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Week 12 Term 2 Newsletter
St Francis de Sales - 11 May 2021
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Last Tuesday we launched our new newsletter that is available to read through our school app- this is a handy way of keep up with news from the school. It is still available on our school website and an app message will be sent out each Tuesday once it is ready to view. It is easier to read via mobile devices and has a few handy functions – you can even translate into any language that google can translate to. Simply press the little stickman icon and you are on your way!
TRACY'S MESSAGE
Kia Ora Ano
Not a great start to our week weather wise…we are hoping for amazing weather tomorrow for our kura cross country…please keep your fingers crossed.
We love when our whanau come and support our learners at events – so feel free to pop down, see our amazing ranginui leaders in action, scream words of encouragement, have a nice hot cup of coffee and a nice warm sausage (yes sausages are back!).
We will send an app alert at 8:10am letting you know if cross country is going ahead.
Our PSL hui is this evening in our staffroom at 7:30pm…come along and see how you can support our school and your tamariki.
On Monday 28 June from 6:00-6:45pm all whanau are invited to come and listen to a presentation about 'Life online' and how you as whanau can support your tamariki to navigate this online space. This will be held in our library.
This event was cancelled last term…so please register your attendance by emailing
office@sfds.school.nz. If we don’t get a reasonable amount of attendees we will again have to cancel this event. So pop this date into your calendars and email as above.
A bit about Anjie…Anjie Webster worked with our Ranginui learners in 2020 as we implemented BYOD.
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Safe Online? Moving from ‘Fingers Crossed’, to Confidence.
Life online and offline for young people is a seamless experience, however, safety has not been at the forefront in the design of many of the spaces and sites they enjoy and engage in. The role of whānau is vital, and makes the biggest difference in how young people learn what’s needed to be safe, and how to navigate the online space.
Anjie Webster from Generation Online provides insightful information, pragmatic approaches and easy wins for families, with the focus on a positive outlook in raising caring, capable and confident young citizens, online and offline.
Anjie Webster comes from an education background, and completed her M.Ed (Hons) with a focus on digital technologies and online spaces, and the challenges and risks. She also works for Netsafe, The Light Project, and is also a Ministry of Education facilitator, working in schools and kura around New Zealand.
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See this link to our Emergency procedures. Read these and familiarize yourself with what we do in an emergency.
The safety of all of our learners is paramount. A few things that you as our community can help us with:
- Learners on site from 8:30am only (unless they are attending before school care). We don’t not allow learners into their classroom before 8:30am – staff are often in meetings or preparing for learning – they are not in a position to supervise learners.
- Cars down our driveway – please do not enter our driveway between 8:15am to 3:45pm – our learners are as quick as lightening and they zip onto our driveway from all angles.
- Only park legally. Please don’t pull up along Clyde Street in front of the green gates – you block our road patrollers view and make it unsafe for them to do their job.
Have you seen our new school signage…doesn’t it just look fantastic. The idea of the pictures of our learners along Mersey Street is to change these throughout the year so if you have captured amazing SFDS moments feel free to pass them on.
Please reach out if there is anything that your whanau need or if you have any feedback for our kura.
We are very blessed to be part of such a caring school community – if we support each other, stay connected and work together it will strengthen and benefit your wonderful tamariki.
Have a wonderful week…see you tomorrow – fingers crossed.
Nga Mihi Nui
Tracy Gundesen – Principal
UP COMING EVENTS
WEDNESDAY 12 MAY School Cross Country
FRIDAY 14 MAY School Cross Country Postponement day
FRIDAY 21 MAY Pink shirt day!
MONDAY 24 MAY Southern Zone Cross Country Houghton Valley School
-St Johns First aid training course - All week with all classes
MONDAY 31 MAY Southern Zone Cross Country Postponement day
Poipoia te Kakano Kia Puawai - Nurture the seed and it will blossom
DRS MESSAGE
Parish/school combined Sunday Mass 10.30 Sunday 13 June. We need your support with this! If you child or whanau are interested in having an active role in this through a ministry such as reading, singing, procession of the gifts etc please get in touch with vanessa.mccormack@sfds.school.nz
What’s coming up this term? - May is the Month of Mary
THURSDAY 13 MAY - Ascension of Jesus
SUNDAY 23 MAY - Pentecost Sunday
SUNDAY 13 JUNE - Parish/School Combined Sunday Mass 10.30am SFDS Church
SATURDAY 19 JUNE - Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
SATURDAY 19 JUNE - Venerable Suzanne Aubert’s 185th birthday
SARAH'S MESSAGE
PAPATUANUKU AT TE PAPA
Our year 4 - 6 students had a great time at Te Papa learning about threats to our native creatures and then designing an invention to reduce or stop one of these threats. They used the design process and a programme called Tinkercad to make their new invention. We are so grateful for the parents and caregivers who came along to help - we really appreciate your time! Check out all the amazing photos further down this newsletter!
SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY
This is due to be held tomorrow Wednesday 12 May at Houghton Valley School. We will be travelling to and from school by bus. Please ensure your child/ren is on time to school as we are leaving soon after 9am. All students need to wear/bring the following:
- School PE gear with hoody/polar fleece/cardigan
- Shoes suitable for running
- Raincoat
- Water bottle
- Morning tea (we will be back at school for lunch time)
- A change of clothes (can be mufti), including shoes, in case they get wet/muddy
- $2 per sausage for the sausage sizzle (gluten free and vegetarian available)
We would love a few more helpers for this event. We require helpers to be course marshals, to help with the sausage sizzle and with the coffee stand. Helpers will need to be available between 9am and 12.30pm. If you can help, please email Sarah on
Coffee will be able for adults only for $2 per cup.
The races will be run in the following order:
Year 4 girls, Year 4 boys, Year 2 girls, Year 2 boys, Year 1 girls, Year 1 boys, Year 3 girls, Year 3 boys, Year 8 girls, Year 8 boys, Year 7 girls, Year 7 boys, Year 6 girls, Year 6 boys, Year 5 girls, Year 5 boys
Please note, it is difficult to know exactly what time each race will be, but we will be aiming for the first race to be at approximately 9.50am and the last race approximately 11.45am.
PSL NEWS
We will be holding our next PSL catch up tonight! (Tuesday 11 May) in the school staff room.
It is a fun way to meet up with other parents and discover what and how we organize all the fun School fundraising events! If you have a free evening on Tuesday pop in!
We will be having a coffee stand at the cross country tomorrow-
If you will be at the cross country and are happy to help out on the day with that or the Sausage sizzle please email us on psl.sfds@gmail.com.
SCHOOL NOTICES
SCHOLASTIC LUCKY BOOK CLUB
The latest Scholastic Book club brochures were sent home last week. Please follow the payment instructions on the back of the brochure. Orders must be submitted online before Friday 28 May. We are unable to accept CASH or CHEQUE payments as these cannot be sent through the mail. You can order online by visiting https://scholastic.co.nz/parents/lucky-book-club/ , when ordering online. Please DO NOT return any forms or payment to the school. If you have any questions please see Chris in room 7.
Just a wee note - the school gets a great financial bonus for the books that our students purchase. Last year Hennie and Chris chose $3,000 worth of new books for the school library, which came free through the school rewards program which is calculated off purchases made by students of the school.
UNIFORM SHOP
The uniform shop is open during term time on Tuesday mornings 8.45-9.15am and Thursday afternoons 2.45-3.15pm. Order forms are available from the office or from the school website. Orders received will be made up and left in the office for collection and payment. Please note payment is expected before you take any uniform items. We are finding it hard to chase up payment from people.
Enjoy the following photos from the recent trips to Te Papa Papatuanuku went on:
Check out Tangaroa at Space Place! Thanks for all the parent helpers!!
ST PATRICK’S OPEN DAY
The Open Day tours for those interested in enrolling their son at St Patrick’s College for 2022 will be held on Tuesday 15 June between 9.30 to 11.00am and from 12.00pm to 1.30pm and again on Thursday 17 June between 9.30 to 11.00am and from 12.00pm to 1.30pm.
To make a booking please visit the St Patrick's College website: https://www.stpats.school.nz
On the front page of our website you will see 'Open Day'. Open this section and select "Open Day Booking Form" (an online booking form). Enter your details and make your selection regarding day/time.
A reminder email will be sent closer to your booked day.
The following products are availble though your school KINDO account
Precious Labels – Customised Quality Sticky Labels 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed!
Durable and cost-effective sticky labels that make your life simple. Whether you need to label your kids clothes, school, daycare stuff or sports gear, Precious Labels has all of your needs covered. Our self-adhesive name labels are perfect for your everyday needs.
Peel it, stick it, forget it! It will all come back home!
MUNCH - Ethical + eco + essentials Munch is about empowering families to change the world. Every day, every way you can make a difference with Munch.
Buy a Munch product and feel good about using it. We are making it easier for you to be more sustainable. All our products are eco friendly in some way from being reusable, organic to biodegradable. Everyday products making a difference. Useful, beautiful and green. All our ingredients and products are sourced from ethical communities.
Contact Us
Email: office@sfds.school.nz
Website: http://www.sfds.school.nz
Location: St Francis De Sales School 11 Mersey Street, Island Bay, Wellington, New Zealand
Phone: 04 939 7370
COMMUNITY NOTICES
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KELLY SPORTS WINTER WARM UP SPORTS! – TERM (Yrs. 0-4) – Thursday’s 3:05-4:05pm
Kelly Sports will be back in Term 2 with their fun and exciting classes. Come and try Football, Basketball, Netball and Rippa Rugby! It’s a great way to try new sports, learn new skills and improve ability.
We use games & drills to teach game sense and team play. Learn the fundamental skills for all sports – throwing, running, jumping, striking, balance and many more – all while having a great time!
Sessions start Thursday 13 May 2021, Cost is $96 for 8 weeks For full details and to enrol into our programmes visit www.kellysports.co.nz email adminwgtn@kellysports.co.nz or call 04 972 7201
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Kia ora parents/guardians,
Wellington City Active Travel Research Project
You may be receiving this information for the second time. This is because we have received low overall engagement in the active school travel survey from eligible families and whānau. If you have already filled this survey out, Thank you! We do not require you to fill it out for a second time. If you have not filled out this survey, please read on.
My name is Zara Molijn and I am a Masters student in Public Policy at the Victoria University of Wellington. The Wellington City Council want to better understand what is holding years 0 through 8 children back from walking, biking, scootering and/or skating to and from school.
To be able to gain this type of insight, we need your help!
We are asking that just one parent/guardian per household fills out an anonymous 5 - 10 minute survey. The survey will be open for 3 weeks. Thus, from midnight on Wednesday the 19th of May we will no longer be accepting responses.
Follow this link to the Survey: http://vuw.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9N1SndqcjyIMNiC
Your response will provide us with valuable insights that will help inform how we can make active school travel safe and easy.
Your response is anonymous therefore we will not be able to identify you. Additionally, all results will be presented at an aggregate level meaning schools will not be individually identifiable.
As a thank you for your participation, completed surveys that state a child's school will be entered into a prize draw where the school can win 1 of the 3 sports equipment prize packs. The more parents from the school that complete the survey, the more chances the school will have to win. The equipment in these prize packs has been kindly donated by the Wellington Community Sports Bank. The winners for these prize packs will be drawn by a random number generator at the end of May, 2021.
If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact me at molijnzara@myvuw.ac.nz
We appreciate your time and thank you in advance.
Ngā mihi nui,
Zara Molijn
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WELLINGTON SOUTHERN BAYS HISTORICAL SOCIETY INCORPORATED
(Houghton Bay, Island Bay, Owhiro Bay)
Secretary: Chris Rabey 384 9293 Treasurer: Sharon Macintyre 388 8088.
Web: www.southernbayshistory.wellington.net.nz
NEXT PUBLIC MEETING IS MAY 17, 2021
SOCIETY PRESIDENT COLIN FESLIER IS OUR GUEST SPEAKER
WALKING AND TALKING IN THE SOUTHERN BAYS
COLIN WILL GIVE AN ILLUSTRATED INTRODUCTION TO LOCAL HISTORY BASED ON A
DESCRIPTION OF WHAT YOU SEE, CAN NO LONGER SEE, AS YOU WALK AROUND THE
BAY’S STREETS
All welcome, Baptist Church, 284 The Parade, 7.30pm.
Koha welcome
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