Newsletter 21 February Term 1 2023

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

Dear Whānau & Parishioners,

It is fantastic to have the opportunity to pop into different areas around the school regularly. Our students are engaged and interacting positively with their learning and each other. Routines have been established and students are displaying confidence to make the most of all opportunities. Having completed the series of cyber safety sessions our students are now ready to be using digital devices at school to support their learning. We support our students to learn about safe online practices and digital citizenship.

Thank you for attending last Monday and today’s Partnership Hui. The St Brendan’s teaching team finds this process valuable in learning about your child/ren’s strengths, areas of challenge, learning styles and more. If you found these dates were not convenient, we encourage you to make a time to meet with your child/ren’s teacher/s.

Last week the Upper Hutt Principals Association met. St Brendan’s is part of the self-funding Upper Hutt Education Network. We spent time reflecting on all that has been achieved, connected with the support of facilitators to review our strategic plan and draft future actions. On Saturday I was one of the representatives of Our Lady of the Valleys Parish who met at St Brendan’s with facilitators, Chris Duthie-Jung, Chris Walkerdine and Lucienne Hensel from the Archdiocesan Church Mission. We focused on drafting a strategic Pastoral Plan which considered the local application of the 2022 Synod themes and other issues of importance to our community.

Staffing Update We will be farewelling Mrs Niki Berensden, our amazing Office Administrator at the end of this week. We have been blessed that she has been a member of our St Brendan’s Support Staff team for four years. We wish Niki God’s blessings and Good luck. We hope you can join us for a Special Farewell Assembly on Friday, 24 February at 9.05am, an opportunity to thank Niki for all that she has contributed to St Brendan’s.

Welcome We continue to welcome new students and their families to our school community. In particular Joel to our Room 7 learning team.

Paid Union Meeting Next Week - Monday, 27 February NZEI Te Riu Roa primary teacher and principal members are making the case to the Government for the best investment in tamariki. Smaller class sizes, more time for individual students and more specialist learning support staffing would make a huge difference. Keeping and retaining teachers is critical, our teachers will also be meeting to consider a pay offer.

This means our normal St Brendan’s School programmes will not be able to take place between 1pm and 3pm while teaching staff attend the meeting. We ask that you support us by picking your child/ren up at 1pm on Monday, 27 February. If this is not possible, please let your child’s classroom teacher know so that we can make appropriate supervision arrangements for your child. AboutKidz Oscar After School Care will run as normal from 3pm.

We greatly appreciate your support and understanding with this matter, and acknowledge the inconvenience. When we support our children to learn and succeed, we are supporting whānau and communities to thrive. We look forward to another great year in 2023 – and together with your support building the case for better investment in our tamariki.

Playground Update Please be assured that this is still a work in progress! The funds that have been raised by our school community coordinated by the efforts of our PTF are ready and waiting to be used. We have been successful with one grant, declined by one grant and we are waiting for the outcome of two further grants. A playground requires substantial funding and we have been persistent with our efforts despite having faced several roadblocks along the way. Please keep this process in your prayers and we hope to have positive news soon.

Helping Others Non Uniform Day, Friday, 24 February Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. It is heartbreaking to see the images of devastation and challenging to even imagine the emotional devastation being experienced by so many. We are keen to support our Catholic Schools affected by the Cyclone. The New Zealand Catholic Primary Principals Association is working with diocesan representatives to determine schools that need support of any kind. We will be able to provide support through the NZCPPA Welfare Fund directly to schools to help them manage their self identified needs.

Safety on School Grounds Our school is unlocked and students are welcome and supervised from 8.30am. Prior to 8.30am, it is essential that students have before school arrangements, such as being enrolled at Aboutkidz Oscar. At the end of the day once our Road Patrol teams come in from duty, any uncollected students will wait in our office foyer.

Please do not hesitate to make contact with any of our St Brendan’s team via email, our team will endeavour to get back to you in a reasonable timeframe. Thank you for your ongoing support.

God Bless

Veronica Sawers,

Principal

Nut Allergy

We have some students in our school who have a severe and life threatening allergy to nuts. We ask that all food sent to school is nut free (including tree nuts).

Office Phone

We have two phones in the Office. Please be aware that when you receive a phone call from the Office, the number displayed can be one of two numbers - 939 1909 (main Office phone) and 939 1907 (handheld Office phone). The handheld is often used for medical calls while we are with your child in the Medical room.

Sick Children On the advice from the Ministry of Health and our school policy, children who are sick with diarrhoea and vomiting are to stay at home until 48 hours after the diarrhoea or vomiting has stopped. Please only send your child to school after that time if they are well.

Early Pickup On days when you need to pick your child/ren up early from school, please inform classroom teachers and the office via email.

School Docs Our school worked with SchoolDocs to create a website for our policies and procedures. The site is live and available to our school community. The school works on a subscription basis with SchoolDocs to maintain, update, and review our policies. SchoolDocs provides us with a comprehensive core set of policies, which have been well researched and align with the National Education and Learning Priorities. The policies and procedures are tailored to our school, and the school supplies specific information such as our charter, and procedures for behaviour management, reporting to parents, etc.

SchoolDocs updates, modifies, or creates policies in response to changes in legislation or Ministry guidelines, significant events, reviews/requests from schools, and regular reviewing from the SchoolDocs team. Our school board has the opportunity to view changes/additions and comment on them before they are implemented. We will advise you when policies are up for review and how you can take part in the review.

We invite you to visit the site at https://stbrendans.schooldocs.co.nz (note that there's no "www."). Our username is "stbrendans" and password "navigators".

You might like to check out the Parents and Whānau section on your SchoolDocs site – it has a brief description of SchoolDocs, and important information about parent involvement, communication and reporting, community conduct expectations, and social media guidelines. There is also a Quick Links for Parents and Whānau topic with links to the most relevant policies and procedures.

Uniform Reminders

Families must ensure these uniform guidelines are observed:

• All students must be in full school uniform every day.
• Plain black school shoes are required for winter (no canvas or ballet shoes).
• Plain black sandals or plain black school shoes can be worn in summer.
• Year 7-8 students are required to wear covered shoes for health and safety at Technicraft.
• Students must wear wide brimmed school hats outside during Terms 1 and 4.
• Hair longer than the shoulders must be tied back. Permitted hair accessories must be plain navy, black, or bottle green hair ties, clips, or headbands. No fashion accessories are to be worn (e.g. oversized bows).
• Coloured hair and extreme hairstyles are not permitted.
• Only plain, small stud earrings may be worn with our school uniform.
• Necklaces of religious or cultural significance such as crosses, bone carvings, or greenstones may only be worn under uniform clothing, and must be removed for PE.
• Make-up and nail polish is not permitted.

School staff will make contact with families if the uniform is not being worn appropriately.

2023 School Donations and Fees

Each year our School Board requests donations to support and enhance the delivery of our school curriculum. Our school is not eligible to opt into the Government’s donations scheme. We therefore continue to rely on your generosity and support.

2023 donations have now been loaded on Hero. Please login to Hero to view your financial statements. Our financial administrator will send out reminders during the school year. Below are links to two documents which provide further information about donations and fees.

Donations Information 2023

Attendance Dues Flyer 2023

Thank you for your support. If you have any queries please contact Clare Owen at accounts@stbrendans.school.nz

If you're new to St Brendan's and need to download and log in to HERO please follow the link below for a step by step guide.

http://www.stbrendans.school.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/ParentFlyerPremier.pdf

Kia ora to our St Brendan’s whānau,

It has been a pleasure to watch our tamariki start their 2023 year, settle into their new classes and make new connections. It is wonderful to see the improvements to our facilities near completion and the addition of the butterfly enclosure over the summer period has been a talking point in our household.

Having recently been elected to the board I have been enlightened as to just how much our community contributes to our learning environment. With that, we wish Niki all the best and a heartfelt thank you for all she has contributed to our school.

Finally to those with connections in cyclone affected areas, our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Ngā mihi,

Megan Diamond

On behalf of the St Brendan's Board

ASH WEDNESDAY MASS

St Brendan's will be joining the parish for

Ash Wednesday Mass

at Our Lady of Grace

at 9:30am,

Wednesday, 22nd February.

We extend an invitation

to all whānau and friends to join us.

CARITAS LENT APPEAL

The theme for the Caritas Lent resources in 2023 is I am the Light of the World / Ko ahau te whakamārama o te ao. The focus country for these resources is Fiji and each week there is a special focus that connects closely to both the Gospel story and a Caritas case study. These all link to the overarching theme of being light in the world.

PRAYER IN THE WAKE OF GABRIELLE

From the Community of Ordinary Saints

For those who have lost their houses to flooding or collapse,

May you find yourself somewhere safe and warm with loving company to help and hear your story.

For those without power,

May you feel the dedication of all those who work tirelessly to restore your home to light.

For those stranded and far away from loved ones,

May the strength of your relationships bring hope for the moment you can embrace again.

For those that cannot contact loved ones,

May you be anchored by the love of those who wait alongside you.

For those who are mourning a loss,

May you be surrounded by constant love and enduring peace.

For those who have been injured,

May the care you need of body, mind and soul come quickly and easily.

For those who wait in an unfamilar place - uncertain if you can return home,

May the deep care of those around you be your safe place.

For the children who are afraid and confused,

May you find many hugs, a listening ear and moments of joy and laughter.

For those who have lost their means of income,

May the people with the knowledge and skills to assist you arrive easily before you on your path.

For those who have witnessed destruction first-hand,

May your mind and body find peace as you wait for the repair of what is damaged.

For those fatigued following the floods,

May you lean on the strength of loved ones to carry you into another day.

For the emergency workers who continue to work tirelessly,

May sleep and rest come easily when the day is done.

For animals lost and injured,

May you find your way to safe and caring hands.

For the anxious and frightened,

May your breath guide you from one moment to the next in the knowledge that this too shall pass.

For those who mourn the loss of friends and family

May you find comfort and strength to face each day from those who surround you in your grief

For those who have died

May they be carried in the arms of the angels to eternal life and rest in peace

Movin'March

It’s time to walk or wheel! Movin’March Passports will be coming home with students next week and we encourage all families to get on board with the Movin'March Challenge to walk or bike to school, or park a distance from school and walk part way.

School Garden

We have a large wilderness area at the back of Room 8, near the bike stands, that the Enviro Group would like to clean up. The space has a large butterfly shelter that needs to be reconstructed and erected into the ground so we can expand our Monarch butterfly studies. It requires weeding and some digging, and then could be planted into a wildflower space. If you are interested in working on this project and could spare a few hours in the week please let me know. I will then work out a roster when 2 or 3 people could work together on the tidy up on the same day. We really appreciate your generous support with helping to create these spaces for our students at St Brendan’s.

Mrs Pullan, Room 7

St Brendan’s Butterfly Enclosure

Our school butterfly enclosure has been a hive of creation, with the life cycle evolving every second of the school day. The students have embraced the opportunity to observe first hand the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly. The enclosure is positioned outside Room 8, take the time before the school day or at pick up to come and see the butterflies it's a beautiful sight to see.

Explorer Butterfly Day

Last Thursday Rooms 6, 7 and 9 had a hands-on day observing, drawing and painting the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly. The children enjoyed watching a time lapse video, sharing poems and books about the butterflies. They demonstrated their knowledge and understanding through art and song

Sunflowers at St Brendan’s

Last year Room 7 planted sunflowers that they had raised from seeds that Hamish Blundell kindly donated. They have continued to grow taller and stronger and have provided great joy when arriving to start the school day.

Do you want to broaden your network in the school community? We have a wonderful opportunity for you to connect with others in exchange for a small amount of your time.

We need a Treasurer and a Secretary to join our PTF Committee – can you spare up to half an hour a week to help? You do not need any previous experience but these positions are a great opportunity to learn new transferable skills.

We are also looking for new Committee members and welcome all friends of the PTF. We meet twice a term via Zoom (we keep our meetings to 40 minutes). However, you do not have to attend every meeting or help with every fundraiser, just do what suits you and your family. Every little bit of time volunteered is a huge help!

We (Jemma Lynch, Sarah Smith, Jen Mahony, Lindi Arthur and Kiri Devanayagam) are busy planning this year’s fundraisers. The PTF has a successful history of providing fundraising support to the school. As we are currently only a team of 5, we need your help to be able to provide the amount of fundraising support that we have done previously.

Being part of the PTF is very rewarding and an easy way that you can positively impact every child’s life at St Brendan’s. We fundraise in support of school programmes for the improvement of educational opportunities, improved facilities and equipment, and for other items aligned with the school’s strategic plan. Some of the fundraisers themselves bring smiles and make memories for students (e.g. events like discos and galas/fairs, Juicies after school on a Friday, and pizza lunches in winter).

We have some exciting fundraisers we could run this year - a Sustainability Fair, disco, Icy Fridays, Easter raffle, art calendar, pizza lunches and Christmas pantry fundraiser but these will not be able to go ahead without your help. Please contact us at ptf@stbrendans.school.nz if you are interested in joining us, or if you have any queries or want to contribute new fundraising ideas.

With your help we look forward to having an amazing 2023.

NOEL LEEMING CHROMEBOOK LINKS

Noel Leeming now have a unique landing page for our school on the Noel Leeming Website.

Click here for St Brendan's unique landing page.

This landing page will allow parents/guardians to view all the devices to choose from based on the platform(s) that your school recommends. It will also have the latest stock availability and the best price on the day.

We also have our BYOD Toolkit to make your life that little bit easier. This is where you can find resources such as website tiles that you can link your BYOD landing page to.