1. Principal's News Week 7 Term 4 2018

Year 7 & 8 Social
The year 8s are preparing for their end of year social.  Many thanks to the Home and School and particularly, Adele Whiston, who are once again organising the formal dinner. 

Year 8 Camp
The year 8s enjoyed an exciting camp at Mt Somers last week.

Multicultural Day
We loved having St Kevin's students join us for multicultural day on Tuesday.  It was a fabulous day, organised once again by Jan Plieger and show-casing our different cultures.  We are particularly grateful to parents who shared their expertise with our students.

God Bless and Aroha

Lorraine Frances-Rees

2. Special Character - Week 7, Term 4 2018

Week 7: November 26 - 30

This Sunday 2^nd December will be the first Sunday of Advent. We will see the colours in the Church from mainly Green to Violet or Purple. Violet or Purple is the colour of Advent and Lent.

We can think of the colour of Advent to be a more of a rose-purple, like the sky just before sunrise. This is the time of year when the Church waits in joyful hope to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the light of the world.

We light  the first candle on the Advent Wreath that symbolises hope.

Prayer For The Advent Wreath

Lord, our God, we praise You for Your Son, Jesus Christ, for He is Emmanuel, 
the Hope of all people.
He is the Wisdom that teaches and guides us.
He is the Saviour of us all.
O Lord,
let your blessing come upon us as we light the first (purple) candle of this wreath.
May the wreath and its light be a sign of Christ's promise of salvation.
May He come quickly and not delay.
We ask this in His holy name. Amen.

 

God Bless 

Nicola Winders 

3. School Notices - Week 7, Term 4 2018

QUOTE FOR THE WEEK

Altar Servers
Saturday 1st December - Joshua & Lachie Criddle, Indya Cunningham & Mariah Cunningham
Sunday 2nd December - Henry Robinson, Hana Davies, Lilly Kelcher and Morgan Baillie

Birthday Greetings to
Cassidy Rawson and Annalise Kilgour

Athletic Trophy Presentation
These trophies and certificates will be presented at assembly tomorrow at 2.30 pm.

Congratulations
Our school had 4 successful students who trialled for the Oago U12 - U18 Touch Rugby teams in Dunedin recently.  Well done to Max Fatafehi and Hotili Asi who made the U14 boys team, Michael Woodhouse the U12 boys team and Jada-Rose Keno the U12 mixed team.
These students travel to Dunedin twice a week for practices and have already competed in a tournament in Invercargill and another one this weekend in Oamaru.  These pre tournaments are a build up to the main one in Christchurch in December.  Good luck to all.

Cricket Draw - Saturday 1st December
Your coaches will confirm if these games go ahead on Saturday.
Intermediate A - 8.45 am - St Joseph's/Union v Albion Gold at SKC Artificial 2
Intermediate B - 9.00 am - St Joseph's v Albion Black at SKC Artificial 1

Disco and Yr 7 & 8 Social
Tomorrow is our annual Yr 7 & 8 social.  The Yr 8 students are to arrive at 5.30 pm and will be seated by 5.50 pm.  The Yr 7's are to arrive at 7.00 pm and they are to bring a plate for supper. The night will finish at 9.00 pm.

Friday 7th December is our Home and School Disco for Yrs 1-6 only (sorry no pre-schoolers). The disco will start at 6.00 and go to 7.30 pm.  The theme is Christmas and it costs $3.00 for entry which gets you a drink, a bag of chips and a glow stick.  If you want to buy another glow stick it will cost an extra .50c and $1.00 for another drink. 
Parents should be warned that the main lights are off and there will be flashing lights and loud music.  We are asking that the children are to be dropped off at 6.00 and picked up at 7.30 pm as they will be adequately supervised by our Home and School parents.

Library Books
All library books are due back tomorrow for end of year stock taking purposes.

Multi-Cultural Day
On Tuesday we held our Multi-Cultural Day and it was great to see our children dress up in their ethnic clothes.  A very special thank you to Mrs Jan Plieger for organising this amazing day and special thanks to the following because without you, the day could not have gone ahead.
-  Mr Paul Olsen, Tina Dooley, Amy and Cindy the Manderin teachers and students from St Kevin's College
-  Parishioners who gave up their time to help with activities
-  Our wonderful parent helpers who helped with food preparation, activities and other things on the day.
-  The people who performed in the concert and showed us their talents with singing, dancing


Reminders
Friday 30th - all library books due back today
                    -  athletic trophies and certificates presented at assembly
                    -  Yr 7 & 8 social
Monday 3rd  -  Technology for Yr 7 & 8                   
Tuesday 4th  -  Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) starts for Yr 6 students
Wednesday 5th  -  EOTC
Thursday 6th  -  EOTC
Friday 7th - EOTC
               -  Orientation Day at St Kevin's College for 2019 yr 9 students
               -  Disco for Yrs 1-6

Swimming Dates 2019
Our 2019 school swimming lessons have been confirmed with the following dates.  

Seniors

Monday 4^th February 1.00pm – 2.30pm

Monday 11^th February 1.00pm – 2.30pm

Wednesday 13^th February 1.00pm – 2.30pm

Monday 18^th February 1.00pm – 2.30pm

Wednesday 20^th February 1.00pm – 2.30pm

Monday 25^th February 1.00pm – 2.30pm

Juniors

Tuesday 12^th March 1.00pm – 2.30pm

Tuesday 19^th March 1.00pm - 2.30pm

Wednesday 20^th March 1.00pm – 2.30pm

Thursday 21^st March 1.00pm – 2.30pm

Tuesday 26^th March 1.00pm – 2.30pm

Wednesday 27^th March 1.00pm – 2.30pm

Our senior school swimming sports are on Wednesday 6th March and the North Otago Swimming Sports are on Wednesday 13th March.

St Kevin's College Uniform Shop
The uniform shop will be open from 12.30 to 1.30 pm on Thursdays during the school terms and also on Orientation Day, Friday 7th December from 1.00 to 2.00 pm.

During the January holidays, it will be open from:
Monday 28th January from 2.00 to 7.00 pm
Tuesday 29th January from 2.00 to 4.00 pm.

Community Notices

• NZ Rosary Crusade - held on Saturday 8th December at 3.00 pm - for Life and Faith; under the mantle of Our Lady of Assumption at the St Patrick's Basilica.

4. Diary Dates - Week 7, Term 4 2018

NOVEMBER

Friday 30                       -  All library books due back today

                                       -  Athletic Trophy presentation at assembly at 2.30 pm

                                       -  Yr 7 & 8 Social – Hawaiian theme

                                 

DECEMBER

Monday 3                       -  Technology for Yr 7 & 8

Tuesday 4                       -  EOTC Yr 6

Wednesday 5                  -  EOTC Yr 6

Thursday 6                     -  EOTC Yr 6

                                       -  School Mass at 9.15 am

Friday 7                          -  EOTC Yr 6

                                       -  St Kevin’s Orientation Day for Yr 9’s starting 2019

                                       -  End of Year Disco for Yrs 1-6

Monday 10                     -  Technology for Yr 7 & 8

Tuesday 11                     -  Board of Trustee meeting at 6.30 pm

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  - note new time

FEBRUARY 2019

Monday 4                       -  School starts for term 1

                                       -  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

Monday 18                     -  Swimming lessons for Yrs 4-8

Wednesday 20                -  Swimming lessons for Yrs 4-8

Monday 25                     -  Swimming lessons for Yrs 4-8

MARCH

Tuesday 12                     -  Swimming lessons for Yrs 1-3

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 *

Tuesday 26                    -  Swimming lessons for Yrs 1-3

Wednesday 27               -  Swimming lessons for Yrs 1-3

1. Principal's News - Week 6 Term 4 2018

A Big Increase in Student Engagement
We have been doing New Zealand Council for Educational Research surveys on our year 4-8 students over the past three years.  These are in-depth norm-referenced surveys.  For the first time now in 2018 we have an overall positive engagement - that means in all areas our students are more engaged in learning than the norm for New Zealand schools.  Overall engagement has increased by 35% since last year.  Big picture things we've done this year is our investment in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and maths) learning with a specific focus on hands-on science experiments which sits with an increased engagement in learning by 28%.  There is also an increase of 31% in cognitive engagement - that means in students caring about and understanding how they learn.  This sits alongside our increased focus on student goal-setting, reflections on learning and progress and supported self-reporting.  Overall attitude to school in the past two years has increased by a significant amount of 60%.  Its great to see our students positively engaged in every area.  Good student engagement leads to good learning and achievement outcomes, and most of all, happy students.

Year 8 Camp

Due to the horrible weather the year 8s have not been able to do the full three day Mount Somers tramp staying at Woolshed Creek and Pinnacles Huts.  At the time of writing, they are out of cellphone coverage and staying at Woolshed Creek Hut, having climbed the the Woolshed Creek side of Mt Somers today.  Even though it rained the children have had a great time at the camp in Staveley.  Personally, even if it rains I think this is an outstanding camp, mainly because it is a genuine encounter with our New Zealand back country.  Every year for more than 20 years now, our students have discovered new sources of resilience, inspiration and courage on this trip.

End of Year Celebrations

Thursday 13th December -6pm - End of Year Celebration and Prize-Giving Mass for all children and families, including:

• Junior Nativity Presentation
• Prize-giving for the year 8s
• The JJ award for each class.
• Candle presentation to year 8s. 

Last year this Mass took one hour and we're aiming for a similar time frame this year.  

Friday 14th December - 12.00  - NOTE TIME CHANGE

Final celebration assembly 

• Head student speeches
• Handover of leadership to year 7s.
• Year 8s receive leavers' certificates
• Finish with carols

12.45 pm  - School finishes on 14th December

We start again on Monday 4th February

Uniform Survey
We will not be making any decisions regarding the next step with our uniform until we have 70 responses which is more than half our families.  At the moment we have 69 responses and a clear majority leader.  If you care what we wear for our uniform and want to have your voice heard - get your vote in quickly.

Onya Bike - Walk and Wheels Week
It hasn't been the best week to start biking or walking to school.  Nevertheless Zeb the Zebra made it to school yesterday.

God Bless and Aroha
Lorraine Frances-Rees

2. Special Character -Term 4 Week 6

This Week's Faith Facts :-

21st The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

On this Feast of the Presentation of Mary in the Temple by Joachim and Anne. They of course are the grandparents of Jesus. Jesus was also presented in the Temple.

 

25th  Christ the King Sunday

This is the last Sunday of the Liturgical year and is a feast day that focuses on the authority of Christ. Jesus Christ King of the Universe.

God Bless

Nicola Winders