Welcome to Term 4.  This term is full of events and happenings so please keep checking the calendar and Seesaw for updates.  Thank you for all the continued support you show for the school, events, learning and our staff.

Teacher Only Day
There is a Teacher only Day on Friday 25th October. On this day, the school is closed for instruction as the teachers work to unpack the new curriculum. The following Monday, the school will be closed for Labour Day (which is a public holiday). 

All Saints and all Souls Celebration
Week 3 we celebrate the feasts of All Saints and All Souls. As part of the Feast day we will create a remembrance wall in the foyer for our loved ones who have joined the communion of Saints. We will also celebrate All Saints day with a dress up parade of Bible characters or Saints.

Giving Tree Term 4
The season of Advent is approaching, a time to prepare our hearts for Jesus' coming. As part of this season the school will have a Giving Tree for the St Vincent De Paul society. 
As part of the Giving Tree you may place a gift for a child or teenager that otherwise might miss out over Christmas. These gifts or food items are then given to the Vinnies to distribute to those in need. We will begin the tree in Week 4 and keep going until the end of term. 

Notes on Enrolments for 2025: As you may be aware our school roll is growing and so is our waiting list. We currently have no spaces available this year and no spaces for years 1-5 next year with a waiting list of over 50 students. If you have a younger sibling turning five at the end of this year or the beginning of next year and want them to be at St Pius X please come and see Maree in the office ASAP.  Also if you know that you are moving or changing school in the new year, please come and tell us at the office as soon as you are able.  It means we can give some certainty to those who are on the waitlist for the new year and to also give your child a proper farewell. 

Parking
We have had a wet winter and spring and this is demonstrated in the state of the grassed areas around the school and Church. This damage is made worse by cars driving and parking on the grass. Father is spending a lot of time and money to rehab the grass around the circle at the front of the Church. Please don't park there. 

Ideally the circle in front of the Church should be for quick pick up and drop off at the beginning and end of the day. The carparks in the circle are mostly accessible carparks and the fine for parking in them has increased from the 1st of October (see information further in the newsletter about parking) If you need to park please use the Church carpark and the roads around the school such as Dermont street. Thank you for your co-operation in this. 

Pizza Tuesday will be each Tuesday.  

Ham, Cheese and Pepperoni -$2 for a slice. 
Please bring your money in a named envelope and hand it in to your class teacher on Tuesday morning.

All funds raised will be used towards camps across the school in term 4.

Your support is greatly appreciated.

The Public Health Nurses will be at school on Monday 04 November to provide dose 2 of the HPV immunisation for the Year 8 students whose parents/caregivers consented earlier in the year. If your child is absent there will be a catch up planned within 3 weeks.
If parents have any queries or changes contact the Public Health Nurse directly:
PHN Name and phone: Miriam 021 2478972
PHN Email: Miriam.esteves@waikatodhb.health.nz

Term 4 moves into summer uniform. 
Summer uniform is 

If you do not have a hat you must stay in the shade at morning tea and lunchtime, per our school sun smart procedure. There will be a grace period until after the Labour day weekend to ensure you have the correct uniform.

If you are unsure about correct uniform or there is a reason for a change in uniform please contact your child's teacher.
 

Ngā mihi nui
Erin Clayton (Principal)  

This Term Mrs. O will be starting Kapa Haka classes with the support of Koro. 

Most of the feedback we received earlier in the year indicated the support for this group and while there was some hesitation with the after school time, doing justice to the programme is hard during a lunch break. 

Kapa Haka will be on a Thursday from 2:45 - 3:45  in Tara Iti classroom every Thursday unless otherwise indicated. New members to the group are most welcome from Year 0 - Year 8.


Mission Day 2024

On Thursday 24th October, our school will be celebrating Mission Day. The Day will start at 11:00 a.m. with a liturgy and then activities will start.

Junior School: The Junior School will be running the White Elephant stall: old, tidy and used items of toys, books, games and soft toys. Please do not send any broken items to school.

Year 4: Sherbert Stall

Year 5: Haunted House

Year 6-8: a variety of activities, games and stalls.

Teachers will send out more details closer to the time about what their class will need to bring to run their stall.

Parents are invited to join us for the liturgy and then stay on to join us for the activities which will happen after the liturgy and conclude at 1:30p.m.

Ngā Mihi

Mrs. O

Park safely around schools
… and avoid a parking ticket!

As of 1 October, parking fines around the country have gone up for the first time in 20 years. Previously, low fines encouraged some people to take the risk of parking illegally. The Government has increased the fines to send a message that illegal parking will not be tolerated.

One of the biggest changes is that the fine for misusing a disabled parking space has increased from $150 to $750, reflecting the seriousness of the offence and the impact it has on the disabled community.

We want to thank our school community for choosing safety over convenience by following the parking rules every day around our school. These changes won’t affect those who already do the right thing. However, we do occasionally see parents parking in unsafe areas, putting students at risk. We hope the increased fines will encourage everyone to think twice about where they park around our school.

Here’s a breakdown of some the new parking fines affecting parking around schools:

Parking offence | Fine from 1 Oct | Current fine
Overstaying not more than 30 minutes | $20 | $12
Overstaying more than 30 minutes but not more than 1 hour | $25 | $15
Park vehicle on bend | $70 | $40
Vehicle obstructs entrance or exit of driveway | $70 | $40
Park vehicle on footpath or cycle path | $70 | $40
Parked on lawn, garden or verge | $70 | $40
Park on broken yellow lines  | $100 | $60
Park vehicle on pedestrian crossing | $100 | $60
Park vehicle in special vehicle lane (bus lane or cycle lane | $100 | $60
Park vehicle without due care and consideration | $100 | $60
Park in an area reserved for disabled persons | $750 | $150

This past weekend both Kenley and Emery Green represented the Central Region at the Inter Regional Competition. The team was also coached by Cam Green our very own St.Pius X Cardinals coach. The Result ? All 3  walked away with Gold Medals and the Dion Bunt Trophy !

Over the School Holidays the Green girls competed in the In-line Hockey National Championships and placed 2nd . Kenley was team Captain and Emery was the Goaltender.

BASKETBALL
Player of the day Ava!!!

Thanks to our stand in players - Zyler, Derick, and EJ. 

Great score and win to St Pius X  - 14/8 

Just a few reminders for Term 4:
Absences - Please let us know via telephone, Spike website or Skoolloop if your child is going to be absent. If we don't hear from you at all, we mark your child as T for Truant. This information is part of our data that goes to the Ministry of Education.

Lost Property - If you have a missing drink bottle, umbrella etc, please check at the office. We gave a lot of these things to opportunity shops last term. All unclaimed clothing was washed and put in with our second hand clothing.

Late to School - Please, please have your child (or yourself) sign them in late. This avoids the need to send you a text asking where your child is.

Put Saturday 2nd of November in your diary  

The St Pius Quiz night

Where: St Pius X

When: 2 Nov
Time: 6:30pm for 7:00pm start.

What: Trivia and the opportunity to win loads of stuff!

Tickets $10 per person.
You can contact Maree in the office to book a table. You can pay by cash or eftpos on the night.

How can you help make the quiz a success?
We are currently collecting any prizes that might be suitable for raffles. We are also collecting grocery items to make up food hampers. If you have anything that could be a prize or grocery items to donate that would be most appreciated thank you.

Everyone is busy and LouLou's diary for booking a walk is sadly empty!! However, she has been playing with her mother and two of her siblings before school, so she does tend to sleep for a while after that. She has been keeping Juliet company while she has been sorting our school vege garden.
LouLou visited her doggy cousin Kiki during her holiday in Wellington! (Kiki is the black blob beside LouLou).