As you are well aware the end of the year is closing in and over the next two weeks our tamariki will be involved in our traditional end of year activities, starting with the Y8 Leaver's Dinner this Friday. This is an opportunity for the Y8 parents/caregivers, our staff and the Y8s to come together to remember their time at Our Lady of the Assumption School, to celebrate and to look forward to wherever they may go. Year 8s, we have enjoyed having you as part of our school community and loved watching you grow and develop into the lovely young people you are. All the very best for the next stage in your learning journey.

At this time of year we are also looking forward to 2023 and we would like to let you know that Mr Sam Ward will be with us next year in the Rutherford Team while Ms Rebekah O'Donnell is on maternity leave. We love having you with us Sam and are excited to have you back with us next year.

Ngā mihi nui

Janet and the Team @ OLA

We had 15 children competing at the Canterbury Athletics Competition at Nga Puna Wai yesterday. It is an achievement in itself to qualify to go to this event, so to place in the top ten is an outstanding result. They all did an amazing job and represented our school with pride. A big congratulations to the following children who placed in the top ten for their event:

Tandia Fisher - 100m (2nd Place), Long Jump (6th Place)

Violet - Discus (2nd Place)

Maclane - 1200m (3rd Place)

Pera - 100m (5th Place)

Kolio - Long Jump (6th Place)

Jessica - 1200m (8th Place)

Pippa - Discus (9th Place)

Yr 7 Girls Relay - Tandia, Violet, Sophia & Khloe (4th Place)

As always, we could not send the children to this event without the help of our wonderful parents. Thank you to Carly Scarlet, Matt Comins, Adele Gordon and John Kubiak for transporting the children and assisting with supervision.

The Rutherford team visited Arion Farm last week as part of their 'Animals and Us' unit.

Before the trip they looked at lots of animals which they sorted into wild and domestic. They discussed - What is a farm and what happens there?

Many thanks to all the parents who were able to help us out. It was a great day of fun and learning!

For more fabulous photo's check out our school Facebook page.

The children made a golfing Lego creation using a motor and coding. With an iPad they were able to direct the Lego to get a 'hole-in-one' and then they had to make a more difficult golf course to achieve this goal.

The children all enjoyed this workshop, proving you can have lots of fun while learning!

Liam J in Hillary Hub has had an outstanding year in tennis. He currently plays for Cashmere Tennis Club and is ranked in the top 6 in Canterbury and top 20 in NZ.

His results this year include:

Otago Junior Open, Dunedin in July

U12 runner up in singles & doubles

Canterbury Winter Open, Christchurch, in July

R- up in singles

Canterbury Spring Open, Christchurch, in September

3rd in singles, 3rd in doubles

Canterbury Primary & Intermediate Schools, Christchurch, November

Finished 6th which qualified for South Island tournament.

South Island Primary Schools & Intermediate Tournament, Ashburton, November

Finished 12th out of 32, 5th in doubles

Has qualified for U12 NZ Nationals - December 9th, in Auckland

To do this he needed to have a ranking of top 20 in NZ.

Well done Liam - We are very proud of your achievements.

Every fortnight we celebrate the amazing work that happens in our classrooms by awarding a Principal’s Award to a student in each class.

God Bless

Janet and the Team at Our Lady of the Assumption School

Term 4 invoices have been sent to parents. As the end of the year nears, the parish would appreciate families making payments to bring their account up to date. This helps the parish pay funds on to the Diocese. Any queries please contact Judy administration@christchurchsouth.org.nz. Thank you.