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13 Poutūterangi - 13 March 2024

Kia ora e te whānau

Thank you very much for joining our teachers in the Goal-setting conferences over the past two evenings. I know that the teachers found it helpful to be able to have a quick chat with each of you, and I hope you found this helpful also. Please feel free to share any feedback about what you found helpful, and ways that we could improve for next time. 

Easter Raffle

Thank you for all of the donations towards our PSL Easter Raffle. Your donations are appreciated - and there is a real sense of excitement each morning, as the children see the supply growing!

Uniforms

Thank you for your support with making sure your child is wearing the correct uniform. We have seen a marked improvement in the correct uniform clothing being worn to school. One area that is still a problem is shoes. The main problem is children wearing shoes with contrasting logos, etc. (examples are shown in the previous image).

As shared a few weeks ago, please make sure your child(ren) wear(s) the correct uniform to school, especially:

• Sandals / Shoes: Navy, black or brown sandals with back strap - OR - School shoes in plain black, brown or navy. No contrasting logos allowed.

• Optional Sports Shoes: ONLY to be worn during SPORT / PE. Not to be worn at other times.

If your child does not have the correct shoes, please make sure to purchase these the next time you buy new shoes. 

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the following students who received a values certificate at our school hui on Friday for showing the value of aroha - Zane H, Heidi J, Yakin M, Sofia M, Noah W, Tenysin T, Chiara Z, Thea S, Brearna A and Zeb V.

Well done to Declan W who was the winner of the Empire Cinema voucher for the values card draw.

Congratulations to Siena who won the house cup for the most points earned at the Fun Sports Day. 

21 Pēpuere - 21 February 2024

Kia ora e te whānau

The children are now well settled into their classes, learning their routines, and support programmes are being refined to support changing needs. We are planning a special support programme for children who have been through significant change and there is more information below. 

Seasons for Growth: Term 2

Learning to live with change and loss

Change and loss are issues that affect all of us at some stage in our lives. We recognise that when changes occur in families through death, separation, divorce and related circumstances, young people may benefit from learning how to manage these changes effectively. We are therefore planning to offer a very successful children's education program called Seasons for Growth which will commence in Term 2 this year during school time.

This program is facilitated in small groups and is based on research which highlights the importance of social support and the need the practise new skills to cope effectively with change and loss. The program focuses on issues such as self-esteem, managing feelings, problem-solving, decision-making, effective communication and support networks.

If you think your child would benefit from Seasons for Growth we would encourage you to talk to them about participating in the program. We are really pleased to be able to offer this important program and we are confident that it will be a valuable learning experience for those who request to be involved. 

If you require further information please contact Sarah Fountain (sarah.fountain@sfds.school.nz). 

Donation Requests and Payments for 2024 (These have been added to your kindo account today.)

While the New Zealand government supports most school costs, there are additional expenses crucial to enhancing our students' learning experience at St Francis de Sales School.

Last year, our school faced a funding gap of over $200,000. A decline in volunteers over time has also affected income (e.g. from annual school fairs). Last year we sought grants to bridge some of the gap.  This financial pressure puts our smaller class sizes and valuable aspects of school life at risk. 

To continue providing quality education in a caring environment, we rely on the generosity of our families more than ever. Your support through donations and compulsory payments is vital. 

*We are also excited to introduce the ‘Pay It Forward’ initiative. We invite you to make a donation to contribute to one or more of the school costs listed below for another SFdS family. 

Below is an overview of the 2024 donation requests and compulsory payments. 

Voluntary Donation Requests

Firstly, we request that you contribute towards general costs across the school, as detailed on KINDO:

1. ‘SFdS Donation’: Supporting smaller class sizes, and updating learning resources 

• $250 for one child

• $350 for two children

• $400 for three or more children

• * ‘Pay it forward’ - donation to support another family at SFdS 

2. Religious Education Digital Resource: $11 per child requested to cover costs 

3. Swimming: $80 per child requested to cover costs of instruction and bus transport

Secondly, we also ask that your contribute towards Year Level based activities, as detailed on KINDO:

4. Activities Donation: Supporting various curriculum-related activities:

• Year 1-3:  $80 per child requested to contribute to the cost of learning through play, Life Education, Intro to   Kapahaka, NZ Playhouse performance, Footsteps Dance sessions, occasional trips, and school events, sports gear 

• Year 4-8:  $130 per child requested to contribute to the cost of Life Education, Kapa Haka, NZ Playhouse performance, Footsteps Dance sessions, school sports, and zone sport, choir, etc, termly trips, and school events 

5. Noho Marae (Year 6 only): The 2024 cost is yet to be confirmed

6. Camp (Year 7 & 8 only): $370 per child to cover costs

7. Technology (Year 7 & 8 only): $64 per child to cover costs 

Compulsory Payments

• Optional activities (e.g. optional sports teams) invoiced separately through 'School Shop: Kindo.'

• Attendance Dues: Compulsory and payable directly to the Archdiocese. Visit the Archdiocese website for details.

How to Contribute:

• Use our online school shop – Kindo at www.kindo.co.nz.

• Eftpos to the school office (no cash or cheques accepted).

• Direct deposit into our bank account: ASB 12-3141-0233071-00 (Please quote your child’s name and the activity you are paying for, or the donation you are making).

If you have any questions, please contact Suzanne at office@sfds.school.nz  or 939 7370.

Support 

If you have any concerns about our donation requests or compulsory payments, please feel free to contact our Principal, Mary-Angela Tombs directly (principal@sfds.school.nz). We are very happy to support you where we can - through payment options or applying for rebates for attendance dues. 

Thank you for your ongoing support. 

Catholic Special Character 

Sacramental Programme 

Enrolments for the 2024 Sacramental programme close on Monday 26 February. This programme is available to all children who have been baptised into the Catholic faith and reached Year 4 or above in the primary school system. The Parent evening is at St Anne’s on Tuesday 27 February at 6.30pm. 

Family Mass - 10:30am Sunday 3 March

Our whole parish, including our three schools (St Anne's, St Bernard's and St Francis de Sales), is coming together to celebrate a special children's Mass at 10:30am in St Francis de Sales Church. It would be wonderful to see you all there - even if you do not normally attend Mass. You will be very welcome. If you would like your child to have a special role in the mass, please email lauren.king@sfds.school.nz. 

Lent - preparing ourselves for the coming of Christ at Easter

During these 40 days on lent, as Christians we believe the best way to prepare ourselves for Easter is to try to do some self-maintenance. Trying to change habits that are judgmental, antisocial, unhelpful, negative is one way. Trying to be of service to others, giving to a cause, or forgiving others, or spending time in prayer can be other ways. The children are currently learning about this through the Caritas Lenten programme. See the purple poster below to find some ideas for lent at home during the 6 weeks of lent. 

Christian Meditation

Next week we welcome Sr Rachel, from the Home of Compassion. Sr Rachel will be leading each class through Christian meditation every Monday from next week. The meditation only takes 5-10 minutes and will be a welcomed time of peace during a busy day for the children. 

Other Information 

Please visit the tabs above, and linked below,  for more updates in relation to...

Sports News

• Big Little Sponsorship 

• A message from the Touch Rugby organisers

School Notices and Event

• School Donations are tax Deductible 

• Children's Mass poster

• Seasons for Growth flier

Community Notices

• Please keep an eye on these each week

Ngā mihi nui

Mary-Angela Tombs

principal@sfds.school.nz    

14 Pēpuere - 14 February 2024

Kia ora e te whānau

Thank you to those of you who joined with us and parishioners to celebrate Ash Wednesday this morning. All of the children participated reverently in the Mass. On Monday this week some of our teachers also attended the annual 'Commissioning Mass' at St Mary's of the Angels church. We gathered with other teachers from across Catholic Schools in Wellington for this Mass. We were given a special blessing to start the year from Archbishop Paul. 

Cell Phones / Smart Watches 

You may have heard through the media that the government now requires all schools to implement a rule that cellphones are banned from schools. At St Francis de Sales we already had a system set up where any cellphones were to be handed in to the class teacher at the beginning of the day. This now also applies to smart watches. If you child needs a cellphone for medical reasons (monitoring blood sugars, etc) parents can coordinate with Sarah Fountain (sarah.fountain@sfds.school.nz) and the class teacher. 

Road Safety

Please take extra care in dropping off and picking up your child. We often witness unsafe driver behaviour outside out school and all of us are worried about safety of our community. Please do not...

• Park over driveways (including the school driveway)

• Use driveways for three-point turns (including the school driveway)

• Send your child across the road from your car - they need to use the zebra crossing

• Park on yellow lines

Thank you for your support. 

Uniform

Please make sure your child is wearing the correct SFdS uniform. Please do not replace parts of the uniform with alternatives (eg skirts, logo shoes, different coloured socks, different shorts, etc). This includes plain black, brown or navy shoes / sandals (no ticks or other logos). Thank you to the wonderful PSL team who have created a clever movie (below) asking for donations of the 'old' uniform if no longer needed. A reminder that we are due to transition completely into the 'new' uniform at the beginning of Term 2 this year (after our 2-year transition period). If you need your child to wear something different - make sure to communicate this to their teacher. 

Catholic Special Character 

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is a special day for Christians that marks the beginning of Lent, a period of 40 days leading up to Easter. On Ash Wednesday, people in our church gather together to receive ashes on their foreheads in the shape of a cross. These ashes are usually made by burning palm branches from the previous year's Palm Sunday. The ashes symbolize humility, mortality, and the need for repentance.

The priest or special minister applies the ashes while saying a phrase like "Remember that you are dust, and to dust, you shall return," (or similar) reminding everyone of their human mortality. This act serves as a way for people to reflect on their lives, seek forgiveness for any wrongs, and commit to a period of self-examination and spiritual growth during Lent. Many Christians use this time to pray, fast, and engage in acts of kindness as they prepare for the celebration of Easter.

Weekly Buddy Masses

Most Fridays, our classes attend the normal Parish Mass on a Friday morning. Our families are always welcome to join us - you don't need to be a Catholic to do this. Mass starts soon after 9:00am. Fr Doug is planning to visit each class in the lead up to a buddy class Mass, so that the children learn more about the Mass. 

Other Information 

Please visit the tabs above, and linked below,  for more updates in relation to...

Sports News

• Term 1 Sports

• Underwater Hockey

• Weet-bix Tryathlon

School Notices and Events

• Attendance dues billing

• Correct Uniform

• Garden to table

• Found - Lost snapper card

Community Notices

• Please keep an eye on these each week

Ngā mihi nui

Mary-Angela Tombs

principal@sfds.school.nz    

7 Pēpuere - 7 February 2024

Kia ora e te whānau

This morning it was really wonderful to welcome you all back for another school year at SFDS. The school comes alive once it is filled with children! Thank you to our staff team for your careful preparation for the year over the recent weeks. Thank you to those who stayed for our welcome assembly.

Communications

We want to make sure everyone receives the information they need in a timely fashion. We also want to avoid excessive duplication of information, while trying to support you to stay informed. In order for this to be effective, we also rely on our families reading our communications. 

Meetings, emails, phone calls, Hero texts - direct messaging for information about your child(ren) only. Later this year we will also introduce direct messaging through Hero, but this functionality is not yet switched on. 

Hero Community Notices - Our first point of contact for you in a general sense. We will try to keep our messaging succinct. You can search these messages using key words if you miss something. The Hero format limits the scope of what we can share, and only people on your Hero account can view the information - hence the 2024 SFDS News, below. 

2024 SFDS News - This website is our public sharing of updates about our school to keep everyone fully informed. We have simplified the format of the site somewhat. We suggest you bookmark the site on your device, so that you do not need to navigate links if this is problematic for you.  Below is a URL to copy and paste to help you do this: https://sites.google.com/sfds.school.nz/2024sfds-news/home . The 2024 SFDS News site will be updated weekly, including photos, celebrations, affirmations, important information, etc. 

Calendar - Our school's google calendar of events is updated by our office team. Please be aware that sometimes the calendar updates can be delayed due to plans changing. We endeavour to keep this updated as best we can and it is checked regularly. We suggest you add the google calendar to your own calendar to stay updated.

School Website - Our website is for public information only. We do not use the school website to share news. However it does provide links to the SFDS News and other key information. 

School Facebook page - this is exclusively for celebrating our school and our people. It is not used for information sharing. 

Catholic Special Character 

A prayer for the start of this new school year

E te Atua, we seek your guidance and wisdom for the journey that unfolds before us in 2024. Grant us the strength to face challenges with faith, the courage to embrace change, and the humility to seek your will in all that we do. May your light illuminate our path, leading us to walk in love and kindness here at SFdS.

Lord Jesus, may your love fill our hearts and overflow into the lives of those around us. Help us to be instruments of peace, reconciliation, and hope in a world that so desperately needs your light.

We lift up to you our dreams, our fears, and our aspirations. May your Holy Spirit guide us in making choices that honour you and contribute to the Hauora, well-being of others. In times of joy, may we give thanks, and in times of sorrow, may we find comfort in your presence.

We place our trust in you, Lord, knowing that you hold the future in your hands. May your grace abound, and may your name be glorified in all that we say and do.

In Jesus' name, we pray.

Amen.

2024 Sacramental programme

Enrolments for the 2024 Sacramental programme close on Monday 26 February. This programme is available to all children who have been baptised into the Catholic faith and reached Year 4 or above in the primary school system.  The Parent evening is at St Anne’s on Tuesday February 27 at 6.30pm.

Enrolment forms available from the School office or the Parish Website. wellingtonsouthcatholic.org

Values focus: Atawhai - Kindness

We start this term with a focus on using a friendly voice, thinking of others’ feelings, sharing, gentle hands and feet, including others, thanking others, being thoughtful.

Years 1 – 5:  Being sympathetic when others hurt themselves, share, help others, be friends with everybody and include others.

Years 6 – 8:  Help others without expecting anything in return, practise random acts of kindness, include others and look beyond your friendship group, be kind to your family members and acknowledge the things they do for you every day. 

Ash Wednesday Mass

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent - the 6 weeks' preparation of Holy Week and Easter in our church's calendar. Please join us for Ash Wednesday Mass on Wednesday 11am in St Francis de Sales church. 

Learning 

Rich Curriculum Plan for Term 1

This term our learning relates to Social Sciences: Identity and Culture. We want Ākonga to see themselves and others reflected positively in our school. Across the school, we are focused on the following big ideas:

• People hold different perspectives on the world depending on their experiences, stories, values and traditions.

• We live by our school values, drawing on our whakapapa, belonging to a community, inclusivity and our sense of place and citizenship. 

These big ideas will guide a progression of learning primarily through the Social Sciences kaupapa, and with integration across Religious Education and Health.  In the coloured table (Blue / Green / Yellow) below, we have shared the learning and teaching approaches that will be visible inside and outside the classroom as they progress through each level of the school. 

In Tangaroa, our Year 1-3 ākonga will learn:

• We show who we are through daily routine and through stories about our whānau.

• SFDS and Island Bay are important to us and our whānau. We show our connection to places through exploring our local area. 

In Papatūānuku, our Year 4-6 ākonga will learn:

• Our whakapapa shapes who we are, and impacts how we interact with others.

• Our choices can have positive or negative impacts on the world we live in.

In Ranginui, our Year 7&8 ākonga will learn:

• Sometimes, we can feel included, other times not.  It can affect culture and our collective identity.

• Our connections to places and things can either bring us together or lead to disagreements about rights and duties, with different outcomes.

This year we plan to take more opportunities to explore Te Whanganui a Tara - beyond our school gates, and to engage with more expertise, stories, arts and culture from within our community. We welcome your involvement in learning. Please speak with your child's teacher if you can help in any way.

Our SFdS Uniform is Compulsory 

Please make sure your child(ren) wear(s) the correct uniform to school, especially:

• Hat: Wide brim SFdS sunhat; SFdS logo cap (Year 7&8 only) - no other hats allowed. 

• Sandals / Shoes: Navy, black or brown sandals with back strap - OR - School shoes in plain black, brown or navy. No contrasting logos allowed.

• Optional Sports Hoodie: ONLY to be worn for SPORT / PE. Not to be worn at other times.

• Optional Sports Shoes: ONLY to be worn during SPORT / PE. Not to be worn at other times.

Any children wearing incorrect items will be required to remove these items. 

If your child is not able to wear the correct items temporarily or for medical reasons, please send a note to their teacher. Thank you 

Other Information 

Please visit the tabs above, and linked below,  for more updates in relation to...

Sports News

• 2024 Sport

School Notices and Events

• Dates to add to your Diary 

• SFDS Support needed - Island Bay Festival Community Parade this Sunday

• Compulsory SFdS Uniform items

Community Notices

• Please keep an eye on these each week

Ngā mihi nui

Mary-Angela Tombs

principal@sfds.school.nz