11 December

Dear Parents
With this being the last newsletter for the year I would like to take the opportunity to wish all children and their families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
2009 has been another very busy year with yesterdays Mission Fair topping off a host of events that started with our school picnic in February and will end with our end of year mass on Monday night.
Some of the highlights include our school production, Year 6 camp, school masses and our sacramental programme, a number of sports events including the Convent Cup, zone & Southland athletics and cross-country, junior sports at the stadium and the stadium skills programme.
Our children have participated in a wide range of sporting events including netball, swimming, cricket, touch, flipperball, basketball, hockey and soccer.
Children have been involved as spirit of a nation rep, writer’s workshops, house captains, leaders at our house colours days and at assemblies. We have also had a number of visiting shows and opportunities to take part in Invercargill wide events.

Most, if not all of these events, have required parental assistance and I wish to thank every parent, caregiver or grandparent who has been able to help this year. Special thanks must go to Suzanne Brown and the PTA for your huge support this year. The PTA through its successful fundraising ventures has funded a large number of the extra resources the children use on a daily basis.

We also farewell our Year 6 pupils who move on to the next step of their education. We thank them for all their hard work over their years at Sacred Heart and wish them all the best in the future.

Thank you to all our teachers and support staff for all your efforts this year. A big thanks to Mrs. Forbes for running the school for another busy year, I think 2010 will even be busier.

We wish Miss Young all the best for her wedding day next weekend. Also good luck to the children taking part in the Touch tournament this weekend.

FINAL MASS & LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
Mass will start with carols at 6.30pm on Monday 14th. Can all children be in the foyer in school uniform at 6.15pm. A reminder school closes at 12.30pm on Tuesday 15th and reopens on Tuesday 2nd February 2010.

SCHOOL REPORTS
Your child will bring home their school report today with next year’s stationery lists. The reports are in 3 parts
- General comments with essential skills, RE, Inquiry, the Arts and PE & Health.
- Literacy section including spelling, writing skills and reading age.
- Numeracy section showing level of attainment and basic facts scores.
In 2010 we will have to change our reporting system to comply with the Governments National Standards. We will be inviting parents to take part in a consultation process to design these in term 1 next year. If you wish to be included please contact me.

2010 CLASSES
Room 1 Miss O’Neill / Mrs. McKenzie Year 1
Room 2 Mrs. Stupples / Mrs. Russell Year 2
Room 3 Miss Swney / Mrs. Ingham Year 1/2
Room 5 Mrs. Rutledge Year 2/3
Room 6 Mrs. Stanley Year 3/4
Room 7 Mrs. Winders Year 4
Room 8 Miss Tagomoa Year 4/5
Room 9 Mrs. Lieshout Year 5/6
Mrs. Paige will be working as a release teacher and Mrs. Williams will be starting a new initiative to identify and assist gifted & talented students. We are also pleased to have Mrs. Stupples back.
We are also farewelling Mrs. Fortune & Mrs. Ashton next year. I wish to thank both of you for all your hard work this year and hope to see you both back in some form in the future.


BOARD OF TRUSTEES
The Board received some pleasing news from the Catholic Education Office in regards capital works expenditure for 2010. Sacred Heart is down to have the veranda extended, drains & sumps repaired and some flooring replaced. We thank the Office for this and look forward to work starting.
The Board has had a busy year and I thank John Horn and Board members for their commitment to the school this year. Next year is Board election year and we will be looking for some new members.
ALTAR SERVERS ~ Sat 12th Dec 7pm Mackenzie & Isabella Wild Sun 13th 10.30 am = Meg Kelly & Imelda Wilkes

URGENT REQUEST ~ we are still frantically looking for Macy Richardson’s (Rm 5) lost jersey.
Please check if your child has this jersey at home!!!

2010 OUT OF SCHOOL MUSIC CLASSES ~ Enrolment Forms are available from the office.

MISSION FAIR
Room 8 And Room 9 would like to thank all the many people who helped them make yesterdays fair such a great success. It was wonderful to have so many people support us in so many ways. The result was that we made $1500 for the children in Samoa. THANK YOU. We will be able to purchase lots of sport gear and educational resources for the school.

BASKETBALL
Tuesday night was a big night for the pupils who played basketball this year. The Sacred Heart Teams played really well. The Year 3 & 4 Girls went through the season unbeaten.
Results below:
Year 3& 4 Girls Competition and Grand Final Winners
Year 5 & 6 Girls won the Grand Final
Year 5 & 6 Boys runners up in the Grand Final
A huge thank you to all the coaches and well done all players.

CAROL SINGING AT RETIREMENT HOMES
The Senior Syndicate students have been sharing a little Christmas cheer by entertaining at some of our local retirement homes. This week the Room 9 children sang at the Rowena Jackson Retirement Home and next week the Room 9 children will sing at the Cargill Retirement Home.

STADIUM TENNIS CLUB ~ Kids Free Open Day Mon 21st Dec 10.30am to 12.30pm Stadium Southland.
Please register with: Carolyn 216-0923.

POTATOES FOR SALE
New potatoes will be sold Monday and Tuesday after school. The spuds are organic and grown at West Plains. They are $5 a kg the same as last year. To place orders for Christmas please contact Patrice at 2157973 or 0273801268. The orders are on a first in first serve system, as stocks are limited.

XMAS IDEA - XMAS IDEA - XMAS IDEA - XMAS IDEA - XMAS IDEA - XMAS IDEA
Do you have trouble sleeping or know of someone who does? Well the answer is here.
Hop and Lavender are timeless aids to assist with inducing sleeping. I am now taking orders for my Hop and Lavender pillows. These little pillows look attractive and are placed alongside your regular pillow at night. Available in cream, white, pale pink or navy and white stripe. Great for Xmas gift at just $20. Enquiries to Kathryn Hewitt on 215 4547.