Newsletter - 1 June 2023

Talofa lava St Michael’s Catholic School Community,

“O au o matua fanau”

Children are our treasures

(famous Samoan Proverb)

This week is Samoan Language Week and our students have been learning about the Samoan culture and some words and phrases. A big thank you to the members of our Samoan community for sharing your beautiful culture with us this week!

SMCS Policies – all our policies are on SchoolDocs , please follow the next four steps

Go to www.schooldocs.co.nz
Click Search for your school.
Start typing the school name and then select from the dropdown list.
Enter the community username and password: Username: smcs Password: mackillop

This term we are reviewing Education Outside the Classroom - EOTC Planning and Review; EOTC Risk Management; EOTC Coordinator; EOTC External Providers; EOTC Staff Competencies; EOTC Event Categories; EOTC Communication with Parents.

Please click on “Current Review” and then read the policies. Then click on “Under Review” and complete the survey. Your feedback is appreciated!

06/06/23 - 16/06/23 - Dance Curriculum

11/06/23 - St Michael’s School & Parish Mass at 10am

This Mass is compulsory for all our students. Students are to wear their school uniform and meet in the Parish Centre by 9:45am. Students who are part of the Becoming Church will meet us in the Church.

14/06/23 - Olympic Ambassador visit

Olympian Anna Wilcox will be visiting our school at 2.00pm on Wednesday 14 June to speak with our Year 3-6 students. Anna is a freestyle skier.

16/06/23 - Grandparents’/Elder (significant person) Day

We have changed the title because the majority of students do not have a grandparent that lives nearby. The timetable is as follows:

9:10am Concert;
10:40am Morning Tea;
11:10am Classroom visits and
12pm Mass

16/06/23 - Book Week Begins

Scholastic books will be on sale in the breakout rooms
23/06/23 - Book Character parade at 9:15am

ICAS Testing

The following information is for Year 4-6 families interested in registering students for the online International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) testing scheduled to be sat during school time in Term 3. This year students can register for exams in English, Mathematics and Science.

ICAS exams are run through a private company based in New South Wales, and are “user pays”.

These exams assess higher order thinking and problem solving to extend students beyond their expected achievement level for their age. We have found in the past that some students find the examinations, and receiving their results, extremely stressful.

It is important that if you enrol your child for these exams, that you take the time to prepare them for this. ICAS have prepared a blog post outlining how to help your child prepare for the test. You can find the link below:

https://www.icasassessments.com/blog/how-do-i-help-my-child-prepare-for-icas-teachers-tips-for-parents/

There are also example test papers available on the ICAS website to purchase.

The school does not receive feedback regarding each student’s performance in these exams. The results do not inform or guide teaching and learning at our school.

Our school has signed up for the ICAS Assessments parent payment system (PPS) and registrations are now open. Please use the below details to register and pay directly online, no later than 1 July 2023.

Please take care to register your child for the appropriate tests depending on their year level.

Access details:

School access code: FTW829

Parent page link: https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps

Pricing for New Zealand: NZD$20.70 (incl. GST) per test.

ICAS English – Year 4, 5, 6 – Wednesday 16 August
ICAS Science – Year 4, 5, 6 – Wednesday 23 August
ICAS Mathematics – Year 4, 5, 6 – Wednesday 30 August

SMCS Y5 STARS Netball Team desperately needs MORE PLAYERS!

An awesome team who love netball and have fun, need two more players (boys/girls) to join our team!! Games are after school on Thursdays at St Johns Netball Courts. Game times vary from 4pm to 5.50pm. Please let us know if you can play some games! You might not be able to commit to playing every week, but we still want to hear from you! Thank you. Please contact Lindy ASAP on lindypeacocke@yahoo.com

Need Help?

A registered Social Worker is available, on a part-time basis, to provide free consultations to families seeking guidance with accessing specialist support, or who may be struggling with more complex challenges. Please contact Annie on 021 240 6454 or email anniesummerfield@yahoo.com to make an appointment. All consultations are conducted in strictest confidence.

A Family in Need of a Place to Live

A committed Catholic family is urgently seeking a 3 x bedroom rental property. Maximum rent: $550.00 per week. If you can help, please contact 021 240 6454. Many thanks.

Encountering CHRIST

Excerpt from ‘The Catholic Education of School-Age Children’ (NZ Bishops, 2014)

“The passing of the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act in 1975 gave Catholic schools a future. This enlightened legislation allowed Catholic (and other private schools) to choose to enter the state system as “state integrated schools”, and to receive state support for their operation while retaining their Catholic identity. The debt amassed before integration and the costs of upgrading schools to the state code have needed continued servicing post-integration. Attendance dues were introduced to allow this debt to be serviced, including additional debt needed to establish new schools and upgrade or expand existing schools. The New Zealand Catholic Education Office was established with a key role in representing Catholic interests to government, a role it continues with today.” (Page 7, 23)

Rosary Group Meet Every Friday at 1:15pm to 1:30pm at the Reflective Area (Church if raining)

St Michael’s Parish Website – Mass times - Sunday 8am, 10am & 5pm; Monday - Friday 7am & 12noon; Saturday 8am.

School Masses - Every Thursday at 9:15am

(Please note we had incorrect details in the previous newsletter)

08/06/23 - Rooms 9, 4 & 1

11/06/23 - School Parish Mass at 10am - This is a compulsory Mass for all families. Students meet in the Parish Centre at 9:45am in their school uniform.

16/06/23 -Grandparents Day Mass - All Welcome - 12 noon in the Church
22/06/23 - Rooms 10 & 6

29/06/23 - Senior School Mass

June 1st is St Justin’s Feast Day

“Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us St. Justin Martyr as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the virtue he showed in opening himself up to Your will for him when he chose to convert to Christianity. St. Justin Martyr, you were born into a non-Christian family and did not have the benefit of an upbringing in the Faith. But as you grew in knowledge, you opened yourself up to God’s grace and chose to serve Him. Pray for me, that I may open myself up more to God’s will in my life each day. Pray that I may be eager to dedicate my life to God. Amen” (https://www.praymorenovenas.com/st-justin-martyr-novena)

Manaaki ki te Atua,

Ann McKeown

Principal Tumuaki

Grandparents’ day and book week are just around the corner, and we need your help to make those a success!

We need volunteers for various days, activities and times. You can view what help is needed and sign up here: https://volunteersignup.org/CDBRD (no google account needed).

We are also putting together two big hampers to go with the voucher prizes that have already been donated. If you are able to contribute any new items towards this, we would greatly appreciate it.

Ideas for items include any chocolates, wine, preserves, homeware items, kitchenware, beauty products, gardening items etc (remember grandads too). If you have a spare basket or crate that we could use to put things in these would also be welcome. Please drop off any donations to Genevieve at the school office.

Grandparents Day is Friday 16 June 2023

All grandparents or significant people in your child’s life are welcome to attend our annual grandparent’s day.

Each classroom has been asked to donate some sweet food for morning tea. Your classroom rep will be coordinating this for us, so please sign up if you can.

Raffle tickets will be available for purchasing on the day, so advise your grandparents to bring cash. $5 a ticket and lots of prizes to be won!

Pizza Fridays

Thank you to Room 5 for helping with Pizza this week. We really appreciate your help.

Fit mums

Calling all mums who want to get fit and meet new mums and have a great time while doing it! Come join us for fit mums boot camp, running every Monday and Wednesday morning from 9-9:45am at a small home gym on Ladies Mile in Remuera. Cost is just $12 per class, and there are also online options available!

For more information contact Monique on mmurray83@hotmail.com Would love to see you there!!

Second Hand School Uniform Shop – Winter Sale

The 2nd hand uniform shop will open on Friday 2nd June from 2:30 PM to 3:15 PM and will be running a Winter SALE!!!

All Girls and Boys Jumpers at $10
All Unisex Jackets at $10

Preferred payment methods are via myKindo or bank transfer to the PTA bank account 12-3075-0199134-00.

To make the uniform shop a success we rely on parents volunteering a bit of their time to help us run the shop, so if you have any spare time at school pick up, pop by, say ‘Hi’ and please lend us a hand to keep raising funds for our children.

Uniform donations are always welcome and those can be dropped off by Genevieve at the school Reception. Looking forward to meeting you or seeing you again.

2023 Yummy Sticker Collection (Terms 2 and 3)

We are once again collecting the stickers and the bag labels, attached is the link where you can print a collection sheet.

https://www.yummyfruit.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/SSP-pdf_Sticker_Collection_Sheet_compressed.pdf

Or you can collect a sheet from the school office- shelf besides the window. Last year the school benefitted from over $300 worth of sports equipment to use at play times. Please place all sheets in the PTA box outside the Mrs McKeown's office.

Have a great weekend everyone!
Gio and Sam