Dear Parents,

As we begin the penultimate week to our 2009 educational journey, there is a buzz of activity and excitement as we put closure on a great year.

Staff News:

It is with much regret and sadness that I report to you of our Bursar/Secretary, Mrs Dorothy Burrows’ recent resignation, effective from the end of Term One 2010. Mrs Burrows has given 25 years of dedicated, hardworking and loyal service to our School and we will be the poorer for Dorothy’s departure.

ACADEMIC

Otago Problem Solving:

Jacob Fitzgibbon sat the daunting Final Challenge recently, scoring a mark of 35. It was a tough examination, as only five children out of 1,415 scored over 80. A P Kendrew

Science Competition:

Our team of Simone Gale, Megan Lord, Priyanka Nathu and Tyler Smith were enthusiastic participants in the Christ’s College Science

Competition. Although not placed in the top 3 schools, they all enjoyed their experience with Chemistry, Physics and Biology. A P Kendrew

Portfolios:

These important documents will come home this Friday and they should be read as exemplars of your child’s/children’s work in the main areas

of the curriculum. They are also a reflection of your son’s/daughter’s effort input and each child’s /children’s end of year report, which will be sent home on the last day of term, will complement their progress.

CULTURAL

Music Recital:

The following pupils are to be congratulated on performing in our recent annual Music recital.

Piano:

Briarna Murray Year 4 Rock Anywhere

Maleka Smith Year 4 Freight Train

Aimee Hayward Year 4 My First Waltz

Alison Yee Year 4 Oom-Pa-pa

Myah Klinkenberg Year 4 Indians

Roman Kenworthy Year 4 Toymakers Dance

Alexander Johnson Year 4 Cowboys Song

Liam Scrase Year 4 Caspar The Friendly Ghost

Guitar ensembles:

Harry Kendrew, Cameron Lord, Thomas Bennett -How Dry I Am

Connor Lindsay, Logan McConnel, Joshua Duddy, Vincent Kenworthy- Spanish Folk Tune

Piano:

George Warren Year 5 Brachiosaurus

Chelsea Yu Year 5 Beauty and the Beast

Vincent Kenworthy Year 5 Allegro Giocoso

Isabella Holden Year 6 Ballad

Davis Gale Year 6 Russian Song

Madeline Kendrew Year 6 Edelweiss

Saskia Klinkenberg Year 6 Be Our Guest

Violin:

Meg Byers Year 5 Tango

Violin ensemble:

Simone Gale, Sebastian Gurobi-Hines, Megan Lord, Anna Parry-Gibson, Henry Rouch, Freddy Wilson - March from Peasants Cantata (J.S.Bach)

Guitar ensemble:

Joshua Carlile, Raphaela Walsh, Emma Pearson, Ella-Jane Todd -Two Branles De Vill

ages (Besard)

Piano:

Phoebe Brosnan Year 7 Following Directions

Millie Clifton Year 7 Malaguena

Skylar Brown Year 8 The Caravan

Laurel Gregory Year 8 Fandango

Emma-Kate Gardenbroek Year 8 Early One Morning

Arwen Edgar Year 7 Autumn from The Four Seasons (Vivaldi)

Olivia Ong Year 8 Menuet in G (from Anna Magdalena Bachs notebook)

Jacqui-Lyn Welch Year 7 Piebald Circus Pony

Sebastian Gurobi-Hines Year 8 Hungarian Melody

Rebecca Tang Year 8 Red Rose Rendezvous (Martha Meir)

Guitar ensemble:

Rebekah Boyce, Georgia Rouch, Rebecca Tang, Rory Wilson-Cartwright - La Bamba (arr. M. Crowther)

We thank our itinerant Music teachers, Juliet Johnston, Mike Crowther, Laurie Searle and Ian Bolton.

Speech and Poetry Competition:

We commend the following pupils, who were judged in the top three places by our adjudicators, Ms Sarah Mahoney and Mr Hamish Kenworthy, Chairperson on our School’s Board of Governors:

Poetry:

Year 3: 1st Claudia Gale

2nd= Trilly Stewart

2nd= Cole Smith

Year 4: 1st Alexander Johnson

2nd Bennet Anderson

3rd Daniel Welch

Year 5: 1st George Warren

2nd Angus Jonker

3rd Charlotte-Jane Irwin

Year 6: 1st Madeline Kendrew

2nd Saskia Klinkenberg

3rd Conor Hamilton

Speech:

Year 7: 1st Jordan McIvor

2nd Austin Harrison

3rd Megan Lord

Year 8: 1st= Laurel Gregory

1st= Georgia Rouch

3rd Sophie Mitchell

Letter from Hon Chris Finlayson:

‘Dear Mr Boyce

I am writing to congratulate your school on its participation in the Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival last month. I attended the performance on Wednesday 21 October and, while I was unable to see your School perf

orm, I know the standard was very high across all the performances.

I would appreciate it if you would pass my congratulations to your choir teacher and students.

Hon Christopher Finlayson

Minister for Arts,Culture and Heritage’

St Michael’s Young Voices:

I have been delighted by the progress made by the young voices. My initial aim has been to get them to place their voices well so that they can be heard. My second aim has been to be able to instill sufficient confidence so that

they are not afraid to project their voices! The pitch perception, getting the right note, has improved well beyond forecasts and I am very pleased and encouraged by the progress made.

At this stage, they are working towards ‘Voice for Life’ White Level. It has

been very satisfying that at each successive weekly rehearsal I have been able to sign off another test towards their achievement of a White Level badge.

Rehearsals will resume on Wednesday 3 February 2010 and new voices are welcome.

I do expect that the group will be performing in the first term but will give plenty of warning. P.V. Ellis

SPORTING ROUND-UP

Canterbury Primary Schools’ Athletic Championships:

This week Karenia Anderson and Simone Gale represented our school and the Independent Schools’ at the annual CPSSA Athletic Sports which were held at QEII on Tuesday 1 December. Karenia was entered in the 50 metres and Long Jump and was placed 5th in her heat. Simone Gale was entered in the 100 metres, High Jump and Long Jump. She came second in her

100 metres final and jumped a personal best to place second in the LongJump. A fantastic effort from both of our representatives. J C Russell

Summer Hockey:

We entered one parents’ and two pupils’ teams in the Summer hockey. All three teams performed with distinction.

Touch Rugby:

We were represented by a girls’ and boys’ Senior teams in the St Andrew’s Friday afternoon competition and both teams acquitted themselves well.

SPIRITUAL

Year Eight Assembly Leaders this month:

Jacob Fitzgibbon, Shannel Cartwright, Austin Poit, Raphaela Walsh, Emma Wong, Georgia Hetu

tu, Saskia Whall, Sophie Mitchell.

Bible Readers at recent School Masses have been: Georgia Hetutu, Rebecca Tang and Rory Wilson-Cartwright.

School Carol Service:

I am sure that you join with me in eagerly awaiting our annual Carol Service, on Sunday at 5 pm in our St Michael’s Church. We will present certificates to our choir members at the conclusion of the Carol Service.

SYNDICATE REPORTS:

Senior Syndicate:

As the year winds down it is an appropriate time to say how much we value teachin

g the Senior students, and how very proud we are of the way they have matured and grown throughout the year. Of course, it will be sad to see our Year Eights leave, and we wish them all the best for their futures.

We have enjoyed the Life Education Trust visits this week and hope they have sparked healthy conversations at home about drug and alcohol use.

We are looking forward to ending the year with a fun-filled Big Day Out on Monday and a positive conclusion to the year. A P Kendrew

Middle Syndicate:

As you read this, Year 4 will have just returned from their Overnight Camp at Cracroft. They have been very excited about the prospect of spending time together, doing some very challenging activities. The Camp started with an exploration of the Cracroft Caverns, led by Andrew Willets (Halswell Quarry park Ranger). Other activities followed included kayaking, orienteering, team building and prusicking from a very tall tower. On Friday, the day began with a run, breakfast and a swim at Pioneer Pool. Back at Cracroft, the children had great fun cooking lunch on the ‘hobo stoves’ that they had made at school prior to leaving. The overnight camp has been a fabulous experience for the children and a lovely way to spend time together, at the end of Year 4. J. Clarke

Last week the Middle Syndicate went to QEII to take part in the Royal New Zealand Lifesaving “AquaSafe” programme. The children learnt many skills enabling them to feel more comfortable in and around the water this summer.

On behalf of Mrs Clark and Mrs Godfrey-Chatterton we would like to wish all the school families a joyous Christmas, a wonderful holiday and look forward to seeing you again in 2010. J C Russell

Junior Syndicate:

The Junior Syndicate fully participated in the School Disco and came looking the part and full of glitter, gel and confidence in their dance moves.

Our Art Gallery visit focused on the work of New Zealand artist, Seraphine Pick, and all children completed interesting and diverse masks to ‘look like someone else’. The Art Gallery educators present an excellent programme.

Congratulations to Claudia Gale, Trilly Stewart and Cole Smith from Year Three who gained places in our Poetry competition.

We are working on the various themes of Christmas and it is a joy to know the

children can retell the Christmas story. We loved visiting the Cathedral, singing carols and leaving gifts for children less fortunate than ourselves.

We wish our School children and families a safe and happy holiday period. B M Byers

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Letter from Hon Heather Roy:

‘Dear Kevin

Thank you very much for hosting our visit to St Michael’s on Friday 20 November, 2009. It was a pleasure to meet you and your students. Sarah and I really enjoyed your hospitality and the tour of the School.

We were particularly impressed with the supportive environment you have created and the enthusiasm your students show towards their learning. It was great to visit the classrooms and see this for myself. Thank you again for taking the time to host us at your School.

Hon Heather Roy

Associate Minister of Education’

The Hon Heather Roy with Board Chair Hamish Kenworthy

Principal Kevin Boyce and Head Prefect Olivia Ong

The Hon Heather Roy in Year Two

St Michael’s pupils enjoying the disco

Principals’ Tips

You Can’t Buy Holiday Memories

‘With the holidays just a few weeks away you’ll be thinking about how to fill the Christmas break. Outings have special significance when they incorporate a family tradition and are unique to the season; for instance you might always go strawberry picking the day after school finishes.

Be deliberate about making time to do some things together: Soccer in the park, climb a hill and slide down on cardboard boxes, or have a picnic in a favourite spot. Whatever you are doing it is the family connection, not the money spent, that builds the good feelings which create lifelong memories.’

(from Parents Inc weekly hot tip)

I look forward to sharing the final week’s events with you.

K R Boyce

Principal

Dental Care over the School Holidays

The Community Dental Service will operate an emergency service over the school holidays. This service is to provide relief of pain only and will not undertake ‘routine’ treatment.

The service will be available each working day from 8:30am until 12:30pm from the Oral Health Centre, 16 Tuam Street, Christchurch for the following times:

Monday, 21 December - 24 December 2009 (excluding weekends) Monday, 5 January - 29 January 2010 (excluding weekends).

This service will operate by appointment only and if we are unable to see your child, alternative options will be given. If your child has dental pain as a result of an accident please contact your dentist in the first instance.

You can phone and make an appointment for the emergency clinic by ringing 364 1860