1. Principal's News Term 4, Week 9 2020

Last Newsblog of the Year 

I would like to thank and acknowledge the hard work of our teachers and support staff this year.  They had to figure out how to teach and communicate in an entirely new way, from their own homes and into your homes.  We thank our parents for your communication and positivity during this time and your ongoing support through the year.  I would also like to thank our teachers and staff for doing their utmost to continue to provide every opportunity for our students this year with camps, EOTC, our senior and junior productions, and all of our sporting events managing to go ahead.

Many thanks to our Home and School committee and the parents who have helped out in the Hungry Horse Cafe.  Thanks to Rebecca Heffernan for leading our Home and School, to Jessica Fogarty for doing our Subway orders and Adele Whiston for managing the school uniform shop.

Also a big thank you to our Board of Trustees who work quietly in the background providing the governance through which we can run our school effectively, particularly to Rory McGeown, our board chair who has done a sterling job of leading the Board this year.

We wish all of our families a healthy, holy and happy Christmas, New Year and summer break.  We look forward to seeing your children again next year and to those who are moving away, we wish you every blessing for your future journeys.

End of Year Things to Know

Home and School Junior Disco - Friday 11th December - start 6pm end 7.15pm.  Children up to year 6 may attend.

Year 7 & 8 social dinner and dance - Monday 14th December - please check details from your child's teacher regarding start and end times and other details.  Thank you to our Home and School for providing the meal for this occasion.

Tuesday 15th December - Christmas themed mufti day.  All children may come wearing Christmas themed mufti.  This will help to keep their uniforms clean for the evening liturgy.

Tuesday 15th December - End of Year Liturgy in the Basilica including junior nativity presentation, JJ Awards, Year 8 prize-giving and Year 8 leaving candle ceremony.  Juniors meet at school at 5.30pm.  Seniors meet 5.45pm to line up in the playground.   Seniors please wear correct Summer uniform including black shoes.  Juniors will be told by their teachers what to wear as they will be in costume.

Wednesday 16th December - Final Assembly, 11.30pm.  Announcement of year 8 leadership positions for 2021.  Head boy and head girl speeches and leaving certificates for year 8s.  We will finish with carols.  School finishes at 12.30pm.

The juniors practising for their Nativity pageant

Intermediate practising for social dance

Start of Year Things to Know

All children will be given stationery lists for their year levels with their reports which will go out on Monday next week.

I will email information for return to school in late January and school starts on Monday 1st February 2021.

Please make a diary date for Sunday 14th February as we hope to celebrate a community mass at 9.30am followed by a sausage sizzle at school and if it's warm and nice - a slippery slide and water fun.

I will email out classes and teachers before Christmas.

Year 7 & 8 Camp    

Our intermediate department enjoyed a combined camp at Wainui near Akaroa last week.  They were blessed with excellent weather and enjoyed a variety of outdoor activities, some of which can be seen in this slideshow.

Multicultural Day

Once again we have had a wonderful multicultural day where our community and families have shared their expertise in workshops which ran through out the school yesterday morning.  We shared a shared lunch with everyone bringing traditional food from their culture and yesterday afternoon we enjoyed performances presented by some of our cultural groups.  We have at least 15 different cultures at St Joseph's and we love the diversity and beauty this brings to our school.

Once again I wish you every blessing.

God Bless and Aroha

Lorraine Frances-Rees

2. Special Character Week 9 Term 4 2020

Welcome/Kia Ora/Malo e Lelei

Special Character Focus

The Third Week of Advent

Preparing our Hearts and asking for Grace

We prepare this week by feeling the joy. We move through this week feeling a part of the waiting world that rejoices because our longing has prepared us to believe the reign of God is close at hand. And so we consciously ask:

Prepare our hearts and remove the sadness that hinders us from feeling the joy and hope which his presence will bestow.

School and Family Mass- 

Thursday Liturgy

Presenting the Liturgy and Gospel is a service opportunity and Ministry for our children in spreading God’s word. Our children are proud of themselves every week either through singing, videoing and acting the gospel. It is a privilege for our children to serve and present the word of God.

Thank you to Year 3/4 Miss Sollano's class for the presentation of the gospel at the Liturgy last Thursday. This week there was no Liturgy.

Next Week- Tuesday evening is our end of the year Liturgy for our Year 8 and Junior Nativity. You are welcome to join us for Liturgy at 6:00 pm on Tuesday in the Basilica. 

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

     my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

Faith Facts- Week 9 7th - 11th Dec 2nd Week of Advent

7th St Ambrose

8th The Immaculate Conception of Mary

The second purple candle on the Advent wreath is lit as a symbol of Faith in God. This candle is referred to as the “Bethlehem Candle” to remind us of the journey of the Holy Family.

Come, Lord Jesus.  Come and visit your people. 

We await your coming.  Come, O Lord.

Thank you/Malo 'Aupito

God Bless

Tua Misiloi Co DRS

3. School Notices - Week 9, Term 4 2020

 QUOTE FOR THE YEAR

Altar Servers

Saturday 12th December - Paddy Spillane, Isaiah Castro and Lilly Kelcher

Sunday 13th December - Alexie Phillips, Lisiate Hausia and Rolfe Patalbo

Saturday 19th December - Lachlan & Mikayla Criddle and Luse Asi

Sunday 20th December - Ivy- Belle Mestrom

Saturday 26th December - David Kilgour and King Melecio

Sunday 27th December - Alexie Phillips and Lisiate Hausia

Saturday 2nd January - Clarence & Rheanna Coscos and Isaiah Castro

Sunday 3rd January - Ivy-Belle Mestrom and Indeg Jones-Hogan

Saturday 9th January - Lachlan & Mikayla Criddle

Sunday 10th January - Lisiate Hausia and Rolfe Patalbo

Saturday 16th January - Serah Staju, King Melecio and David Kilgour

Sunday 17th January - Ivy-Belle Mestrom

Saturday 23rd January - Clarence & Rheanna Coscos and Luse Asi

Sunday 24th January - Indeg Jones-Hogan, Alexie Phillips and Lilly Kelcher

Christmas Vigil and Mass - to be advised

Saturday 30th January - Paddy Spillane and Isaiah Castro

Sunday 31st January - Lisiate Hausia and Rolfe Patalbo

Birthday Greetings for December and January

December - Roger Luo, Ellie Clark, Sami Asi, Lachlan Criddle, Xanthe Clarke, Lucas Kofoed, Jasvee Kumar, Georgia Moore, Henry Hall and Chelsea Koay.

January - Jimmy Zeng, Mia Ridgway, Benjamin Jonathan, Hila'atu Leo, Maria Hafoka, Blake Meek, Willow Bartlett, Ivy-Belle & Theo Mestrom, Eli Herbst, Ricky Koay and Lachlan Wilkinson.

 

Assembly

There is no assembly today and everyone is welcome to attend our last gathering on Wednesday at 11.30 am.

Buses - End of Year

• All buses will be running up to today Friday 11th December.
• The Tokarahi driver will continue driving his run until (& including) Wednesday 16^th December. This will cater for all those St Joe’s children + any OIS students who use this bus route, out as far as whoever is the student who lives the furthest away on that route. This will also cater for any students that live in the Weston area that would normally catch the Airedale or Clifton Falls buses: dropping the students off at either Weston or at any point along the Weston-Ngapara Rd out of Weston township.
• The Maheno Bus will continue driving for those same 3 days  catering for OIS and St Joe’s students that are normally on that bus + it will be able to deliver the children that would normally travel on the Hampden or Herbert buses out as far as Maheno township.  This then will allow parents the option of only having to come that far towards Oamaru to meet up with their children, either in the morning or afternoon.
• The Maheno bus departs from outside the Bowling Club in the morning at 7.30 am for those 3 mornings and should get back to that location at approx 4.15 pm every afternoon.
• These directions represent the areas with the bulk of OIS and St Joe’s students that catch the country buses.  All others would be required to make their way to and from school via private means for those last 2-3 days of the school year.
• RE 2021: As the first high schools back next year (WGHS & SKC) return on the 1^st February 2021, the buses will start running again that day, even though WBHS does not return for another 2 days.

Bus Vests

Please return all the bus / bike vests to the office on Monday and they will be reallocated next year if you require them.

Christmas and Holiday Mass Times

Basilica - Thursday 24th December - Vigil at 8.00 am

               - Friday 25th December - Mass at 9.30 am

Kurow - Thursday 24th December - Vigil at 6.00 pm (carols from 5.40 pm

               Sundays - January 3rd, 17th at 12 noon

Hampden - Christmas - no Mass

                   Sundays - no Mass

Contact Details

If you are moving addresses in the holidays or your contact details change including emergency contacts, please email office at office@stjoseph.school.nz

Cricket

Our cricket boys play their last game of cricket today and wish them all the best.  Thanks to Carl Herbst and Justin Fowler for coaching/managing this team.

EOTC Photos

Here are some photos of the EOTC experience from last week. 

Farewell the following Families

We farewell the following families who leave St Joseph's for high school.  We thank them for their contributions to our school and wish them all the best. 

- Cunningham, Fowler, Gulinao, Hubber, Jonathan, Ma, Patterson, Rollan, Seddon, Spillane, Strong, Tuffley, Wilkinson and Williams-McDowell.

We would like to thank in particular the Fowler family who have coached/managed various sports teams over the last 10 years including cricket, basketball/miniball, netball, rugby and touch. We thank you for generous time in coaching our teams.

Home and School

Hungry Horse Cafe

These are the February and March dates for the horse race meets and it would be appreciated if you could help out with one of these dates: Please let Rebecca Heffernan know if you can help out.

February - Wednesday 10th, Sunday 28th

March - Tuesday 2nd, Wednesday 10th, Sunday 28th

Disco

The Yr 1-6 disco is on tonight from 6.00 to 7.15 pm in our school hall.  The theme is Christmas and costs $2.00 per child.  Please bring the correct change as there will only be a small float. All children are to be collected at 7.15 pm thanks.

Lost Property

All the classes have looked at the lost property to see if anything belongs to them and taken what was theirs. However there is a huge amount of lost property on hooks in the foyer including brand new polar fleeces and shirts and even a kilt.  Please come and claim anything that you want because it will be disposed of early next week. This includes shoes and rugby boots.

Mufti Day

We are having a Christmas themed mufti day next Tuesday and there is no donation required.

Photos

Please refer to another page on the blog for slideshow photos for the EOTC, Intermediate Camp and Multicultural Day.

Road Patrol

On Monday our road patrollers were rewarded with an end of year treat along with children from other schools.  They visited the police station, had a swim and had subway for lunch.  Thanks to our parent helpers who supervised the children.

School Photos

We are hoping the photos will be delivered to school early next week before we finish and will inform you when they arrive.

School Stationery

All class stationery lists will be handed out next week with your reports and will be on the website for 2021.  If you purchase your child's stationery from OfficeMax online at: myschool.co.nz you will be able to purchase at their very low Back to School discount prices which are available until the end of February.

Alternatively you can purchase packs online from www.paperplus.co.nz/back-to-school or in store at Paper Plus.  If you already have certain parts of the stationery list, contact Paper Plus Oamaru who will organise a custom pack for you.

Both companies enable parents to purchase their children's stationery at lower prices and both companies will make a donation to St Joseph's.

Selling your House

LJ Hooker will give a donation to the school if they sell your house and you mention St Joseph's.

Sport Coaches and Managers

Thank you, thank you, thank you, words cannot describe how much you are appreciated for giving up your time in coaching and managing our sports teams. You are all superb and magnificent people who ensure that our children are able to play a sport. If you have managed a team and your name is not mentioned, please accept our apologies and we thank you very much for your time.

Basketball - Cranos Chikowore, Lucy Hitchcock (SKC) and Rachel Fowler

Cricket -  Carl Herbst and Justin Fowler

Miniball - Judith Leo

Netball - Kelly Strachan, Mekeisha Hurley (SKC), Megan Phillips, Sara Jones-Hogan and Catarena Campbell

Rugby - Lee Woodhouse, Scott Bremner, Jacob Klemick (SKC), Andy Bradley, Rebecca Meek and David Taukolo

Touch - Lee Woodhouse, Suzanne Aston, Justin & Rachel Fowler, Adele Whiston, Victoria Forrest, Toby & Sam Grocott (SKC), Rebecca Meek and Jody Robinson

Swimming Dates

We have not received the senior swimming dates for term 1 next year as we are waiting confirmation from the Waitaki Aquatic Centre.  There will be 6 swimming lessons overall with the first lesson in week 1. Dates and times will be sent out with the Back to School letter.

Parent Helpers - we will be asking for parent helpers/caregivers to help walk the children down to the pool with their lessons.

The juniors will have their 6 swimming lessons at the end of term 3.

Technology Dates for 2021

These classes will be held on Friday's at St Kevin's College and will start on Friday 12th March.

Teeth

Cooper & Hunt Dentists and our local Dental Therapist (Judith Leo) have kindly donated toothbrushes and guides for all children in years 1-6 and would like to remind children about brushing their teethl.

A friend reminder to ensure your children brush their teeth twice a day over the festive season.  Please take the time to help them with their brushing and make sure all the plaque has been removed.  Children of all ages benefit from gently flossing at least once a day but they will need your help to do this.

Avoid sticky foods such as dried fruits, lollies, muesli bars and remember that snacking often cause tooth decay.  Teeth need time to heal between meals.  

Enjoy the holidays and have a very Merry Christmas. 

Touch Rugby

Tuesday was the last touch rugby game and we had two teams playing for placings.  The Yr 4/5/6 girls Fern team and the Yr 4/5/6 Rockets team.  Congratulations to the girls who got 2nd in a tightly and hard fought game.  Their score was 3-4.  The boys also had a tough game playing for 3rd and 4th and lost 2-5. 

Can coaches please return all touch bags to the office on Monday.  A notice regarding new touch teams will come out in late January.

Uniform Shop

Adele will kindly open the uniform shop on Friday 29th January from 10.00 am to 2.00 pm and again on Monday 1st February from 8.15 to 9.15 am.

The uniform shop will love donations of any school and PE uniforms that are not required anymore.  Please drop them off to the office.

Community Notices

• Active Kids Waitaki Holiday Programme - please see attached flyer for further information.
• Waitaki District Library Summer Reading Programme - please see attached flyer for further information.
• Youthtown Summer Holiday Programme - please see attached flyer for further information

4. Diary Dates - Week 9, Term 4 2020

 

DECEMBER Friday 11 Monday 14 Tuesday 15 Wednesday 16 FEBRUARY Monday 1 Monday 8 Wednesday 10 Sunday 14

Junior Disco from 6.00 to 7.30 pm * School assembly at 2.30 pm * Yr 7 & 8 Formal  Junior Nativity & Senior Prize-giving at 6.00 pm  Yr 8 speeches  Yr 8 leaders for 2021 announced  School finishes at 12.30 pm for term 4  School starts for term 1  Waitangi Day holiday observed * Hungry Horse Cafe * Beginning of Year Mass and bbq *

1. Principal's News Term 4 Week 8 2020

Camps and EOTC

Our Year 7 & 8s are away at camp this week at Wainui Park near Akaroa.  We look forward to hearing stories and seeing more photographs when they get back.

Our year 6s are having their Education Outside the Classroom locally.  Yesterday they went bush-walking in Herbert Forest and kayaking and sailing at McKerrow's Pond.  Today they are visiting Vanished World in Duntroon and rock climbing at Elephant Rocks.  I look forward to joining them tomorrow to cycle some of the Alps to Ocean trail and they will finish the day tomorrow with archery led by St Kevin's staff.

In the meantime the year 4s and 5s are working with Mrs Winders and Mrs Dooley and engaging in movie making and technology challenges.  We have a new "green screen" in our STEAM room and it will be great to see the children beginning to experiment with movie-making effects.

Our juniors are hard at work with their learning and preparing for their end of year Nativity presentation for Tuesday 15th December.

Reports

We are just finalising reports.  We are reporting in terms of curriculum levels for the core curriculum.  The New Zealand curriculum uses a sliding scale which is true to children's developmental levels and the way people actually learn.

We use the terms B= Basic, P= Proficient and A=Advanced.  B means just beginning a level and being exposed to some of the learning in it.  P means working at the level and A means working at the end of the level and already engaging with learning at the next level.

So if your child is working at 2P you can see from the diagram above that this would be a clear expectation for year 4 but children in year 4 and year 5 can be also working at this level and that is fine.  We keep a close watch on children and provide extra support for anyone who is not reaching curriculum expectations or who looks like there is a barrier or gap in their learning which is stopping them progressing.

A child who is working at 2P could stay there for a year or so and then suddenly shoot away in to Level 3.  The speed of learning can change and so this sliding scale gives you a good idea of where your child sits.

Your child will also be reflecting on their learning in terms of the learning capabilities - Making Meaning, Perspective-taking, Critical thinking and Taking Action.  For the seniors this will be on their written reports.  For the juniors they have been doing this on an ongoing basis through Seesaw.

I would be very interested to know what parents think of Seesaw as a tool to share learning - feedback positive or negative is more than welcome - please email your thoughts to principal@stjoseph.school.nz

Reports will be going out with stationery lists next Friday.

We look forward to seeing all families at our end of year celebration in St Patrick's Basilica on Tuesday 15 December at 6.00pm (children line up at school in uniform at 5.45pm).

Aroha and God Bless

Lorraine Frances-Rees

2. Special Character Week 8 Term 4 2020

 Welcome/Kia Ora/Malo e Lelei

Special Character Focus

The Second Week of Advent

Preparing our Hearts and asking for the Grace

“Lord, w place our trust in your promise. Please, Lord, rouse your power and come into this place in our life, this relationship, into this deep self-defeating pattern. Please come here and save us.”

School and Family Mass- 

Thursday Liturgy

Presenting the Liturgy and Gospel is a service opportunity and Ministry for our children in spreading God’s word. Our children are proud of themselves every week either through singing, videoing and acting the gospel. It is a privilege for our children to serve and present the word of God. You are welcome to join us for Liturgy at 9:15 am on Thursday in the Basilica. 

Thank you to Year 4/5 Mrs. Winder's class for the presentation of the gospel at the Liturgy last Thursday. Today Liturgy and Gospel presentation lead by Year 3/4 Miss Sollano's class.

Next Week Thursday Liturggy will be Pukeko Year 1/2 Mrs Brooke's class. 

Faith Facts- 30th Nov- 4th Dec 1st Weeks of Advent

Pope Francis prayer intention ‐ For a life of prayer

We pray that our personal relationship with Jesus Christ may be nourished by the Word of God and a life of prayer.

30th St Andrew, apostle
3rd St Francis Xavier

The Prophets' Candle, symbolizing hope.

First week of Advent

Advent is the period preceding the Christmas season. It begins on the Sunday nearest November 30, the feast day of St. Andrew the Apostle, and covers four Sundays. Because the day it begins changes from year to year, so does the length of each Advent season. Advent begins on November 29. The word advent, from Latin, means “the coming.” For centuries, Advent has been a time of spiritual reflection as well as cheer and anticipation. 

Come, Lord Jesus.  Come and visit your people. 

We await your coming.  Come, O Lord.

Thank you/Malo 'Aupito

God Bless

Tua Misiloi Co DRS