Dear Parents
Father Mike Wooller from St Anne’s Parish, recently shared these thoughts with us from one of his Lenten homilies. When visiting Holy Trinity School, he reflected on the new learning environments’ names Whenua … the land; Awa … the river; Moana … the ocean; recognising their importance in people’s identity. As Fr Mike noted, they all have spiritual significance for us as well – the land from which God made us; the river from which the waters of baptism flow and the ocean sometimes calm and sometimes rough as in life’s journey.
How special then for us to connect with our Papakura/Takanini School Communities as together we learn the Haka which defines who we are and what is special to us. The land, river, sea are all named along with our own Catholic faith and school vision of learning, loving and serving. Our whole school will join with other local schools on Wednesday 29th March to “launch” this unique Papakura/Takanini Schools Haka at Papakura Intermediate School at 10:00am. A very proud moment for us all!
Pope Francis’ Words … Do you want to fast this Lent?
Fast from hurting words and say kind words
Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude
Fast from anger and be filled with patience
Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope
Fast from worries and trust in God
Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity
Fast from pressures and be prayerful
Fast from bitterness and fill your heart with joy
Fast from selfishness and be compassionate to others
Fast from grudges and be reconciled
Fast from words and be silent so you can listen!
Staffing Changes
It is with regret that we inform our school community that for personal reasons, Mr Nico van der Merwe has resigned from his Deputy Principal position. Nico will conclude his time with us at the end of Term 1. We take this opportunity to sincerely thank Nico for his valued contribution in this establishment phase of our new school and we wish him every blessing for his future educational journey.
Mrs Ana Silva will continue as the Teacher/Kaitiaki of Learning Community Moana.
Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences
Thank you to all our families who attended the Conferences last night. We had 100% involvement from our parents, a great effort! This creates a real sense of purpose when we are able to have shared, focussed conversations about each child’s learning.
LINC-ED Parent Portal
This week we shared with you the necessary steps to be actioned to ensure you receive the school notices via Community Alerts. You will also be able to track students’ learning through their progress and achievement data. Unfortunately due to an error by the Linc-Ed software developers, the children’s individual learning goals were deleted. These will be reinstated as soon as possible so that you can access and track as appropriate!
Updates from our DRS
St Patrick’s Day
A huge THANK YOU for the support shown for our ‘Green St Patrick’s Day’ last week Friday 17 March. It was great to see the children and staff in their many shades of green as well as the wonderful koha/donation that was made. The total amount raised by donation and sausage sizzle came to $177.50 Thank you for your kind generosity. The donation boxes will still be in the classes for the remainder of the term for those who still want to add donations.
Reconciliation
On Thursday 16 March, a few boys and myself from our Learning Community Moana went to St. Anne’s Parish in Manurewa. We attended because we were doing the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We had three priests there: Fr Mike, Fr Barry and Fr Percy. We were able to go and sit with a priest one at a time. With the priest, we talked about our mistakes and asked God to forgive us because our sins make the cross a little heavier for Jesus even though he loves us anyway. After being reconciled with God, I felt relieved that my sins had been washed away and I have a better feeling about life now.
By Stephen Thomas, Learning Community Moana
End of Term Mass Celebration
Families are invited to attend our End of Term Mass Celebration on Thursday 6th April at 9:00am in Learning Community Awa. Fr Peter Murphy from St Mary’s Parish will be our celebrant. We give thanks for our time together and for the work accomplished this term. As we journey towards the end of the Lenten Season, we pray that our faith may be strengthened through our prayer life both at school and at home.
Blessings
Ana Silva
DRS
Sports Day for Learning Community Moana
All Moana students will be involved in a Sports Day to be held at Bruce Pulman Park on Friday 7th April. It is an opportunity for students to participate in a variety of sporting activities. Parents, you are welcome to attend and support our senior students. Further information will come home with the students.
School Library
Please do come and have a look around our school library which is now in the final stages of set-up. It’s looking fabulous and so wonderful to see the many books available for our learners. Once the issuing and returning of books system is complete, the Library will be fully operational. You are most welcome to pop in, grab a comfy seat, “snuggle in” and enjoy sharing and reading books with your little ones. Special thanks to Carolyn Harvey (our Teacher Aide) and Maria Speechlay for the fantastic work they have done with the Library set up. The beautiful handmade quilts on display are Carolyn’s own handiwork!
Coming Events
Papakura/Takanini Schools HAKA Launch
Wednesday 29th March 10:00am @ Papakura Intermediate
Reading Together Parent Education Workshop
Thursday 30th March 9:00am – 9:45am in Learning Community 4 (upstairs)
New Families Information Morning
Thursday 30th March 9:45am – 10:30am in Learning Community 4 (upstairs)
Fortnightly Assembly (Manutaki leading)
Friday 31st March 9:00am in Learning Community Awa
Mass Celebration at School
Thursday 6th April 9:00am in Learning Community Awa
Sports Day
Friday 7th of April 9:00am at Bruce Pulman Park for Learning Community Moana
With Gods’ Blessings
Peta Lindstrom
Principal
