Preparing for the future in a Catholic environment Hei whakatakatū mo te wā ka heke mai nei I roto I tea o Katorika

March 7th, 2017 Term 1, Week 6

Kia ora Whanau ma

It’s quite amazing to think that already we are half way through the term. As the saying goes ‘time flies when you are having fun’ and on Friday, it was clear that the children were having a great time during the Arts programme. Huge thanks to everyone who has supported this programme and we look forward to seeing what the children get up to over the next four weeks. By following this link you can see what the children were up to during their first session.

On Friday the Brigidine Syndicate enjoyed a fantastic trip to the Golden Shears competition. It was a great excursion as they got up close to the animals, learnt about shearing and wool handling and even managed to get there in time to see Quade’s dad competing.

As I am sure you are all aware next Friday we are holding our school biathlon as part of our St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Please

come along and support the children and enjoy a social and fun evening as a school and wider community.

St. Patrick’s Day 2017 ‘School & Parish celebration’

Parents, children, friends, families & parishioners are invited to come together to celebrate this year’s St. Patrick’s Day.

Where: St. Patrick’s School

When: Friday March 17th from 5.30pm onwards (races will start at 5.45pm)

What:

support the children as they compete in the school biathlon (running & biking/ scooting)

listen to live music

enjoy tasty food from a range of food stalls

- JK’s Food & Coffee truck

- Fridge’s Fruit Ice-creams

- Sausages and burgers

- Filipino & Fijian cuisine

- Fruit & lolly kebabs

socialise and enjoy each other’s company

Ngā mihi o Te Atua Steve Wheeler

Principal

St. Patrick’s School is on Facebook We have school and syndicate Facebook pages which are used to share information about events and important notices. Please find us by following the links below and ‘Like’ the pages. As always our aim is to keep you informed and up to date with what is happening here at school

St. Patrick’s School Facebook page – click here

Brigidine Syndicate Facebook page – click here

McKenna Syndicate Facebook page – click here

Kildare Syndicate Facebook page – click here

School Support Group The St Patrick’s support group are meeting this Friday in the staffroom at 5pm. Anyone is welcome to join us and see what we are all about. We are hoping to set up a breakfast club this year and will need all the support we can get.

A reminder that children should be wearing full summer uniform to school. Trainers, sneakers or other footwear are not permitted. If there is an issue with items of lost uniform please let Michelle know. Long hair should be tied back with a single, green, black, brown or white hairband.

We have had a number of children off with tummy bugs recently. If your

child has been vomiting or had diarrhoea they are not allowed back at school until 48 hours after the last episode. Children will be sent home if

they come back to early – this is to avoid spreading the bug.

2017 Times & Dates

School times: - Children can enter the school grounds from 8.30am

- School starts at 8.55am

- School ends at 3.00pm

Term dates: Term 1 - Monday 30th January to Thursday 13th April Term 2 - Monday May 1st to Friday 7th July Term 3 - Monday 24th July to Friday 29th September Term 4 - Monday 16th October to Thursday 14th December

Teacher Only Day: School will be closed on Tuesday 6th June for staff to attend Religious Education PLD along with the staff of the Wairarapa Catholic Schools

Water bottles

Due to the fencing erected for the building work access to all the school water fountains is not

possible. Due to this situation, we ask that children bring a water bottle to school each day. We will also be looking at finding a solution so that more of the fountains can be made accessible during this term.

Dear Parents/Caregivers

As you know, the Brigidine teachers were away from school on Monday and Tuesday last week. We would like to fill you in on the exciting things we have learnt and want to implement.

We visited Tawa primary school first and saw a great modern learning environment that used play based learning throughout the whole day in the junior school. This led us to investigate play based learning more and so the next day we learnt the theory behind it and how to put it into practice at a PLD course alongside many other Masterton Schools.

We now want to start a play based learning approach in the junior syndicate, so you will be hearing your child talk more about playing. We will be letting the children play in the afternoons each day and this is replacing our ‘topic time’. The play will still cover our curriculum areas of science, technology, art and social sciences but it is driven by the child, their imagination and is about the process rather than the product. Playing also covers our key competencies through sharing, negotiating, higher order thinking, and is especially good for oral language.

When your child plays at school, they are supervised and guided in it. We want them to get the most out of their play and not just be wondering aimlessly. As teachers we need to be there to play with them.

We will be sharing more of our journey in play based learning with you later on in the term.

The Brigidine Team

Furniture for Sale

Due to our classrooms all being updated with new furniture we now have a range of items that we would like to dispose of. These items will be on the deck outside Room 10 & 11 for the rest of this week. If you would like to take any of these items, you are most welcome to do so and all we ask is a donation be made to the school office. Any question please speak with Mr Wheeler or Mr McCann.

Tee-Ball & Mod-Softball

Saturday 11th March – 9am St Pats Paddys vs Lakeview Rockets – Lakeview

St Pats Green Sox vs Lakeview Dodgers – St Pats

Softball – Friday Night League – 6pm Friday March 10th – South Park

St Pats vs DPS Dodgers, Diamond 2

Netball If your child (Yrs 3-6) would like to play netball this

season please click on the link below or register at the school office. If you have not paid for your netball fees

from last year your child will not be able to play this

year until that is paid. Click here to register

FAMILY MASS – 10am This weekend, 12th March, St Patrick’s School are responsible for the music at Mass and children will be reading and saying prayers. Please make an effort to support us New Catholics A group meets at school on Thursdays at 3.30pm as they embark on the journey of becoming Catholic. You are most welcome to join us. Contact Chris Connor or Father Bruce. Baptisms If you would like your child baptised we can arrange this through the school and involve your child’s class (and younger siblings). Please contact the DRS, Chris Connor.

Upcoming Events

8th Mar Masterton Schools Swimming Sports

Fridays Whole School Arts Programme

14th Mar Term 1 Radio Show

17th Mar St Patrick’s Celebrations and school

biathlon

13th Apr Easter Liturgy – 2.30pm

13th Apr Last Day Term 1

1st May 1st Day Term 2

6th Jun Teacher Only Day – School Closed

Walking Bus: From the corner of Hogg Crescent & Worksop Road If we are going to get cold and wet, we won’t walk. From 8.20am on there is supervision and at 8.30am sharp we walk. Let your child walk to school with us. Supervised by a teacher and for many children the only opportunity to walk to school.

Movin'March Snap a photo of your journey to school and go in the draw to win a family pass to your favourite Wellington Wild Things destinations!

Post it to the Movin'March page or email us at schooltravel@gw.govt.nz.

The competition is open to all family members of any child attending a school in the Wellington region that is registered for Movin'March. Competition closes midnight 7 April 2017. Terms and conditions apply: www.movinmarch.com/terms

There are fresh lettuces and bok choy from the school gardens available for $1. These are at the enviro board. Please leave your money at the office!

Sports Notices

Catholic Character

2017 Kildare Syndicate Camp

This year it is the biannual Kildare Syndicate camp.

Traditionally this has always taken place at the start of the year, but this year this has been changed to November in

Term 4 – 29th November to 1st December

St. Patrick’s School Music CD

We are excited to announce that theschool music CD is available for sale from the school office. The CD contains songs sung not only by the whole school but also the amazing school choir. Each CD is a bargain at $10. They will sell out, so get in early to

avoid disappointment.

To listen to quick teaser of the wonderful songs follow these links to our Facebook page or go to the Principal’s Blog.

Later in the newsletter you will find a message from Cardinal John Dew who reminds us what we stand for as a Catholic School and the importance of celebrating this.

If you currently have children in the McKenna Syndicate I am sure that you are now all aware that the three classrooms have wonderful new furniture. The updating of the furniture is one part of our journey as we look to implement ‘modern learning practices’ across the school. The furniture is not just more comfortable and colourful but also enables children to have more choice of where to work and learn depending on the task they are doing. Please pop in and have a look when you can and soon we will be upgrading furniture in our two other syndicates.

This week is ‘Bullying Free NZ week’ and teachers will be making reference to this in their classroom programmes. Bullying is a part of society that has no place and is something that we work with the children on and try to develop their understanding of why it is wrong and how it can affect others. Below is our school ‘WITS’ poster that we encourage children to use if they ever do feel uncomfortable or threatened in a situation.

A very valuable resource that you, as parents/ caregivers, may find helpful can be found at www.bullyingfree.nz. Something that I also came across recently was a poster designed by a child which explained their understanding of bullying. It contained the message that:

When someone says or does something unintentionally hurtful and they do it once, that’s

RUDE

When someone says or does something intentionally hurtful and they do it once, that’s MEAN

When someone says or does something intentionally hurtful and they keep doing it – even

when you tell them to stop or show them that you’re upset, that’s BULLYING

Today, syndicate newsletters for Term 2 will be available for all families. These contain useful information for the term ahead and help you to know what learning experiences your child will be taking part in. Please make sure you get the chance to read them.

Finally, it is always great to hear that students who have moved on from St. Patrick’s continue to perform and shine. Congratulations to Taylor, Maia, Kairi, Sian and Boaz who have all been selected in the Wairarapa Year 7 Rep netball team. It was also fantastic to see so many ex-St. Patrick’s students in the Chanel College Cultural Group performing at the Wairarapa Choral Festival held at the end of last week. Ngā mihi o Te Atua Steve Wheeler, Principal

Later in the newsletter you will find a message from Cardinal John Dew who reminds us what we stand for as a Catholic School and the importance of celebrating this.

If you currently have children in the McKenna Syndicate I am sure that you are now all aware that the three classrooms have wonderful new furniture. The updating of the furniture is one part of our journey as we look to implement ‘modern learning practices’ across the school. The furniture is not just more comfortable and colourful but also enables children to have more choice of where to work and learn depending on the task they are doing. Please pop in and have a look when you can and soon we will be upgrading furniture in our two other syndicates.

This week is ‘Bullying Free NZ week’ and teachers will be making reference to this in their classroom programmes. Bullying is a part of society that has no place and is something that we work with the children on and try to develop their understanding of why it is wrong and how it can affect others. Below is our school ‘WITS’ poster that we encourage children to use if they ever do feel uncomfortable or threatened in a situation.

A very valuable resource that you, as parents/ caregivers, may find helpful can be found at www.bullyingfree.nz. Something that I also came across recently was a poster designed by a child which explained their understanding of bullying. It contained the message that:

When someone says or does something unintentionally hurtful and they do it once, that’s

RUDE

When someone says or does something intentionally hurtful and they do it once, that’s MEAN

When someone says or does something intentionally hurtful and they keep doing it – even

when you tell them to stop or show them that you’re upset, that’s BULLYING

Today, syndicate newsletters for Term 2 will be available for all families. These contain useful information for the term ahead and help you to know what learning experiences your child will be taking part in. Please make sure you get the chance to read them.

Finally, it is always great to hear that students who have moved on from St. Patrick’s continue to perform and shine. Congratulations to Taylor, Maia, Kairi, Sian and Boaz who have all been selected in the Wairarapa Year 7 Rep netball team. It was also fantastic to see so many ex-St. Patrick’s students in the Chanel College Cultural Group performing at the Wairarapa Choral Festival held at the end of last week. Ngā mihi o Te Atua Steve Wheeler, Principal

Sushi or Japanese Noodles for lunch - $4 each This term we are offering the children the chance to purchase sushi for lunch on a Tuesday. The sushi will contain chicken, avocado and cucumber. The Japanese noodles have chicken and vegetables. Each pack of sushi contains five small pieces with 50 cents being donated to the school for each order taken. If you would like your child to have this please place your order at the school office before school on Tuesday mornings.

Brass Lessons in School

If your child is interested in

learning a brass instrument please

see Kim in the school office

Guitar Lessons in School

Ross is doing guitar in school again

this year. For more information

please ring him on 378-8802 or

0226915419

Piano Lessons in School

Hilary is teaching piano in school

again this year. For more

information please ring her on

379-9022

Violin Lessons

Violin tuition available for this

year. Mondays at end of school

time. Contact Stephen Butcher –

3727778 after 6pm

Wairarapa Parish Mass Times

St Patricks Church-Masterton:

Vigil Sat 5.00pm & Sun 8.30am & 10.00am

Weekday Masses: Tues 5.00pm Wed-Fri 9.15am, in J Wagg Room during winter

St Anthony of Padua Church -

Martinborough:

Vigil Sat 5.30pm

Weekday Wed 10.30am

St Marys Church - Carterton:

Vigil Sat 5.30pm;

Weekday Mass: Thurs 9.15am

St Teresa of Avila Church - Featherston:

Sun 10.00am,

Mon 9.00am at the School

Tues & Thurs 9.00am at Fr Morrison's

residence, 38 Wakefield Street, Featherston

Friday 9.30am in the Church

Sacred Heart Church - Greytown:

Sun 8.30am

Weekday Mass: Wed 10.00am

kills.

We are holding an 8 week program

during term 1—so come along and join

in with these FUN, ACTIVE sessions!

We will play games which teach

younger children how to catch, jump,

Douglas Villa Football/Soccer Registration for Douglas Villa Juniors will be held Saturday 11th March 10am-12 and Sunday 19th March 10am onwards at the Douglas Villa club rooms at QEII park. Registration fee of $70 per child or max $140 per junior family must be paid on the day. Contact dvjuniors@outlook.com.

Are you interested in playing U11 Rugby League for a Masterton based

team in the Manawatu mini-mod Sunday competition?

U11 Mini-mod Rugby League Season 19 March – 7 May 2017

When: 1st training and muster Thursday 9

March: 4:30 – 5:30PM

(every Thursday thereafter)

Where: Redstar Rugby Grounds, Colombo Street

Who: U11 Boys and girls (as at 1 Jan 2017)

Doesn’t clash with your rugby union season!

For more info please text Paul 0273240254 or Jimmy 0275048517

Masterton Red Star JAB rugby registrations are on Saturday 11th March at the Colombo Road Club rooms from 10am – 12pm. We will be having a sausage sizzle and welcome you to stay on to watch the Senior Masterton Red Star team play at 1pm. Fees are $30 per person if payed on the day or $40 there after, family discounts are available.