Term 1 Week 6
Principal's Message
Meet the Teacher
Thank you to those families who joined us last Thursday for our Meet the Teacher evening. It was lovely to share dinner and have a chance to chat and catch up.
School Values
As I mentioned few weeks back, at Monday morning whole-school prayers, we have been talking about our value of Respect. This morning, we talked about how tiny actions of respect can change the impression people have of you. I chose three examples and gave the children involved a house card.
The first was for Erin. I told the children about how she always offers to help when she sees an adult carrying items or cleaning up, etc. I explained that it makes me feel valued and gives me a positive feeling about Erin and the kind of person she is.
The second was for Kat. On a number of occasions, she has held the door or gate open for me. I asked her if it was difficult or heavy and she of course answered no. This was to show the children that little things make a big difference. It shows me that Kat respects me and has been taught those values well.
The third was to Dara. He never fails to say good morning when he sees me and always uses my name. Again, not a time consuming or difficult action but it makes me feel acknowledged. We talked about how being acknowledged in such a little way can mean people feel that they are visible and for some people that might not happen very often.
I then set the children a challenge for the week and gave them two ways that respect isn’t always shown to see if they can really focus on them.
*not shouting out during whole class discussions. *not answering back when a teacher gives an instruction or decision that you don’t like.
We will talk about this next week and see if the children or staff have noticed any changes.
Timekeeping
We have an increasing number of children who are arriving late for school, some on a regular basis. Please can you try and ensure the children are here by 9am each day. Ideally they would be at school in time to unpack their bags and say hi to their friends so they are ready to start the day with their peers when the bell rings. Arriving late can be disctracting for the class who may be in the middle of prayers or at Mass if it is a Wednesday.
Lisa
Faith News
Wednesday Mass
Please come and join Room 4 for Mass this Wednesday morning at 9am in Room 3.
Parish Newsletter
This week’s Parish newsletter is available here
2025 Sacramental Programme.
We are now accepting enrolments for 2025. This programme is available to all children who have been baptised into the Catholic faith and reached Year 4 or above in the primary school system. Enrollment forms are available on the Church website wellingtonsouthcatholic.org/
Missing Polar Fleeces
There are a number of children with missing polar fleeces. Could everyone please kindly check to ensure their child has not accidently brought another child’s fleece home with them.
Please ensure that all fleeces are clearly named so we can easily identify and return them, if the collar label is not useable, you are able to write on the back of the school emblem inside the fleece.
Birthday Wishes
Special birthday wishes to Quest who turns 11 on Wednesday, and to Josh & Erin who have birthdays this Friday. Josh turns 11 and Erin turns 12. We hope you all have wonderful, fun filled birthdays.
Brooklyn Library Visits
This term we will resume our termly visits to Brooklyn Library. If your child wishes to borrow a book during the visit they need to bring their personal library card with them. We will return books on the next visit if they are brought back in time. Books not brought on the day of the visit will need to be returned by yourselves. If you would like to leave your child's card in the classroom between visits then teachers will find a safe place to keep them.
Room 1: 20 March
Room 2: 27 March
Room 4: 13 March
Absences
If your child is sick or unable to attend school for all or part of the day, please either send a notification via the school app (skool loop), email the school office on office@stbernards.school.nz or phone 3899377 by 9.00 a.m. so that your child's absence can be accounted for.
Children who are late need to report to the office in case they have been marked absent by the teacher who takes the roll first thing in the morning.
If an absence is planned for a special reason, a note or telephone call to the school in advance is appreciated. In cases of prolonged absence, e.g. a family trip, a written note is required.
Room 1 Learning
After Ash Wednesday Mass last week, Room 1 had a class discussion about almsgiving and what it means - that we can give our time to help others.
We have a Kindness Jar in Room 1 that has suggestions of ways we can help others. Each day of Lent, the helper of the day will pull out a piece of paper from the jar and read it to the class. We will discuss what it means and how we can do it. Parents, you can ask your child each day what was the message from the Kindness Jar?
Room 2 Learning
Room 2 has been doing some great science learning. We've been looking at New Zealand insects, including native, non-native, invasive, and exotic insects. We've learned what the words 'horticulture' and 'orchard' mean, along with the word 'pest'. We categorised different insect cards into 'friends' and 'enemies' of New Zealand's horticulture. The class discovered that some, even some native insects, are harmful to orchards. We then talked about what the word 'predatory' means and learned of beneficial insects (insect friends) that eat those insects that are harmful to our horticulture (enemy insects).
Room 4 Learning
Science Box Activity - Friend or Enemy
Last Wednesday, Room 4 completed a sorting activity from our new science box. The activity was titled "Friend or Enemy", which involved identifying insects that were helpful (friends) to crop production and pest control, as well as those that are destructive (enemies) to crops. The children worked in pairs, each pair reading a set of insect information cards. The purpose of the activity was to sort the insects into two groups based on the information of the cards.
The children had to identify which insects are pests or beneficial organisms to our vegetable, fruit and grain crops in New Zealand.
Insects identified as pests cause damage by:
destroying flower buds
eating shoots and leaves
disfiguring fruit and vines
Insects identified as beneficial organisms protect crops by:
eating pests
encouraging natural processes such as pollination and plant growth.
It was interesting to observe how many insects are pests that our fruit and vegetable growers, as well as biosecurity officials, must constantly guard against!
Public Notices
