4

28th

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2!"4

-e.sletter

Birthday Wishes
Maxine Dela Cruz 13th March 5 years Arlin Wikaira 24th March 10 years Maddie S art 2!th March ! years Blake "h# s#n $th A%ril 12 years

'ra(er of the )ee*

Almighty, everlasting God, Who in Thy beloved Son, King of the whole world, hast willed to restore all things anew; grant in Thy Mercy that all the families of nations, rent asunder by the wound of sin, may be subjected to is most gentle rule! Who with Thee lives and reigns world without end! Amen!

Gospel Values for Term One: Love, Forgiveness and Justice

'ra(er for Guidance

&ord 'esus, may everything # do begin with (ou, continue with (our hel), and be done under (our guidance! May my sharing in the Mass free me from my sins, and ma%e me worthy of (our healing! May # grow in (our &ove and (our service, and become a )leasing offering to (ou; and with (ou to (our *ather! May the mystery # celebrate hel) me to reach eternal life with you! Amen

+uote of the ,ear

"rive carefully! #t$s not only cars that can be recalled by their ma%er

School News
Subway Tuesday 8th April. office Forms or in are the available from the school classroom. Working Bee We will be holding bee !th bring another this "arch. along shovel from working Saturday work# your hand# $%am. Miniball starting children in "iniball ter year is for '(8. so

student.s )rogress and achievement in line with the +ational standards in 7eading, Writing and Mathematics and is re)resented in the form of 8bjective Teacher 'udgements 98T's:! The following information is just a selection of data from that which was )resented at the recent 6oard of Trustees meeting/ ;<<= of our girls are )rogressing and achieving in line with the +ational Standard for 7eading and Writing! That is a fantastic result! Whist this is only at the start of the year, these results indicate that every girl at St -atric%.s School is currently on trac% to achieving at the a))ro)riate +ational Standard by the end of the year! >?= of all students are )rogressing and achieving in line with the +ational Standard for 7eading! 8nce again; fantastic! >?= of all students are )rogressing and achieving in line with the +ational Standard for Mathematics! >@= of all girls at the school are on trac% for achieving the standard by the end of the year! A<= of our Maori students are )rogressing and achieving in line with the +ational standard for Mathematics! AB= of our boys are on trac% for achieving or eCceeding the +ational Standard for Writing and >D= of boys are )rogressing and achieving in line with the +ational Standard for Mathematics! We are told that these figures should not be used to com)are a))les with a))les or to )it school against school, but the reality is that every )arent should be mindful of the educational and academic wellbeing of their children and conseEuently there should be at least some voyeuristic a))eal about seeing how well your school is doing in relation

"any hands make light hammer# starting

and gloves and give us a

'rincipal/s 0ommentar(:
Student achie&e ent At the beginning of every year, every )rimary school in +ew ,ealand has to submit their student achievement information to the Government! They in turn sanitise that information and then )lace it in the )ublic domain for general viewing! -eo)le can loo% at the achievement information for a range of schools and chec% on how well their children.s school is doing and although they are not su))osed to do so; can also com)are schools with other schools! A))arently, +ational Standards were never su))osed to be used for that/ (eah,0 right1 2ollecting all of that information )rovides us with an o))ortunity to then )lan learning o))ortunities for the current year, based on the needs of the students! That information will eventually be )lastered on the Ministry funded website at/ htt)/33www!educationcounts!g ovt!n43find5school where you can select any school in any area of +ew ,ealand and chec% out their results from &ast year! Towards the end of the first term we also collect and collate initial data for re)orting on our targets to the 6oard of Trustees! The data is based on

ne&t

Forms went out earlier in the week# if your child is interested make !th April. Whole School-Parish in playing this is sure

returned to the office by

Mass )n Sunday $'th April. *t is a re+uirement for all students to attend wearing school uniform. Easter Egg Hunt

,on-t forget the .aster .gg /unt on Sunday $'th April. Tickets are 0 available 1aso ,airy. from and the

School )ffice and the .l

to others, if not for ma%ing choices about the best school for your child, then certainly as a benchmar% for your own school! The website/ htt)/33schoolre)ort!stuff!co!n43 D<;?3indeC!)h) with its ability to com)are schools together, angered a lot of schools that were totally un)re)ared for the introduction of +ational Standards, with claims that it would cause )arents to desert those under5)erforming schools and head for the elite and high5achieving ones! #t hasn.t! +ot in Auc%land, amilton, "unedin or Waimate! The reason is that some )arents don.t ma%e the decision of where to send their children based )urely on academic achievement! 8ther factors come into )lay, such as social )ressures, location, trans)ort, friendshi)s and even cultural snobbery or )references! The Government also has a site where you can go and chec% out the +ational Standards results and if you have the time and energy, you can record results and ma%e com)arisons yourself! # love this site, because # often use it to benchmar% our )rogress against national averages 9we are miles ahead of them: and against other schools where # have friends teaching 9and we always do well against them: and against other local schools and this is where # find it )articularly )leasing as we measure u) very well against other schools around here! 8ur students are doing eCce)tionally well and we should be very )roud of them W#rkin' (ee 'ust a gentle reminder that there is a wor%ing bee this Saturday 9D>th: from ;</<< am to ;D/<< with a focus on )utting u) the new fence around the )erimeter of the

field and securing the )lanting area for our 8rchard and native trees! Gareth and 6arry will ta%e charge and %now what to do and where everything goes! -lease feel free to contribute some of your time and energy into ma%ing the )lace loo% even better than it does now! # understand that there may also be a bit of a bla4e tomorrow morning with the *ire brigade su)ervising the destruction of that large )ile of dried vegetation at the end of the field! Marshmallows anyoneF 8n that note, a very )ublic than% you to our groundsman G 6arry, for the first rate lawnmowing that you are doing! The lawns all loo% fantastic and it is evidence that a little bit of care can )roduce a wonderful effect! +o cli))ings, no mud, just nice, clean neatly5 %e)t lawns and no drama! Than% you! Also a big than% you to Toni 8udemans! At the recent AGM of the *riends at St -ats Toni stood down as 2hair)erson! She has been in that role for a

numbers of years and is behind many successful fundraising events along with her very small committee! Toni has )ut in many hours and has often had her house turn into meeting rooms, all the benefit of the students at St -atric%.s School! # wish the incoming co5chairwomen, 2laire Tait and &ee5Anne Smart all the best and #.m sure they will continue the hard wor%! Another than% you goes to our Acting, Acting -rinci)al who filled in for me last wee% while # was out of the country! Anne -ratt did a wonderful job of teaching 7oom ; and %ee)ing the school standing in my absence 9even if she could barely stand herself after her fall on day ;:! # wish her all the best for her future endeavours! SC)*+ +eCt wee% we will have two visitors in the school as )art of the S)ecial 2haracter Hducation 7eview! Mary &ynch will lead the review and 2ushla 82onnor will assist! There will be a series of interviews and observations

during Thursday the ?rd of A)ril and then on *riday the @th 2ushla will wor% with teaching staff and management to )ut together a )lan for moving forward based on the )reliminary review findings! The 7eview team will com)ile a com)rehensive re)ort and this will be )resented to the 6oard on or about the DAth of A)ril! A res)onse will then be given by the -rinci)al and 6oard 2hair and the final re)ort will emerge as a result of that )rocess! -lease ma%e the reviewers feel welcome and say hello to them as you )ass through the school! 'ust my thoughts fol%s +a%u noa na Me rongo 9in )eace: "arcy Kem)

Community News
Waihao Downs School Car Boot Sale )n Saturday 2th April at the 3ommunity 3entre from !.'%am to $.'%pm. Space limited. 0 % for an inside and 0$% for outside. information For more contact

4orraine on 58! 585. Badminton "onday 6pm at the .very from

evening

Waimate

Stadium. All welcome.

$tudents 1rt.or*
The following )hotos show a little sam)le of some of the things that our senior students have been wor%ing at!
The comic stri) I&ife of a contem)orary 'esusJ by -atric% Kem) was done using Web D!< tools and more than just a little imagination! The learning intention revolved around getting to terms with some of the

miraculous deeds that 'esus did and )resenting them in a way that %ids of today would understand!

The -oster about St -atric% was constructed by annah 6erry during the wee% where the class learned all about St -atric%!

Donations

Many than%s to all of those )eo)le and organisations that have recently made donations that have directly or indirectly benefitted our school! These recent donations have enabled 1 Main North Road us to u)grade the data )rojectors in both classrooms Oamaru to fully interactive, ultra short5 throw mimio )rojectors, with built5in audio! This allows us to eliminate the mimio bars on the whiteboards and the s)ea%ers and )otentially allows us to use nearly any hard surface as a )rojection screen! The school has also just The )urchased several new la)to)s Warehouse in the senior classroom to enable us to continue our ;/; 27 Eden )rogramme 9at no cost to Street )arents: with the latest models! The board are currently considering a draft #2T strategy that would ensure that our students continue to have access to the latest and best technology at all times and still use 6(8" 9bring your own devices: if they so desire! +o other school in the district has this! "on.t listen to those that would tell you that this is the way of the future, because the future is already here and will Euic%ly become history! # than% es)ecially our farming families for their efforts through 2M-! Also those families that have )urchased uniforms at -ostie -lus, your donations all hel)ed! # now urge you to start su))orting the Warehouse in 8amaru as often as )ossible and encourage others to do the same as well, as this Saturday they will %ic% off a B month long fundraiser for us through the cardboard coins )rogramme! -urchases attract a cardboard coin which sho))ers can then )lace in one of three charity containers at the entrance to the store! *or every cardboard coin collected the Warehouse will )ay each charity real money! The Warehouse has %indly given us this o))ortunity for the following B months! The funds raised will go towards the construction of a Shade sail area over to) of the junior eating area! -lease su))ort the 8amaru Warehouse! -lease also ta%e every o))ortunity to su))ort Gordon andy machinery in 8amaru as they have done our school a significant service with the su))ly of our new 'ohn "eere lawnmower! Many than%s to Andrew 2raig for )utting the hard word on the management team over that one!

$t 'atric*/ $chool .ould li*e to than* the follo.ing sponsors