5 December

Dear Parents

As the school year draws to an end I wish to take this opportunity to thank all our parent coaches, drivers and supporters who have ensured our sports teams have been able to complete this term.

We have had soccer, badminton, table tennis, cricket, basketball, flipperball and touch teams this term who have all performed well which is a credit to them but also a reflection of the support from our coaches and supporters. Many thanks for your commitment to our children.

Congratulations to Mrs Tagomoa-Kaa in making her Sacraments of Initiation last weekend.

Good luck to Summer Smith, Anika Winders, Jacob Boniface and Malachi Lang who are taking part in the BMX Champs this afternoon. We look forward to hearing about this.

I will be away tomorrow so will unfortunately miss the Room 7 & 8 camp sleepover. I know all the children are looking forward to this and hope you all have a great night.

Our final school Mass will be next Thursday at 9.30am.

We are hoping for some fine weather after lunch so we can use Mrs McKenzie’s water slide.

School Events for your Calendars:

Friday                         6/12         Mufti, Gold Coin, Jump Rope

Friday                        6/12         Canteen – Final Day

Friday                        6/12         Rooms 7 & 8 Sleepover

Tuesday                    10/12       Year 6 Day

Wednesday             11/12       Rooms 5 & 6 to Anderson’s Park

Thursday                                    12/12       End of Year Mass 9.30am

                                                      Reports go home

Friday                        13/12       End of Term 4 @ 12.30 pm

Monday                     16/12       BOT 7 pm

Tuesday                    28/1         Start of Term 1 2014

Year 6 Leavers

Next week the Year 6 leavers’ night will bring an end to an association with a number of families -Boniface, Brookland, Brown x 3, Cooper, Devlin, Downing, Forde, Hawkes, Kinney, Nolan, Reitsma-Smith, Russell, Sherriff, Tinker and Wilkes.

I thank you all for your support and contribution to our school over the years. Whether it be class help, camps, sports, fundraising, social events PTA or BOT, it has all been much appreciated. Thank you.

Reports

Our reporting format is different to an increasing number of schools that are computer generated reports from the school management systems. We have retained our format with the aim of making them more “personal” to each child. I will be asking for feedback from parents in regards your interpretation of the reports next week. An issue is that we have designed rubrics with criteria statements for Maths, Writing and Reading. The teacher and children use these when setting goals and next steps. Because of this a lot of children of similar ability will have similar comments in regards progress and achievements.

Mufti Gold Coin for Philippines / Jump Rope

Tomorrow will be mufti to fundraise for the Philippines. We would appreciate your child donating a gold coin.  At 1.30pm Jump Rope will kick off. The children will need to bring suitable footwear for skipping and if they have a hula hoop, could they bring that too please. Parents are welcome.

McDermott Buses

McDermott’s will finish transporting our children on Tuesday 10^th December. The Otatara bus will leave at 12.00 noon on this day but the other buses will go at the normal time. Please let Christine know if your child is to be put on this early bus.

Book Amnesty – LIBRARY BOOKS AND READING BOOKS

We have a lot of books not being returned to school. Can I ask all parents to check at home for books belonging to us and return them asap, no questions asked.  Many thanks.

Lost Glasses

Declan from Room 1 has lost his glasses. We would appreciate you keeping an eye out for these.

FAITH FACT FOR WEEK 8

Did you know that Advent is the season that begins the Church year?  This does not mean that Advent is the most important time of the year.  The Easter cycle has always had this honour.  We have a number of symbols that remind us of this season and help us on our prayerful journey towards the birth of Christ.  Symbols like the Advent Wreath, an Advent calendar, perhaps you even have a Jesse Tree.  The Jesse Tree has persons associated with the gradual coming of the Messiah added each week. 

Google “Jess Tree” and create one in your home!

Altar Servers

Saturday 9 December             7.00 pm                     Nathan Russell      

Sunday 10 December             10.30 am                                     Max Forde & Caleb Brown    

Children’s Liturgy                                                         Aletta Reid

Basketball Results:

Flyers lost 4-6              Breakers won 20-2              Slamdunkers lost 18-20          Sharks lost 4-20

Touch Results:

Stars won against St. Pat’s 5 – 0.  POD was Alex Hawkes and Alex McLeod.

Ballers lost 5 - 6

Sharkes lost 0 – 2

Out of School Art Classes 2014 ~For more info contact 2177482.

Singing & Drama Holiday Programme 16 – 19 December 9am – 3pm

Fully interactive and extensive singing and drama programme for students Years 1 – 8 who would like to have fun while learning the arts of singing and drama. “Voice development, microphone work, mime, improvisation, short plays and musical theatre”. For more info contact: Alice Fraser 0212054412 or Miriam Erikson 0276004631.

We thank the BNZ for supplying our new school sign.

Room 5 Class Happenings

Last week Room 5 were inspired to write about Vikings from a story we had enjoyed in class. Here are a few of the responses made from the story.

Once upon a time there was a boy named Josh. One day he saw a Viking ship. He saw a Viking. “Do you want to be a Viking with us?”, asked the Viking. Josh replied, “Yes”. So he hopped on board and lots and lots of Vikings came aboard. They untied the boat and sailed away down a stream.  They crashed into a rocky shore of an island so they jumped out and walked down the rocky shore. Lots of waves splashed on them and they got really wet. They kept on walking when one man tripped over in the water but the king saved him so they ran back to the ship and sailed back home.  Cole H

Once there was a Viking. His name was Spooky. He was going to fight and saw an eating plant. They took it on the boat and found brown coal. They were fighting a roaring, white, grey and green dragon. He was thirty -four feet long. He had claws. They got back on the boat and rowed to a rocky island.  Jimmy

Once there was a ten -year old boy called Josh who believed in Vikings so much that he went into the Viking’s layer. The leader of the Vikings said,” You are going to Mars to fight with us and as quick as a wink he was on the Viking ship. He was so surprised that he had a sword and a shield and silver armour.

“We are going to fight dragons, “said the leader. “They live in space. Josh was scared. He had never fought with a sword before. The leader of the Vikings said,” Don’t worry. We will train before we fight because he is of my people. We haven’t trained very much.” So they trained every morning and every afternoon. Finally they were trained and fought the dragons.  Caleb

Hiccup is a Viking. He saves Berk Island from wild dragons with their own dragons. Stoic is a Viking as well. Stoic has a brown beard. He ahs a friend called Gobba. Gobba makes swords and shields. You will never get lost but if you do get lost we have shields or swords to help you.

Cole H

One day Vikings killed heaps of dragons.  Children tried to train the dragons but they got told off. Right then a baby was born called Hiccup. When he was eight he trained his own dragon and kept it a secret. Then when he went to dragon school he learnt about the dragon’s weaknesses. He had fun with the dragon. Soon the whole village heard and they all wanted a dragon. Soon the dragon went crazy because it had a loose tooth and no one knew. They checked the dragon. And they saw the loose tooth and fixed it. The dragon was all better.  Malachi

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank parents and grandparents for your support given to the ‘Fabulous Room 5 Team’ and myself over the year. Your help has been much appreciated. Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and break to enjoy with your families.

Regards Nicola Winders