9 April 2009

Dear Parents

The Easter break is almost here and I hope families are able to get some time together for rest and relaxation.
We look forward to coming back next term to refurbished girls’ toilets with the second part of the upgrade taking part in the holidays.
Welcome to Breyah Takitimu and Nicholas Walsh who have joined the children in the junior school. We hope they enjoy their time at Sacred Heart School.
Mass Times for Easter are as follows: 7 pm tonight ~ Holy Thursday
3 pm tomorrow ~ Reading of the Passion/Adoration of the Cross
7 pm Saturday ~ Vigil
10.30 am Sunday ~ Easter Sunday

Good luck to Miss Gaines and our Rippa Rugby team who will be playing in the curtain raiser to the Highlanders – Reds game on this Saturday at 5.00 pm.
Thanks to Miss O’Neill and all the children for the excellent Palm Sunday Mass.
Also to the PTA for organising and running the picnic and games after Mass. As always the tug-of-war was the highlight.
A big thanks to the PTA – the bins of sports gear in the corridors and some new classroom computers have been purchased with some of our school fair proceeds. Your support for PTA events goes a long way towards providing the most up-to-date resources for your children to use while at school.

Many thanks to Juliet & William Clapperton for the amazing photo board in the office of the picnic last Sunday. Parents please take the time to view this, it’s a lovely display.

INTERVIEWS
3 way interviews (parent, child and teacher) will be held in week 2 of next term (4 & 5th May). N.B. Monday 4th May will be a half day for the children, with the 1st interview commencing at 1.30 p.m. The timetable for these interviews is in the junior corridor for parents to choose a time which best suits them.

SOUTHLAND JUNIOR SCHOOL CHAMPS RESULTS held Sunday 5th April
Non Championship 25 meters 9 years & Over girls:
Caitlin Russell - Backstroke 1st, Breaststroke 2nd, Butterfly 1st & Freestyle 5th
Shelley Mitchell - Backstroke 7th, Breaststroke 6th & Freestyle 8th
Championship 50 meters 10 year old girls:
Olivia Thornbury - Backstroke 4th, Breaststroke 3rd, Butterfly 1st & Freestyle 2nd
Championship 25 meters 8 year old boys:
Samuel Thornbury - Backstroke 1st, Breaststroke 2nd, Butterfly 1st & Freestyle 1st
10 years old Mixed Medley Relay team:
Samuel, Caitlin, Shelley and Olivia were 6th out of 20 school teams. Well Done!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS to Shelley Mitchell who is participating in the “Independence Games” in Christchurch these school holidays.

JUNIOR RUGBY FUN DAY
Rugby Southland is running a fun day on Wednesday 22nd April at Rugby Park 10 am. All players and coaches from Under 9 – Under 15 are welcome. The Southland Stags members, along with their coaching staff will conduct a 2 hour rugby coaching and fun session, developing skills.

AEROBICS – Yr 4-6
The competition is on the 21st June, practices will be starting as soon as a team/s are finalised. Teams of 4 are needed, with a cost of $10 per person. A coach for this is ESSENTIAL
Please return the form to school by the 29th April.
PARENT HELP AND ASSISTANCE IN COACHING IS VITAL FOR THIS SPORT GOING AHEAD
PTA
Parents & Staff Social night: Mark down in your diaries Saturday 20 June. We are having a get together in the Grannies Bar at The Northern for the All Blacks vs France test on the big screen. Kick off will be at 7 pm. The only cost to you is $5 for your ticket plus your own drinks (and maybe the odd sweepstake). Dress up as your favourite All Black, or maybe just a supporter! Should be a great night & we would love to see as many people there as possible. To book your tickets phone Juliet Clapperton 235-7078. More info on this will come out next term.

BBQ Utensils: Does anyone have or know the whereabouts of the PTA BBQ utensils? They are named.

Mothers Day Fundraiser - 10th May
At the beginning of next term the PTA ask that each child brings a small unwrapped gift suitable for a Mothers Day present. The value of the gift should be no more than $2 and may in fact be hand made by your children. For example it could be a small $2 trinket from the $2 shop, children’s poems, paintings, pictures etc put together by children as a gift of art, baking by children (eg a muffin in a home made box).

Items are to be left at the office but obviously if your child would like to bake, then this will need to be dropped off on the morning of Friday 8th May. On this Friday, the children will have the opportunity to select and buy a gift for $1 per child, from the gifts brought to school by all the children. They will then have a surprise gift to give to their mother without her seeing what it is.


ROOM 3 CLASS HAPPENINGS
It is hard to believe that we are at the end of Term 1 2009. In RE we have been learning about what happened during Holy Week and at Easter. Did you know that Palm Sunday is the first day of Holy Week? It was helpful going to the Palm Sunday Mass because we could make links to what we had been learning in class. We now know that Easter is more than just eating chocolate Easter eggs.
Last week we had Tabloid Sports at Stadium Southland which was a lot of fun. The teachers had us doing all sorts of activities using a range of equipment including hoops, tennis balls, large balls and skipping ropes.
Mrs Ashton continues to give us lots of practical things to write about. She showed us a piece on YouTube about a man named Dan Osman. Below are a couple of samples from our writing books.

Good Job Dan ~ Dan Osman climbed the rock face like Spiderman. He had no safety ropes. He climbed the rock face really fast. When he reached the top he did a boogie. Oliver

Dan of the Day ~ Dan Osman jumped and didn’t fall and he was almost 400 feet up a rock face. Dan had no safety ropes. He had long hair, well, really long hair. He’s fast like Spiderman. He jumped like Spiderman. Dan got to the top of the rock face. Nathan

Finally we would like to wish you all a Happy and safe Easter break. We look forward to seeing you all in Term 2.


STATIONERY ~ Pease check that children return to school with pencils, pens etc ready for work. Thank you.

AEROBICS

____________________would like to take part in the Aerobics
(NAME)

I can/can not assist in any way (COACHING)

Signed______________ ______________(PARENT/CAREGIVER)

3 April 2009

Dear Parents

I wish to take this opportunity to thank all parents for your support and assistance this term.

We look forward to Palm Sunday Mass and the PTA BBQ afterwards, the weather forecast is good.
Because of the picnic, the children are to wear mufti to the Mass.

Next week is our lead into Holy Week and we will finish the term with our Easter Liturgy in the hall on Thursday afternoon 1.50 p.m. All parents are welcome to join us.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Stroud family this week.

PALM SUNDAY MASS – THIS SUNDAY
The children are to line up in the school foyer by 10.10am. Please note the earlier time. We will leave the school at 10.20am. The Mass begins at 10.30 with a Gospel reading and the blessing of palms outside the church on the grass area. The congregation then processes into the church.

If your child is doing a reading/prayer, please ensure they practise it at home. Thank you.

ALTAR SERVERS FOR SUNDAY 5th APRIL ~ Clarke & Ryan Le Breton

INTERVIEWS
3 way interviews (parent, child and teacher) will be held in week 2 of next term (4 & 5th May). N.B. Monday 4th May will be a half day for the children, with the 1st interview commencing at 1.30 p.m. The timetable for these interviews will be in the junior corridor from Wednesday next week, for parents to choose a time which suits them best.

ATHLETICS
Well done to all the children who participated at the Southland Athletics Champs. A special mention for Shaquila Blee who was the Southland Champion in the 200m & discus and 3rd in the long jump.

SPIRIT OF A NATION
Congratulations to Shelley Mitchell & Erica Forde who have been chosen to represent the school as Spirit of a Nation delegates.

HELP !!!!! – LOST PROPERTY
Our lost property box is overflowing. All articles will be displayed in the foyer until the end of term. Please take the time to check for anything that belongs to your child, as any items not claimed will be donated to St. Vincent de Paul. Somebody must know they are missing a pair of shoes, or even a lunchbox ???

END OF TERM
The last day for Term 1 is next Thursday 9th April. We would appreciate children being collected as soon as possible after school as the builders are starting the upgrade of the girls’ toilets that afternoon. Thank you.

TOUCH
As Touch is now finished for the term, we would like to thank all the children for participating and a huge thank you to Mr Downing for coaching a team.
We hope we get more parents available to coach in Term 4.

LOST THIS WEEK:
1 x silver bangle from Room 8
2 x school jerseys named O’Connor.


ROOM 2 CLASS HAPPENINGS
The term is nearly over and the children have come such a long way since week 1. It is now time to welcome new students into our class. Nicholas started today and Emma L and Max have started their school visits too. Room 2 have really enjoyed showing the new children what we do at school.
We have been on the laptops and learned about using KidPix. We have learned how to draw freehand, draw shapes, change colours and make pictures. We learned how to draw pictures of the characters in some of our reading books, and have some of these pictures on our wall in the classroom.
We also did some writing about our swimming, and here are some of our stories.


PTA
Come along to the family picnic this Sunday after the school Mass. Bring your own family picnic & something to sit on (in the hall if wet).The PTA will provide tea & coffee, and a BBQ for families to cook on. There will be fun games and a lolly scramble. Come along and enjoy our school community.

PTA meeting Monday 6th 7.30 pm staffroom, new members most welcome.

SECOND HAND SALE ~ Wed 8th April at 2.30 – 3.15pm, in the hall.
This will be for those wishing to purchase winter uniform items. If anyone is wishing to donate or sell uniforms could they please leave them in the office indicating their choice.
Enquiries to Nicki Brookland 214-0112 or Amanda Hunt 215-7663.


NETBALL SOUTHLAND HOLIDAY PROGRAMME (Yr 1 – 8 students)
20 & 21 April at Stadium Southland 9 am – 3 pm $25 per day.
A chance to participate in some exciting activities and competitions, as well as meet and interact with some Southern Steel players. If your child is interested, please obtain a registration form from the office.