St Joseph’s Catholic School

Newsletter : Issue 61
Week 6, Term 2
9 June 2022

Dear families and friends of the school,

Next week you will receive a personal invitation to our Matariki Liturgy and morning tea, followed
by a chance to go into classrooms to see the work students have completed related to Matariki .
We are very much looking forward to this opportunity to invite parents, grandparents and friends
of the school to an occasion where we can be together to pray and share our learning with
others in our school community.

The date for this will be Wednesday the 22nd of June at 10am in the Holy Name Church.
This will be followed by morning tea in the staffroom and then you will be free for the next
20 minutes to wander around classrooms to see the work the children have been doing, not only
for Matariki but also as part of their learning across the curriculum this term. Look out for your
personal invitation which we hope you are able to make.

What’s coming up?

In week 10, all parents will have the opportunity to catch up with teachers regarding their child’s
learning. This will be done through a Student Led Conference. The date for this will be Monday
the 4th of July from 3.15-6pm. You will have the opportunity to book a time that suits you best
through our interview booking system which you will be sent the code for soon.

Please be assured that teachers will make contact with parents if they have anything they wish
to talk about that may not be able to be covered at the Student Led Conference. Likewise, if
parents have any concerns that they would like to talk with the teacher about without the student
present, please make contact with the classroom teacher prior to the Student Led Conference.
During the Student Led Conference, the classroom teacher will have time to engage with all
parents. They will be there to support the child who is sharing their learning but also to answer
any questions parents may have.

Your child’s progress against the curriculum expectations for their year level will be open for
viewing on Hero just prior to the conferences. This will give you a clear picture of how your child
is tracking towards meeting learning expectations. You are presently able to see the goals your
child is working towards and goals they have achieved. You will get more information about this
closer to the time. Year 0-4 will also be sharing their learning with parents, however, this may
look a little different from our senior students.
What is a Student Led Conference Year 5-8?
A Student Led Conference is a meeting run by the student for his or her parents, entirely
focused on the student's recent learning. During the conference the student presents work in
different curriculum areas, discussing the process of learning and the progress made to date.

Why have Student Led Conferences?

From all the research we have read, developing students' ability to talk about their learning, their
progress and to set learning goals makes a difference!

The research about Student Led Conferences

Professor John Hattie (formerly University of Auckland) recently published a revised list of the
most effective influences on student achievement which identifies student self-reporting as the
most significant indicator linked to raised student achievement.

Two other international researchers, Black & William, further comment: "the process of students
reflecting on their learning, through effective questioning that promotes the articulation of
student thinking, is integral to classroom assessment practices that enhance student learning".

“If the focus is to be kept on learning, and the ownership of the learning with the child, then the
best person to talk about the learning is the learner … Not only is the student the best person to
tell their parents what they have learnt, but if we believe that students build their knowledge by
communicating what they know, then providing an opportunity for the students to tell their family
what they know can significantly assist with that learning” (Absolum, 2006). Research also
shows parental involvement in schools and classrooms has a positive impact on children’s
learning (Bastiani; Epstein).

We are thrilled to be able to go ahead with these conferences this year. It has been a trying time
for all and we look forward to whanau taking up this opportunity at the end of the term.

PALs - Physical Activity Leaders

We were lucky enough to have eight of our senior students go to a PALs training session last
week. At the session, they learnt the skills needed to support our students to try new games in
the playground at big play. They have come up with an action plan and we look forward to their
involvement over the coming months.

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Meals on Wheels
A big thank you to those parents and grandparents who were able to help out with Meals on
Wheels last week at such short notice. St Joseph’s School is down on the roster for one week
each year. It is a great help to the hospital and a wonderful experience for the students.

Kind regards
Cath Blacklow
Principal

School Vision
To learn, to grow, and to live our faith by being the hands
and voice of Jesus

Term 2 Calendar

WEEK 6

Sunday 12th June Filipino Independence Day

WEEK 7

Monday 13th-Friday 17th June Kea 1, 2 & 3 Swim Week

Friday 17th June Whole School Assembly 2pm

WEEK 8

Wednesday 22nd June Matariki Liturgy & morning tea 10am

Zones Cross Country
Board of Trustees Meeting

Thursday 23rd June GRIPS Leadership Day – Year 8’s

Friday 24th June Matariki Public Holiday (school closed)

WEEK 9

Tuesday 28th June Year 5/6 Speech Competition

Friday 1st July Whole School Assembly 2pm

WEEK 10

Monday 4th July Student Led Conferences 3.15-6pm

Friday 8th July Last day for Term 2

NB: These are the dates we currently have on the calendar. This will be updated each
fortnight to include new dates as they are decided upon throughout the term.

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From the Director of Religious Studies
This week, our Special Character/RE report has been written by the Special Character
Committee - a group of fantastic Year 8 students who support with organising Special Character
events at St Joseph’s School. Check out what they had to say!

“Hi my name is Pearl and my name is Harriett. On Sunday the 29th of May, we were very lucky
and had our first Whole School Mass this year. We are thrilled to say it went successfully. We
give a big thanks to Luca Young for being the altar server at mass, Kayleigh Hawe and Olivia
Reid for doing the projector, and to Tom Young for controlling the sound system. Our School
Mass was about the Ascension of Jesus which is convenient as we are all learning about it in
class. We would like to give a special thanks to Father Huynh and everyone who made an effort
to come.

As some of you already know, we are in the Special Character Committee. In Special
Character, we focus on being the hands and voice of Jesus, as well as encouraging other
people to show the virtues. We hope everyone can show the virtues towards each other and with
that, we are going to be doing a competition. For the rest of the year, we are going to be picking
people who we see showing compassion and respect to each other in the playground. Each of
these people will be given some house counters. THANK YOU!!!”

Thank you very much Pearl and Harriett!

Hi, ako po si Pearl, at ako po nman ay si Harriet.

Noong Linggo, ika dalawamput-siyam ng Mayo, napakapalad po nmin dahil nagkaroon po kmi ng
pampaaralang banal na Pagdiriwang o Misa ngayong taon.
Ipinagmapuri naming sabihin na naging matagumpay po nman ito. Pinasasalamatan po nmin si Luca
Young dahil sya po ang katulong ng Pari sa pagdaraos ng banal na pagdiriwang, ganoon din kay Kayliegh
Hawe at Olivia Reid na sya po namang nag ayus ng projector at kay Tom Young na sya nman ang nagpa
takbo ng sound system. Ang ating pangpaaralang banal na pagdiriwang o misa ay tungkol po sa "Sa pag
akyat ng ating Panginoong Hesus" sa Langit na naging maalwan kung saan ito ay matututunan natin sa
loob ng paaralan. Isang espesyal na pasasalamat din ang ipinaabot nmin kay Padre Hyunh at sa lahat ng
nagsidalo.

Marami na sa inyo na ang nakakaalam na tayo ay kabilang sa komiting espesyal sa tauhan. Sa katauhan
nating ito, naka tuon tayo sa pagiging mga kamay at boses ni Hesus, gayundin mapasigla natin ang mga
tao na naipakita ang kabutihan o kagandahang loob. Inaasahan nmin na ang bawat isa ay maipamalas ito
sa kanilang kapwa at sa ganitong paraan tayo ay makikipaligsahan sa isat isa. Para sa ibang
pagkakataon, makaka pili o makaka hanap tayo ng mga tao na nag pakita ng pagmamalasakit sa kapwa
at paggalang sa bawa't isa. Ang bawa't isa sa kanila ay bibigyan ng mga alituntunin na dapat sundin.
Salamat.

Maraming maraming salamat Pearl at Harriet.

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Principal’s & Virtues Awards
Here are our week 5 award recipients – congratulations and well done everyone!

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Storyline Visit
The Kea Team had a visit from two children’s book authors and illustrators, Fifi Colston and
Donovan Bixley, on 19 May. Their presentation described their own journeys that led to their
careers – very inspiring for any budding young writers and illustrators!

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Counties Cross Country
Our team of athetes representing our school had a lovely afternoon in which to compete in their
year group events on Tuesday 31 May. There were some very good performances, with the
following students qualifying for Zones on 22 June: Tineke Artz, Kayleigh Hawe, Tegan Marriott,
Amwolf Artz and Konrad Artz. Good luck for your next event!

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Other Notices for your Information and Interest

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Closing Prayer
Lord, thank you for your abundant, abounding grace.
Thank you that we don’t have to earn a drop of the mighty river of grace that flows freely for us today.
Thank you for the unexpected, unmerited favour you’ve showered on my life.
Help me put myself in the path of your love and grace.
Help me not neglect the disciplines I need to meet with you regularly and to drink from the water of life.
Thank you for your rich love. Amen.

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