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Gospel Values forTerm Two:

Reference and Self

Control

82 4 t h M a y2 0 1 3

I S S U E

Birthday Wishes

Ben Williams 6th June

School News

Subway Tuesday 28th

May.

Book Club Scholastic

Book Club is due back at

chool by 31st May.

Elections Get your

Voting Papers back to

chool by 12noon on the

30th May.

Miniball Miniball has

ot off to a great start

with both teams winning

heir games in the first

week but both suffering

osses in the second

week.

Prayer of the Week

Prayer

Father of Mercy,forgive my failings,keep me in Your Grace,and lead me in the way of salvation.Give me strength in serving You

as a follower of Christ.May the Eucharist bring me YourForgivenessand give me freedom to serve You all mylife.May it help me to remain faithfuland give me the grace I need in Your service.

May it teach me the way to eternal life.

Quote of the Week

Humility is not thinking less ofyourself, it's thinking of yourselfless.C.S.Lewis

Patrick Kemps grandmother was presented with a Queens Service Medal (QSM) by Sir JerryMataparae on Tuesday. Dianne Gregory-Hunt (nee Meehan) originally from Makikihi, was awardedthe medal for her services to the community. Dianne lives on Pitt Island in the Chathams group andis an active member in her local community, currently serving on the Chatham Islands ConservationBoard. She also served on the Pitt Island School Board of Trustees and has contributed a regularfeature column in the Chatham Islander Newspaper for many years. Diannes investiture atGovernment House was attended by all six of her daughters.

http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=2917http://www.catholic.org/prayers/sacrament.php?id=2http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=5305http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=2917http://www.catholic.org/prayers/sacrament.php?id=2http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=5305

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As always, with the

administration of a schoolnothing is ever as straightforward as it might appear andthere are several thingshappening in the background atthe moment that certainly havegiven me cause to shake myhead, or have made me laugh atthe absurdity of it all. One suchexample is around the SchoolNetwork Upgrade (SNUP) thatis currently underway and

scheduled to have beencompleted at the end of weektwo. How could we have knownthat there was a recurring waterleak under one of the buildings,or that most of the equipmentwould be late in arriving? Howcould we have known that therewas a blockage in one of theunderground conduits? Wecouldnt, so we plan for as manycontingencies as we possibly

can and we deal with anyalterations or interruptions tothat plan as they arise.Likewise,on the recent junior schoolouting with the Rural Scholarsto Knottingly Park, everythingwas done according to the book.Risk analysis managementforms (RAMS) were completedand signed off. The first aid kitwas on hand. Teachers andparents were prepared for everyeventuality, in triplicate. Thewasps didnt know this ofcourse and as they werentpresent for our reading of theRAMSforms, they

School Mass

There is a whole-school

Parish Mass scheduled

or Sunday the 16th of

une.

All school students andheir immediate families

re expected to attend.

This is an obligation

greed to as a part of

enrolling at St Patricks

School. All families are

encouraged to invite

heir extended whanau

long as well, as Mass is

n opportunity for the

School to participate in

he Catholic Parish

ommunity and for the

wider Church

ommunity to interact

with the school and to

ather and pray together

nd to celebrate the

ommonalities of

purpose.

Students are expected to

ttend in full school

uniform and to sit

ogether at the front on

he left hand side so that

heir singing is clearly

heard.

PrincipalsCommentary:

obviously felt totally at libertyto terrorise some of our studentsand the wee ones from RuralScholars. Once again, this was acase of planning for everythingand then something elsehappening. Whilst allowancesare always made for bee stingsetc, no-one could have foreseen

that an entire nest would get inthe way of a great day out.Thankfully, despite the frightand the pain for some, thechildren and the adults all didthe right thing and no-onepanicked.The children were all wonderfuland the attending adults werecalm under fire. Thank you toall.Wasps aside, a big thank you toMiss P. and to Rural Scholarsfor organising the cool outing.

Preference enrolment criteria.

There has been a lot of discussion recently around theschool about the definition andapplication of the criteria forpreference enrolment. It hasbeen said on more than oneoccasion that you have to be aCatholic to come here. Not true.As an Integrated Catholic

School, we are allowed to enrol6 non-preference students (5%of our maximum roll). Non preference means that they donot meet the criteria below.But be certain about this: StPatricks is a Catholic school.The preference criteria are as setby the Catholic Bishops of NewZealand. They are enshrined inlaw. They are not changed on awhim, and nor are they tinkered

with by priests, pastors orprincipals. They are what theyare and we respect them and weare obliged to work within them.As a Catholic School, we areentitled, empowered and obligedto evangelise wherever possibleand to encourage engagement inour school with all whopotentially fit the criteria forpreference.Criteria for Preference of

Enrolment in IntegratedCatholic Schools

5.1 The child has been baptisedor is being prepared for

baptism in the Catholic Church.5.2 The childsparents/guardians have alreadyallowed one or more of itssiblings to be baptised in theCatholic faith.5.3 At least one parent/guardianis a Catholic, and although theirchild has not yet been baptised,

the childs participation in thelife of the school could lead tothe parents having the childbaptised.5.4 With the agreement of thechilds parent/guardian, agrandparent or other significantadult in the childs life, such asan aunt, uncle or godparent,undertakes to support the childsformation in the faith andpractices of the CatholicChurch.5.5 One or both of a childs non-Catholic parents/guardians ispreparing to become a Catholic.We cannot and do not encouragethose families that have no hopeof preference (if there are nonon-preference placesavailable). Instead, when wereceive inquiries from non-preference families I gentlysteer them in the direction of thebest local schools that I feel will

suit their particular needs. Thisis often a thankless experience,because it would be nice to beable to say, Welcome, come onin! to everyone, but we cant.This is a Catholic SpecialCharacter and the prime purposeof its existence is to provide aCatholic Education to Catholicchildren.Catholic Children are thosedefined in the criteria above.

I have no intention of thwartingthe law, or the rules in order toget kids in. Besides, I ratherappreciate our quiet, wee schooland would not want to open upthe gates to just anybody, so tospeak. It is the Catholic SpecialCharacter that makes this schoolso cool. Not me, not any of ourstaff, or our grounds, buildingsor resources. It is the schoolcommunity, the church, the

Catholicity and the love,respect and the values andhumanity of our school thatmakes it so cool.

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Friends at St Pats

Would like to thank the

Foodstuffs Community

Trust for their donation

of funds to purchase a

cover for the school

pool.

We are going to be

holding a disco at the

end of this term, and

also next term we are

going to be selling some

seeds to help raise funds

for our annual school

camp.

Thanks to all thosefamilies that supported

the recent chocolate

break. We managed to

raise $97, which for such

a wee school is fantastic

and goes to show what a

big heart we have.

And as per usual feel free

to embellish on these

little statements

Thanks Toni

Community Notices

Community Garden

are taking orders for

their pumpkin soup

fundraiser in mid July.

$3 per pottle or 4 for

$10, contact Kylie

Douglas 689 8950.

Bring a friend to

Kindy Come and see

what a great learning

environment exists

behind the gates. Heldon Thursday 30th May

from 8.45 2.45.

Contact 689 8961.

Elections

We received 6 nominations for our elections and we have 5 positions available. Thank youto those who put their name forward for the Board of Trustees and I wish you all the best forthe upcoming election.Nominations are: Anna Hart, Kathryn Larsen, Gareth Oudemans, Stuart Price, TimSuddaby, Claire Tait. Their candidates statements can be viewed on online at www.st-pats.co.nz

You should all have received your voting papers in the mail by now, please make sure youhave them filled out and returned to the school office by 12noon on Thursday 30th May2013. Votes will be counted on Wednesday 5th of June, candidates will be notified by phoneand results published on the school website later that day. The new board will take office onthe 6th June 2013.

The process that I use fornrolment is as specified by the

Catholic Education Office for ourDicoese. If a family approacheshe school about enrolment, Iecide if they are likely to meetreference. If they are, then Immediately refer them on to thearish priest who, after a

iscussion with the family, willpply the criteria and then decidewhether to grant preference orot.

As an agent of the Bishop;The parish priest affirms the

Catholicity of parents applying

or preference status for theirhild, according to the criteria

aid down by the New Zealand

Catholic Bishops Conference.

This initial interview with thearents provides an opening for

vangelisation, and pastoral

are.The parish priest is able to

monitor the special character of

he school on behalf of the

Bishop, in dialogue with theBoard of Trustees, the principal

nd the DRS. If a particular

discussion does not achieve thedesired end, the Catholic

ducation office is likely to be

ble to clarify matters, and

rovide assistance.That last part means that if anpplication for preference isurned down, then the parentsave the opportunity for appealhrough the Catholic educationffice.

The bishops of New Zealandave determined that a principal

may not enrol a child before

eceiving a preference certificaterom the parish priest. Equally,

priest who applies thereference criteria in a narrow

r overly restrictive manner

would not be acting according to

the guidelines set by the

bishops.It is irrelevant to the school whichcriteria is used to grant preferenceto a child, as once an enrolment iscompleted, we treat everybodythe same. We make no distinctionat the school between students

enrolled under 5.5, 5.4 5.3, 5.2 or5.1. As far as we are concernedthey are all preference students.The only notable distinctionbetween preference and non-preference students that we makeis that non-preference studentsare unable to participate as altarservers during Mass. They stillattend Mass with the wholeschool, learn the entirecurriculum and fulfil their servicerequirements as the rest of us do.We want people to come to thisschool, as they are also the futureof the Church. We do not want,nor would we enrol anybody thatis not committed to the Catholicfaith-based, Catholic educationthat this school provides.Our parish and visiting priestsacross the diocese know all ofthis as they have rules to followand a responsibility to evangeliseand serve, where appropriate, and

to encourage those that havemoved away from their faith toreturn.If you have any furtherquestionsabout preference, please feel freeto come and discuss them withme in the first instance.Cross Country

The Waimate Districts CrossCountry is scheduled to be heldon Monday. We do need a coupleof parent helpers to help out on

the day PLEASE.

Dont panic: you wont have torun or anything!Please let usknow if you can help.We will be taking the busdown to Knottingley Parkabout 10 am. The event is dueto start at 10:30It is absolutely imperative thatall children bring a warm

change of clothes as well astheir sports gear. They willalso need food and drink.If children are not running,then they would need toprovide a note to excuse themfrom this event, but if theycome to school, they will stillbe coming to Knottingley withus as that is where school willbe for the day.At the end of the day (usuallyabout 1-130) parents may taketheir children home earlystraight after the event isfinished, but PLEASE let theteacher know if you are doingthis. Those that have not beenpicked up will return to schoolon the bus with the teachersand can go home at 3 oclockas normal.

Just how I see it folks.Dont be offended.

Naku noa naMe rongo (In peace)Darcy KempActing PrincipalSt Patricks School

http://www.st-pats.co.nz/http://www.st-pats.co.nz/http://www.st-pats.co.nz/http://www.st-pats.co.nz/http://www.st-pats.co.nz/

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St Patrick School would like to thank the following sponsorsMay the Year of Faithbe a time for allCatholics to renew their

esire and zeal for theEucharist and to availhemselves regularly ofhe Sacrament of

Reconciliation andPenance.

During this Year ofFaith, may all Catholicspublically proclaim theirove for Christ and hisChurch.May this Year of Faithemind us of ways toerve those in our midst

who are overlooked,gnored or rejected, sohat all may experiencehe peace and healing

of Christs love.

May the Holy Spiritguide the Church duringhe Year of Faith so thatall Catholics mayexperience a deepenedenewal of faith, hope

and love.

May young people be

nspired by this Year ofFaith to listen attentivelyand respond to Godscall to priesthood andeligious life.

Caf on QueenCaf on QueenCaf and Wine Bar

Open 7 days

25 Queen StreetPh: (03) 689 6010

Breakfasts Lunches Evening Meals

Consult us for all your special occasions

hanks from the staff and students of the school and mine to Janine Donaldson for all of her work and effortat she has given to the school over the past couple of years as a Proprietors Representative on the Board ofrustees. With her busy life and full time work, as Janine is stepping down, this will create a vacancy for aew Proprietors Representative. Janine has also been an active and supportive member of the Catholicpecial Character Committee which has assisted in maintaining the Catholicity of the school and helpedrther develop the Special Character. Janine (and often her husband Roger) has given so much ofemselves to this school: time, resources, materials and a touch of humbleness and gentleness that is sofreshing and appropriate in this setting and in these busy times.

o Bill ODonnell for his wonderful donation of firewood as a fundraiser for St Patrick's School. Yourndness is very much appreciated. I also appreciate your other kind offers of assistance and your generosity

f spirit is awesome and humbling. It is also very humbling when our older citizens and ex students showuch support for our great wee school. If the rest of the congregation were to do the same our school woulde overflowing with kindness and students too.

ephen Patterson for all his hard work over the years as a parent, and as a Board and PTA member and ofourse as a former student. Stephen is not seeking re-election to the Board, standing aside for others to haveturn after many years on the board. This is also the end of an era as there have been Pattersons involvedthe school continuously since the 1800s. We will have to wait and hope that when Stephen and Linda

ecome grandparents that they will be able to convince their grandchildren to attend here too. Thank Youephen.

hank you to all of those people that have stood for election in the board elections. What a wonderful effortom a small wee school likeours. Awesome! The elections finish on the 30 th May and the new board willke office on the 6th of June.

hank you to one of Waimates newest businesses Lets Get Dressed for the $300 donation. If you haveny clothes hiding in your wardrobe that need to be recycle, please make Lets Get Dressed your first option

a percentage of their profit goes back in to local schools.

St Patrick School would like to thank the following ..