St Mary's School

1st March, 2024

'Lent is a call to renew a commitment grown dull, perhaps, by a life more marked by routine than by reflection.' – Joan Chittister

Kia ora e te whānau,

On Monday our year 5 and 6 leaders from Room Takahē acted out skits which illustrated different ways that we can live out our values of faith, hope and love. One I noticed in particular, which also happens to work in nicely with our school Gospel story of the week was that of love 'we belong to God, all in us is His'. Treating others fairly and with respect.

Across the school this week children and their teachers have been learning more about the story of Zacchaeus. Learning about stories from the Bible is an important part of our new RE curriculum.

Zacchaeus was a Jewish tax collector and in Jesus' day, tax collectors were seen as thieves and sinners, they were not well liked people. Here's the quick version of the story ...

When Jesus came to Jericho, a crowd gathered and because Zacchaeus was short, he could not see him. No matter where he shifted to, who he tried to stand in front of, he couldn't get a glimpse of Jesus so he ran ahead and climbed a tree. This was not something a grown up, particularly an important wealthy man like Zacchaeus would usually do, but he didn't care. He wanted to see Jesus very badly.

He was rewarded for his efforts. Jesus spotted him in the tree and stopped to talk to him. He smiled at him and called him down from the tree. Jesus wanted to be with him. Even though other people thought Zacchaeus was a sinner, Jesus treated him with love.

Then Jesus honored Zacchaeus by going to his house which of course shocked the rest of the crowd who couldn't believe Jesus would eat with a sinner. Jesus used situations like this to teach his followers how to be fair and caring to others. He wanted them to clearly understand God's forgiveness.

The story of Zacchaeus teaches us a few different things ...

- Zacchaeus wanted to know what Jesus was like, so he went looking for him. We can find out what Jesus is like by learning about his stories and actions and praying.

- Even though Zacchaeus had done some bad things, Jesus recognises that he can choose to do what is right, so he is kind to him and gives him another chance. Jesus will always forgive us if we are sorry, and we can forgive others, and be kind to them (even before they say sorry)

- Zacchaeus says sorry to the people he has hurt by making things right. Actions are as important as words.

- It takes courage to say and do what is right in front of your friends, especially when they just want to be mean.

Most importantly it teaches us that nothing should keep us from being with Jesus. During this season of Lent, I ask you - have you had a chat with Jesus lately?

Ma te Atua e manaaki - God bless,

Mallory

Principal | Tumuaki

Nau mai, haere mai - welcome!

This week we welcome Jacob Valera to Room Pūkeko. Jacob is the first in his family to come to school and is the son of Jeremy and Josephine. We are grateful to have you join our school community, we hope you all enjoy your time here at St Mary's School.

Ka pai Grayson!

Grayson is proud as punch of his handwriting , and so he should be, this is a huge improvement from where he started on his first day of school. Well done mate, keep up the hard work!

Beautiful Art Jorja!

Look at this beautiful art work by Jorja Small. How clever is she? And she's only year 4! We'll have to keep an eye out for her work in the gallery in the future I reckon.

Athletics Day Results 2024

Ka pai and well done to all our students who competed in high jump, long jump, shot put, discus and running at Wednesday's Whole School Athletics Day. It was awesome to see such a great turn out of supporters there cheering our kids on. Thank you to our parent helpers, without your support we wouldn't be able to run such a smooth operation. I'm sure you'll agree one of the many highlights of the day was the father's race, featuring Father Sani. Some of them took a bit of coaxing but once they were at that starting line it was all on! Thanks for being such good sports! Further down are the senior results and those who have qualified for Eastern Athletics on Thursday 7th March. More info to come.

Save the Date!

Our Home and School Committee are busy putting together another awesome Night Fair. More details to come but in the mean time, save the date below. Everyone is welcome!

Home and School Fair

Come grab a colouring competition from the office! Great prizes up for grabs.

Early Term Reminders

On Wednesday all students received a blanket consent and device consent that should have made its way home to you. Please return these to your classroom teacher as soon as possible.
Absences - if your child is going to be away at any stage, please let us know. You can do this by ringing Di (2087733) or texting the office (027 208 7733). If you email to let your teacher know, it is a good idea to copy Di into the email (admin@stmarys.school.nz) as teachers often get busy and may miss these emails. Please also let us know why they are away as we need to code these into our student management system. If your child is away and we haven't heard from you to explain why, then you should receive either a text or a phone call from the school to check in.
We have an open door policy at St Mary's School. Parents dropping at the gate and waiting to pick up at the gate at the end of the day was part of our Covid procedures but we're well past that now so please know that you are very, very welcome to pop in to your child(ren)'s class at anytime of the day if you want to (of course, if you prefer to wait at the gate, that is fine too). They love showing you their work and our teachers enjoy meeting and catching up with you - it's great for home and school connections which is great for our learners - it's a win, win!