1. Principal's News Term 2 Week 2 2021

Learning Around the School

It is great to see our learners so engaged with learning and some really effective literacy learning right throughout the school.  The intermediate department in this photo are writing Chinese calligraphy, everyone else is writing fluently or reading chapter books.

Health Curriculum

Every two years we remind our community of our health curriculum guidelines.  This ensures we teach our health curriculum in line with our Catholic special character.  In the next few weeks, parents will be invited to an information session on Keeping Ourselves Safe, as part of our health curriculum teaching.  I am seeking overall feedback on our health statement which is linked here. If you wish to offer feedback or further ideas, I would welcome hearing about them.  Please email me: principal@stjoseph.school.nz if you have feedback or drop in for an informal chat.

Reporting Using Seesaw

This year we are developing how we do reporting.  We trialled this last year with the junior school and it worked well so this year the senior school are doing it too.  All families have already been linked to Seesaw and your children are making posts about their learning.  For our mid year reporting you will be given a judgement of where your child is operating on the curriculum for the core curriculum.  The report will also show the expected curriculum capabilities for your child's age and we hope to have demonstrated these through Seesaw.  Your child's teacher will write a general comment which includes your child's general attitude to learning, their social engagement and their engagement with religious education and our Catholic special character.  The Seesaw work and the overall report judgements will form the basis of a teacher/parent/student conference early in term 3.

If you are not able to get on to Seesaw or are having difficulty with it please contact your child's teacher.

Speed Management

NZ Transport Agency is investigating speed around schools and wishes to gain feedback:

 As part of the wider Tackling Unsafe Speeds package, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is consulting on a proposed new Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2021.

 

The proposed new rule will include the introduction of:

 

• The requirements for lower speed limits outside all schools, including targets:
• urban schools to 30 km/h, with the option of 40 km/h speed limits if appropriate
• rural schools to a maximum of 60 km/h (variable or permanent speed limits). 

Consultation runs from 23 April to 25 June.

 

Feedback for speed limits around schools, can be given by completing a survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WSR5SV5

 

Help with an Acronym used in the survey. RCA = Road Controlling Authority, example; Waitaki District Council is a RCA for local Roads and Waka Kotahi NZTA is a RCA for State-highways

 

More information, surveys (other aspects of the proposed rule change), as well as a copy of the proposed rule and an overview of the rule, can be found on the Waka Kotahi website click here.

 

God Bless and Aroha Lorraine