Kia Ora Whanau,
kei tau rangimārie ki ā koutou – peace be with you all
We are now racing to the end of the term now and there are many things going on. Please remember to look at our:
*SCHOOL APPS NEW ZEALAND – Select Our Lady of Lourdes
*Newsletter – please read every week
*Our Lady of Lourdes school Facebook page
*Our school website
Religious Education
Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas, its purpose is twofold: first, it prepares us for the celebration of the birth of Christ and second, it reminds us that we are eagerly waiting for Jesus’ return in glory.
The word “advent” originates from the Latin word advenio which means coming to.
Advent is the time when we focus on Christ coming to the world.
Advent Ideas:
https://www.reallifeathome.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Advent_Activities_Catholic_Printable.pdf
Mercy Values
Mercy Whānau House points
It is very pleasing to see our tamariki working towards earning their Mercy cards by showing our values.
Pompallier: 736
McAuley: 931
Ongley: 741
Bernadette: 961
Vincent: 920
Francis: 912
Congratulations Bernadette Whanau House.
Kind Hearts Mercy Awards
Congratulations to the following children/tamariki:
The Nest:
Miguel for a positive and enthusiastic approach to all his learning and his joyfulness as he arrives at school each day.
Molly for her Mercy value of service ensuring she tidies up the room after discovery and helps others to do their cleaning too.
Rainbows:
Liyana for her determination in learning and her kind heart that she uses everyday.
Leila for always trying her best and showing the Mercy Value of Respect.
Believers:
Senio by using the Mercy value of service by making sure his classroom job is done carefully at the end of the day and for helping keep his own learning area tidy too
Blake for showing respect in the class by listening to his peers when the are sharing their learning in front of the class.
Superheroes:
Miley for her enthusiastic approach to learning, kindness and compassion to others and her positive outlook!
Jayde for showing excellence in her class work and always giving everything her best.
United:
Julius for demonstrating perseverance in the pursuit of excellence in his school work
Kava for showing excellence through his Gems itime presentation.
Ben for showing excellence in the presentation of his Knights itime research.
School Notices
Swimming in Term 4!
With this lovely weather, we have decided to open the school pool for the last few weeks of school.
This term it will be about ‘Water Confidence and Safety’
Please make sure your child has their NAMED Togs and towel in a bag everyday at school.
Year Five Camp Fundraising
This Friday we will holding a school Mufti Day to raise money for our camp to El Rancho next year. Please bring a gold coin if you are able.
Thank you for supporting our fundraising events. Last Friday we raised $175.00.
for our new sand…
*Damian Quin from Quin Contracting
*Reg Mason & Mike Coulter at Rangitikei Aggregates
*Higgins Concrete – Aaron Currie &Crew(for carting the sand)
*Alicia and Chris White (for organising everything)
Thank you to our wonderful helpers on the day.
Library Books
A reminder please that all school library books should be returned to school ASAP so we can begin our annual stocktake.
Thank you, Mrs. O’Connor
Assembly
This Friday, 2.30pm
At our Assembly last week we had so many wonderful items that were not able to get through everything. There will be an additional shorter assembly this week where our Drama group will perform their play, Kind Hearts award winners for the week, and other interesting things.
Cultural evening
Thursday December 12, 5.30pm
Last year we held a very successful Cultural Christmas Carol Evening. We would love to repeat this again this year.
We invite any cultural group to perform a Christmas Carol in their own language.
Please let the office know if you are able to perform a song/carol.
Place & Time: Picnic tea on the field from 5.30pm
What do I need to bring: a picnic dinner, cushion, blanket
Children wear: dress in Christmas theme costume
The outline for the evening is:
5.30pm – A picnic tea outside
6.15pm – Move to the hall, bring your cushion
Our Kapa Haka group will begin the evening
Class and Cultural items
Finish with our school song
Awards Assembly
Monday 16th December, 9am
We will begin our Monday with a liturgy, followed by:
*Road Patrol Certificates (TBC)
*Any outstanding sports certificates
*Catherine McAuley Mercy Certificates
*Catherine McAuley Mercy Shield
*Whānau House Winners for 2019
Whole school Thanksgiving Mass
Thursday, 19th December, 7pm
This is a time to celebrate and give thanks for our school year and especially for our Year 6 students.
Everyone is warmly invited.
If you can, we ask every family to bring a plate for supper so that we can all enjoy one another’s company.
School Donations Next Year
It is with great excitement that the Board shares with you that we have signed up to the Ministry’s $150 school donation for every child at the school.
That means you will not have to pay any money towards school donations next year. You now only have to pay for your child’s stationery and the Attendance Dues. The $150 per child is going to be used for all those extra activities. This is truly exciting news for our school.
Stationery Lists for 2020
Next year your child’s stationery is available from Office Max – online myschool.co.nz
We will also have a paper stationery list available in the last week of school.
School Office Hours 2020
Our school will be closed from December 20th until Monday January 27th.
We will be open from 9am-1pm that week.
Full school hours from Monday February 3rd.
From The Teachers/Kaiako
The Nest
With this lovely weather we are able to take some of our reading and discovery activities outside the room and smile at the sunshine.We continue to work on how we can be a best friend to others.
Students are enjoying small ball games to help improve their small ball skills.
Rainbows
This week we are learning about our bodies and how they work. We are also exploring our five senses and celebrating how we are all unique. We are continuing to practice our skills with throwing and catching a tennis ball so that we can learn to play padder tennis in the coming weeks.
Believers
We have been learning to use similes, metaphors and adjectives in our writing. Please enjoy reading these 2 pieces of writing.
“Swish, swish my helicopter spins anti-clock wise. Wow, look at the helicopter seed it looks so real. It has a seed which is like the cockpit of the front of a real helicopter. The wing is like the propeller of a helicopter. It is like a BeyBlade and a swirling cyclone.” By Luke
“We played with crunchy helicopters on the back field. They looked like small brown leaves. My helicopter went clockwise. Wow, they make me very dizzy. The helicopter looks as if it were a spinning top. It also is like a helicopter propeller. Do you like helicopters?” By Eleanor
Superheroes
In the Superheroes this week we are focussing on what it means to work together and how to be a team player. We will use these new skills in the classroom and in the playground. We have also started some novel studies in our reading groups. We are enjoying reading a story over a longer period of time!
United
Itime has now come to an end and we have enjoyed presenting our findings to the class and receiving constructive feedback on what we did well and how we can improve for next time. We have been dazzled by presentations on everything from Otters to Teen Titans Go to Knights and even the Loch Ness Monster. We are also busy growing moustaches in anticipation of our Movember celebrations this Friday!!!
Sport
Weet-Bix TRYathlon
We are pleased to advise that your application to create a School Group for the 2019/20 Sanitarium Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon has been approved and your School Group (Our Lady of Lourdes School) has now been created. https://www.registernow.com.au/secure/Register.aspx?E=35584&G=104751
PTFA
Calendar Art
Your child has completed a wonderful piece of Artwork.
They will be available to order and pay online until November 27th.
These will make wonderful Christmas gifts.
An information sheet went out last week with your child’s unique code. Contact Miss Penman as soon as possible (penman@olol.school.nz) if you have an issue with your order.
Community Notices
OLOL Craft Group
10-12pm Wednesday November 27th (Library)
We had a great first week of Craft Group.
We want our school to be a place where everyone belongs.
Please bring along any ideas, crafts, materials.
We hope to make gifts for children and our parishioners
Term 4 Dates
Week 7: Nov 25-29 – Mercy Value: Service
F . Mufti Day – camp fundraiser
Assembly -United play group
Week 8: Dec 2-6 – Advent Week 1
T . Parish Seniors Lunch 1.15pm (whole school to perform items for the elderly of our parish)
F . Road Patrol movie
Assembly – Believers and United Rad Rhythm Group
Week 9: Dec 9-13 – Advent Week 2
W . Parish/Thanksgiving evening for all helpers
TH . Culture and Christmas Carols fun evening for all – BOOK THIS ONE IN
W10: Dec 16-20 – Advent Week 3
M . Sports/Awards Liturgy and assembly
W . Service/Funday – PTFA to support us
Th . Whole School Thanksgiving Mass for Year 6 children/tamariki 7pm
F . Final Day of School – school closes at 12.30pm
Term dates for 2020
Term 1: Monday February 3 – Thursday April 9
Term 2: Tuesday 28th April (Monday closed for observed ANZAC day) – Friday July 3rd
Term 3: Monday 20th July – Friday 25 September
Term 4: Monday 12th October – 15 December (TBC)
Please note: Teacher Only day throughout the Diocese – Thursday 3rd September
School Data 2019
We look forward to sharing with you overall school data for 2019. We are always looking for ways to improve and we are excited for the journey we are undertaking in 2020.
READING: 89% of tamariki are achieving AT or ABOVE for Reading
Male: 92 % of males are achieving AT or ABOVE
Female: 85 % of females are achieving AT or ABOVE
GOALS FOR 2020: A focus area for 2020 will be from Year 0-2 as we know many programmes and support needs to be given to get our tamariki started. This will involve two/three teachers working together trialling a Play Based learning environment, supported by a rich Oral Language programme. A strong phonics programme, the consolidation of the Early Words programmes and then a balanced whole language reading programme throughout the school.
Target group for 2020: Year 0-2 children
WRITING: 83% of tamariki are achieving AT or ABOVE for Writing
Male: 78% % of males are achieving AT or ABOVE
Female: 81 % of females are achieving AT or ABOVE
GOALS FOR 2020: A focus area for 2020 will be Year 6 tamariki as a cohort. Explicit investigation around ways to best engage writers and the non writers, explicit teaching to the matrix and modelling of this, exposing tamariki to the Structure of Language using the Steps Web programme. This will be supported by tamariki being able to talk about and know their next learning steps and to be motivated to find the tools for writing. We are also investigating a well proved resource ‘Write that Essay’ for our senior school.
Target group: Year 6 learners
MATHS: 86% of tamariki are achieving AT or ABOVE For Maths
Male: 86% of males are achieving AT or ABOVE
Female: 86% of females are achieving AT or ABOVE
ANALYSIS: The overall data is pleasing to see with 86% of tamariki achieving At and Above. In Term 3 there was a focus on basic facts which has paid dividends. This will continue as GOOD PRACTICE across the school. The school has used an outside consultant for many years and in 2020 we will look at an alternative. It is pleasing to see that our Males and Females are achieving equally so we will continue to look at a variety of programmes, resources and Apps to continue to engage all tamariki.
Goals for 2020: Year 3-4 learners
Ngā wakapainga (Blessings), Our Lady of Lourdes staff and whānau
