St Michael’s term dates are those set by the Ministry of Education for Primary schools in New Zealand.
The dates for 2013 are:
Term 1 Monday 4th February - Friday 19th April Term 2 Monday 6th May - Friday 12th July Term 3 Monday 29th July - Friday 27th September Term 4 Monday 14th October - Wednesday 18th December
School hours are 8.50am – 2.55pm
Office hours are 8.30am – 4.00pm
During the term, the following days will be observed as Public holidays and children will not attend school:
Waitangi Day Wednesday 6 February Good Friday Friday 29 March Easter Monday Monday 1 April ANZAC Day Thursday 25 April Queen’s Birthday Monday 3 June Labour Day Monday 28 October
Holidays in School Time
We strongly encourage all families to take holidays during term breaks. On occasion we understand this is unavoidable. Please request permission in writing from the Principal at least two weeks prior to the holiday being taken.
Extended Leave
All extended leave which results in removal from the school roll, needs to be requested well in advance of the leave being taken. Due to roll pressure, any extended leave which results in the child being removed from the school roll, may cause the child to lose their place at St Michael’s Catholic School. This occurs when a child is enrolled into another school in New Zealand.
While every effort will be made to accommodate requests for re-enrolment of the child at the end of the extended leave, there is a chance that the child's place may have been filled and they may not be able to re-enrol at St Michael’s Catholic School.
8.30am children may enter classrooms
8.50am bell for children to line up, school day begins
10.30am morning tea break
10.50am classes resume
12.30pm lunch time
1.25pm hand bell, return PE gear to shed
1.30pm line up for afternoon classes
2.55pm school day ends
3.15pm report to office bell (for children yet to be picked up)
Please endeavour to have your child at school before the 8.50am bell to prepare for his/her day’s learning.
Encourage your child to learn self-organisational skills for his/her personal property as a preparation for each day
Children are not permitted to leave the school grounds unless accompanied by a parent/caregiver. Permission needs to be obtained from the school before a child leaves.
If for some reason your child cannot attend school on a given day, please notify
the school by note, telephone message or email before 8.50am on that day. Ph:
520 0933, or email: secretary@smcs.school.nz.
At 8.55am each morning the Register of Attendance is called to ensure all children
are accounted for. The names of absent children are then sent to the office to
be checked, and if absences are unexplained parents will be contacted. The Register
of Attendance is called again after lunch at 1.30pm.
If your child is to be absent for a longer period of time please contact the Principal in writing.
Signing in/out Register
This register is held in the office and must be filled in when children arrive
late, go home sick or leave for an appointment during the day.
St Michael’s School operates a syndicate system. The Junior Syndicate comprises years 0-3 and the Senior Syndicate years 4-6. The Junior syndicate is headed by the Deputy Principal and the Senior syndicate by a senior teacher. The Junior and Senior syndicates are also defined by the classrooms they are allocated to. The original building is generally home to the senior children, and the newer school building is generally home to the junior children.
In 2008 a ‘House’ system was introduced to foster stronger relationships between age groups of children.
The four houses and their representative colours are:
Cluny – Blue House Pompallier – Yellow House
Patrick – Green House MacKillop – Red House
Each of the house names has significance to St Michael’s. Cluny – the congregation of Sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny was founded in 1807. St Michael’s has a close association with Cluny kindergarten. Pompallier – Jean Baptiste Francios Pompallier arrived in NZ in 1838 and worked for 30 years bringing the Catholic faith to New Zealanders. MacKillop – Mary MacKillop was an Australian nun and together with Father Woods founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. Patrick – St Patrick was born in Scotland in 385 AD and was taken to Ireland as a boy. He preached the gospel for over 40 years.
The houses will cover all age groups of children with older children developing leadership skills through role modelling to, caring for our younger children. All children will be encouraged to strongly support their ‘House’. All children are assigned a house and siblings will share the same house.
Children are asked to please wear either a T-shirt or polar fleece of the appropriate colour and their St Michael’s sports shorts for sports events.
House Points and Leaders
House points are awarded in two different ways:
Sports points: at each of the three major school sporting events (swimming, cross country & athletics) points are awarded.
Class points: points are awarded within each class on a weekly basis.
At the end of the year cups are presented to the winning houses. Students from Year 6 are chosen to be house leaders.
MacKillop House Leaders: Georgia Graves-Heeney; Isaac Guinness; Alexandra French (Deputy) Patrick House Leaders: Maya Edmond; Charlotte Murphy; Gieanne Cunanan (Deputy) Pompallier House Leaders: Tamsin Holmes; Anthony Washer; Daniel Tham (Deputy) Cluny House Leaders: Phoebe Brown; Barney Green; Chris Sinclair-Jones (Deputy) Sports Leaders: Jakob Yovich; Petra Buyck; Lucy Church (Deputy) ICT Leaders: Henry Belcher; Micah Stevens; Sam Coombe Jump Jam Leaders: Natalija Seselj; Amelia Harvey (Deputy) Library Leaders: Hannah Went; Marianne Leigh (Deputy) Caring Shed Monitors: Flynn Poskitt; Maisie Braem, Jeremiah Taufaeteau; Christie McCahill Media leadersJ Jessica Caesar; Katie Watkin; Tyler Buysers (Deputy) Environment leaders Penny Dew; Rafe Chisholm Playground Angels: Alanah Price; Patrick Carman; James Tan; Olivia Vunileva
A fortnightly school newsletter is uploaded to the website on the 'Events & Notices' page on a Thursday. Newsletters are designed to keep parents informed about school, including Parish activities. Other notices will go home in your child’s red ‘notice folder’. A hard copy of the fortnightly newsletter is available on request through the school office.
Open Door Policy
Parents/caregivers are most welcome to discuss their child’s progress or other important information throughout the year. In the first instance teachers should be approached, then the syndicate leader, then the Principal. As teachers are very busy, meetings should be organised at a mutually agreed appointment time, after school hours. Likewise, teachers will contact parents for an appointment if there are aspects of a child’s progress which need to be discussed further. Regular email contact is encouraged between teachers and parents.
Term Calendar
At the start of each term a Calendar will be sent home to each family. The Calendar will list each significant school, Parish, PTA and BOT event for the term. The calendar is also available to download from the website on the 'Events & Notices' page.
Notice Boards
Notice boards are located in the senior and junior block. All current school newsletters, sports notices, updates from the PTA and BOT, term calendar and community information are on display. Copies of newsletters, sports notices and lunch order menus can be found in the plastic display holders on the senior noticeboard.
In general terms the Board of Trustees use the general purpose contributions to
employ additional teaching resources and to ensure that each classroom is appropriately
resourced in its curriculum requirements. For 2013 the additional teaching resources
are:
Learning Support (additional to Ministry of Education funding)
Library Support
Reading Recovery (additional to Ministry of Education funding)
Deputy Principal & Senior Teacher/DRS/SENCO release
Learning Enrichment
Maths Consultant
Literacy Consultant
ICT Resources
Teacher’s Professional Development
Catholic Schools Office
The $97.00 attendance dues paid to the Catholic Schools Office is for the repayment of building loans on the Catholic Schools in the Auckland Diocese, the general upgrade and insurance of school buildings and administration of the CSO. The $10.00 Special Character contribution is used for religious teaching coordinationin schools.
All amounts are collected by St Michael’s as an agent and are passed directly through to the CSO. All Catholic Schools throughout New Zealand are subject to the same charges. These dues are compulsory as part of your commitment to catholic education.
Building Fund
The purpose of this fund is to enable further development of St Michael’s Catholic School. As St Michael’s is an integrated school, it will be the Bishop of Auckland (effectively as trustee for the Parish) to whom any payments to the building fund will be treated as being made. This contribution is voluntary.
The Building Fund supports the loan against the new school hall and any future building.
Payment
Yearly accounts are posted to every family in Term 1. Financial contributions may be paid per term, or for the full year by credit card, cheque or by automatic payment spread over 11 months.
Zen Do Kai Martial Arts New Zealand
Kawa Dojo - Self-Defence Martial Arts – Junior Karate and Fighting Fit for Women
Monday evening 5.30pm – 7.30pm
Tuesdays
Performance.net Dance and Drama Education
Promotes confidence, self-esteem and friendship. The fun begins in Term 2, Tuesdays after school in St Michael’s Hall.
4-7yrs
3.30-4.30pm
7-10yrs
4.30-5.30pm
Tutors are on-site supervising from 3pm; Classes are limited to 16 students Contact: Michael Stretton (Director) on mob 021 990 705 Website: www.theperformance.netWednesdays
WYNRS - The Wynton Rufer Soccer School of Excellence.
WYNRS aims are to develop a strong skill base in youth soccer in New Zealand through a programme of Brazil Skills, Wynton's Way (Juggling), Sharpshooter (penalty shooting) and Kiwi Kick (5 a-side-soccer).
Open to Ages 5 and upwards. To enrol please contact Mario Ph: 09 522 90 54 or Email: mario@wynrs.co.nz