St Teresa's School Newsletter

As we move through these final weeks of term, we pause to give thanks for the many blessings in our school community. We pray for guidance, patience, and unity as we journey together, and for God’s grace to be present in all we do with and for our tamariki.

Our school calendar is filling quickly with events, celebrations, and opportunities to gather as a community. Please keep an eye on Hero and our Facebook page so you don’t miss anything coming up.

A huge congratulations to our talented students who represented St Teresa’s at the Wairarapa Athletics this week. We are very proud of your efforts and the way you carried yourselves on the day. Ka rawe!
A special well done also to our LiveWires team who travelled to the Masterton studios to record their latest radio show — check out our Facebook post to have a listen!

Ngā mihi nui to everyone who has donated plants for our māra. Your generosity continues to help this space grow into something truly special for our tamariki. We also extend a very warm thank you to WelTec and Whitireia for donating two beautiful picnic benches, crafted by their Trades Academy students. These will be a wonderful addition to our outdoor spaces and will be enjoyed by many. And thank you to Chris for delivering them!

You may be aware of recent national discussions around the removal of honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi as a stated principle in education. Many across Aotearoa share my concern about this shift and its potential impact on learners and communities. If you would like to show your support for maintaining the place of Te Tiriti in education, you are invited to read and consider adding your name to this iwi-led petition: 👉 https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/protect-te-tiriti-in-education

Ngā mihi nui,
Lindsey 🌸

Monday 17th November

Tākitimu Technology

Wednesday 19th November

Year 6 & 7 Retreat

Thursday 20th November

Year 6 & 7 Retreat

Friday 21st November

Junior Assembly - join us 8.45am

Monday 24th November

Tākitimu Technology

Tuesday 25th November

Transition Afternoon

Wednesday 26th November

Year 8 Trip

Friday 28th November

Mass tauwharenīkau - 9.30 am join us

CRAZY COLOUR DAY

House Activities 11am - 1pm

FOSTA Shop 1pm - 3pm

Colour Run 2pm

Our He Māra garden is thriving, and we are so grateful for the incredible support from our community. A huge thank you to Cheryl, Kerry-John, Janet, Nic, and the local organisation *** for their generous plant donations — your contributions continue to bring life, colour, and learning into our outdoor spaces.

We also thank Stephen Hoedemaeckers for keeping our school grounds looking beautiful throughout the year, and Louise and her wonderful student crew who tend to our gardens every day with such care and pride.

Our class projects are coming along nicely, and there are plenty of opportunities for whānau to get involved. If you have a green thumb or some DIY prowess, we’d love your help! Please contact your child’s teacher if you have time to spare. Current projects include:

• Planting our sensory garden with an adjoining prayer space

• Creating the junior mud garden

• Laying the mosaic entrance

• Building new planter boxes

• Painting our pātaka kai cupboard

Every pair of hands makes a difference.

A little update from our feathered friends — Popcorn and Chickalita, our school hens, have headed to Zoe’s house for their annual summer holiday. They’ll enjoy a well-earned break and will be back with us in the new year!

Thank you again for helping our māra — and our learners — flourish. 💚🌿

Our Term 4 fundraiser is still going strong and we’re absolutely *smashing* our target with over $3,812 raised so far! 🎉 A huge thank you to everyone who has set up their online fundraising page and started collecting donations. Your effort and enthusiasm are incredible.

There’s still time to get involved. If your tamariki haven’t yet joined in, head online and create their fundraising profile today. Every bit helps us reach our goal and makes a real difference for our kura.

Crazy Colour Day — Friday 28th November! 🌈

Here’s what’s happening on the day:

11am to 1pm: House Activities with fun challenges and games with your house team

Lunchtime: The FOSTA Shop will open so bring a few gold coins for treats

2pm: The Colour Run kicks off and whānau are warmly invited to come along and watch the action

Students should:

Come dressed in house colours

Go all out with the craziest hairstyle for a prize

Bring a change of clothes for the Colour Run. A white T-shirt over old clothes works best

Don’t forget a towel for after

A huge well done to Wairarapa , our top fundraisers so far. They celebrated with a delicious ice cream afternoon! 🍦 More spot prizes are on the way for stand-out fundraisers so keep the donations coming in.

Thank you again to our amazing community for the support. Let’s finish strong and keep that colour and kindness rolling in! 💛💙💚💖

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Our Booster Wine Group Fundraiser ends this weekend - so get your orders in!

This is a fantastic opportunity to stock up on some quality wines while supporting our school — just in time for the festive season! 🎄 Every bottle sold helps raise funds for our tamariki and school projects.

Thank you for getting behind this great initiative — and don’t forget to share the form with friends, family, and neighbours who might like to support too! 💛

As you will have seen in the media, there have been measles cases confirmed in Wellington.
To keep our kura as safe as possible from a measles outbreak please read the advice below:

1. Check published Locations of Interest.
2. Watch for symptoms: fever, cough, runny nose, sore eyes, blotchy rash.
3. Keep students at home if symptomatic and call Healthline (0800 611 116).
4. Confirm immunity via medical records or testing. Zoe may contact you if we do not have an immunisation record for your child.
5. Visit info.health.nz/measles-immunity for more info.

We will continue to keep our classrooms well-ventilated and remind students of the importance of basic hygiene e.g. to wash their hands regularly.

The Kuranui College Board are reviewing their current Strategic Plan and as part of this process they would love to hear from you.

Your feedback is essential in helping the Board set the strategic direction for Kuranui College over the next three years.

We would appreciate if you could take some time to complete the attached survey to share your thoughts and ideas.

We would appreciate if you could complete this survey by Thursday 20th November.

Please click on this link to complete the survey: Strategic Goals Consultation Whānau Survey

Email: office@teresas.school.nz
Website: https://www.teresas.school.nz/
Location: St Teresa's School Bell Street, Featherston, New Zealand
Phone: 06 308 9064
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/St-Teresas-Featherston/100057033717170/