Newsletter 6th September 2021
Holy Cross Catholic School Papatoetoe
Our Vision: Learning and Growing in Christ
On Sunday we celebrated Fathers’ Day and acknowledged all the significant male role models in our lives.
In his apostolic letter announcing the 2020 – 2021 Year of St. Joseph, Pope Francis explained that the aim of this special year is “to increase our love for this great saint, to encourage us to implore his intercession and to imitate his virtues and his zeal,” describing St. Joseph as a “beloved father, a tender and loving father, an obedient father, an accepting father; a father who is creatively courageous, a working father, a father in the shadows.”
Fathers are called in a special way to reflect God’s unconditional love and forgiveness. Similar to the way our heavenly Father cares for us, our earthly fathers are there to help us navigate life’s challenges and pick us up when we fall.
Let us be grateful for:
• Our fathers, by birth or adoption, who love us and support us through life.
• Our priests and bishops who act as spiritual fathers.
• God our Father, who will always teach justly and grant us boundless mercy.
Holy Cross Week
Holy Cross Week
Next week, we will celebrate the Triumph of the Cross. Holy Cross was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1953. During this week we remember the many Sisters we knew, some who are long dead and are only names to us, and others who worked with us for a while and then went another way. They gave their lives to developing the Special Character of the Mercy Charism at Holy Cross over the years. We also remember that as members of Holy Cross Catholic School we are called to carry on the Mercy Spirit to ensure that it is strong and vibrant and central to everything we do to help our children grow and love the Cross. We are the bearers of the new candles and it is our challenge to keep our candles burning.
Triumph of the Cross
Triumph of the Cross
The Cross could have become a symbol of shame for Christmas. It brought about the death of Jesus, however faith in the resurrection, however faith in the resurrection made the Cross a symbol of pride. Through the Cross, Jesus triumphed over death. Pride in the Cross soon turned to veneration of the Cross. Since no record from the time of the Apostles indicated that the Cross was preserved. It has generally been honoured in the location of Calvary. A new Basilica was built on the site, under the reign of Constantine in the early 4th Century. The Feast of the Holy Cross is celebrated on 14th September, commemorating both the victory of Christ and the dedication of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem in 335AD.
APPA Choir Festival Cancelled
Once again we find ourselves in a position of cancelling the APPA Choir Festival.
We are incredibly disappointed and know that there will be a great many children from around the region who will miss out on the opportunity to perform at the Auckland Town Hall.
After consulting with the Choir Trainers and the Festival Organiser, Leyette Callister, we have decided that we cannot progress given the uncertainty around lockdown and lengths of alert levels. We are fast approaching the deadline for venue refund and we cannot guarantee that our choirs will be able to rehearse in lead up to the 8 performances.
Once again, we will start the planning for the 2022 event. Our heartfelt thanks to all of those who have been involved, we share your disappointment.
Stephen Lethbridge, APPA President
Year 8 Camp Postponed
Year 8 Camp has been postponed due to Covid-19 until we reach Alert Level 1. At this level we would like to take the children away. Full details of this will be given later.
Change of Address
As you would understand, it is extremely important to have your correct address during Level 4 Lockdown, especially when distributing devices for children to use. We noticed that during the distribution of devices, we found a number of families had moved.
We appreciate those of you who have notified us of your new address. If you have moved since February 2021, please email the School Office at office@hcsp.nz and give us your new address so that we can update our records.
Answers to the Maths Challenge from Newsletter dated 30th August 2021
Question 1 63
Question 2 23
Question 3 11
Question 4 12
Question 5 9180
If you got 3 questions correct, you are doing very well.
Armchair Challenge
Armchair Challenge
Click the link below for this challenge. Please read the instructions first.
Congratulations to Caitlin Jenkins, Former Student of Holy Cross Catholic School
We wish to acknowledge Caitlin Jenkins, a former student who entered the Modern Letter: National Schools Poetry Competition and came first. Caitlin read her poem called ‘South’ on Breakfast television on Thursday 2nd September. Caitlin attended Holy Cross Catholic School from Years 1 – 8 and in Year 9 she went to Papatoetoe High School. Caitlin is currently a Year 13 student. We wish to congratulate Caitlin again on her wonderful achievement. Below is her poem:
South
by Caitlin Jenkins Year 13 student, Papatoetoe High School
Our streets grow tread marks in the pattern of tapa cloth,
The men in blue roam them recreating
Da Vinci – bronze skin Mona Lisa.
Who knew your last supper would be a $2.50 Big Ben pie and a bottle of stars –
Will we ever breathe the same freedom as our brothers’ north and west?
Cause oceania’s waves feel a little too familiar in the backseat
GPS broken cause somehow it only circles round these streets – south,
You are but a direction on Auckland’s map,
Folded tightly into the plastic corners of red and blue lights.
Police siren jams but not the jawsh 685 type
…forever branded as the bottom the south of New Zealand…
But it’s okay.
We’ll tau’olunga on their disrespect
Wake them up at dawn with our cheehoos
Breathe a brown colour palette back into their colourless minds
Love us enough to not need it from anyone else
Grow with each other
Be strong with each other
Block out their white noise with white noise
Fill the cracks of Aotearoa’s pavements with more reasons to love south…
And put us back on the map…
Unfold us out of the plastic corners of red and blue lights
Help reverse the damage of our roots with the healing of our new generations
Cause leaves still bloom even more beautiful after the fall
For when our streets grow tread marks we’ll repaint them with coconut oil and fala paongo,
When the world wants our faces to kiss the concrete
We’ll still be safe in the arms of papatuanuku
Cause when things go south –
We’ll deal with them like south –
With the love of our roots nourish us in…
Bronze skin Mona Lisa,
Who knew our last supper would be a feast of the colonised minds…
Undo the bleaching of your brown colour palette
Refill them with all shades of you
Cause no direction will define where we’re really from, south
Children' Writing During Lockdown
Children’s Writing During Lockdown
Writing from R9 – Year 2
Making Lemonade
by Roman Scanlan
First pick lemons
Then cut the lemons
Next squeeze
After: Added water and sugar
Finally shared.
On Friday, I made lemonade with the help of my Mum. First,
I picked my lemons and washed them. Then I cut tem in halves.
Next, I squeezed the lemons into a jug. After I added water and
Sugar to make it sweeter. Finally, I drank it.
The Rabbit
By Jessa Sajan
My rabbits name is Sweety Bun. She likes to run in the grass. She is brown and white. Her eyes are sparkling and red. Her nose is red. I love her because she is soft and fluffy. She digs big holes in my garden. She likes to eat crunchy carrots.
Year 7 & 8 Writing
Three Wishes- by Nevaeh Paleaaesina
My eyes were glued to my phone screen. The only exercise I was getting was through my fingers, lifting them up to swipe the greasy protector above. My sleek pastel blue earbuds were stuck in my ear, with the wires tangled below my smooth chin. I looked up in fear, to see what or who had clenched their razor sharp nails on my shoulders. I twisted my head and it was my mum. “Get up off your phone, you’ve been on there for ages!” My mum rages as she looks me fiercely in the eye. “Go outside and clean up the shed! NOW.” “What?” I reply “B-but I just got on!”
She shakes her head in disagreement, and points her tattooed hand out the door. I took my laziness outside the door, as I stumbled upon piled rocks.
The shed was where no one goes, at all. It was a dark empty space, like the attic, but smaller, and you’d get showered with a whole lot more bugs. I reached into a hollow box, and pulled out a bottle with yellow disinfectant and a dusty sponge. I fell on my knees, which hit the floorboard, letting the side of it crack a little, and got to work. My moodiness, would have gotten me in trouble inside, so I decided to let it out in here. I rummaged through a pile of old rusty tools, and peculiar looking glass objects. As I turned around to place it in a plastic rubbish bag, I heard a squeak. I burst up from the ground, and dashed around the back shelf, missing placing my foot, and clashing against a towering shelf. Everything came tumbling down, bouncing off the top of my head. As everything rolled around on the ground, I got up shakily, and turned to settle my balance on a round table. I turned around to see a strange object, with characters that weren’t identified, unknown to me. I turned it around and saw a drawing, carved out of metal, a figure with its hands held up, looking like it's holding a source of light. My hand turned the top of the pot lid, and I peeked inside. A strange source shot out of the pot and whirled around above me.
Finally, the glistening satin purple trail from the bottom of the bottom of the creature's upper body, started the flow like a waterfall, drizzling to the wooden floor, then disappearing. The figure turned around, looking confused, and placed his eyes on me, looking up and down, twirling his eyes, and folding his magic blue arms. “Umm, who are you and what are you doing here?” I said boldly, but in fear.
My heart sunk, and the figure replied: “Hello Miss Jenny. My name is Sparrow, and I am a genie from the after world. I have been sent down to this planet, Earth? I think? And according to my master, Major Jole, I have the power, to grant you three wishes! Choose wisely”.
Stories from Duffy Role Models
Stories from Duffy Role Models
Below are two links with your classes they can listen to various stories read by Duffy Role Models.
https://www.booksinhomes.org.nz/role-model-reading-corner.aspx.aspx
Contact Us
Email: office@hcsp.school.nz
Website: https://hcsp.school.nz/
Location: Holy Cross Catholic School Papatoetoe 21 Carruth Road, Papatoetoe, Auckland, New Zealand
Phone: +64 9 278 8224
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hcsp.school.nz