PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Kia ora e te whānau
What a wonderful week it has been, with Aotearoa taking our proud place on the worldwide sailing stage with our America's Cup success! I am certain that all hearts swelled with pride when we witnessed Te Rehu Tai come in to port triumphantly and to see that amazing kāranga as our sailors were led by Māori warriors towards the presentation of the Cup. True Mana! What a special moment for all New Zealanders, especially when most of the rest of the world is shut down by COVID-19 restrictions. We live in an amazing country blessed by the Almighty.
It's also been an exciting few days at our wonderful little school, with a range of events and opportunities for students and staff to enjoy lots of fun and exciting events to enhance their learning. Our school is a very busy and exciting place!
We have made a few changes to our school assembly format, to become more interactive and to increase the energy level and student involvement through more music and action. Those parents who do attend our assemblies will find that it is a little different to what you have previously experienced. It is important to us that we remember that our school is a place for children, about children, where children express their child-like faith and love for Christ in an engaging and interactive, authentic way. All parents are welcome to attend our fortnightly school assemblies on alternate Fridays.
Our next School Assembly will be held on Friday 26 March at 2pm.
Other events enjoyed this week have been St Patrick's Day Dress up and Art Day. More information about these days is shared later in this newsletter. I would like to extend a warm thanks to our amazing PTFA, who supported our ART Day (a school-wide St Mary's Way reward) with a free sausage sizzle lunch and a sweet treat for every child.
Our PTFA is an amazing group of parents who support our school to provide the best possible experiences and activities, whether it is through fund raising or simply coming in to help with manpower, transport or other resourcing. We are very blessed to have such an awesome parent community. New families are warmly invited to join the PTFA. It is a great way to hook into the life of our school, to increase your connection with our parent community and to extend your child's social circle, while having lots of fun!
Our Year 7 & 8 students participated in the Year 7/8 Summer Sports event which took place at Bruce Pulman Park on Wednesday 17 March. They represented our school wonderfully and we are so proud of them. I would like to extend a warm thanks to the parents who supported us with transportation for this event. More information about the day is included in this newsletter.
As we move into week 8 of the Term, we are preparing for our Parent/Teacher Team Meetings, which are scheduled for Tuesday 23 March. Our teachers would like to discuss their team norms/ expectations with you at these meetings. Also on the agenda will be a discussion about our online/digital learning programme and consultation about our concept focuses for the rest of the year. It is vital that all parents attend these meetings and take the opportunity to connect with teachers and other parents. Our relationship with you and your family is paramount to ensuring the success of your children's learning. We look forward to seeing all our parents at these meetings.
Times for team meetings are as follows :
Bethlehem (Year 0-2) - 3.15pm to 3.45pm in Bethlehem space
Nazareth (Year 3-4) - 4pm - 4.30pm in Nazareth space
Jerusalem (Year 5-6) - 4.45pm - 5.15pm in Jerusalem space
Emmaus (Year 7-8) - 5.15pm - 5.45pm in Emmaus space
Our senior leadership team (Mrs Kippen and Mrs Buckley) will also be available at each of these meetings to support our staff and to address any queries or concerns that you might have. Please note that these meetings are in lieu of the family picnic and 3 way goal setting conferences which we were unable to have due to recent lockdown restrictions. We look forward to meeting and talking with all parents on Wednesday.
We are also looking forward to seeing all our students and their families at our School Ministry Mass on Sunday 21 March at 10.30am at St Mary's Catholic Church in East Street.
This Mass is an important part of the life of our school. We work hard to support our children to experience an encounter with Christ and the most important way we as Catholics get to encounter Christ is through the Eucharist at our Masses. Please bring your children along and make a family morning of it.
See you there!
Arohanui
Audrey Kippen
Tumuaki/Principal
DNA Strawberry Extraction
The Emmaus students learnt about DNA and how this is a blueprint for all living things.
Following the scientific process, the children were able to extract DNA from strawberries by diffusing the strawberry cell membranes and solidifying the DNA with a combination of chemical reactions.
This connects to our Concept for Term One of Whakapapa ki te tangata (Identity and Belonging) and genealogy.
It was a complete success!
St Patrick's Day
Our St Patrick's Day Celebrations were a huge hit in our Bethlehem Team on Wednesday 17 March.
A huge thank you to Mrs Cobbald and the Bethlehem staff for the wonderful day that was provided for our little ones. The day was filled with fun and lots of new learning. Most memorable was the look of wonderment and awe on the children's faces when they arrived to school to find "leprechaun footprints" all over the floor!
What a great way to hook our children in to their new learning!
Art Day
Our "St Mary's Way" Programme is our positive behaviour support strategy to notice and reward our students' positive behaviour and to reinforce our 3 core values : Respect, Care and Responsibility. This includes the teaching and expectation to live the gospel values through our interactions with each other. The St Mary's Way is to be like Jesus in our words and actions.
Our ART DAY (Thursday 18 March) was a school-wide reward for students' great behaviour over the first 5 weeks of the term. Children had been asked to suggest a list of reward days that they might enjoy. At our last assembly we spun the wheel to select the reward from this list. So ART DAY it was!
Children had a great day expressing their creativity in so many different ways, through a range of Art media. Thank you to our amazing teachers for the wonderful day that they prepared and ran for our children.
A huge thanks also to our PTFA for providing a free lunch and sweet treat for our students.
Meet Our Student Leaders 2021
We are very proud of these children for displaying the school values of Respect, Care and Responsibility and to be elected into leadership of our Student Council. From left to right:
Helina Vakauta, Josh Menasalvas, Aliesha Mulder and Carol Nanai.
Congratulations! We look forward to experiencing the growth of your leadership skills.
Students With Roles of Responsibility in 2021
House Captains
Xavier House - Joey Bajado and Emma Li
Barbier House - Josh Menasalvas and Ui Ualesi
Chanel House - Leuaina Marsters and Christiano van der Sandt
Pompallier House - Sam Stewart and Rebekah
Kapa Haka Kaeas - Jasmine Hohua and Bella-Rose Su'a
Pasifika Leaders - Tulialo Tuia-Pemerika, Manu Nuku and Fou Ama
(Supporting Roles - Carol Nanai and Helina Vakauta)
Liturgy Team - Tulialo Tuia-Pemerika, Carol Nanai, Ui Ualesi, Katana-Rose Masoe,
Josh Menasalvas and Helina Vakauta.
Travelwise Team - Katana-Rose Masoe, Aleisha Mulder, Liam Marnewick,
Christiano van der Sandt, Manu Nuku, Ui Ualesi, Anahera Kumar, Jayelah-Mei Lee, Fou Ama, Tulialo Tuia-Pemerika and Angie Quinlan.
Librarians - Leuaina Marsters, Alethia Beirne, Isabelle Kane, Katana-Rose Masoe, Izy Castro, Dohnelle De Guzman, Jayelah-Mei Lee, Fou Ama, Anahera Kumar and Kelais Kala-Heke.
Head Librarian - Rebekah.
IT Team - Nathan Delmendo, Josh Menasalvas, Anahera Kumar and Liam Marnewick.
Travelwise and Road Safety
Park and Walk 400m to School Day - Wednesday 24 March 2021!
Our Travelwise student council will be out on Wednesday morning to promote safer drop off and pick ups on Clark Road and Manse Road.
The congestion especially at pick up is a safety issue for our students. Parking further away is good exercise and will help with our busy drop offs and pickups.
The road patrol crossing is the place to safely cross for all our children and whanau.
Year 7/8 Summer Sports Day - Wednesday 17th March 2021
A brilliant day enjoyed by all our Senior Students participating in Rippa Rugby at Bruce Pulman Park against local schools. The Grade A team made the semi-finals and Dohnelle De Guzman was Grade B Boys Overall Winner.
Congratulations to all of Emmaus. You played with confidence, sportsmanship and most importantly had a lot of fun! We are very proud of the way our students represented our school and our values amongst their local peers. Ka pai Emmaus!
Upcoming Events - Term 1, 2021
Sunday 28th March 2021 - Harvest Family Carnival - A free Children's Day event - 3 Beach Road, Papakura. Pony rides, ferris wheel, games, merry-go-round, parents cafe, sausage sizzle, shows and more. Be in to win amazing prizes from our sponsors. For more information, telephone Harvest Christian Church on (09) 299 9394 - www.hcc.net.nz
Tuesday 30th March 2021 - McAuley High School 2022 enrolments. There will be an opportunity for families to look around the school. Tours led by senior students will begin at 4.00 p.m., 4.30 p.m. and 5.00 p.m. Enrolment packs will be available. Completed enrolment forms will be taken and applicants will be contacted about enrolment interview dates. Enrolments for 2022 will close on 9th July 2021 (the final day of Term 2).
BASKETBALL - MORE KIDS, MORE OPPORTUNITIES
ABSL BASKETBALL
4 Weeks - 30th March and 6th/13th April
3.30 p.m. - 3.45 p.m. - Check-In Time
3.45 p.m. - 4.30 p.m. - Session and Games
(Year 3/4/5/6)
4.15 p.m. - 4.30 p.m. - Check-In Time
4.30 p.m. - 5.30 p.m. - Year 7/8 Skills and Games
The one hour sessions are all FREE!!!
No registrations - kids and parents come down on any Tuesday date.
For more information, please contact Tania Hunter - Email: tania@absl.basketball
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.
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
