Manaakitanga

Our special Catholic Character means that Manaakitanga -- nuturing our learners -- is an essential element of our school.

Our Catholic Character

Children will develop a religious literacy - the specific language of the Catholic Church - and understanding of the:

Churches teaching
Scripture
Catholic Beliefs
Prayer and Liturgy
Catholic Social Teaching
Catholic Spirituality
Gospel Values of Jesus Christ

All alongside the the meaning of life in a parish and the Churches mission and in turn they will relate these to their own life experiences and develop a Catholic world view.

Students participate in the life of the church through prayer, liturgy, mass, service, mission, social justice, expression of their faith, along with religious education lessons that are planned carefully to touch the hearts and minds of our students and members of our community.

Our school assists in fulfilling the teaching mission of the church by developing the person as a whole. The Catholic character of our school provides a faith environment for tamariki to experience catholic life. Religious Education is an integral part of the special character of St John Bosco. The Religious education curriculum at St John Bosco reflects the vision of the Catholic integration document and this is the lens through which we develop our curriculum through. In doing so we ensure that the principles, values and competencies are fully embedded in all that we do so as to add lifelong learning opportunities to our ākonga.

Dimensions of Ethos in a Catholic School

Educating the whole person, spiritually, educationally, emotionally and physically.
The person of Jesus is the foundation stone of the catholic school.
Catholic teachings.
A place of learning and quality education. A good Catholic school is committed to pursue the best possible education of its students.
The wisdom of choosing the right path and making sensible decisions.
Is an agent to highlight the injustices of the world and be mindful of the marginalised people.
A caring response of the members of the school community towards each other.
Where every student is valued equally and given a genuine experience of belonging.
Being mindful of the sacred Earth we live on and learning how to care for it.
Fostering young people’s faith journey.

Religious Education: SJB Charism

SJB Charism

Charism is a gift of the Holy Spirit, a living passion, the beliefs and values that a Catholic community shares. These are reflected in what is done, how it is done and who is doing it. Through learning about those who have come before us we can authentically acknowledge their labours by continuing their mission in our lives today.

Celebrating and honouring the charism of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions (RNDM) & Euphrasie Barbier’s story.

Trinitarian – from the Heart of God, Trinity the Mission charism is expressed through:

Contemplation –Prayer as awe and wonder. God breaking forth in all that lives.

“Be always attentive to the whisperings of grace.” Euphrasie Barbier

“It is in prayer and a close union with God that we will find enlightenment, consolation and delight.” Euphrasie Barbier 1869

Communion – Building community and right relationships with all.

“When charity or union of heart reigns in a community, our God is there! Guard this precious treasure well.” Euphrasie Barbier 1867

“Do everything you can to strengthen the whole universe to be in complete union with God.” Euphrasie Barbier 1869

Mission – Having a heart for the world especially poor- women and children, youth, refugees, indigenous peoples and care of creation

“May our God inspire prayer, holy zeal and a heart for the poor and marginalized.” Euphrasie Barbier 1869

“Do everything you can to strengthen the whole universe to be in complete union with God.” Euphrasie Barbier 1869

Our School's History

Our school history is a very important element to our tamariki's sense of place and belonging. We believe it is an essential part of their learning. We believe that our tamariki need to know and be aware of those who have been before us particularly our Maori & Catholic Ancestors. This includes learning about:

St John Bosco: our patron saint

Our Lady Help of Christians: our school community

Euphraise Barbier: the founder of our mission sisters.

Darnel: the importance of Darnel as the place the mission sisters began our school.

Our Cultural Landscape: Muru Raupatu, Rewa Rewa pa, Waiwhakaiho, Parihaka, Te Whiti, Tohu Kākahi

These elements of the School's History are found in our religious education programme and in unit planning.

St John Bosco

Our Lady Help Of Christians

Parihaka Mai Ai – Curriculum Development

Our School's Values

Te Whare Tapa Wha

Our Whare Tapu

Strengthening our 4 Catholic cornerstones:-

Nurturing humans to be more fully human.
Nurturing human community.
Providing an integral quality education.
Liberating all forms of oppression.

Building our 4 walls:

Knowing how to be – Values

Learning to develop and master personal power for being and doing good.

Know how to be – Knowledge

Learning to know is learning how to learn & broadening knowledge using a variety of learning & teaching tools.

Know how to do – Skill

Learning the essential skills needed to apply information, knowledge & creativity.

Knowing how to live together – Attitudes

Learning to grow an awareness of the similarities and inter-dependence of all people.

Building strong, mindful learners

Growth Mindset is the key to ensuring learner agency is successful. Positive self-talk and learning behaviours are explicitly taught and growth mindset slogans are integrated into all learning. Ākonga study what neuroplasticity is. They explore ways to learn effectively. To build resilience and courage to stretch themselves, they explore the learning pit and how to push through when learning becomes difficult (grit).

Mindfulness is a part of our daily routines and is integrated into our prayer programme. Mindfulness meditation is mostly done through a Catholic lense, integrating the power of prayer and the power of being mindful and still on the brain and soul. Mindfulness is also integrated into our behaviour management and restorative justice practices.

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For more information:

Bi-Cultural Partnerships

Te Ao Maori

Māori identity, language and culture recognises, acknowledges and validates Māori ākonga as Māori. Students’ well-being is strongly influenced by a clear sense of identity, and access and exposure to their own language and culture. Learning needs to connect with students’ existing knowledge. Identity, language and culture are an asset and a foundation of knowledge on which to build and celebrate learning and success.

Provision for cultural guidance in Te Reo, tikanga and acting in the right and proper way to support Hauora Maori. Our whole school curriculum sits inside a model of well-being comprising taha wairua, taha hinengaro, taha tinana and taha whanau. We encompass the spirituality of all people as we guide, teach and love the tamariki.

Te Ao Maori Overview

Cultural Landscape

When we are implementing change or in a stage of growth we look to our cultural landscape to help guide us. We use our local Maori & Special Character history to guide us. This is evident in the naming of our school houses.

Waiwhakaiho (Our local Awa in which local Maori used as a rich life giving resource)

Rewarewa ( The name of our Maori Pa site)

Darnell ( The street in which the first Mission Sisters lived on) &

Barbier ( Our Founder of this Catholic School).

Also our Classrooms ---- Harekeke, Puriri, Kawakawa, Koromiko, Horoeka, Kowhai, Pohutukawa, Karaka, Rimu, Totara, Kauri ----- are linked to native trees within our school community. We believe that our tamariki need to know and be aware of those who have been before us particularly our Maori & Catholic Ancestors..

Dee to update this doc on Cultural Landscape

Tukutuku panels

Darnell House

Rewarewa House

Barbier House

Waiwhakaiho House

Parihaka Mai Ai

Te Whiti-o-Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi

St John Bosco acknowledges the travisties that took place at Parihaka in the late 1800s. As part of our localised curriculum and because whanau in our community whakapapa back to Parihaka, we teach the history of Parihaka and commemorate what happened so our children can understand and learn from the past. In particular, we hold Te Whiti-o-Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi in high regard and consider them to be role models and teachers for our ākonga. Every year, on the 6th November, our school will spend a week retelling the history of Parihaka, as well as discussing how it relates to our world today.

Tohu Kākahi helped to lead the peaceful movement at Parihaka in the 1880s. He was arrested by Armed Constabulary in 1881 and was held prisoner, without trial, until 1883.

Te Whiti-o-Rongomai was the leader and prophet at Parihaka in the late 1800s. He helped to lead a peaceful resistance movement, alongside his Uncle Tohu. Te Whiti was arrested after the raid on Parihaka in 1881.

Tou Kai:

Gardening is an obvious setting for peaceful practice. Well known Māori cultural knowledge references food cultivation, Rongo-mā-tāne, as the foundation of peace and a link with collective action, cooperation, identity assertion and occupation, and the building of a capacity to provide hospitality. Gardening is often contrasted with fighting and violence because making war is not conducive to tending gardens. Gardening is both a metaphor for and the epitome of peaceful practice.

This module centres on ākonga:

growing food;
engaging with the need to nurture the earth and the regeneration of a healthy substrate;
understanding the nutritional needs of their community;
awareness of foods that are culturally aligned with their community;
working together, problem-solving and establishing plans and practices;
participating in Māori language and culture with reo, karakia, waiata, etc.;
sharing these concepts of food production with others in their community.

Harakeke

Harakeke is symbolic for the principle of sustainability espoused by Tohu and Te Whiti; that is, the use of materials available to the community from the natural environment. For Parihaka, harakeke was the significant traditional resource grown and cultivated in the large Taranaki wetlands. Parihaka did not oppose the use of modern technologies but appealed to the people not to overlook the resource of harakeke, its relevance and symbolism in living within our means, retaining local capacity of resources to provide for us.

This module centres on ākonga:

knowing the characteristics and importance of harakeke as a natural resource;
learning which natural resources are available, and how to utilize and care for them;
utilisation of harakeke in a shared activity e.g. rope, poi and whai;
include harakeke in food-based practice, especially making kono;
consider resources such as water, eels, seafood, rongoā, etc.

Karanga-o-Rongo:

Rongo is associated with cultivated food and is the root word in many concepts such as hohou rongo (conflict resolution), maunga-ā-rongo (peace within communities) and Rongo-marae-roa (sanctuary within a meeting house). Karanga-o-Rongo is the call to people to come and share a meal. The way food is eaten in these settings is for the prepared kai to be made available to satisfy the hunger of the visitors that they might find peace through the hospitality of their hosts. Schools are asked to consider the event of the Pāhua when people had all their food stores plundered by the constabulary. This was an attempt by the Crown to force people to leave their community, submit to government authority as well as its plans to confiscate Taranaki lands. Sharing kai in this context poses the question: who is it in our community we want to support, to show hospitality towards and to strengthen our relationships with. The kai provided should come from the community and eventually from the efforts of students and their garden

This module centres on ākonga:

planning their cultivations to coincide with this shared meal event;
discussing the context of the Pahua and decide which elements they would like to enact, e.g. sitting on the ground, eating without cutlery, cooking food whole or using harakeke kono;
thinking about who should be invited e.g. people in need, community relationships, etc.;
consideration of waste minimization e.g. composting, chickens, garden, etc.;
being involved, after the meal, in activities that can be aligned with Parihaka, e.g. skipping ropes, waiata, student presentations of their insights, discuss plans for next year, etc.;

Parihaka Curriculum Development

Hangi Puanga June 2017.mp4

Karakia before preparing the hangi pit

Lifting the hangi

Playing games together - community

Muru Raupatu

St John Bosco fosters a close relationship with our marae: Muru Raupatu. This marae is located on Te Arei Road and many whānau at St John Bosco have strong, historical whānau links to this marae. The school undertakes a marae trip every second year, where the seniors stay for two days, including an overnight (noho), and the whole school gets together for a day of Whānau Tuakana / Teina tautoko.

See Marae Plan

Māori Achievement Collaborative

Statement to add in here

Pastoral Care

One very important element of pastoral care is ensuring that the transition into and out of St John Bosco School is positive and celebrated. On the first day of school, students and their whanau (and this includes new staff too) are welcomed through a mihi whakatau. New students are given a senior buddy who will look after them throughout their transition to school. These tuakana teina relationships help to build up a sense of belonging in the new child. New students are also welcomed in assembly with a certificate and short blessing.

St John Bosco works with the philosophy that the students belong to everyone. All staff take an interest in all students, regardless of which class the child is in.

Our SENCO's role goes well beyond learning support, and instead monitors and intervenes when any need in a child or a whanau is noticed. Support is wrapped around a child whatever the challenge the child may be facing.

Pastoral care also stretches out to our community. Meals are made by either the parent group or students and given to anyone in the community who may be in need.

It is our mission to nurture a community which seeks to develop the full human potential of each person associated with our school.

More more information, click on Pastoral Care

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