School Camp 5 - 7 Dec 2017

   School Camp 5-7 Dec 2017

Last year’s camp we went to Otamarakau and slept in a tent/marae. The best thing, for me, about the camp was that it was right next to a beach and a train track.

 At the beach there were kayaks that some people paddled in. There was a really deep bit in the water where you could jump in. At night we roasted marshmallows and burnt our faces looking at the fire.

 We drove to Kiwifruit Country and met a dog called Tilly. We went in a giant kiwi fruit cart and looked around at all the kiwifruit trees. Our guide was telling us all about the trees.

On the last day of camp, we planted trees next to the river bank. We got a shovel and dug up holes. We said good bye to the camp and drove off. When I thought we were going home we went to a lake and did a treasure hunt for things.

Then we drove back to school and went home, exhausted but happy.

By Patrick and Lochie.

Visiting Kiwifruit Country.

                   Campfire and toasting marshmallows

Planting karaka trees along the riverbank

                           Camp Otamarakau 2018 - done!

Christmas Choir 30 November - 3 December

Christmas Choir 2017

From November 30 – 3 December 2017, St Joseph School choir performed at the Anglican Church Christmas choir show. We sang songs like “If I were a Butterfly”, “Fill Every Valley Up” and “This Little Boy” sung by Sophia Martelli and Esther James. These two performed a duet with the rest of the school singing the chorus of “This Little Boy. It was a lot of fun. We all practised for about a month and 5 weeks it took us 2-3 weeks to decide which songs we would sing. It took about 4-5 weeks for Sophia and Esther to practise their duet. After the last performance at the church, we had ice blocks and lollies.

World Milk Day

WORLD MILK DAY! Thanks Fonterra the kids love having their free milk in schools every day! #milkmoostache

Little Garden Seedlings

Planting our seeds from the New World little garden promotion. Thanks To New a World for the donation! 👍They'll be great for our community garden.

Keep NZ Beautiful

Collecting rubbish around the school, roadside and Centennial Drive for Clean up NZ week! 
This year we only collected 2/3 of a bag and most of that was from Centennial Drive. We must be doing a good job at keeping our school clean!

Inter-school Cross Country

A beautiful afternoon for the Cross country - and a good decision by Hinuera to postpone until today.


Ready, set, go!
Everyone that does well at their own cross country goes to the Inter-school one. All the students at our school went because we are a small school. The inter-school one was held at Hinuera and all the schools around the Matamata area took part.
Parents came to do transport and watch the races. When we got there we put our tent next to a tree. The cross country was on a farm so there was cow poop everywhere. Joe, me and some other people stepped in it. We were cheering on the little kids and running with them. Charlotte did well in her race and came 7th. I thought the cross country was great. The best part was having a sausage and then we got to go home early!
by Patrick

And they're off! The 5 year old girls race begins...

Tyler approaches the finish line

Kyla and Tessa - almost there!

Mass for Bishop Denis

Year 5 and 6 students attended the Mass at the Cathedral last Friday to celebrate the milestones achieved by Bishop Denis Browne. 80 years old this month, 55 years as a priest and 40 years as a Bishop. What remarkable service to God, the Diocese and particularly to our parish here in Matamata. May God continue to bless and guide you and all the best from us!!

The altar at the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary

With Bishop Denis Browne

Bishop Steve loans his Mitre to Ryan!