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

Tomorrow 14th November is the second time this year that a rare astrological event will take place.  This one is a solar eclipse that will best be viewed at 10:36am.

Last week our school took part in the annual South Taieri Schools Athletic Sports, and what a great day it was.

I was very impressed with the results that our school achieved, and winning the intermediate relay was a great feat.  The attitude shown and effort put in by our pupils were also highlights and to be commended.

Athletics continues to be a major focus of most primary schools because there is usually one event that favours every shape and size of pupils.

If you look at the Olympics the athletes who run the sprint are different from those who run the marathon and they are quite different from the throwers.

Despite what people may say the rule of 10,000 (Hours) says that the more time you spend training especially at a young age then the better you will be.  Natural talent really only occurs because of some who began early.  Mozart was thought a genius at 11 but he had been honing his skills since he was 3.

 

As my son continues into his first week of NCEA externals the same point occurs in a slightly different way.  Because he has worked steadily all year he doesn’t appear panicked about cramming now.  Other Year Tens that I speak to are not so laid back, because they didn’t do the hard yards early on.

 

To all of our ex-pupils who are sitting or have sat exams this year, good luck, you can still help yourself by ensuring that you are well rested before your exam and that you work for the entire three hours.

 

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan

 

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

Week four of the last term of 2012 already and those of us with secondary aged pupils will be only too aware that for some the academic year is over and they are moving into exams.

The NCEA assessment criteria has often been much maligned but having gone through a year of working with the system I am very happy with it.

Under the old system (school certificate) pupils had in most subjects, one chance, through a three hour end of year exam to succeed.  Work throughout the year to a large degree counted for nothing.

With NCEA each credit at whatever standard is known and accounted for.  If you get a merit you usually have the opportunity to up grade to excellence.  Many students will already have passed before they sit their external exams and those who haven’t know what they need to do to succeed.

A very similar system of internal and external examinations now exists in most tertiary institutions and this more transparent system ensures that pupils know where they are and what more they need to do to pass.

 

Work at our new school site is progressing smoothly and the new school is taking shape rapidly.

I have no doubt that there will be more challenges to face before we get to February 5th but we are now well on the way to moving into our new school.

 

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan

 

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

What a great day Sunday was.  I would like to begin this newsletter by thanking the PTA, especially Jacquie Dodson and Rachael Morris for all of the hard work and effort that was put in by this highly

motivated and well lead group of parents. 

The planning and effort that goes into making the fair the huge success that it is, is massive.

A big thank you also to all of the people who helped on the day, it was brilliant to see so many of our community pitch in and help out on what will be the last fair to be held at 62 Church Street.

And finally thank you to everyone that supported the fair by attending and enjoying what was a great day.

 

Over the number of years that I have been involved with the school fair I have always thought that it was a corner stone of our community.  It is a day when the extended school community comes together and has a day of family fun and as a bonus much needed funds are raised for our school.  To see the happy faces around the school, for me, makes the day a success.

 

Over the next weeks summer sports become a real focus so please ensure that all pupils representing our school are in the correct uniform and are playing sport in the correct spirit.

 

 

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan

 

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

This term the overall theme that we are looking at is keeping ourselves safe.

The pupils at the moment are working with John Somerfield from the New Zealand Police on the joint teaching programme “keeping ourselves safe” (KOS) and later on all pupils will attend a beach education day that will educate them on how to stay safe at the beach (and around water) during our summer months.  The senior classes will also be receiving swimming lessons to help ensure that they are able to keep themselves safe around this potential hazard this summer.

Constable Summerfield held a parent education evening last week that was very informative for all who attended. The underlying theme I took from it and have myself taught over the years is to keep talking to our  children.  Often the temptation during the teenage years is to let them do their own thing as long as they appear to be doing no harm.  But the problem with this philosophy is that by the time we come aware an issue has arisen something that was small will have become huge.

The work on the new site is continuing at a steady pace and to celebrate the end of our time at 62 Church Street our annual fair will be held this Sunday, so please try to support the school by attending the last ever fair at 62 Church Street!

 Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan

 

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

After a  long period during which few, if any visible changes took place on the new building site the last week has been a literal hive of activity.

The temporary access road has been put in and the clearing of the site is progressing at pace to enable the beginning of the driving of the piles so that Rooms 4 and 5 can be shifted during the holidays.

It is a very exciting time at the school with: along side the acceleration of work at the new school site the smart new sports uniforms have arrived; the two class rooms, the storage room and the reading room at the western end of the main block are all empty and being prepared for the shift.  And of course this is the week during which ‘Animal Antics’ our annual school production is being staged.  It promises to be a great show so please make every effort to get along.

Early next term is our schools annual fair, this day is always highly successful both in terms of money raised and as a great social day for the families, but this year is going to be special, it is our final fair based at 62 Church Street.  All of the money raised will be used to ensure that our move to our new school will be highly successful, so please support our hard working and highly motivated P.T.A. and this will ensure that our shift will be a major success.

As this is the last newsletter for the term I would like to thank all of the people who have helped at school over the term, sport coaches, people who have worked in classes, those who have gone on trips and camp, and especially the P.T.A. and B.O.T. the amount of time and effort that these groups put in is often  not recognized—so thank you.

Next term will be a huge term for the school, our aim is to ensure that your children’s learning is effected as little as possible by the shift while ensuring that it is an experience that they will remember.

Have a great week and a happy and safe holiday.

Mike Brosnahan

 

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

Despite the snow that fell last week spring is definitely here and except for a few hockey representative players children’s winter sport is definitely over for the year.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the parents who have coached, managed or supported our sports teams over the winter months.  As I look at the models of schools that succeed in sport the two key factors that lead to their success is continual support and skill development. 

 

So thank you once again to all of you, your continual support leads to your children having a greater range of opportunities and enjoying greater success!

 

I would also like to thank and acknowledge the parents who helped with making the celebration of the First Holy Communion for our pupils so special.  The celebration of the Sacraments is obviously a hugely important part of our schools special character.  The preparation that the children put in, and thank you to the parents who lead this, is crucial to underline the importance of the sacraments to us.

The leadership of Father Michael and Mrs Dillon has made the whole process a highly successful and enjoyable experience.

 

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan

 

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

Over the past week I have been involved in a number of rolls in a range of sporting codes.  From spectator to selector, from coach to supporter, and reflecting back on these experiences I would like to share some observations with you.

Firstly children succeed in sport when they enjoy the sport and are playing it because it is something that they want to do.  Often you will see children who have been pushed by their parents drop out at high school because they had become so afraid of failing that sport was not enjoyable.

The rule of ten thousand definitely is still a major factor, that is that to achieve at a high level you need to put in a minimum of ten thousand hours at your selected sport, but if you want children to put in anything like this level of effort then two factors are vital: they must have excellent support and they must enjoy what they are doing—feel part of a team or group.

My daughter’s hockey team has had a very successful season and the reason for this lies in their coaches ability to take a diverse group of girls ranging in age from 13-18 and including a national representative and some who only play for the school, and welding them into a team.

She was able to achieve this by her own skills but also by the fact that the older members in her team were real leaders.  Despite the fact; in one case they could have been playing for New Zealand one day and the next playing against South Otago, there was no self aggrandisement or self promotion but rather they emphasized the no ‘I’ in team saying.

The rest of the team responded to this leadership.  There was no talking down but only encouragement, no rebukes yelled but only encouragement, no snide remarks but rather support for a common goal.

I would suggest that sport here becomes a metaphor for life, if we want our team to succeed we need to focus on the collective not on our own aspirations.

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan