NOTICES Week 3 Term 1

• Team Toru swimming - Monday 20 February
• BOT meeting - Tuesday 21 February 5.30pm

• Dental Van Visiting - Tuesday 7 February - Monday 6 March
• Year 8 Camp - Tuesday 14 February - Friday 17 February

Kia ora koutou e te whānau te Kura o Hato Pirihiti,

I hope you are keeping warm and dry with this wild weather! Our thoughts and prayers go out to those around the country who are experiencing the devasting effects of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Our Year 8 campers arrived at Forest Lakes Camp safely this morning and they are having a great time. The weather is much better up on the Coast than it is in many parts of the country. Thank you to the staff for all their work preparing for this camp as well as the parent helpers who are attending.

I am looking forward to visiting the camp tomorrow and we will share an update and photos on Facebook.

Keep safe and take care,

Jennifer Ioannou

Tumuaki / Principal

Term One
Wednesday 1 February – Thursday 6 April

(NB: 1&2 February are Whānau Conferences)

Term Two
Monday 24 April (Teacher Only Day – School closed due to Staff Professional Development)

Tuesday 25 April (ANZAC Day)

Wednesday 26 April (classes resume) – Thursday 29 June

Friday 30 June (Teacher Only Day – School closed due to Staff Professional Development)

Term 3
Monday 17 July – Thursday 21 September

Friday 22 September (Teacher Only Day – School closed due to Staff Professional Development)

Term 4
Monday 9 October – Friday 15 December – School finishes at 1.00pm

We warmly welcome our new students who have joined us this week:

Jeronimo Castrillon Giraldo in Room 4 and new entrant Victoria Lowe in Room 2.

We hope you thoroughly enjoy being part of the St Brigid's family.

Whakamana tamariki, whakamana kaiako

We all want the best for our kids.

Our teachers love what they do, but not enough funding for schools means that they don’t have the time they would like to support all kids to thrive.

We can fix this though. NZEI Te Riu Roa primary teacher and principal members are making the case to the Government for the best investment in tamariki. Smaller class sizes, more time for individual students and more specialist learning support staffing would make a huge difference.

Keeping and retaining teachers is top of mind right now, and this term, our teachers will also be meeting to consider a pay offer – and assessing if it’s enough to make sure that teaching is valued and is an attractive profession.

That is why teachers at our school will be attending paid union meetings on the afternoon of Tuesday 28 February and 1 March. We will be keeping the school open for these two afternoons and splitting classes with the remaining staff at school.

When we support our children to learn and succeed, we are supporting whānau and communities to thrive. We look forward to another great year in 2023 – and together with your support building the case for better investment in our tamariki.

The school day starts at 8.55am. If you child arrives at school after this time, please ensure they go to the school office to let Denise or Lynne they have arrived.

We have noticed some of our students are wearing clothing items that are not part of our school uniform. All children are required to wear the correct school uniform, including school shoes, at all times when travelling to and from school.

All our uniform items are purchased through NZ Uniforms. NZ Uniforms have advised that all uniform items are available and in stock.

Please note that we have some brand new stock at school, so please contact Lynne at lynne@stbrigids,school.nz if you are interested in purchasing anything.

You can also use the St Brigid's Friends & Whanau Fundraising Page to request secondhand items from the school community.

If a child is wearing any non-authentic uniform items parents will be asked to replace them with the correct school items.

Exceptions to this are:

· sports events when the school sports uniform is worn

· a written explanation outlining why the correct uniform isn’t currently being worn, has been received from a parent

· school non-uniform days / special events

Parents/caregivers, together with staff, will reinforce with the children the expectation that the correct uniform is to be worn at all times. The school should be notified of the reason if the uniform is unable to be worn at any time.

The uniform should be maintained in a tidy and presentable condition.

Shoes – traditional black school shoes, full black sports shoes, or black, navy or brown sandals (summer only).

Socks - girls are to wear white socks (any style). Leggings are not part of our school uniform. Boys are to wear navy blue socks.

Sunhats - Sunhats are compulsory wear for Terms 1 and 4. The correct school sunhat is to be purchased from the school office.

Please be considerate when parking, and think of the safety of other children and the movement of other road users when you are dropping off and picking up your tamariki from school.

Please, please do not park on yellow lines, or over our neighbour’s driveways. It is illegal, inconsiderate, and very dangerous for all our tamariki. It is also dangerous for our road patrollers as it hinders their line of sight when they are trying to cross our tamariki safely. Often parents/caregivers will say, “I’m only here for a minute!”. This is not okay - it is never okay to park on yellow lines as it puts other children’s lives at risk!

Kelly Club West Park are very happy to announce that they are now able to provide Before School Care to St Brigid's children.

The programme is run from the West Park School hall between 7.30am-8.30am - check the link below for more about what they offer for both Before and After School Care. The children will be escorted from West Park on foot from 8:25am by a staff member who will ensure they arrive at St Brigids safely, ready for their school day.

If you would like your child/ren to attend the West Park programme, please enrol them through the website at: www.kellyclub.co.nz/west-park. Please ensure you place (SB) at the end of your child's surname when you enrol them to identify them as St Brigids children. Thank you. Grace from Kelly Club will then contact you to arrange for written authorisation for the walking bus.

Should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email Grace (Programme Co-ordinator) at West Park Kelly Club: westpark@kellyclub.co.nz.

A copy of Issue 1 of the Lucky Book Club brochure will be sent home this week with students. To purchase any books just note the 3-digit code next to the title.

Visit https://mybookclub.scholastic.co.nz/Parent/ClubManagement.aspx, type in the postcode 6037 and find St Brigid's School on the dropdown list, then follow the instructions from there.

Orders are to be made by Sunday 19 February 2023.

2023 season registrations are now open!

This year we are excited to again offer a FEES-FREE season for all Y0/1 grade players. A fantastic reason to give rugby a go!

We have something for every age - from Rippa for the juniors, RipRugby from Y3-Y8 and Tackle Y3-Y8.

Register online or find out more details at: www.sporty.co.nz/newlands

Rāroa Music Centre offers Saturday morning group music lessons for primary and intermediate school children at low cost ($70 per year + $40 koha or parent volunteering). We have spaces available for beginners in the following instruments; Cello, Clarinet, Flute, Recorder, Saxophone and Ukulele. We also offer a fantastic Music Basics programme for 5-7 year olds to ready them for learning an instrument.

To register for 2023 or find out more information visit our website. Registrations close 18 February 2023.

www.raroamusic.org.nz

Why spend hundreds of dollars learning to make one cake in a weekend workshop, when you can join our cake club and learn for almost free? Or even do both?? We are a group of cake decorators who get together for a brief meeting and either a demonstration or a workshop on the second Wednesday of each month at the Johnsonville Hub at 7.30pm. We would love for like-minded people to come along and join us. First 2 meetings are free, before joining the club for a nominal yearly amount. For more information, please contact wcdgsecretary@gmail.com

Email: lynne@stbrigids.school.nz
Website: https://stbrigids.school.nz/
Location: 9 Phillip St, Johnsonville, Wellington 6037, New Zealand
Phone: +64 478 6516
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1428952763904874