Parents as Supporters

Pasifica Fono 16th March 2016

Thanks to Mrs Misiloi for these minutes and for arranging and chairing this meeting.

7:00 pm- Welcome & Opening Prayer- Tua Misiloi

Presents: Manu, Kea, Soane, Malia, Sini, Jan. P, Ruth (North Otago Literacy), Jocelyn M, Tua, Vasi, Antonio M, Tivinia M, Jerome M, Michael M,Sione T, Sepeti T, Fitu T, Eleni H, Lisiate H, Marconi H, Sesilia H, Nehusita H, Penisimani T, Kaveinga T, Kaliopeta P, Kasimea T, Vilivea T, Fe’ofa’aki T.Apology: Jenny J.

Agenda: Cultural Values- Behaviour

              Connecting links to School Values and Pasifika Values.

Tua talked to the group in the Tongan language about how we parents ensure to keep our cultural values alive at home. To ensure our children practice those values in their lives and make them who they are. We also talked about some inappropriate behaviours during playtimes and that the children need to stop and make good choices. Once they come to understand and practice the core values/ virtues of respect, reverence, humility and maintain positive relationships then they won’t do those behaviours. A strong emphasis on us as parents to make sure we teach/ talk to our children every day in our family evening prayer.

Then we watched a video - delivered by a Tongan person (He is a doctor  worked in Auckland Middlemore Hospital).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZJWqR1noxI

Discuss about the message- “be grateful for what you have, you can do anything that anyone in the world can do but only you can do it better, to study hard and believe in yourself, What now and what next, how you can be a person to contribute to the wider community is to practice the core human values and belie in yourself. We Tongan being taught about traditional virtues of respect & reverence (Faka’apa’apa), keeping up good relations (tauhi vaha’a), loving nature (anga’ofa), willing hard and humility (lototo), team spirit and enthusiasm (mamahi’ime’a).

Jocelyn Marsh- Talked about her role in the school and parish. Encourage parents to come to Thursday School Mass or any other days of the week if they are free.

Ruth - Otago Literacy- Talked about her work and role. She explained to parents about their programme for adults. They help with teaching English and support them with their children's school work and driver's license.

Jan Plieger- Talked about the Mutukaroa Assessment Project- Tracking of children’s learning and moving them forward. A project working in partnership with parents and to fully engage parents and whanau about assessments.

Open for parents if they have anything they would like to ask questions or talk about.

Acknowledgement/ Thank you- Tua, Closing Prayer & Blessing of the food- Soane Misiloi @ 8:00pm

Sports Meeting 15th March 2016

Present: Tina Souness, Joanne Cant, Glynn Cameron, Paul Cartlidge, Jenny Jackson

Apologies: Anna Beveridge, Justin Fowler

Winter sporting codes discussed :

Rugby -  Teams all look good. Short of a couple of coaches

Hockey - Players will be combined with the country teams due to low numbers, coaches all okay.

Football - Coach needed for primary side, not enough for an intermediate side for 2016. Possibility of two junior grade teams, one with experienced players and one with newer players. A notice will go out and any queries to the Sport Committee.

Basketball - We agreed to have two even teams for the Yr 7/8 boys, teams will have skill sessions and selection of teams by an external selector.

Netball - Some children will need to play up to make up team numbers. An external selector will help with teams hopefully next Wednesday.

It's important that any behavioural concerns by players are addressed early and the school kept in the loop.

Next meeting Thursday 31st March 2:30

Agenda For Chinese Cultural Meeting

7^TH March 2016

·      Welcome -  Mrs Jackson

·      Reasons for setting up this meeting – Mrs Jackson

·      Discussion about format for these meetings

·      Reading support at home

·      Ruth Blair - Literacy North Otago

·      Jocelyn’s role as Parish Liaison Person

·      Explanation about goal setting meetings and discussion about suitable day/times for parents to attend these meetings.

·      Shared supper

Jenny started with a prayer

Jenny explained it’s a chance to connect and feel included.You can discuss concerns and help to understand how best to help you to help your children to be the best that can be.

Joy and Jane did the translating

Jenny explained the reason for the meetings

Monday 6pm was the agreed time for future meetings.

Jan explained the meetings will have an educational element and time to ask questions. We don’t talk about individual children. You can discuss concerns and help to understand how best to help you to help your children to be the best that can be.

Children are encouraged to attend and they can contribute as well and grow in confidence

Ruth Blair is an adult tutor. She works for Literacy North Otago for reading, writing, arithmetic, computers, ELL, help adults from all ethnicities. They are open during the school holidays. There is no charge for NZ residents or citizens. There is a charge for visa workers $30 for an hour. Ruth works with Chang and she was able to help read and speak English to her son.

There is a possibility for Ruth to help run an English group and that would help mums to help with their school work.

Jocelyn: teacher aide who works in the classrooms to support the teachers and children. Jocelyn represents the Parish the church as parish liaison for St Patrick’s parish our spiritual family. You belong to the parish family and we pray with you on your spiritual journey. Jocelyn and Jenny meet the families in the mornings and we can help where care is needed.

Jan talked about the goal setting meetings.

Jenny showed how to book goal setting meetings. We also looked at the newsblog and showed how it could be translated into Chinese (simple) this worked well. Some families haven’t been getting the emails but now we have their email addresses.

Jan explained the children will receive basic words that will come home with their reading books to help them learn their words. They can work out some words from the pictures. It is important the children learn the sounds rather than the letter names eg. b a t  




Parent Consultation: Have your say
Annual Review of Strategic Plan Term 4 2015
In preparation for 2016, we would like to get feedback from parents about our strategic plan goals (aims). We will have hard copies of the 2015 plan (see image below) at this week's Family Learning Hui. There will be a workshop for you to join and include your thoughts and ideas. Alternatively, email your thoughts and ideas to office@stjoseph.school.nz and put Strategic Plan in the subject line before the next board meeting onTuesday 8th December.

A strategic plan (as defined in the MOE guide Nov 2015) sets out the board's aims and direction for student progress and achievement for the next 3-5 years. The strategic section includes:

• a broad outline of what our board wants to achieve;
• an outline of our school's education priorities in relation to the Government priorities as set out in the National Educations Guidelines (NEGs); and
• plans for other key areas of the school to ensure teaching and learning are fully supported

The board will consider our community's views and priorities in the review and development of our strategic plan for 2016-2018.

Click on this image to enlarge it

Sports Committee Term 3 2015

• 8 week ski programme commenced with 56 students and heaps of helpers - getting kids active
• Rugby video with All Blacks very powerful message for parents on the sidelines.

• Tina received and email about a team subbing with players from other clubs. We need to focus on St Joseph's players first.
• We want them to participate and have that drive to play well and win.
• Parents on the sidelines need to be positive and supportive.
• Intermediate footballers are a perfect example of the rotation of players working and lifting the whole team. They are playing like a team and winning.
• We need to educate the players and the parents to reinforce and support the coaches at home. 
• St Joseph's as a school are on show. We need to reflect our Catholic school values - parents and players. Inappropriate language not acceptable from coaches as well.
• We need to consider we are a health promoting school and this needs to be reflected in prizes given to kids after games.
• Jenny to send letter out with code of conduct to remind everyone about our guidelines.
• Hockey going well, plenty have made it into the rep teams - well done.
• Gymnastics focus on participation and fun.
• Archery Option for 2016 via St Kevin's College.
• Next meeting will be when the winter sports have all finished.

Sports Committee Tuesday 19th May 2015 Term 2

Coaching Information Evening very successful. Suggest we do the same next year. Message to focus on skills in preparation for high school was a good reminder.

Sports Committee Tuesday 31st March 2015 Term 1

• We reviewed the winter sporting codes and progress on selection of teams and coaches based on decisions made at the previous Sports Committee meeting.
• All player registrations have been completed. Trials for teams went well and ensured that the selection of teams was fair.
• Thanks to the large number of parent coaches who have volunteered to ensure that all teams have a coach.
• We will hold the planned "Coaching Information Evening" on Tuesday 21st April from 6:30pm - 7:30pm in our school hall. This will be an important opportunity for all coaches and anyone else interested in learning about becoming a coach to come together. We will review our code of conduct including player expectations and ways to support each other as well as mentoring opportunities for potential future coaches.

Sports Committee Tuesday 10th March 2015

• This was our first meeting for the year.Tina had lists of children who had registered to participate in the different codes for winter sports.
• We went through each code and after much discussion agreed on the best way forward with regards to the make up of teams. Some teams would be decided on according to year groups, numbers, age levels, balance of abilities and through trials. Tina will send a note out explaining about the make up of teams when the teams are announced
• Any dissatisfaction with regards to the final make up of teams would have to be addressed to the Sports Committee who take full responsibility as a whole group.
• There will be an open coaching evening planned for all coaches and other interested parents. We have a great group of coaches but we still need more parents to help and this could be by learning in an assistant coach capacity. Come along to the meeting and learn how you can be mentored to assist and help out. This takes the pressure off our main parent coaches.
• At the Coaching evening we will discuss the Sports Code of Conduct and consistent expectations across all codes with regards to handling behavior, language etc We want to ensure all coaches feel supported as well.

Parent Reference Group Friday 27th February 2015

This was our first meeting for the new school year. We are trying the earlier time of 8:30am - 9:00am. We had quite a bit to discuss. There were also some questions that had been emailed included:

• Ties - Could the Yr 7/8's wear them for formal occasions? We agreed that there aren't many formal occasions. The board had looked at different options based on parent feedback from the online survey. They felt that the Year 7/8 change of uniform in preparation for St Kevin's with kilts and blue shirts worked well with the ties for the senior years.
• Technology - Are there paint shirt options? Can we recommend that they wear them ? We can certainly pass this onto the teachers and suggest that they wear them but at the end of the day, the Year 7 and 8's must step up and take responsibility for this
• Subway - There is some dissatisfaction with regards to the omission of the cookie and flavored milk from the lunch orders this year. We discussed various reasons for providing the lunches. Do they make it easier for parents at the end of the week ? Is it a treat for the children? Basically, we reviewed our procedures for being recognized as a Health promoting school and decided that flavored milk and the cookies didn't fit. Fruit and water/school milk do. We can model what we say by what we provide. We cannot control lunches that are made at home. Office staff time is spent sorting the lunches when they arrive. We are offering a service that is supporting a local business. One of our parents suggested an alternative: Could we open the school canteen on Fridays? Any profits could go to the Home & School as a fundraiser? The senior students would be keen but we would need at least one parent to help and supervise. We agreed that I would email parents to offer the canteen as an alternative and gauge responses.
• Weekly emails from teachers - These are greatly appreciated. It's easier if they are bullet points please. We aim to ensure that the Teaching and Learning site is updated by 5pm on a Sunday ready for the coming week.
•  E-permissions forms happen at SKC work really well, is it possible to investigate, now that everything else is online ? - Yes, Definitely
• We can see the benefits of the independent learning at the yr 5-8 levels,  but worried that the younger age groups  aren't ready to make the same choices - We don't expect our younger children to operate at the same level as our seniors. Our goal is that our children leave St Joseph's (by the end of Year 8) as fully independent self-managing learners. They will develop these skills as they move through the school. Please come and visit during our Open Morning and see the progression of learning throughout the different hubs. You can also read our hub goals on the Teaching and Learning Site

Parent Reference Group Friday 28th November 2014

•  We had a brief discussion around ties and jerseys and the need for the Intermediate students to prepare for St Kevin's
• The main discussion was around the teaching and learning changes for 2015. We discussed the importance of encouraging parents to come and ask questions. This blog was created in response to questions from parents who subsequently came and met with me.This blog helps to answer these questions.

This was the last meeting for the 2014 school year. We will resume on Friday 13th February 2015 and meet fortnightly in even school weeks.

Parent Reference Group Friday 14th November 2014

• Modern Learning Environments - where does our school uniform fit? Maybe our PE uniform is more practical for the children. We will wait for the responses in our survey.
• How will it work with Year 6, 7 and 8 being upstairs together in 2015? We discussed what this would look like as well as the other changes across the school. There will be a blog with further explanations

Parent Updates 2015
Our Teaching and Learning site is live and we have begun to support our parents and support staff to understand how it works. We have now set up a parent's page on the site. Here we will post any questions that parents have, as well as guidelines about how you can play your role in supporting your children and their learning.

Parent Reference Group Friday 31st October 2014

• There will be a brief community survey going online to gather feedback for the board's strategic plans for 2015. We discussed the kinds of themes that parents would like to give feedback on - digital learning, team teaching, newsletter/blog communication, uniform. Questions on these topics will be included in the survey
• Clarity of Messages about changes for 2015. The Family Learning Huis need to be promoted in a way that parents understand that each one is different. We need to make this explicit as there are still questions about changes for 2015, many of them were addressed at the latest hui but the family turnout was only small this time. 
• Sports Afternoon of games and demonstrations is a great idea for registrations early in Term 1
• Opportunities for H&S fundraising at the Hockey Cafeteria October 2015

Parent Reference Group Friday 17th October

BYOD discussion:
Can we give an indication of the amount of screen time that children will spend on devices? Parents are worried that screen time will increase. Lorraine has prepared a pie chart in relation to devices for Year 7 2014. She will put this on our FB page. Jenny encourages all parents and families to come to the learning huis to help gain a clearer understanding of what learning in a digital classroom means.Our next one is Thursday 23rd October at 5:30pm.
Some families have limited access to wifi eg. country families. Parents want children to understand that data usage can be costly. We will include reference to this in our digital citizenship work with families and children.
Positive happenings around school discussion:

• Kelly reminded us of the positive learning experiences that the children are having, for example, in the living classroom - our vegetable garden.
• Adrienne mentioned the outstanding Bee Project presentation to the mayor and families. Maria referred to the excellent Year 7 projects. The Year 7 projects will be on display at the next learning hui on Thursday. All of this work is the outcome from learning in a digital environment.

  

  
  

  

Uniform:Jenny drew attention to preparations for a board community consultation and we discussed the way the school uniform could be improved to reflect 21st century learning ! There will be a parent survey about this.

Family Learning Hui notes Wednesday 15th October
Here are my notes taken during the discussion with families at the start of our session.

• Year 6,7,8 will be mainly digital next year, much of the work given out through a digital forum. Then we can personalise the learning programmes for children. The complexity of learning is still similar but it will be driven digitally. Timetables and week plans will be up on sites at the start of the week. Some children might choose to do some of their learning before they come to school or after school. This is a challenge for the teacher but enables personalisation for the students. Devices become a window for learning into the world.
• What programmes will we use? The technology is a tool to support effective and engaging teaching. It's not about only using programmes but using the devices to support all kinds of learning in a range of ways. You will see this when we do the SOLO activity.
• Mathletics is being trialled at the moment and will be a programme we will continue with next year
• Writing/ literacy tasks will require a keyboard. They will still use paper in the classroom.
• Devices: we recommend a keyboard, free online programmes available for touch typing but we won't be teaching typing
• We have leased a number of chromebooks and ipads (junior classes) for classroom use. Equipment is rostered at the moment and so learners aren't penalised if they haven't got a device.
• Lorraines prezi, on the day in the life of a BYOD click here helps you to understand the their is a balance with the way the devices are used. Learners do not sit and use them all day.
• What’s happening at St Kevin’s? Can we get some advice to help us prepare for the transition ? We are working closely with St Kevin's and will follow this up further with them.
• Teacher dashboard – gives a teacher a greater overview of what’s happening.
• Has this improved the literacy? We believe that it has improved information literacy based on 3 years of evidence at St Joseph's.
• We discussed the amount of time expected to be on devices at home. Teachers will need to make this explicit: expectations 15 mins limit put it in the homework page, That way we are all on the same page 
• Juniors will use classroom ipads to support learning

Yr 4/5 blended learning mixture of traditional & digital learning

Digital Citizensip – how to be good citizens online, it’s more than just being safe.

We followed this with a SOLO interactive learning activity and the links to sites that Lorraine prepared are here: 

Links to help with finding information on digital citizenship

http://www.netsafe.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/Staying-Safe-Online-NZ.pdf
contains clear and practical tips from some of the internet’s most popular digital platforms

http://www.netsafe.org.nz/owls/
protecting privacy

http://hectorsworld.netsafe.org.nz/parents/
Netsafe information and interactives for children aged 2-9

http://www.ikeepsafe.org/parents/

https://sites.google.com/a/tamaki.ac.nz/scooby-says/home
Cybersmarts at Tamaki College

DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP

·       The internet is like a big classroom.  The rules of the classroom apply to the internet.

·       If you’d be happy for your teacher or parent to read what you’ve written its probably OK.  What you put out there is for ever.

·       Remember there’s no body language so be careful how you communicate because people might not get the right idea – they might think humour is serious.

·       Use only your first name – don’t give your second name, address or phone numbers.

·       If you see something wrong close the screen and tell a trusted adult immediately.

Sports Committee News Tuesday 9th September

• We discussed sports uniforms and that another set of football tops would be ordered for 2015
• Early in Term 1 2015 we will organise a parent evening for anyone interested in coaching. We will discuss the code of conduct and guidelines for coaches. We will also let coaches know that they will be able to be supported and mentored in their role.
• A consistent approach to basic skills and fitness across all codes will also be discussed as well as the availability of resources such as apps and YouTube videos

Term 3 Week 3 Parent reference Group Friday 22nd Aug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr25oPyOUSI

• Devices : How are we progressing? If we already have devices, can we use our own?Do we have to purchase or lease others? Your children can still bring in their own. You can learn more by going to this link and reading here.
• How does the removal of desks and use of bean bags prepare students for transition to Year 9 and readi.ness for externals? Desks and tables are still accessible for use in the senior school. By the time many of our juniors reach high school, there will be change across the education sector. We are focusing on our goal: To engage every child in deep learning for success. We are finding that the children are more engaged in their learning when they have choice over where to do their learning. This video called Expanded Learning Opportunities helps to explain the reasons for some of the changes that are taking placehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr25oPyOUSI
• Our Family Learning Hui's are an opportunity to inform, discuss and collaborate with families about developments with tools and devices to support our goal to engage our students in deep learning
• Costs for families with more than one child is a factor. We spoke about leasing options and if the sharing of devices for family members would work. I also mentioned that we will have a small class set of devices for students to access as well. These wouldn't be avaialbel to take home for the ' beyond the classroom' learning.

Term 3 Week 3 Parent reference Group Friday 8th August

• Healthy Lunches - What can we do? Can the Year 6- 8's model healthy eating and sit with the New Entrants and juniors ? What about visuals of what healthy lunches can consist of ? What about actual lunchboxes with some healthy options inside and suggestions for ways to prepare snacks? This could be something we explore for Terrific Thursday sessions.
• We are a Health Promoting school and need to focus on this more.
• 
• School jerseys/jumpers have got very expensive. What could we have as an alternative? We are open to suggestions.
• Next meeting is Friday 22nd August at 2pm

Sports Committee News Tuesday 29th July
Present: Carrie, Justin, Tina, Joanne, Jenny

• We discussed the fact that the rugby season is shorter than the other codes. Justin will attend the JAB meeting with Tina to ask about extending the season
• Weekend football coaching session went well 
• Netball all going well
• All of our St Joe's hockey players are trialing for the rep
• We will hold monthly meetings now that the busy winter codes will finish up soon.Next meeting: Wednesday 27th August 2:30pm

Term 3 Week 1 Parent reference Group Friday 25th July
We discussed the term 'deep learning' and what we thought it meant as parents. One parent said that my video helped explain this. The link to the video is here.

We also looked at the National Standards data charts on display in ruma koru and discussed what these meant 
We discussed how important it is for children to feel safe and happy at school and that sometimes girls can be quite emotional and sensitive with each other. We need to help give them the tools to cope and build their self esteem.
It's always important to speak to class teachers if you have any concerns.
Next meeting: Friday 8th August 2:30 pm All welcome to join us in ruma koru

How can you make comments on class or student blogs
If you don't have a gmail account, you need to comment as anonymous to begin with and then type your name in the comment box. It's important to try and comment on the blogs to show that you are engaging with the learning and news shared on them. 
Here is a brief video that Mannix Fraser (one of our Year 7 students) made to take you through this process. Thanks Mannix :)

Sports Committee Meeting Tuesday 1st July 2014 2;30-3:00
Present:  Glynn, Carrie, Micha, Joanne, Tina, Jenny  Apology:Justin
We further reviewed the draft Code of Conduct (see a copy of it below) ready to share with students and families in Week 1 Term 3.
Our next meeting will be Tuesday 29th July at 8:30 am

ST JOSEPH’S SCHOOL CODE OF CONDUCT – SPORTS AND SCHOOL EVENTS (applies to all sports and physical activity at St Joseph’s whether it takes place at school or outside of the school)

Code of Conduct Students:

Ø  Make sure you attend all practices (let your coach know if you can’t attend training or a game).  NO PRACTISE NO GAME

Ø  A high standard of behaviour is expected from all students. (This includes using respectful language).  The principal will be kept informed.

Ø  Parental permission for participation is required.

Ø  Always play by the rules and agree with an official or their decision whatever the circumstances.

Ø  Work hard to achieve the team goals.

Ø  Remember to thank your coach, the official and the opposition.  Always be a good sport and applaud good play.

Ø  Do not put people down or bully them.  The aim of the game is for everyone to have fun, participate and improve their skills.  Treat all players as you yourself would like to be treated.

Ø  Respect the equipment and the grounds.

Ø  Wear the correct St Joseph’s sports uniform.

Code of Conduct for Coaches and Managers:

Ø  Set personal behaviour standards for those you coach and for yourself to follow.  Teach your players that rules of the game on the field and standards off the field are mutual agreements which are not to be broken under any circumstances.

Ø  All players deserve equal game time if they attend practices.  This means NO PRACTICE NO GAME.

Ø  A coach encompasses many roles.  The overall role is that players need the coach to set a good example at all times.

Ø  Ensure all equipment and facilities meet safety standards and that activities you use are both safe and effective for your player’s needs.

Ø  Never forget that players participate for fun and enjoyment and that winning is only one component of why they participate.

Ø  Do not neglect planning and preparation for practices and games.  Length and content of practices should take into account the maturity level of players.

 Code of Conduct for Parents, Spectators and Supporters:

Ø  Make sure you ensure that your child is able to attend practice/trainings. This means NO PRACTICE NO GAME.

Ø  Encourage your child to learn to play within the rules and the principles of fair play.

Ø  Support your child’s involvement and help them to enjoy their sport.  We expect parents/caregivers to attend every game and practise when required.  Coaches are not responsible for the wellbeing of your child.  (eg if your child is injured we expect you to be there to support them).

Ø  Players are involved in their chosen sport for their own interests and enjoyment.  You play a major part in their efforts but ensure that you respect that they are involved for their own personal reasons

Ø  Turn defeat into victory by helping your child work towards skills development and good sportsmanship.  Never ridicule, degrade or yell at any player for making a mistake.  Encourage your child to lose with grace.

Ø  Children learn the most from the examples you set.  Always act in a positive manner and demonstrate self-discipline on the side line. Use correct and respectful language at all times

Ø  Always remember coaches are volunteers.  Their time and efforts are for the benefit of your child. 

Ø  Discourage unfair play and arguing with officials

Ø  Show your appreciation of volunteers who are giving up their own time and those who help make sport happen.  It is easy to criticise but not so easy to take up the challenge yourself.

Ø  Always support officials and coaches by accepting their decisions and judgements.  Remember – No official, no coach – no game.

Sports Committee Meeting Tuesday 17th June 2014 8:30-8:50am

Present:  Justin, Carrie, Micha, Joanne, Jenny

• We reviewed a draft Code of Conduct and agreed on some main points - Children wear correct PE uniform, let the coach know if they can't be available and if there are any behavioral concerns then these need to be directed towards the principal
• Coaches and parents will get a copy of the Code of Conduct guidelines too
• These can be handed out at the Term 1 goal settings meetings during registration and also be available on the website (They will go home on Friday 4th July for this term ).
• We discussed the importance of basic skills sessions at the beginning of all training eg. 15 minutes basic skills and a game at the end to make it fun
• Sports cancellations will go onto our Facebook page , website and group email where possible

Our next meeting will be Tuesday 1st July at 2:30pm

Parent Reference Group Friday 13th June 2014 2:00-2:30
Present: Maria Dickie, Rachel Fowler, Adrienne Spillane, Kelly Bean, Jenny Jackson

• Discussed new News blog and Pulse flyer. Keep the Pulse with vital dates and just have links to other information. Having multiple blogs and links can be difficult for some readers. We will coordinate these through the News blog and the school Facebook page
• We love the fact that some teachers send a weekly email to parents. Especially handy for working parents and parents with shared custody
• Discussed success of Fish& Chip evening - bringing the children made a difference, 'a social gathering with education and learning as it's focus'
• Discussed that the option of leasing a chromebook could be difficult for bigger families eg with 3 children
• It would be good to learn more about how devices are used in the classroom. Children don't always use devices - this could be a topic for future workshops.

Fish and Chip Learning Evening a big success !! 
Thanks to all of our fabulous families who joined us last night. The hall was full of 21st Century learners with a 'growth mindset'. Watch this video to learn about this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN34FNbOKXc 
We have many new followers on twitter @ StJoesOamaru now and you can see photos and tweets on that link. Thanks to our Year 7's who shared their learning too. We aim for our Year 7's to support any parents who wish to learn more about 21st Century deep learning and change. We will share more outcomes from the evening of learning with you in our newsblog at  http://stjosephslearningandnews.blogspot.co.nz/ and on our school page Facebook page at  http://on.fb.me/1hoBjZK

Sports Committee Meeting Tuesday 3rd June 2014 2:00pm -2:50pm 

Present: Tina, Jenny, Carrie, Micha, Joanne

• Discussed difficulties getting referees for football & possible solutions. Tina will contact Dave & Phil about running ref coaching courses for our parents & open it to others in the community
• Guidelines for coaches, managers, players, spectators . Tina shared a copy from another school. We will all take it away and adapt it and bring back to next meeting to create our own
• We discussed the benefits of sending out letters from coaches to teams with these explicit guidelines
• New idea for next season, have a meeting for coaches from all sporting codes to help induct & mentor new coaches and encourage others to put their hand up
• Soccer skills sessions will run again in the next school holidays. micha & Tina will look into it

Next meeting will be Tuesday 17th June at 8:30am

Parent Reference Group Friday 30th May 2:00pm-2:30pm

Present: Adrienne, Maria, Jenny 

We welcome new members to contribute to these fortnightly meetings held in ruma koru

• Long pants option for boys in the winter?
• Jersey options for kids with sensitive skin. Agreed that navy/grey polyprops could be worn under shirts for boys and white for girls
• Is there a parishioner who would be keen to darn and mend some of the 2nd hand uniform?
• We need to revisit places where uniform available from & update prospectus eg. Ties only from Camerons, boys blue shirts Jack Sutherlands etc Girls tights ?
• Standard of uniform worn by Year 7 & 8's needs to improve as set example for juniors
• Reminder about children eating lunches, especially juniors. Please check
• Discussed planned Fish & Chip learning evening

Celebration of Learning and fish and chip family evening 

Monday 9^thJune at 5:30pm

Our school wide goal at St Joseph’s is ‘To engage every student in deep learning for success.’

Many of you have already begun to read our school blogs and have a chance to learn about what is happening in our classrooms. Some of our children are creating their own blogs and sharing their learning with an audience that goes beyond the classroom.

How can this kind of learning really work? Why is it important? Why are teachers changing the way that they teach? Why do some of the classrooms look different? 

We invite all of our families and friends to come to a special evening on Monday 9^th June at 5:30 pm to find out the answers to some of these questions and more. Share your fears, hopes and dreams for your children with other families.

Come along and listen to some of our students share the way that they learn as well as find out how we can deeply engage our children in their learning and how you can support them too.

Bring along your fish and chips or picnic style food to share with your family at 5:30pm and enjoy having a St Joseph’s family get together. After we finish eating, we will begin our celebration of learning. We aim to be finished by 7pm.

Sports Committee Meeting 20th May 2014

Present: Carrie Bleach, Justin Fowler, Tina Souness, Joanne Cant, Micha Brenner,Jenny Jackson Apology: Glyn Cameron

We discussed the following:

•         Strategic vision (see document below)
•         Kiwi sport funding - from the MOE to increase student participation in physical activities. We use it to employ a sports coordinator
•      Specialist hockey skills sessions over 3 years ($200?). Include these numbers as whole school participation to report to Sport Otago. Same with rugby, cricket skills sessions etc
•      Parent concerns – discuss ways to resolve together.
•      Yr 7/8 football & lack of coaches. Parents need to step up as they do in other sports. Thomas Moore can be coordinating coach for both teams but each needs an assistant coach/manager as well
•      Lack of basic skills eg.ball handling coming through to high school. How can we increase this across all skills
•      Access to good equipment vital
•      Parent coaches -How can we support them to upskill? Online toolbox, invite other coaches eg Jason Forest to coach a session and other coaches watch and learn
•      Guidelines/code of conduct needed for coaches and managers
•      Link to St Kevin’s for student coaches as part of Duke of Edinburgh
•      We will meet fortnightly during busy winter term
•      Discussed some concerns raised – netball & team selection. Outcome: let families and children know in advance about the way teams will be selected based on numbers, Otago swimming comps – we will make opportunities for those wanting to attend next year to go.
•      Positive feedback about Joanne Cant and the organisation of hockey.

Next meeting will be in Week 5 Tuesday 3^rd June 2:30pm. Please consider any ideas for code of conduct for coaches and managers.

Strategic Goals:

·        To increase levels of high performance and participation for all sports teams

·        For St Joseph’s sporting teams to be successful

·        Provide a platform for consensus for decisions  (from the sports committee) 

Range of reps about 5 parents plus us to cover all sporting codes Plan the sporting year based on team numbers etc

Background

·        Utilising Kiwi sport funding for a coordinator

·        Now want to take it to a new level

Parent feedback and concerns can be better discussed and address as a group rather than in isolation.

Parent Reference Group 16th May 2014
Thanks to Rachel Fowler and Micha Brenner for meeting together until I joined them after showing a family around the school. The topics discussed were uniform and coaching. We will discuss these further at our next meeting this Friday 30th May at 2pm in our community room - ruma koru.
Micha has joined the Sports Committee and Maria Dickie will join this group. If there are any other parents who would like to meet with us please feel free to come along and join us at this time.