19 September 2008

Dear Parents

Writing today’s newsletter is a bitter sweet experience. It is with pleasure that we welcome Trinidad Balladares, Matthew Francis, Emma Brooks and William Robertshawe to school and wish them all the best in the year ahead. We congratulate our choir and Mrs Stupples, our swimmers and speech contestants, but it is also sad in bidding farewell to Mrs Buxton as she heads to Abu Dhabi to work as an educational consultant. We are sad to see her go and will miss her but also are excited for her and Ross as they start their new adventure. We look forward to hearing about their new lives in the months ahead.
A big thanks to all the teachers for organising the class masses. They have been very successful with lots of parents being able to join us for lunch afterwards. Special thanks to Fr. Vince for making them so informative for the children and parents.
The children in Rooms 5, 7, 8 & 9 were fortunate yesterday to take part in tuning – in activities in preparation for our Marae visit next term. Activities included:
Food Raikau Koru Patterns Waiata

ORPHANS AID INTERNATIONAL
Our school received a framed certificate in appreciation of our efforts on behalf of ORPHANS AID INTERNATIONAL. It is on display in the junior corridor.
There will be a programme about ORPHANS AID INTERNATIONAL’S WORK on 24 September at 9.30pm on TV One. You may wish to see the work being accomplished by their supporters.

BOT MEETING ~ Next meeting this Monday night.

SING OUT CHOIR
Congratulations to the fantastic sing out choir, who did a wonderful job on Wednesday night. I hope you all saw the photo on the front page of Thursday's paper.

WEBSITE
Our school website has been updated, including our calendar. We also have a movie on the website now, which has been made with a lot of input from the Room 8 children. There are lots of children shown in the movie so if you want to have a look, the address is www.shsinv.school.nz

VISIT TO BLUFF MARAE ~ Next term as part of our Inquiry focus the school will be visiting the Bluff Marae. As with our last visit, parents are welcome to join us, as visiting this particular Marae is a special experience. We are looking for assistance from our school and wider Maori community to find a Maori male, able to speak on behalf of the school as part of our welcome onto the Marae.
If you know of someone who could assist us, please contact me.
PTA
DISCO ~ Thursday 25th September in the Sacred Heart Hall, Gold coin donation.
6 – 7.30 pm (Yr 0 – 3) 7 – 8.30 pm (Yr 4 – 6). (ice blocks, drinks, chips for sale on the night).
UNIFORM SALE ~ Thursday 25th September 2.30 – 3.15 p.m. in the hall.
If you have any items you want to sell, please leave them at the office.
BROMLEY UNIFORM ~ Anyone wanting to order a pinafore can phone Nicki Brookland 214-0112 over the weekend. The order is being sent away this Monday 22nd September.
Next Monday’s PTA meeting has been postponed to Monday 20th September due to a clash with the BOT meeting.
FAIR ~ Remember to keep Sunday 30th November free for the school fair!!
Bottle Auction- We are asking that each family kindly donate any kind of unopened and new bottle for example alcohol, sauce, cleaning product. Please start sending these in to the school office from next week or there will be a recycle bin at the drop off zone each morning to put items in. We appreciate your support with this.
White elephant- Remember to keep collecting your white elephant stuff for the fair. Throw nothing away!! Clean out those cupboards and ask your friends and neighbours if they have anything to donate.
SBS Star Account ~ The Sacred Heart School PTA has a SBS Star account. If you or any of your family or friends have money to invest, please consider the SBS Star Investment Special 8% for 12 months with interest at maturity on minimum deposits of $5000. Nominate our school PTA to receive commission for every dollar invested with the PTA nominated. This investment is a limited edition available until Christmas with commission payments being made at the end of December. Call into any SBS branch or phone 0800502442 to discuss.
ROOM 5 FUNDRAISERS FOR CAMP COLUMBA
Pinecones for sale $7 a sack. Contact Daniel 2217424. Available on Monday – Friday at school.
Car wash at the Mobil Garage, North Rd tomorrow (Saturday). From 9 a.m. $5 per car.

SUMMER SOCCER GAMES Last season Sacred Heart had 4 teams in this summer activity which is weekly on Monday afternoons from late October through Mid-March – school terms only. 5-a-side, on small fields, 4 age groups from 4 to 14, all ability levels. Entries need to be in by next week, so if your child is interested, please contact Peter Downing Email pdowning@paradise.net.nz or cell 021 897727, or message on 03 2188218.


CYCLING SOUTHLAND ~ will be having a school holiday programme on Wed 1 Oct and Wed 8 Oct from 1.30pm to 3pm for any children 10-16 years old to have a go on the track. If anyone has any queries they can contact Cycling Southland on 2173215

"Southland Education is holding a Spring Art School at Labour weekend 25-27 October 2008. Courses will include Watercolour painting, Printmaking, Acrylics, Fabric Collage, Art Clay Silver, Oil Painting, Fun with Flax. These courses are designed for adult learning. For further information please phone Lesley du Mez on 218 8180. "


Class Happenings ~ Room 3
It is hard to believe that the end of Term 3 is drawing closer.
We have just completed a unit on letter writing where we learnt the things that we need to include when writing a letter. Did you know that it is important to write an address at the top of a letter as well as who it is to and from?
In maths we have been looking at mazes and have now reached the stage where we must give instructions for others to follow to get out of a maze. This is a very tricky exercise because often we know where we want our partners to go but sometimes we do not give clear enough instructions. We have to listen carefully to what our partners are telling us. Next week we are going to be starting a unit on mass so the children in Room 3 are invited to bring a soft toy to school each day. It must fit into their school bag.
In RE we are learning about Baptism. Baptism is our first meeting with Jesus. Many of us have been
baptised or been to a baptism before so we could share our
experiences with the class. We have learnt that the symbols
of baptism are: oil, water, a candle and the white garment.
Yesterday we were lucky enough to have Mrs Buxton in our
class for the day. Mrs Buxton gave us some hard maths
equations that made our brains think. We also made some
daffodils that you can see in the photographs. We feel very
lucky to have had Mrs Buxton in our class because today is
her last day. We wish her lots of luck in her new adventure
and look forward to reading her blog to see what she has
been up to.


Congratulations to Olivia – Butterfly, Abbey – Backstroke, Imelda - Freestyle and Tammy – Breaststroke who were 2nd in the medley event at the swimming carnival last Saturday night.