Thursday 13 December 2018

1. Principal's News Week 9 Term 4, 2018

Preparing for our End of Year Celebration
We hope all families will join us tonight for our end of year celebration.  The following slideshow shows this morning's practice

Final Assembly
We will farewell our year 8s in our final assembly at 12.00 noon tomorrow.  Our Head Boy and Girl will give their head student speeches.  The year 8's will receive their leavers' certificates and the year 7's will receive their leadership roles for 2019.  We will finish with carols and the children will be ready to leave for the year by 12.45 pm.

Farewell Mrs Jill McCartie
We sadly farewell Mrs Jill McCartie who is retiring after 15 year's service at St Joseph's.   Jill has organised our library and helped many, many children with their learning in the time she has been at St Joseph's.  We wish her the all the best for her retirement.

Welcome Rowan Stringer
We welcome Rowan Stringer as a new teacher aide.  Rowan has qualifications and experience in teaching English Language Learners and she will also take over Mrs McCartie's duties in the library.

Teaching Staff for 2019
We are lucky this year that our teaching staff are remaining constant moving into 2019.  Mrs Tua Misiloi and Mrs Danique McRae have both been accepted onto Reading Recovery training which will take them out of the classroom for a couple of hours each day to do individual teaching.  This is a wonderful opportunity for both of them which will raise their teaching expertise even higher.  Mrs Ann Dooley will be jointly responsible with them for their classes - we are delighted that Ann is going to do this as she knows the children and our systems so well.  Mr Ross will release Mrs Winders and Mrs Brookes for their leadership work and is spending a day a week in their classes and we will be looking forward to seeing more of Mr Ross next year.

A Big Thank You
A big thank you to our supportive parents and community.  All of you who have helped with sports coaching, transport and as parent helps in many different ways throughout the year.    Thank you especially to Rebecca Heffernan and the Home and School for your continued support and commitment raising funds and providing social occasions for St Joseph's School.  I can't thank our Board of Trustees enough.  You go out of your way to ensure things are safe and fair and your dedication and commitment to our school governance is outstanding.  Finally thank you to our staff who are the most amazingly talented and committed group of people I have ever had the pleasure of working with and to Fr Wayne who is our rock and inspiration.

Reading Over the Holidays
Please continue supporting your children to read over the holidays.  Fluent reading opens the door to all learning.  We have noticed that many of our children do not read as much as they used to.  Please help them by providing books over the holidays and reading to them, giving them time to read and enjoy letting them read to you.  Our local public librarians would be more than happy to help you with book choices.  This is a gift that keeps giving.

We have a large number of books missing from our library though.  If you have these books or any others please return them to school, no questions asked:

100 Facts on horses and ponies by C De La Bedayere
The 65-storey Treehouse by A Griffiths
The Action Bible by S Cariello
What would she do? by K Woodward
Grandpa's Great Escape by D. Walliams
Ranger, the Kaimanawa Stallion by K Wilson.

I wish all families a safe, holy and happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year full of family fun and memories.




We look forward to seeing you back at school on Monday 4th February.  You will be hearing from me again before the school year starts.

God Bless and Aroha
Lorraine Frances-Rees

2. Special Character Week 9 Term 4

Second week of Advent: Peace

The Jessie Tree

A popular tradition during the Advent Season is the Jesse Tree. This tree, named for the father of David, is one that is decorated throughout the Advent Season with symbols of biblical people that are historically associated with or came before, the birth of Jesus Christ. This can include people such as Abraham, Noah, and Moses, as well as Mary and Joseph. By decorating this tree, children can be reminded of historical biblical figures and can also be taught about the preparatory nature of the Advent Season.



Image result for love joy peace
Lord God,
We put ourselves into Your hands and pray that You will bless us and our families during the wonderful months of summer. May we all help make our home a place of relaxation, joy, love, peace and safety. May we be generous and considerate, not thinking only about ourselves, but helping others enjoy the blessings of summertime. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen
Happy Holidays and Blessed and joy filled Christmas season.


God Bless 
Nicola Winders
CoDRS

3. School Notices - Week 9, Term 4 2018

CHRISTMAS QUOTE



Saturday 15th December - Elenoa & Halalova Asi, Indya Cunningham and Mariah Cunningham
Sunday 16th December - Ivy-Belle & Molly-May Mestrom
Saturday 22nd December - Joseph, Paddy & Seb Spillane and Samuel Plieger
Sunday 23rd December - Andrew Sinclair, Hana Davies and Alexie Phillips
Christmas Eve - Monday Vigil at 8.00 pm - Samuel Plieger, Henry Robinson, Annalise Kilgour, Hana Davies and Nye Jones-Hogan
Christmas Day - Monday at 9.30 am - Sam Asi, Max Fatafehi and Alexie Phillips
Saturday 29th December - Joshua & Lachie Criddle, Indya Cunningham and Mariah Cunningham
Sunday 30th December - Annalise Kilgour, Serah Staju, Jonathan & Daniel Jorgensen
Saturday 5th January - Samuel Plieger, Max Fatafehi, Sam Asi and Andrew Sinclair
Sunday 6th January - Ivy-Belle & Molly-May Mestrom, Serah Staju and Alexie Phillips
Saturday 12th January - Indya Cunningham, Mariah Cunningham, Joshua & Lachie Criddle
Sunday 13th January - Annalise Kilgour, Alexie Phillips, Hana Davies and Morgan Baillie
Saturday 19th January - Joseph, Paddy & Seb Spillane and Samuel Plieger
Sunday 20th January - Ivy-Belle & Molly-May Mestrom and Andrew Sinclair
Saturday 26th January - Halalova & Elenoa Asi, Maddison & Cooper Jones and Nye Jones-Hogan
Sunday 27th January - Serah Staju, Hana Davies, Daniel Jorgensen and Morgan Baillie
Saturday 2nd February - Lachie Criddle, Sam Asi, Annalise Kilgour and Mariah Cunningham
Sunday 3rd February - Alexie Phillips and Henry Robinson

Birthday Greetings for the next two months
Mia Cant, Sam Asi, Daniel Jorgensen, Lachlan Criddle, Xanthe Clarke, Georgia Moore, Chelsea Koay, Lucas Kofoed, Evie Phillips, Sunny Tian, Aaliyah Meikle, Benjamin Jonathan, Willow Bartlett, Ivy-Belle Mestrom, Eli Herbst, Olly Wickham, Blake Meek, Rajbir Singh, Hila'atu Leo, Emily McEvoy, Theo Mestrom, Anashae Meikle, Maximo Catalan-Gomez, Lily Wickham, Nye Jones-Hogan, Eva Harrex, Maddox Lough and Michael Woodhouse.

Christmas Mass Time Table - St Patrick's Pastoral Area
St Patrick's Basilica - Christmas Vigil - carols 7.30 pm and Mass at 8.00 pm
                                 - Christmas Day Mass - 9.30 am
                                 - Normal Mass times follow

Sacred Heart Church Kurow - Christmas Vigil - carols at 5.40 pm and Mass at 6.00 pm
                                               - Sunday 30th December - 12 noon
                                               - Normal Mass times - 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month at 12 noon

Our Lady Star of the Sea Church Hampden - No Christmas or New Year Mass
                                                                      - Normal Mass times - 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month
                                                                        at 11.30 am.
                                                                        Parishioners and visitors are invited to join us at St
                                                                        Patrick's Basilica                                                           
Congratulations
Touch Rugby - congratulations to the following teams who won their divisions in their respective age groups.
Yr 1/2/3 - St Joseph's Broncos
Yr 4/5/6 - St Joseph's Ferns and Rockets

Cricket - congratulations to Campbell Fowler and Liam Cameron who have been selected in the North Otago Primary Cricket team which is playing in the South Island Cricket tournament in early January.  Well done to Campbell who is captain of this team.  This tournament is being held in Oamaru next year and they will compete against 14 teams from all over the South Island.

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

Farewell following families
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:
- Asi, Baillie, Bean, Crowder, Cunningham, Dyson, Hayman, Miller, Orillo, Pe, Plieger, Roos, Sinclair, Souness, Toeke and Winders families.

Farewell - we sadly farewell Jill McCartie who is retiring after 15 years of being a wonderful teacher aide, librarian and bus lady in our school.  Enjoy your gardening and visiting family in your retirement.






Home and School
Disco
Thanks to all the children who came last Friday evening to our disco which was well supported.  It was great to see lots of children dressed up and especially to Michael Misiloi who orchestrated the music and the dancing.

Thank you

A big thank you to all of our school community for all your help and support throughout the year and a very big thank you to our hard working committee for all their work they do to help our school.  Have a lovely and restful holiday and we look forward to next year where our first big event is the Whitestone Wipeout in March.  - Thank you Rebecca Heffernan - Chairperson.

Lost Property
Please come and have a look at the huge amount of lost property outside the hall.  If it is not claimed, it will be resold back to the Uniform Shop.

Sports
Archery - St Kevin's College runs an archery course on a Tuesday afternoon at 3.30 pm under the dining room area.  If you are interested, please let Mrs Brien know.  (The town bus leaves St Joseph's and goes to St Kevin's College so the children would have a ride there)

Cricket and Touch teams - notices will come out in the first week of term 1 regarding these sports.

School Stationery
All class stationery lists are on the website for 2019.
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 now until 28th February.
Alternatively you can purchase packs online from www.paperplus.co.nz/back-to-school or in store at Oamaru Paper Plus.  If you already have certain parts of the stationery list, contact Paper Plus Oamaru who will organise a custom made 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.

St Kevin's High Performance PE unit


Last Friday, Elenoa Asi, Campbell Fowler, Sebastian Spillane Michael Woodhouse were invited to St Kevin's College to attend a high performance PE unit where they listened to motivational speakers David Nyika (2 times NZ Gold Commonwealth Boxing Champion) and Niko Mannix ( a young man who got run over by a truck and broke his neck)  They learnt about what it takes to succeed and how much hard work is involved to follow your dreams.  These students will be part of the Yr 9 high performance PE group next year. Photos courtesy of St Kevin's College.

Subway lunches
As school finishes at 12.45 pm tomorrow, there will be no subway lunches.

Swimming Senior Timetable
Below is the swimming timetable for the first 4 weeks of term 1.  If you are available to help walk the children to and from the pool, please let Mrs Brien know. There maybe times when these ladies will not be available to help.

Times and Groups
1.00pm            - leave at 12.30 pm – all  Yr 7 and 12 children from Yr 5/6
                        - teacher is Sara Jones-Hogan
                 - parent helper is Leanne Tuffley   

1.30 pm           -  leave at 1.00 pm – all Yr 4/5 children and 15 Yr 5/6 children
                        - teachers are Nicola Winders and Ange Asi
                        - parent helpers are Natalie Geypen,  Kelly-Jo Criddle and Justine Rodgers 

2.00 pm           - leave at 1.30 pm – all Yr 4 children from Morgan Tangney/Lena Klenner's class and 
                           all Yr 8 children
                        - teaches are Jennifer Herbst and Lena Klenner
                        - parent helpers – maybe Rebecca Heffernan
Dates
February – Monday 4th & 11th, Wednesday 13th, Monday 18th, Thursday 21st and Monday 25th
March – Wednesday 6th – school swimming sports

Uniform Shop
Our uniform shop will be open on Friday 1st February from 9.00 to 10.30 am and Monday 4th February from 8.30 to 9.30 am.  It will be open every Thursday from 2.30 to 3.00 pm.






4. Diary Dates - Week 9, Term 4 2018


DECEMBER
Thursday 13            -  End of Year Mass including prize giving and junior nativity  starting at 6.00 pm
Friday 14                 -  Final assembly includes new Yr 8 leadership, Yr 8 leavers certificates and speeches                  -  Term 4 finishes at 12.45 pm  

FEBRUARY 2019
Friday 1                   -  Uniform Shop open from 9.00 to 10.30 am
Monday 4                -  School starts for term 1
                                 -  Uniform Shop open from 8.30 to 9.30 am
                                 -  Swimming lessons for Yrs 4-8
Wednesday 6            -  Waitangi Day holiday – no school      
Monday 11               -  Swimming lessons for Yrs 4-8
Wednesday 13          -  Swimming lessons for Yrs 4-8
Thursday 21             -  Swimming lessons for Yrs 4-8
Monday 18               -  Swimming lessons for Yrs 4-8
                                 -  Cricket Shield boys tournament *
Monday 25               -  Swimming lessons for Yrs 4-8
                                 -  Monday night cricket starts
MARCH
Wednesday 6            -  Senior school swimming sports *
Tuesday 12               -  Swimming lessons for Yrs 1-3
Wednesday 13          -  North Otago Swimming sports *
Sunday 17                -  First Reconciliation Mass
Tuesday 19               -  St Joseph’s Day
                                 -  Swimming lessons for Yrs 1-3
Wednesday 20          -  Swimming lessons for Yrs 1-3
Thursday 21             -  Swimming lessons for Yrs 1-3
Saturday 23              -  St Joseph’s Home & School Mud Run
Monday 25               -  Otago Anniversary Day  holiday – school closed *
Tuesday 26               -  Swimming lessons for Yrs 1-3
Wednesday 27          -  Swimming lessons for Yrs 1-3

APRIL
Friday 12                  -  Term 1 finishes *
Monday 29               -  Term 2 starts in your winter uniform *

JUNE
Monday 3                 -  Queens Birthday holiday – school closed *

JULY
Friday 5                    -  Term 2 finishes *
Monday 22               -  Term 3 starts *

SEPTEMBER
Friday 27                  -  Term 3 finishes *

OCTOBER
Monday 14                -  Term 4 starts
Monday 28                -  Labour Day holiday – school closed *



Friday 7 December 2018

1. Principal's News Week 8 Term 4 2018

Girls breaking stereotypes
Yesterday Willow and Chloe shared their multi-pathway story/game.  It features a princess who is fearless and fights for what's right.

They've turned the fairytale stereotype on its head.  In their fairytale the princess rescues the prince.  I loved the idea of their strong, fearless justice-seeking princess and when I asked them where they got that idea from they said,

"That's what we're taught in this school.  It's what we're taught to be."

We're so proud of you girls.

Classes for 2019
Reports go home tomorrow.  Your child's stationery list for their new class will be with the report.  All classes are within Ministry size guidelines for 2019 and the Board is putting in funding to do this.  I have honoured all conversations I have had with parents and agreements regarding class placements for those children on the age borderlines.


Creativity Around the School


JH1 have been making candles: Cruz, Samuel and Tevita


JH1 have been making cup cakes: Ayla
Year 6 EOTC
Year 6 are enjoying their EOTC week activities.  They have been doing archery, Masterchef, technology challenge, team building games, a First Aid course, rock wall climbing and tomorrow they are doing sailing and kayaking.

Year 7 & 8 Social
Last Friday the Home and School provided the year 8 graduation dinner.  The year 8's had a wonderful evening.  The year 7's joined them after dinner for dancing.  The dance mix was our usual mix of traditional dances that the children have learnt, interspersed with their own dance choices.  The evening really raved up when Michael Misiloi joined us.


End of Year Celebrations and Graduation
Please join us on Thursday 13th December at the Basilica for 6pm Mass which will include:
Junior school nativity presentation
Year 8 prizegiving
Year 1-7 JJ awards.
The children are to wear their clean and tidy school uniform, not the PE uniform.

And on Friday 14th December at 12.00 for our final assembly which will include:
Head boy and head girl speeches
Presentation of year 8 leaving certificates
Handing over leadership roles from year 8 to year 7 
And carols.

The junior school are practising for their nativity presentation next week


School ends at 12.45pm on Friday 14th December.

God bless and aroha
Lorraine Frances-Rees