Time flies when you are having fun is a common saying- we must be having a lot of fun at Holy Cross because this term has whizzed past! There have been many opportunities for great learning to happen around our 2023 theme of Journeys. I invite you all to make it along to our learning celebration which will take place either Monday or Tuesday (weather permitting) of next week in conjunction with a celebration hangi. We will update you with the confirmed  day on Sunday night via our Facebook page and a text out in our School App. Our learning celebration will be from 3-5pm with learning displayed in the hall. As well as seeing the work your own tamariki have been involved in, you will get a chance to see what other classes are doing as well. A big thank you in advance to our Māori whānau who have been champions at getting this event off the ground. We hope it is the first of many as we learn and participate in an important part of manaakitanga- hospitality through a te Ao Māori lens. 

Draft reports are also going out on Wednesday 28th. Please make sure you check bags as your children bring these home to share. These are in draft form and are not signed  as in our reporting, we like to capture the voice of our learners, teachers and parents around the learning and progress your child has been involved in so far this year. As part of the reporting process we will have whānau interviews on Wednesday 19th July and Thursday 27th July from 3-6pm. We have spaced these out as we have a number of events that occur in the first couple of weeks of term 3. At these 10 minute interviews teachers will add your reflections and comments to your child’s report to complete the picture of learning. A colour copy will then be sent home signed and completed by Friday 4th August. 

We have a Catholic Character Evaluation taking place in week two next term on Monday 24th to Wednesday 26th July. We have moved our powhiri to Monday 24th so we can include a special welcome to the team from the Catholic Education Office who will be conducting this review- Zita Smith, Anna Marie Vissers and Lindsey Dailey as accompanying principal. Parents/ whānau are invited along to attend this and are more than welcome to join us on the left hand side of the hall- where the tangata whenua sit. The purpose of this review is to evaluate how well we are doing at providing a good quality Catholic Education for your tamariki.  We have some wonderful strengths as a school with our staff and the wider support team we have around us of Board of Trustees, proprietors and Parish. We will also have areas to grow in and look forward to being able to identify these next steps as we go forward into a new season with hopefully a new principal for 2024. We appreciate your prayers as we face a busy start to term 3. 

I hope the tamariki of Holy Cross School get lots of opportunities to recharge over the coming holidays. WInter can be a difficult time to make the most of being outside but opportunities to dress up warm and explore the neighbourhood or new places elsewhere in New Zealand and beyond are to be treasured. We look forward to seeing all back for term 3, 2023 refreshed and ready to say ‘yes!’ to learning.

New Testament Stories.

In rooms 3 and 6 students have been exploring the new testament stories in particular the parables. Parables are stories told by Jesus that explain what God the kingdom of God is like and how God treats his people. Some of the parables that the classes have explored are the ‘Good Samaritan’ and the Prodigal Son’. Here are some reflections of what some of the students have learnt:

• I like the parable of the Lost Sheep. I like it because the shepherd left the rest of the sheep behind to find the one he loves. I learnt that God will always guide you back.
  
  
• I like the parable of the Prodigal Son. In this story a son takes his fathers money and wastes it. He then comes back to his father and he asks for forgiveness, and his father did. I learnt that you should always forgive.
  
  
• I like the parable of the Good Samaritan. In this story there was a man walking down the street and two robbers attacked him and stole his money. Lots of important people ignored him until a Samaritan man came. He got oil and wine and put it on his wounds. I learnt that people in different countries can help others from other countries.  

Well done to these classes in exploring through the parables of how we can be like Jesus.

Congratulations!!!

Congratulations to Isaiah, Charlotte and Liam for receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and to Bede and Cahal for completing their First Holy Communion. Fantastic to see you all taking that next step in strengthening your understanding about God. May the Lord continue to bless you and guide you on your faith journey.

A WOKING BEE is scheduled for our Hangi for tomorrow from 1.30 pm onwards. Help is needed in the kitchen and setting up the pit outside. 

For those that missed out purchasing a ticket for the Hangi, please come along with your own kai and join us in this beautiful celebration. As part of this celebration feel free to pop in and see the students learning displays in the hall. 

The Parents’ Group have been busy planning out various fundraising initiatives to support the school and our tamariki over the next 3 terms. A big thank you to Craig Rofe from our Board of Trustees and the school Senior Leadership Team who joined us at our last meeting. It’s wonderful to have a collaborative approach to the work and goals. We’re looking forward to a great partnership!

Events and fundraising ideas
With a new committee on board, we are in the early stages of planning out our event calendar for the next 4 terms but we wanted to share some of our early ideas with the community:

• A car boot/garage sale event open to the community, to pick up good quality pre-loved items. We will also have a combined food/bake sale
• Supporting the school performance
• Bike wheel-a-thon
• Food Fair (term 1, 2024)

There’s a great level of energy and enthusiasm to start getting these initiatives underway. If you are interested in helping or being part of the planning, please get in touch psg@hcm.school.nz All are welcome

Playground uplift
With rising building costs, the challenge is finding ways to get the most value while ensuring students across the school and different age groups can benefit. There is a lot of work involved to get this up and running but the school will continue to provide updates on this progress as the plans progress.

A big thank you to Kris Herman who has been instrumental in providing the school with ideas and plans to support this work.

Update on Easter Raffle funds
We have worked with the school to understand how best we distribute stationery funds for next year. Thanks to your fundraising efforts, we are pleased to advise we can reduce the total cost of stationary lists by $10 per student for next year.

Funding proposal for new Bike Racks
We are looking into a programme with Wellington City Council to fund new bike racks for the school. This will be a great way to encourage more of our tamariki to cycle into school and make use of our pump track facilities. Thanks to Aimee Geoghegan for her efforts on this.

Supporting our School Library
Thanks to funds raised from the Bookfair and generous donations from families, the library has a great new supply of books! Your fundraising efforts means the Parents’ Group are able to contribute to the cost of book covering to protect these resources and get them in the hands of our tamariki.

A big thank you to all the parents that show up to support the Parents’ Group and the roll out of initiatives to support our school community. Your hard work and commitment to the school is greatly appreciated.

Keep your eyes peeled for our next update which will feature key activity and event dates to block out in your calendar!

Didi

Parents’ Group Chair

Book a time to come along to a Learning Conference on 

Wednesday 19th July  or Thursday 27th July 2023

Click on the link : Book a learning conference

• login  with your email address and a password which must contain a special character
• click add new student, enter your childs name and follow the prompts.
• Come along and celebrate your child’s learning at the 10 minute conference.
• Talk about  the final section of the report (the whānau comments column) the teacher will type in the main points from this Learning Conference.
• Following the conference, the completed report will be printed off in colour, signed and sent home.

We hope you find this process helpful.  Our intention is firstly to provide a snapshot of your child’s progress to date and secondly to include the child and family in discussions about working together to support learning. 

Wishing the following students a very Happy Birthday: Ting, Nitya, Willy, Georgette, Lauren, Finley, Terissa, Rohan, Stuti, Maitri, Antoine, Allexia and Jacob. Have a lovely day everyone.

Message from The Attendance Dues Team

The Term 3 statement will be emailed to all families in early July. Please check that the invoice has not gone to your Spam/Junk Inbox and that all your children are listed on the statement.

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.

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

On Thursday we competed in the Eastern Zone Miniball tournament at Akau Tangi recreation center. There were a lot of teams ready to play the game. Holy Cross entered two teams in the tournament. We all played to the best that we could. We had 5 games spread out throughout the day. In between we managed to make some new friends from other school. Although we were tired after playing 5 games, we really enjoyed the day. On behalf of the basketball teams we would like to say a huge thank you to all our parents who volunteered to help during the tournament.

Kia Ora Koutou

The Strathmore Pharmacy Team is thrilled to announce our new winter service contracted by the Ministry of Health -- the Minor Ailment Service (MAS), which is an initiative designed to provide convenient and accessible healthcare for minor health conditions, ensuring that children and their families receive the care they need without barriers.

Our experienced pharmacists will consult and provide treatment plans on various conditions, including pain and fever, diarrhoea, dehydration, minor eye inflammation and infections, minor skin infections, eczema or dermatitis, scabies, and head lice.

The service will be available from 12 June 2023.

Consultation and treatments under the Minor Ailment Service scheme are FREE to children under 14 years of age, whānau members (of any age) experiencing the same symptoms as a child under 14, Community Service Card (CSC) holders, as well as Māori and Pacific members of our community.

There is no appointment required. Just come to the pharmacy to see us! Our opening hours are Monday to Friday 8:30 – 6:00pm and Saturday 9:00-1:00pm

Noho ora mai

Grace, Jane, Vanessa & the Strathmore Park Pharmacy Team

This week, Tracy the Health Nurse visited Room 6 to talk about how we can keep our teeth healthy.

Let the Exploring begin! Our Holiday Programme Planner is now available on our website for you to access, as well as book your July Holiday Programme! Every day is different with a lively combination of onsite days, premium

days, plus trip days to places kids love to visit. No wonder it’s a favourite school holiday hangout. Book early to avoid disappoint. Please see our staff over in the sKids room if you have any queries. Look forward to seeing you all these holidays’.