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- Whānau Hui on Monday 18th March
- Success at Athletics..
- Who's Celebrating their Birthday?
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Message from the Principal - Week 7, Term 1.
Kia ora e te whānau,
Over the last two days, I have had the privilege of attending a first time principal’s gathering for Catholic schools at the Home of Compassion in Island Bay. I have spent this time meeting new tumuaki, listening to guest speakers and reflecting on the year ahead. Connecting with people that are on a similar journey has confirmed that I have taken the right step into principalship. It has also made me think about my purpose. Today, I had to ask myself the question, “What fills my cup as a teacher or principal?”
I realised that the people around me fill my cup. I live for those moments where students, teachers and families achieve things they never thought possible. When the shy girl with a beautiful voice leads singing for the school, when the child that previously felt disconnected to his culture stands up and performs a whaikōrero at the pōwhiri. When the “non-verbal” child (who specialists thought would not be able to talk) is now chatting away in class and around the school. Helping our children and their families achieve more than they dreamed possible is my “why” and will always fill my cup.
During the last newsletter, our strategic plan was sent out to the community to look at, read, digest and provide feedback. A strategic plan is for our community and I wanted to very quickly outline “why” the board and school have chosen these three goals to focus on in 2024 & 2025.
Goal 1 Kotahitanga/Community: To work with whānau/ family to celebrate the identity, cultures and learning needs of all ākonga/ learners.
Why this goal?
- Students learn best and thrive when they have a strong sense of belonging and identity. We want our children to be confident about their faith and who they are in the world.
- Working more with families gives us a better chance to know them, celebrate them and help them realise the potential of their children.
Goal 2 Ako/Learning: To actively involve ākonga/learners in purposeful and accessible learning opportunities.
Why this goal?
- We want students to experience and be a part of the world around them. They are the next generation of leaders and we want them to be servant leaders and critical thinkers in their world.
Goal 3 Whakaako/Teaching: To strengthen kaiako/teacher practice in teaching diverse ākonga/learners.
Why this goal?
- We want our teachers to strengthen their practice by learning the most up to date methods of teaching and how to teach to the different needs of children in our school.
The strategic plan is now up on the school website. Please feel free to pass on feedback as this plan is not only for the school but for our community. I will be continuing to update and change the plan as we reflect on our goals. I leave you with this whakataukī
“Tē tōia, tē haumatia”
Nothing can be achieved without a plan, workforce and a way of doing things.
Ngā mihi nui,
Tala
Meaning of the Parable of the Sower
- First, there is the hard heart, the seed that falls along the roadside. This represents people who hear the Word of God, but never really believe.
- Then there is the shallow heart. That is the seed that falls on stony ground. This signifies the people who hear the Word of God and receive it with joy, but because there is no root to sustain them, they wither.
- Next, there is the crowded heart. That is the seed that falls on ground where weeds choke out its growth. Slowly and surely, these people, busy with the cares and riches of the world, just lose interest in the things of God.
- Finally, there is the fruitful heart that receives the Word. The seed falls on good ground and the plants produce a rich harvest.
We are the ones who determine what kind of soil our hearts will be. We decide whether we will have a hard heart, a shallow heart, a crowded heart, or a receptive heart. The Word of God cannot work in our lives unless we have receptive hearts.
Room 7 has recreated the 4 different types of soil. In groups we learned that it often is easy to show kindness and aroha to your best friends, but what God really wants us to do is to stick to his path, even when things are not that easy. That means that we should try to also be kind, inclusive and caring for people that are not our best friends such as new families, people that are different and strangers that need help.
On Monday 18th March we will be celebrating St Patrick's Day. If you wish you can either come along dressed in green or in school uniform, this is entirely up to you.
A casual vacancy has occurred on the school board for an elected parent representative. The board has decided to fill the vacancy by selection.
If you would like to join the board please contact botchair@hcm.school.nz or contact the office for more information.
The board meets twice a term in week 3 and week 8 and you will join a team of dedicated parents and proprietors reps to help with the governance of the school.
The position will be valid until September 2025 when the three yearly BOT elections will be held again.
Cilla has made these kono for use as harvest baskets for our Garden to Table programme. She is learning to weave and made them from the Harakeke growing on HCM grounds. These small baskets are for our herbs and one for vegetables/fruit. We really appreciate her support in the garden.
Ngā mihi
Olivia
Luke - Gardener of the Day
Today in the garden Henry, Isaiah and Esme were watering the plants while Millie and Angelia cleaned the compost buckets after they collected it from the gate. Kaku and David figured out the difference between sweetcorn, strawberry corn and gem corn. The difference was apparently the size and the colour. Sweetcorn was the biggest and was yellow. Raspberry corn was the second biggest and was pinkish red. Gem corn was the same colour as raspberry corn but a bit smaller and the colours were a bit darker.
We need to be careful about working out the difference between the types of corn. This was very interesting. My favourite activity was passing around the apple slices to everyone. The apples also came from the garden.
Nerine - Chef of the Day
Today Spinach group was in the kitchen,where we made Sweetcorn Fritters. I love Corn! I will love it forever!!
I liked everything about this recipe especially the taste. It was worth it. We had to be careful when we were grilling the fritters as we could burn ourselves and also be careful when chopping up the herbs from the garden. I wouldn’t change anything about this recipe as I loved it!
I wish I had a lifetime supply of corn fritters!
Congratualtions to Angel, Brooklyn, Cattleya & Dreius Mativa and Anira Durkin who particiapted in the Wellington Junior Athletic Champions over the last 2 weekends and placed extremely well.
Results:
Angel Mativa – 10 Girl
200m – 2nd place Silver medal
400m – 1st place Gold medal
100m – 1st place Gold medal
Long jump – 7th place
Brooklyn – 8 Girl
Discus – 2nd place Silver medal
Shotput – 2nd place Silver medal
Cattleya – 7 Girl
Discus – 1st place Gold medal
Shotput – 1st place Gold medal
Dreius – 7 Girls
Discus – 4th place
Shotput – 4th place
Attached - podium photo is Angel (100m 1st ) and Anira (100m 3rd)
Big Happy Birthday to the following students:
Daniel B, Alexandra, Isabel, Hope and Hawi.
Have a great day everyone.
If you would like a donation receipt for camp in order to claim your doantion tax credit, please contact Suzanne finance@hcm.school.nz for a receipt.
Collect the Yummy cut-out labels from bags (each cut-out label is worth 10 stickers) and individual Yummy apple stickers for a share of the $200,000 free sports gear prize pool. Yummy apples are available from New World, PAK’nSAVE and participating Four Square stores. The more you collect, the more sports gear you get so get going and start collecting your Yummy cut-out labels and stickers now!
You can drop your labels into the office and pick up a tally sheet from us.
Parish Newsletter and April Mass roster
NOTICEBOARD