Parent Teacher Learning Conversations

We warmly invite you to make a time to meet your child’s teacher for a Parent Teacher Learning Conversation on Tuesday 24 March between 1pm and 7.30pm.

You can book your ten minute Learning Conversation with your child’s teacher online following this link:

www.schoolinterviews.co.nz

Event code: VYQPH

We know that a great working relationship between parents and a child’s teacher, where the child is placed at the heart of the matter, has a significant impact on student learning outcomes. 

We value your role as equal stakeholders in your child’s learning development and have designed these Parent Teacher Learning Conversations, as an opportunity for you to tell us about your child the learner.

Your child’s teacher will also share with you indications of how your child is tracking from observations and latest diagnostic assessment information.

Students will be supervised at school on Tuesday 24 March until 2.55pm.  

You are welcome to take your child home early, if your Parent Teacher Learning Conversation finishes before 2.55pm.

Buses will run at the normal times and After School Care will be available.

We look forward to talking with you on Tuesday 24th.

Kind regards
The Senior Leadership Team and Teaching Staff

Parent Teacher Learning Conversations Tuesday 24 March

A reminder to parents that on the reporting horizon are our Teacher Parent Learning Conversations, to be held next week on Tuesday 24 March.  The purpose of these interviews is to provide parents with an understanding of initial and potential student achievement during the coming year.

If you are unable to attend for any reason please make contact with your child’s teacher as the time together will establish key understanding of how parent and teacher work best together for the benefit of the child.

Teacher Parent Learning Conversations:

• An opportunity to share current achievement information and observations

• A dialogue about potential areas of achievement

• 10 minutes long (max.)

• Between the parent and the teacher

Tuesday 24 March 1 pm – 7.30pm

Times can be booked online by following this link.

http://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz

Event code: VYQPH

Students will be supervised until school finishes at 2.55pm, and buses will run at the normal times.  After School Care will still be available.

You are welcome to take your child home early if your Learning Conversation finishes before 2.55pm.

Ben Fuller
Principal

School Mass Thursday 19 March

You are all warmly invited to join us tomorrow for Mass in St Mary Immaculate Church Cameron Rd at 9.30am to celebrate the feast day of St Joseph.
It is a special feast day here for us at St Mary's School as St Joseph is the patron Saint of our Cluny Sisters.

With kind regards and God bless

Sally Washer
DRS

Parish / School Mass this Sunday 15 March 2015

A reminder to you all that we have our Parish/School Mass this Sunday 15 March at 10.30am in St Mary Immaculate Church Cameron Rd.

We encourage you to join us for this Mass to show your support of the special character of our school.  Students are asked to wear their school uniform and sit with their families.

Sursum Corda students are also to wear their school uniform and meet in the overflow room at the back of the church by 10.20am.

With thanks and God bless
Sally Washer
DRS

IAAF Nestle Kids’ Athletics

On Friday 27 February, 26 of St Mary’s Year 3 & 4 students were involved in the official launch in New Zealand of the “IAAF Nestle Kids’ Athletics” at Omanu Beach alongside students from Omanu and Matakana Island schools.

IAAF Kids athletics is one of the biggest grassroots development programmes in the world of sports. 

The IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) ambassador and long jump world record holder, Mike Powell, was a main feature of Friday’s event - he continues to hold the world long jump record from 1991 with his jump of 8.95m. 

Students were placed into teams and rotated around eight running, jumping and throwing activities in the sand, including pole jumping and hurdles which many had never tried before.  One of the rotations included a healthy eating message with a banana and drink of water for all participants.  The event was about having fun and encouraging the general development of the run, jump and throw skills which is part of our Physical Education programme.

Some of the students’ comments are:

Nathan Holmberg  “I liked the ball throwing because we were challenged to go over the highest score.”

Madison Smith “I mainly liked everything.  I hadn’t done the hopping on different number pads and it was a little hard because you had to go back to zero after each hop before going to the next number.”

Lily Cooper  “The pole jumping was good - I’ve used Mum’s planting stakes to do that at home.  The standing long jump was good because it’s hard to run and then get the jump right.”

Milla Mason  “The pole jumping made you jump higher but the Racing Car Run was my favourite because there were lots of challenges on the way.”

Gabbie Way  “Throwing the ball backwards over my head really tested my throwing skills - the balls went all over the place.”

Joanne Meehan, Teacher in Charge

St Mary’s Twitter - follow us at @StMTGA - 50 followers and counting.....

St Mary’s Twitter - follow us at @StMTGA

50 followers and counting.....

What is a tweet?  A Tweet is an expression of a moment or idea. It can contain text, photos, and videos. Millions of Tweets are shared in real time, every day.  

To keep you up to date with realtime information we are tweeting lastest news.  Emails will still be sent as well until we get more people following us.

Helping your child have the best mathematical start to life

One of the very best things that parents can do to help develop their child’s mathematical interest is to provide mathematical experiences using materials. Playing, measuring, talking with your child about their discoveries and ideas are the basis of mathematical ideas being formed. Play with building blocks, interlocking cubes, or kits for making objects is fantastically helpful in the development of spatial reasoning. Jigsaw puzzles, rubic cubes and anything that involves moving objects around, fitting objects together or rotating objects are beneficial. Noticing number all around us, on letterboxes, signs etc offers an opportunity to pose mathematical questions. When exploring mathematical ideas with your child, it is always good to ask lots of questions.  Children who take risks to answer questions need great encouragement. The focus is not on getting every answer correct but rather talking about their ideas, so that the child can reason their way through problems. When you are working with your child on maths it is important to be as enthusiastic as possible. Mathematical conversations should be relaxed and free from pressure. Make your interactions with your child as much fun as possible as attitudes towards maths are so quickly sensed by young children. Have fun learning with your child playing with numbers to develop their number sense.

Janet McCarroll, Deputy Principal

Special Character - 9 March 2015

We are now well into the season of Lent and our Liturgies and class Masses have helped us gain a deeper understanding  of what this special season of the church is all about as we journey towards the great feast of Easter.

Reconciliation

This Thursday 12 March there will be a special Reconciliation Liturgy for our year 5 and 6 students in the Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey Centre at 9am  which you are all very welcome to attend.

School Parish Mass

Sunday 15 March is our first Parish/School Mass for 2015 at 10.30am in St Mary’s Church Cameron Road. We encourage all families to attend this Mass to show support of the special Catholic Character of our school. Children are asked to wear their school uniform and sit with their families. Members of Sursum Corda will sit together as a choir.

School Mass Thursday 19 March

We will be having a special School Mass to celebrate the feast of St Joseph on Thursday 19 March at 9.30am in St Mary Immaculate Church.

This feast day has a special significance for our school as St Joseph is the Patron Saint of our Cluny Sisters who began our school. At this Mass we will be praying for and remembering the Cluny Sisters, many who came from Ireland who worked so hard establishing our school and who are now with God.

Again we warmly invite you and encourage you to join us for this Mass.

Prayer Group and Prayer Book

Every Friday morning a group of parents meet in our school chapel to pray the Rosary. All parents are welcome to join this group at any time.

We also have a prayer book which is placed by the Statue of Our Lady in the chapel. If you have anyone you would like this prayer group to pray for please write their names in this book.

Sally Washer, DRS