We need social saints, open, normal, friends, cheerful companions - Pope Francis
Dear whānau,
Welcome to Ivy Duncan who had her first day at St Mary's today. Ivy joins her big brother Miller here. Happy school days Ivy.
Welcome back after a two week break. I am sending out a newsletter today so that you can have a clearer idea of what's going on this term. The parent teacher interviews and the teacher only days are the key dates to pay attention to, and of course class Masses begin again this term.This Friday we have our first Welcome Liturgy of the year - it begins at 2pm on Friday in the Church. We look forward to welcoming all our new families and staff.
Over the holidays we received more advice on mask wearing. I am aware that a number of the children in Year 4 and above have exemptions and we want children in school rather than staying away because of masks. The advice was for schools to tighten up their mask wearing policy for at least the first four weeks of the term. If your child does not have an exemption we have masks available in the classroom for anyone who needs them. Staff will continue to wear masks. Please do not let this put you off coming in for any reason.
Here's to the possibility, and hope, of a less disrupted term!
Ngā manaakitanga (blessings)
Annie
Te kupu o te wiki - the word of the week - Māruawai or Maruawai?
Māruawai - the macron on the 'a' makes the sound longer and means the flooded valley, or the valley of water
Maruawai - with no macron sounds like Maru-a-wai which refers more to the power of the water.
Either way is acceptable but each has a different meaning. Thank you Matu (Hokonui Rūnaka) for your help.
Seasons for Growth
As part of our commitment to working with families our Annual Plan includes the training of all staff and delivery of a programme called Seasons for Growth. This is a programme that supports mental health, promotes resiliency and helps children (and adults) cope with loss and changes that take place in their lives.
This programme is not counselling but rather an opportunity to provide children with out of classroom activities to develop skills for coping, problem solving and decision making through discussion and small group activities. It is known to restore self-confidence and self-esteem by helping children know that they some choice and agency in their lives.
The groups are run by trained companions and are our teachers and support staff and invites for the next round of small group work have been sent out to some families. However, if you have not received an invitation and would like your child to be involved in eight sessions this term please contact Di or Annie and we can arrange a permission slip.
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Step 1First enter your name, your student's name, and your email address. If you need to book for more than one student, change the “Book for x students” setting, and enter the other student's name. | Step 2 On the next page, pick the teachers you want to meet. | Step 3Then you'll see a timetable showing when your chosen teachers are available. Simply click on the times that suit you. |
Step 1
First enter your name, your student's name, and your email address. If you need to book for more than one student, change the “Book for x students” setting, and enter the other student's name.
Step 2
Step 3
Then you'll see a timetable showing when your chosen teachers are available. Simply click on the times that suit you.
School uniform
We are really proud of our uniform, why and how we wear it. Recently the school sport shorts came to the board for review. The maroon shorts have been hard to source, some have found the sizing too large and the cost for getting specially made shorts available to us is expensive for families. The board has changed the school sports shorts to plain black (no markings) so that the shorts can be bought at a reasonable price and kept right through to St Peter's.
There have been a number of occasions where children have come in with the wrong socks, shoes, hoodies etc and we do not create a fuss because we know just how blooming busy everyday family life is, and invariably children don't choose to wear the wrong thing. We do have a big cupboard with spares in and so if a child isn't wearing the right uniform we can lend out spares to make them look and feel the same as everyone else. Please get in touch if you need any help with uniform.
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U11 South Island Squash Champ 🏆 Congratulations Zavier! | Gold and bronze at the South Island wrestling champs 🥇 Congratulations Charlie! | 1st place North and South 🥇 Congratulations Maggie for competing in the North Island and the South Island wrestling champs! |
U11 South Island Squash Champ 🏆
Gold and bronze at the South Island wrestling champs 🥇
1st place North and South 🥇
