Principal's Message

Welcome back to Term 3! We hope you all had a restful and uplifting break, enjoying that precious quality time with your tamariki. It is wonderful to see our classrooms and playground buzzing with bright smiles, eager energy, and warm reconnections as we dive into another exciting term together.

Reflecting on Matariki

Looking back on last term, one of our absolute highlights was our wonderful community gathering for Matariki. It was a magical evening filled with warmth, connection, and a true sense of togetherness. What stood out most was the incredible spirit of atawhai (kindness) woven through every moment.

We saw kindness in action as families helped one another with creative craft activities, shared hot pumpkin soup made by our wonderful GTT group, or fantastic PSL group serving sausages and whānau our young artists as they showcased their work. Older students naturally stepped up to guide younger ones, and parents wrapped up warm to cheer on everyone’s efforts. That evening was a beautiful testament to what makes our school community so special—when we gather in the spirit of togetherness, kindness shines naturally.

Our Focus Value: Atawhai (Kindness)

Building on that vibrant community spirit, our school value for the next few weeks is Atawhai—Kindness.

Kindness is a simple gift, yet it holds the power to transform lives and build a safe, loving environment where every child can thrive. In the Bible, we are reminded of the heart of this value in Ephesians 4:32:

"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

Throughout this term, we will be actively encouraging our tamariki to put atawhai into practice across all areas of their daily lives:

At SFDS School: Smiling at someone in the hallway, inviting a classmate who is sitting alone to join a game, sharing equipment, and using encouraging words.

At Home: Helping out with household chores without being asked, showing patience with siblings, and saying a thoughtful "thank you" to parents and caregivers.

In the Community: Holding doors open for others, greeting neighbours with a friendly smile, and looking after our local environment by picking up litter.

We invite you to partner with us at home by having conversations with your children about what kindness looks like in action. Small, everyday acts of atawhai create a ripple effect that touches everyone around us.

Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership. Let’s make term 3 a time where kindness leads the way in everything we do!

Ngā mihi nui,

Nikolai Solia

Principal

Mihi Whakatau

Next Monday 27 July 9am, we will have a mihi whakatau to welcome our newest students and families to St. Francis de Sales School. Invitations were sent out yesterday to new families of students who have started this term. We ask you please arrive at school by 9am, so that we can get started shortly afterwards.

If your child/ren have started at St. Francis this year and you have not been able to attend a previous mihi whakatau, you are most welcome to join us for this one. We would love to formally welcome you to our school whānau.

If you are one of our new families of 2026 who has not been welcomed in a mihi whakatau yet, please email me at michael.rogers@sfds.school.nz to RSVP

DRS

Grandparents Day Liturgy Friday 31 July 

We warmly invite all grandparents and special grandparent figures to join us for our Grandparents' Liturgy on Friday 31 July at 12.00pm in the St Francis de Sales Church.

Following the liturgy, we would love for you to join us for a cup of tea in the library, before taking a wander through the foyer to enjoy the children/s art and school work on how much they appreciate all you do for them! 

We look forward to celebrating this special occasion with you and thanking our wonderful grandparents for the love, support, and guidance they give to our tamariki. 

To help celebrate our wonderful grandparents, we would like to create a photo collage. If you have a photo of your child(ren) with their grandparents please email the photo to principal@sfds.school.nz 

Garden to table

Garden to Table: Welcoming Term 3! 

A huge welcome back to our Garden to Table group for Term 3! It was fantastic to see some wonderful new faces joining our regular green thumbs this week. Everyone rolled up their sleeves and got stuck right into the hard work.

We spent our first session focusing on soil health. Digging, adding rich compost, and clearing out the winter weeds to give our patch the best possible start for the term ahead.

What’s Growing?

Broad Beans: Our team successfully planted out a new crop of broad beans, which will help fix nitrogen in the soil while they grow.

Peas: The peas are looking absolutely fantastic and climbing beautifully!

Spring bulbs: when you walk past the roadside garden in Mersey street you notice a lot of our spring bulbs starting to bloom. Keep your eyes peeled in the coming weeks! 

Winter Wait & Summer Dreams: The garden looks a little bare at the moment while we wait patiently for our winter veggies to mature (spinach, broccoli, beetroot), but behind the scenes, planning is already underway. We are already dreaming of warmer days and locking in tomatoes and strawberries on our summer planting wishlist!

A Huge Community Thank You! 

We again want to extend a massive thank you to our local New World for their incredibly generous donation of pumpkins and ingredients. Thanks to their support, we were able to cook up a beautiful, warming pumpkin soup for our school Matariki celebration. Community support like this keeps our program thriving!

Thank you to all the tamariki for their incredible energy this week. We can't wait to see what we achieve together this term!

sKids

Get Ready for an Exciting Term 3 at sKids! 

Packed with adventure, creativity, and fun, this term children will enjoy cultural celebrations, mystery challenges, foodie activities, animal adventures, STEM experiences, crafts, games, and Father's Day-themed activities.

 New Stay & Play Booster Programmes
Passport to Play (from 5 August) – Children will explore different countries, cultures, languages, and foods while collecting stamps in their very own passport.

 Inventors Lab (from 2 September) – A hands-on programme where children build, design, experiment, and bring their creative ideas to life through exciting invention challenges.

 Celebrating 30 Years of sKids

We're continuing our 30th birthday celebrations throughout the year with themed events, dress-up days, talent shows, art projects, cultural celebrations, and sports challenges across our programmes.

Book for Term 3 today at sKids – where play meets potential!

Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership. We truly value being part of your school community and helping create positive experiences for local children and families.

Please see the attached flyers for discount information and Terms & Conditions.

If you have any questions or require any additional information, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

More information is available over on our Links/Useful information tab of the newsletter!

Dates to Add to Your Diary

Our  SFDS Events Calendar is the best way to stay up to date with everything happening at school — including PE days, special events, and other important dates. You can find the calendar by clicking on the link above or either on our school website or through Hero.