23 October

Dear Parents
I often write parts of this newsletter on Thursday night as there is often no taxiing of children around and not much on TV. Last night was the exception as I was glued to the TV watching the Southland Stags historic win over Canterbury to bring the Ranfurly Shield south for the first time in 50 years. I mentioned to one of the children at school this morning, that the last time Southland had it, I wasn’t born – as you would expect, after a moments hesitation, the answer came back that yes it was a long long time ago.
Thank you to parents and children for ensuring correct uniform is being worn. Please send a note to your child’s teacher if there are any issues.
I hope the weather stays fine for everyone over Labour Weekend.

FIRST COMMUNION PROGRAMME
Our first children’s session is today 3.00 to 3.45pm in Room One. The next session is next Friday 30 October 3.00 to 3.45pm in Room One. The children received a notice yesterday with details related to First Holy Communion day. Please see Father Vince or myself if you have any questions.

NATIONAL STANDARDS
John Keys introduces these today, as an election promise with the misguided conception that what has failed everywhere else in the world, will work here. Unfortunately it is the curse of NZ Educational Policy that if something is broken in one area, then the rest of the country has to suffer their consequences. By all means target additional funding to areas of most need, but leave everyone else. At Sacred Heart our focus has always been on literacy and numeracy, but we also believe all other curricular areas are important in developing children’s sense of personal identity. As we have yet to see the standards or receive any information about their implementation, it will be interesting to see what happens.

SCHOOL WEBSITE
My apologies to anyone who has been checking the school website for information. There is a problem with updating it at present, which our hosting service is in the process of fixing.

CONSTRUCTION ~ Could you please bring to Room 1 & 2 any empty tissue boxes, ‘gladwrap’ type rolls and ‘Pringles’ chip containers.

CONGRATULATIONS: To past pupils Bella Forde and Hannah Brown who received “Distinction” in the Australian Writing Tests recently.

YOUTH & YOUNG ADULT CATECHESIM SUNDAY 15TH NOVEMBER 5.00 PM
This is an opportunity for young people of the Southland region to meet and talk to Bishop Colin. Information is on the school notice board or contact Vaughan Hook 03 4741999 ext 728, 0211855639 or vaughanh@cdd.org.nz

TOUR OF SOUTHLAND 2ND – 7TH NOVEMBER 2009
The cyclists will be passing Sacred Heart School on Wednesday 4th November @ 9.18 a.m.


PTA Notice

Truffle fundraiser
Important! Important! Important!
Please sell as many truffles this weekend as possible; this is our only fundraiser for this term. Orders to the office with money this Tuesday 27th please! Also please indicate on your form what time you are available to make truffles, Friday & or Saturday.


ROOM 2 CLASS HAPPENINGS

We have begun to look at the ‘science of change’ in Room 2. On Wednesday and Thursday we did some experiments with popcorn and sunflower seeds. First we asked our ‘before’ questions:

What size are the kernels? Little
What shape are the kernels? Like a half circle (Nick and Alex)
What colour are the kernels? White, yellow and a yellowy orange.
What do they feel like? Hard, like concrete, rocks or stones. (Seamus, Max, Alex, Emma)
What do they smell like? They don’t really have a smell
What do they taste like? Salt – or my nail! (Tyler)
How could we change the kernels? Cook them (Jasmine). Heat them up (Nick)

After we melted the butter and put the popcorn kernels in the pan, we waited for a few minutes. Then we watched them pop – it was exciting! Then, we asked the same questions for the popped corn. These were our answers:

They’re bigger in size; shaped like a flower with petals; white in colour, soft and squishy; they smell like popcorn!! They taste yummy.

Could we change the popcorn back into a kernel? No!
What else could we test? Maybe sunflower kernels?

On Thursday we followed the same steps and tested sunflower kernels. While they didn’t pop, we did notice they changed. Instead of being grey they became brown, and they tasted like peanuts!

Here is our shared story we wrote on Thursday about our popcorn experiment:

Yesterday we made popcorn in a frying pan. We cooked the kernels until they popped. They tasted delicious like salty chips.



TOUCH SOUTHLAND YEAR 5-6 TOUCH CHAMPIONSHIP,Saturday DECEMBER 12, 2009

We have parents interested in entering a mixed Year 5 & 6 team for this tournament. The entry fee is $10.00 per player.
If your child is interested, please complete the form below and send with $10 to school, before Wed October 28.
Please note we must have the minimum of ten players to enter.



TOUCH TOURNAMENT

Name_______________________________________ Room________


I give my child permission to play in the touch tournament December 12.

Signed_________________________