Kia ora e te whānau,

This short Holy Week Room Moa shared prayers about God's Love, because God is Love. They told us that ...

All the goodness and all the love in the world comes from God and is God. We can feel and see this perfect, endless and overflowing love in all of creation and especially through the love we share with each other, but it is a mystery that we can not fully understand this perfect love while we are people on earth.

The persons of the Trinity are in this relationship of love, and we are invited to join in God’s Love. Whatever we imagine to be the most wonderful, strong, and complete love, the relationship with The Trinity is more. This is something that gives us hope and joy as Christians.

God’s Love is Perfect. Nothing about the love between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is broken, damaged or incomplete. God’s love is completely patient and kind, and freely shared for everyone - no matter what!

God’s Love is Endless. God’s Love never runs out and there is never a time God is not sharing all of His love with us. The love shared between The Trinity: The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit has and will exist forevermore.

God’s Love is Overflowing. The love between the persons of the Trinity is so amazing and generous that it doesn’t just stay with the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit but it bursts out and overflows in the world.

When I think of perfect love. When I think of endless love. When I think of overflowing love

GOD’S LOVE IS MORE. God’s love is all of these things and God’s love is more than all of these things.

G - goodness

O - overflowing love

D - deepening bonds

I - inviting us in

S - sharing God’s love

L - love for everyone

O - open for all

V - very precious

E - everyone welcome

And remember as we head into Easter ... 'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.'

We hope you enjoy a happy and holy Easter. We will see you back at school ready for weeks 10 and 11 on Wednesday.

Ma te Atua e manaaki - God bless,

Mallory

Principal | Tumuaki

At the end of last week, we officially welcomed Cohen Newton to Room Pūkeko and St Mary's School. He's been so keen to get to school that he's been rocking up to his visits in his brand new uniform ... and doesn't he look handsome in it? Cohen's big sister, Ellie is in Room Pīwakawaka and we enjoyed welcoming his mum and dad, Natalie and Dane last year. We hope you love your time here as much as we love having you here Cohen! Happy school days.

On Monday these fantastic year 6 leaders went tripping around our local rest homes with the team from St Vincent de Paul spreading love and joy for Easter. Every resident in every rest home was given a beautiful handmade Easter card that was made by one of our lovely kids in the school and an Easter Egg from St Vinnies. They were delivered personally and the kids really enjoyed sticking around for a yarn. When the kids had their next opportunity for class prayers, they chose to pray for the people in the rest homes, that they would get lots of visits from their friends and families this Easter. Some of the residents still had the cards they were given last year which just goes to show how much they enjoy getting them! Thanks to the lovely people from St Vinnie's for transporting the kids and hooking them up with Easter Eggs.

On Tuesday, the senior school went over to the Church for a ceremony with Father Sani to help prepare their hearts for Easter. This was an opportunity for them to grow in their relationship with God, as sin takes us away from Him but He always forgives us which brings us back in nice and close. They were even dressed in the right colour (purple for Lent). We all spread around the Church with a pencil and some paper and wrote to God then Father Sani took us outside and burnt them for us. If you don't know, us Catholics love a good burning ritual.

Congratulations to the 36 children who have been working with Mrs Gray each Sunday to prepare to receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Confirmation and First Holy Communion. Last night, they all came together with Father Sani for individual confession. This is preparing them for the following Sacraments as well as for Easter. Special thanks to Father Sani and Mrs Gray for all their preparation.

Thank you for your generous donations for Purple Day, supporting Epilepsy NZ. We raised $252 for the cause. The whole school support also landed Eden in on the official Epilepsy NZ Facebook page. How cool is that?

Lleyton from Room Moa baked and iced these incredible cupcakes for his combined class Mass with Room Pūkeko on Friday - hasn't he (and mum I'm guessing) done an amazing job!

Ka pai and well done to James Molloy. James plays for the Kingswood Softball under 11's team. At prize giving he won these trophies including one for Most Improved Player. Awesome mahi James, we're super proud of you!

Our year 6's recently voted for our 2024 Spirit of Southland Leaders. Congratulations to Mitch from Room Takahē and Piper from Room Kiwi who will take on the role. This role includes giving out the Spirit of Southland Awards at each assembly and a mufti fundraiser later in the year.

Ka pai to these top notch athletes who competed at Southland Athletics last Sunday. Here are the results that we know (official ones haven't arrived yet).

Celia - Discus 14th, Ella - Long Jump 20th, Discus 8th, Hayden - High Jump and Long Jump, Jacob - 200m 16th, High Jump, Long Jump 12th

Thomas - 800m 14th, Annie - 100m 1st, 60m 2nd, Long Jump 2nd, Leo Tutty - 100m 12th, 60m 10th, William - Long Jump 9th, Hattie - 60m 6th, Indie - 100m 6th, Maya - 100m 5th, Ciaran - 100m 4th, Brydee - Long Jump, Discus, Hannah - 200m 16th, Lucy - 200m 14th, Ruby 1500m 9th, Discus 15th, Mitch - Shot Put 7th, Discus 2nd, Preston Byars - 1500m 7th, 800m 10th

8 Girls Relay (including Lucy Ryan) - 4th

10 Girls Relay (including Pixie Wilson) - 6th

What champs you are! On top of that Annie and Mitch won some prizes too!

On Wednesday we sent 15 keen year 3 - 6 girls to Invercargill for the first ever Future Ferns Day. This day was put together to give girls the opportunity to have a go a different sports in the company of girls of a similar age who are also sports mad! They had a go rugby, football, hockey and cricket with supporting coaches from each of these codes. A great day was had by all. Huge thanks to Abby, Tara, Alisha, Keri and Wayne for getting the girls there and back in one piece and managing their teams for the day.

As you may have seen, our strategic goals this year are focused on the implementation of our new RE curriculum, consolidating our iDeal writing and introducing our iDeal reading pedagogy and continuing to build our understanding and confidence in te reo, te ao and tikanga Māori.

This term the staff have been busy attending various professional learning and development opportunities in line with these goals and other important topics/learnings that have popped up including:

- several year 3 and 4 cluster afternoon meetings in Invercargill for support in guiding the implementation of the new RE curriculum

- whole staff writing strategies workshop afternoon with Lauren Latimer and the Kāhui Ako at West Gore School

- Literacy Leads whole day professional learning for the implementation of iDeal reading with Darnelle from Learning Matters alongside Gore Main School. There is another day to follow this the last week of this term.

- Senior syndicate teachers attended the Writing Toolbox course in Alexandra focusing on teaching the structure of writing

- Miss Sutherland, Mrs Christie, Mrs Thacker and Mrs Snell attended a hui day at the Te Rau Aroha Marae in Bluff learning about the traditions and protocols that go with visiting a Marae

- Mrs Butterfield and Miss Sutherland have been working with the University of Otago for the Developing Influential Teacher Leaders Programme

- Mrs Gray and I went to Wanaka for a DRS and Principal's meeting for the Diocese. Part of this was an introduction to the document 'Wonderfully Made in God's Image'. Mrs Gray and I also went to Invercargill for two days (of four) to learn more about this new(ish) document and the Church's teachings around gender and sexuality.

Scrunchies Fundraiser ... huge thanks to Cadence's mum, Emily who has made these awesome scrunchies which have been sold this week by the newly formed Young Vinnies. When I last heard they'd sold 62 which made $186 and are going to donate the money to the Caritas Lenten Appeal. If you missed out, there are more to come!

Last week Jacob Valera and his family officially became Kiwi's at a ceremony at the Gore District Council. Nau mai, haere mai and congrulations to you all.

These talented kids are getting free dance lessons through Rachel's Studio of Dance for 6 weeks leading up to the Southland Festival of Dance in May. They're absolutely loving their lessons. Thanks to Rachel for her generosity.

As you may remember, last year one of the themes that came from your feedback to our community consultation was that the jackets the children have as part of their uniforms are not warm enough. The Board have looked into this and have come up with this new uniform option - a merino jersey. As you can see, our handsome model Jack is showing that it can be worn in many ways including zipped up and zipped down. It will also fit nicely under the current jacket. We're hoping they'll be ready to go for term 2.

If you are interested in purchasing one of these for your child(ren) here are the things you need to know:

- plenty of research was put in before deciding which brand to go with and we went with merino because it's warm and we want to support our farmers

- you can come in any time over the next week and a bit to try different sizes on your child

- orders must be in by Friday 5th of April (there will be other opportunities in the year to order)

- orders are done through the school

- the original cost price has been subsidised by the Board and St Vincent de Paul, taking the cost down to $80

We are aware that this an expensive outlay so there are a few options to make this more affordable for families ...

- you can pay when you order or we can put it on your school account to pay off over the year

- the Home and School Committee are happy to subsidise the cost of these further for families if required - please talk to Di to get a confidential subsidy for your child(ren)'s jersey

- in the not too distant future there will be some available second hand.

We are delighted to be launching our new communication and reporting system, Hero in Term 2. An online sharing platform with complementary smart app. This will eventually replace our current assessment system for teachers (PaCT), our mid and end of year reports and the School App leaving our Facebook Page and Newsletter for celebrating our students and community.

Hero allows schools to customise an online environment that enables teachers, students, and families to view and share content anytime, anywhere on any device. The software is secure, easy to use and brings together all school-related information in one place.

It will take a year or so to fully implement all its features. With Hero, you will have the ability to:

- read and comment on posts relating to your child’s learning

- view information on your child’s progress and goals,

- read and comment on school notices sent to the class or groups your child is part of

- respond to school notices such as surveys and trip permission requests

- view school term dates

- view a school calendar of events

- notify the school if your child is absent or late

- navigate to other school-related webpages

- customise your account by adding a profile image

- select how you wish to receive notifications

Learning posts combined with curriculum information and goal-setting will form an online report designed to build year-on-year so that over time you will have access to written posts, images, video, work samples, and helpful resources all in one place.

We are looking forward to sharing this with you, including you in your child’s learning journey.

Watch this space.

Please ensure that Di has your correct email address so we can get each families accounts ready to set up.

These wonderful children below have not long started their spiritual journey through the Sacramental Programme. They will spend a number of Sundays throughout the year working with our Director of Religious Studies, Mrs Gray learning more about the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Confirmation and Holy Communion before they receive them. We ask you to keep these children in your prayers.

Congratulations to Jake Winship who also won a prize for his colouring for the colouring competition for the Southern Field Days. Ka pai Jake!

This term we are starting up a Young Vinnies group for those that are interested in Years 4-6. We will meet every Thursday at lunchtime. Young Vinnies is the Youth arm of St Vincent de Paul. We are going to be putting our faith and love into action through the service of others. Keep an eye out for the exciting projects we will be taking on!

A message and offer from Maegan and Nicola Mitchell ...

We are reaching out to you because we are super excited to be hosting a FREE Folk/Country Waiata Workshop for tamariki from year 6 to 10. The workshop is something we’ve been dreaming of putting together for a long time now and kapa haka was such an important part of the time we spent at St Peter’s so we can’t wait to host this event at this year’s Tussock Country Music Festival.

The workshop will be at the Hokonui Rūnanga from 10am-2pm on the 28th of May. The workshop is free however, registrations are essential. At this stage we are aiming to have around 60 tamariki at the workshop so you will need to make sure to get your tamariki in before the workshop fills up.

Info about the day:

We have heaps of exciting things planned! Including learning some waiata that we grew up listening to and learnt when we were in school as well as learning a couple of new waiata written by ourselves and some other Kiwi Folk/Country Artists who we love. Whether you've got experience with te reo Māori or are new to the language there will be something for everyone and a unique opportunity to connect with other tamariki who share our passion for te ao Māori.

REGISTER HERE

John comes to school each year to work with our kids around internet safety - at a level that is appropriate to their age and stage. He also offers the opportunity for a parent night. The purpose of the parent night is to give you information about how to best protect your child(ren) on the internet and to share some stories of instances he's dealt with that may open your eyes to the dangers out there. Last year we had a small turn out so we're just trying to gauge whether it's worth asking him to stay on for this this year or not. We'd love you to click the statement below that best describes where you're at.

With the weather starting to cool off, we know we're heading into hot lunch territory. Hopefully you are aware that we have a flash new pie warmer courtesy of the Home and School for warming pies and leftovers (which is a year 6 job) so they're the perfect temperature at lunchtime - a great option. We also know that noodles are often a popular choice in many house holds as they're quick and easy - all good. The tricky part at our end is that to make the noodles edible you have to add boiling water ... enter health and safety ... sometimes we can have 20+ cups of noodles to make at lunch time, we have attempted to make them earlier in the day so they're not as hot but our staff, including support staff are busy working with children during that time. The likelihood of children burning themselves or others is quite a concern.

Long story short - if possible, we'd love it if children could bring their noodles to school in one of these bad boys (as shown in the picture) so they're ready to go and at a safe temperature for everyone. You can get them at The Warehouse or Kmart.

If a student misses one day of school every two weeks, they miss a whole year of school by 16 years of age. As a parent or caregiver, you, alongside our school, play a key role in building strong habits of regular school attendance.

All students are legally required to attend school every day and it is a shared responsibility to make sure students attend and engage in learning from when they first start school. As we enter 2024, every day of school matters.

You must let the school know if your child is going to be absent for a day or intends to be absent for a portion of the school term for whatever reason, like a tangi or medical procedure.

If you're struggling at home with getting your child to school, talk to us. Our school is committed to supporting your child to attend school and building a culture that fosters excellent attendance by having:

• School staff who have strong relationships with students and whānau.

• A school culture that recognises your child and your family for who they are, where they come from and who they want to be.

• A school community that does everything to make sure students are at school, and they are participating, and progressing in their education.

Parents and caregivers can find more information here:

Week 9 (25th - 29th March) - Mrs Cruickshank, Megan and Rachael

Monday - Monday prayers in the Church - 8.50am - Room Moa

Tuesday - Purple Mufti Day and Gold Coin - Supporting Epilepsy NZ

Wednesday - Fern Fever - Year 3 - 6 girls (who have signed up)

Thursday - Holy Week Liturgy in the Church 2.15pm

Friday - Good Friday

Week 10 (1st - 5th April) - Mrs Gray, Mrs Hansen, Norma and Rachael

Monday - Easter Monday

Tuesday - Easter Tuesday

Wednesday - Wednesday prayers in the Church - 8.50am - Room Kiwi

Friday - Room Kiwi Class Mass - 11am in Room Kiwi

Friday - Assembly - 2.20pm in the Church

Week 11 (8th - 12th April) - Mrs Butterfield and Sheilah

Monday - Monday prayers in the Church - 8.50am - Room Kea

Thursday - John Parsons Parent Evening - TBC

Friday - Room Kea Class Mass - 11am in Room Kea

Friday - Assembly - 2.20pm in the Church

Other Dates:

Next Home and School Meeting (and AGM) - Tuesday 9th April - 7pm Thomas Green

Next School Board Meeting - Thursday 11th April - 6pm Staffroom

Email: admin@stmarys.school.nz
Website: https://stmarys.school.nz/
Location: 14 Ardwick Street, Gore 9710, New Zealand
Phone: +64 3-208 7733
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1407464649522913