Thursday 11 February 2016

1. Principal News Week 2 Term 1 2016

The whole school received the ashes yesterday for Ash Wednesday. This is the day that marks the start of Lent. Fr Wayne spoke about reflecting on our thoughts and actions during Lent. Rather than give up chocolates for example, think about fasting from negativity and feasting on positivity. This is a great message for all of us to take forward into the new year. Let's focus on the positives with our children and each other and encourage those you come into contact with to do the same.

Speaking of positives, Mr Cartlidge and our Year 8's helped some parishioners with a delivery of firewood on their way back to school from swimming yesterday. Mrs Moffat was very grateful and delivered a special morning tea to say thank you for them all today. Let's follow the example set by our senior student leaders and go the extra mile to help those in need.

Our staff received Catholic Ketes to remind them about the meaning of Lent. You can learn more about Ash Wednesday and Lent by going to this link. You can read more about our Catholic happenings by scrolling to the next page prepared by Mrs Dooley.
Commissioning Mass Wednesday 17th February St Kevin's Chapel
All of our St Joseph's children will be travelling by bus to St Kevin's on Wednesday to celebrate a special mass with Bishop Colin. The bishop will bless all of the teachers as they start a new year teaching in our Catholic schools.

Meet the Teachers at the Family Learning Hui this Wednesday 17th February
You are all invited to join us from 6.00 pm -7.00 pm to meet our staff and learn how to support your children at school for 2016. The new internet filtering system called Linewize has been installed to ensure devices usage is safely monitored. We will explain how this works and offer suggestions for internet safety at home. We will also be launching the Parent Portal and hear from the Home and School.You can eat beforehand or bring your tea.

5 Simple ways parents can support teachers

Keeping in mind our 2016 positive attitude, you might be interested in reading this extract from the latest principal post. You can read the whole post here. It is called: To Hub or not to Hub; Engaging parents and empowering learners.
As parents and first educators for children, teachers need parent's support.
1.Take time to explore the Teaching and Learning site with your children. Our teachers have willingly shared their planning.
2. Be purposeful and positive about actioning the ways you can support your children and ask your child or their teacher if you can't understand anything.
3. Help your children to get to school well before 9 o'clock so they can settle and prepare for the day ahead.
4. Smile and show you appreciate the efforts your child's teachers make. Children can sense negativity and thrive in a positive, loving environment. Our teachers are all passionate about teaching and we want them to share their love for learning with your children.
5. Make time to have a chat with your child's teacher if you have any worries. It's better to arrange a dedicated time when the teacher is free. We like our teachers to be in hubs, mingling with the children, relationship building between 8:30-9:00 am.

Board of Trustees

The first meeting for the year takes place on Tuesday 16th February at 7.00 pm. You can keep up to date with board news on our dedicated blog at this link. There will be board elections in May this year. We will mention this at the Family Learning Hui and the goal setting evenings in week 5.

St Joseph's Large Print Telephone Book

We have been inundated with requests for the 2016 community directory. It is due to come out in March. We are calling for school families who have businesses to support this fundraiser with your advertising. We have a deadline of Wednesday 24th February for all advertisers. If you want to find out more then please contact Paula in our school office by emailing pbrien@stjoseph.school.nz

Home and School Food Fair

Please help to support this school fundraiser. Last year, the Food Fair was a fantastic family day with games and activities for the children and a variety of foods from around the world.
Thanks for your continued support as we all work together positively to Reach for the Stars as Lifelong Learners in the Catholic Faith in 2016.

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