Virtue for the Fortnight - Kindness
Mark 6:54-56 As they left the boat, people recognised Jesus at once. So they ran throughout the whole region; and wherever they heard he was, they brought to him sick people lying on their mats. And everywhere Jesus went, to villages, towns, or farms, people would take those who were sick to the marketplaces and beg him to let them at least touch the edge of his cloak. And all who touched it were made well.

SURPRISE! - By David Codd
On Wednesday 12th May, Room 1 experienced a wonderful visit from the author David Hill. Mr Hill read some of his amazing books to us and we read some of our won stories back. There were questions, advice and old stories that made him write some of his books. All of us in Room 1 thought that he was excellent and got writing advice from him. It was a great experience for us all and we loved it.

SPECIAL CHARACTER:
This coming Wednesday the 19th May is Catholic School’s Day. Catholic School’s Day is celebrated annually all over New Zealand. This year Catholic Schools in New Plymouth have decided to celebrate together with a mass at St Joseph’s Church. You will have received a notice home about this during the week. We will be leaving school at 9.15am on buses and returning at 12noon. Please feel free to join us if you would like. Mass begins at 10am.
Mass in Slow Motion begins this Wednesday night at St Joseph’s Church. You received information about this series of meetings presented by the Bishop and Catholic Education staff in last week’s newsletter. The sessions run from 5.30-9pm. Everyone is asked to bring a plate of food to share for tea.

CONGRATULATIONS:
Jade Harrison travelled to Palmerston North on Wednesday to attend her graduation. Congratulations to Jade on this achievement.

KIDS LITERACY QUIZ:
Our Year 6 team competed in the Kids Lit Quiz last Friday morning at Devon Intermediate. This competition tests the children’s knowledge of books. The competition is open to Yr 6-8 children. We were the only primary school represented, so the competition was tough! David, Daniel, Renee and Josh did us proud on the day despite very tough competition. We were placed 14 out of 20 teams.

NUMERACY ADVISOR:
This Monday we have Wendy Bayly, the numeracy advisor at our school for the day. Wendy will be working in all classes and providing the staff with a professional development session after school also.

Soccer:
All St Pius X Soccer teams are now playing in the Taranaki Soccer competition. After consultation it was decided this was the best competition for our children to be playing in.
Thank you for your support and patience over the last few weeks.

PARKING:
A reminder about dropping off and picking up of children. Please keep clear of the yellow lines for obvious safety reasons. Also some people have been using the teacher’s car park to drop off and pick up, which is dangerous. We do not want to see a child injured and this could easily happen if people are driving in and out of the driveway when children and adults are leaving the school. Please refrain from doing so and remind friends and family who may be picking up your child of these safety precautions.

BOARD OF TRUSTEE ELECTIONS:
Votes have been counted and our parent elected Board of Trustees  members are as follows:

*Angela Ryder-Jones
*Duncan Murray
*Ross Mackay

Our Staff representative is Pat Swanson. Thank you to those who made themselves available for election. A special thank you to our outgoing Board Of Trustee Members who have been part of our Board for many years

* Chris Wells
* Suzie Dymock
* Shelly Beisiek.

Your dedication to your role has been much appreciated and we thank you for your support over the years and wish you all the very best for the future

ENROLMENTS:
A reminder that if you have any children beginning school in 2011 please pick up an enrolment pack from the office asap. Also if you know anyone else that is thinking about sending their children to our school in 2011 ask them to contact me asap. Early enrolment helps with our forward planning for next year.

SPORTS RESULTS
SOCCER:
Jets was 13-0 to Central School. POD Daniel Chow
Knights was 8-0 to Manukorihi. POD Josh (Home school)
Spurs wo 3-2. POD Michael McNamara
Rockets won 3-1. POD Reece Bungay
Young Guns lost 2-10. POD Blake McNeice

NETBALL:
Electric Angels had a win 15-0. POD Dawn Heather
Flames: A win of 2-0. POD Anna Conley

BASKETBALL:
A loss 16-20. POD Jordan Roylance
Duty at 4pm on Fri 21st May.

INTER-SCHOOL SPORT:
On Wednesday we had to postpone our Interschool Sports exchange with Oakura. Unfortunately a decision needs to be made in the morning because of travel arrangements and weather did not look like it was going to clear. In hindsight we could have held the exchange! The postponement date in this Thursday the 20th May at 1.15pm.

FIRST COMMUNION:
First Communion photos are available for purchase fromHelen Codd. The photos have been put on a CD which can be purchased for $15. Either see Helen or place your money in an envelope marked with ‘First Communion Photos’ and Helen Codd’s name and we will pass the money onto Helen. There are some lovely photos on the CD and as you can see I have included a couple in the newsletter