Term 2 - Week 8 - June 2022

Principal's Update

Kia ora whānau,

I am really enjoying this term. Sure, it is cold and a bit damp (-1 today!) but, the weather doesn’t stop our tamariki and staff and they’ve been reaching some goals and we can be proud of this! We’ve recently had some staff training in Scratch (a coding game) through our Digital Literacy professional learning development, and I’ve enjoyed hearing their reflections. We had children attend Swimming Zones on Monday and it was neat to have the seniors come past the office and tell me about how they went, and how their peers went. They were full of pride in letting me know that Hillary is an absolutely amazing swimmer! Well done to every child who put themselves forward and participated. 

A reminder of this week:

Tomorrow (June 23): Teacher Only Day

Friday (June 24): Public Holiday

Monday: School as usual

Parent Teacher Meetings

Over the coming week, we will  send out a School Loop with instructions for you to book in a Parent-Teacher meeting. These take place in the final week of the term, and you will also receive your child’s bi-annual report at this time. It is a great chance for our teachers to talk to this reporting document so that you gain an insight into the everyday teaching and learning of your child/children. Teachers welcome your insight and reflections as well. There are some minor changes to the layout of our 2022 report. Please click here if you’d like the full run-down as to what and why.

Canterbury Zones

Today I had the privilege of seeing Iris and Jack running at the Canterbury Zones meet. Congratulations to these two children who represented us with energy and enthusiasm. They really did show off their great attitude and talent. Thank you, Iris and Jack - your Māia was impressive. 

Matariki

It’s been a beautifully reflective period as we head into our first official holiday for Matariki. This star cluster represents a great deal as we move together as members of Aotearoa  together in a treaty partnership of love, respect, equity and equality. Our children grab hold of this with full positivity and genuine appreciation. Ka pai! The -1 degree temperature feels fitting as we share our milo together at lunchtime today. Thank you to the teachers and support staff who helped us celebrate at lunchtime. I hope you all have a blessed Matariki - Mānawatia ā Matariki. 

Community notice 

Paul Lawrence visited me on site here a week ago, and we had an interesting conversation around his business (which is SMM Real Estate). Essentially, for every family that chooses to sell through him locally, his business is looking to contribute $1000 as a donation to a school of the seller’s choice. It’s pretty exciting because donations of this amount are few and far between, and they make a noticeable and definable difference to what we offer on site. So, if you are considering selling, I’d encourage you to take a look at this business and to put our school’s name forward as your ‘school of choice’. 

Synod update
In Term 4 of 2021, our staff and parish took part in a synod conversation. Please click here to read through the Diocesan Synthesis Document. This document is also available on the Chch Diocesan website. From here, a Christchurch group of representatives will head to Wellington and meet with other NZ dioceses. This will form the basis of the NZ/Oceania response that finds its way to Rome in due course. If you have further commentary or questions around this, you are very welcome to email Joanne Hope. 

Enjoy your extra long weekend, and we look forward to seeing you again on Monday. 

Sarah Lowe  

Upcoming events

Term 2   

 T/O day - Thursday 23 June (Matariki Weekend)

Weekly:      Choir / Strum Strike Blow / Music lessons

2 May to 27 June  -  Monday's -  Y5 to 8 - Ki o Rahi game instruction

22  June  -   Otago Problem Solving competition 

29  June  -  7:30am-8:30am St Peter’s Day Big Breakfast Celebration - Gold                          coin donation (going towards sports equipment) Read more in                        PTA section

30 June   -  Tangaroa Youth town PE sessions

30 June      -  Matariki light display called Tirama Mai together on Thursday                        See more info in PTA section

30th June. - 8 July  -    Wonder Project Rocket Challenge programme                                                        rocket launch Tangaroa Team.

Term 3

1 August -   PTA Meeting at school in Hoka at 6.45pm

16 Sept   -   PTA school Disco

Sat 29 Oct. - PTA  Karma Keg - details in PTA section

2022 Term dates

Term 2 2022  -   Monday 2 May to Friday 8 July

                             - Queens Birthday Monday 6 June

                             -  Matariki Friday 24 June

Term 3 2022  -   Monday 25 July to Friday 30 Sept

Term 4 2022  -   Monday 17 Oct to Tuesday 13 December (TBC)

                             - Labour Day Monday 24 October

Teacher Only Days 2022 - School Closed

 T/O day - Thursday 23 June (Matariki Weekend)

 T/O day - Monday 8 August

 T/O day - Tuesday 25 October (labour Weekend)

 T/O day - Monday 14 November (show weekend)

Board Of Trustees Update

On behalf of the Board, we wish you a safe and restorative Matariki. 

Hopefully, your children enjoyed their Milo today and are looking forward to the four-day weekend with a teachers-only day tomorrow (Thursday, 23 June). 

We want to sincerely thank John Fenton, one of our Proprietors reps on the Board, who is standing down. We wish you well, John, on your new appointment and thank you for your insightful and creative contributions. 

On this note, we will be calling for nominations for the triennial Board election, these nominations open on Friday 15th of July (the middle weekend of school holidays) with elections held Wednesday September 7th. 

What do trustees do? Trustees on a school board of trustees work together to make sure every child/ tamariki reaches their highest possible standard in educational achievement. As part of that key responsibility, here are some of the things boards do:

• Work with the principal and consult with staff, students and the community

• Set the educational goals and strategic direction of the school

• Monitor progress and let parents know how the school is progressing against its annual targets and how well students are achieving

• Decide how the school's funding will be spent

• Support the school's principal and support the development of all staff

• Oversee the management of staff, property, finances, curriculum and administration.

We would like to thank all children and staff who were involved with Sunday mass at the parish to celebrate Corpus Christi. It was lovely for members of the parish and school community to come together after such a long time due to COVID restrictions. We look forward to many more events in the future. 

RE Update

As part of our school strategic plan we are seeking to collaborate with our Parish to celebrate Masses together. This will help to develop a deeper Parish / school partnership. The first of these Masses was held yesterday and a number of our children were involved.It is also a way for children to be included in a parish Mass while we are under orange level conditions.

A huge thankyou to the families for supporting their children who were involved with saying Prayers of the Faithful in their home language, liturgical dance and the choir.

We look forward to the next Mass (yet to be planned) as an opportunity for more children to take part.

Young Vinnies

Winter Woolies

The St Peter's School Young Vinnies team would greatly appreciate any donations for the Winter Woolies drive to help those in need keep warm over winter.   Please leave donations outside the library by Thursday  June 23 and the young vinnies will collect.

Office Update

Susan Ross Uniform Supply Update:

Sue has advised that she now has a full size range in the PE tops and the Cardigans and jumpers are back from being monogramed.

Mana Ake Bookings with Victoria Holden

Kia ora! My name is Victoria and I am proud to be the Mana Ake liaison for St. Peter’s School. Mana Ake can provide a range of support, from one on one work with kids during school time, to advice and guidance for parents at regular drop-ins on Tuesday afternoons. I can help with anything from
anger or anxiety, to behavioural challenges… even screen time and sibling rivalry. I am a registered social worker, and mum of an almost ten year old, and three cats!
If you would like to have a casual chat with another parent who also has lots of resources and tips to share you can book a drop-in session through the office. If you think Mana Ake support may be right for your child, you can discuss this with their classroom teacher.
Noho ora mai!

Mana Ake flyer

PB4L Update

Purpose Statement

Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) will support and enhance our school vision and values; helping to grow and strengthen a positive school culture in which our students can thrive.

In our classrooms and during outside play children have been focussing on the following messages:
Last week we focussed on:

Matau Update

Shona Kelleher, our schoolwide digital technologies facilitator, was in Hoka and Tuna last week. Her focus was on empowering children in the use of digital technologies, namely Scratch Junior. This coding app enables our children to program their own interactive stories, learn to problem solve and design creative projects. We look forward to Shona returning to our school in the near future.

This week Hoka was challenged to be creative and use Scratch Junior to code a program based on Matariki.

Tangaroa Update

Wonder Project Rocket Challenge Day 1 and 2  (5/7/22 and 6/7/22)

On Tuesday 5th July and Wednesday 6 July,  Tangaroa students will be working together to create 1.5 litre bottle Rockets. Students learn about Newton’s first and second laws of physics through the creation of a bottle rocket. 

Thank you for the recent donations of 1.5 litre bottles. If you have any of these bottles please send them along to school. We require at least forty-eight 1.5 litre soft drink bottles to have at least two rockets per three students.

Thursday 7 July there will be a Youthtown Tournament for Year 4 to 8.

PE Uniform Days

Swimming Zones Team

Congratulations to the team.   We have some great swimmers at St Peter's as shown in these results:

Caitlyn was 3rd in Breaststroke heat 

Sophia was 3rd in Breaststroke heat 

Charlotte was 3rd in Backstroke heat

Ana Claire was 3rd in Backstroke heat

Hillary was 1st in Freestyle heat and 3rd in Backstroke heat

PTA UPDATE

Our St Peter’s Day Big Breakfast Feast is fast approaching, being held on Wednesday 29th June, 7:30am-8:30am, before the start of school. Hopefully you received the flyer sent home with the children last week, we would love to see everyone attending. Thank you to all those who have offered to help on the day.

This year is going to be extra special, for two reasons; Firstly we need to acknowledge the amazing student council who approached us with a very special fundraising initiative, they wish to raise funds to replace sports equipment that was sadly recently stolen from the school. The PTA have offered to match the amount of monetary donations collected by the students at the Big Breakfast this year, and all will go towards their very important fundraising cause. So please dig deep this year so we can all support their incredible endeavours for much needed and utilised equipment.

Secondly we are holding the event in a very different style, Alfresco in the school courtyard. If you have any outdoor lanterns or fairy lights you can offer for the morning, please let us know. It will be pretty special under the stars and twinkling lights, please dress appropriately however, and bring along a head torch if you have one. 

Also, don’t forget BYO mugs, plates & utensils. We have scrumptious pancakes & syrup on offer, delicious Beckenham Butchers sausages and bread, juicy fresh fruit and not to forget hot chocolate & freshly brewed filter coffee kindly donated from Coffee Supreme.

Matariki, We invite our St Peter’s families to enjoy the special Matariki light display called Tirama Mai together on Thursday 30th June.  Meet at the base of the Chalice in the Cathedral square at 6:30pm. Please come along and join us and the children can enjoy the illuminations and celebration together - https://www.ccc.govt.nz/news-and-events/whats-on/event/tirama-mai-2

What else is happening;

Naked Baker Pies - term 3 - This year we are selling them in term 3, order forms will be out to families at the beginning of August & delivery date will be 2nd September.

School Disco - Friday 16th September - Further details to come.

Art Work - The children will be busy creating some stunning artwork next term which will be utilised for artwork products which can be ordered ready for Christmas.

Karma Keg - Saturday 29th Oct -  Held at Moon Under Water | Christchurch Craft Beer Pub, come along and help us enjoy a keg of beer.

We are also very busy planning an awesome end of year Quiz Night. This will be held early November and will be an epic night to let your hair down and have some fun. Details to follow.

Pastoral Support - If you can spare some time to do some extra baking or make a hot meal to support some of St Peter’s Whanau, please drop it off in the school office labelled ‘Pastoral Care package’ or approach Kay in the office and she can assist. Thank you in advance. 

The next PTA meeting is on Monday 1st August 6:45pm, at school. It was wonderful having a couple of new faces join us at our last meeting, we would love to see some new families join the committee, so please come along.

Community News