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Welcome
Welcome
Kia ora e te whānau - good health to all of our families. As we draw near to the end of another busy term at SFDS, I want to express our gratitude to you all for your ongoing support.
Kapahaka Performance Group Visited Village on the Park
Our Kapahaka performance group had a wonderful time visiting The Village at the Park, performing waiata, making connections, and interacting with the residents. The students sang beautifully and showed great heart, even performing acapella in the hospital ward for residents who were unable to leave their beds.
Awards for our Seniors
A large number of awards were presented to our Tamariki Tuakana - our oldest, in front of many parents and supporters last Thursday. Our senior students work towards different awards levels in their final two years at SFDS:
Academic Awards - which acknowledge effort in their learning, and completion of various assignments.
Cultural Awards - which acknowledges involvement in cultural activities.
Sports Awards - which acknowledge participation in our school sports events.
Service Awards - which acknowledge the services they provide in our school community.
When they have enough points for a gold award, they are presented with a badge. Towards the end of the year, some students have enough points to be awarded an 'Overall Excellence' Badge.
At this event, a group of three students were presented with awards and prizes for their winning entries in the senior writing competition. This year, students wrote original scripts that could be used on stage, focusing on themes inspired by the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. We’ve been so impressed by the creativity and effort from our Ranginui students!
A guest judge from Weta Workshop, Jake Cenac, made the final decision from the shortlisted scripts. A huge thank you to Hell's Pizza for donating vouchers for prizes for the competition. Congratulations to the three winning students listed below. They have each written brilliant scripts - some sneaky peeks are below.
1st: Liam N
2nd: Ashlyn K
3rd: Thalia C
Ka pai tā koutou mahi, tamariki mā!
Disco!
Last Thursday evening, the PSL discos for junior, middle and senior students was such a great event! We are very fortunate to have a generous group of parents who gave their time to organise everything for the evening! The dancing, the DJ, lighting, photo booth, decorations, snack, face-painting, tattoos, disco goodies - all came together to make it a really exciting and happy time for our children. This was definitely THE PLACE TO BE on Thursday evening!
And wow! The final profit, which our SFDS children will all benefit from through PSL fundraising was over $1600! That's really wonderful - thank you to all involved, and all of our supporters.
Catholic Character
Catholic Character
Grandparents' Mass
The time for our Mass on Friday 25 July has now been confirmed as 11.00am. Please invite grandparents, and good friends who play that role in your whānau.
Religious Education in Term 3
In term three, our overall theme for Religious Education is: Kia Noho Hāhi - Being Church. Our aim within this theme is for our young people to develop an understanding of what it means to be Catholic in the world today in terms of faith, discipleship and sacramental living. They will learn about and develop skills in Catholic Social Teaching and moral and ethical decision making. They will develop capacity to be people of hope.
Below is the 'key content' for this theme within To Tatou Whakapono - our Religious Education Curriculum:
Te Kawa o Hēhu Discipleship and Mission
Students are introduced to the mission of the Church and what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. This includes what God requires of them personally as a human being (not necessarily as a Catholic). The mission of the Church includes looking at contemporary mission. Discipleship includes what it means to be a follower of Jesus in whānau, school, parish and wider community.
Aroha Mai, Aroha Atu Catholic Social Teaching
We will introduce the core Catholic Social Teachings and concepts of Social Justice. They are given opportunity to participate in activities and projects that live out these principles.
Whāia te Tika Morality and Ethics
Catholic values and morality will be clearly and overtly taught. The consistent ethic of life is taught through all year groups. Young people are given the opportunity to apply the moral teachings of the Church to situations relevant to their lives. They should see that ethical thinking applies to all aspects of their human relationships and also to their relationship with creation.
Ko Wai Tātou Faith and Culture
Our students will be enabled to develop critical skills to analyse contemporary culture so that they may be ‘active constructors of culture rather than passive consumers’. They should be able to identify the attitudes and values of contemporary culture and understand what these mean for society and develop a Catholic response. The intent is to bring clarity to the relationship between Catholic faith and culture.
Kia Īnoi Kia Māhi Sacramental Living
The physical world is filled with God’s presence, but God’s presence can be found in its fullest way in the Sacraments. This does not mean God’s grace is not present outside the ‘moment’ of the Sacrament. Living a sacramental life means taking part in the Sacraments of the Church and it means using sacramentals to help us understand that our everyday life is sanctified. God’s grace and presence can be found in the most humdrum, as well as the most significant, aspects of our lives. Sacramentality can be understood as a way of seeing and experiencing the world; a moment when the divine can be sensed in everything; a moment of ‘it all coming together’.
Nō Ngā Tūpuna Christian Hope
Christian Hope is anticipating something already completed. We are on a journey knowing that God is here for us, not wishfully thinking God is here. We live in expectation of being with the Lord. It is not optimism or presumption; it is not blind faith that we will go to heaven. Young people need to hear what the Church teaches about life beyond life.
Hope is a theological virtue related to faith and love. Hope is the conviction that God is the sovereign Lord of all creation. God understands the sense of things even when we don’t. When we have faith, we trust and this gives us hope. It doesn’t mean that bad things don’t happen, but our hope is grounded in the unconditional love of God who never abandons us.
Being Church in Aotearoa New Zealand Catholic Schools is a new support document published by NZCEO and NCRS (National Centre for Religious Studies) to re-emphasis the place of Catholic schools in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Learning Updates
Learning Updates
Hero Reports Opening Soon
As communicated earlier this year, with the changes to the English and Maths NZ Curriculum, we have been busy updating what we report on in relation to the curriculum.
This has been a very big piece of work, including changing our teaching plans to incorporate the new content, and implementing new assessments that go alongside the updated curriculum. 2025 is a transition year for the refreshed curriculum, so it is expected that our evaluations against the updated curriculum content will be a little 'messy' this year. Please also keep in mind that the NZ Curriculum is taught in English, and evaluated as such.
In the meantime, we want to make sure the information you receive about your child's progress is as clear as it can be, given the circumstances. We are making updates to Hero to ensure that graphs and dials on Hero are as accurate as they can be during this transition year. You can see some examples below of the type of progress representations that we are still working on!
We are nearly ready to share your child's mid-year progress against the curriculum - but not quite! We plan to open up this content for your viewing on Hero by the end of the holidays. Thank you for your patience.
Sports
Sports
Year 4 - 8 School Swimming Sports
We will be holding this event on Tuesday 29 July at Kilbirnie Pool. There will be fun, participation races (in the 1.2m pool) for all students, as well as competition races (in the 2m pool) for students trying to qualify for Southern Zone Swimming Sports. Those who are trying to qualify must be able to swim confidently with the correct stroke. Teachers will be organising the registrations in class this week. If you are able to come along and help on 29 July between 9.20 and 11.30am, please email Sarah on sarah.fountain@sfds.school.nz
Congratulations to our Miniball teams this term
A huge congratulations to our Year 3 -4 SFDS Hoopsters, who came 2nd in the finals and were runners-up in their pool this term! The team played with heart and determination all season and were proudly awarded ribbons for their efforts!
Shout out as well to our Year 5 & 6 team the Faithful 5, who were the winners of division 5, they put on an incredible performance and came away with medals! What an awesome achievement!
Well done to all our players – we’re so proud of your teamwork, sportsmanship, and school spirit!
Congratulations
Huge congratulations to Harper M in year 7 who has been selected for the Wellington Under 14 Rep Basketball team. This is an amazing achievement for someone who is 11 years old. We are really proud of you Harper!
School Notices and Events
School Notices and Events
PSL Meeting Tonight!!
Join us for our next PSL Meeting tonight Wednesday at 7:00pm in the St Francis de Sales School staffroom.
We will be diving into planning one of our biggest events of the year – the PSL Quiz Night! It’s always a highlight on the school calendar, and we’re looking forward to brainstorming some fun ideas and getting everything underway.
Whether you're a regular or it’s your first time, everyone is welcome – we’d love your input and energy!
Come along, get involved, and help us make this year's quiz night the best one yet!
School Photos
The remaining school photos will be sent home today with your child/ren- Please make sure to check their bags as soon as possible.
Sports Hoodies
Have also been sent home today with your child/ren.
If you child is away today - please pick up your orders from the school office.
Dates to Add to Your Diary
Dates to Add to Your Diary
Please also check our SFDS Events Calendar
Thursday 26 June 2025
Tangaroa (Year 0-3) Pe Day- wear PE Gear
Tarawera (Rm 2) Pe Day - Wear PE Gear
Friday 27 June 2025
7:50am Flames Netball Practice
Ranginui (Year 7 & 8) PE Day- Wear PE Gear
Wheke(rm 7) and Parareka(Rm 8) PE Day (Wear PE Gear)
3pm Year 5/6 Netball Practice
4:30pm Year 7/8 Comets Netball Practice
LAST DAY OF TERM 2
Monday 14 July 2025
First Day Of Term 3
Thursday 17 July 2025
12:30pm - 2:45pm Technology Ranginui (Yr 7 & 8)
Friday 25 July 2025
11am - 12pm Grandparents' Day Mass
Tuesday 29 July 2025
9am - 12pm School Swimming Sports
Wednesday 30 July 2025
9am - 2:30pm Ranginui Handball tournament at ASB
Friday 1 August 2025
Teacher Only Day - School closed
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