14 June

Dear Parents

What a difference a week makes. The back-down on increased class sizes was met with a collective sigh of relief throughout schools in New Zealand. I noted in the news this morning, the next discussions will be in regards performance pay – which is very common in a lot of jobs, but not in schools.

Teacher performance pay has been tried in many countries, with no model I have heard of being successful. If it was easily possible to measure the difference that teachers make to the learning of their students, then it could possibly work but the reality is, there is no current mechanism for accurately measuring this. Performance pay would mean more individualised teaching aimed at securing higher wages rather than working together to improve learning outcomes for students.

I watch with interest to see what the Government proposals will be.

Good luck to the children who will represent the school and zone at the Southland Cross Country at Holt Park Otautau tomorrow.

Congratulations to Miss Paulin & Miss Holland who have completed their first teaching posting in Rooms 2 & 5. Very well done

Welcome to Brooke & Ben Johnstone  and also Alex Hawkes,  who started recently.

We hope they enjoy their time at Sacred Heart School.

Sacred Heart Mass next Friday 22^nd June @ 9:30am

Children have been asked to wear their House coloured clothing for the day. Children will be seated in their House groups in the church. Parents and families are welcome to attend.

After interval children will be creating costumes from newspaper in their house groups. They will later parade their costumes in the hall. 

The PTA have also organised a sausage sizzle at lunchtime. Each child will receive a sausage in bread. Please ensure children have extra lunch if necessary. 

We will require newspapers please so could you bring these to each class, in order to make the newspaper creations. 

*REFLECTION ON TODAY’S GOSPEL READING (From Lectio Divina)

     GOD’S KINGDOM IN US: The ‘Kingdom of God’ or, as Matthew calls it ‘the Kingdom of Heaven’, represents the new spiritual life Jesus offers anyone willing to hear and accept his teaching. Jesus likes to use parables to explain this lifestyle to the general public, but for his committed followers he explains his teaching in more detail. Parables are short stories designed to create a picture in the mind of the hearer. Jesus just uses simple everyday situations and events to show what his kingdom will be like and the lifestyle people who live in it should have.

The first parable demonstrates how God works, often beneath the surface, to bring about new spiritual life and growth. It starts with the scattering of seeds which represent the preaching of the Word of God. The Kingdom of God starts in the life of the individual, or in society, when God’s word is proclaimed; but its growth depends on God’s power.

The parable of the mustard seed is simplicity itself – a tiny seed grows into a huge tree, eventually. Here the contrast in size is significant – the tiny, seemingly insignificant seed becomes a thing of stature and glory. The mustard seed can be interpreted as representing both the Church and the spiritual life of individual Christians like you and me.

MEDITATION: Do you remember who sowed the Word of God into your life which started to change you? Has your spiritual life grown or deepened since your first beginnings? Can you describe the changes? How can you help this growth? Have you sowed the Word of God into the lives of others? This could be through explaining your faith to someone who doesn’t believe in Jesus. Or it could be by helping a fellow Christian with a verse or two from the Bible. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you how you can play your part in sowing the seed.

PRAYER: In Psalm 92 the psalmist develops the idea of seeds which become plants and trees. Each day this week join the psalmist to proclaim God’s love in the morning and his truth at night. Ask God to show you how you can become more deeply rooted in him so your Christian life becomes strong and fruitful as verses 12-15 encourages us to be.

Aerobics Festival

Very well done to Monique Nolan, Kayla Boniface, Charlotte Sherriff, Sionelle Cahill and Tylee Fiebig who competed in the Aerobic’s Festival at the Stadium on Sunday. Thanks to Miss Harding and all the parents who prepared the girls. It was really good to see them at assembly this week.

PTA

Sausage Sizzle    ~  We will provide a free sausage sizzle for the children on

Sacred Heart Feast day Friday 22^nd June.  If parents  are available to help with cooking  and serving the BBQ from 11.30 to approx 1pm, please contact LIZA ADAMS 027-4599954.

School Fair   ~   Sunday 4th November 2012. Thanks to the parents who were able to make the fair meeting last week. It was great to see new faces and to be able to work through the school fair concept with you all, and get some cool new ideas for this year. If you were unable to come to the meeting and would still like to be involved in making this a great day out for our kids, friends, families, and the wider community, we would love to hear from you - as with all voluntary events many hands make light work, and you only need to help when and where you can.

Over the coming months we will be looking for families to help with certain aspects of the fair and its stalls. Our children will also become active in preparing for their input to this special day.

In the interim we are keen to hear from any families who:

 - have businesses who may like to sponsor an event on the day of the Fair (eg. The (your   

   company name) Chocolate Wheel, The (your company name) BBQ etc),

 - have access to large marquees or gazebos (especially if they can be set up on concrete

   rather than grass),

 - have access to donations for raffle, chocolate wheel or silent auction prizes - this could be

   business giveaways, meat (eg. half a cattle beast), firewood, free family treats (eg.

   accommodation, entry to events/activities) etc  - anything at all,

 - have any great ideas of proven fun activities for the day’s events.

Please feel free to contact me direct Susanne Brown 2158883,

Todays Tip – Setting Limits - Part 1 Having routines and boundaries is vital for your child.  When children know the expectations, and know that they are consistent, behaviour often becomes very settled and relaxed.  ·       Be realistic in your expectations and use age appropriate demands, don’t give unnecessary commands. ·       Give one instruction/command at a time.  Make them short and to the point. ·       Use “do” commands.  For example, instead of saying “don’t run”, say “please walk”, or instead of saying “don’t talk”, say “be quiet please”. ·       Give your child ample time and opportunity to comply. ·       Don’t threaten children, use when-then commands.  E.g. “When you finish your lunch/homework/chores then you can play/go outside/have a biscuit.” ·       Give children options or choices whenever possible (2 options for young children). ·       Praise compliance or provide consequences for noncompliance. ·       Support your partner’s commands/instructions. More information can be found at http://www.incredibleyears.com

0212602243 or email susanne.brown@clear.net.nz or leave any details at the office. Our next meeting is on Monday the 16th July, 7.30pm at school - mark your calendar now if you'd like to come along.

LEGO               LEGO               LEGO               LEGO               LEGO              

Do you have any lego at home that you no longer use?  Would you like to donate it to our Lego Club?  Please see Mrs Buxton for information.

Altar Servers

Saturday  16^th June                     7.00 pm             Bronte & Piper Adams

Sunday  17^th June                       10.30 am           Bree Chilton & Bridie Kinney

Children’s Liturgy                                                            Susanne Brown

Achievements- Congratulations to:

Jake Meikle who got 6^th in the Southland Otago Chess Tournament in Dunedin last weekend.

Luke O’Connor who got ‘Player of the Day’ for the Star Rugby Under 8’s last weekend.

Sports Results

Sacred Heart Stars won by 14-1.  POD was Josh Cooper.

Tap Dancing

Saturday-16th Sunday-17th June. Come along and watch local Tap Dancing @ Centre Stage, Saturday 9.30am-7.30pm, Sunday 9.00am-1.00pm

Room 1 Class Happenings

Last week Room 1’s letter of the Week was B. The children blew bubbles and wrote these bubble stories.

I like bubbles. Bubbles make me happy. Bubbles go “POP”  Saphira

Look at my bubbles. I blew the bubbles. They are going way over the fence.  Malachi

Look at my bubbles. They are going higher that outer space, then one of the bubbles popped then all of the other bubbles popped too.  Matthew

Look at my bubble. The bubble is floating to the sun. I like bubbles.  Cole

I am blowing bubbles up to Pluto. I don’t like them because they are slimey . Sam

I like bubbles because they can float all the way to Australia to see Nana and Pop. Ben

Look at my bubble. It is floating to Auckland. I like bubbles.  Mason

Look at my bubble. It is floating to the moon. I like bubbles.  Keira

Look at my bubble. It is flying to the sun. Will

Look at my bubble. It is floating to Pluto. I like bubbles.  Fabian

Look at my bubble. It is going to Dunedin to see my friends, Teague and Summer.  Jacob

Look at my bubbles.  My bubbles are going up to a space rocket. The bubbles went into the space rocket. Some bubbles went pop in the space rocket. Some bubbles went POP!  Jack