There is something profound and engaging about the line from Sunday’s Gospel taken from Matthew 17:1-9, ' And when they raised their eyes they saw no one but only Jesus.' The disciples had just witnessed the Transfiguration on Mt Tabor and Jesus approaches, touches them, asks them to stand up and not to be afraid. What a moment! Our Lenten journey reminds us that we are following after Him and need to go down from the mountain and face the context of our lives just as He did with renewed hope and determination.
Spiritual Spring-Cleaning tips
Missed the start of Lent? No bother – start whenever you can – even an imperfect attempt is better than none.
Make a plan. Make it achievable. And write it down. Poorly defined goals tend to get lost in the clutter of life.
Keep forgetting to honour your Lenten promise? Diarise it. Set the alarm on your phone. Put sticky notes on the bathroom mirror. Pen it on the back of your hand. Get an accountability partner (kids make excellent ones!)
Regressed to bad habits? Just start over. Don’t be discouraged – recommit regularly to your Lenten promise.
Struggling to stay motivated? Bolster your Lenten promise by offering it for an additional cause. e.g. the comfort of a sick friend, the suffering of a particular family, the work of a missionary etc.
Blessings on your week ahead 😊
The Catholic Character Award for this week: Eva Leaupepetele (Room 2)
Message from the Principal
Dear Parents
We are now moving into Week 6 of the term and for most of us in Tāmaki Makaurau life is back to normal. Unfortunately this is not the case for many of our whanau across the motu and for all of those people we continue to offer our support and prayers.
Today we remembered all those affected by the floods and Cyclone Gabrielle with our non-uniform and Crazy Hair Day and thanks to the generosity of all our families we have been able to send our contribution of $870.00 to the Red Cross, New Zealand Disaster Fund.
Last week the staff were delighted to have the opportunity to welcome so many of our parents and caregivers into their classrooms for a meet and greet. If you were unable to attend, please do not hesitate to contact any of the teachers if you would like to arrange a meeting.
For those who could not attend, I would like to reaffirm my message from that evening, “As teachers we believe all our students have the ability to succeed when we work as a team with whanau, supporting them spiritually, intellectually, physically, socially and emotionally. At school we strive to meet all their needs and we ask parents to ensure all children have adequate sleep and attend school as attendance has an enormous impact on achievement.”
Whilst we appreciate the impact COVID has and is having on attendance and that sickness cannot be avoided, we are asking that everyone is aware of the impact poor attendance has on learning. Attendance is of utmost importance and students need to learn this from the beginning of their school journey.
Nga manaakitanga ki a koutou katoa
Julie Paul
Principal
Education Outside the Classroom
This week the Year 3 & 4 Teams, Te Matauranga and Tumanako, are visiting Kelly Tarltons in conjunction with their current study of Treasures of the Sea in their Natural Habitats.
Rooms 11, 12 & 13 are going on Tuesday, 7 March and Rooms 14, 15 and 16 are going on Thursday 9 March.
The Year 2 team, Arohanui will have a visit at school from the Bug Man on Thursday 9 March as they continue to explore Insects.
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Social Media
Thank you to all our whanau who are monitoring their children's use of these various platforms. We ask you not to allow your children to upload videos of themselves in our school uniform.
Assessment Weeks
During the next two weeks your children from Year 3 -8 will be undertaking the following assessment tasks, STAR. PAT Comprehension, PAT Vocabulary and PAT Mathematics. We are allowing two weeks to complete these tests as we have field trips and sports events that may prevent some areas from completing these tests at particular times. We value the data we collect from standardised tests, and we want every child to complete the specific test for their level.
Welcome for Parents of New Students Starting in Term 2
On Wednesday 8th March there will be a Welcome to our School Meeting for the parents and guardians of our Year 0 students who will be starting in Term 2. The meetings will be held in the staffroom at 9.00am and at 5pm. We look forward to meeting our new students who will be joining our school whanau next term.
Scholastic Book Club Orders - Online
All orders for Book Club Edition One Close on Wednesday 8 March. Thank you to all parents who are purchasing through the online system. Our school receives points from every order, and we use these points to purchase additional books and resources for the classroom and library.
Ordering Books Online
Go to website: LOGIN (scholastic.co.nz)
If you don’t already have an account you will need to click the REGISTER button and create an account for yourself.
If you already have an account, click on the RED SIGN IN button (top right corner of screen) and enter your username and password.
Browse for the books you wish to purchase and add them to your cart. Follow the instructions to pay online for your books.
Intermediate SW Zone Softball Tournament
On Tuesday we have our Year 8 Team competing in the Intermediate South West Zone Softball Tournament at Aorere Park. We wish them well and thank Mr Shaun Ginders and Mrs Betty Ryan for coaching and preparing the teams.
There are only two Year 7 teams so they will play each other next Monday at Kedgley Intermediate School.
Netball Trials for Years 7 & 8
This week netball trials will take place for our Year 7 & 8 girls after school on Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 March from 3pm - 4.15pm. If an additional trial is needed this will take place in school time on Friday.
We will be sending home a notice regarding the costs for the Netball Season before we announce the teams as we do not wish to put any pressure on families. Girls need to be committed to a weekly practice and games every Tuesday night between 4.00pm and 7pm.
Papatoetoe Zone Swimming Competition Results
On Tuesday 28th February our Years 5 & 6 swimming teams competed in the Papatoetoe Swimming Competition that was held at the Papatoetoe Centennial Pools in Papatoetoe. I would like to congratulate our Holy Cross swimming team for coming 1st and winning all 6 age group relays. Thank you to our coaches Esther Anitelea, Leighton Tuala and Hera Potangaroa for training the children at breaks and bringing them up to such a high standard. It was a great first result for 2023. The results were as follows:
1st - Holy Cross = 380
2nd - Puhinui = 171
3rd - North = 163
4th - Central = 44
5th - South = 12
6th - West = 3
Water Polo Draw for Saturday 11/3/23
Year 5/6 Blue Team vs Clevedon Crocodiles at 1.40pm
Year 5/6 Red Team vs Conifer Grove Champs at 2.05pm
Year 7/8 White Team vs Sancta Maria at 4.45pm
Games played at Manurewa Pools, Sykes Road. Players meet 15 minutes before game.
Principal Awards
Harinui
Room 1 TJ Mocelutu, Francis Vasquez
Room 5 Marvel Tojin, Noah Taupo
Arohanui
Room 1A Athena Cuyos, Sebastian King
Room 2 Ella Alsahwi, Eleonora Crichton
Room 3 Meleane Pailate, Pio Isidore
Aroha
Room 4A Kiana Matai, Gabriel Binoy
Room 9 Luke Kumitau, Daniel Auva’a
Room 10 Noelani Silbery-Martin, Lucy-Siafu Leupolu
Te Matauranga
Room 11 Reuben Rai, Faith Taupo
Room 12 Slade Crichton, Arianne Balchin
Room 13 Matthew Arguna, Nerysa Payne
Tumanako
Room 14 Irene Boby, Michael Mathews
Room 15 Jaxon Sepuloni, Harishnan Sajanthan
Room 16 Sahara Rose, Andrew Hirmiz
Manaakitanga
Room 18 Jahzaria Ah Chee , Tamehana Esekielu
Room 19 Lauryn Brbich, Kharlyn Ngan Woo-Matoha
Room 20 Cullum O’Grady, Julia Mealamu
Atawhai
Room 17 Jason Latu, Ivan-James Feao
Room 21 Irene Wendt-Latu, Lusia Enosi
Room 22 Ani Moala, Kobey Jones-Ofisa
Rangimarie
Room 6 Rhylee-Jay Masoe; Kadian Polamalu
Room 7 Esther Tusa; Aysha Feata
Room 8 Satilofia Segi; Tuu’uu Tulai-Gago
School App
Download our school app (which is free) so that you receive announcements and newsletters from school to keep you up to date.
This is what the app looks like on either the PlayStore (for Android phones) or the App Store (for iPhones). Please download it if you haven’t done so already.
