St Theresa's Catholic School Plimmerton eNewsletter

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,

Once again, our community has generously pulled together to support those in need. This week the children have been learning about the meaning of Shrove Tuesday and service to others. They took the donations of food we received from you, our school community, formed a chain to deliver the food and packed the pantry in the St Theresa's Foodbank.

They enjoyed a fun morning of making, eating, singing about and racing with pancakes! Check out the photos further down in the newsletter.

Yesterday we joined the Parish for Ash Wednesday Mass. Thank you to Fr .Ravi and the Parish community for including the school in the celebration of this Mass.

On Tuesday evening, the staff attended the annual Commissioning Mass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral. This Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Paul Martin and is an opportunity for all those in educator roles across our Wellington Diocese, to be blessed and commissioned in ministry. Archbishop Paul spoke about the unique role of faith formation that Catholic Schools have in our education system.
At the end of the Mass, teachers are presented with certificates for Religious Education studies they have undertaken in the previous year. Congratulations to Arnie Pham, Olivia McKennie and Payge Garner who received certificates from Te Kupenga, National Centre for Religious Studies.

Our prayers continue for Pope Francis and the medical professionals caring for him in hospital. We pray for peace and strength for him during times of pain and discomfort.

This year the Ministry of Education have an intense focus on attendance. As part of this focus, they have altered some of our attendance codes. This means we have fewer options and need to record a clear reason for a child's absence. When you contact the office to report your child's absence, please also give a reason so that we can use the correct code.

Next Monday, 10th March, our whole school will be visiting Hongoeka Marae. This is an exciting opportunity to experience a pōwhiri and be involved in activities while at the marae. You are very welcome to join us for any part of the day. If you would like to attend the pōwhiri, please meet outside the marae at 9.45a.m. Women will need to wear a midi-length skirt or dress and men wear trousers. If you are staying, you might like to bring comfortable clothing to change into.

Kia pai tō rā whakatā - Have a great weekend.
Donna McDonald - Principal

First Sunday in Ordinary Time
Luke 4:1-13

In this Sunday’s Gospel Jesus is tempted in the desert by the devil. During Lent, we can think more carefully about how we spend our time. We might choose to spend more time and energy on activities that lead us to God. Jesus' response to the devil's temptations reminds us that God is to take priority in our lives. Our Lenten practices prepare us to choose God above everything else in our lives.~Loyola Press

A great week for the SPARKs - doing their very best and setting a good example for their classmates.

Shrove Tuesday was a great day at school. The children learnt about the history and traditions behind this day, they got to make and eat pancakes, create a class song about pancakes and then practise their pancake tossing skills.

Congratulations to Tobias Deere and Lachie Cato who were the Senior and Junior Pancake Tossing champions!

There was a wonderful supply of donated food for the Parish Food Bank that the children passed along a human chain lineup from the playground right into the Foodbank. As always, we appreciate the support from home for this.

Last week in Room 6, we made some amazing art. We created graffiti name art using pastels. We also looked at Hunterwasser's art and created our own pieces inspired by his work. We used water colour pencils and paint for these.

MARCH
Monday, 10th March - Hongoeka Marae visit
Friday, 14th March - 2p.m. Uniform fittings
Saturday, 22nd March - March Madness Fair
Friday, 28th March - School Photographs
Sunday, 30th March - Whole School/Parish Mass 9.30a.m.

APRIL
Friday, 4th April - 2p.m. Uniform Fittings
Friday, 11th April - End of Term 1

We have a special bit of 'fence art' for Holly at the end of the field. All staff and students will be adding their own ribbon to the fence so that the whole O'Connell family knows we are thinking about them, supporting them and praying for them. Please feel free to add your own ribbon (named or not) to all of ours! Ribbons should be tied around the outside of the heart so that Holly's name is always visible.

Netball Show of Interest

Netball Show of Interest 106.32 KB

Lamborghini Raffle

Lamborghini Raffle 215.37 KB

March Madness Fair Update 6

March Madness Fair Update 6 287.65 KB

Prize Week Update

Prize Week Update 305.70 KB

On Monday, 10th March, the whole school will be visiting Hongoeka Marae in Plimmerton. This is a major event in our school calendar and we are very excited for our community to have this opportunity.

The pōwhiri to welcome us onto the marae will start at 10.00 a.m. and everyone needs to be assembled outside by 9.45a.m.
This will be followed by kai (morning tea) provided by Hongoeka.
We will be involved in activities throughout the day.
Children will need to bring lunch, drink bottle and sunhat.
They will wear their full school uniform.

Pihinga (Rooms 3, 4 & 7) and Kakano (Rooms 1 & 2) will be travelling to Hongoeka by bus. This will leave school at 9.00a.m.

Pohutukawa (Rooms 6, 8, 9 & 10) will be walking to the marae. They will leave school at approximately 8.50a.m. Parent help will be needed for the walk and you are very welcome to stay for the day.

At 2.00p.m., the school will perform a haka and waiata, thanking Hongoeka for welcoming us onto the marae and for providing such a wonderful opportunity for our community to experience the marae and activities.

The children will be ready to leave the marae to return to school by bus at 2.15p.m.

Whanau are more than welcome to attend the pōwhiri at 10.00a.m. and we will also need parent help on the day.

Please let your teacher know if you can help with activities on the day.
Please let us know if you can walk to the marae in the morning with us.

There is the opportunity for students in Years 2 – 6 to purchase a hoodie as part of our sports uniform. These hoodies do not replace our school jersey and cannot be worn to and/or from school unless children are wearing their PE uniform for a sports event. However, they can be worn at school with their uniform. It is an OPTIONAL part of the PE uniform and there is no obligation to purchase one.

The navy blue hooded sweatshirt has the school name and logo printed on the front and your child’s name/wording screen printed on the back.

The sweatshirts come in sizes 6 (L40cm, C78cm), 8 (L43cm, C80cm), 10 (L48cm, C90cm), 12 (L52cm, C92cm), 14 (L60cm, C100cm) and 16. L = length, C = chest. These measurements are approximate and the length is taken from the front neck of the hoodie to the bottom. There are some sample sizes available if you would like to try one on your child first. The cost per sweatshirt is $80. The school will not accept responsibility for the size you/your child chooses.

If you would like to order one, please return the slip below. Payment must be made at the time of ordering and this can be done via the Internet (preferred option) to our school account (12 3254 0109325 00), in cash or by Eftpos.

We would like to try get the order in to the supplier and delivered as soon as possible, so please return your form with payment, to the Office by Friday, 14^th March - NO ORDERS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THIS DATE.

Order form

For Term 1: There will be a total of 7 Fridays that pizza will be available for you to order for - that is for every Friday of the term until we break up.

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 7 WEEKS this term. So if ordering for the term, just multiply by 7. 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.

Our welcoming Catholic Parish is looking for a Pastoral Care & Office Coordinator to provide both administrative support and compassionate care to our community. This paid role on a Wednesday for five hours (hours flexible) combines office management with pastoral outreach, ensuring the smooth operation of parish services while supporting those in need.

Key Responsibilities: Provide pastoral care and support to parishioners / Manage office administration, scheduling and communications/ Assist the Parish Administrator, Fr Ravi / Produce the newsletter

Ideal Candidate: Strong commitment to the Catholic faith / Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills.

To Apply: Please contact Paul Kerr on email; Paul.g.kerr@gmail.com.

Check out our fabulous personalised school hats! Order form attached.

Personalised Buck Hat order form

Personalised Buck Hat order form 3.58 MB

If you are interested in any secondhand uniform items, please email Kerry to check availability. Each item is individually priced with 100% of all proceeds going directly to our School.

If you have any uniform items in good condition that you are willing to donate to this fundraiser, please drop off to Gina. No soiled white shirts, old-style boys’ shirts or shoes please. For any further information, please contact Kerry Swadling: kerry@mischewski.co.nz

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.

Yummy Apple Stickers Collection Sheet

Yummy Apple Stickers Collection Sheet 342.43 KB