Newsletter Week One Term Three
St Claudine Thevenet 29 July 2022
A message from the Acting Principal
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Welcome back to Term 3 which has proved to be a very busy start.
The students have begun their Science and Technology focus - It’s Grow Time - From Little Wonders Grow Mighty Ideas. This theme involves asking questions and understanding that growth is a process that involves curiosity and a willingness to explore ideas. The first two weeks of this theme involves exploring engineering. It has been excellent to see the students involved in a range of engineering challenges that encourage them to explore, create, trial and reflect on their work and ideas. Towards the end of the term, we are hoping that there will be an opportunity for parents and caregivers to visit and see the students Science and Technology learning.
The response to Grandparents Day was wonderful. It was superb to be able to welcome people into the school for an organised event. The students were excited to spend time reflecting and acknowledging the special place their Grandparents hold in their hearts and whanau. We would like to thank all of the Grandparents who attended and shared some time with their grandchild or grandchildren in their classroom. What a lovely celebration of Saints Ann and Joachim, the grandparents of Jesus. Thank you also to our St Claudine team who worked to organise and prepare for this event.
For the start of Term 3, 2022, the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health strongly recommend that all schools and kura amend their mask policy to require mask wearing in all indoor settings for students in Years 4 and above. As you will be aware our staff and students have continued to wear masks and will continue to do so as per the Ministry guidelines. All visitors on our site must wear a mask. This ensures we all keep each other safe. We are still asking parents to drop off and meet children at the gate at this stage, but if you do need to visit the office please wear your mask.
I look forward to working with you and sharing all of the wonderful things our St Claudine students are working on throughout the term.
Ngā mihi,
Sandra Page
Acting Principal
SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS - SEPTEMBER 22
Every three years all State and State Integrated schools in our country hold elections for their School Boards. Catholic Schools which are State Integrated where the Boards have five governance responsibilities;
1. Works toward every student reaching their highest possible standard in student achievement
2. is the employer of all staff in the school
3. sets the school's strategic direction
4. is responsible for oversight of the management of personnel, curriculum, property, finance and administration
5. Ensures that Catholic Character underpins all key responsibilities.
On our current Board we have Jo Fenika, Sarah Ricketts (Proprietors Appointee), Ayen Santillan, Attila Va’a, Georgiana Vena - Aiomata, Maria Tali, Tony Harrington – (Proprietors Appointee & Presiding Member), Principal – Dr. Sue Jury, Staff Rep - Leeanne Neville and Board Secretary – Maria Ashkettle.
Catholic Primary School Boards are made up of a set number of parent representatives, Proprietors Appointees, the Principal and a School Staff representative.
Sarah Ricketts has served on the current Board as a Proprietor’s Appointee for close to 9 years with her term ending at the September 22nd election. On behalf of our School community thank you Sarah for your service and contribution.
What committment is required from Board Members.
Our School Board meets twice a term currently on Monday evenings at School where our meeting agenda helps guide our decision making about our Board’s key responsibilities. The Presiding Member also meets regularly with the Principal outside the term meetings. There are sometimes other Board related meetings that members will attend throughout the course of the year.
Of strategic and vital importance for the new School Board after the election will be the strengthening of the School Hall which has not been safe to use since the Christchurch earthquakes more than 10 years ago. Many of you will be aware that the hall is owned by our local Parish/ the Wellington Archdiocese and the only viable best cost option is for the hall to be restrengthened. Getting a firm committment from the Parish/Wellington Archdiocese to pay for the strengthening costs will be a key priority for the new Board.
What sort of skills do board members need?
Every member brings their own unique set of skills and life experiences to the Board. As a member of a Catholic School Board, it is essential that every member has an understanding of or a willingness to learn about Catholic Character and how it underpins all governance as well as school wide actions.
Catholic Character is the framework within which the whole school curriculum in any Catholic School is delivered. It is essential to everything that takes place in the school, or on behalf of the school and its community. When it is lived day to day it provides a culture of hope, inspiration and service for all members of any Catholic School community.
Other skills of value are the quality of being able to work in a team and having good communication skills. On our School Board we have key governance responsibilities where we work in partnership with our Principal to deliver on and achieve our governance outcomes.
Election timeline and process.
Our election date is the 22nd September of which there are two main parts.
In the lead up to the election parents/caregivers of children on the school roll will first receive in the post a nomination form with instructions on the number of available parent representatives being sought for the St Claudine Thevenet Primary School Board. Once complete, send it back to your returning officer by the date specified on your form.
Then by at least 28 days prior to the election eligible voters will receive in the post their voting papers and candidate profiles. There will be instructions to follow. If you have not received your papers, please get in touch with the main office at our school.
Once the election is over.
You can find out about the newly elected school board members in the school newsletter and/or website.
Wonder
For the first two weeks of term 3 our faith focus with students is based around the theme of Wonder. So what is wonder?
Wonder is often seen as a feeling of child-like delight, amazement, and admiration at the natural state of the world. It relates to a feeling of grateful awe for the smaller things in life. It drives the natural feeling of wanting to know more about the world around you, with a child-like curiosity. Wonder gives you a positive feeling and makes you pause in appreciation for those things, like nature, that are greater than you are. Wonder increases our capacity for joy and it connects us more deeply to God.
Wonder, along with awe, is also one of the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit. Many Catholics will know that this gift is sometimes referred to as “fear of the Lord”. However, Pope Francis reminds us that this does not mean we should be afraid or scared of God. It means that we should acknowledge “how small we are before God and of his love and that our good lies in humble, respectful and trusting self-abandonment into his hands. Abandonment in the goodness of our Father who loves us so much.
Wendy Wilson (DRS)
Nut Allergies
A message from the Totara Hub
We have had a great start to the term in the Totara Hub!
In Connected, our theme is ‘From Little Wonders Come Big Ideas’, with a focus on STEM - science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This will include growing our own gardens during Tech, and working on a variety of science and technology projects. We have begun by looking at different types of engineering, and what examples of inventions have been created from these.
In Mathematics, we are learning about fractions and decimals. This is a great opportunity for learning to happen at home; through cooking, baking, and spending money. For Grandparents Day, we learned about St Ann and St Joachim, who are the grandparents of Jesus. Their feast day was on Tuesday 26th July.
Totara Hub
In Totara Tahi we are beginning our focus on reading novels. We have been exploring a variety of genres, including nonfiction, science-fiction, and realistic fiction.
In Totara Rua we are learning about the different stages involved in engineering processes and what this looks like in different kinds of engineering.
In Totara Toru we have been very busy preparing to celebrate Grandparents Day. We have been making posters about our grandparents that highlight all the awesome things they do for us. We also made a selection of Kahoots to play with the grandparents when they visited.
Grandparents Day
A Message from The Attendance Dues Team
Now that we are sending all invoices/statements by email to families, please contact us if you have changed your email address so that we can update your account. Invoices will still be posted to families without an email address.
The Term 3 invoice will be emailed to all families shortly. Please check that the invoice has not gone to your Spam/Junk Inbox and that all your children are listed on the statement. If you have not received any invoices this year, please contact us.
Financial assistance is available to families experiencing financial hardship (loss of income/redundancy, family reasons, etc.). It is a condition of the assistance application that the family has an affordable regular payment in place.
If you have any questions, please contact us:
Phone: 0800 462 725 Email: dues@wn.catholic.org.nz Text: 021 08907902
Term dates 2022
Term One - Wednesday 2 February- Thursday 14 April 2.40pm
Term Two- Monday 2 May- Friday 8 July 2.40pm
Term Three- Monday 25 July- Friday 30 September 2.40pm
Friday 16 September TEACHER ONLY DAY- PLD
Term Four- Monday 17 October- Thursday 15 December 12.30pm
Contact Us
Email: office@stclaudine.school.nz
Website: https://www.stclaudine.school.nz/1/pages/1-welcome
Location: 14 Rata St, Wainuiomata, Lower Hutt 5014, New Zealand
Phone: +64 4 9399189