23 Oketopa

23 October '24

Welcome

A warm welcome to our new families who have joined us this week. We have a number of new ākonga at both ends of the school.

Thank you for your support in donating food items for the soup kitchen last week. The staff and volunteers at the soup kitchen were very grateful and I was proud to represent our school in delivering the contributions.

End of Year Events

In the final weeks of this term we are holding some important events that include our whānau, as follows. There are a couple of slight changes to previous years to make improvements to these events. The dates for each event are in the calendar at the bottom of this page.

Year 8 Leavers' Dinner - this event is for our current year 8 students, their parents/caregivers and staff. This event is held in the evening at The Pines. It is a special tradition that celebrates these students and their many years with us. We also celebrate those families whose youngest child is in Year 8, so they will no longer be with us.
Mass to celebrate All Saints Day on Friday 1 November at 9.15am. This is the Final Mass for 2024, as we will not be having a Mass on the last day of school.
End of Year Ceremony - this event is the final event for all of our whānau to take part in. Traditionally all families attend this evening event. All of the children are included and will present a performance and presentation of awards as part of the ceremony. A prayer liturgy and presentation of candles are included also from this year, to replace the leavers' Mass that previously took place during the day on the last day of school.

Family plans for 2025

Recently we have had a large number of enrolments at the school for 2025 and beyond. Please would you let us know your intentions for 2025, if you are planning to enrol a younger sibling of your family is moving away. This helps us to be able to plan ahead for the staff needed for the year. Thank you

Change to Dates for 2025

This message is to let you know that one of our term dates for next year has been changed. We were to finish on Friday 19 December 2025 However, we have cancelled one of our teacher only days (set for October 2025). As a result we will finish the year a day earlier on Thursday 18 December 2025.

The Ministry of Education has also requested that we take four 'Curriculum Days' for learning how to implement the new curriculum content that they are planning. Two will be in 2025, and two will be in 2026. The dates have not yet been confirmed. We will keep you in the loop as soon as we know more.

Cancelation of Year 6 Noho Marae

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, we have had to cancel the planned Noho Marae for our Year 6 learners. This was really disappointing, but we are committed to our ākonga/students having this experience while at our school, so plans will be in place to try again next year! Thank you to Matua Ron Taukamo for your generosity in support for this kaupapa/direction.

Learning Updates

Upcoming Changes to the Curriculum

You will be aware that the Minister of Education has required that changes be made to the content of Maths and English in the NZ Curriculum. You can be assured that we have this in hand!

- Maths - When developing our goals for Hero reporting to families, we had pre-empted changes that were coming up. Now, we will need to tweak our programme to ensure our teaching, assessment and Hero reporting in Maths are fit for purpose with the additional new content. We plan to make these changes in the first half of 2025, so that they are fully implemented prior to the end of the year. We are also applying for Maths Professional Learning for our teachers through the Ministry of Education.
- Literacy - We have already been on the 'structured literacy' journey in our school for three years. All Year 1-3 teachers are trained in Better Start Literacy (BSLA), and all Year 4-8 teachers are trained in 'The Code' which is one structured literacy programme. We also use the 'decodable texts' that were purchased using fundraising last year as part of the structured literacy approach. Our Year 4-6 teachers will all be training in the extended BSLA programme which is being introduced in 2025. Our current goals in reading and writing on Hero should remain relatively unchanged as we had already aligned them to this approach.

Catholic Character

Altar Service

A number of students have signed up for Altar Service training - If you would like your child to take part in this please send an email to Fran on office@sfds.school.nz and she will add them to the list to be trained.

Sports

Athletics Day

A huge thank you to the parents who came along to help last Wednesday - Rachael S, Cat K, Derek W, Mark F, Michelle S, Andrew M and Frana P. We couldn't have gone ahead without their help, we really appreciate it. The results are attached in this newsletter.

The students who will be participating in Southern Zone Athletics have been given information, including the events they will be in and a copy of the timetable. Please ask them for this if they haven't already shown you. You will also receive updates on Hero - please keep an eye on these and read them.

If you are able to help with vortex at Southern Zone, please email Sarah on sarah.fountain@sfds.school.nz

Lance Williams Sports Scholarship

Information is below

2024 Scholarship Newsletter.pdf

School Athletics Results 2024.pdf

School Notices and Events

PSL news:

Get ready for tomorrow's Disco! 🎉 Tickets are now live on Kindo for just $8, and you'll also be able to grab them at the door on the night. Each ticket comes with a bag of lollies and a glowing surprise to light up the fun!

But that's not all! On the night, we’ll have cans of Sprite (No Sugar), extra lolly bags, chips, and more glow products up for grabs, priced between $1–$2. So make sure to send some coins so your child can stock up on all the goodies! Don’t miss out on the ultimate party night! 🎶✨

We still require parent supervision for the Senior Disco- if you are able to volunteer an hour of your time please send an email to psl.sfds@gmail.com

Camp 2025

Forms for the year 7 & 8 camp were sent home yesterday. Please complete and return to the school office by Tuesday 5 November. The camp fundraising team has been working hard and you will receive information soon about the various fundraising projects coming up.

Dates to Add to Your Diary

Please also check our SFDS Events Calendar

Thursday 24 October

PSL DISCO

Friday 25 October

Room 13 & 2 Buddy Mass
School Hui
Tangaroa - Weekly beach trips (keep an eye out for cancancelations on Hero)
Wheke - Paekawakawa reserve trip

Monday 28 October

Labour Day Public Holiday - School Closed!

Tuesday 29 October

Papatuanuku Swimming Extra date.

Wednesday 30 October

Tarawera Island Bay Library Visit

Thursday 31 October

Southern Zone Athletics

Friday 1 November

All Saints Day Mass 9.15am (final school Mass for the year)
Ranginui Careers day (TBC)

Tuesday 5 November

Year 7 & 8 Camp forms due back today
New Road Patroller training

Thursday 7 November

Southern Zone Athletics PP

Friday 15 November

- Teacher Only Day (school closed)

Monday 9 December

Curriculum progress graphs opened on Hero

Wednesday 18 December

- Year 8 Leavers' Dinner

Thursday 19 December

- End of Year Ceremony (early evening, exact time to be confirmed)

Friday 20 December

- Last day of the school year

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