Kia ora koutou e te whānau,

Hari Tau Hou- Happy New Year to you all. We hope that over the Christmas break you have been able to enjoy some great times with family and friends and that with some relaxation and rest you are all ready for the year ahead.

On Friday we celebrated our School Feast Day- The Feast of St Claudine Thévenet. Our first school Mass in over 3 Years. It was wonderful to be back together in our Parish Church and to celebrate such an important day for our school. The students were amazing and the mass was beautiful- Thank you Fr John. We spent the rest of the day swimming, playing, enjoying sausages and ice blocks. We were all delighted so many of our whānau could join us. Of course these days don't happen without planning and organisation – Thanks to the team who prepared the Mass, Organised the sausages and ice blocks and of course to the staff who supervised students whilst at the pool.

This first newsletter of the year includes some very important information so please make sure you take time to read it and note down any important dates.

Our theme for the 2023 school year is “It Takes a Village” During the year we will be working hard to ensure everyone feels part of our village. We want our students to understand the responsibility they have to actively participate in village activities and to live out the values of our school- Respect, Integrity, Compassion and Service.

Included in this newsletter is an overview of our Mission, Vision and our Connected Curriculum. We will continue to share further plans and developments during the year.

Our theme for the first two weeks is Welcome- Whakatau. Our students will be welcomed into their new classrooms and whānau groups. They will also be exploring how they are able to welcome others particularly those new to our school

We wish all of the following new students a happy and successful journey with us:

Mia Holder- Year 7, Danielle Tanis- Year 7, Yuann Balingit- Year 1, Jeremiah Fuimaono-Lole – Year 5, Ronitpreet Singh- Year 5, Callum John-Dijo year 1.

Sue Jury

Principal

Principal Ms Sue Jury

Admin Staff

Bursar/ PA to Principal Mrs Leeanne Neville

Office Manager Mrs Liz Mumford

Teaching Staff

Deputy Principal, Totata Whānau Leader and Teacher Totara Tahi (Yr 7/8) Ms Sandra Page

Teacher Totara Rua (Yr 7/8) Ms Hala Bassel

Hinau Whānau Leader and Teacher Hinau Rua (Yr 5/6) Mrs Wendy Wilson

Teacher in Training (Yr 5/6) Hinau Rua Ms Casley

Teacher Hinau Tahi (Yr 5/6) Ms Susan Bolam

Teacher Hinau Toru (Yr 5/6) Mr Kynan Featherstone

Rimu Whānau Leader and Teacher Rimu Tahi ( Yr 2/3) Ms Gwen Shuttleworth

Teacher Rimu Rua (Yr 3/4) Mrs Haydee Balingit

Teacher Rimu Toru (Yr 3/4) Miss Deborah Rasmussen

Rata Whānau Leader, Director of Religious Studies (DRS), Digital Leader

Teacher Rata Hub (Yr 1/2) Miss Katie Braid

Teacher Rata Hub (Yr1/2) Miss Rebecca Gasparini

Teacher Rata Hub (Yr 1/2) Mrs Liz Burger

Fa’aoloaga (Yr 6/8) Release Teacher Ms Lusia Nikolao

Release Teacher (Hinau Toru) Mr Barry Corboy

Learning Support Staff

Special Needs Co-ordinator Ms Colleen Epapara

Learning Support Leader Mrs Jo Hailwood

Learning Support Staff:

Ms Passi (Yr 7/8)

Ms Mu (Yr 5/6)

Ms Leafa (Yr 3/4)

Ms Casley (Yr 2/3)

Mrs Wilby (Yr 1/2)

Grounds Staff

Caretaker

Mr Rob Spinks

Mr Neil McDonald resigned from his position at St Claudine’s at the beginning of the year. He has made this decision so he has time to take care of family.

Neil joined the staff at St Claudine in 2006 and has taken on many different roles in his time with us- Deputy Principal, Associate Principal, Whānau Leader, Sports Co-ordinator, Classroom Teacher, Maths Intervention Teacher and most recently Classroom Release Teacher. He has given so much support to many students in his 17 years’ service and we are so grateful. He has been a positive member of staff sharing humour and support in a number of ways. We will miss him so much and wish him and his whānau well on their journey. We will keep them in our prayers. We will farewell Mr Mac in the next few weeks and take time to acknowledge his service to the St Claudine School Community.

Our School Board has met this year to develop Annual goals for 2023. Once these are finalised we will share them with you.

At the end of the year we farewelled Arlene Santillan. Arlene has moved with her family to Christchurch where her husband has taken up a new position. We thank Arlene for her years of service to our village through the Board and wish her and her family every blessing on the next stage of their journey.

Introducing our Board:

Presiding Member (Proprietor Appointee) Mr Tony Harrington

Proprietor Appointee To be confirmed

Proprietor Appointee To be confirmed

Principal Ms Sue Jury

Secretary Mrs Maria Ashkettle

Staff Trustee Mrs Leeanne Neville

Elected Member Mrs Mel Sagaga

Elected Member Mrs Maria Tali

Elected Member Mrs Anneke Whiley

Elected Member Ms Teri Watene

We are currently in the process of seeking new members as our proprietor appointees to fill the vacancies left by recent departures.

Board Meeting Dates 2023 ( Monday 6.30pm)

January 30, February 20, March 20, May 15, June 19, August 14, September 11, November 6, November 27, December 4.

All accounts will be sent out this week. A reminder that you do not need to pay for stationery or any donations as the school is part of the Government Donations Scheme. Parents are however required to pay for Sports, Transport, Special Character Fee, Camp and any other optional activities. The donation scheme makes it possible for all of our students to have what they need to learn. When the accounts are sent this week all outstanding amounts from 2022 will be on the accounts and we ask that these are paid in full by 28th February. If you have any concerns about your account or wish to discuss your situation or needs please call or email our Bursar Mrs Neville- leeannen@stclaudine.school.nz

In Term one our classes will be focussed on connecting as a class and within our wider school village. We want our students to understand the importance of connection kanohi ki te kanohi (Face to Face). We want them to make positive connections with the staff and each other. During the term, our students will also be learning about what respectful, and compassionate connection means in our classrooms. For the first term, students will not be using digital devices in their learning- they will take part in a responsible digital programme and fully understand the rules and expectations of the use of digital devices in our village. Digital devices will be available in Term 2.

Over the past three years our EOTC programme has been disrupted along with our learning. As a Leadership Team we have developed a more creative way to offer activities outside the classroom. Rather than taking a week at the beginning of the year we have planned to spread our EOTC activities across the year. Each term Two Fridays will be allocated to EOTC. On each Friday Two Whānau groups will explore activities outside of the school and the other two will explore outdoor learning actvities in and close to school. Leaders are currently developing the plan and we will share the plan for Term One when it is finalised.

The two EOTC Fridays in Term One are Friday 24 February and Friday 24 March.

This year we have new providers of our Lunches.

Monday- Pita Pit

Tuesday -Trust House

Wednesday -Trust House

Thursday -Subway

Friday -Pita Pit

We have surveyed students to find out any dietary needs and these will be catered for for each child. If your child has any dietary needs that the school has not been informed of please email the school office so we are able to let our providers know.

Once our new providers are all up and running we hope to be able to share the menus with you.

On Thursday we had our first Subway lunch (Chicken or Vegetarian Sub and Yoghurt) and it was very well received right across the school. We are looking forward to trying our other lunches this week.

This year we have made the decision to get registrations for both Term 1 and Term 4 at the beginning of the year. This means we can keep the teams the same rather than trying to shuffle teams in the busy time of Term 4. Registration closes on the 8th February so if you haven’t already registered use the link to head to the registration form.

https://forms.gle/vEqBXa5BV3zyVxvu9

A reminder that all students must be in full school summer uniform each day.

As we begin our new year here are some reminders about our uniform expectations

All students MUST wear a school hat in Term 1 and Term 4. – No Hat No Play

• Sports shoes are permitted to be worn for PE and play but school shoes/ sandals must be worn in classrooms.

• Nail polish is not permitted as part of our uniform

• Jewellery is limited to modest stud earrings and cultural or religious necklaces.

• Hair shoulder length or longer must be tied up with a black or blue hair tie.

Please mark these dates in your calendar and check out our School website for the full Term One Calendar

Thursday 9 February

Our Village Picnic- Meet the Teacher

4.30-6.15pm

Wednesday 15 February

Commissioning Mass for Staff 5pm

St Mary’s of the Angels

Friday 17 February

School Athletics – Starting time to be finalised

Touch Season 1 begins

Wednesday 22 February

Ash Wednesday – Liturgy 11am

Friday 24 February

EOTC Day- More details to come

Tuesday 28 February

All Outstanding Accounts from 2022 due