This Sunday's Gospel was taken from John 21:1-19. It includes the moving encounter of St Peter with the Risen Lord on the shore of the lake. Jesus asks him 3 times, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?' Peter, humbled by his 3-fold denial of Christ, confirms his love for Jesus and he is renewed and commissioned to take up his leadership role as shepherd.

Our tradition teaches us what Peter and the other disciples were prepared to do for Christ and the spread of the Gospel out of love. Their love was truly tested and ultimately they gave their lives. As we prepare to celebrate Mother’s Day this coming Sunday let us reflect on the unconditional love that mothers have for their children and families.

Pope Francis is urging all families to pray the Rosary daily during the Month of May. We can pray with others or alone. Pope Francis says in praying the Rosary, we are contemplating the face of Christ with the heart of Mary, who will unite us as a spiritual family and help us during this difficult time.

All parents, whanau and caregivers are welcome into our school grounds at the Orange Traffic Light phase but we ask you not to enter the classrooms. If you wish to speak with your child’s teacher, we can easily make arrangements for this when other children are not in the room or we can arrange an alternative space.

At Orange, face masks are no longer required at school. However, public health advice is that masks continue to be strongly encouraged when indoors. Wearing a mask is a key health measure that slows the spread of COVID-19 by 53% in indoor settings. For that reason, we ask that visitors to the school, including parents and whānau, wear a mask whenever they are indoors or on school grounds.

We also ask that your child (if they are Year 3+) continues to wear a mask to school every day. There will be times when they will be asked to wear a mask; for example, when we are having an assembly in the hall or going to Mass. If there are a high number of cases at school or in the community, we may ask that masks be worn in classrooms for a time.

At Orange, students aged 12 and above are still required to wear a face mask on school or public transport.

We are aiming for 100% attendance and we will continue to keep all the other health measures in place at school that we know help to slow the spread of COVID-19. The measures include ensuring our indoor spaces are well-ventilated, maintaining good hand hygiene, coughing and sneezing etiquette, appropriate physical distancing whenever we can and, most importantly, staying home if we are sick. We are looking forward to a few less restrictions and returning to school life that is a bit closer to normal.

Face masks at Orange

• They must be worn by ākonga aged 12 and above on school and public transport. The mask must be attached to the head by loops around the ears or head and cover the nose and mouth properly. This can be a well-fitting reusable fabric mask (three layers are recommended) or a medical-grade disposable mask (the blue surgical mask).

• It's strongly encouraged that face masks continue to be worn by ākonga and staff in Years 4-13 when indoors. Face masks are one of the key health measures to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in indoor settings.

• It's also strongly recommended to wear face masks in large indoor gatherings such as assemblies.

School lunches will start on Friday 6/5/22. Beginning this term, all lunch orders need to be given to the classroom teacher NO LATER THAN on Thursday 5/5/22 so that our PTFA volunteers can be ready for Friday. Oriana Iefata and Sau Ah Chee have been rostered on for Friday 6/5/22.

Please ensure that your child’s lunch order is written on the front of an envelope and has the correct money inside. Below is the lunch order menu. Please note that we have discontinued the quiche option.

Please phone the School Office on 09 278-8224 to make an appointment to purchase winter uniforms.

All children will need to be in the correct winter uniform by Monday 16 May.

Plain black leather shoes are the compulsory regulation footwear at our school.

We do not allow sandshoes, sport shoes or boots.

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.