Tena koutou katoa

Our Mercy Week began with Mass celebrated by Monsignor David. The school led the Monday Parish Mass and were joined by whanau and five Sisters of Mercy. It was a beautiful Mass with the children in full voice for the hymns. Their behaviour was impeccable and prayerful.

Thank you to the PTFA for organising the Family Movie Night that we had on Friday 11 September. It was a great success and everyone enjoyed watching “The Wild Robot”. The children enjoyed their sausages and treats and it was lovely to see all our families on the rugs, swabs and pillows watching the movie. A wonderful whanau evening.

Congratulations to our filo group for their AWESOME performance at the Rosmini Filo night last Friday. Our children were the night’s opening item and they were brilliant. The many many weeks of practice certainly paid off. The group was supported by a former St Joseph’s student, Eliza Arcena. Eliza brought the group together and taught them their dance. Thank you.

Thank you to all those involved in the Year 5/6 Market Day we had last Friday. It was a brilliant day for all who participated. Thanks to the generosity of everyone involved, the children have raised $ 4870 which will be distributed between these organisations:

• Monte Cecilia
• Te Waipuna Puawai
• St Vincent de Paul
• MissioNZ

We look forward to seeing the children return after this break.

Take care

Ka manaakitia e te Atua

Alister Bridgman
Tumuaki

The Principal’s Message will cover the following topics:

• Pope Leo Pops In For Mercy Week Visit
• Term Four Dates
• Takapuna Big Bike Party
• Cohort Entry
• Filo Night
• Year 6 Netball Tournament
• Cluster Cross Country 2026
• sKids Holiday Programme
• Parish News
• Community Notices

• Monday, 12 October – Term 4, Day 1
• Monday, 26 October – School CLOSED, Public Holiday
• Tuesday, 1 December – School Mass
• Tuesday, 14 December – Year 6 Mass
• Thursday, 16 December – End of Year Celebration and Whanau Picnic
• Tuesday, 16 December – School closes for 2025 at 1pm

Join the Takapuna Big Bike Party on 17 October for bike challenges, games, music, checks and learn-to-ride sessions. Bring your bike and your whānau—everyone is welcome to join the fun!

The St. Joseph’s Catholic School Board of Trustees is giving a one term notice of its intention to formalise the Cohort Entry Policy. The policy will be in accordance with the Ministry of Education guidelines on “Cohort or Group Entry for Children Starting School” and the Dates for starting school under cohort entry policy: Education and Training Act 2020 – New Zealand Legislation

Joining the Filo Night was a fantastic learning experience for me. I had fun being able to learn more of our culture and spend time with other Filipino children and discovering that I can dance.  HUGE thanks to Eliza Mae from Carmel College for teaching us for over 2 months sacrificing her time. Thank you to all of the parents from the Filo Night practices for all their support and encouragement. I have lots of gratitude to Miss Luxford who opened the door and turned on the Active panel every time; and to Mr Bridgman (including all teachers) who attended; and to all of the students from Filo Night. It was a privilege to be part of Filo Night this year and hopefully next year the new head of Filo Night does something with St Joseph’s again. Nga mihi nui ki a koe!

By: Charles HG 6 

I have too many things to say so I’m going to keep this short. Firstly, I would like to thank you, Eliza Mae from Carmel College for teaching us our dance and giving up your afternoons just to teach us. Also, the teachers and Mr and Mrs Bridgman for staying up late to watch us perform at Filo Night. Us children spent once or twice practicing our cool dances and practicing at home. Huge thanks to Miss Luxford for opening the doors and making us feel welcomed; and also keeping us company. Thank you to all the parents who helped and supported us through the whole journey by getting or buying all the stuff for our costumes. We had so much fun. I am very grateful to be a part of this year’s Filo Night. Thank you – Nga mihi nui!

By: Claire HG 6

Luckily, it wasn’t raining too hard on Wednesday 2nd of September as St Joseph’s sent two teams, 6/1 and 6/2 to the Year 6 Netball Tournament at North Harbour Netball. When we got to the courts, we went upstairs and set up base together.

We played four games and there was a final for the top teams. The games were nine minute halves and there were many teams competing from across Auckland.

The games were challenging and made the team work hard. In between the games, we hung out together and had fun as a team.

Thank you to all the parents who took time out of their work days to coach, manage and support us. We would also like to thank Elliott Hou who umpired the games for both of our teams.

Our teams have both grown so much since the start of the year. It was a great way to end our Netball season.

By: Hannah HG4

This year, we participated in cross country, and it was so much fun! Despite a lot of mud, the support from kids, parents, and teachers was amazing. It felt like being in a stadium with crowds of people cheering you on.

The top four runners from our school cross country qualified for the Lake Pupuke Cluster event, competing against local schools including Target Road School, Forrest Hill, Milford School, and Takapuna Primary.

We achieved one first-place finish along with several other impressive placings. The course was extremely harsh. It included some rough terrain, along with a ginormous hill to drain all of our energy.

By: Patrick HG5

Latest News from St Joseph’s Parish

Please check out the latest community notices  which you can find on our school website.