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.

4. Buddy Reading with Yr 3 and Yr 6

Each week the Yr 6 students buddy up with the Yr 3 children and read to them.  Here are a few comments from the children.

“What I liked about buddy reading was how the kids listened extremely well to me and had a positive attitudes about it. I t was nice that the younger kids offered to read the book to me and wanted me to listen to them.” Zyanya Pe

“I have enjoyed buddy reading with the year 3 class because they are very kind to all of us and look up to us. I like watching them read as they are so positive and never give up. I especially think buddy reading with the year 3 class because they are a lovely bunch of kids”. Morgan Baillie

“I enjoy buddy reading because I like helping with the little ones when they get stuck with a word. I like being an example for them when they are older. My favourite part is hanging out with them.” Tabwa Teweiti

“I have enjoyed getting to read with the little kids because they are very good readers. I have liked getting to know the kids and especially got to help Hannah with the words that she couldn’t read or helping her when she got stuck. We are mostly reading Geronimo Stilton books because they are her favourite type of books.” Grace Keno

“It was really nice getting to see the younger kids improve in their reading. It was also very nice to be a part of their reading growth. I have loved meeting the year 2’s and 3’s and I liked getting to know them.” Samuel Plieger 

“Buddy reading is really fun, I mostly read with Eva and Hannah in year 3. We mainly read Geronimo Stilton books. They are really good at reading and can read at least 97% of the words on the page. I love it when I can help them with a word they don’t know and the next time it comes up they know what to say. I like it when that happens because you can feel proud of being in a teaching roll and actually teaching.” Hannah Miller 

“The buddy I read with are respectful and have a great sense of humour. I have seen that their reading has improved and I really like to help younger kids as it is something I think I do well”. Levi Crowder

 

5. Diary Dates - Week 8, Term 4 2016

DECEMBER

Thursday 1                -  Technology for Yr 7 & 8 at St Kevin’s

                                      -  Yr 6 Activities Week

                                      -  School Mass at 9.15 am

Friday 2                      -  Technology for Yr 7 & 8 at St Kevin’s

                                      -  Yr 6 Activities Week

                                      -  Yr 1-6 disco - Xmas theme from 6.00 to 7.30 pm

Saturday 3                 -  Santa Parade, parish float

Tuesday 6                  -  BOT Meeting

                                      -  Cultural Day at school all day

                                      -  Library Book stock take

Wednesday 7             -  Road Patrol Reward

Thursday 8                -  School Mass at 9.15 am

                                      -  Junior School Nativity at School Mass at 9.15 am

                                      -  Transition to 2017 afternoon from 2.00 to 3.00 pm

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

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

Thursday 15              -  End of Year Mass at 6.00 pm

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 *