Week 6 Term 4 SFDS Newsletter
Wednesday 23 November 2022
MARY-ANGELA'S MESSAGE
Kia ora koutou
Today our Year 8 ākonga / learners attended Our Lady’s Home of Compassion for a day retreat and spiritual enrichment. This is the resting place of our tupuna Suzanne Aubert – Meri Hōhepa. It is a beautiful, and really peaceful spot to visit if you ever have the time. Meri Hōhepa was a young girl from France who became a national icon in Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond. It is so lovely to have such a significant site in our own part of Aotearoa and to honour the devotion that Suzanne had for people in need in our community.
Linking our curriculum to our Tupuna and our ‘place’
We are revising our school's ‘local’ curriculum, to ensure that we recognise such important aspects of our country’s (and city’s) history. I am also putting together a part / whānau booklet to summarise that local curriculum for you. Over the next few newsletters, I will include a few pages of this booklet. Please take some time to consider the four pages attached, from the booklet.
On that note, last week the Literacy Strategy image was difficult to view, so a pdf is also attached to this newsletter.
I welcome your feedback and suggestions about either of these before the curriculum is finalised - feel free to email me directly: principal@sfds.school.nz.
Regular School Attendance
School attendance has been a big topic of conversation in the national media of late. Some of this media attention has been very negative in relation to parents and school actions.
Recently we applied for, and received, approximately $5000 from the Wellington regional Ministry of Education office for initiatives that support attendance and engagement. We are using these funds to provide additional activities that support engagement, for example:
support for additional staffing to ‘check in’
breakfasts and snacks for hungry children
The costs associated with community events (like the wellbeing night)
costs associated with school that are a barrier some families
At SFDS we do have a number of families whose children regularly miss school for one reason or another, including taking holidays outside of the school holiday breaks. It would be great if our families tried to fit holidays within the 12 weeks allowed for children to have a break each year - rather than during school terms.
Ngā mihi nui kia koutou
Mary-Angela Tombs
Tumuaki / Principal
Newsletter proudly sponsored by
DRS MESSAGE
MOVEMBER
Over the past month our male teachers Michael, Chris, Josh, Tom and Ronan have been growing out their mows for charity! Check out their efforts below, and if you would like to donate you can do it here - https://nz.movember.com/team/2428531?utm_source=EDM+Auto&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=team+join+success
SARAH'S MESSAGE
CONGRATULATIONS
to the following students who received a certificate at Papatuanuku assembly on Friday:
Savanna J, Tanisha P, Pippa R, Catherine M, Harlan AT, Lily RR, Sofia P, Lilou R, Lilly M, Aris T,
Oliver J, Eva S, Rose M, Louis C, Asher B, Victoria M, Charlotte M, Jacob P, Dallas Th and Paris C.
PAPATUANUKU BEACH EDUCATION DAY
All this information for this has been emailed out. All four classes (rooms 8, 9, 10 and 11) require more parent/caregiver helpers. Please email your child/s classroom teacher if you are able to help. We will have to cancel if we don't get 5 helpers per class.
INTER ZONE ATHLETICS
A friendly reminder this is being held next Tuesday 29 November at Newtown Park. All those with children attending have received an email with all the information and the kids received their timetable at school last week.
YUMMY STICKERS
We received our free sports gear yesterday - a bag of 50 tennis balls and a variety of large balls (19). Thank you again to those who collected Yummy Stickers for us! Please continue to collect stickers for next year. Collection sheets are available at the school office.
PSL NEWS
PSL ADVENT PLAY
Our PSL advent event is coming up next Friday 2 December! At this event we are holding a short Christmas play!
We cannot do this without some amazing superstars! Please have a word to your child/ren to see if they are interested in starring in this! We have speaking and non-speaking roles available.
If they are interested in taking part, please email Maria and Fran on psl.sfds@gmail.com or they can sign up at the school office by Friday 25 November.
Can’t wait to see you there tell everyone!!!
SCHOOL NOTICES
SCHOLASTIC LUCKY BOOK CLUB
The latest Scholastic Book club brochures have been sent home. Please follow the payment instructions on the back of the brochure. Orders must be submitted online before Friday 2 December.
You can only order online by visiting https://scholastic.co.nz/parents/lucky-book-club/ Please DO NOT return any forms or payment to the school. We are unable to accept CASH or CHEQUE payments as these cannot be sent through the mail.If you have any questions please see Chris in room 7.
A special thank you to all those who have ordered lucky book this year. We have raised $750 to put towards our school library!
ENROL PRIVACY STATEMENT AND USAGE
All students attending school in New Zealand are added to the MOE ENROL data base.
Please find attached the updated ENROL privacy statement from the Ministry of Education (MOE) the attached information outlines how ENROL collects and uses this information.
LAST DAY FOR LIBRARY
The School Library will be closing on Friday 2 December. This gives Hennie time to do an end of year stocktake of all books. Please help your child have all their library books returned by this date. The replacement cost of books that remain overdue when the stocktake is completed will be invoiced to parents before the end of the year.
GARDEN TO TABLE
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
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Term 4 Policies and Procedures due for review
In term four, the focus is on the Safety On and Off School Grounds sections.
Term 4 review topics
· Health, Safety, and Welfare Policy
Board review
· Alcohol/Drugs and Other Harmful Substances
Board review
· Digital Technology and Cybersafety
· School Bus Transport*
· School Swimming Pool / Swimming Off Site*
Board review
Please feel free to have a look at this on the Schooldocs site and give us your feedback.
COMMUNITY NOTICES
EVERYONE OUT HOLIDAY PROGRAMMES
Everyone Out Holiday Programmes offer tamariki the opportunity to play and follow their own interests in an amazing natural environment. Whether they want to build huts in the bush, test out our slackline, learn how to start a campfire or just hang out in the hammock - there is something for everyone.
Bookings are open for our summer programme, 16-27 Jan, at enrolmy.com/everyone-out or for more information check out our website www.everyoneout.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