Are you ready for the new school term ? 5 key reminders

I was fortunate to go to a stunning performance of Aladdin in the Ink Box at the Opera House last night. Congratulations to the whole cast of Aladdin especially our talented team from St Joseph's.

Last term we went OPEN with our teaching and learning at St Joseph's. Our Teaching and Learning Site went live and our ELS's (Engaging Learning Spaces) have continued to evolve. Our school wide goal is "To engage every student in deep learning for success". We do this in our Catholic faith-filled  environment as we "Reach for the Stars as Lifelong Learners in the Catholic Faith". We focus on our school values, the 4 R's: Respect, Reverence, Resilience and good Relationships. This is what we keep coming back to as we continually  create a learning culture with our students and families that reflects the needs of our community.Go to these links to learn more about some of the happenings that contributed to our Term 1 community learning culture: family learning hui, open morning, culturally responsive environments and ELS's

Are you ready for the new term ? 5 key reminders:

1. Winter uniform - It's time to change into the winter uniform for Terms 2 and 3. As an outcome of our last survey, children from Year 1- 6 are no longer expected to wear ties. Our leaders in Year 7 & 8 will keep the ties to support their transition to high school. We have some winter shirts in our uniform shop. I will be at school for some time on Sunday 19th April. Text me 0272031516 if you need access to a shirt for Monday morning. Otherwise, the lovely Adele will open the shop on Monday morning 20th April. 

2. Teaching and Learning Site and a Parent Forum on Learning Conversations - This is a chance for you as parents to become involved in your children's learning. The old days of asking "What did you learn at school today ?" have been flipped. Your son or daughter might reply with " Haven't you checked our Teaching and Learning site ?" Our teaching and learning is totally transparent now. Take advantage of this and challenge your children to develop their learning further by having informed "learning" conversations with them. At the first parent forum this term I will share how to have a learning conversation based on the Teaching and Learning site. Join me from 8:30 - 9:00 in the community room this Friday 24th April. All parents welcome. 

3. Events this week Coaching Evening and Anzac Celebrations - There will be a special sports coaching evening this Tuesday 21st April from 6:30 -7:30 for all existing coaches and other parents who are interested in being future coaches. The idea is to set up a mentoring and support network to ensure that we have a consistent approach to coaching especially with our winter codes starting this week. 
There will be a sausage sizzle fundraiser for Vanuatu on Friday (notes will go home on Monday) as previously planned. We will wear our school uniform (no mufti day) to respectfully participate in a very special Anzac Service at 2:30pm on Friday. This will replace our normal assembly. Please join us.

4. Survey outcomes - Thanks to everyone who participated in our end of term student, staff and parent surveys. We have some valuable feedback about our Term 1 learning and change. I will share this in our newsblog on Thursday and will be contacting some of you who volunteered to share their thoughts in a video.

5. New staff and Visitors - This week, we warmly welcome Miss Gray into Junior Hub 1 and part timers Miss Taylor, Mrs Gower and Mrs McNally to support teaching and learning throughout our school. We also welcome a team of teachers from St Joseph's Timaru on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings to observe and learn about our ELS's.

We look forward to seeing you tomorrow for the new term as we continue to "Reach for the Stars as Lifelong Learners in the Catholic Faith" together.