7

ISSUE

10th May 2013

Birthday Wishes
Mitchell Suddaby 12th May

Prayer of the Week

Prayer to Serve God Well 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 Your Forgiveness and give me freedom to serve You all my life. May it help me to remain faithful and give me the grace I need in Your service. May it teach me the way to eternal life.

Gospel Values for Term One:

Love, Forgiveness and Justice

Quote of the Week

God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars. - Martin Luther

This term we have welcomed back Mrs Stringer from maternity leave. She will be with us for 3 days a fortnight. Its great to have you back in the team.

School News
Subway Tuesday 14th May. School Uniform We are now entering so be should please the all in winter students uniform, months

the correct winter school also make sure your child has a warm jacket. Book Club Scholastic Book Club is due back at school by 31st May. Elections Nominations close Thursday 16th May at 12noon. Please have your then nominations along with into a the school office before candidates statement. Miniball Miniball

Principals Commentary:
Forgiveness It has been fascinating watching the latest happenings in the corridors of power with the impulsive MP Mr Aaron Gilmore, his unfortunate actions in Hanmer springs and the subsequent media feeding frenzy that has pervaded the airwave since. Also fascinating is the way that these sorts of incidents can galvanize or polarise public opinion. My initial thoughts over the incident were that he was simply a pillock that had done something silly (but not anything that threatened life or national security) and he should simply apologise to all concerned, learn the lesson, and thatd probably be the end of it. Unfortunately, he chose to take a different course and now he is receiving the consequences for not being completely honest or not taking ownership of his actions. What I find disturbing about the latest developments is the way that his own party, his colleagues and his friends have so very publicly turned on him and are now lambasting him through the media. The media, sensing blood, are all over him like a rash. His boss, our Prime Minister, was initially doing the correct thing and supporting his somewhat errant junior colleague. When The PM asked Mr Gilmore for an explanation, the one that he gave was not

starts next week, Juniors playing on Tuesday and Seniors on Wednesday, it would be great to see some parents along supporting St Pats. Mufti Day A gold coin donation for students on Monday wishing to wear mufti. Students can also get a hot chocolate at morning tea time for a further donation. Funds raised will go to Oxfam. FASP Meeting to be held on Monday, 7.30 at 5 Mary St.

entirely truthful and eventually one of his fellow diners released text evidence that showed that he had knowingly lied to the PM. I do not agree with what Mr Gilmore did, and nor do I agree with anyone using their position of authority to assert influence over someone else, or to bully others. What really deeply concerns me about this whole saga, which by the way seems to be taking the heat off the rather insidious bills dropped into parliament this week, is something that Mr Gilmore himself alluded to in his press conference on Wednesday: He said that this whole episode had been harrowing, on him and on his family. They had been thrust into the limelight by a bloodthirsty media and the whole family had suffered humiliation and public vilification-through association. The Prime Minister very publicly suggested that Mr Gilmore lacked integrity and that he should leave parliament. The very same Prime Minister that lied three times to the entire Parliament over the GCSB saga and his role in hiring the Director of that organisation. Double standards? You decide. My concern is for Mr Gilmore as a person, and for his family. I agree that he shouldnt remain in Parliament, (the Prime Minister should probably step down as well then), but I dont think that we should publicly humiliate him on the hour, every hour. I dont believe that we should put that sort of pressure on his family and I dont believe that we should cast away his humanity because he got drunk and made himself look stupid by trying to bully a waiter, and I dont believe that we should excommunicate him from society because he then succumbed to the age old human frailty of fear and probably greed and lied to his boss to keep his job. How much guilt would the media or the Prime Minister feel if Mr Gilmore became

driven to do something silly over this, such as taking his own life, or someone elses? He is under immense pressure here. How much responsibility would they shoulder? No I am not being melodramatic. Yes, I know that he stuffed up big time. But he didnt kill or assault anyone and no-one was physically harmed. I just dont believe that we should cast away a human being so glibly. He made a mistake. I suspect that he is probably learning from that right now. Where however, is the humanity, the forgiveness, the Christian ethic and the love for a fellow human being? When I posed that question to someone today they said that we should be able to expect better behaviour than that from our elected officials and that they should be squeaky clean. My response was that he was neither elected nor was he doing anything other than what his boss did earlier by lying repeatedly about the GCSB saga. (leading by example?) So why am I concerning myself with this topic in a school newsletter? Well, its about how we deal with mistakes, and its about that Christian value called forgiveness. In my classroom I prefer to encourage children to make mistakes, as they learn from them possibly more than they do from getting everything right all the time. Making mistakes generally happens when kids are extending themselves and trying new learning. They certainly dont happen too often when kids are playing it safe. I dont criticise or humiliate my students when they do make mistakes. I try and talk through the mistakes and the steps so that the students understand where it was that they went wrong. (Thats called learning with a little dose of critical thinking chucked in). If my teachers make a mistake, (and believe it or not, it does happen occasionally) we talk about it, where we went wrong,

what we need to do to ensure it doesnt happen again, what we can learn from the mistake. I dont fire them, publicly dump on them or vilify them. I support and guide them and I (hopefully) encourage them to learn. When I make a mistake, and I know that its hard to believe that I could, but I do make the odd one, I talk to my employers and we discuss it and do whatever we can to make sure that the mistake is never repeated. They dont start publicly flagellating me with lashes of humiliation and sarcasm. As good employers we are obliged by law, if not by morality, to support our employees and colleagues, particularly in time of need. As Catholics and Christians, we are obliged to help and support our brothers and sisters (fellow humans) in their hour of need, or when we can least stomach it, for that is usually when the need is greatest. It is when the needy are abhorrent, or immoral or grotesque that we are challenged to be forgiving, but it is when we should be the most forgiving. I wonder what Jesus would say of this situation? I wonder if He would say something like Come on. Get real. He is a bully when he drinks and he fearfully lied to keep his job, but you guys really need to lighten up. Forgive him and pray for him, but do not continue to harangue him because his crimes are not as heinous as I suspect his punishment is and the punishment is being visited on more than just him. Consider his

wife and his two school aged children. And of course there would be the let he who is without sin cast the first stone, reminder. If we treated our students (or each other) like that, every time they made a mistake and then denied it or tried to hide it, our students would all be nervous wrecks and at another school. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." Matthew 18:2335 Enrolments We have several new entrant enrolments starting this term and next term. This is fantastic for the long term future of the school. I will be relying on all of our students to make the new arrivals feel welcome and valued and to ensure that they quickly become part of our school family. We also have had interest from several older students and they are currently sorting out their paperwork which they will then need to take to Father Brian for preference enrolments. One of the things that I notice about education in Waimate is that parents often exercise their prerogative as to which school they use, sometimes quite regularly. I dont agree that children should be shuffled around schools on a whim, or because mum and dad have got their noses out of joint over not getting their own way at a school, or because they dont

like a teacher because they are the wrong gender, personality, colour or shape. But I do agree that parents have the right to change schools if they are not happy with the education that their children are receiving. It appears that there are currently some movements happening around the town with some parents from other schools making enquiries about our school and some parents moving between the other education providers in and around the town. We want our students to be leaders, not followers, and following other students from school to school, based on popularity, not success, does not work for me, as popularity eventually fades and then the roll eventually does too. I will not enrol students that are not committed to our Catholic special character and as we currently have no nonpreference vacancies, all enrolments have to go through Father Brian, and I do not believe he will either. If you know of anyone wanting to enrol at our school, please direct them to call in and see me. Just how I see it folks. Dont be offended. Naku noa na Me rongo (In peace) Darcy Kemp Acting Principal St Patricks School

Community Notices
Waimate late child. to Midgets register down your on

Rugby Its not too Come

Saturday at 12noon. For kids 8 years and under.

Netball Opening day will be on Saturday 11th May for all players. St Patricks combined rural have teams competition. for the Northern. schools entered in Look teams students, with other three the out called students

Give Blood Tuesday 21st May between 1.30 to 6.30pm at the Knox Church Hall, Manse Street, Waimate.

Community Garden are their taking orders for soup pumpkin

fundraiser in mid July. $3 per pottle or 4 for $10, contact Kylie Douglas 689 8950.

Elections
We are into the final week before nominations close for the Board of Trustees Elections. Get your nomination forms in to the school office before 12noon on Thursday 16th May. It is also suggested that you enclose a candidates statement with you nomination so voters get to know who they are voting for on a personal level. We currently have 3 nominations Stuart Price, Anna Hart and Gareth Oudemans. If no other nominations come to hand then the three nominations will be duly elected. If more nominations are received and an election is needed then voting papers will be sent out to everyone on the Electoral Roll on the 21st May and voting day will be on the 30th May 2013. Votes will then be counted on the 5th June with candidates being notified by phone and other personnel on the Electoral Roll can view the website for the results later in the day. The new board will take office on the 6th of June.

Logo for the Year of Faith. The boat in the logo represents the Church. The main mast of the boat is a cross and its sails are the shape of the sun which represents the Eucharist. On the sails are the letters IHS, the first three letters of the Greek name for Jesus.
Faith is the thing that we believe in and it is also the way by which we believe.

May the Year of Faith be a time for all Catholics to renew their desire and zeal for the Eucharist and to avail themselves regularly of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Penance. During this Year of Faith, may all Catholics publically proclaim their love for Christ and his Church. May this Year of Faith remind us of ways to serve those in our midst who are overlooked, ignored or rejected, so that all may experience the peace and healing of Christs love. May the Holy Spirit guide the Church during the Year of Faith so that all Catholics may experience a deepened renewal of faith, hope and love. May young people be inspired by this Year of Faith to listen attentively and respond to Gods call to priesthood and religious life.

St Patrick School would like to thank the following sponsors

Caf on Queen
Caf and Wine Bar Open 7 days 25 Queen Street Ph: (03) 689 6010
Breakfasts Lunches Evening Meals Consult us for all your special occasion catering