Newsletter Week 3 Term 1

Dear Parents and Caregivers

Our children are all settling back into school and seem to be taking in their stride wearing masks, distancing where possible and the fact that they are doing some of their learning outside (weather permitting). We hope that this continues!

Parent Donation for Trips and Activities

Three years ago the government made a decision to fund Decile 1 - 7 schools, $150 per child to cover the cost of trips, camps, EOTC etc, so that these schools did not have to request donations from parents. Decile 8,9 and 10 schools got NOTHING! We are a decile 9 school and therefore have no dedicated funding in our operational grant for these things. We rely on the generosity and good will of our parents to help support trips and activities with a $60 donation per child. As this is a donation you can claim a tax rebate. If you are able to support the school in this way we would be very grateful. Any donations can be paid into the school account (12-3041-0341681-00) and an official receipt will be emailed to you.

SchoolAppsNZ

Thank you to the parents who have started using school apps. Some of you have used it to report your child as absent. This is greatly appreciated. It gives us a very clear record of who is away. It also means that if our phones are playing up again (as they did once or twice last year) that you can let us know when your child is not at school. We will also email the newsletter for the first term and of course it can be found through the website.

God Bless

Linda

We warmly welcome Heather and John to our staff.

The school will be organised as follows:

Team Tahi/1 – Year 0/2 - Angela Sheldon (Team Leader), Nicky James, and Christine Strawbridge (Rooms 1 – 4). Bianca de Leon is currently in Room 3 while Nicky is on leave and will teach in Room 1 from term 2 onwards.

Team Rua/2 – Year 3/4 - Lorna Webb (Team Leader), Erin Brennan and Monika Goel (Rooms 8 – 10)

Team Toru/3 – Year 5/6 - Heather Clark (Team Leader), Fiona D’Souza and Bryony Waterman (Rooms 5 – 7)

Team Wha/4 – Year 7/8 – Janet Valentine (Team Leader), Tania Fransen and John Cormack (Rooms 12 – 14)

Senior Management Team is:

Linda Birch (Principal) and Fiona Kearns (DP and Curriculum Leader)

SENCO - Pauline Sharp will continue to support our students with diverse needs and will be working four days a week in this role

We are very fortunate to have a brilliant team of support staff who work alongside teachers to support students and programmes of learning.

Part time teachers who do release across the school are Sarah Mayo and Maggie Ready. Paul Murray and Tina Faulkner will each teach one day a week.

Administration Team is:

Lynne Candiliotis (Mrs C), Denise Govind and Debbie Nguon (Librarian)

Student Support Team is:

Bridget Laws, Giselle Gomes, Suzanne Dobbs, Debbie McGrail, Maria Walters, Mary-Therese Nalder and Jasmine Nguon who work mostly with individuals in Teams Tahi and Rua

Learning Support Team is:

Jordyn O’Keefe (Team Rua) Varsha Harkison(Team Toru/Wha)

If you hear your children referring to some teachers by their first names they are not being disrespectful. A number of teachers and support staff have opted to go by their first names this year.

• Year 8 Camp Forest Lakes - Tuesday 15 -Friday 18 February
• Rooms 12, 13 & 14 Swimming - Tuesday 22 February

We welcome all Year 7 and 8 students who are interested in being part of either of these groups to have a look at the job description which has been developed. The job description is a guide for writing a letter outlining why you should be a member of our leadership team for 2022. Talk with your class teacher to get further details.

The mornings are a busy time for teachers and their most important job is welcoming your child into classrooms. We would prefer teachers to be in their rooms to do this, but unfortunately, they have to be on road patrol as we have not had enough offers of help from parents. Thank you to the four parents who are covering Monday and Tuesday mornings. We still have vacancies on Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/Friday on Phillip Street and Frankmoore Avenue. The students have been trained by the Police and will have a refresher at the end of February. The Police have already advised us last week that we can't put the signs out if there is not an adult present - please consider whether you can spare 20-25 minutes. If you need more details please contact Fiona D'Souza - fionad@stbrigids.school.nz

The netball season will be upon us soon. We thank Liz Kemp (previous netball coordinator) for her efforts as our netball coordinator. She is stepping down from this role in 2022. We must have a parent coordinator in order for St Brigid's School netball to continue. The role is fully supported by the school with a teacher taking on responsibilities too. Liz is more than happy to talk through with anyone who is interested in this role. If you would like to know more information please contact Lynne at lynne@stbrigids.school.nz and she will forward Liz Kemp's contact details.

We are seeking a parent who has the skills needed to help us with a small project. Last year we received two netball posts and we had the view that we wanted to have these cemented into car tyres so that they were able to be moved around the playground to suit needs. If you are able to undertake this - please contact Fiona Kearns at fiona@stbrigids.school.nz

We are able to supply all the materials needed and just need help with the labour. Here is a youtube link to showing what we would like to do but if someone has experience and has a better way of doing this we are happy to support.

Congratulations to the students who took part in the Summer Reading Challenge. It's not too late to send in the completed form to me for a prize (debbie@stbrigids.school.nz). I've loved seeing photos of our students enjoying reading during the holidays.

A copy of Issue 1 of the Lucky Book Club brochure was sent home last 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. Orders are to be made online by Friday 18 February.

Sadly Pita Pit Johnsonville closed at the end of last year. Nada Bakery has replaced this lunch service on Lunches Online. Nada has a large and healthy menu with lots of options.

We have some planks of wood that we do not need and are happy for someone to take away. Please let the office know if you are interested.

Great news, Torpedo7 have pulled together another special Friends & Family offer to help you get the most out of Summer.

Our international curriculum will help explore performance skills and creativity, overcome shyness, develop positive self esteem, grow imagination, , make new friends and have lots of fun. Fun after-school classes for 5 – 17 year olds held in Khandallah, Tawa, Whitby, Lower Hutt,. To enroll or for more information please phone 0800 161 131 or visit www.helenogradynz.co.nz.

Kelly Sports are back in Term 1 with the popular Football Skills programme – Perfect for Beginners and those just wanting to have some fun!

Held in the "Green Room", Ian Galloway Park, Wilton, "Wednesdays 3.30pm-4.30pm" Starting 16 Feb 2022.
Come along and improve technique, knowledge and learn more about the basic skills of "The Beautiful Game" (Football).
We will focus on the core skills of: Control, Dribbling, Passing, Tackling, Shooting but most importantly having as much fun as possible!
To Book go to www.kellysports.co.nz

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