Kia ora e te whānau, 

Welcome back to Holy Cross / Te Rotokura for 2025! Seeing your children walk through the front gates is always a special moment for me. In just a few weeks, I am often amazed by their growth—both physically and in maturity. Many of our tauira have returned looking taller, stronger, and ready to embrace new opportunities. As we begin this new year, I want to share a whakataukī that reflects my journey as Tumuaki (Principal) and my past experiences as a kaiako (Teacher)

“Ko ngā pae tawhiti whaia kia tata, ko ngā pae tata, whakamaua kia tina” (The potential for tomorrow depends on what we do today). 

2025 will be a year of new learning for our students, staff, and leadership team. While we value the strong foundations already in place, we are always looking to evolve. Some key areas of focus this year include:

• Maths Resources from the Ministry of Education (MoE): We will be gradually exploring how to integrate new resources to enhance our teaching practices while aligning with the updated maths curriculum released at the end of 2024. Our chosen resources include:
• Numicon for Years 0-3
• Pr1me Mathematics for Years 4-8

• Structured Literacy: Our Year 0-3 students have been successfully using the BSLA (Better Start Literacy Approach) for the past few years. This year, our Year 4-8 teachers will embark on learning about structured literacy for older students and how we can implement a consistent schoolwide approach. We are excited to be working with Jenni Dittmer from Clarity Education over the next three terms to support this journey.

• Kaitiakitanga - Taking Action: In 2024, we explored kaitiakitanga—what it means to be guardians of our whenua (land), faith, culture, community, and kura. This year, we are deepening this kaupapa with a focus on action. Guided by Laudate Deum and the principles of Catholic Social Teaching, our goal is to embody kaitiakitanga in everything we do. We will need plenty of volunteers and parent helpers to support us in making a real difference in our community. We are looking forward to a fantastic year ahead and can’t wait to journey alongside you all.

New Staff

It is my great pleasure to introduce our new staff members, Angela and Catherine. We also warmly welcome Vicky as she steps into her role as a classroom teacher for the first time.

Kia ora, ko Vicky tõku ingoa

I have been part of the Holy Cross community for nearly 10 years, and this year I am extremely pleased to be a CRT teacher in Room 3. I am most looking forward to joining the Garden to Table teaching team this year, and can't wait to start this learning with the students. 

Ko Angela tōku ingoa. I'm delighted to be joining the Holy Cross School whānau as a part time teacher this year. I will be working alongside Evelyn in room 2 on Thursdays and I can't wait to get to know each student. My own tamariki are students at this school and we love being a part of the community. I'm originally from Canada, but my home was Poland for many years, which is where my husband Kris and our children were born. When I'm not teaching, I enjoy performing music. I'm looking forward to supporting Holy Cross students to 'Kā whiti mai te ra-Let your light shine' in their own unique ways. Thank you to those parents, teachers and students who have welcomed me already! 

Kia ora e te whānau o Holy Cross! 

I'm excited to be teaching year 4 and year 5 this year. I am originally from the UK, but I am proud to have called Aotearoa New Zealand home for 7 years, and Te Whanganui a Tara (Wellington) home for 4. Tamariki (children) bring much joy to our lives and I consider it a real privilege to be a kaiako (teacher). I love teaching about countries of the world and using drama in the classroom to explore language and be creative. Ka kite!

The next part of this newsletter is dedicated to notices and reminders that will help us all start the year with transparency and clear expectations. Please see your classroom teacher, the office staff or myself if you have any questions about any of these notices. 

School Uniform

Please note that the transition to our new uniform is now complete. All students are expected to wear the new uniform from the start of this year. We ask that children wear their uniform to and from school. The approved uniform options are as follows:. Please refer to this link for more information: https://www.hcm.school.nz/uniform.html 

PE Uniform: Year 4-8 students are permitted to wear their PE uniform at school for any physical activity during school hours. They are also required to wear their PE uniform when representing Holy Cross in sports. Please remind your children to change into their PE gear upon arrival at school and to change back into their school uniform before heading home. For Year 1-3 students, purchasing a PE uniform is optional; however, it is required if they are playing sport for a school team.

School Pick Ups and Drop Offs 

Our school day begins at 8:45 am, and before that, our teachers and staff are busy preparing resources, holding morning meetings, and managing administrative tasks. To support this, we ask that children arrive at school no earlier than 8:15 am. Similarly, we request that pick-ups are prompt, with all unsupervised children collected by 3:15 pm.

Please note: Families are more than welcome to enjoy our school spaces after school for as long as they like, provided children are supervised by an adult.. 

Student Attendance in 2025

Since the last election, the Ministry of Education has been clear about its priorities for education, known as the three “A’s”: Attendance, Achievement, and Assessment.

We want to take this opportunity to remind whānau of the importance of regular attendance for all students. Every day a student is absent is a missed opportunity for learning. Frequent absences not only impact a student’s achievement but can also disrupt the learning of the entire class. Ensuring consistent attendance helps set students up for success.

Research shows that students who consistently miss school are at risk of lower achievement levels, failure and even dropping out of school altogether. Bringing awareness to the issue of high absenteeism, and providing information and resources to parents can help improve student attendance and, consequently, student achievement. We saw during the pandemic how important it is for all students to be learning in-person from their teachers and alongside their classmates.

Every Day Matters (Ministry of Education)

The Ministry of Education has an initiative called “Every day matters” in order to heighten awareness of the importance of attending school each day and to improve school attendance in all of our local schools. If your child is healthy, they should be in school.

Absenteeism

Most children miss a few days of school each year without long-term consequences. However, when they miss many days, the effects are almost always negative. The Ministry of Education classifies a student as being “chronically absent” when they miss 30% of school days, which is more than 15 days. 

MoE Target: In April 2024, the Government announced a regular attendance target of 80 percent of students to be present for more than 90% of the term by 2030. 

At Holy Cross School, currently 37% of students are at school less than 90% of the time.

Below are examples of the different types of attendance along with our current school data. 

Holy Cross Attendance Data 2024 

Here is the current attendance data for the end of 2024. 

Supporting Families 

This year, I will be working to support families experiencing difficulties with consistent school attendance. This involves reviewing our attendance data, reaching out to families to understand their circumstances, and developing action plans to help.

Each situation is unique and will be approached with care. Please note that I will be making contact with students and their families once their attendance is considered irregular, with the goal of preventing a further decline into the moderate or chronic attendance categories.

I will be refining this process throughout the year and will share further updates as we receive guidance from the Ministry of Education on their approach moving forward.

Scooters and Bikes at School

To help reduce our carbon footprint, we encourage students to ride to and from school. It has been wonderful to see our bike and scooter stands full!

Here are a few important reminders:

• Students must wear their own personal helmets when riding their bikes or scooters. 
• Bikes and scooters need to be parked in the right places and not outside classes to prevent hazards. 
• When we ride the school bikes, we must use the school helmets provided by the bikes in schools programme. 
• Students are NOT to wear school helmets when riding their scooters at break times. 
• Bikes are NOT to be used during school break times. 

Sports at Holy Cross

We offer a variety of exciting after-school sports for our tamariki and encourage their continued participation. A special thank you goes to the UP Foundation (www.upfoundation.org.nz) for generously funding the majority of our sports programmes. We are incredibly fortunate to have their support in breaking down financial and cultural barriers, allowing more children and families to engage in community-led sport, art, and cultural activities.

All our sporting events and teams are organised by the wonderful Clare in Room 5. She is your go-to person for any sports-related inquiries.

Here are two important things to note:

1. Permission slips: Please ensure permission slips are handed in on time. This helps us set up teams efficiently and meet the often tight deadlines required for registrations. We will not be able to register late teams this year. 
2. Code of Conduct: All students participating in sports will be required to sign our Code of Conduct, which promotes fair play, effort, and good sportsmanship. This applies not only to our players but also to our supporters. It is important that both students and their whānau read and understand this agreement. A breach of the Code of Conduct may result in disciplinary action, including a potential short stand-down period. We look forward to another fantastic year of sport at our kura!

Lunch Options - Monday’s & Wednesday’s     

• Vietnameezy (vietnameezy.co.nz)
  Available every Wednesday, this option includes delicious choices such as dumplings on noodles, crispy spring rolls, popcorn chicken, and summer rolls. We will only accept cash payments for these orders.
• Subway (subwayexpress.co.nz)
  Available every Friday, this option features a variety of 6-inch subs, wraps, and cookies. We accept both online orders and cash payments for Subway.
• We look forward to providing these tasty lunch options for our tamariki!

To wrap up, we are excited for all the opportunities this year holds and look forward to working alongside our whānau to make 2025 a year of growth, learning, and community. Thank you for your ongoing support, and we can’t wait to share more updates with you throughout the year. Enjoy your Waitangi Day. 

Ngā manaakitanga,

Tala Moemai