‘... all of you are one in Christ Jesus.’ - Galatians 3:28
Dear whānau,
It's the 2nd of March already, time is flying by. Room Piwakawaka kicked off week 5 of the term with their Monday Prayers which focused on the Catholic Social Teaching principle of Solidarity. Being in solidarity is recognising others as our brothers and sisters and actively working for their good. In our connected humanity, we are invited to build relationships to understand what life is like for others who are different from us.
The children shared lots of caring ideas of how they show solidarity - giving mission money for our sponsored child, caring for everyone not just our friends, bringing cans of food for our local St Vincent de Paul, bringing a gold coin donation to mufti days, inviting children to play our games. They also used the parable of the Good Samaritan as a really good example of someone showing solidarity. Talk about kids who are onto it, Justine from Caritas would be super impressed!
This afternoon our staff join the staff of St Peter's College in the Chapel for our 2023 Commissioning Mass. The Mass is celebrated by Bishop Michael Dooley and our Parish Priests Father Jaime and Father Elie. As catholic educators, we are not only leaders in learning, but more importantly, we are leaders in faith. We have the great privilege of working with children, their whānau and our wider parish and community. We share in the Bishop's ministry and strive to hand on and nurture the faith of our children and their families.
This Sunday we celebrate the beginning of our school year with Mass at 10am in the Church. We ask that children wear their uniform and meet their teachers in the school quad at 9.45am. We understand that it is a busy time of the year for many of our families, but when you start thinking you're too busy to make it, please think back to your enrolment meeting when you agreed to support the special catholic character of our school. We know everyone loves our vision, values and what a fantastic school we have but these things only exist because of Jesus and our Church. If you are unable to make Mass on Sunday, please let your child's teacher know.
'Coin or Can' Donation - We are asking families to bring a coin in support of the schools and communities that have been devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle in the East Cape and Hawkes Bay or bring along a can to support our local St Vincent de Paul Society helping local families in need.
If you've got something exciting to share, feel free to email me a photo(s) and a short blurb by Thursday 9am each week and I'll pop in the newsletter for us all to celebrate together - mallory.hood@stmarys.school.nz
God bless.
Cheers,
Mallory
Acting Principal
Principal Appointment
Tēnā koutou St Mary’s whānau
As you will be aware at the end of last year our principal, Mrs Annie Nelson, resigned. For the best part of a decade, St Mary’s has been blessed by Mrs Nelson’s leadership. We are grateful for Annie’s dedication and service to St Mary’s and wish her all the best with her future endeavours with the Ministry of Education.
The Board is now beginning the process of finding a new principal who will continue to lead and uphold the vision of St Mary's School. To ensure a thorough and fair process, we will have engaged with the New Zealand School Trustees Association and the Dunedin Diocese Catholic Education Office to help guide us with the appointment process.
We believe it is important to involve the wider school community in this process, and as such, the Board will shortly be consulting with a range of groups such as parents, teachers, and students. Your input will be essential in helping us to identify the skills and attributes we should be looking for in appointing our next principal.
In the meantime, we would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff and senior leadership team for ensuring the smooth running of St Mary’s during this transition period. We deeply admire the ongoing māhi and aroha you generously provide to all our students
We will provide further updates as the process unfolds, but in the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
On behalf of the St Mary’s Board
Brendan Terry
Presiding Member
