Our Lady of Lourdes School T3:W10
Newsletter: 28 September 2021
HELLO, KIA ORA, KIA ORĀNA, MALO E LELEI, TALOFA, NAMASTE, KUMUSTA...
Our school is going really well - and a lot of great learning has been taking place. Our children/tamariki are happy and safe as we all work to LIVE, LEARN and LOVE the Mercy way.
We are all excited to have our Catholic Schools Day tomorrow - we have been recalling the very special Catherine McAuley who began the Sisters of Mercy. Some classrooms are reviewing our six Whanau/Family House names and why they were selected. We are truly blessed as a school community and look forward to what Term 4 brings.
Speaking of Term 4 the staff have been planning wonderful learning opportunities for your child, key dates that we will share with you as well as preparing for our move into the modernised block at the end of November.
During the holidays we hope to begin adding and transforming our playground. We will be adding some new equipment as well as tidying up existing areas. We have been so very lucky to have our wonderful caretaker, David Lloyd and our own Coach Karen working tirelessly on transforming our PE shed into a much more modern and workable space - you are both amazing.
Abundant blessings to you all over the Term 3 break, stay well, go gently and we look forward to seeing you in Term 4.
Catholic Schools Day Theme
Why we celebrate
How many Catholic schools
STAFF NEWS
Our fabulous Director of Religious Studies (DRS) Donna Brown, has shared that she is resigning from her DRS position at the end of the year. She applied for and was fortunate to secure the Pastoral Coordinator position for the Kotahi Ano, working within the Diocese. She is very excited about this new direction and is looking forward to making a real difference in parish life for our school, St James and St Peters. She will be sorely missed and we thank her for her gift of faith, kindness, and creativity. We wish her abundant blessings as she begins her new journey and we look forward to working alongside Donna in a slightly different capacity.
We will begin the advertising process and will look to have someone employed for the beginning of Term 2, 2022.
Again our thanks to Donna Brown for all she has done for our school and community - we will miss you but feel incredibly fortunate that you are only next door.
Health Curriculum Programme in Term 4
Living Life to the Full - Health and Sexuality Unit Plan
John 10:10 ”That they shall have life, life in all its fullness.”As mentioned in our previous newsletters the three senior rooms will be undertaking the expected Health and Sexuality programme
- We are made in the image and likeness of God and are good.
- Live life to the full.
- Life is a gift from God.
- Our baptismal call is to love and be in relationship with God, self and others.
The lessons will cover topics including:
- Me and My Body - growing and changing, how we change, what our body parts do.
- Me and My Body - keeping my body clean, why? How germs spread, showering and bathing
- Me and My Body - being responsible for my body, types of touching, getting help
- Year 6's only- looking at aspects of Puberty
We are guided by the requirements from the Ministry of Education and the newly written “Framing Document Human Sexuality Education: A guide for Catholic communities in Aotearoa New Zealand” from the National Centre for Religious Studies NCRS.
We wish to acknowledge the importance of this topic and the role that you have as the first educators of your children. We hope that you might be able to have conversations at home around some of these issues and place them within your own context. We will keep you in touch as we journey through the lessons.
Having a well informed understanding of who each of us is as a person and what it means to be the best version of the person God created us to be, fulfils a great need within each of us.
If you have any queries or you wish to withdraw your child please contact their classroom teacher. Thank you.
SCHOOL UNIFORM UPDATE
The Warehouse contacted us to say that many of our school items are no longer available so we are moving with a quicker timeframe. We understand that there may be items that are not available for your child and we will move gently through this process.
We have a range of second hand uniform's available that you are welcome to look through.
We will let you know as soon as the new uniform is ready to go.
SUMMER UNIFORM - Term 4
In Term 4 your child can wear their summer uniform. Your child has the option to wear their winter or summer uniform up until Labour Day.
From the 26th October can we please have everyone in their summer uniform.
Please let the school office know if you are having trouble getting the summer uniform due to the supply issue with The Warehouse.
We need your help - BUTTONS
EPIC PROGRAMME IN THE SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
Hi Epic Schools! Lily here from Epic Music Academy. If you don’t know, as well as teaching music in schools, Epic Music Academy also runs an educational, music focused holiday program. The Epic Holiday Program will be going ahead in these coming school holidays and we would greatly appreciate it if you were able to advertise the program in your school newsletter to get as many kids learning music through the holidays as possible. Our program has also just become OSCAR approved so funding for families is available. Something like this in the newsletter would be great: “ Does your child love music? Are you looking for an awesome Holiday Program for your kids? Then we have the program for you! Epic Music Academy is running an OSCAR approved EPIC holiday program these school holidays. During our program we look at a range of different instruments including drums, keyboard, guitar and we will even learn some percussion pieces on rubbish bins! As well as doing music each day, we also have lots of fun activities planned including sports, crafts, baking, bowling, Cloud 9 & more! To check out all the inf, our highlights video and to sign up, head along to www.epicma.nz ” If this is too long, then just the following short version would be great: “ Does your child love music? Are you looking for an awesome Holiday Program for your kids? Then we have the program for you! Epic Music Academy is running an OSCAR approved EPIC holiday program these school holidays. To check out all the inf, our highlights video and to sign up, head along to www.epicma.nz ” If it could please be in the newsletter for the weeks leading up to the school holidays that would be amazing. If you have any questions please let me know! Kind regards, Lily
MERCY HOUSE POINTS FOR THE TERM
- POMPELLIER: 3,462
- McAULEY: 3,039
- ONGLEY: 2,854
- BERNADETTE: 3,418
- VINCENT: 3,104
- FRANCIS: 3,161
UPCOMING EVENTS
September
- 29th: CATHOLIC SCHOOLS DAY
- 1st - Last day of Term 3
October
- 18th - First day of Term 4
- 25th - Labour day - school is closed on Monday
- 1st - All Saints Day
- 2nd - All Souls Day - SCHOOL PHOTO DAY
- 25th - Senior overnight camp
- 9th - Year 6 Graduation Mass from 6pm in the church
- 14th - Final day of the year - Final assembly - school closes at 12.30-1pm
Contact Us
Email: office@olol.school.nz
Website: http://www.olol.school.nz/
Location: 96 Shamrock Street, Takaro, Palmerston North 4412, New Zealand
Phone: +64 6-358 9727
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Our-Lady-of-Lourdes-School-317253155895069