St Mary's Catholic School, Papakura
Term 2 Week 8 - 25 June 2021
Me Whakakotahi, Kia Maarama, Kia Pono, Ki Te Karakia
Together We Learn, We Pray, We Serve
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Kia ora koutou katoa
Working from home in self isolation after my trip to Wellington over the weekend, my mind wanders to so many things, ranging from my own mortality, to the safety of my family - both my home family and my school family. I am reminded of the fact that we live by grace alone.
Last Sunday's reading is so relevant - The disciples became so concerned about the storm around them that they forgot that Jesus was right there in the boat with them! He never said we would have no trouble or challenges in our lives, but he did say that He would NEVER leave us. He certainly has been ever present with St Mary's, Papakura over the past 18months.
Our very breath each second of each day is only possible by the grace of God. Today I am thankful for God's protection, His blessings, His favour and most of all that He loves us so much. No matter how much we drift away from Him, it is His love that pursues us to bring us back. It is a love that endures forever.
At St Mary's we endeavour to share the love of God with all who we encounter. We teach our students to be ambassadors for Christ, sharing His love and the sacred teachings of the Church, which nourishes our faith. This weekend we celebrate with 20 of our students who will continue their journey into the Holy Sacraments, by partaking of their first Holy Communion on Saturday. There is no better way to experience the love of Christ than through the Blessed Eucharist.
We are so proud of our students, who are just the most amazing children. They teach us about love - love for Christ and love for Life - each day, through their smiling faces, the joy in their step and the light in their eyes.
Our students' levels of engagement in their learning is soaring. I want to thank the staff for all the work they do to make their programmes so enticing and exciting. Also a huge thanks to all parents who support us in the work we do - thank you for sending your children to school ready to learn. Yet again, we have shared some of the wonderful learning experiences that our children are having at school. Enjoy the photos and videos shared here in this newsletter.
This week, we started our Early Childhood Education Road Show. Mrs Buckley, Mrs Butler and I have been visiting our local ECE centres to make connections with the centre managers and to deliver a promotional gift which will go to the home of each four year old student in each centre. Our very special little helpers were Kate and Alyssa. They did such a great job by showing the four year olds how much they love St Mary's and how happy they are at school. They personally delivered the gift bags to each four year old!
As you know, charity and mission work is important to us because of our mission charism. Last week we raised $412 for the Middlemore Hospital Jammies in June Fundraising Drive. This Friday we raised $350.10 from our mufti day collection, to support World Vision's 40 Hour Famine. Children are encouraged to spend 40 hours without something they enjoy. This could be an item of clothing, a favourite food, a regular outing, a special weekly treat, digital technology, television or anything else that they would normally struggle to do without. More importantly, please talk to your children about the privileges that they might take for granted that many children their age all over the world never ever get to enjoy. It could simply be the freedom to be able to play outside! All gold coins collected from our mufti day will be sent to World Vision.
Thank you to all families who share the great things that we are doing at St Mary's. Keep spreading the news of how happy our children are and how well they are achieving academically and socially. We love seeing how much you engage with our Facebook posts.
Finally, I would like to thank all parents who have committed to joining or helping our PTFA as well as those who were able to attend our PTFA AGM last week. It was a well attended meeting and we were able to elect our four executive members (names noted later in this newsletter). I would like to acknowledge and thank all parents and family members who have supported and contributed in any way, large or small, to our PTFA, past and present. The work that our PTFA does is essential to the success of our school as it generates funds that enable us to provide the best possible learning and fun experiences for our children.
We are steaming ahead to the end of another busy term, with our Matariki celebrations planned for next week. We will culminate the celebration with a special assembly on Friday. Watch out for more news on this.
Teachers are busy working on Mid Year progress reports which will be sent home on the last day of term. Your child should have these in their bags when you pick them up.
Thanks to all families who engage so well with our Facebook page and our school website. We will keep sharing all the fun and learning happening at St Mary's, Papakura.
I look forward to being back on site again next week.
Arohanui
Audrey Kippen
Tumuaki/Principal
Kate and Alyssa were great helpers on our ECE Road Show.
Jammies in June was a huge hit ! We raised $402 for Middlemore Hospital
Student Council Initiative - World Vision 40 Hour Famine - 25 June MUFTI DAY
World Vision 40 Hour Famine Friday 25 - 27 June 2021 - Mufti Day 25 June
We have provided 40 hour challenges to the students in Nazareth, Jerusalem and Emmaus to fundraise by gathering sponsorship for the completion of the challenge. There are many different challenges to replace the traditional challenge of giving up food for 40 hours. For example children can give up technology for 40 hours!
We had a mufti day for a gold coin donation today to further support our fundraising for the 40 Hour Famine.
Thank you to all who participated. As a mission school, such fundraising events are very important to us as we strive to be like Jesus in our words and our actions, through mission work, community support and charity activity. This is our Christian Witness.
From the desk of our DRS (Director of Religious Studies)
This term we had the opportunity to gather as a faith community with our parish in different Team Masses on a Thursday. Our students had the opportunity to be readers, altar servers, readers of prayer of the faithful and taking up the gifts. We also celebrated our family Mass and were pleased to see so many families attend.
Full Time Parish Priest
Father James Mulligan is our new parish priest and we welcome all our families to come and celebrate his first Mass as a full time parish priest on Sunday, 4 July at 10.30am. We are so blessed that Father James makes time to have meditation with our students on a rostered rotation every Thursday afternoon. We pray that God will continue to strengthen him in his new role to guide us on our personal faith journey.
St Vincent de Paul
The St Vincent de Paul Society works closely with our school to support families who are going through times of need. If your family or a family you know has a need for a grocery top up, please make contact with Mrs Kippen or myself and we will be happy to have a grocery parcel delivered confidentially. We keep items at school and these can be easily delivered without contact, if necessary.
During next week we ask that families please contribute grocery items to our St Vincent de Paul food baskets. There will be a basket in each team.
Praying for our new church
As a school we would like to join our parish in praying for the huge amount of money to build a new church. Every Friday morning we will pray the Rosary during morning prayer. Please join us if you can OR join us from home by praying the rosary at the same time.
Blessings and aroha
Mrs Bernadette Paulse
Director of Religious Studies
Nazareth students participating in their team Mass at St Mary's Church
Jerusalem students participating in their Team Mass at St Mary's Church
Processing in with the gifts
Anika and Olivia
Prayers of the Faithful
Our school curriculum is full of exciting learning!
Team Bethlehem
Year 0/1 RE learning about the Trinity with a science experiment
Exploring the concept of capacity in Maths
Number recognition and counting using playdough for Maths
Team Nazareth
Students in the Nazareth Team thoroughly enjoyed learning about the Rainforest, Under the Sea and Space. They have expanded their vocabulary and knowledge of Planet Earth and Beyond and they will share their learning in a special way when they present their homework in the next two weeks. A few students have shared their rockets already and the students who have engaged in the Under the Sea lessons have created some amazing art work about coral reefs. The Rain Forest Group have planted some beans and they are patiently waiting for some action!
RE: We have completed our lessons about the Holy Spirit and we are now learning about the Sacraments. We are so proud of our Y4 and one Y3 students who will receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist (First Holy Communion) this weekend. We pray that this will be a wonderful moment for them that they will treasure for the rest of their lives.
Alliana-Jane's Coral Reef Art
Showing off their bean plant experiment
Wow! See how the seed is sprouting!
More coral reef art from Lucas
Charlie's Coral Reef
Emmerson-Rose's shark!
Abigail's rocket
Kadisha made a rocket for New Zealand!
George is ready to go up, up and away!
Lots of geometry learning from Iraia's rocket
Alyxia's rocket is ready for blast off!
Eden used the inspiration from her rocket for writing
Team Jerusalem
Jerusalem enjoying their swimming and water safety lessons.
My Space Adventure - by Jan Maglangit Y6
One day I was given a mission - to rescue my friends on a failed space expedition.
I’m not the best driver, but I’m the only one there (of course, my boss didn't really care!).
I got into the rocket, started the engine and out came a bang, grabbing my attention!
The rocket flew up, going very fast, and soon I realized this was going to be a blast!
The rocket flew past many comets and soon I felt we were starting to plummet!
I ran to the cockpit and tried to steer but all that did was make the rocket veer!
Down, down, down I went into a weak atmosphere.
Out with a crash and a head bash!
I got out the rocket and laid on my back, I wondered how I’d ever fix that!
The engine had busted and the wing was broken!
But worst of all, I’ve landed on a planet that looks very rusted!
I’m on the planet named Mars; there were no houses and no cars.
I glanced behind me and saw something, it wasn’t long until it engulfed me!
Next thing I knew I couldn’t see, I felt like a big clown.
I destroyed the rocket and couldn’t save my friends, I started to frown.
Soon I started to hear whirr, then it stopped, what was that sound I just heard?
Then I saw a rocket next to me, I was saved! Yippee!
Team Jerusalem loved Jammie Day and the disco was so much fun with lots of prizes won too!
Team Emmaus
The Emmaus students have applied their growing knowledge in engineering for damage prevention in natural disasters. This experiment was based upon floodplains. We researched the causes, the pros and cons of living on a known floodplain and preventative measures of building levees to protect homes. With three different typical river flows the children needed to think about the gradient and the shape of the river and use as little product as possible to cost effectively protect the homes.
'Rise+Shine' Josiah Mika Foundation
May Josiah Mika's legacy live on in our hearts, as well as the lives of the children he will be impacting through this amazing foundation. Please support this worthy cause.
The Catholic Caring Foundation
The Catholic Caring Foundation is looking for a community-focused database/grants and administrator co-ordinator to join their busy team on a fixed term 11-month (August 2021 to July 2022) contract period for 20 hours per week.
The Foundation is the philanthropic trust of the Bishop of Auckland, and annually gives out grants to social service agencies who care for the poor, the marginalised and the vulnerable. To help us with our mission, we need a co-ordinator who will make sure that our office runs smoothly and that our team are well supported in grant making, fundraising and donor care.
You’ll have great attention to detail, demonstrate excellent customer service, have experience of working with a CRM system, and have well-developed organisational skills to help us successful connect with our donors and provide grants to our partner agencies.
Please visit our website www.aucklandcatholic.org.nz, Diocesan Services, Staff Vacancies for a full position description and how to apply.
Thank you
Kind regards
Leanne Killgour
HR Manager
Catholic Diocese of Auckland
Email: leannek@cda.org.nz
Direct Dial: 360 3009
Mobile: 021 108 3658
TRAVELWISE and ROAD SAFETY
We have now entered the colder and wetter weather for the year. Please continue to ‘park and walk’ your children to keep our tamariki and whanau safe. We would rather brave the wet and cold, than put our children at risk in favour of our convenience and comfort.
Please do not drop children off on yellow lines, in front of our gates, use our neighbours' driveways or do U-turns in areas around our school gates. These are all illegal road activities and if Wardens witness this, a ticket will be issued. We have recently had wardens attend our crossing site and issue infringement notices. Please think carefully about how your driving choices affect others.
Kiss 'n Go Zone : Just outside our Clark Road gates, we have a drop off zone designated for parents to quickly drop off their children and drive off immediately thereafter. Please do not park here and leave your car to take your child up the driveway. This is a 5 minute limit drop off/ pick up zone ONLY. We are working on signage to reinforce this message.
Thank you.
The Road Safety Team.
PTFA Annual General Meeting
The PTFA Annual General Meeting was held on Tuesday 15 June. Thank you to all who attended the meeting. We are very excited about the enthusiasm and energy of our new parents who have joined the committee. If you could not make it to the meeting, you are still very welcome to attend or join at the next meeting. The date of the next meeting will be confirmed shortly.
We are please to announce the names of our new executive committee :
Chairperson - Jude Harris
Vice Chairperson - Renelle Khoury
Administrator - Nestor Parra Rio
Treasurer - Jane Fetu'u
Congratulations to our new PTFA members. We look forward to working with you all to provide the best school experience that we can for our children.
Pompallier House in the lead this week!
St Mary's Way Tokens
Congratulations to Enzo Collado, who is the first student to achieve 160 St Mary's Way tokens. Enzo proudly won Mrs Kippen's St Mary's Way badge which was presented on Monday morning at our whole school prayer assembly. Well done Enzo! You have shown the St Mary's Way by working hard to "be like Jesus in your words and actions".
Congratulations also go to the following students who have gained 100 tokens and a St Mary's Way Postcard : Tildamoa Savea, Sophia Brown, Maria Zanzottera, Kiara Shore, Jonathan Ruka, Anika Lee, Chris Thaliath, Timmy Zhang, Isaiah Baker, Christopher Afoa, Jan Maglangit, Benjamin Kaloni and Riel Cabantog, Nagorry Perelini, Sangato Kaloni, Ben Fox, Jorja Postill, Iraia Sialeipata, Alex Al-Haddad, Zachary Lai, Lucas Postill, Finn Butler, Jackson Matia, Delton Jackson, Yoyo Zhang and Eve Morrison.
Congratulations also to : George Mathew, Isaac Fifita, Jayce Gray, Lara Simcox-Castro, Athena Tolovae, Fia'ava'e Ama, Inga To'ofohe, Roche Marnewick, Darlene Celebre, Jennifer Merkofer, Thapina Selvatheva, Shinae Chandra, Sitali Tula'i, Alphyne John, Giarn-Ruby Lee, Stacey Al-Haddad, Dayla Muir-Sak, Charlie Bower, Matthew Makumbe, Luca Vatau, Kadisha Fetu'u, Lavalea Ama, Eden Telling, George Mathew, Pippa Browne, Zane Ruka, Rhys Kelly, Mila Ualesi, Jorge Lozoya Zazueta, Beau Kitney, Sophia Delmendo, Repeka-Naomi Tuia-Pemerika, Emily Zhang, Adeiah-Lilac Hanipale, Arabella Williams and Carrie Howarth who have gained 60 tokens and a St Mary's Way sticker.
Well Done all for showing the St Mary's Way!
Enzo receiving his St Mary's Way Badge from Mrs Kippen
Student Welcome
We offer a special welcome to Jayden Thomas who started at St Mary's Catholic School recently. We look forward to getting to know you and making you welcome at our school.
PhotoLife Studios - Class/Team Photos - Delays
Apologies for the delay with the class/team photos. The unique Access Key codes will be distributed shortly so you will be able to view and order On-line with PhotoLife Studios.
The Access Key will display all the photographs of your child. It is then an easy process for you to shop on-line and purchase the photographs you want.
If you place your order within three weeks of receiving your Access Key you will receive free delivery for your photo orders. PhotoLife has agreed to despatch all the orders back to the school and your child will bring their photographs home.
Any orders placed after this three week period will be sent directly to your specified delivery address and will incur a $6.00 postage and packaging charge. You will see this message when you go online to view and order your photographs.
McAuley High School - Enrolments Are Open Now
McAuley High School offers a high quality Catholic education that challenges students to strive for standards of personal excellence. We provide a supportive environment in which our students are helped and encouraged to develop academically, physically, spiritually and emotionally.
Enrolments are open now. Contact us for an enrolment form and prospectus:
Telephone: (09) 276 8715
Email: office@mcauleyhigh.school.nz
Website: www.mcauleyhigh.school.nz
Rosehill College Enrolment Information for 2022
Monday 26 July – Thursday 5 August 2021
Principal visits contributing schools to distribute in-zone enrolment packs to Year 8 students.
Thursday 5 August 2021 – ROSEHILL COLLEGE OPEN EVENING
For prospective students with their parents/caregivers. Please gather in the School Hall at 5 pm. The evening should conclude by 7pm.
In-Zone Enrolments
Friday 20 August 2021
Closing date for in-zone enrolment applications to be received by the College delivered either by hand or through the post.
Out of Zone Enrolments
Year 9: 30 places may be available for out of zone Year 9 students in 2022 who have a current sibling at the college. The exact number of places will depend on in-zone applications.
NOTE: Out of zone enrolment application packs are only available from reception upon request.
Wednesday 1 September 2021
Closing date for out of zone enrolment applications to be received by the College, delivered either by hand or through the post.
NOEL LEEMING - FRIENDS AND FAMILY DEALS
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.
Upcoming Events - Term 2 Week 9 2021
Tuesday 29 June
Swimming Programme
Wednesday 30 June
Schoolwide Cross Country
Friday 2nd July
11.30 a.m. - Matariki Assembly
Preference Certificates
Fr James is available to sign Preference Certificates on Thursdays from
10.00 a.m. - 12 noon AND from 4.00 p.m. - 6.00 p.m. at the Parish Office.
No Appointment Necessary.
Initiate Dance Holiday Programme - July 2021 - East Auckland
19-23 July 2021
Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm
Fencible Lounge (Howick Library)
$75 for the full week
Open to 8-12 year olds
Book online at initiatedance.wixsite.com/home
Dance away the holidays and join in the fun! Over one week 8 to 12 year olds learn a variety of dance techniques and routines with fun games and team building activities. The dance programme is about engaging young people in a positive way during the school holidays.
Students finish the week with a fun performance for family and friends. No dance experience is needed.
Catholic Schools Day - Wednesday 29 September 2021
Catholic Schools Day on 29 September 2021 is another opportunity to celebrate the taonga of Catholic education for which we are kaitiaki.
The poster (below) displays the oldest, continually used Catholic church in Aotearoa New Zealand. In the Archdiocese of Wellington, St Mary’s Church, Ōtaki and the parish school of St Peter Chanel stand alongside the Catholic marae, Te Marae O Hine, all overlooked by the sacred hill of Pukekaraka.
It is within school and parish, and Catholic marae, that tamariki, rangatahi, and their whānau, strengthen their sense of what it means to be Catholic and belonging to parish.
School and parish become Tūrangawaewae - A Place to Stand.
Look At What's Coming To St Mary's !
Have Your Contact Details Changed?
Please remember to download our school APP to receive regular updates and reminders.
Contact Us
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
The Uniform Shoppe - SAS Sport Limited - Updated Price List Attached
Uniforms are available for purchase from the SAS Sport shop located at 28B Wood Street, Papakura. The shop hours are Monday to Friday 8.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. AND Saturdays 9.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. Shop Telephone: 296 6063 - or visit: www.theuniformshoppe.co.nz and click 'shop online'. WINZ Quotes are available through SAS Sport. Caps ($16) and 'Scrunchies' ($2) are available through the school office. PLEASE ENSURE ALL ITEMS ARE CLEARLY NAMED. THANK YOU.
See updated Uniform Price List below (which is also posted on our school website):
MusIQhub Music Lessons
At St Mary's Catholic School - SIGN UP NOW for Term Two 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
NB: From Term Two, 2021 guitar lessons with Mr Lih will begin at the earlier time of 9.10 a.m, through until 10.40 a.m. Thank you.
Children's Community Dental Service - Information for Parents
https://www.waitematadhb.govt.nz/home/ards/
Our website will always contain the most up-to-date information for our services at each alert level.
Term Dates 2021 - PLEASE ADD TO YOUR CALENDAR
Term Two - Monday 3rd May to Friday 9th July 2021
Term Three - Monday 26th July to Friday 1st October 2021
Term Four - Monday 18th October to Wednesday 15th December 2021
EASTER
Good Friday - 2nd April 2021
Easter Monday - 5th April 2021
Easter Tuesday - 6th April 2021
TEACHER ONLY DAYS
7th April 2021
28th May 2021
22nd October 2021
ANZAC DAY
Sunday 25th April 2021
Monday 26th April 2021 - ANZAC Day Observed
QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY
Monday 7th June 2021
LABOUR DAY
Monday 25th October 2021