Panui-Newsletter Term 2, Week 5
Bishop Edward Gaines Catholic School
Principal's Message
Talofa, Kia ora, Malo e lelei, Habari, Hello, Sawadee, Kia orana, Dia duit, Ma muka chini,
This week is Samoan Language week.
This year marks 12 years since Samoa Language Week has been celebrated in Aotearoa New Zealand. 2022 is also a significant year for the Samoan community, being the 60th anniversary of Samoa Independence. Sāmoa, officially the Independent State of Sāmoa, gained independence from NZ on 1st January 1962, which is celebrated on 1st June as its independence day. Samoa has a unique historical relationship with NZ. It is the only nation that NZ has a Treaty of Friendship. The Treaty of Friendship between Samoa and New Zealand is about a commitment to partnership, friendship and a mutual endeavour to obtain for Tagata Sāmoa (Samoan peoples) fuller opportunities for social progress. Language is critical in achieving this. On Friday we invite our students to dress in Island clothes, wear flowers and bring a donation toward their Traditional Samoan Kai that will be provided for all students.
We celebrate Pentecost this Friday. We invite our community to join us for this, at 9:30am.
This week our senior students continued to work with science teacher Paul Billing. The students worked on E-Pro 8 activities which involves working with tools and materials to design a technology brief. The children enjoy these opportunities to be challenged and work collaboratively on tasks.
Baptism Parent Information Session 9 June 2022 @ School. For those parents and caregivers who are wanting to have their child baptised. We are pleased to inform you that we will be running a session here at school for your convenience.
When: Thursday 9 June 2:55 pm
Who: Open to all parents/caregivers who wish to have their child baptised
Where: Pacelli Class-Bishop Edward Gaines School
What: Just bring yourself
Child Care: Your child will be able to watch a video or play at school while you attend the session
Baptism: Once you have attended the session you will be able to confirm a date for your child to be baptised.
Note: Mrs Hall is happy to sponsor your child if you need a sponsor.
June 7th is a Teacher Only Day (TOD) for teacher professional development. Our staff will be joining other schools at JPC to unpack Matariki.
Our staff have been busy working alongside Sport Waikato. Sport allows for motor skills to be developed and strengthened but also builds the key competencies of managing self, thinking, and participation. Sport enables all children to feel part of a team and also highlights individual personal talent and ability in sport codes. We are have secured access for our winter sports coaching programmes and will be utilising the Event Centre, Tokoroa. We will be running gymnastics and basketball each week for all students.
Fantastic!
From the Parish:
Pope Francis appoints Bishop Michael Gielen as Bishop of Christchurch
May 21, 2022
Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Michael Gielen as Christchurch new Bishop. He now succeeds Archbishop Paul who has been our Apostolic Administrator since January 2021 and the appointment of Bishop Michael will allow Archbishop Paul to take up his role as Coadjutor Archbishop of Wellington in the coming weeks.
Bishop Michael hails from Tokoroa and was a priest of the Diocese of Hamilton, before being appointed to Auxiliary Bishop of Auckland in March 2020.
“I am humbled and honoured to have been appointed by Pope Francis as the Bishop of the Diocese of Christchurch. I have always had a deep respect for the people of Christchurch borne from their displays of resilience and generosity in the face of great adversity,” Bishop Michael says. “I am grateful for Archbishop Paul Martin’s leadership and vision. He leaves behind a courageous legacy. I am also very indebted to the people of Auckland and Hamilton, for all they have given me over the last 25 years of ministry. I look forward to the new challenge that my appointment brings and meeting the people of Christchurch over the coming months.”
Bishop Gielen is the son of Henk and Maureen Gielen of Mount Maunganui and is the eldest of six children. An ardent Waikato supporter and keen sportsman, Bishop Michael, 50, is looking forward to enjoying the sporting fabric of Christchurch and becoming a Canterbury fan over the next few years.
Bishop Michael is also excited to be joining the Christchurch Diocese at this time of significant development.
“I wish to acknowledge the work Archbishop Paul has done in his time here in Christchurch. Archbishop Paul has responded courageously to the challenges faced by the diocese and laid the foundations for a strong future. The work he has done in paving the way for the consolidation and strengthening of our parishes and schools stands the Diocese in fantastic stead going forward. It is an exciting time to lead the Diocese through this next growth phase of the Catholic Church in Christchurch.”
Bishop Michael takes up the role with immediate effect and will be officially installed as Bishop of Christchurch in July.
A reminder to send your child to school in correct uniform. If you need help with the uniform requirements please see the office. Only school approved shoes and jackets will be worn at school. School uniforms provide a collective identity and also limit pressure for students feeling they need a certain brand of clothing.
Also reminder that school starts at 8:50am. Students may arrive at 8:30am, but if they arrive before 8:30am students are not supervised. Teachers are busy with morning meetings or preparing their classes. Thanks for your understanding.
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are:"
Ma te Atua koutou e manaaki—God’s blessings,
Bernadette Hall
Happy Birthday Harrie for week 4! Also to Katrine who turned 13 this week!
Catholic Character
Pentecost always comes on a Sunday. Unlike Christmas and Easter this day passes with such little fanfare that there is a good chance you will not think about it or be reminded of it. But it is the ‘when’ as well as the ‘what’ of Pentecost that shows it is a Sign, a remarkable allusion of the Gospel that deserves our full attention. However, to see this we need to understand its place in the Biblical story.
What happened on Pentecost
If you are aware of Pentecost, you will probably know of it as the day when the Holy Spirit of God came down to dwell among the followers of Jesus. This is the day that the church, the “called-out ones” of God, was born. It is recorded in Acts chapter 2. On that day, the Spirit of God descended on the 120 followers of Jesus and they started speaking out loud in languages from around the world. This created such a commotion that thousands who were in Jerusalem at the time came out to see what was happening and in front of the gathering crowd, Peter spoke the first gospel message and ‘three thousand were added to their number that day’ (Acts 2:41). The number of gospel followers has been growing continually ever since that Pentecost Sunday.
This happened 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection. It was during this ‘quiet’ interval of 50 days that Jesus’ disciples became convinced that Jesus had risen from the dead. On Pentecost Sunday they went public and history was changed. Whether you believe in the resurrection or not, your life has been affected by the events of that Pentecost Sunday.
From the Josephite Nuns:
The relationship between the elements of creation and the environment in which they live were for me revelatory of life’s meaning and our relationship with the divine’. (Julian Tenison Woods 1862)
If we approach nature and the environment without an openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs. By contrast, if we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously. (LS11)
Julian’s love and reverence for creation surely challenges us to hear and respond to the increasingly urgent cry of our suffering earth. We are being called to ‘accept the world as a sacrament of communion, as a way of sharing with God and our neighbours on a global scale. It is our humble conviction that the divine and the human meet in the slightest detail in the seamless garment of God’s creation, in the last speck of dust of our planet.’ Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew quoted in LS9)
Let us awaken our contemplative and aesthetic sense. We stand on holy ground.
A Contemplative Stance
The universe unfolds in God, who fills it completely. Hence, there is mystical meaning to be found in a leaf, in a mountain trail, in a dew drop, in a poor person’s face. The ideal … is to discover God in all things. (Laudato Si’ 233)
In 2016 Pope Francis proposed adding care for our common home to the traditional works of mercy. ‘As a spiritual work of mercy, care for our common home calls for a “grateful contemplation of God’s world”(LS11) which “allows us to discover in each thing a teaching which God wishes to hand on to us”. (LS85) FRANCIS 1 Sept 2016
Julian Tenison Woods’ awareness of the sacredness of creation and of the divine mystery at the heart of all life say a great deal to us in our time. His writings remind us to reflect on our destiny and the destiny of the earth. The astronauts and cosmonauts looked at our planet in the silence and darkness of the universe and returned to earth transformed. So too do Julian’s writings challenge us to see the cosmos in new ways and to risk facing the many questions being asked today about the meaning of life and the significance of planet earth in the universe.
COVID -19 Update
What does ORANGE mean for our school?
FOR STUDENTS:
Masks are no longer required at school. There will be no requirement for students Year 4 + to be routinely masked at Bishop Edward Gaines School, when in their own learning environments, at assemblies or outside. Students may use masks inside if the parents would like them to. Students Year 4 + will continue to use masks when attending Mass until such time as the Diocese changes their guidelines. Students aged 12 and above are still required to wear a face mask on school buses. All students entering the sick bay will be required to wear a face mask. All students Year 4+ need to continue to bring their preferred mask to school every day or use a school provided mask. There may be times when we will ask students to wear a mask indoors - for example large gatherings or if there are a high number of cases at school or in the community.
FOR PARENTS and CAREGIVERS:
Welcome back to our school grounds and classrooms! Parents and Caregivers can now enter the school grounds and classrooms freely. Parents/Caregivers and Visitors need to continue to report to the school office during classroom teaching hours. Parents and Caregivers are asked to continue to support all the other health measures in place at school that we know slow the spread of COVID -19. These include maintaining good hand hygiene and cough and sneeze etiquette, appropriate physical distancing whenever we can, and most importantly staying home if we are sick. Students who are displaying symptoms of COVID -19 at school will be asked to wear a mask and Parents/Caregivers will be contacted to come and pick them up from the sick bay.
Bishop Edward Gaines School App
Well done Bishop Bears on your hard mahi at soccer on the weekend.
Our Super Stars
Well done to our certificate winners this week. Your teachers have noticed your diligence and kindness to others.
Class award winners this week. Massing and Vaiola. School award winner for student of the week-Boka
New Leaders
Fun Friday's
This week students voted for arts & crafts.
Samoan Language Week
Important Dates
Important dates left this term:
Term Dates
Term One: 1 February-14 April
Term Two: 2 May-8 July
Term Three: 25 July-30 September
Term Four: 17 October-14 December (TBC)
School Mass
Each Friday at 9:30 whole school
Senior Technology Classes
Tuesday at 9:00-10:30am.
School Assembly
Each Monday afternoon 2:30pm
Kapa Haka
Weekly with Matua James & Annie Asiata
Sacramental Programme
Wednesday 3:30pm beginning 11 May
Preschool Visits
Will run each Thursday and Friday from 9:00am -12:30 for the few weeks leading up to the child's 5th birthday. Please let the office know if you are wanting your child to have preschool visits. Also please let others know who may be interested.
Kindy Visitors
18 May
Lunchtime Disco for Camp
19 May ($5)
Pink Shirt Day
20 May
Ascension of the Lord Liturgy
26 May
Jumping June Event
14 June
Samoan Language Week
30 May-3 June
3 June Samoan Food Fest
Pentecost Celebration
3 June 9:30am
Matariki Week
20-24th June
21 Matariki Cultural Lunch-all welcome
Class Photos
4 July
Lunchtime Fun Sports for our Tamariki
Tuesday and Friday
Friday Fun
After lunch for those who have followed all the school rules! Decided by student votes.
Teacher Only Days
7th June
Contact us:
Email: office@beg.school.nz
Website: http://www.beg.school.nz
Location: 1 Mossop Rd P.O Box 167 Tokoroa
Phone: 07 886 8021
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bishop-Edward-Gaines-Catholic-School-Tokoroa-310873056309874/