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Newsletter Term 3 Week10
St Mary's School Blenheim Wednesday 28th September 2022
MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL
Kia ora koutou Te Kura O hato Mere whānau,
Polyfest….is the BEST!!!! What an amazing community day celebrating the Pasifika culture as a hapori whānui, music, food, arts, crafts, laughter, togetherness. I feel blessed as the Principal of this amazing kura to have children who can perform with such passion, heart and soul representing themselves, their whanau, their culture and our connected hapori whānui on Saturday.
Led by Philip Fidow and AJ Moli our multicultural group smashed out the Sasa with vim and vigour. Lifting the crowd, a cold tingle and shiver was sent down the spine of those listening; it lit the Polyfest on fire and set a high standard to follow.
Thank you must go to Linda Kula and Loloahi Vakaloa for the amazing efforts they have both put in preparing the Multicultural Group for this performance and for the rest of the year leading into our Celebration Week and next year with our 150th Celebrations fast approaching.
Huge thank you to Kalia who put on the event. The organisation and product, the show on Saturday took a lot of hard work and organisation. People synchronised their efforts to perfection. It was twice as big as the first Polyfest in 2019 and connected at a much deeper level with the wider Marlborough community.
Lynette Leota and the crew from Kalia should be super proud of their efforts. Marlborough is extremely lucky to have the talents, skill and drive of Lynette Leota and her team who support the Blenheim Pasifika Community. Pride, Passion, open minds and hearts to care and share a good chinwag and always a huge laugh.
Connecting all of the communities, schools and bringing them together for this showcase is so special for our region. The performers from Auckland were amazed and surprised by the size of this production, the talent and skill of the children and adults who performed, coached and supported the performers. Parents all had a blast. It was great also to be able to cater for all abilities and have children and adults with various differentiated needs catered for and moreover celebrated on the day. It is not often that such an event is so inclusive. This makes it stand out even more as we are all children of God made in the likeness and image of God.
Our faith and that of the whole hapori whānui was on show, everyone smiling and accepting each other for who they are and the skill level they have. Humanity was truly on show.
Being a part of this event brings out tears of joy. It is really quite humbling. Feeling joy, happiness and having unadulterated FUN all day long. Even setting up the day before was a blast, all pulling together for each other.
After such a long period of time being separated, keeping our distance, not singing out loud, wearing masks and hiding our facial expressions and emotions, it was just so uplifting. Masks gone, smiles and happiness across all peoples faces. It was a huge relief to see we can all still work together and feel open to sharing our talents.
Thank you for supporting this event. It really is a showcase of talent from around the region and across Aotearoa. The Polyfest reaches out to all communities and cultures. People in our community have already come forward to offer their skills to help develop a wider range of songs and dances from across the Pacific for next year's event. Linda and Loloahi are excited to continue leading our children and help them to learn and develop new songs from many cultures. Such great learning, it expands knowledge and skills, movement and understanding of other cultures. The learning is huge.
Enjoy your holidays and the extra day you have with your children. If COVID has taught us anything it is that we all need each other more than we realise. Keep those lines of communication open. Be prepared to listen before you preach and walk alongside rather than stand over.
Your children are all beautiful gifts from God as are you.
Remember that and grow in humanity each day. Celebrate who you are and your culture. The Polyfest not only reminded us to be strong in our culture but to celebrate it, share it, smile and enjoy yourselves as you do.
With much love and God’s Blessing have a wonderful holiday.
Yours ‘In Christ’s Light’
Paddy Dowling
TE WHETU O TE MOANA l STAR OF THE SEA - MARLBOROUGH CATHOLIC PARISH
Parish Newsletter - No.35. 26th September 2022
UPCOMING EVENTS
- Last Day of School for Term 3 - Thursday 29th September
- Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Day (Public Holiday) - Monday 26 September
- Teacher Only Day - Friday 30th September
- Term 4 Starts - Monday 17th October
- Labour Day (Public Holiday) - Monday 25th October
- Rooms 4, 5 & 6 Fundamental Skills - Tuesday 25th - Friday 28th October
- School Athletics - Wednesday 16th November
- Last Day of School - Term 4 - Friday 16th December 12.05pm
- 150th Jubilee - 30th June - 2nd July 2023
WHAT'S BEEN HAPPERNING AT TE KURA O HATO MERE ?
ST MARY'S SCHOOL BOOKFAIR
SPORTS NEWS
SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAMMES
COMMUNITY NEWS
SUBWAY LUNCHES - WEDNESDAY
ALL SUBWAY ORDERS ARE GOING ONLINE FROM TERM 3
If you would like to order SUBWAY, please order online Wednesday mornings
Orders must be done before 8.45am on Wednesday mornings.
OUR SPONSORS
CONTACT US
Email: office@stmb.school.nz
Website: https://stmb.school.nz
Location: St Mary’s School Blenheim 3 Stephenson St, Blenheim, New Zealand
Phone: +64 3 578 9494
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stmarysschoolblenheim/