St Joseph's Newsletter T1 Wk7

Kia Ora Koutou

Mauri mahi, mauri ora

Do the mahi, get the treats

On Friday it is the Feast of St Joseph. I’m sure this whakatauki would have resonated with St Joseph who was a hard working carpenter, and the father of Jesus. He provides us with a wonderful role model and shows that we can serve Christ through helping others in our lives and community. We will mark this special day with a Mass at 12pm followed by some celebratory nibbles. We would love to have you join in these festivities with us.

A number of our Year 7 and 8’s have been appointed to leadership positions for 2021. I would like to congratulate them and wish them all the best in this great service to the School community. Our News Team has done a fine job introducing the new House Leaders to you in the interviews below.

We are also very proud to celebrate the successes of our past pupils who have been selected for leadership roles at our local Secondary Schools:

• Daniel Miller - House leader at SJC

• Charlie Raj - Deputy Head Boy at SJC

• Kiriana Le Normand - House leader at SHGC

• Brooke Pitchford - Deputy Head Girl of Learning at SHGC

• Xanthe Wainui-Mackle - Deputy Head Girl at WD

Yesterday, I attended the Fairfield Inter-School Swimming Sports at Fairfield College. The Year 4-6 students did very well against some tough competition. All their mahi paid off and there were some fantastic results. See below for the video of the Year 4 Boys Freestyle Final where 4 of the 6 swimmers were from St Joseph’s. A full results list is below in the Sports section.

Tomorrow our Year 7 and 8 swim team will compete at the Catholic Inter-School Swimming Sports at Waterworld. I wish them all the best as they look to get the treats!

Kia manaaki te Atua koutou katoa

Grant Stuart

Principal

Fourth Sunday of Lent, Cycle B

Sunday, March 14, 2021

Gospel Reading

John 3:14-21

Jesus tells Nicodemus that the Son of Man will be raised up so that those who believe in him will have eternal life.

Background on the Gospel Reading

The fourth Sunday of Lent is sometimes called Laetare Sunday. Laetare is a Latin word that means “rejoice.” Traditionally, Sundays are named after the first word of the liturgy’s opening antiphon. On this Sunday, the antiphon is taken from the book of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 66:10-11). Even as we observe our Lenten sacrifices, we rejoice in anticipation of the joy that will be ours at Easter.

Today’s Gospel reading is taken from John’s Gospel. It consists of two parts. The first part is the final sentence of Jesus’ reply to Nicodemus, the Pharisee who approached Jesus at night. Nicodemus acknowledged Jesus as someone who had come from God and seemed to want to be a follower of Jesus. Jesus greeted Nicodemus with the observation that one must be born from above to see the Kingdom of God. The dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus that followed was about the meaning of this phrase. Nicodemus misunderstood Jesus at every point, but there was no animosity in the questions he posed to Jesus.

In the part of the conversation with Nicodemus in today’s Gospel, Jesus referred to an incident reported in the Old Testament. When the Israelites grumbled against the Lord during their sojourn in the desert, God sent venomous serpents to punish them for their complaints. The Israelites repented and asked Moses to pray for them. The Lord heard Moses’ prayer and instructed him to make a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole. All who had been bitten by a serpent and then looked upon the bronze serpent were cured. By recalling this story, Jesus alludes to the salvation that would be accomplished through his death and Resurrection.

The second part of today’s Gospel is a theological reflection on Jesus’ words to Nicodemus. The Gospel of John is known for this kind of reflection offered within the narrative. The words of the Evangelist are in continuity with the words of the prologue to John’s Gospel. In these reflections, John elaborates on a number of themes that are found in his Gospel: light and darkness, belief and unbelief, good and evil, salvation and condemnation.

In John’s reflection, we find an observation about human sinfulness. Jesus is the light that has come into the world, but people preferred the darkness. We wish to keep our sins hidden, even from God. Jesus has come into the world to reveal our sins so that they may be forgiven. This is the Good News; it is the reason for our rejoicing in this season of Lent and throughout our lives.

Everything we know about the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus comes from Scripture and that has seemed too little for those who made up legends about him. We know Joseph was a compassionate, caring man. Joseph is the patron saint of the dying because, assuming he died before Jesus' public life, he died with Jesus and Mary close to him, the way we all would like to leave this earth.

Joseph is also patron saint of the Universal Church, families, fathers, expectant mothers (pregnant women), travelers, immigrants, house sellers and buyers, craftsmen, engineers, and working people in general.

We celebrate two feast days for Joseph: March 19 for Joseph the Husband of Mary and May 1 for Joseph the Worker. March 19 has been the most commonly celebrated feast day for Joseph, and it wasn't until 1955 that Pope Pius XII established the Feast of "St. Joseph the Worker" to be celebrated on May 1. This is also May Day (International Workers' Day) and believed to reflect Joseph's status as the patron of workers.

• St Patrick's Day - 17 March

• St Joseph's Day - 19 March

• Palm Sunday - 28 March

• Easter Week beginning 29 March

• Good Friday - 02 April public holiday

• Easter Monday - 05 April public holiday

• Easter Tuesday -06 April school holiday
  

Extra-Curricular Activities

As you may be aware, St Joseph’s Fairfield has opted in to the Ministry of Education Donations Scheme for 2021. The Board has accepted the $150.00 donation payment per child from the government for 2021, which means that families will not be asked for a school donation or charged for anything core curriculum related.

As a school, we are proud of the wide range of opportunities that we offer our students, and remain committed to continuing to offer a broad and varied curriculum. The MOE Donations scheme will help us fund core curriculum activities that all students take part in. However, some activities, such as being in one of our choirs or the band, are optional. They are over and above the curriculum offered to all students, and are therefore ‘extra-curricular’. This means that students need parental permission to take part in them, and that there may be a cost incurred.

Extra-Curricular Activities include:

• Choir

• Band

• Kapa Haka

• Music Lessons

• Sports Teams

Each term the BOT reviews various policies, and invites feedback from our school community. This term we are reviewing our Home Learning Policy - a particularly relevant one given the events of the past year! We welcome your feedback to help us improve our policy

Please follow the link and instructions below and contact us if you have any questions.

Visit the website: https://stjosephs.schooldocs.co.nz/

-Enter the username (stjosephs) and password (joseph)

-Follow the link to the relevant policy - Home Learning

-Read the policy.

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

-Select the reviewer type "Parent".

-Enter your name (optional).

-Submit your ratings and comments.

If you don't have internet access, school office staff can provide you with printed copies of the policy and a review form. Thank you for your input for the BOT to consider.

This year the School will cater for Netball and Hockey, other major codes like rugby and soccer will be run through the clubs.

Information about Netball and Hockey will come out on Friday.

For more information about local clubs please refer to our school Facebook page under posts.

Any questions please email Amy: sports@stjosephs.school.nz

Congratulations to the Year 4-6 swimmers that represented St Joseph's at the Fairfield Cluster Swimming Competition. The calibre of competitors was high and all our swimmers did their best. Well done to the following students who received placings:

Year 4

Samuel McDiarmid - 1st freestyle, 2nd backstroke, 2nd breaststroke

Emily Wetere - 3rd breaststroke

Ayrton Drent - 1st breaststroke, 2nd freestyle

Sam McCarthy - 1st backstroke

Kayden Thompson - 3rd freestyle

Year 5

Max Baker - 2nd freestyle

Rafael Drent - 2nd backstroke

Maggie Mutter - 2nd breaststroke

Year 6

Jack Holah - 2nd breaststroke, 3rd freestyle

Samantha Alderton - 3rd freestyle

Relays

Year 4 boys - 1st

Year 5 boys - 2nd

Year 6 boys - 2nd

Ahead of our Annual General Meeting next week we wanted to update our school community on the past year’s activities, and what is a year it has been!

Firstly, a very big THANK YOU to all our families who so enthusiastically get behind our fundraising efforts every year. We are a small group of parents who take on this challenge each year. Most years we aim to raise $20-25,000 which is a phenomenal effort considering the size of our school. The objective of our PTFA is to raise funds for school activities and also to help build and maintain a sense of community and school spirit.

Last year we donated $23,315 to the school for the following:

$10,000 - for new Chromebooks

$5,000 for the year 4-6 camp

$5,000 for year 0-6 swimming lessons

$2,600 for the scholastic library subscription

$215 for classroom tissues

$500 as a contribution to the leavers’ dinner

$219 which was donated to Catholic Family Services - A direct donation from the funds raised from our coin trail at the PTFA family picnic in December

Already this year, the PTFA has committed to donating $5,000 towards the Year 7-8 camp, $5,000 towards school fencing, $5,000 towards Year 0-3 school activities, $5,000 towards Year 4-6 school camp and day trip, $5,000 towards swimming lessons and $400+ to replenish school sunscreen.

We can only do this through our fundraising activities. In the past we have sold honey, pizza and pies, held galas and quiz nights and have had raffles and a-thon events. We also sell second hand school uniform (we welcome donations for this!).

Due to Covid we are putting large type gathering fundraising objectives on hold. A lot of work and effort goes into planning and preparing these large scale events, so to have to postpone them is frustrating. This year we will focus our efforts in other areas that do not have to be cancelled at the last minute.

In 2021 these are our fundraising goals:

- Holding pizza lunches on Fridays – order via Kindo or in the school library

- Easter Raffle – this is already underway and we encourage everyone to get behind this in selling tickets and donating items for our prize hampers

- Entertainment book – you can purchase these electronically now

- Second hand uniform sales – we hold 2 per year

- Christmas raffle – to be drawn at our annual PTFA Family Picnic

- We do have a couple more activities planned and details will be made later in the year

The PTFA is made up of a small group (8-12) of parents who meet once a month on a Tuesday evening in the staffroom. All other correspondence is done through messaging and quick catch ups at school, especially on pizza days. We all volunteer our time to run the PTFA. Our staff representative is Rochelle Wood and our principal Grant Stuart and deputy principal Tracy Svendsen also attend meetings.

As families move through and on from our school, we always rely on new families to come and join the PTFA to keep the wheels turning. We WELCOME new parents to come to our meetings! It is a wonderful opportunity to work alongside and get to know other parents at the school, provide feedback, and have a lot of fun along the way. Please, don’t be put off attending meetings. They are only 1- 1 ½ hours long and no one has to feel like they have to take on extra tasks. Traditional meetings are still the best way to do PTFA business so we do need people to attend. We know everyone leads busy lives these days so we try to make meetings brief but constructive.

With a change in arrangements in the school’s donation scheme in the last two years, the importance and value of the PTFA is even more important than ever if we want our children to continue to have the great activities they currently have at St Jospeh’s.

Our AGM is happening on Tuesday 23rd March at 7pm, and refreshments will be provided, so we look forward to seeing parents there and ongoing support for our PTFA.

WHAT: ST JOSEPH’S FAIRFIELD ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

WHEN: 23 MARCH 2021

TIME: 7pm

ALL WELCOME

Kirsty Parker (Chairperson), Monica Holt (Secretary) and Debbie Breen (Treasurer) and committee members of the St Joseph Fairfield PTFA 2021).

PTFA 2021 Annual General Meeting

As part of our charitable tax status, we are required to hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM). If you attend one PTFA meeting in a year, make it this one. We will recap the spending and fundraising for the year, and our priorities for 2021. This is happening on Tuesday 23rd March at 7pm in the school staffroom. We will be electing role holders for the next year. Reports will be presented from our president and treasurer. If you are interested in what we do please come along. It is a fun social get-together and refreshments will be provided.

St Joseph's Annual Easter Raffle

Raffle ticket sheets went out last week and already they are coming back completed to the school office. If you would like another sheet (or two or three) please ask at the school office.

We ask for each family to sell a sheet of 10 x $2 tickets; and donate an Easter treat item for our hamper prizes. Sweet Pea Parties will again sponsor our spot prizes for all our ticket sellers.

PTFA Pizza Fridays

Please note a change in the pricing, there will be a flat fee of $1.50 per slice.

The PTFA are now taking orders by either cash on the day or by Kindo. Orders taken in the library from 8.15am on Friday; or orders via the Kindo App need to be made before 8.30am on the day.

Cheese, pepperoni and Hawaiian flavours and gluten free bases available. Thank you for supporting us!

PTFA Second-hand Uniform Sale

This will be happening on the concrete area in front of the staffroom on April 9th at 2.30pm. We will gratefully accept donations of unwanted uniform items to sell, at the school office. Payments will be possible through Kindo.

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

For those families who have given permission for their Year 7 child to receive their Boostrix immunisation at school this year: Due to the public health nurses involvement in the Covid-19 vaccination programme, the date for the Year 7 Boostrix has been delayed. It is now scheduled to be administered on Wednesday 22 September. Any further changes will be advised.

Lucky Book club online orders will close Fri 19th March. All orders must be completed online using the Scholastic LOOP, details are on the catalogue. No orders will be accepted at the school office. Orders completed by Fri 19th March will be delivered to school for distribution to students. Any orders completed after this date can be sent to your home address at a small postage cost.

First Credit Union provides a school banking service to all pupils at St Joseph’s School. Getting started is easy - just pick up an application pack from the school office, fill in the application form and return it to the school office. If your children are already doing school banking, remember that the school banking will be collected on Wednesday each week.

Credit Union are giving children the chance to WIN 1 of 3 bikes!

Every deposit made through the school banking programme between 16th Feb and 9th Apr 2021 puts you in the draw! The prizes will be drawn on Monday 12th April.

Term dates for 2021 are:

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

Term 2: Tuesday 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/