St Mary's Catholic School, Papakura
Newsletter 14th May 2021 - Term 2 Week 2
Me Whakakotahi, Kia Maarama, Kia Pono, Ki Te Karakia
Together We Learn, We Pray, We Serve
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Kia ora e te whānau
It's been a wonderful, action-packed start to Term 2. Our school is a pretty exciting place!
Our children got straight into their new concept learning, with so much excitement. It was inspiring to see how well prepared our teachers are and the wonderment and awe on the faces of our tamariki when they entered their rooms on the first day of term. Our concept focus for term 2 is "Planet Earth and Beyond" - Mai te rangi ki te whenua, Mai te whenua ki te rangi. Your children will have come home with lots of facts and also some questions about the topic. Please do engage with them in these discussions and support them to make their individual inquiries as they pursue their new knowledge.
I was privileged to have the chance to have a 5 year old student excitedly share their understanding of how day and night comes about, due to the rotation of the earth. She shared her drawing of this new knowledge with accurate depiction of the earth, moon and sun in accurate size ratios. It was an amazing and humbling experience for me. Since then I have had so many children from various teams and age groups come over to share their learning with me.
Our teachers are also very busy collecting assessment information for each child and analysing their information to be able to make informed judgements about children's achievement and rates of progress. We will be sharing this information with you at our 3 Way Learning Conferences on Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 May. Please go to schoolinterviews.co.nz to book your conference time. Use our school code zvcry to find the teachers with whom you would like to meet.
Monday 24th May - 2.30 p.m. - 6.30 p.m.
Tuesday 25th May - 3.15 p.m. - 5.00 p.m.
School will close at the earlier time of 2.00 p.m. on Monday 24th May with a normal closure time of 2.55 p.m. on Tuesday 25th May. Planet Action 'After School Care' will be available for our regularly pre-enrolled students.
Over the past two weeks, we have had many special moments and events. Our Kapa Haka and Pacific Island groups have been straight back in to their practices with Matua Wade and Mrs Here. On the last day of term 1, they presented us with an awesome taste of the work that they are doing and we can't wait to see more! A huge thanks to Matua Wade and Mrs Here for their amazing expertise and skill in supporting our tamariki.
On Friday 7 May, our PTFA put on a wonderful Mother's Day High Tea to celebrate all mothers. This event was supported so well by our school and parish community and everyone had a great morning. The food and the prizes were amazing and the place looked beautiful! I would like to extend a huge thanks to our PTFA members for a fabulous event. It was an opportunity to connect, celebrate and relax with lots of fun and laughter. Now we can't wait for their next event! The success of these events allow our PTFA to support our school curriculum so that our children are able to enjoy the best learning experiences that we can possibly provide.
Swimming and Water Safety lessons began this week. Students from Year 3 to Year 6 will attend these classes once each week for the rest of term 2, with two lessons in the last week of the term. These lessons come fully funded, however our Board covers the cost of bus transport to the pools and back. We would like to acknowledge and thank our PTFA who are also supporting us with a percentage of the bus costs this year.
For the first time ever, our student leaders attended the World Vision Youth Conference, which was held in Auckland on Tuesday 11 May. They had a fabulous time and came away with some valuable learning which they have shared in a video later in this newsletter. We are very proud of their enthusiasm for this work. Thank you to Mrs Walker for her ongoing support for our student leaders and our student council.
Next week will be another special week for St Mary's students, with a range of events on our calendar. We look forward to our first Family Sports Evening on Tuesday 18 May from 3-6pm. An information flyer was sent home this week. Please check our Facebook page and keep track of our APP alerts for further reminders and information about the event. We hope that all our children and their families will come along to enjoy the evening with us. Bring along your picnic basket, deck chairs and umbrellas and enjoy a fun time with our St Mary's whanau. All friends and family are welcome. Parking is available on Manse Road, Clark Road, visitors carpark and up in front of the Nazareth Hub.
This year we will be supporting Pink Shirt Day yet again. On Friday 21 May, students will be allowed to wear a pink shirt to support this very important cause. "Celebrated annually around the globe, Pink Shirt Day began in Canada in 2007 when two students took a stand against homophobic bullying, after a peer was bullied for wearing a pink shirt". In Aotearoa New Zealand, we celebrate the day to create safe places where everyone feels valued and respected in their schools, workplaces, communities and whanau. Please support the cause by allowing your child to attend school in a pink shirt and contribute to our gold coin collection for the Mental Health Foundation.
Finally, a reminder about our next Teacher Only Day - Friday 28 May. This day is set aside as part of our Accord settlement in our Teacher's Union (NZEI) collective agreement. Teachers will be spending the day at our South Auckland Catholic Schools Kahui Ako/ Community of Learning Teachers' Conference. This is an important opportunity for our teachers to gain professional development and to share innovation and successful practice in our profession. Please make arrangements for your child to stay home on the day.
Finally, a huge thank you to YOU, our precious families, for your ongoing support for our little gem of a school. Through your "word of mouth" we are experiencing a significant uptake in our roll, through regular new enrolments. The future looks good!
School is indeed a great place to be!
Arohanui
Audrey Kippen
Tumuaki/Principal
Year 5s & 6s desalinating salt water
5 Year olds learning about the solar system
Year 7 & 8 students' technology process in action
Our student leaders - "What we learned at the World Vision Youth Conference"
Student leaders at the World Vision Youth Conference with Mrs Walker
Aliesha presenting at the World Vision Youth Conference
Digital Learning in the Emmaus hub
End of Term 1 Pasifika Group performance
End of Term 1 Kapa Haka performance
From Our PTFA - Winner of our Hamper
Pizza Lunch - Friday 21st May - Order forms were sent home via your child today.
Mother's Day High Tea
Friendship, fun and fabulous ladies
Great food and prizes galore!
From Our Director of Religious Studies
Students in the Nazareth Team had a great start and settled quickly into their routines. They enjoyed the launch of the new concept and are enthusiastically searching for hidden treasures on planet Earth and beyond.
Religious Education - Kotare students lead the school in a beautiful Ascension Liturgy and urged us all to spread the Good News and to be great co-creators of God’s creation.
St Mary’s Way Stickers - The following students earned 60 plus tokens to receive a St Mary’s Way sticker. Congratulations Sangato Kaloni, Jorja Postill, Iraia Sialeipata, Rhys Kelly, Delton Jackson, Arabella Williams, Carrie Howarth, Repeka Tuia-Pemerika, Lucas Postill and Sophia Delmendo.
Guess who are the first lucky students in our team to receive a postcard? Congratulations to Finn Butler and Eve Morrison!
DRS - Please keep our students who will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation on the 21st May in your prayers. May all our prayers strengthen them as they attend their last few lessons.
Altar Servers - Thanks to all our altar servers who diligently serve during our weekend Masses. They truly reflect the special character of our school and we commend their commitment to serve beyond our school. We are always looking for new altar servers, so please encourage the children to become altar servers.
Baptism - if anyone is interested to be baptised in September please see Mrs Paulse so we can approach Father James or Father Iosefa for forms.
Mrs Bernadette Paulse - Director of Religious Studies / Nazareth Team Leader
Sports at St Mary's
It has been full steam ahead in terms of sports at St Mary's over recent weeks. In the final weeks of Term 1 students from Bethlehem and Nazareth participated in a Fundamental Skills programme facilitated by Counties Manukau Sports (CMS). This term we have welcomed a new team of facilitators from CMS. This group is running a netball skills programme for the first 5 weeks of this term with Year 3-8 students. It was also neat to welcome a team of coaches promoting AFL for a one off day last term. Not only did they introduce our students to a new game, but they also left a set of 40 brand new balls for our School! A number of our students have also signed up for Thursday training session with the AFL facilitators. Finally Year 3-6 students have just completed the first of 10 aquatic sessions at the Massey Park Pool. Great work everyone - it's marvelous to hear about the enthusiasm and growth happening across our school.
John Frings - Sports Co-ordinator
Netball Skills session with our juniors
AFL introductory session
AFL after school session
St Mary's Way Tokens
Congratulations to the following students who have gained 100 tokens and a St Mary's Way Postcard: Enzo Collado, Mia Wright, Mark Sood, Marco Omandam, Eva Ellery-Siaosi, Luke Khoury, Varaidzo Chaparapata and Sofia Perry. Well Done!
Student Welcome
We offer a special welcome to Madison McDonald, Dexter Harris, Sasha Matia, Lucius Subritzky-Kumar, Lee-T Key, Maya Roberts, Ezra Alapati, Taytum King, Tana Ama, Manitisa Siulua, Olivia-Reign O'Donnell, Ezalyn Fedelino and Alliana-Jane Enderez who started at St Mary's Catholic School this term.
We look forward to getting to know you and making you welcome at our school.
TRAVELWISE and ROAD SAFETY
Our Road Patrol volunteers have noticed an increasing amount of U-turns occurring at drop-offs and pick-ups at the school gate. Good road sense is paramount for our children's safety.
Our Travelwise team will be out on Monday morning to remind all drivers of keeping our roads safe for our students and whanau.
PhotoLife Studios - Class/Team Photos to be held on Thursday 20th May 2021
This year, photographs will be available for you to view and order On-line with PhotoLife Studios.
Your son or daughter will shortly bring home an On-line slip with their unique Access Key detailed on it. This 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.
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. The new ETA is next Friday 21st May to their warehouse.
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.
TE REO
Have fun practising these words at home:
Kupu o te Ra
(Word for the Day)
Rongopai - (noun) Gospel
kauhautia te Rongopai / Spread the Gospel
Part Time Position Available in our Local Community
Kura Basketball League - Pulman Arena
Upcoming Events
Term 2 Week 3
Tuesday 18th May
No Swimming at Massey Park Aquatic Centre this week
3.00 - 6.00 p.m. - Family Sports Evening - All Welcome
Wednesday 19th May
11.00 - 11.30 a.m. - Space Day - Reading With NASA
Thursday 20th May
From 9.00 a.m. - PhotoLife Class/Team Photos held in the school hall – perfect school uniform please
3.00 - 4.00 p.m. - AFL Kiwikick Lessons (3rd Session)
6.00 p.m. - BoT Meeting held in the staffroom. (Parents are welcome to attend)
Friday 21st May
Pink Shirt Day – Gold coin donation please
PTFA - Pizza Lunch - $3 for two slices (1/4 pizza)
Term 2 Week 4
Monday 24th May
"Water Skills for Life" at Massey Park Aquatic Centre for Year 3 - 6 students
3-Way Conferences from 2.30 p.m. - 6.30 p.m.
(School closes at 2.00 p.m.)
Tuesday 25th May
"Water Skills for Life" at Massey Park Aquatic Centre for Year 3 - 6 students
3-Way Conferences from 3.15 p.m - 5.00 p.m.
(School closes at the usual time of 2.55 p.m.)
Wednesday 26th May
Balance Bikes for our Year 0 - 2 students (more details to follow)
Thursday 27th May
9.30 a.m. - Emmaus Team attending Mass at St Mary's Church
3 - 4 p.m. - AFL Kiwikick Lessons (4th Session)
Friday 28th May
Teacher Only Day
APOPO (The Next Day) - Mental Health Workshop
Āpōpō (The Next Day) is a mental health workshop for youth and young adult leaders, parents, teachers etc. This workshop will be facilitated by Scripture Union and is super interactive with activities and includes helpful information, tips and tools presented by trained facilitators and deals with the topic of mental health and suicide.
Happening on Saturday, 15 May, 9am-12.30pm at Christ the King Parish Hall, 260 Richardson Rd. Registration: $5 at www.aucklandcatholic.org.nz/apopo-workshop/.
We do hope that this is an opportunity for you to come and experience this workshop for yourself and if possible to bring something similar within your own contexts. Contact Rochelle on 022 309 2022 for any queries.
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.
Pompallier Catholic College 50th Jubilee
Pompallier Catholic College will be celebrating 50 years since the College opened in 1971. All past pupils, families, benefactors and staff are warmly welcome to be part of the celebrations.
Go to the College website:
http://www.pompalliercollege.school.nz and click 'Jubilee' for further information and to register.
We look forward to celebrating with you.
"Diligere Verum" "Love the Truth" "Arohatia te Whakapono"
SUSTAINABLE PAPAKURA
For those of you that attended the Papakura Street FEST, what an absolute joy it was, to be part of an amazing event! We are very fortunate to have a very active Business Association in Papakura.
Here's the rest of our events and workshops for May, we will be having our monthly market this coming Saturday. For those of you that were unable to attend, come along this Saturday to check us out. The market will be inside the foyer of Papakura Library and Papakura Museum, from 10 to 1 pm.
With it being Youth Week this week, our market will have a focus for celebrating Youth. If you know of young person or are a school that would like to have a stall at our market, they must email: market@sustainablepapakura.co.nz to book a free stall for our May market. We have some local Youth organisations joining us at the market too.
We have some pretty exciting workshops planned for our Youth this month.
Sue Ollerton
Marketing/Publishing Manager
021 553 287
Sustainable Papakura - Contributing to a vibrant Papakura through the promotion of
Eco-friendly waste minimisation choices
Website: https://sustainablepapakura.org/
Complimentary Webinar
Are you somebody looking for personal growth, financial freedom, flexibility and more private time to spend with family and for yourselves, while earning a revenue in the background OR dreaming of an early retirement?
If the answer is YES, this webinar is for you. Register at
https://www.shanamanulive.com/ to watch the complimentary webinar.
Volunteers Needed for South Auckland Riding for Disabled
Do you have any time to help out a great cause? We need volunteers for our Monday afternoon or Tuesday or Thursday morning ride sessions. Experience with horses and/or children not necessary. We are looking for a willingness to help. Full support and training available.
Please contact: volunteering@sarda.org.nz for further information.
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.
Look at what's coming to St Mary's!
Have Your Contact Details Changed?
Contact Us
St Mary's Parish, Papakura - Contact
Parish Priest - Fr Iosefa Euese
Assistant 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 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.
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