Thursday, July 14, 2011

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Friends of St Mary’s School,

Welcome to the final newsletter for term two, and what a busy term it has been. As I sit in my office bathed in morning sunlight it seems hard to believe that we are almost at the middle of July. We, in Dunedin, have been lucky with our winter and this has meant that we as a school have been able to accomplish a huge amount.

Next term we welcome Mrs Anne Simmons back from leave, and sadly we farewell Miss Rosalie Bennett from Room Two. Miss Bennett has done an excellent job in Room Two while Mrs Simmons has been away.

The unusual configuration of the school terms this year means that when we return to school next term we will be, in terms of days at school, well over half way through the year, and yet, there are so many exciting and important events coming up.

We endeavour to cater for all of the unique skills and talents of our pupils at St Mary’s and so over the final two terms we will have pupils experiencing cross country, public speaking festivals, Stars on Stage, choir festival, senior camp, athletics, senior swimming, beach education, First Holy Communion, senior pupils doing DARE programme, the school fair, our end of year concert/musical and celebrations, mathletics, social study quizzes and such things as guitar/piano lessons, and ICAS exams continue. And of course there is our school wide theme for next term the Rugby World Cup.

With this in mind I wish you all a happy and restful break and look forward to seeing you all back and refreshed for next term.

Have a great Holiday

Mike Brosnahan

Monday, July 4, 2011

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Friends of St Mary’s School,

Here we are in Week Ten already and what a busy time it is. The children are all involved in interclass art exchanges, and our jump jam daily fitness programme continues for the whole school.

The senior classes are busy preparing for Stars on Stage and the Catholic School’s Choir Festival. Both these will be held next term. The senior rugby team has been competing in the Otago Full Primary Rugby Competition and the Year Seven and Eight class are preparing for our school interchange with St Josephs from Oamaru.

Last week several groups of our pupils took part in the Extra Spelling Bee in Dunedin. We are also putting in place planning for next term when the school wide theme will be the Rugby World Cup, and we will have a Year Seven and Eight group taking part in the “Kick start Golf Programme”.

Our challenge through this busy time is to keep our focus on our main goal which is off course achieving teaching and learning.

At our school we are very fortunate to have relatively small classes and a group of excellent teachers, and to support them two great teacher aides who work closely with your children. We use a proactive approach to learning at St Mary’s striving to identify any issues early and dealing with them promptly, to enable us to achieve this we also use a number of external agencies.

To ensure that we offer our pupils the best possible opportunities we also have a group of parents and parishioners who volunteer to help out in various classes. Remember that our key focus is on achieving the very best for our pupils, and the help we receive from you our community is invaluable.

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan