NEWSLETTER
Term 2 Week 9
CATHOLIC CHARACTER NEWS
House Mass
Thank you to the students and their families who were able be at the Patuone and McAuley House Mass. It was lovely to listen to the students who welcomed everyone, read the readings and read the prayers of the faithful. The students who brought up the gifts for the offertory did so with great care and respect.
RETREAT DAY By Holly
Do you know what yesterday was? It was retreat day! We had meditation prayers in the staff room with Miss Woodhead. I really enjoyed dancing with Mrs Sietu. Before I went to Mrs Sietu, I was with Miss Washer and did a quiz on the Holy Spirit, church and holy communion. My favourite song of the day was ‘We love Jesus.’ With Miss Woodhead, I customized my own prayer mat with two prayer cloths. My prayer focus also had fairy lights that looked like little specks of fire. I also added two pictures of nature and stones as smooth as paper. It was super fun. Everyone made a different prayer focus. In the quiz I learnt what happens in prayer service. Overall I had a really fun day with Team Kereru.
The Amazing Retreat Day By Ryan
“Its retreat day, finally!!! I am so excited.” “First we go to the staffroom for meditation.” It was all fun because all of us got a piece of tinfoil and we had to make someone that was a role model to us. I chose my mum because she always cares for me and when I grow up, I want to be as caring and loving as my mum. After the meditation, we were separated into three groups. I was in group two and group two stayed with Miss Woodhead. With Miss Woodhead, we made prayer focuses. Eli and I both made a beautiful prayer focus together. Miss Woodhead said the prayer focus had to have like a story to it. Eli and I got a bowl and put it underneath the cloth so it looked like a mountain. We also got a statue of Mary. Can you guess what my story is? Its Saint Maximilian because he built a monastery on a mountain in Japan, he also loved Mary very much. The next thing we did was a quiz about confirmation and first holy communion. My team name was MKRG which stands for Mharcus, Karen, Ryan and Grace.
My team was really good. We all took turns at writing the answers and we worked really well together. Since we worked well, MKRG won!! Well actually we tied with another team, but still we did pretty well. As a reward, we all got a chocolate bar. After the amazing quiz, we went to do dancing with Mrs Sietu. It was really fun. The songs I liked the best were very catchy, it made you want to dance. With some of the songs, you were allowed to do freestyle which means you can do whatever you want to do. The boys were very silly when you were allowed to do freestyle. We started spinning on the ground and saying we were like fidget spinners. Some of the songs were really fast and we couldn’t keep up. These songs were not so nice because it was way too fast for all of us. The retreat was really fun and we also learnt a lot about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, confirmation and First Holy Communion. It was the best day ever
Retreat Day By Fabian
Yesterday we had our retreat day for Year 4s. I enjoyed doing the quiz. Our group got 12 points. It was also very challenging for us. We also did some dancing and singing which was quite relaxing for my feet too and mouth.
When we were with Miss Woodhead, we made prayer focuses. We had to design prayer focuses that reflected our journey. My one had some smooth stones lying down on the blue cloth which represented the stream and peaceful waters. This made me think of the waters in the morning, in China.
My favourite activity for the day was the quiz. It was so challenging for me and the others. We cooperated with each other and we all had an enjoyable and exciting day.
Fun retreat day! By Madeline
“Wow, retreat day was awesome!.” We did singing, dancing, a quiz and my most favourite one was setting up a prayer focus. I had a great time. I was in group three, Mrs Sietu took group 3 first. Second I went to Miss Woodhead who was doing prayer focuses. I did my one on the deck, it was as cold as Iceland!! It kept blowing the prayer cloth away but I finally put four candles on the edge so that it didn’t keep blowing away. In my prayer focus, I had a cloth that represented the shining sea, candles that represented the glowing and glimmering stars and the stars represented the sparkly light! My favourite part of all was when we got to see all the prayer focuses and how beautiful they all were.
I had so much fun!
Final Chance To Have Your Say – $50 Whitcoulls Gift Voucher
We are really interested in hearing from all our families. Take this opportunity to share what you see as going well at St Joseph’s and where you think we can head as a school community. We are really keen to get you feedback.
Complete the survey and you will go into a drawer for
a $50 Whitcoulls gift voucher.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MJYV7L5
SCHOOL REPORTERS
St Mary’s Band Visits St Joseph’s
By Amelia L, Ryan B and Daniel C
On Wednesday, St Mary’s College surprised the St Joseph’s students with a musical showcase by their talented school band.
St Mary’s is an all-girls Catholic school based in Ponsonby, Auckland. A few girls from St Joseph’s will go there in year 7, so it was great to welcome St Mary’s to our school on the North Shore. St Mary’s encourages their students to learn about music and has even produced a world-famous opera singer, Dame Malvina Major.
We enjoyed listening and clapping along to some popular songs, including music from the Flintstones and Pink Panther. Then a dark force filled the stage as out of the blue Darth Vader arrived. St Mary’s impressed us with an intense performance of the Star Wars theme song.
We were inspired by the students amazing abilities to play so well on such a wide range of instruments, especially as they are only a few years older than us. During the performance we were also educated on the instruments the band were using, from the deep bass of the large drums to gentle harmonies of the flutes, they were all just as wonderful to hear.
St Mary’s said the reason they came to our school was to introduce St Joseph’s children to a musical experience and to encourage us to start learning how to play an instrument.
It was a great event to watch, listen and learn and we would all like to see them return again in the future.
SPORT
Congratulations
Congratulations to our St Joseph’s Heat for their win in the Junior Breakers B Grade finals. In this final they were playing against Upper Harbour Primary. An outstanding result.
Term 2 Week 9/10 Calendar
JUNE
Wednesday 28 HG 2&3 Tititiri Matangi Island
Thursday 29 HG 1&4 Tititiri Matangi Island
Kereru Birkenhead Leisure Centre
Friday 30 Footsteps Hall
July
Monday 3 8.50am Prayers Hall
Tuesday 4
Wednesday 5 Footsteps disco
Thursday 6
Friday 7 Footsteps Hall
Final Day Term 2
God bless
Alister Bridgman
Principal