St Joseph's Newsletter T2 Wk6

Kia Ora Koutou

"Ki te hiahia koe ki te ako i nga taiohi, tuatahi me aroha koe ki a raatau"

"If you want to teach young people, first you must love them."

This is St Marcellin Champagnat’s most famous quote. St Marcellin was the founder of the Marist Order and an educator in France during the 1800s. The Feast day of Marcellin Champagnat was celebrated today in fine spirit by the St John’s College School community. I was privileged to attend a beautiful Mass with a group of Year 8 boys. The Mass was a wonderful celebration of everything St John’s College stands for and believes.

I think that this quote resonates even more with us today with a strong focus developing on well-being. It is also backed up by the research of Nathan Wallis and his theory on the first 100 days of our tamariki. It certainly links directly with the mahi the teaching team is doing with Relationship Based Learning (RBL). This approach has been developed by Russel Bishop, a respected lecturer at Waikato University. The underlying message is that if we can get the relationship between student and teacher right then the tamariki will be engaged in their learning.

Coming up in Week 9 and 10 is an opportunity to come together in unison to share and talk about your child’s learning. For students to be successful learners it is important that we work together, school and home sharing what each knows about the child and their learning. This is reinforced by “Parents and whanau play a critical role in supporting their children’s learning right from the start. Evidence shows that learning outcomes are enhanced when parental involvement in school is sustained and focused on learning activites.” (Ka Hikitia, p.28) Ka Hikitia is a well respected Ministry of Education New Zealand document.

Kia manaaki te Atua koutou katoa

Grant Stuart

PRINCIPAL

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, Cycle B

Sunday, June 6, 2021

Gospel Reading
Mark 14:12-16,22-26
Jesus shares his Last Supper with his disciples.

Background on the Gospel Reading

Today, the second Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate a second solemnity, which marks our return to Ordinary Time in the liturgical calendar. Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. At one time, this day was called Corpus Christi, the Latin words for “the Body of Christ.” In the most recent revision of our liturgical rites, the name for this day is expanded to be a more complete reflection of our Eucharistic theology.

In our reading for today, we read the account of the Last Supper found in the Gospel of Mark. It begins with the instructions that Jesus gave to his disciples to prepare their Passover celebration. It then goes on to give an account of the Last Supper. On this Sunday, however, our Lectionary reading omits the verses between these two passages; in those omitted verses we hear Jesus predict his betrayal by one of his disciples.

The Gospel of Mark describes Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples as a celebration of the Jewish feast of Passover. The Jewish celebration of Passover is a memorial to and a ritual participation in the defining moment of Israel’s history. It celebrates God’s deliverance of his people from slavery in Egypt. The Passover meal includes many ritually important elements, such as unleavened bread, lamb, and bitter herbs. Each food item recalls an aspect of the Exodus event. The instructions for the preparation of this meal are carefully prescribed in the Law of Moses. It is a central obligation of the Jewish faith tradition to celebrate this meal and to give thanks to God for his deliverance and protection.

In the description of the Passover meal found in today’s Gospel, however, Mark omits many elements of the Jewish Passover meal. Instead he describes only those elements he believes to be most essential to the Christian Eucharist: Jesus took bread, blessed the bread, broke the bread, and shared it with his disciples. Similar words and actions follow as Jesus shares the chalice with his disciples. This bread now shared is Jesus’ own body. Those who drink from the chalice are invited to share in a new covenant which will be sealed by Jesus’ own blood. Mark’s Eucharistic theology looks forward to the Kingdom of God that Jesus inaugurates.

The Gospel for today reminds us that the Eucharist is a memorial of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. We believe that Jesus is truly present to us in the elements of bread and wine. Each time we celebrate this sacrament, we prepare for the Kingdom of God. This celebration, as the Second Vatican Council taught us, is the source and summit of the Christian life.

The month of June is dedicated to The Sacred Heart of Jesus. This month falls within the liturgical season of Ordinary Time, which is represented by the liturgical color green. This symbol of hope is the color of the sprouting seed and arouses in the faithful the hope of reaping the eternal harvest of heaven, especially the hope of a glorious resurrection. It is used in the offices and Masses of Ordinary Time.

Reiterating the quote of St. Marcellin Champagnat, we are reminded that June is a Time of Love.

Following Pentecost, the Church begins her slow descent from the great peaks of the Easter Season to the verdant pastures of Ordinary Time, the longest of the liturgical seasons. Like the lush June growth all around us, the green of the liturgical season points to the new life won for us by the Redemption of Jesus Christ, the new life of Charity. For Our Lord came to cast the fire of His love on the earth, and to that end, sent His Holy Spirit at Pentecost in the form of tongues of fire.

We too are called to be witnesses like the apostles and martyrs. May the Heart of Jesus inflame our hearts so that we may be worthy of our Baptismal call to holiness. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.

Mid-year assessment information for your child will be available on Hero, our digital platform, at the end of Week 8 on Friday 25 June. We will advise you when this is ready to be viewed through your Hero parent account. This will be followed by Learning Conversations held over 3 days in the last two weeks of term. We see these conversations with parents as a very important part of the learning relationship between home and school, and we strongly encourage you to make an appointment to discuss your child’s progress.

Teachers will be available for appointments at the following times:

Tuesday 29 June: 2.15 - 6.00pm

• School does not finish early on this day, the children will be in the Church having singing practice until 2.45pm

Wednesday 30 June: 1.30 - 6.00pm

• The Learning Conversations will run from 1.30 pm on Wednesday. Children are to be picked up at 12.30 pm on that day.

• Supervision will be provided for those who can not pick up their children until 2.45pm.

Tuesday 6 July: 3.00 - 5.00pm

• Normal school day

Please make an appointment for a Learning Conversation online:

St Joseph's Fairfield Learning Conversations Term 2 2021 Booking Link

Or go to www.schoolinterviews.co.nz

Event Code: zgb6e

Please note that your child’s class teacher/Kaitiaki teacher will have an understanding of your child’s progress in all subjects, even if your child goes to a different teacher for reading or maths. We do not have enough appointment slots for you to book an appointment with each subject teacher on these days.

To log in to your HERO parent account for the first time: https://hero.linc-ed.com/parents/

• Use the email address that the school has for you

• Select New User to set up a password

We are looking forward to an exciting end of term!

Week 9: Monday 28 June - Friday 2 July - Matariki Learning:

In Week 9, our whole school will be learning more about Matariki, the Māori New Year. In June/July, Matariki will reappear in the dawn sky. It is a time to celebrate new life, to remember those who’ve passed and to plan for the future. And it’s a time to spend with whānau and friends, to enjoy kai (food), waiata (song), tākaro (games) and haka. During this week at school there will be:

• tuakana-teina Matariki learning activities during the week, where the older children will work alongside the younger ones. This will include the whole school creating a “Wishing Wall” based around Hiwa-i-te-rangi, one of the 9 stars in the Matariki star cluster. It is known as the 'wishing star'. This star has a connection to our hopes, dreams and aspirations for the year ahead.

• Kapa Haka performing at a local Rest Home on Tuesday 29 June

• some lunchtime entertainment

• a mufti day on Thursday 1 July held by our Student Council. To fit with Matariki, the theme is “Come as the Star You Are - Stars for Starship!” to raise funds for Starship Hospital. Dress to showcase your talents, or just be the wonderful unique YOU! Gold coin donation please.

Week 10: Monday 5 July - Friday 9 July - Celebrating Cultures:

Our school is made up of many diverse nationalities, and this week is about understanding more about some of the customs, traditions and celebrations that are important in our students' homes too.

We would love to have some of our parents (or grandparents, aunts or uncles!) come into classrooms to tell us about some of the unique things about your culture. For example:

• What do you celebrate? How do you celebrate it?

• What special customs or traditions do you have?

• What traditional food do you have?

• How is life in your country different to life in New Zealand?

If you can volunteer to come in, please fill in this google form, and we will get back to you to confirm details and times. Or contact your classroom teacher directly. Volunteers for CulturalCelebration Week - Google Form

As well as having visitors to our classrooms, we will be:

• Having a “shared kai” lunch on Thursday 8 July. This is to celebrate Matariki, and Celebrating Cultures week, and the end of Term 2! This will be an opportunity for children to bring along some food from their culture to share, or just a yummy treat! Children will share with their syndicate. More information to come - and remember no nuts!

• Welcoming performance groups from St John’s College and Sacred Heart College (Pasifika and Kapa Haka)

• Wearing mufti on Thursday 8 July with a theme of International Dress. Do you have a traditional dress from your country? Eg a sari from India, or a green top to represent your Irish heritage? We will have a parade on the turf to show our pride in the heritage of our diverse families. Wear anything to show where your family is from!

Reporting to Parents on Student Progress and Achievement

This term parents are invited to contribute to our scheduled policy review via the School Docs platform where our policies are hosted. You can do this directly from our St Joseph’s website, by going to the Parents tab and clicking on the link to School Docs under Policies:

1. Enter the username (stjosephs) and password (joseph).

2. Follow the link to the relevant policy as listed (Reporting to Parents on Student Progress and Achievement)

3. Read the policy.

4. Click the Policy Review button at the top right-hand corner of the page.

5. Select the reviewer type "Parent".

6. Enter your name (optional).

7. Submit your ratings and comments.

Alternatively, you can collect a hard copy of the policy and a review form from the school office. Thank you, we appreciate your input to our policy reviews.

There will be a Parent Information Session about HERO on Thursday 24 June at 3pm in Matatipu (the Year 1 classroom), in preparation for Mid Year Digital Reports “going live” the following day.

This session is for:

• Parents who are new to our school, to understand our HERO reporting system. We will go over the curriculum levels and how progress information is shown on HERO.

• Those who want a refresher on how to understand the progress information in the report.

If you are having any technical issues accessing your parent HERO account; bring your device and we will try to get it sorted for you! If you can’t make the meeting and have a technical issue eg unable to log in, please contact Ms Svendsen: t.svendsen@stjosephs.school.nz

If you want to discuss the progress of your individual child, please remember to make an appointment for a Learning Conversation with your child’s classroom teacher.

We’ve recently had a number of traffic and parking violations near the school in the past couple of weeks, including a collision among two vehicles. We are reminding drivers to be vigilant when driving in the area and to adhere to parking rules, especially during drop off and pick up times. The residents in Strowan Ave and Clarkin Road get frustrated when parents park over their driveways.

The school is actively working with the Hamilton CIty Council and the Police to ensure that we can keep our students safe.

The Police have advised us to supply registration numbers and details of any offence and they will send a written notice. If you happen to see an incident, we ask that you report it to the school office by calling (07) 855 5434 or email admin@stjosephs.school.nz

Let’s keep the community safe for our whānau! Thank you!

There are currently a number of students arriving very early and being picked up very late. Just a reminder:

Drop Off - Students are not allowed on site before 8am as there is no supervision available.

Pick Up - Students are to be picked up by 3.15pm as the teachers have meetings after school and can not provide supervision.

Students that are still at school after 3.15pm will be booked in to SKIDS and charges will apply.

Alfie Mason took home a bronze medal Wednesday night from Hamilton Mountain Bike Club in the Club Championships.

Congratulations, Alfie!

Congratulations to these 18 students who contributed to our school placing 1st overall at the CIS General Knowledge Quiz on June 1st. We retain the trophy for another year! Our teams actually placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd... amazing!

1st - Thomas, Will, Eva

2nd - Samuel, Jackson, Daniel

3rd - Ryan, Bella, Tessa

Thanks for representing us so well!

The PTFA are offering Nothing Naughty Protein Bars for sale this term!
Nothing Naughty Protein Bars is based in Tirau and the bars are made fresh with no artificial colours, flavours or sweeteners. Premium NZ whey protein and local know-how make for a winning combination known to be the tastiest protein bars in NZ.
On top of all the good stuff, these bars are also gluten free and are delicious!
Orders can be placed either via Kindo or fill out an order form and return it to the school office with payment by Friday June 11th. Delivery of the bars will be made 10 days following and bars will be available to pick-up from school.

The price is $2 per slice!

Cheese, Hawaiian & Pepperoni - Gluten free also available.

Order in the school library or via mykindo:

https://shop.tgcl.co.nz/shop/

Please remember to support our school when buying your next Entertainment Book. Proceeds go to the PTFA.

St Patrick's Catholic School, Te Awamutu

22nd and 23rd October

Powhiri, school tours, archives, mix and mingle, dinner and dance.

Come and share in the memories!

Register online at www.stpatta.co.nz or phone the school office (07) 8714669

Term dates for 2021 are:

Term 1: Tuesday 2nd February - Friday 16th April

Term 2: Monday 3rd May - Friday 9th July

Term 3: Monday 26th July - Friday 1st October

Term 4: Monday 18th October - Thursday 16th December

The Teacher Only Days are:

Term 2: Tuesday 8 June (Week 5)

Term 3: Monday 30 August (Week 6)

Term 4: Tuesday 26 October (Week 2)

Email: admin@stjosephs.school.nz
Website: https://www.stjosephs.school.nz
Location: St Joseph's Catholic School, Fairfield Clarkin Road, Fairfield, Hamilton, New Zealand
Phone: +64 7-855 5434
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/St-Josephs-Fairfield-Hamilton-155139431353445/