Dear Parents & Whanau,

It has been wonderful to be able to celebrate Easter Week with the children. The week began with the final part of our Easter Liturgy, celebrating the Risen Lord. It was great to have so many parents and whanau join us for the Easter Liturgy for the Holy Thursday and Easter Wednesday.

Today we have ended Easter Week with a Mufti Day, Cereal Dominoes and Tabloid Sports. Thank you for your amazing support of this Easter event.

The Principal’s message will cover the following topics:

• Reporting 2021
• Term 1 Sharing the Learning
• Term 2 Dates
• Second-Hand Uniforms
• Cereal Dominoes
• Tabloid Sports

Ka manaakitia e te Atua

Alister Bridgman

Principal

At St Joseph’s we are constantly developing and improving on assessment and reporting processes to better support the learners, staff and famlies so that quality learning information is shared.

Below are the various ways in which we report.

Overview of Reporting for 2021

All Year

Parents are welcome to make an appointment with their child’s teacher at any stage through the year to discuss their child’s progress and achievements.

Years 0-1

Term 1

• School Entry Assessment with parent meeting to discuss results
• Progress Assessment and meeting for students starting the previous year

Term 2 and 4

• Sharing the Learning – students with parents

Term 4

• Spotlight Achievement Report

Ongoing

• School Entry Assessment and meetings
• One Conference for parents of all students who have turned 6 (after 1 year in school)

Years 2-6

Term 1 and 3

• Sharing the learning – students with parents

Term 2

• Student Led Conferences – student and teacher with parents
• Spotlight Progress and Achievement Report

Term 4

• Spotlight Progress and Achievement Report

Sharing the Learning

• Shares and celebrates all learning achieved in all curriculum areas throughout the term
• Is student led
• Students for whom parents are not in attendance, are provided the opportunity to share their learning with a fellow student or another parent or teacher
• The teacher’s role is simply to facilitate the event
• Parents wishing to discuss their child’s learning with the teacher, need to make an appointment with the teacher or through the office

Spotlight Reports

• Will report on a sample of what they have achieved in different aspects of Reading, Writing and Maths
• Their progress (mid-year) or achievement (end of year), in relation to the NZ Curriculum levels
• Key competencies
• A General Comment that relates to Special Catholic Character, The Arts, PE, Inquiry learning
• The Spotlight Report will be shared with parents after the conference in Term 2 and in Week 9 of Term 4

Student Led Conferences

• All students, with their parents, are expected to participate in Student Led Conferences
• The purpose of these is for the student to share their learning with their parents, with the teacher’s support. It is a guided conversation between the student and parent, with education expertise on the side.
• The outcome is that parents gain knowledge as to what their child has learnt and what their next steps are in their learning.
• Parents wishing to further discuss their child’s learning with the teacher, after the Student Led Conference, need to make an appointment.

Real Time Reporting

We are working towards ‘Real Time Reporting’. This allows students to share with their parents when they choose – their progress and achievements. It also allows parents to celebrate with their child, the progress and achievements they are making, as they make them, rather than waiting for the ‘StudentLed Conferences’ and mid-year reports.

Developments (more specific information and instructions will be sent out about this):

• New School Parent App begins to be used in Term 2
• Some learning WALTs and samples of learning shared with parents through the ‘My Child’ section of the app
• Mid-year reports, shared digitally with parents

Kakariki Team

• Home Groups 1 – 5
• Thursday 15 April
• 8 am – 9am

Kea Team

• Home Groups 12 – 14
• Thursday 15 April
• 1.30 pm – 2.30 pm

Kakapo Team

• Home Groups 6 – 11
• Friday 16 April
• 8 am – 9 am

• Monday, May 3rd – Day 1 of Term 2
• Thursday, May 13th – Teacher Only Day (School CLOSED)
• Monday, June 7th – Queen’s Birthday (School CLOSED)
• Friday, July 9th – Last Day of Term 2

• Date: Thursday 15, April
• Time: 8.00 – 9.30am and 2.00 – 3.30pm
• Location: Classroom next to the new library
• Payment by cash or bank transfer only

The PTFA are organising a 2^nd hand uniform sale on Thursday 15, April from 8.00 – 9.30am and then again from 2.00 – 3.30pm.

The sale will be held in the classroom next to the new library, which is in the pre-fab buildings on the top field (to the right of the driveway out of school).

The cost of items will be:

• $5 for polos, sports items, skorts, culottes, shorts, and shoes
• $10 for vests, and
• $15 for jackets.

If you have items available to donate, please drop them in the box in the school office before Tuesday 13, April.

Please note that the sale will be cash only, or you can transfer funds directly to the PTFA bank account.

Thank you for your support!