Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa

Nga mihi nui ki a koutou katoa

Manandang Gagi Magandung gabe

Namaste, swagatam

Manuia le afiafi

Wǎnshàng hǎo, (wan shang how)

Good afternoon everyone

Haere Mai, Welcome.

It is with pleasure that I welcome you all here this afternoon for our end-of-year Prizegiving, although parents and family are unable to attend in person, I hope you have been able to join us virtually.

Parents, teachers, students, relatives, and friends. Here we are again, gathered to celebrate the year and give thanks to our akonga / learners. A warm welcome to those new parents who are joining us for their first St Joseph’s Prize Giving.

It is a pleasure to be able to address you all, for this celebration. We celebrate the many successes of our children today, although not all students will receive an award, I would like to acknowledge all students and their achievements throughout the year whether it was a small success, a milestone reached, a tooth lost, a smile at a friend or an act of kindness which touched the heart of others, you are all deserving and you are all successful in your own right.

As this is my last prizegiving at St Joseph’s I look back and reflect on my journey and time here. I have enjoyed my time at St Joseph's and in particular becoming a part of the catholic community and getting to know the wonderful and delightful students and staff. Part of being a special character school is about providing encounters with Christ for the students, however in my time here I feel that each day I am blessed to have encounters with Christ through the interactions with the students on a daily basis. I have enjoyed getting to know the students and their families and developing new friendships along the way and making new memories, some of my highlights here have been the development of the bike track and sacred space, taking students on camp, doing surf lifesaving, helping out at the PFG fundraiser, in particular, the shearing and watching the students grow and mature over the last three years.

This year I took part in the SpringBoard Leadership programme and part of it required me to unpack and look at our school vision & mission. Through the process we came up with our new vision for the school Leading in Faith, Learning for Life. I feel this reflects who we are as a school and inspires our special character and the students who have the potential to be leaders in our school, parish and community.

Moving forward to 2022 we will be welcoming in a new Principal - Betty Knewstub Brown, I know she will be welcomed warmly into the St Joseph’s School Family.

We also farewell Miss Girvan who has been with us for the past two years. I know she will be missed though I am delighted for her to be taking on new challenges in her teaching career.

I would now like to acknowledge and thank the following,

My Board for their diligence and support throughout the year, their rich conversations and in particular Malissa Webster and Graeme Fisher our co Board Chairs who have done a great job leading and supporting us all.

My sincere thanks to Father Paul for your incredible support and leadership in our faith journey. We value the time and effort you put into the school supporting our students.

To our teaching staff and support staff for all your continued hard work throughout the year. Your passion for the students and their learning is truely valued.

To Mirs Tiuka for you support throughout my time at St Joseph's in your roll as DP, to Mrs Alexander for your outstanding work as SENCO, Miss Girvan for leading our schools faith journey as DRS, and Mrs Jackson for her fabulous work in the office.

And my gratitude to you amazing students who bring enthusiasm, joy and wairua to our school - you are the heart of the school!

To our parents, families, friends and wider parish community for your ongoing support, giving up your time to help with coaching or managing sport teams and being helpers on school trips, it is truely valued.

I would also like to acknowledge and thank the PFG - our school fundraising group who did a fabulous job, with the very successful cookie fundraiser and raffle, and the Quiz night, which our community thoroughly enjoyed.Our whole school community thanks you for your mahi.

Lastly I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas, safe travels and adventures.

Kia tūpato

Ka kite ano koutou

Meri Kirihimete

Sarah Laugesen

Principal

Christmas Mass Times

Vigil Mass 24th December @ St Joseph’s – 5.30pm- Carols

6pm- Mass

Christmas Day Mass 25th December @ St Patrick’s -9.00am – Carols

9.30am- Mass

Vaccine Passports will be required for both Masses

Prayer to End a School Year

God of wisdom, we thank you for all the gifts you have given us throughout this school year. We praise you for giving us life, for saving us in Christ, and for choosing us to be your people. As we come to the end of this school year, we voice our gratitude for the good things you have done in us, and we praise you for all who have shared in the work of this school. We ask that you bless them in your love and give them refreshment and peace. We praise you, God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns forever and ever.

Amen

We’ve teamed up with OfficeMax to make getting school ready faster! Your child’s class list is available now on the OfficeMax MySchool website – https://www.myschool.co.nz/stjosephschb