Kia ora, Ni hao, Dobar dan, Malo e leilei, Hola, Konnichiwa, Talofa, Namaste, Chão, Vannakkam, Kamusta, Hello!

The time has come for the two leaders of our PTFA to step down.

Jacqui Ivicevich and Sinead Hart have led the PTFA for many years with passion, expertise, commitment and drive. They have given more than just their time and energy. They have been wholeheartedly involved in the life of the school. Over the last few challenging pandemic years they have continued to support and drive the pastoral care needs of our community whilst fundraising has taken a back seat. In saying that, the PTFA and community have continued to provide assistance pastorally, financially and physically whenever they have been able to.

The initiation of the Centennial Project (to reach fruition in 2027 when the school celebrates 100 years) can be attributed to the PTFA committee under Jacqui & Sinead’s leadership and a group of willing volunteers. The Cycle Track and Garden to Table programmes are well underway, the mural brightens the end of Hub 5, Hub 5b has been opened up as a large double room and Stage 1 of the Landscape Plan has begun. We are all grateful for the ladies' leadership.

Jacqui & Sinead will be missed in these roles but now it is time for someone else (even co-chairs) to bring their flavour, their passion and their gifts to this important role. In these challenging times it is even more important that we find ways to connect as a community. Come and help us do that!

Please think about either joining this valuable group or/and consider the chairperson role/s.

The next PTFA meeting (via zoom) will be held on Tuesday 5th April at 7.15pm, more details to follow. Please join us at this meeting.

Remember many hands make light work. We have been and continue to go through many challenges in our current environment and we need your assistance.

He aha te mea nui o te ao

What is the most important thing in the world?

He tangata, he tangata, he tangata

It is the people, it is the people, it is the people

Maori proverb

Thank you, thank you, thank you Jacqui and Sinead.

Thank you so much to Eli & Maddison's Mum Claire for this generous donation of Irish goodies which raised a whopping $644 for Caritas!

Our lucky winner is Alistair Groom who bought tickets for his granny. Thank you so much Claire and to everyone who bought tickets.

Please keep the Blow family, and all others who have lost loved ones, in your thoughts and prayers at this time. We continue to pray for those in our community who are unwell or suffering at the moment.

2022 Term 1 Dates - important dates for your calendars!

Staff Only Days: As part of our collective agreement the Ministry allocated a number of 'Staff Only Professional Development' Days over 3 years. With the disruptions throughout 2020/21 we have two remaining days to use prior to mid June. Therefore the following dates are closed for children:

• Term 2: Monday 2nd May & Friday 3rd June

• Term 1 ends: Thursday 14th April

URGENT - if any of your contact details have changed (phone numbers, email, street addresses) please advise the office as soon as possible. It is always important, but particularly so in these Covid times, that we have the correct and up to date information for your child/ren. Thank you!

What a busy term we have had so far in the kitchen and garden. The garden is thriving! We have enjoyed harvesting tomatoes, basil, beans, squash and courgettes.

This week, we were amazed how much our courgettes grew in 1 week! Look at this courgette (or is it a marrow?) Zac and Nathan harvested. They measured it and it was 42 cm long! We used the courgette in our ‘pasta salad of the imagination.’ It was delicious!

Last week, we used our tomatoes to make a delicious tomato sauce which we enjoyed on pizzas. This was definitely a popular meal!

You can find out Garden to Table recipes in this folder.

Thank you to our specialists Frances, Helena, Johanna, Christina and all the volunteers for keeping our programme going!

Garden to Table is EXPANDING and we're looking for a builder who might have some spare time on their hands to build a deck for us for our garden shed. .We can organise a team of Dads to give you a hand via a working bee too so you wont be alone. We're flexible with our timing and can work around your schedule.

If you are interested in helping and want to know more about the project call Frances Clayton on 021 659277 or email f.clayton@marist.school.nz.

We've been celebrating St Patrick's Day and hanging out with a very cool whale tail!

We went GREEN for St Patrick's Day!

We had an enlightening discussion about Turangawaewae. The children had thoughtful and insightful ideas about what they thought this meant .. amazing work!

and like all the other Hubs we had heaps of fun on St Patrick's Day!

The best thing we like about the bike track is the lumpy hills and the ramps. We feel excited and happy to ride the bike track. We can’t wait to bring our scooters and bikes to school!

For sports yesterday we got to do a few activities but our favorite one out of the sack race, the frisbees and

the stilts was the stilts! Using the stilts was a big adventure when we went around the bike track on them!

By Chiara & Hugo

We were very lucky to be sponsored by the Maritime Museum to create a whale tail.

Whale Tales 2002

The giant tails are inspired by the critically endangered Bryde's whales. Our tail is a Pēpi Pod (mini Whale Tail). When we found out we were going to do a whale tail, we were very excited about it.

We first saw the whale tail wrapped in bubble wrap. Mrs Politini said the parcel was her lunch. We gave her confused looks!

Hub 1 and Hub 2 Year 5’s designed and painted the whale tail.

Our whale tail is called Te Koha ā Tangaroa

During lockdown 2021, we loved studying a NZ novel called 'Charlie Tangaroa and the Creature from the Sea' and another book called 'Tangaroa's Gift'. The Year 5's wanted our Paua design to illustrate how blessed we are and how we must work together to protect the many gifts we have been given.

When we started painting it, it was firstly white and then we used the shimmery colours:

The coolest blues of the ocean

The freshest greens of the forest

A tinge of violet from the dawn

A blush of pink from the sunset

And over all a shimmer of mother-of-pearl

When we finished painting the design, we then decided to paint the background black instead of leaving it plain white. We used a dark black colour paint and very carefully did the background. It was very hard but worth it. We did the matte blackboard paint to contrast with the shiny, pearlised paints.

It took 2 or 3 days to finish painting it. Willow, Leyton and Indie painted the black background and blended the koru designs. They helped to lead our design and painting. After we finished it looked beautiful and we were sure we were the best painters in the whole world. Even better than da Vinci!

You can go and see our tail on display at the Maritime Museum https://www.maritimemuseum.co.nz/ . It will be there until the end of April. Share your photos with our whale tail with s.white@marist.school.nz.

We all loved painting it and being a part of this amazing project with Whale Tales and the Maritime Museum. The Maritime Museum came to school and collected our wonderful whale tail.

By Leyton, Indie and Willow

We have also been learning about the history of our place, Ōwairaka. Our whanau groups are named after important people connected to our place. Read our reports about Wairaka, Toroa and Ruarangi.

Wairaka

For the last 800 years our maunga/mountain has been called Ōwairaka because of a woman called Wairaka.

Wairaka was one of the most beautiful daughters of Toroa, the chief of the Ngāti Awa tribe. She was born in Rarotonga on an island called Mauke.

Wairaka and her extended family came to Aotearoa on the Mataatua waka and climbed the maunga. They met a group of fairy people and their leader was called Ruarangi. The fairy people were eventually burned because of their pale skin.

Owairaka was named after Wairaka as she lived there for a large part of her life and she took care of it. Owairaka means it belongs to or is where Wairaka lived.

We are connected to Wairaka because we are on the mighty home of Wairaka.

By Roman

Toroa

Toroa was the chief of the Ngāti Awa tribe. He had daughters, one of them was Wairaka. He was a tribe leader.

Toroa travelled across the Pacific and landed on New Zealand. Then he went to land to settle in Mount Albert and planted karakia trees on the summit. It was a sign for Wairaka to find her way home.

Toroa is important because he was one of the first chiefs to discover our place and he lived there for a while. He was also important because he was the chief and the father of Wairaka.

Therefore Toroa was a strong, responsible chief of Mount Albert and is our chief. He is important to our history because he discovered Mount Albert and our mountain was named after his daughter.

By Sarang

Ruarangi

Who was Ruarangi?

Back in 1300 a fairy was born and his name was Ruarangi. His future was decided, he would be a proud chief of the patupaiarehe, the fairy people. The fairy people have pale skin and either red or blonde hair. They lived in forests and mountaintops. When Ruarangi was fully grown, he was ready to be a chief. He was between 19 and 25 years at this point.

Why was he important ot Mount Albert?

Did you know that Ruarangi was an original Maori settler? When he found Mt Albert he was probably like “Wow! This is a great home!” and he settled. The maunga was orignally named after him because it was believed he found it first. He and his patupaiarehe tribe lived on Mt Albert known then as Te Puke o Ruarangi. The mountain has since been re-named as Ōwairaka/Mt Albert.

What did he do that was interesting?

Ruarangi and his brother Ohomatakamokamo were fighting over Mount Smart. Ruarangi and his iwi hid from Ohomatakamokamo and his tribe in lava caves they had made. Suddenly Ohomatakamokamo heard dogs howling and knew where to find Ruarangi. Ruarangi started running and the dogs chased his iwi. They chased them until they got stuck in a narrow part of the tunnel. But then they spotted a crack and one by one they squeezed through. Ruarangi couldn’t escape but Ohomatakamokamo and Ruarangi’s iwi did, they escaped into a creek. Sadly they died because of the sunlight in Pt Chevalier because patupaiarehe’s skin is too pale.

Ruarangi is important to Mt Albert’s history

Ruarangi is very important in Mt Albert’s history and although the maunga is not called Te Puke o Ruarangi anymore, there is still a street at the bottom of the mountain called Ruarangi Road.

By Willow

After learning with the Tread Lightly Team Lilia and Addison created this amazing Te Otaota (wetlands) art.

Haere mai, Talofa lava, Maligayang pagdating, Malo e leilei, Hwan yeong, Bienvenido, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Bienvenue, and Welcome!

Pope Francis has asked the question of ‘how we journey together’. The purpose is to ‘listen to the questions, concerns and hopes of every church, people and nation'.

We'd like to hear from you! People of all backgrounds are invited to contribute.

Completing this feedback form takes about five minutes and your input will feed into a diocesan/regional paper on how we as a Church and as Catholics 'journey together', which then informs a paper to the Vatican. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NZCBCSynod

Catholic Diocese of Auckland

This year we are continuing with Marist Meals - a pastoral care initiative. These meals are provided to families in the school & parish community when a little extra support is needed (e.g. a new baby, sickness, bereavement). With the impact of covid and many of our school and parish families isolating or unwell, it would be great if we could fill up the freezer so we can help lighten the load for families during these challenging times.

If you would like to contribute, we welcome any homemade, brought meals or baking for our freezer. Meals can be dropped off to the school office.

Containers available at the school office.

St Mary's Parish Foodbank is feeding nearly 2000 a month. PLEASE remember them when you are shopping - they are in desperate need of donations! Anything you can contribute will be very much appreciated.

There is a box on the front porch of the presbytery.

Thank you so much for your ongoing support!

The Sacraments of Initiation (Reconciliation, Confirmation and First Eucharist) are celebrated for children in Year 4 and above. This year's sacraments have been postponed but please register your child using the attached form and you will be advised when new dates are confirmed.

Sacraments of Initiation Registration Form

Te Kupenga-Catholic Leadership Institute combines academic, leadership, faith formation and bio-ethical research and advocacy responsibilities for the Catholic church in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The Board is looking for a Chief Executive with relevant leadership experience, possibly gained in a faith-based, non-profit or secondary/tertiary education setting. The role will probably be based in Auckland.

Full details and how to apply, go here: https://www.tekupenga.ac.nz/uncategorized/seeking-for-tumuaki-chief-executive/

Applications close on Monday 28 March.

Email: admin@marist.school.nz
Website: https://www.marist.school.nz/
Location: 14 Kitenui Avenue, Mount Albert, Auckland, New Zealand
Phone: 09 846 7408