PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Kia ora koutou katoa
Kia koa te Wiki o Te Reo Maori!
It's been two weeks of wonderful language celebrations celebrating Tonga Language Week last week and Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori this week.
What an honour it was to be able to join with the rest of New Zealand in sharing our Te Reo Maori Moment on the 14 September. It was an important point in time to celebrate, promote and encourage use of Te Reo Māori and to contribute to its revitalisation in Aotearoa.
I have taken great pleasure in having a look at students' work in SeeSaw and joining some of the class Zoom sessions. There is some great work being done out there. Our heartfelt thanks to all parents and whānau who have supported our tamariki through their home learning tasks. We know how hard this can be in some households, but we hugely appreciate your support.
If your child has not fully engaged in their home learning, please do encourage them to do so. Older students are expected to be much more independent and show that they are able to manage their learning and make contact with their teachers when they require one to one support. Teachers are available between 9am and 3pm on weekdays. Schoolwide engagement levels for Week 8 has been approximately 81%, an improvement from last week. However, there are still approximately 50 students have not engaged well this week. If your child is not engaging in their school work while at home, please contact their teacher to discuss this. The work issued and completed will constitute an important contribution to your child's assessment for the year.
Our amazing student leaders have shared some advice and motivation for all our students. Check out their video message later in this newsletter.
This week, along with other Catholic schools, we also commemorated Social Justice Week. Our tamariki were led to turn their focus away from our own present challenges and to consider the difficulties of those less fortunate than ourselves, the poor, the lost, the hurt and disenfranchised. We pray for those who can't help themselves, for those who are suffering under poverty, slavery and autocracy, for those who are hurt, ill or injured and for those who need to draw closer to Christ.
With the change to level 3 looking very possible next week, we have begun planning for our return to school. If you have not already, please let us know if you will be sending your child to school during level 3. We need this information urgently so that we can take all health and safety precautions possible to keep your children safe. Please remember that under level 3 restrictions, school is only open to children if parents have to leave home to go to work and have no appropriate child care at home. All other parents are expected to keep their children home until Level 2. All students are expected to continue with their distance learning programmes while in Level 3, whether they come to school or not. Please check my notice to parents sent out earlier this week, via our APP and email.
We are beginning to plan for our Term 4 curriculum and end of year activities. As a result of the lockdown and time lost in Term 3, we have had to make some major changes to our Term 4 calendar, so that we can focus on making sure that our children are able to achieve their academic goals. You will find an updated Term 4 calendar later in this newsletter and also on our school website.
A special note from our PTFA, who regret that our usual End of Year Calendar Art Fundraiser has had to be cancelled due to time constraints as a result of the lockdown. We thank the PTFA for their efforts and hard work in the organisation of such events. Mission Day will still go ahead in Term 4, but we have had to postpone it to 10 November to give our students more time to prepare but also so that our families will be able to attend in Level 2 or 1.
Parents of students leaving St Mary's at the end of this year, will have received an email earlier this week, requesting confirmation of your intentions. Please check your inbox and reply to this email urgently. This information is very important to our planning for end of year events and for the 2022 academic year.
We are hoping that we will be back together with all our children soon and are praying that all our families stay safe and well.
Please enjoy a short video prepared by our staff in celebration of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori.
Mā te Atua koutou - God bless you all.
Arohanui
Audrey Kippen
Tumuaki/Principal
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| Things I Love | Alphabet Hunt | Wellbeing Wednesday |
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| Contemporary Mona Lisa By Isabelle Kane | Vector Portrait By Katana-Rose Masoe |
By Isabelle Kane
By Katana-Rose Masoe
Te Reo - Phrase of the Week
Aue, e hika ma! - Goodness me!
The Uniform Shoppe - SAS Sport
We have been advised by The Uniform Shoppe - SAS Sport that they are very low on the St Mary's sweatshirts at the moment (only have size 12 and up available). The shipment is on the water and has been delayed a few weeks.
If you urgently require a school sweatshirt, we do have a few 'second hand' items in stock at school. Please enquire at the school office. Thank you.
Have Your Contact Details Changed?
St Mary's Parish, Papakura - Contact
Parish Priest - Fr James Mulligan
52 East Street, Papakura 2110
Parish Office - (09) 299 6056
Presbytery - (09) 298 5134
Email: office@stmaryspapakura.co.nz / www.papakuracatholic.org.nz
Facebook - search: St Mary's Parish Catholic Church Papakura
Preference Certificates to be signed at the Parish Office
Thursdays Only from 10 a.m. - 12 noon AND 4 - 6 p.m. - No Appointment Necessary
MusIQhub Music Lessons
At St Mary's Catholic School - SIGN UP NOW for Term Three 2021! Our friends at MusIQhub are happy to announce that there will be new spaces available this term for Drum, Piano/Keyboard, Guitar and Ukulele lessons during school hours! Also, there will be Singing, Recorder and Flute lessons available! Please enquire now to book in spaces for quality music lessons taught by experienced professional musicians.
Drums, Piano/Keyboard, Singing, Recorder and Flute - Paul Barry 022 198 0044
Email: paul.barry@musiqhub.co.nz
Guitar and Ukulele - Lih Foo 021 2076 231
Email: lih.foo@musiqhub.co.nz
