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,

I feel like I say this every year - but 'wow' where did the year go?  We are hurtling towards the end of the 2024 school year at a frightening pace and there is a buzz around us that only comes at this time of the year.  The children are practising their songs and readings for our end of year Prizegiving as well as for Mass on the last day of term which is always a highlight and a bit of a tear jerker.  Please lock in the dates for these events in your calendar now and everything you need to know will be coming out separately on Monday.

• Prizegiving and Christmas Play -  Tuesday, 10th December 5.30p.m. 
• Final Assembly for the year - Friday, 13th December 9a.m.
• End of year Mass - Wednesday, 18th December - 11a.m.

We are so excited to be holding our Christmas Family Fun Night again this year - next Thursday, 5th December from 5.30p.m. - 7:30p.m.  Come along, have a break from cooking and enjoy the Christmas festivities.  All the details are in the newsletter.

Our Year 5 and 6 children had an amazing time at Bridge Valley Camp in Nelson last week.  A huge thank you to Pauline MacLean, our camp 'Leader' for the hours of work that she puts into planning and leading the whole camp experience.  Thanks also to the team of enthusiastic 'wing people' who I got to be a part of with Trish Fitzsimons and Sheena Beales.  Lastly our thanks to the camp parents who joined us this year, Rick Stace, Rory Anquetil, Paul Skirrow, Duncan Buchanan, Sasha Robinson and Yvette Tohill. Our camp parents are an integral part of the camp process and this group not only kept the kitchen spotless, they also kept us entertained - word is they are going on tour with their newly formed Rap group!

As we come to the end of the year, planning is well underway for 2025.  We are currently working through class placements and the children will spend some time in their new class groupings on Monday, 16th December.  Deciding on class levels and groupings is a very complex process and takes into consideration student numbers, class sizes, balanced groups and the NZC.  Our new curriculum is set out in phases - for example, Phase 1 is Years 0 - 3 and Phase 2 is Years 4 - 6.  This means our classes and teachers need to be working in those groupings. We have set the Pods and classes for next year and will be working through the class lists to be ready for 16th December.  The 2025 structure is listed below:

Kakano Pod:
Room 1  – Jo Beasley Year 1
Room 2 – Shona Croasdale  Year 1
Room 5 –  Megan Squires Year 0 (from Term 2)

Pihinga Pod:
Room 3  - Payge Garner Year 2/3
Room 4  – Deborah Norris Year 2/3
Room 7  – Liz Meyer Year 2/3

Pohutakawa Pod:
Room 8  – Arnie Pham Year 4
Room 6  –  Olivia McKennie Year 4
Room 9  – Trish Fitzsimons Year 5/6
Room 10  -Pauline MacLean Year 5/6

These Pods  will be supported by part-time teachers and support staff and we are still working on that particular 'jigsaw puzzle'.

Kia pai tō rā whakatā - Have a great weekend.

Donna McDonald - Principal

We wish many blessings on Talia Fuimaono, her brother Oliver and their parents, Leemo and Hazel.  Talia and Oliver were baptised by Cardinal John Dew last week.  Please keep them all in your prayers as they walk along on their faith journey.

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.

Friday, 29th November - Non-uniform day for contributions to our Christmas Raffle
Thursday, 5th December - Christmas Family Fun Night - 5.30p.m.
Friday, 6th December - Whanau Day - Assembly
Friday, 6th December - Uniform fittings from 2p.m. onwards.  Please call the Office to book an appointment.
Tuesday, 10th December - Prizegiving 5.30p.m.
Wednesday, 11th December - Board Meeting 6p.m.
Friday, 13th December - Final Assembly 9a.m.
Wednesday, 18th December - Final Mass 11a.m.

Thank you to those parents who have already returned their form and offered to help.  We still need all families to return theirs as we need help and support going forward into 2025.  Unless we have offers of help, we won't be able to organise any fun and exciting events that are for the good of all our children.  Even the smallest offer of help will be gratefully accepted.  In case you can't find yours, a copy is attached.

TOMORROW (Friday, 29th November), is a 'Your Choice Clothing Day' and we ask all children for a 'Christmassy' donation for the privilege of not having to wear uniform, instead of the usual gold coin.  All donations are for the Christmas Raffle being drawn at our final Assembly and we're asking for sauces, wine, chocolates, biscuits, crackers, nuts, etc. - anything that you're likely to get in a lovely Christmas hamper.  Thank you in advance for your ongoing support. 

The boys did St T’s proud again at the Regional Athletics Competition.  Matthew Bleach won the Year 6 Boys 800m in a time of 2.34 and the 80m.  Will Croasdale came 3rd in his heat for the 150m.  Well done boys! 

Pool keys for the summer season are now available to be bought however the use of the pool by keyholders is only from Thursday, 19th December.   The cost is $150 per key and the absolute last day for buying a key is Monday, 16th December.

The attached forms need to be read and signed so that a key can be allocated.  You can either come to the Office to fill the form out or sign it and scan it through and once payment has been received, a key will be allocated and can be either collected from the Office or sent home with your child.

The Key Holder’s Agreement and Conditions of Use are attached as well as the Pool Key Allocation - 2024/2025 form that needs to be signed when a key is allocated.

Attendance Dues will be increasing by 5% in 2025. Attendance Dues have remained at their current rates since 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the decision to increase the rate was due to the increasing costs of materials and construction as part of the National Attendance Dues pool – Te Puna Waihanga component.
Across the year, this is an approximate increase of 0.50c per primary student and $1.00 per secondary student per week.
Change to rates Primary School: $572.00 per student (previously $545.00). Secondary School: $1,147.00 per student (previously $1,092.00). For more information visit www.wn.catholic.org.nz/about/schools-in-the archdiocese/attendance-dues

Please see the 2025 Attendance Dues flyer.

The details for this programme are attached as well as an enrolment form.  For any questions or further information, please ring or email the Parish Office.  
0273289911  st.theresas1940@xtra.co.nz

More information and the schedule are attached.

School closes for the year on Wednesday, 18th December at 12.30p.m.  Kelly Club's offer is open to ALL children, even if not regular users of this facility.

As per our notice last week, the order form is attached and has instructions for ordering.  The two sample sizes are available at the office.

For Term 4:  There will be a total of 8 Fridays that pizza will be available for you to order for - that is for every Friday of the term except Teacher Only Day on 8th November.  

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.

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.

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.