One of the tasks a school has is to produce a Strategic and Annual plan which outlines the direction and focus a school can take. At our last Board of Trustees meeting, our Annual Plan for 2023 was accepted and from here we have published this on our website so all can view. You will find it here : Annual and Strategic Plan 2023

Our Strategic Plan dates back to 2019 and will be redeveloped this year. Strategic plans usually have a three year cycle which has been disrupted somewhat by COVID and new developments in our Education system. This is a task undertaken by the Board of Trustees who will be seeking input from whānau, community and iwi members later in the year. An ideal strategic plan captures the voice of the many people who are invested in seeing our tamariki grow and develop. It also reflects the needs and priorities of our community. 

Our annual plan is developed by the Principal. This year’s annual plan has had the input of the wider teaching team, our Senior Leadership Team of Lucy and Tala, along with Nik (our Director of Religious Studies- DRS) and Ethel who has influence in maths and in developing and supporting our focus on Te Ao Māori. We have identified work streams where we have goals and aspirations we would like to achieve. Here is a short summary of each. 

Strengthening Plan for Holy Cross Special Character

Understanding the structure and themes of the new Catholic curriculum (To Tātou Whakapono)  and beginning to use this structure to guide our planning and delivery of this curriculum is our main focus here - work being led by Nik Solia (our DRS) 

Strengthening Plan Te Ao Māori

Building  on our knowledge and understanding of local iwi tikanga and purakau (stories and histories) through our Kura Ahurea program which we have invested in for three years now continues to be our focus. Working with Kim Nikora, from the Māori Achievement Challenge who is supporting us as we are on the journey of living out our commitment to Te Tiriti. Ethel Renata is helping support this mahi. Links can be made in this area with the work of the Catholic Schools Kahui Ako- a collective of 13 Catholic schools in the city. 

Improvement Plan Enrichment Through the Arts 

We are blessed to have Frankie Leota working with us this year through the Ministry of Education project Creatives in Schools. Frankie has the job of weaving the ideas, talents and abilities of our wonderful tamariki as we create a production that reflects the idea of Journey at Holy Cross School. 

Strengthening Plan for Literacy

Continuing to take up the new structured literacy approach to teaching reading and writing with training happening now at a Year 2 (Room 7) level is our focus. Boosting early literacy  skills through the Early Literacy Support program through Reading Recovery  for tamariki who need that extra early support in their literacy. We have targets set in reading and writing for students who need support to achieve at the expected level of the curriculum. 

Strengthening Plan for Developing Cultural Capability Through a Maths Lens. 

We have a Ministry of Education funded Professional Development opportunity this year working with Louise Miller from Cognition Education. Staff are exploring ways our teaching can support tamariki as they begin to set their own goals for learning and use math strategies that encourage discussion, exploration and deeper thinking. We also have targets set in maths for students needing support to reach expected outcomes of the curriculum. 

May is the month of Mary - this beautiful painting Ko Hāta Maria, te Matua Wahine o te Atua by Damien Walker is on display at Saint Mary of the Angels in Wellington City. There is a wonderful blend of culture in this painting that represents major cultural influences in New Zealand.

Last Friday Holy Cross School had a beautiful time of celebrating who we are in all our diverse cultures through our Powhiri process. We welcomed 3 new tamariki and four staff members to our school. Our senior students/rangatahi led us beautifully into this atmosphere of welcome, reflecting the character of Mary and showing our Holy Cross Value of ‘Yes’. 6 of our young girls/kotiro carried the role of Kaikaranga for the first time- trained and supported to do so by Ethel. 

We have a group of boys who are now able to lead the whaikorero- the speeches of welcome from the tangata whenua of Holy Cross School and the responses on behalf of the manuhiri or visitors. Again Tala has trained these young men to speak with confidence and have an understanding of the words said. 

Every time we have powhiri, confidence levels increase as our young people/rangatahi  stand in this space and say ‘yes’ to being a leader and representing our school. The atmosphere of respect and welcome that these young rangatahi set allows for our visitors to share something of themselves and their whanau with us- it is a beautiful time of welcome. We gain a special glimpse into the lives and cultures of those people joining us. I invite you to come join us for our next Powhiri- week 3 term 3 (Friday 4th August). Come slip into the seats at the back on the side of our school and experience our students saying ‘yes’ to leadership and blessing us. It’s a special time.  

Despite the cold, we had no rain and the event was successful! A big thanks to staff for their support as well. We also had a great bunch of parents out there helping to make it happen too- whakawhanaungatanga in action.

Parents’ Group update

Our AGM was held last month in which our current Chair, Aimee Geoghegan and Secretary, Sarah Govender, both stepped down from their posts. I’m pleased to advise that both Aimee and Sarah will continue to remain valuable members of our committee; however, I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the hard work both have put into running the Parent’s Group in their respective roles. The last couple of years have been tricky dealing with Covid restrictions and interruptions to plans; however, Aimee and Sarah have both done an outstanding job and been able to deliver some great initiatives to our school including a very successful virtual Easter Raffle and the new pump track for all students to enjoy. Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do as part of the Parents’ Group.

I would also like to thank Karin Graham who is celebrating 20 years as part of the Parents’ Group. We’d be lost without you and your expertise!

This year’s Parents’ Group is excited to get started! Our focus this year is on developing a strong partnership with the school to deliver and support on a number of key initiatives and upgrades for our students. We would like welcome our new members and congratulate the following people on their new positions within the group:

Chair:                                Didi Itzstein
Secretary:                         Cat Scannell
Financial Officer:                Malisha Patel

The Parents’ Group is run by volunteers, committed to making our children’s experience at Holy Cross, some of their most memorable. Whether you can only join us every now and then or you’re looking for ways to support on a more regular basis – everyone is welcome!

The next Parents’ Group meeting will be held on Tuesday 6^th June at 7pm in the staffroom.  We would love to see you there.

Playground update
We are in full swing with meeting designers and securing quotes from local builders to help us bring the playground vision to life. We are also currently investigating grant options that may be available to the school to help cover the increased building costs. 

Are you a builder? Landscaper? Playground designer? Or amazing at quality DIY? We need your help! Please join us on Monday 22^nd May at 7pm in the Staffroom to help us bring the playground upgrade to life!

Year 7 Scholarship update
Last week, the Senior Leadership team and members of the Parents’ Group met to discuss the current scholarship model. Historically, the Parents’ Group have provided scholarships to two year 7 students who demonstrated our school values.

Having reviewed the intention of the scholarship, the decision was made to repurpose this investment in a way that benefits all senior students to grow and develop their leadership skills rather than two individuals.

This is an exciting opportunity for our senior syndicate to all benefit from.  The Parents’ Group will work with senior level teachers to determine a group development activity (such as a Leadership programme, waka ama etc) to provide funding towards. Rather than rolling over each year, we will review the criteria and activities on a yearly basis to ensure that it remains relevant to our student needs. If you have any further questions on this or suggestions, please reach out to Didi on psg@hcm.school.nz

Bookfair update
Thank you to everyone who supported our first Bookfair. I’m sure you will agree it was a great way to get our school community together and most importantly, get our tamariki excited about reading! The book fair earnt the school $900 towards new books and resources which is fantastic.  Events like this take tonnes of planning and help from volunteers so thank you to all that helped. A special mention to Malisha who went above and beyond to make it happen.

Easter Raffle update

Thank you for your kind donations and contributions to the Easter Raffle. We sold 79 tickets with a total of $1,588 raised. The funds will used to set up a school tab at Warehouse Stationary to help fund ad hoc school supply requests and tops up throughout the year, helping to alleviate the burden off our families. A special mention to Lavinia for all her help in coordinating this initiative.

Upcoming meetings

Please mark our upcoming meeting dates and come along for a cuppa and chat.

Playground upgrade – Monday 22^nd May at 7pm in the staffroom

Next PG meeting – Tuesday 6^th June at 7pm in the staffroom

SZapp Version 4.0.0

There is a new version of SZapp available for Android and IOS Devices. Please ensure that you have updated to this version to assure you receive communications from the school.

If you are using an Android Device, you will need to uninstall the old app and install the new version.

IOS Devices (iPhones) will be able to update without requiring a re-install.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, but we are confident that the improvements in the new version will make it worth it.

An online guide on how to install and register/login to SZapp is available on the Schoolzine Website here:

Click here to view the Installation Instructions

If you experience any difficulties with completing this process, please reach out to Schoolzine using support@schoolzine.com. To assist with your query, they ask that you provide a description of the issue you are facing, the email address you are using when facing this issue and a screenshot of the issue.

We are in desperate need of some help to fix some of our bikes. We need a couple of parents who could give Ben a hand and help fix some maintenance issues on the bikes. Unfortunately we cannot use the bikes until we have the bikes repaired.  If you can help out please contact ben.gittos@hcm.school.nz

We are delighted and wish to remind you that our public health nurse Tracey Hilt is at our school every second Monday from 11.30am - 3.30pm. If you have any health concerns about your child, please pop in and see Tracey, she is more than happy to help out. Just call the office and you can check if she is here, or leave a message and we can pass it on to Tracey.  

Ikura | Manaakitia te whare tangata

We are delighted to share with you that Holy Cross School are participating in the Ikura | Manaakitia te whare tangata - period products in schools initiative.

Ikura (periods) are a fact of life for half the population. Through this initiative, the Ministry of Education is providing period products (pads and tampons) to support students in managing their ikura.

Students can miss out on learning, sporting and cultural activities, and feel embarrassed and ashamed if they can’t access products to manage their periods. This negatively impacts their achievement and wellbeing.

The Ikura | Manaakitia te whare tangata initiative is available to all state and state-integrated schools and kura in New Zealand. Research shows that the average age young people start menstruating is decreasing. As a result, access to period products is needed in primary and intermediate as well as secondary schools.

We now have product available for students to use at school and to take home. Students have been advised how they can access these products in a safe and discreet way.

We hope that providing access to period products will help to reduce barriers to accessing education.

For more information on the initiative, please visit: Ministry of Education - Ikura initiative.

9 May, 2023  Room 3 GTT Reports for Newsletter - Anaya & Alex 

Chef of the Day Anaya (Year 4, Room 3)

Today my Garden to Table group called the Green Beans were in the kitchen. The recipe we made was Cheesy Kale Chips. This is a healthy snack recipe that most people can eat because it is a vegan dish. The first thing we did was to chop and de-stem the kale. We also used a new green vegetable from our school garden called magenta spreen. Magenta spreen has a pretty pink colour. We grated up sunflower seeds and cashew nuts, which we added to the veggies. We put the ingredients on a baking tray and drizzled them with olive oil before baking them in the oven. Today our teacher, Ben, reminded us about how to use knives safely when we are cooking. We are all wanting to get a knife licence.

Garden of the Day Alex  (Year 4, Room 3)

Today my Garden to Table group (The Cool Cucumbers) learned all about how soil is formed in nature. First we set up a soil experiment. Olivia showed us a glass jar with soil in it and then we added water to this to see what would happen. We have left the jar of soil and water on the Room 3 discovery table. We are going to check it throughout the week to see what will happen. We also identified different plants in the school garden that we can eat including one called kale and another called magenta spreen.

Message from The Attendance Dues

Just a friendly reminder that full payment of the Attendance Dues for 2023 is due by 31 May 2023. If you are paying by regular instalments, payments should be set up to close the balance by 30^th November 2023 or by arrangement with the Dues team.

The May invoice/statement was emailed or posted to all families on 5^th May.  Please check that the invoice has not gone to your Spam/Junk Inbox and that all your children are listed on the statement.

Financial assistance is available to families experiencing financial hardship (loss of income/redundancy, family reasons, etc.). It is a condition of the assistance application that the family has an affordable regular payment in place.

If you have any questions, please contact us:

Phone: 0800 462 725       Email: dues@wn.catholic.org.nz         Text: 021 08907902

Wishing the following students a very Happy Birthday: Anaya, Blythe, Shaan, Kahmaia, Sharvil, Hosanna & Mikey. Have an awesome time on your special day. 

We have the following uniform items for sale at a reduced cost: 

• Navy long sleeve skivvy (sizes 4 & small) @ $10 each.

• Grey woollen socks @ $5 a pair.

(This item can still be worn until the end of 2024). 

Keep cup @ $10 per cup.

If you are interested in buying please come & see us in the office. CASH ONLY PLEASE.

Element Rhythmic Gymnastics

We still have spaces available in our recreational classes this term. Come along and try out our new badge programme. Your daughter or son will work through Levels 1 to 10 over time. Email info@rhythmicgym.nz to arrange a FREE trial. For more information about Elements and our classes, visit www.rhythmicgym.nz

Parish Newsletter

Road Safety Week    

Big Bang Dirt Duathlon Series

Suzanne Aubert Scout Group

What's on at MMCC? May edition 2023