St Teresa's School Newsletter
Friday 22nd February 2026
As we journey through the season of Lent, we take time for reflection, prayer, and renewal. We especially keep our baptism candidates in our prayers as they prepare for this important step in their faith journey.
We have all been enjoying getting to know our new classmates and teachers, and are now really getting stuck into all sorts of learning across the school. It has been wonderful to see the students settling into routines and engaging so positively in their classrooms.
Swimming has been a huge success over the last few weeks, with students learning about water safety - an important skill when living so close to many rivers and streams. We are looking forward to the Cluster Swimming Sports next Tuesday, where our selected team will be competing against the other Featherston schools. Good luck to all involved!
Please join us for our swimming celebration next Wednesday, 4 March, from 11:30am. This will be a lovely opportunity to watch the children having some fun in the dying days of summer, and to celebrate their efforts and progress.
Our senior class, Mrs Webb, and I are also looking ahead to going on camp at Waimanaaki in a couple of weeks’ time. Camp is always a highlight of the year and a valuable opportunity for growth, challenge, and connection. Post-camp photos will appear in our next newsletter.
Have a great fortnight, whānau! Please feel free to get in touch at any time about anything. There are even still biscuits in the tin to enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee, to go along with a chat.
Ngā mihi nui,
Liz
HEAR THE VOICE, ANSWER THE CALL; WHAKARONGO KI TE REO, WHAKAHOKIA TE KARANGA
Last week, our students marked the beginning of Lent. Lent (from the old English word for "spring") is a time for prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Each year, Caritas NZ offers schools and communities learning learning and teaching resources, as well as avenues for works of charity. This year, the Lenten theme is "Hear the voice, answer the call; Whakarongo ki te reo, whakahokia te karanga". This theme aligns nicely with our Hands of Christ programme, which should have all come home with your child's homelearning.
The time of Lent this year, has once again started with two special traditions - pancakes and ashes. On Shrove Tuesday, we followed the centuries-old practice of making and enjoying pancakes, a symbolic way to prepare for the fasting and reflection of Lent. Afterward, we gathered for the Rite of Burning Palms. The blessed palm fronds from last year’s Palm Sunday, which had been kept in our homes, were collected and burned along with our Lenten promises. These ashes were then used for our Ash Wednesday Mass.
On Ash Wednesday, we were joined by our parish community for a beautiful Mass in the quad, where we received ashes on our foreheads as a sign of repentance and renewal, with the comforting reminder that "God loves us." A heartfelt thank you to Pa Dennis for leading us in this meaningful celebration of our faith.
FOSTA News
We have been gathering quotes to repair the challenge course area. Keep an eye on the space to watch the progress. We have also recently bought two trolleys - one to transport extra equipment on outings (such as the junior's swimming bags to the pools and sports gear to the Rec), and another to attach to the big speaker to make it easier to transport to the Hall and between classrooms. These two trolleys will make some of the small things that much easier!
As stated in our last newsletter, we still need help with the following jobs:
🧰 putting nets on the football, basketball and netball goals
🧰 repairing/replacing a corner of seats in the quad
🧰 clearning the soil away from the building outside Waiorongomai to prevent the timber from rotting (urgent)
🧰 waterblasting/cleaning all yellow strips on the outdoor stairs (urgent)
🧰 replacing/repairing/repainting yellow markings on all goal posts
🧰 repairing taps on mud kitchen sink outside Wairarapa
🧰 staining two picnic tables
🧰 repairing holes in the interior walls of the student's bathrooms
🧰 deep cleaning lino area in the corridor outside the art room
🧰 repairing door and putting panels back in the greenhouse walls
🧰 converting old greenhouse (at the back of the field) into a cute play space (replacing roof, removing remaining shade cloth, clearing out etc)
🧰 covering new library books and entering all books into a spreadsheet
If you are able to help with any of these jobs, please contact Zoë or Liz. These can be completed anytime at your convenience. Materials and most tools will be supplied by school.
We’d love your support in making our school spaces even better! 😊
Miley
Figgy, with Sage and Tucker
Brooke and Asta have a fun filled programme planned for our Easter Holiday Hub Club!
Wednesday 8th April 2026 - Friday 17th April 2026
8.30 am to 3.30 pm
$40 per day (full days only)
Open to children in Years 1-8
Places are limited to 20 children per session
OSCAR accredited
Late days available - subject to interest
Bookings are open until 3pm Wednesday 1st April 2026 and all payments must be made before the start of the programme. Your booking will only be confirmed once payment is received. For more information about the OSCAR subsidy CLICK HERE
We’re a Movin’March school and are counting down to Monday 2nd March, when we’ll be encouraging ākonga (students) to walk or wheel to kura (school).
Walking or wheeling to school is a great way to get active, know your neighbourhood, get energised to learn, AND take care of the environment.
This year, we’re taking part in the new WoW Class Challenge. Each student will set their own goal for March and record this on a bookmark they can take home. We’ll record trips in class on a wallchart, and those who are working towards their goal may win small prizes.
And we can enter in the regional competition for some great class prizes!
Info for whānau:
We are looking forward to seeing those feet and wheels really movin' this March!!
Our goal setting event is on Tuesday 31st March 3.00 pm - 8.00 pm. To book a slot with your child/ren's teacher please download the Hero app and follow the instructions below;
TO MAKE A BOOKING
- Log into the Hero app
- Navigate to the School Bookings event and click ADD This will display a table of all available slots for all your children
- To add a booking, click a GREEN slot. The booking popup will be displayed. To allow time to travel between meetings you will be unable to book consecutive slots.
- You will have the option of entering a note for the relevant staff member. Clicking CONFIRM will secure the interview slot.
- Once a booking is made all other slots will become unavailable to prevent duplicate bookings.
- If you have more than one child at school you will be unable to choose back to back timeslots with their teacher. This will allow us to stay on track with the timetable.
- To cancel or change a booking click MANAGE BOOKINGS.
If you need support downloading the Hero App, please come and see Zoё at the office. She will be happy to share our wifi details and guide you through the process.
School Policies and Procedures: School Docs
SchoolDocs is a website for our policies and procedures. We invite you to participate in the Term 1 review:
- Alchol, Drugs, and Other Harmful Substances Policy
- Sun Protection
- Digital Technology and Online Safety
- Cellphones and Other Personal Digital Devices
To take part follow these steps;
- Visit the website https://teresas.schooldocs.co.nz/
- Enter the username (teresas) and password (ontrack).
- Follow the link to the relevant policy as listed.
- Read the policy.
- Click the Policy Review button at the top right-hand corner of the page.
- Select the reviewer type "Parent".
- Enter your name (optional).
- Submit your ratings and comments.
BATS INCREDIBLE SHOW
Bats Incredible is a family show with Tanya Batt, a well recognised storyteller. It's focus is all about bats / pekapeka - raising awareness of bats in general and specifically about our unique species in Aotearoa.
8th March 4-5pm $5
Recommend 5yrs up
Wairarapa Event Centre, Carterton
Event https://www.wairarapaec.co.nz/bats-incredible-fundraiser-sunday-8-march-400pm/
Tickets https://nz.patronbase.com/_WairarapaEventsCentre/Productions/3SK/Performances
Contact Us
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/