Newsletter 5 July Term 2 - 2022

Welcome, nau mai, afio mai, namaste, konnichiwa, nĭ hăo, talofa, komosta, vanakkam, auybowan,

Dear Whānau & Parishioners,

We hope you and your families enjoyed celebrating Matariki and the recent long weekend. Celebrating Matariki helps to brighten winter’s darkness. We can reference Pope John Paul II’s quote in relation to Matariki, “Let us remember the past with gratitude, live the present with enthusiasm, and look forward to the future with confidence.” Rooms 6 and 7 enjoyed their trip to Whirinaki Whare Taonga on Thursday, where they furthered their knowledge of Matariki.

The LHPSSA inter-zone cross country was held last week for our Navigators at TMP. Those who participated displayed our GRACE values and gave the event 110%, well done. It was disappointing that the Football tournament was cancelled. Our Explorers have been enjoying the Activation programme, Ngā Taonga Tākaro - ‘Treasures of Play’. On Friday our Navigators spent the day in Wellington city exploring our nation's documents and history at the National Library and touring Parliament.

Our Adventurers gathered for Mass at Our Lady of Grace on Friday. This was the first time the team has attended Mass at OLOG this year. Attending Mass as a family on the weekend supports us to support your child/ren’s development of faith and familiarity with Mass. We warmly welcome all families to join us this Friday for our End of Term Celebration Mass at 9.30am followed by aspects of our school assembly including House points, GRACE awards, and acknowledgments.

On Sunday our community gathered to support our 18 candidates who received the sacrament of confirmation. We congratulate them and trust they know our St Brendan’s community and Our Lady of the Valleys Parish are keeping them in our prayers. We thank Jen Mahony and Fr Tony for preparing our candidates.

Property Update The Ministry of Education has funded property improvements for all schools that host Learning Support Coordinators, and the Archdiocese of Wellington recognised a need to improve the location/access to our first aid room. As a result our Administration block has been refurbished. The timeframe of this work was scheduled to be completed before the end of Term 2, we are hopeful that we will be able to relocate during the second week of the holidays and look forward to welcoming you to an official opening.

Please log into Hero! Yesterday a Maths learning post was shared with you as part of our new ways of reporting to families in 2022. Already this term you have received Literacy and Curriculum posts. Today you will receive further information about your child/ren’s progress against the New Zealand Curriculum together with a Teacher and Student evaluation using our GRACE values and Key Competencies. Please email your child/ren’s class teacher if you have not been able to access your Hero account yet and they will be able to help.

Whānau-Teacher 3-Way Learning Conversations Wednesday, 27 July and Tuesday, 2 August from 3.15pm at School. Conversations in the middle of the year are a wonderful opportunity to meet and discuss your child/ren’s learning progress. Our students will be prepared to be active participants. Bookings can very easily be made online via: www.schoolinterviews.co.nz by entering the code: 3dynk. Bookings will remain open until Tuesday, 26 July. If these dates are not convenient for you, we encourage you to connect with your child/ren’s teacher/s to find an alternative day/time.

Welcome On behalf of our whole school community we extend a warm welcome to Jake, Anna Rose, Antonia and their families. Jake, Anna Rose and Antonia recently joined Room 2.

Term 3 We have a lot to look forward to next term. Across the school our teams are finalising the details of their planning, we have been invited to several inter-school events, we will participate at the annual Upper Hutt Cultural Festival and ArtSplash, and we will celebrate Catholic Schools Day. An overview of the term will be shared with you so that you can note dates and events in your calendars.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. We are blessed to have an amazing team of professionals at St Brendan’s, and a team of generous people who volunteer their time and talents. This collaboration is what enables us to achieve so much.

We wish you God’s blessings during the holidays. Keep safe and take care. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Monday, 25 July.

God Bless,

Veronica Sawers,

Principal

We are looking to relocate these two tukutuku panels to a space in our school where they will once again be admired by more of our community. These are currently in Room 3, which used to be our school library. We welcome you to make contact with us if you know about them as we want to ensure we acknowledge the past appropriately. We will invite you to a blessing next term.

We are looking for a Finance and Payroll Administrator to join our St Brendan’s team. You will be someone who thrives working in a busy environment supporting the needs of our students, staff, whanau and community. The successful applicant will be responsible for:

• Accounts payable and accounts receivable
• Reconciling Xero
• Finance entries on our student management system
• Liaising with our accountants and maintaining the accounting google drive
• Assisting with budget preparation, interim and year end audit
• Generating reports to budget holders and principal on request
• Performing payroll functions including fortnightly payroll, leave management, set up of new employees
• Other administrative tasks on request

Experience working within a school environment, Xero and EdPay would be an advantage.

This is a permanent part time position, 12 hours per week during school terms. Extra days negotiated during term breaks and to support the end of year and beginning of year school administration. A competitive hourly rate will be offered depending on skills and experience.

If you are resourceful, resilient and have the skills and attributes required for this position we look forward to receiving your application. Please detail your skills, qualifications and work experience in your application by sending your CV, including the contact details of two referees and a cover letter to principal@stbrendans.school.nz.

Information about our school can be found on our school website: www.stbrendans.school.nz. You are welcome to contact the principal for further information about this position.

Closes Tuesday, 12 July and starts at the beginning of Term 3 date depending on availability.

GARDENING

St Brendan’s is an Enviro school and we are very proud of the progress we have made in the last few years, many initiatives have been introduced. If you, a family member or friend has time to help students to maintain our gardens, please pop into Room 7 or email Chris Pullan, c.pullan@stbrendans.school.nz

ROAD PATROL

If you, a family member or friend has time to be added to our roster please email Room 11's teacher, Sara Williams s.williams@stbrendans.school.nz

• Everyone who has supported recent trips and events, without your help these would not have been possible.

• Everyone for supporting our Term 2 fundraising, all contributions and donations are greatly appreciated.

• The Evans Family for their recent donation of books to the library.

• Jen Mahony and Fr Tony for preparing our Confirmation candidates.

CONFIRMATION

On Sunday the 3rd July it was wonderful to see 18 of our students receive the sacrament of Confirmation from Archbishop Paul Martin at Our Lady of Grace. The students have been preparing for this for the last few months with the support from their families and under the guidance of Mrs Jen Mahony and Father Tony.

The church was beautifully decorated with art work made by the Adventurers candidates, Navigators and Room 6 students. May the gifts of the Holy Spirit be with you all as you continue your faith journey.

Kia ora koutou,

With the Board elections looming, again I want to stress the importance for everyone to think about putting their name forward. The Board needs to be made up of a variety of experiences and skills. No matter what your background is, you will have something to offer the school. The Board has to have a diverse group of people to ensure the school community is represented as a whole.

I got the chance to accompany the year 7 and 8’s inter-school cross country race last Thursday. It was great to see your Tamariki showing so much support for each other no matter the year level or ability. There were some amazingly fast runners competing and our St Brendan’s participants made the school proud.

It’s that time of the year when the dreaded ‘winter colds’ are rearing up again. This along with Covid means it is now more important than ever to keep everyone safe. Please think about the school as a whole if someone in your household gets sick and please keep your children home. Our staff are constantly being reminded to stay at home if they are unwell and we ask the same of our parents.

In saying that it’s been great to see some frosty mornings lately as that means a gorgeous day ahead. I hope there are more on the horizon.

Noho haumaru

Nick Banks on behalf of the Board

We have two special mentions in this bulletin. First, we would like to thank and acknowledge Owen Evans for his service and contribution to our school Board over the last three years. Owen has stepped off the Board due to work commitments, we wish him and his family all the best in their future plans.

And lastly but never the least ... This week is the inaugural Tu Meke Tumuaki Week, which is in appreciation of school principals/tumuaki. A massive thank you and acknowledgement goes out to our awesome principal Veronica Sawers, for her leadership, commitment and hard work to lead and manage our school.

Norman Tufue

Presiding Member of the Board

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ROLE OF SCHOOL BOARDS

NZSTA’s Community Member Guide to the Role of School Boards provides information on what school boards are, the role of members, and how to become a board member.

On Thursday, July 21st at 7pm NZSTA will be hosting a Kōrari Question and Answers session. This will provide an opportunity for people to ask questions directly from our regional advisors. This is a free event, anyone with an interest in the work of school boards can register online here.

Write a comment on your child/ren’s Maths post (published yesterday) and be in the draw to win 1 of 3 Warehouse vouchers. Click on the comment icon to start writing.

Comments entered by the end of the day Thursday will be in Friday’s draw!

Here are some suggested starters that you might like to use when writing a comment on posts about your child’s learning:

• I really enjoyed …
• I am proud of you because …
• I can see that you have been trying hard to …
• I can see you have improved …
• It’s great to see you are now …
• A goal I have for you is …
• A next step for you could be …
• Something we can work on at home is …

Please contact your child/ren’s teacher if you would like some technical assistance - we are only too happy to help!

FLOORBALL

Congratulations to the Year 5 and 6 St Brendan's Adventurer floorball team who came 2nd in the Term 1 and 2 competition.

The St Brendan's Explorers and Seafarers (Year 3 and 4 teams) played well during the two terms and continue to develop their skills. They embraced playing for fun and fitness. Ka pai teams!

NEW ZEALAND GARDEN BIRD SURVEY

On Wednesday, 29th June Room 7 participated in the New Zealand Garden Survey for 1 hour from 12:00 - 1:00pm. During the week the students had been reading and watching clips about New Zealand native birds. We went outside well organised with clipboards, survey sheets and binoculars. We started by sitting quietly in the school Quad with the sun shining, it was quite relaxing and pleasurable. Every time we noted a particular bird Mrs Pullan noted it on her tally sheet. It was wonderful watching the different ways the birds hunted for food. We then walked over to the school field and noted a range of birds and flocks of birds. On the main tally sheet we recorded the largest group of birds which was the Sparrow. Mrs Pullan has sent the data that was collected online to the garden bird survey. It was one of the best hours ever!!

MATARIKI AT WHIRINAKI WHARE TAONGA

The Explorer students enjoyed travelling by bus to visit the exciting workshop and interesting exhibit on the Interstellar ‘Matariki'.

Rooms 1, 2 and 8 visited on the 2nd June, and Rooms 6 and 7 visited on the 30th June.

Bursting with bright colours, magical symbols and cross-cultural characters, Maiangi Waitai is all about exploring the mysteries of the universe. In this exhibition, Maiangi re-imagines oral history traditions related to the Matariki constellation. Creating a superhero figure for each star, complete with its own packaging, she shows us a unique way to consider some of the ideas celebrated in Aotearoa New Zealand during the Māori New Year. We invite you to visit our classrooms to admire our art.

BOOK FAIR COMING SOON ...

Where: In the Library

When: Opens Week 1, Term 3

St Brendan's School Book Fair 2022 will be open before and/or after school on most weekdays between the afternoon of Wednesday, 27th July and Thursday, 4th August. Detailed opening hours will be advised at the beginning of Term 3.

All purchases from the Book Fair help to earn free books for our school library.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

MULCH

Our pile of mulch has reduced, we still have some left. If you would like some you are welcome to help yourself to our mulch on weekdays after school, or during the school holidays, please contact the school office to advise.

NAVIGATORS NOTICEBOARD

MATARIKI RAFFLE RESULTS

The Matariki Raffle was drawn Monday last week and the lucky winners were:

Charlie T - Zealandia voucher

Jett M – Grocery Hamper

Ben M - Feijoa tree

COOKIE TIME FUNDRAISER

We are happy to be bringing you a Midwinter cookie time fundraiser. For more information and to order please follow the link below to the order form:

https://forms.gle/zeCRUHjjpHyEd6tTA

SECOND COVID-19 BOOSTER NOW AVAILABLE

A second booster of the COVID-19 vaccine is now available to those at increased risk of severe illness.

Boosters – Ministry of Health

The second COVID-19 booster is now available for:

· everyone over the age of 50 (and is recommended for anyone over the age of 65)

· Māori and Pacific peoples older than 50

· people who are severely immunocompromised

· health, aged-care and disability workers over the age of 30.

The second booster dose is available six months after the previous dose, and it should be postponed for three months after a COVID-19 infection. Anyone who is eligible for a second booster can book an appointment for a booster dose through Book My Vaccine from today or by calling the COVID-19 vaccination healthline on 0800 28 29 26 (8am to 8pm, seven days a week). Book My Vaccine – Ministry of Health

For those who are not considered at risk of severe illness from COVID-19, a two-dose primary course and a booster dose provides very good protection against severe illness from COVID-19.

We continue to encourage everyone to get their COVID-19 booster.

FREE FLU JABS FOR TAMARIKI AGED 3 TO 12

Children aged 3 to 12 years old can now get a free flu vaccination from their GP, healthcare provider or at most pharmacies. Free flu jabs for tamariki – Ministry of Health

Most tamariki aged 9 years and over need one vaccination each year to get good protection against flu. If you have a child under 9 years old, talk to your healthcare provider as they may need one or two vaccinations depending on whether they’ve had a flu vaccine before. If tamariki have recently had COVID-19 they can have a flu jab as soon as they’ve recovered.

UPPER HUTT LIBRARY

BEYOND THE PAGE FESTIVAL

Upper Hutt Libraries are very excited to be part of Beyond the Page, a Wellington Region wide, completely free festival focusing on stories in all their forms. We have all sorts of events, from Lego, to large scale building with cardboard, Toro Pikopiko and Little Dog Barking are running puppet making workshops, zine making, poetry writing workshops, stop motion, and String Bean Puppets are doing one of their amazing shows! The festival runs from July 11 to July 22, and you can find information about all the events happening on the Beyond the Page website, http://beyondthepage.nz.

UPPER HUTT CITY FOOTBALL HOLIDAY PROGRAMME

JULY HOLIDAY COMPUTER CLASSES

Grand Training runs educational and fun computer classes over the holidays at our Wellington City location on Lambton Quay for ages 5 to 15.

• Roblox
• Minecraft from Introduction to Mods and Servers
• Learn to Code; Scratch, Python, Java & Create 3D Games.
• Web Design, HTML and CSS
• Build a PC
• Film and Video Editing
• Discovery Course in Computing - suitable for younger children

Information & bookings: grandtraining.co.nz or call 499-2211

NGA MANU HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES

Children's Art & Nature Day with Harriet Bright

July 12th, 10am to 3pm

For more information and to book follow the link below:

https://ngamanu.org.nz/upcoming-events/art-nature-day-with-harriest-bright/

Golden Kiwi Egg Hunt

July 9th - 24th, 10am to 5pm

Included with entry fee (No charge for Friends of Ngā Manu)

FIREBIRDS HOLIDAY PROGRAMME

To register or for more information:

https://www.cricketwellington.co.nz/wscschoolholidayprogrammes

WHITBY COLLEGIATE HOLIDAY PROGRAMMES (for 10+ years)

To book and pay, please register on the Whitby Collegiate website's holiday programme page https://www.whitbycollegiate.school.nz/ or via the following link:

https://form.jotform.com/whitbyenrol/app-development-holiday-programme

LITTLE DRIBBLERS FOOTBALL CLUB

The link for the Have A Go Day is HERE and to get more REGISTRATION INFO HERE

TOTS TO TEENS MAGAZINE

The June/July/August digital magazine is available here

https://issue2207.totstoteens.co.nz/

What’s in this issue for parents?

• Cosy winter meals for kids
• Are regressions a cause for concern?
• Winter holiday ideas
• What are kids learning at school?
• How to finance those pearly whites
• Activities to keep little minds busy

and (as always) EPIC GIVEAWAYS