Newsletter

Sunday, February 26, 2023

Gospel Reading

Matthew 4:1-11

Jesus fasts for 40 days in the desert and is tempted by the devil.

Background on the Gospel Reading

In each of the three Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke), after Jesus’ baptism by John, Jesus is reported to have gone to the desert to fast and pray for 40 days. In each case, while in the desert, Jesus is tempted by the devil.

Matthew and Luke give more detail than Mark does, but each one tells how the devil tempts Jesus in the desert. In Matthew, as in Luke, the devil presents three temptations to Jesus. The devil tempts Jesus to use his power to appease his hunger; he tempts Jesus to put God’s promise of protection to the test; and he offers Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world if Jesus will worship the devil. In each case, Jesus resists the temptation, rebuking the devil with words from Scripture.

The account of Jesus’ temptation in the desert is filled with allusions and parallels to the Old Testament, including the story of the people of Israel. The Israelites spent 40 years wandering in the desert in Exodus, for example, and Jesus spends 40 days in the desert. As the Israelites were tempted during the Exodus, so too is Jesus tempted.

Each temptation offers insight into both God and the human condition. Jesus’ rejection of the temptations shows that he will not put God to the test. Grounding himself on the word and authority of Scripture, Jesus rebukes the devil, confident in God’s protection and faithfulness.

As we start our journey through Lent, our Sunday readings call us to adopt the same confidence that Jesus had in the face of temptation: God’s word alone will suffice; God’s promise of protection can be trusted; God alone is God.

Tihei mauri ora, nau mai, haere mai, tena koutou katoa, E nga whanau, e nga kaiako, e nga tamariki, e nga manuhiri, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa

Week 5 is upon us and I want to thank the community for their participation in our Pot Luck Dinner, which was a huge success and it was so great to see lots of our staff and whānau enjoying kai together. We also had many of our community come to Ash Wednesday Mass as well. The Yr 4-6 team had their swimming sports and it was fantastic to complete this just as the rain started. Thank-you to all those who supported and volunteered. We also welcome 42 new students to our wonderful St Marys community.

Our classrooms are a hive of activity and I am really pleased to see how the children have settled in and are getting their head into learning.

In Term 1, 3 and 4 we have Parent-Teacher Conferences to share your child's learning with you. This term the conferences will be in week 7 and this is a good opportunity to check in and see how your child's learning is progressing.

Conferences are 10 minutes and will be on the following days;

Wednesday 15 March from 3.15pm-6.15pm

Thursday 16 March from 12.30pm-6pm.

School will finish at 12pm on Thursday 16 March. There will be no after school care, or afternoon buses on this day.

Please make sure your child is picked up at 12pm on Thursday 16 March to support our staff preparing for the conferences. Please use the below links to make a booking.

Booking a Parent-Teacher conference

Parents can book a conference time by going to School Interviews and using the event code m32gf, or by using this booking link to go directly to the booking page.

Term 2 of this year will see Gobsmacked come back into our curriculum. Gobsmacked is a Performing Arts company specialising in programmes for schools led by Patrice Patel. Patrice will be working with our school for the Term. The title of the production is 'The King' and will involve our Yr 2-6 children. Our Yr 0-1 children will do another performance to their families at a different time. There will be some associated costs with this and we will endeavour to keep you informed on this.

School Accounts will be emailed this week, an overview of our payment process can be found HERE....

All children will need their hats to be outside. If children have No Hat, they must find shade. Children are asked to keep sunscreen in their bag and apply it when necessary during the day. We ask for your help and support with these requests. We also have sunscreen available in the classrooms and at 3 stations throughout the school during break times.

Make sure you keep up to date by checking out our school app and website as they will have all the latest information. As always we share information and learning through HERO, and Seesaw.

A huge thank you for your support of the Mufti Day last Friday for our Gisborne and East Coast schools. You generously donated pencils, pens, felts, new and good quality toys, and raised over $2,000. Thank you!

School and home are a partnership and we want to work together for each child to reach their potential. If there are any concerns throughout the year with your child, please contact your child's classroom teacher in the first instance. If you feel you need to speak with someone else, then make contact with the Team Leader. Mrs Akkerman (Yrs 4-6) makkerman@stmarystga.school.nz or Mrs King (Yrs 0-3) cking@stmarystga.school.nz. If you still feel you need to speak to someone else, then please make time to come in and see Mrs Lisa Broadmore lbroadmore@stmarystga.school.nz, Mrs Fay Warnock fwarnock@stmarystga.school.nz and then myself jmurray@stmarystga.school.nz. It is imperative to follow this process. Your child's class teacher should always be the first port of call. There are many things that happen for children in their day and if you are concerned it is best to email them with a time to meet to discuss your concern. We need to make sure we have all the information before we discuss the concern. We need to work in partnership to grow the capacity of our children.

Nga mihi nui

James Murray

Principal

Last Wednesday we were very fortunate to have Father Adam lead our Mass for Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday marks the first day of the season of Lent, and it is an important day of repentance. Lent is a beautiful way to remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us and prepare us for the Easter season. During Lent, we remember the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert. We can say extra prayers, fast and/or do extra chores to help others during Lent. The children have all made their own Lenten promises in class, which were shared during the Offertory. We pray that we work hard to keep our Lenten promises so we can prepare and be ready for Easter.

On Tuesday we welcomed 42 new students, their families and 3 new staff members to our school. It is our school tradition to give all new members of our community a miraculous medal. Father Arnold and Mr Murray invited our new students and their Guardian Angels to receive their blessed miraculous medal. As Mary is the patron of our school, we pray for her continued love and protection over all our new children and staff.

A reminder that we have our School Parish Mass this Saturday, 4th March at St Mary Immaculate Church, Cameron Road. Our choir will be sharing their beautiful singing, several children will be reading and our Junior students will be singing “God is Everywhere” before the start of Mass. It will be a lovely celebration and will be followed by a picnic at school with sausage sizzle and an ice block for the children.

If you are able to, please bring a food item along to Mass, which can be put into the basket by the entrance. This food will be donated to the Saint Vincent de Paul Food Bank.

We look forward to welcoming you to our first School Parish Mass of the year.

We would like to invite any of our new parents or anyone else who would like to join us for a coffee and connect time in Te Kōpuha Hapori - our

Community Bach & Library. This is a time to meet and mix with other parents to find out more about life at St Mary’s. Our first coffee morning will be on Friday 24th March from 8.30 - 9.30am and then we will aim to meet twice each term. Feel free to come along and bring others with you. Our team of parent volunteers are providing some lovely baking, so do come along and enjoy.

We have a Class Mass every Thursday morning at 9.00am in our School Chapel. This is a lovely way for children and families to celebrate the Eucharist together. A shared morning tea follows the Mass, which the children always enjoy. The dates of each Class Mass are now on our parent calendar.

During Lent each Class Mass will be followed by Reconciliation in the Chapel for students, staff and parents. .

A reminder that we have our Mufti day on Friday 10th March to raise funds for the Caritas Lenten appeal. The theme for Lent 2023 – “I am the Light of the World” – reminds us that Jesus brings light to a world often darkened by disease, disaster, violence, lies and hypocrisy. Jesus’ life, and his proclamation of the truth, is a challenge to each of us to lead our lives following His example. We will be raising money for the people in Fiji.

Our St Mary’s Shared Potluck Dinner was held on Tuesday the 21st of February. It was a wonderful opportunity to come together to celebrate our community and hear about our exciting Kotahitanga Initiative (Engaging Community). Thank you to those who were able to attend and many thanks for bringing such delicious dishes from all around the world for us to enjoy! We were treated to dishes from all corners of the globe, including Samoa, South Africa, Poland, India, Philippines, Italy, Romania, Brazil, Chile, USA, China, England, Vietnam, Scotland and New Zealand.

You can view photos of the dinner HERE.

At St Mary's we encourage healthy brain food, morning tea and lunch. Please have a read of this two page resource from the New Zealand Heart Foundation for many good ideas for packing healthy lunchboxes. Please follow this link: Healthy Lunchboxes

Because of our healthy food policy at St Mary’s we also appreciate that when celebrating birthdays unhealthy treats are not brought to school. More information around alternative options will be shared in upcoming weeks. Thank you for your support with this.

Last Thursday we were treated to a lovely sunny morning to walk to Memorial Pool in. This was a perfect start to our annual Aroha Swimming Sports.

There was some amazing swimming on display with lots of cheering and encouragement from friends, teachers and parents and even some grandparents.

Congratulations students and thank you to our wonderful Teachers and Mums, Dads and Nanas that helped make the day a success.

Certificates and Cups will be presented and the Senior Hui next week, so until then.... watch this space for results!

AU NZ 2023

Year 6 students Becky Ryder and Holly McElroy had the privilege of being player escorts at the FIFA Women’s World Cup playoffs at Waikato Stadium last week. Both girls play for Blue Rovers football club in Greerton.

The girls walked players onto the pitch before each match. They turned out to be ‘good luck charms’ as every team they walked out with either won or drew their match. The games are televised globally, and both girls got quite a bit of screen time. They were player escorts for the following teams;

New Zealand vs Portugal

Chinese Taipei vs Paraguay

Thailand vs Senegal

Paraguay vs Panama

It has been an awesome and inspiring experience. Meeting real life hero’s and making memories they will cherish for a lifetime.

Lucky young ladies.

1. Retreat Centre Office Administrator – Finance background, training supplied –

9.00am – 1.00pm - Tuesdays and Thursdays

2. Housekeeper – Duties to include mainly cooking with some cleaning from time to time

10.00am – 1.00pm - Monday - Friday

3. Experienced Gardener - Knowledge in garden maintenance and pruning –

Days and times to be discussed

All the above positions require flexibility. Expressions of interest to be emailed to

retreatcentre@clunysisters.org.nz by Friday 3rd March 2023

Tauranga City Council is proud to bring you ‘Children’s Day on the Waterfront’, a free event being held at the Tauranga Waterfront to celebrate our tamariki as part of International Children’s Day.

On Sunday, 5 March, from 11am-3pm, Tauranga’s waterfront will be a hive of activity with live music, face painting, craft activities, roving entertainment and more. There will be a free sausage sizzle on offer for those who are there early on the day.

Visit mytauranga.co.nz/summer for all the details.

Term 1 - Thursday 2 February - Thursday 6 April

Monday 6 February - Waitangi Day

Parent Conferences;

Wednesday 15th March, 3.15 pm-6.15 pm

Thursday 16th March 1.00 pm-6 pm. SCHOOL CLOSES AT 12PM Thursday 16th March.

There will be NO AFTER SCHOOL CARE OR AFTERNOON BUSES ON THIS DAY.

Term 2 - Wednesday 26 April - Friday 30 June

Monday 24 April - TEACHER ONLY DAY

Tuesday 25 April - Anzac Day

Monday 5 June - King’s Birthday

Tuesday 6 June-KAHUI AKO TEACHER ONLY DAY

Term 3 - Monday 17 July - Friday 22 September

Parent Conferences

Wednesday 19th July, 3.15 pm-6.15 pm

Thursday 20th July 1.00 pm-6 pm. SCHOOL CLOSES AT 12PM Thursday 20th July.

There will be NO AFTER SCHOOL CARE OR AFTERNOON BUSES ON THIS DAY.

Term 4 - Monday 9 October - Wednesday 20 December

Monday 23 October - Labour Day

Friday 10 November-TEACHER ONLY DAY

Parent Conferences

Wednesday 6th December, 3.15 pm-6.15 pm

Thursday 7th December 1.00 pm-6 pm. SCHOOL CLOSES AT 12PM Thursday 7th December.

There will be NO AFTER SCHOOL CARE OR AFTERNOON BUSES ON THIS DAY.

In addition to the core curriculum requirements, money raised through our Gold Group sponsorship contributes to the many extra opportunities that we run as a school. Please generously support the Gold Group Sponsors as they generously support us.

Email: office@stmarystga.school.nz
Website: https://www.stmarystga.school.nz/
Location: 11 Thirteenth Avenue, Tauranga South, Tauranga 3112, New Zealand
Phone: +64 7 578 8066
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stmarystga/