGrath, both the illustrator and author of “Double Dippers” and Stacy Gregg, the author of "Nine Girls".

My favourite part of the day was when we had a session with Raymond McGrath. He showed us what he does for a living. It was amazing to see how he multitasks,  looking after children, animating and making other cartoons and commercials as well as writing and illustrating books. 

I really enjoyed going there and seeing how the authors and illustrators made their books and to see how they start the process and gather their inspirations.

Book Awards Trip by Holly Reading
On Wednesday, 14th August, 2024, six  library leaders went into Wellington city to go to the children's and young adults NZ Book Awards. 

We met five authors and illustrators. My favourite was Raymond McGrath, author and illustrator of the Big Little Blue series. He was so funny! It is a must have book series for all ages! 

We had 2 live drawing sessions. You should definitely go next year, I loved It!

Coming soon….. 

St Theresa’s Learning Hub - World of Wearable Arts (WOW)

Watch out for some amazing creations being added to the Hub display over the coming weeks!!!

On Sunday, 1st September at 9.30a.m. we will celebrate our second Whole School/Parish Mass of the year combined with Fr. Andrew's farewell.  There will be a sausage sizzle and a shared morning tea afterwards and we ask that you bring along a plate to contribute to this.  It is an expectation that all children attend, wearing their school uniform.  Children will meet their teacher on the court at 9.15a.m.

2025 Term Dates

Term 1:  Monday, 3rd February - Thursday, 11th April

Term 2:  Monday, 28th April - Friday, 27th June

Term 3:  Monday, 14th July - Friday, 19th September

Term 4:  Monday, 6th October - Tuesday, 16th December

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!

Thursday, 22nd August - Kapiti Scripture Competition
Tuesday, 27th August - Year 5 & 6 Parumoana Swimming Competition
Friday, 30th August - Uniform fittings - Please call the office to book an appointment
Sunday, 1st September - Whole School/Parish Mass 9.30a.m.
Wednesday, 11th September - Board of Trustees meeting
Thursday, 12th September - Celebration of our 75th Jubilee 9.30 - 11.30a.m.
Friday, 20th 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

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.

Community Connections

School Calendar

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.

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

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.