1. Principal's News, Week 10 Term 4 2016

End of Year Prizegiving and Mass

www.en.wikipeda licensed for reuse

We are celebrating the formal wrap-up of our school year this evening with mass, a leaving ceremony for the year 8s and prize-giving at 6.00 pm in the Basilica.  All children in year 4+ are expected to attend in their summer uniform and should line up with their classes at the west end of the school playground at 5.45 pm. Junior children are most welcome to attend but we understand they are very tired and if they are not attending with older siblings, you could choose to keep them at home.  

Final Assembly
Our final assembly is on Friday at 12.00 pm where the year 8 leaders for 2017 will be announced. We will farewell our teachers Paul Cartlidge, Stephanie Mann-O'Malley and Jan Plieger, Tina Souness our Sports Coordinator and Ann Dooley who is stepping down from full time teaching to part time and finish with carols together as we end our school year for 2016.  Assembly will finish at 12.30 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend.

2017
I will write to you towards the end of the holidays to give you information about 2017.  School starts on Tuesday 31st January at 9.00 am.  

Have a safe and happy holiday with your families and enjoy the peace and love of Christmas.

God bless,
Lorraine Frances-Rees
Principal

2. Special Character - Term 4 Week 10

Last week of a very busy year for everyone. Tonight at our Thanksgiving Mass we will farewell our Year 8 students. They have been a wonderful class throughout their years at St. Joseph's and have been very welcoming to others who have joined them in later years. They are a credit to us all. It will be a lovely Mass tonight and it is expected that you will all be there to support and farewell them and to show them that we are all part of God's family on our 'Journey of Faith'. 

This will be my last posting as DRS as Mrs Nicola Winders will be taking over the role next year. I will still be here to support Nicola in this very important role in our Catholic School. 

ALL THE VERY BEST FOR A SAFE, HAPPY AND HOLY CHRISTMAS 

WITH YOUR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS.

Take Care and God Bless
Ann Dooley/DRS

3. School Notices - Week 10, Term 4 2016

QUOTE FOR THE WEEK

Altar Servers
Saturday 17th December - Joseph & Sebastian Spillane, Bronson Bartlett and Joshua Criddle
Sunday 18th December - Jonathan Jorgensen, Molly-May Mestrom and Arthur Cartlidge

Saturday 24th December (Christmas Vigil) - Elizabeth & Samuel Plieger and Seth Sinclair
Sunday 25th December (Christmas Day) - Michael Misiloi and Jonathan Jorgensen

Saturday 31st December - Indya & Mackenzie Cunningham, Elizabeth & Samuel Plieger
Sunday 1st January - Rhea Ratgali, Morgan Baillie, Arthur Cartlidge and Molly-May Mestrom

Saturday 7th January - Seth Sinclair, Molly Whittaker, Elizabeth & Samuel Plieger
Sunday 8th January - Seth Bartley, Henry Robinson and Michael Misiloi

Saturday 14th January - Elenoa & Halalova Asi, Max Fatafehi and Seth Sinclair
Sunday 15th January - Molly-May Mestrom, Hana & Zara Davies and Arthur Cartlidge

Saturday 21st January - Indya & Mackenzie Cunningham and Bronson Bartlett
Sunday 22nd January - Jonathan Jorgensen, Cameron Mather and Seth Bartley

Saturday 28th January - Joseph & Sebastian Spillane, Elizabeth & Samuel Plieger
Sunday 29th January - Michael Misiloi, Hana & Zara Davies

Birthday Greetings to:
Lachlan Criddle, Jack Cameron, Ben Taufa, Georgia Moore, Grace Keno, Mia Cant, Daniel Jorgensen, Chelsea Koay, Sunny Tian, Heath Cartlidge, Aaliyah Meikle, Iri Kelly-Heke, Blake Meek, Willow Bartlett, Olly Wickham, Ivy-Belle Mestrom, Lily Wickham, Rajbir Singh, Holly Cartlidge and Eva Harrex.

Before School Care
Will resume again on Tuesday 31st January in the library upstairs which was the old Yr 6 classroom.  Love to see you there.


Congratulations
To Rhea Ratgali who received the Veritas Award for 2016. This is a very prestigious cup which acknowledges a high achiever each term.  This individual constantly displays all four of the school values and continues to Reach for the Stars in all learning areas. Ka Pai Rhea, St Joseph's is proud of you.

Cricket Draw - Saturday 17th December
4th Grade A - St Joseph's v Kurow at SKC 1
4th Grade B - St Joseph's v Eastern at SKC Artificial 1

Diary Dates
As there were no new dates to put in the calendar at this stage, we have not included it in this blog.

Farewell
Tomorrow we farewell the following Yr 8 families who will leave St Joseph's.  We thank them for their contribution to our school and wish them all the best especially the Hanning family who have had a 20 year relationship with the school.
- Black, Bolitho, Brookes, Caponpon, Cooper, Edzes, Hanning, Hogg, Jenkinson, Macaulay, Mather, Misiloi, Neri, Ramu, Ratgali, Serrano, Sinclair and Stewart-Cooper families

Lost Property
Please come and look through the lost property situated in the hall for your child's clothing as it will not be there next year.

Mass Times for St Patrick's Parish, Oamaru and Areas
Children Christmas Pageant (Christmas Eve)
Can the children come dressed as angels and shepherds and be at the Basilica by 4.00 pm for a short practice.
St Patrick's Basilica - Christmas Vigil - Saturday 24th December - 4.30 pm (Children's Pageant)
                                                                                                         - 5.00 pm (carols from 4.30 pm)
                                   - Christmas Mass - Sunday 25th December - 9.30 am (carols from 9.15 am)
                                   - Sunday Mass at 9.30 am and Saturday Vigil at 5.00 pm

Kurow - Christmas Vigil - Saturday 24th December - 7.30 pm (carols from 7.10 pm)
             - Sunday Mass on 1st and 15th January at 12.00 pm

Hampden - No Christmas Mass - please join the Basilica Christmas Services
                  - Sunday Mass on 8th and 22nd January at 11.30 am

2017 New Families
We have sent you an email with the link to our school news blog.

School Lunches
There will be no school lunches available in week 1 of term 1.

School Swimming Dates
There will be senior school swimming for years 4-8 on Friday 3rd February (first Friday back) and swimming will resume on Monday 13th February.
         
School Uniform - boys grey shirts
There will be a delay in the supply of the Schooltex Summer school grey shirt at The Warehouse and they will not be available until mid-March.  The stock delay has resulted due to supplier delay. They apologise for the delay and are offering a 20% discount off the full retail price on the delayed items for two weeks from mid-March.

Stationery Lists and School Reports
Please check your child's bag for next years stationery list and school report.  Please note in the New Entrant/Year 1 stationery list, there is a change and it should read 1A8 and not 1B8.  The stationery is available from Paper Plus and Office Max and both places you can purchase them on-line.

Uniform Shop Hours
The Uniform Shop will be open the following hours during the holidays.  If you have any queries, please contact Adele on 027 434 3338.  Remember there is no eftpos facilities.
Friday 27th January - 10.00 am to 2.00 pm
Monday 30th January - 12.00 to 2.00 pm
Tuesday 31st January - 8.15 to 9.15 am

Yr 7 & 8 Social
Last Friday the Yr 7 & 8 children celebrated their end of year social.  The theme was masquerade and the night started off at 5.30 pm for the Yr 8's who had their photos taken and were treated to a sit down meal provided by the Home and School.  The Yr 7's arrived at 6.30 pm with a plate for supper and did formal dancing till the evening finished at 9.00 pm.  Special thanks to the Home and School for all their work and to Mrs Angela Asi for teaching the students to formal dance. To view photos of the night, please click Yr 7 & 8 Social

Community Notices

• Christmas in the Park - held at Takaro Park on Saturday 18th December from 3.00 to 6.00 pm. Bring your family and a picnic, enjoy Christmas carols, pony rides, tug-o-war, bouncy castles, face painting, lolly scrambles and much more.  Live music.  If wet, held at the Oamaru Rec Centre.
• Free Christmas Classes at the Waitaki Rec Centre - held on Saturday 17th December from 8.00 am to 12.00 pm and Thursday 22nd December at 5.40 pm. For further information contact the Rec Centre.
• Join the Steel Club - Run by Netball South, kids will learn about movement and ball skills, shooting defence, attack, tactical and technical awareness, fitness plus warm ups and cool downs. Sessions start on February 24th to April 7th in term 1, May 12th to June 30th and August 4th to September 22nd.  For more details and registration forms, head to www.netballsouth.co.nz

1. Principal's News Week 9, Term 4 2016

Junior Nativity Performance
Congratulations to the junior school on a beautiful rendition of the Nativity Story in church this morning.

Baptism
Congratulations also to Kelly Sinclair and her family.  Kelly was baptised after mass this morning.

Thank you to parent helpers
A big thank you to Adele Whiston who manages our uniform shop, Leanne Tuffley who processes our Subway orders and Melissa Davison who manages the Scholastic book club.  And to all the parents and helpers who have contributed their time and energy over the year - a very big thank you.

Student Wellbeing Survey
The Board of Trustees conducts a student wellbeing survey twice a year.

Its good to see most of our children recording feeling safe at school.

The main reasons children didn't feel safe at school were:

• Fear about being hit by a ball on the playing field or falling off play equipment,
• Some relationship disagreements or frictions.
• Fear of killer clowns
• Fear of what would happen if there was an earthquake or tsunami and they were in the toilet.

The first two points go to show the big influence media has on what our children are thinking and feeling (the survey was done just after the Kaikoura earthquake).

Its heartening to know our systems of monitoring our children and their relationships are effective and there were no surprises there.  It was also good to find out about the anxiety around the toilet area.  We have been able to reassure children about our systems for checking all areas in an emergency.


Social Media Safety

(Source: Linneyville. Social media apps image via Shutterstock.)

What the children do on social media outside of school is beyond the school's jurisdiction.  However we would like to remind families of the age limits for social media.  Our school student gmail accounts automatically freeze if children try to access social media.

There is a reason for these age limits.

Once your child is engaged in social media they are part of the adult world.  Anyone who's seen or read "The Lord of the Flies" knows what can happen when children engage in an adult world before they are ready Lord of the Flies trailer.  None of us would let our 10 year old go down town and hang out in a pub or nightclub on Saturday night.  Social media is just the same, it is an adult world.  Also there are international laws protecting the privacy of children and if your children have signed up to these accounts their personal information including anything inappropriate they might do is no longer private.

Instagram actively encourages people to notify them of any underage users.

 I strongly suggest:

• that families either ensure that underage children are not engaged in social media, 
• understand that allowing the child to create an account is fraud because they have to lie about their age
• or if you have decided to let your child do this, to very closely monitor all online interaction.

God Bless,
Mrs Frances-Rees

2. Special Character - Week 9 Term 4 2016

Getting Ready For Christmas

We are focusing on the good things in our lives and how we can share our good fortunes with others. Last week we raised $33 for our Missions. The Food Bank is slowly filling up. Thank you for supporting this. Showing respect towards each other is still top of our list. We are seeing this happening in the very small things children are doing around the school. We also have 'Wombles' in our school (for those who do not know what Wombles are, they pick up rubbish) to help take care of our school environment. We all want to live in a safe, happy, comfortable, caring and respectful place. But it all starts with each one of us. We can all make a difference in someones life each and every day. And at the end of the day, it makes us feel good as well.

Yesterday, as part of our 'Getting Ready for Christmas',  children from Years 4 - 8 shared the Sacrament of Reconciliation with Father Wayne. 
Today at our weekly mass the Junior Hubs shared the 'Nativity Story' with us. A beautiful story retold by our beautiful children. A very big THANK YOU to our Junior Teachers for preparing our children for this wonderful occasion. 

Take Care and God Bless

Ann Dooley

3. School Notices - Week 9, Term 4 2016

                                  QUOTE FOR THE WEEK

Altar Servers
Saturday 10th December - Elenoa & Halalova Asi, Max Fatafehi and Molly Whittaker
Sunday 11th December - Michael Misiloi, Hana & Zara Davies

Birthday Greetings
Xanthea Moore, Christopher Jorgensen and Sam Asi

Cricket Draw - Saturday 10th December
4th Grade A - St Joseph's v Valley at Weston Park 1
4th Grade B - St Joseph's has the bye

End of Year Mass 
There will be no school Mass next Thursday as the children will be preparing for their End of Year Mass that night. Children are to be dropped off at school by 5.45 pm and assemble on the court outside the staff room. They are to come dressed in their summer school uniform (not PE uniform) and be well groomed.  Mass starts at 6.00 pm followed by the Yr 8 leavers' certificate and trophy presentations. Full attendance is expected from everyone.

House Colour Mufti Day
On Monday the children come to school dressed in their house colours and to bring a gold coin donation which will go to Caritas.  In the afternoon, the children will have a water fight amongst their hubs and are asked to bring a change of clothes, small towel and a water gun but not water balloons. This activity is organised by our Yr 8 House Captains.

Junior Nativity
Today the junior school performed their annual Nativity production at Mass this morning which was performed with aplomb as they have been practising for the last 4 weeks every day. It was great to see the church full with parents and caregivers.  Special thanks goes to Mrs Leanne Brookes who organised the nativity practices, costumes, music and to all the other parent helpers who contributed.
CLICK THE LINK TO VIEW PHOTOS

Kotuitui (Assembly)
A reminder that Kotuitui starts at the earlier time tomorrow of 2.00 pm and not 2.30 pm due to the number of certificates and presentations to be made.


Lost
Cameron Mather has lost his named 'Black Caps' hat during Cultural Day.  It is a cricket hat which is beige on one side and black on the other. Please check your child's bags.

Lost Property
There is a huge amount of lost clothing in the Lost Property area located in the sick bay.  Please come and check to see if your child's clothing is there otherwise it will be given to St Vincent de Paul or the Uniform Shop.  There is track pants, sweat shirts, jackets, socks, polar fleeces etc.  A lot of the clothing has the names of children who were at school so it is really important to rewrite your child's name on the items of clothing that you buy.

Multicultural Day
On Tuesday we held our annual Multicultural Day where the children came to school dressed in their native clothing. They started the day off in their Whanau Groups and went to different rotations and did art and craft from countries like South American, Pasifika, India, Phillipines etc. They did various food activities from the Netherlands, India and the Phillipines and learnt the Haka and Irish Dancing. Many thanks to the parents who came in and helped with the activities and performed items and to our Yr 8 students who showed their leadership skills.  Special thanks to Mrs Jan Plieger for coordinating this day. CLICK THE LINK TO VIEW PHOTOS

Reports and 2017 Stationery Lists
Next Thursday the children will receive their end of year reports and stationery lists for next year, so please check your child's bag for these items.

Santa Parade Photos
On Saturday some of our staff and students entered the Santa Parade on the Parish Float.  Thanks to all who contributed towards the day.

School Disco
Thanks to the Home and School who organised a well run Christmas themed disco for the Yr 0 to 6 children last Friday. It was great to see the children get into the spirit of the theme.


School Road Patrol
Yesterday Constable Carrie Hamilton took the Yr 8 Road Patrollers to the swimming pool as an end of year treat and to say thank you for doing a wonderful job.


Touch Rugby Results
Prize giving was held on Tuesday night after the games were cancelled.  Congratulations to our Yr 4/5/6 Dynamos team who won their section and the Yr 7/8 Pumas team who got 2nd in their section.  A big thank you to all of the coaches and parents who supported our teams this year.
New touch teams will start again in term 1.

Yr 6 Education Outside the Classroom
Last week our Yr 6 students had an activities week where they did things like Master Chef, Technology Challenge, Rock Climbing, ABL  Activities, Abseiling, Scavenger Hunt, Leap, Ross Creek and an Amazing Race.  The children have loved it and it has been an amazing week of team work, laughter and being together as a class.  They have got to know each other really well and everyone has tried something they have never done before or had got better at something they could do.  Thanks to Debbie Sinclair for your fundraising efforts and to all the parents who have helped either with transport, activities, going to the supermarket, preparing food etc.  Thank you.  To view the photos CLICK THE LINK PHOTOS  To view the video CLICK THE LINK VIDEO

Uniform Shop Hours
The Uniform Shop will be open the following hours during the holidays.  If you have any queries, please contact Adele on 027 434 3338
Friday 27th January - 10.00 am to 2.00 pm
Monday 30th January - 12.00 to 2.00 pm
Tuesday 31st January - 8.15 to 9.15 am

There are more PE tops which have arrived. If you would like to donate items of clothing to the Uniform Shop, it will be much appreciated.

Busy Bumbles Holiday Programme
Please contact Jocelyn Marsh on 027 552 2756 if you are interested in enrolling your children into the holiday programme. Click the links to view the programmes on offer.

Click the link Busy Bumbles Christmas Week Holiday Programme
 Click the link Busy Bumbles January Holiday Programme

4. Diary Dates - Week 9, Term 4 2016

DECEMBER

Friday 9                    -  Yr 7 & 8 Social

                                    -  Young Vinnies lunch and certificates

                                    -  Kotuitui – final one for the year - starting at 2.00 pm, certificates handed out

Monday 12               -  House Colour Mufti Day, bring change of clothes *

Tuesday 13              -  End of Year Liturgy for Yr 8 from 11.00 am to 12.00 pm

                                    -  Leadership interviews for Yr 7 *

Thursday 15           -  End of Year Mass at 6.00 pm, meet at 5.45 pm *

                                    -  School Reports and Stationery lists go home *

Friday 16                 -  Last assembly/carols from 12.00 to 12.30 pm

                                    -  School finishes at 12.30 pm

JANUARY 2017

Tuesday 31               -  School resumes for term 1 at 9.00 am

FEBRUARY

Friday 3                     -  Swimming for Yr 4-8 from 1.00 to 2.30 pm

Monday 6                  -  Waitangi Day Holiday Observed – school closed

Friday 10                   -  Commissioning Mass

                                    -  Technology for Yr 7 & 8

Monday 13               -  Swimming for Yr 4-8 from 1.00 to 2.30 pm

Tuesday 14              -  Swimming for Yr 4-8 from 1.00 to 2.30 pm

Thursday 16            -  Swimming for Yr 4-8 from 1.00 to 2.30 pm

Friday 17                  -  Technology for Yr 7 & 8

Tuesday 21              -  Swimming for Yr 4-8 from 1.00 to 2.30 pm

Wednesday 22        -  Swimming for Yr 4-8 from 1.00 to 2.30 pm

Thursday 23            -  Swimming for Yr 4-8 from 1.00 to 2.30 pm

Friday 24                  -  Technology for Yr 7 & 8

MARCH

Wednesday 1           -  Ash Wednesday

Friday 3                     -  Senior school swimming sports from 9.00 to 12.00

Friday 10                   -  Technology for Yr 7 & 8 

1. Principal's News - Week 8, Term 4 2016

Intermediate Information Evening and Family Learning Hui

Family Evening.

Thank you to the families who came to get information about 2017.  The responses I heard from people afterwards were very positive.  The door's always open so do keep talking to me.  We will have another Family Learning Hui early next year where you can meet the new staff and get some ideas about specific ways you and your child's teacher can work together for the good of your child.

We were blessed with a lovely evening for our family picnic, and games for the children.  Thank you to the Home and School who also provided ice blocks for all the children.

Home and School and Board Get Together
The Home and School committee and the St Joseph's Board of Trustees shared a meal together at Northstar on Tuesday.  It was a great opportunity to get a better understanding of everyone's roles and how we can support each other.  Every parent is part of the Home and School and we strongly encourage all families to step forward and be part of this.  The hard-working parents on the Home and School committee fundraise to raise the money that contributes towards all of the children's education.  At the moment this is falling to a group of 5 or 6 parents.

The Home and School contribute a significant sum of money each year to the Board of Trustee's budget.  The Ministry funds us but all schools find it is never enough.  Some of the money the Home and School contributes goes towards leadership badges, bibles for the new entrants, engraving of trophies, Year 7 & 8 social and extra curriculum resources such as text books.  This year the Home and School has upgraded the hall kitchen and we now have a lovely, modern, functional kitchen for all of the school and community to use.  Many thanks to the Home and School parents who continue to do this work for the school and we hope in 2017 many more families will step forward to help.

Staff Graduations
Congratulations to Stephanie Mann-O'Malley and Megan Day who have completed their provisional teacher registration and are now fully registered teachers.  I am proud to have these two wonderful young teachers enter our profession and I know many children in the future will benefit from their enthusiasm, commitment and talent.

Multicultural Day
Our annual multicultural day is next Tuesday 6 December.  We encourage all children to come wearing dress from around the world.  If you have an outfit which comes from your own culture we would love for your children to wear it.  There are workshops presented in the morning where the children have the chance to participate in fun activities represented by the diversity of families in our school.  Please bring a plate of food for a shared lunch at 12 o'clock  in the hall.  It would be great if the food can represent your culture.  Lunch will be followed by cultural performances in the hall.  Please join us for any or all of the day.  A huge thank you to Mrs Plieger and our cultural leaders Keane Pe and Vannisah Ramu for all the preparation that's going into this day.

Reconciliation Mass
Congratulations to our children who received their first Sacrament of Reconciliation after Mass last Sunday.  There was a great turn out to support them.  We were hoping they would understand that this is something you continue frequently throughout your life so it was really good that adults were also queuing for Reconciliation and the queues were so long.  That was a really good way for the school and parish to support our children and help them understand the importance of this Sacrament.

Advent

It is now the season of Advent.  In our busy lives its really easy to let the seasons drift by and just not have time to do anything about it.  Dynamic Catholic is an American organisation aimed at young Catholics.  If you wish to subscribe for the season of Advent you will get a daily message to your email inbox to give you a reflective focus.
info@dynamiccatholic.com

Reports

Over several years we sought feedback from the parent community about our end of year reports and we have adapted and improved our reports.  We believe our reports reflect what we care about - they show the core curriculum (RE, Reading, Writing, Maths) and the broader curriculum with indications of how your child is showing our values, the key competencies, their inquiry skills and attainment in Health and Physical Education as well as the Arts curricula.  Last year we changed our Student Management System and our new system has a set of generic end of year reports.  We can adapt them to some degree to meet our needs, but not enough.  So I apologise to those families who have given feedback over the years and helped us to develop our St Joseph's report as it stood.  Next year we will have to pay to have a report format created that suits our school needs. - it takes weeks to do and so won't be ready for this year.  For this year, the staff have worked extremely hard to get their assessments and reporting organised and they are doing a fantastic job.   Next year's reports will cover our broad curriculum and values.

God Bless,

Lorraine Frances-Rees

2. Special Character - Week 8 Term 4 2016

With so much happening around us today we need to stop and think how fortunate we are to live in 'Little Old Oamaru'. At school prayers on Monday I showed the children a Youtube Life Vest video clip. The theme was 'Kindness Keeps The World Afloat'. I have made a link here for you to have a look at as well.  Kindness Boomerang. (You might need a tissue).

As Christmas is the Season of Giving, I asked the children to do three things in preparation for Christmas. God gave us the biggest gift of all, His Son Jesus. 

1) For the greater community: To give generously to our Missions.

2) For our local community: To donate something to the Food Bank. A box is outside the office.

3) For ourselves: To continue to show respect towards each other. This is why I showed the Kindness video to the children. It is the LITTLE things we do that make a BIG difference in other peoples lives.

The Junior School are busy preparing for their Christmas Nativity Presentation at our weekly Mass on Thursday 8th December at 9.15 am. All family, friends and parishioners are warmly welcomed. 

Take Care and God Bless

Ann Dooley/Director of Religious Studies

3. School Notices - Week 8, Term 4 2016

QUOTE FOR THE WEEK

"A child who is allowed to be disrespectful to his parents will not have true respect for anyone"

Altar Servers
Saturday 3rd December - Joseph & Sebastian Spillane, Elizabeth & Samuel Plieger
Sunday 4th December - Cameron Mather, Sebastian Whiston, Morgan Baillie, Arthur Cartlidge and Molly-May Mestrom

Birthday Greetings to:
Libby Seddon

Buddy Reading
Each week the Yr 6 students buddy up with Yr 3 children and read to them. You can find their comments and photos further down the blog.

Boxes Wanted
As we are moving the library to another room next year, we are looking for boxes that can be used to transport them.  If you have any spare sturdy unwanted boxes at your place, please drop them in at the office.  Many thanks.

Buses
There will be no town or country buses operating at all on Friday 16th December (last day of school).

Cricket Draw - Saturday 3rd December
4th Grade A - St Joseph's v Albion at Centennial Park Outer Oval
4th Grade B - St Joseph's v Eastern at SKC Artificial 1

Disco - Tomorrow Night for Yr 0 to 6
The Home and School are holding a disco for our students only from 6.00 to 7.30 pm in the school hall.  The theme is Christmas and costs $3.00 per person which gives you entry, glow stick, drink and chips.

Kotuitui - Friday 9th December
This will be the last assembly for the year and it will start at 2.00 pm instead of 2.30 pm.  All certificates will be handed out at this assembly including North Otago, Young Vinnies, Chinese etc.

Santa Parade
Celebrate the 2016 Santa Parade by being part of the St Patrick's Parish Float this Saturday.  Meet at 9.00 am at St Joseph's hall/carpark.  Come dressed as shepherds, angels, wise men or inn keepers.  Drop off and pick up from St Joseph's.  Contact Mrs Brookes, or the parish or school offices to confirm your interest.

St Kevin's Uniform Shop
Their uniform shop is open every Thursday from 12.30 to 1.45 pm and will be open these extra hours during the January holidays.  They stock the boys Yr 7 & 8 blue shirts and the Yr 7 & 8 girls kilts. Eftpos is available.
Wednesday 25th January - 2.00 to 6.00 pm
Friday 27th January - 2.00 to 4.00 pm
Sunday 29th January - 2.00 to 4.00 pm

Yr 6 Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC)
They have had a great week doing activities like Master Chef, Rock wall climbing, abseiling and they are in Dunedin today experiencing Leap, Dinosaur Park and a walk at Ross Creek. We will have photos of their week in next weeks blog.

Busy Bumbles Holiday Programme
Please contact Jocelyn Marsh on 027 552 2756 if you are interested in enrolling your children into the holiday programme. Click the links to view the programmes on offer. Busy Bumbles Christmas Week Holiday Programme
 Busy Bumbles January Holiday Programme

Community Notices

• Looking for Childcare in the Summer Holidays? - OSCAR@Fenwick has an exciting programme of crafts, games, outdoor activities and trips.  Phone Jenny on 021 156 5871 for more information.
• Basketball Otago Holiday Programmes - Diggers Two Day Camp (years 1-8) is the 26 & 27^th (Thursday & Friday) of January from 9am-Noon.  Cost is $50 per kid, or $40 if registering more than 1 child per family.  Click the link for further information.Diggers Two Day Camp Basketball Otago.    Academy Camp (Years 8ish and up) is on the 26 & 27 of January from Noon-2pm. Click the link for further information. Academy Camp Basketball Otago
• Basketball Otago Rep Trials - for U13 Rep trials will be held in mid May and U15 Rep trials will be held in February.  See the Basketball Otago website for further information.
• Summer Reading Programme at Waitaki Libraries - Read a book from the Waitaki Library and fill in a card and return it to go into a prize draw.  Find penguins around the library and win a spot prize.  A flyer is attached to the email.