Week 8 Term 3 SFDS Newsletter
Wednesday 14 September 2022
MARY-ANGELA'S MESSAGE
Kia ora e te whānau
He rautaki wā-roa hou mō te KOWHEORI-19: New long-term strategy for COVID-19
You’ll be aware by now that New Zealand has moved to a new, long-term approach to COVID-19. These changes have been made based on public health advice. Mask wearing is no longer required at SFDS, but you and your child/ren are welcome to continue wearing masks if you wish.
All the other recommended public health measures will stay in place as we know they reduce the spread of infectious illnesses including COVID-19. These include ensuring our indoor spaces are well-ventilated, maintaining good hand hygiene, encouraging everyone to cough or sneeze into elbows and, most importantly, staying home and getting tested if they have COVID-19 symptoms.
Staffing Update
Sadly I need to let you know that teacher and Ranginui team leader Tom Leeper has let us know that he and his wife Liz will be moving overseas at the conclusion of 2022. Tom has made a significant contribution to our school over his 3+ years at SFDS, beginning his time with the New Entrants in the middle of 2019, followed by a move to the senior end of the school, and in taking on his team leadership role soon after. We appreciate that Tom and Liz will have a wonderful time overseas and our love will travel with them.
We have begun the process of recruiting a new teacher to join our team from the beginning of 2023.
Te Wiki o Te Reo (Māori Language Week)
At the beginning of the 19th century Te Reo Māori was the predominant language spoken in Aotearoa/New Zealand. As more English speakers arrived in New Zealand, the Māori language was increasingly confined to Māori communities.
By the mid-20th century there were concerns that the language was dying out. Māori language was suppressed in schools, either formally or informally, to ensure that Māori youngsters assimilated with the wider community. Some older Māori still recall being punished for speaking their language.
‘Kōrero Pākehā’ (Speak English) was once widely seen as essential for Māori people. We now know that not only is this against human rights, it has also inhibited so many Aotearoa New Zealanders from benefiting from being multilingual.
On the 50th anniversary of the Māori language petition, this documentary unpacks the history of te reo Māori in Aotearoa, from its dominance to its gradual decline and the modern day revitalisation efforts. https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/speak-no-maori
Te Wiki o Te Reo - Māori language week is one national initiative that is helping to revive our indigeous language in Aotearoa NZ. At SFDS we want to be a part of this initiative - to give us all a ‘kick-start’.
Here are some other initiatives at to improve learning and teaching of Te Reo me te Tikanga (Māori Language and traditions) at SFDS:
Teachers have learned versions of early local histories of Te Mapunga Kāinga (Island Bay), Tāpu te Ranga (our Island in the bay) and Te Whanganui a Tara (Wellington Harbour area) and settlement of this area by Ngāi Tara and Ngāti Ira before the arrival of European Settlers in the 1800s.
Teachers have received professional support from an Aotearoa NZ Histories facilitator - to help our teachers plan the learning
We have become a ‘MAC (Māori Achievement Collaborative) School’ to support us to
Teachers have completed a self-review survey to establish professional learning needs
13 staff members have participated in Te Reo Māori lessons this year (provided by Wellington Catholic Schools Kāhui Ako)
I have been meeting with several members of our Māori community to find out how we can support our whānau/families of our ākonga Māori
Year 4-8 tamariki can be part of our Kapahaka
We have been learning about the various Iwi/tribes of our Māori learners
We have been implementing Curriculum Guidelines for teaching and Learning Te Reo Māori in English-Medium Schools
Our Year 7&8 ākonga have been investigating the children’s understanding of Te Reo in relation to the guidelines above
Our teachers have shared resources to support the teaching of Te Reo me te Tikanga Māori
There is so much more for us to do and learn. If you can help us in any way - we would love to hear from you!
Take care, kind regards and God bless
Mary-Angela Tombs
Congratulations to the following students who received a certificate for showing the value of generosity:
Dayton S, Maia K, Declan W, Liam N, Zane H, Joshua J, Malesh P, Robert S, Ivy C, Harvey L, Jasmine M, Lola D, Jack P and Fran P.
Congratulations to Siena for winning the house cup this week
Newsletter proudly sponsored by
DRS MESSAGE
GRANDPARENTS DAY UPDATE
Change of Date! Due to the day off to mark the death of the Queen we will be changing the date of the Grandparents Day to Wednesday 28 September. It will still be an exciting day as the children will have the chance to show their grandparents their classroom and after the grandparents can stay for some tea and coffee.
BAPTISM
Thank you to those who have reached out to me about getting your child baptized! I am still putting the feelers out there so if you are interested in getting your child baptized through the school please contact me via email (madeline.smith@sfds.scool.nz) or come and talk to me in Room 3.
Madeline Smith
DRS
KINDO SCHOOL ONLINE SHOP UPDATE
We are making some upgrades behind the scenes with your personalised accounts on Kindo.
This means the Fees and Donations option will be unavailable from Friday 16th September to Monday 19th September.
The Kindo Shop will be open during that time so you will still be able to pay for sports, uniforms, and other optional items.
You’ll be able to view and make payments again by Tuesday 20th September.
Thank you for your patience with the upgrade.
SARAH'S MESSAGE
WELLBEING HUI
A huge thank you to those who attended this event last week. We really appreciated your support, and it was so good to have the community back together again.
Here is a wee movie that you and your kids might like :)
ART SPLASH
Our Art Splash Choir group had an absolutely fantastic time performing at the Michael Fowler Centre yesterday evening. They were an energetic group of singers who were true performers. This was a fabulous experience for the kids. We really appreciate Jo Calvert for teaching this group the songs and for preparing them for the concert. Thank you Jo!
All the best to our dance group who are performing tonight.
MATHSWELL
We had a group of year 6 students participating in this competition on Wednesday 31 August. Although the problems were challenging, the group enjoyed the experience.
PRIMARY SPORT WELLINGTON FUTSAL FESTIVAL
Our year 3/4 teams attended yesterday and had a blast! Thank you to Sarah and Nick Willard and Glen Rhodes-Robinson for supporting these teams. We have 8 teams participating at the year 5/6 and year 7/8 festival tomorrow and know they will also have a great time!
TENNIS TOURNAMENT
All the best to Lola D and Hugo T (year 8 students) who are both competing in the Wellington and Kapi Mana Tennis Tournament at the Renouf Tennis Centre next week.
TERM 4 SPORT
The following sports are now open for registrations on Kindo: (Please see the kindo notice in this newsletter regarding Kindo being temporary unavailable this weekend due to an upgrade.)
- Year 1 - 4 Future Ferns Junior Netball
- Year 3 - 6 Mini Polo (water polo in a shallower pool)
- Year 7 - 8 Water Polo
Please register your child/ren if they are going to play any of these sports.
SCHOOL NOTICES
SCHOLASTIC LUCKY BOOK CLUB
The latest Scholastic Book club brochures are being sent home last week. Please follow the payment instructions on the back of the brochure. Orders must be submitted online before Friday 16 September We are unable to accept CASH or CHEQUE payments as these cannot be sent through the mail. You can order online by visiting https://scholastic.co.nz/parents/lucky-book-club/ , when ordering online. Please DO NOT return any forms or payment to the school. If you have any questions please see Chris in room 7.
SCHOOL DONATIONS AND CHARGES
Thank you to all the families that have paid or are making payments towards their school donations and charges for activities. Requests for payment to those with outstanding amounts were sent out last week and we would appreciate your payment of these as soon as possible.
While we acknowledge payment of the donations are voluntary; we rely on these donations to provide facilities for the children.
If you have any queries, or if payment at this time causes difficulty, please speak to Suzanne in the office to arrange payment options. Please see the kindo notice in this newsletter regarding Kindo being temporary unavailable this weekend due to an upgrade.
GARDEN TO TABLE
PRINCIPAL’S CUP AWARDED TO...
This cup is awarded weekly to a St Francis de Sales student who demonstrates exemplary service to our kura and our community.
A huge congratulations to the wonderful Declan W who is this week's recipient of our ‘Principal ‘s Cup’!
Declan has been spotted being super helpful in and around school with his school peers! He is alway ready to lend a hand and does everything with a smile on his face!
The following products are available though your school KINDO account
For information on how to get to KINDO Click here to view. From there you are able to pay your school donations, (there is an option to make part payments) uniform and any other school charges or sign ups for sports and extra actvities.
Supporting other children through Kindo
Kindo is adding a new feature to your myKindo portal enabling you to gift to others... starting with KidsCan. You will be able to buy lunch, shop and pay for our school items as normal, and you will now see some KidsCan donation offers on the checkout page.
Kindo will provide the donation receipts so you can claim back the 33% tax rebate – or sign up to TaxGift or Supergenerous to gift the rebate too.
If you have any questions or feedback, please email hello@mykindo.co.nz
Term 3 Policies and Procedures due for review
In term three, the focus is on the Student Wellbeing and Safety sections.
Student Wellbeing and Safety
Staff Wellbeing and Safety
Please feel free to have a look at this on the Schooldocs site and give us your feedback.
COMMUNITY NOTICES
Our upcoming October holiday programme is open for bookings!! We’re so excited, come
and join our Kelly Club Team for the best holidays yet!!
Kelly Club Island Bay Holiday Programmes focus on giving children aged between 5 and 13
the opportunity to do things they enjoy in a safe, supportive, and encouraging environment.
Our programme these holidays is jam-packed with fun activities for the kids, we have some
awesome days planned: We’ll be having Time Travellers Day, Kiwiana Day, Spy Academy,
Island Getaway Day, and more…We also have some amazing trip days planned too, we’ll
be off to Awesome Bounce, Space Place, Roller Skating, and Zealandia.
Check out our Activity planner for more information and secure your place now by visiting:
https://kellyclub.co.nz/kelly_events/view/14644
You can also contact us for more information by emailing us at islandbay@kellyclub.co.nz or
give us a call at 022 198 6316
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These school holidays KidzStuff Theatre for Children are presenting 'Why Are My Parents So Boring?', Written by Dan Bain and Directed by David Ladderman
Tickets $12.50pp, Children under 2 Free
Bookings: www.kidzstufftheatre.co.nz
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October Holiday Computer Classes.
Grand Training runs educational and fun computer classes over the holidays Wellington City location on Lambton Quay for ages 5 to 15.
- Roblox
- Minecraft from Introduction to Mods and Servers
- Learn to Code; Scratch, Python or Java.
- Code and Create 3D Games.
- Web Design, HTML and CSS
- Build a PC
- Film and Video Editing
- Discovery Course in Computing - suitable for younger children
For information & bookings 499-2211 or grandtraining.co.nz
Click below to download our school app or please use the following QR code which will take you to the right place
Contact Us
Email: office@sfds.school.nz
Website: http://www.sfds.school.nz
Location: St Francis De Sales School 11 Mersey Street, Island Bay, Wellington, New Zealand
Phone: 04 939 7370