School Mass

We had a lovely School Mass, Wednesday this week, celebrated by Monsignor David. The focus for the Mass was our theme for the 2017 school year “New Beginnings” “Timatanga Hou”. The students sang beautifully and it was a lovely way in which to welcome new students and staff to St Joseph’s and welcome back students and staff for the 2017 school year. We were joined by parents, whanau and parishioners. Monsignor David was joined by Father Richard Sabiti and Father Richard Cortes. Our thanks to Miss Woodhead, staff and students for the preparation that went into this Mass

Bishop’s Award

At our Mass we were joined by the Auckland Diocese Vicar of Education, Miss Linda McQuade. After Monsignors homily she presented our Board Chairperson, Shane Coleman, a Bishop’s Award. This was presented in grateful thanks for all Mr Coleman has done for Catholic Education in Auckland, particularly his fifteen years on our Board of Trustees, fourteen of which he has been Chairperson. Congratulations to Mr Coleman on receiving this well-deserved award.

 

Religious Education

The students in our school are moving on to learning about Jesus and how they can be like him. We will put further information about this learning in upcoming newsletters. Please find information on this learning strand on the faithalive website. Search for your child’s year group and then Jesus Strand. http://www.faithalive.org.nz/assets/Resources/Family-whanau-book.pdf

 

Prayer Bags: To encourage our families to pray together each Home Group has a prayer bag. This prayer bag is sent home on a roster system for you to share in prayer with your child/ren. Most Home Groups are sending this bag home for a week. We encourage you to take the time to share in prayer with your child. As we are learning about the life of Jesus this would be a great time to read together the bible stories of Jesus’s life. (If you need a good bible see the St Joseph’s Centre Bookshop – this is onsite around the back of the three story building)

 

Jesus Strand Learning: This is the first of five learning strands that your child will look at this year. Our school wide understanding is to;

• Understand that Jesus is God, fully human and fully divine.
• The various ways in which Jesus is present today in the world, and the Church especially in the Sacrament of Eucharist.
• That people who believe in Jesus are invited into a loving relationship with him, to follow him and live his way through tika, pono and aroha.

 

Each of our teaching and learning programmes take a slightly different focus, which is appropriate to the age and stage of the learners. See your child’s Religious Education book for their particular focus.

 

Prayer for Students

God of Light and Truth,

thank you for giving me

a mind that can know

and a heart that can love.

Help me to keep learning every day of my life,

for all knowledge leads to you.

Let me be aware of your presence

in all things and at all times.

Encourage me when work is difficult

and when I am tempted to give up;

encourage me when my brain seems slow

and the way forward is difficult.

Grant me the grace to put my mind to use

exploring the world you have created,

confident that in you there a wisdom

that is real.

Amen.

 

— Charles Henderson

 

Time for our 2017 Leaders

Friday 17 February was an exciting but slightly nervous morning for our Year 6 students.

All the years of waiting for leadership had finally come. After Kakariki Team prayers our new Leaders for 2017 were announced.

Mr Bridgman accompanied us, to be part of this important event, and as our names were called our eyes lit up, and our faces showed how proud we were to have been selected.

Over the years the teachers have been watching how we have grown in our leadership, the way we support our teammates, the way we turn our words into actions, how we are role models and show our resilience even in tough times, including our playground behaviour.

As leaders in 2017, we are ready to take on this challenge, and be the best leaders we can be.

Reported by Amelia L, Ryan B, and Daniel C.

 

Students Safety

Please could you go through, with your children, ways in which they can keep themselves safe when walking anywhere. This is a message we need to regularly give our children in order that they know how to stay safe when walking from one place to another i.e. walking to and from school.

We Need Your Help

Thank you for your support with our end of day leaving school arrangements. While these do not necessarily work for every parent, it is important that the staff, and you as parents’ in our school community, can get all our 383 students home safely every day. Thank you.

Fred Thomas Drive Drain Laying

We are of the understanding that from the beginning next week the exits from our school/church property will be restricted. Please be patient when collecting your children at the pick-up area and particularly as you are leaving the grounds. This process potentially could take longer than normal. We will know more next week when we see the new layout of the drain laying area.

 

 

Newsletter Week three Term 1 2017