Principal's Message

Talofa lava and kia ora e te whānau,

Today, I want to share some new policies we are trialling to ensure we are actively living the Holy Cross WAY! These processes are designed to encourage kindness, inclusivity, and bravery in our learning and interactions.

Managing Positive Behaviour at Holy Cross

At Holy Cross, we promote positive behaviour for learning through PB4L (Positive Behaviour for Learning). We do this in two ways:

1. Acknowledging positive behaviour through our rewards system of lumens.
2. Addressing unwanted behaviours through our PB4L reporting system and interventions.

Acknowledging Positive Behaviour

Students demonstrating the Holy Cross WAY! values are recognised with a Holy Cross WAY! Award, presented at Friday morning prayers. Individual efforts in kindness, inclusivity, and bravery are celebrated. Whole-class positive behaviour is rewarded with lumens, and when the school reaches a set number of lumens, we celebrate together.

Changing Behaviour for the Better

To support students in making positive changes, we have introduced a new process that involves families:

1. Monitoring & Recording: Teachers will record inappropriate behaviour in our eTAP system.
2. Classroom Interventions: If a student repeatedly (2+ times) displays behaviours such as inappropriate language, bullying, or physical contact, the classroom teacher will implement strategies to address this.
3. Family Involvement: If the behaviour continues (3–4 times), families will be contacted, and we will work together to create a plan. Additional support will be provided if needed.
4. Formal Response: If the behaviour persists, more formal actions, such as in-school suspension, stand-down, or suspension, may be considered. Click here for more information on stand-downs and suspensions.

Attendance – Stepped Attendance Response (STAR)

In 2025, a key focus is student attendance. Research and experience show that the more a child is at school, the better we can support their academic and social development. We are trialling a new process to improve communication with families whose children attend school less than 90% of the time. This aligns with the Ministry of Education’s guidelines.

Please note: Every child and their situation is different, and we will take this into consideration. At the heart of our values is whānau, which means family always comes first. We recognise the importance of visiting loved ones when possible.

Travelling During School Time: If your family will be away for an extended period during the school term, please notify the office via email so we can update our records. This time away will be coded as G (holiday in term time).

Here are the actions we will be trialling:

Upcoming Events & Notices

As we reach the halfway point of Term 1, it's easy to miss key dates. Here’s a list of important upcoming events:

• Monday, 17 March – 6:00 pm: Māori Whānau Hui in the staffroom. Please send agenda items to principal@hcm.school.nz.
• Friday, 28 March – 2:30 pm: Tsunami/earthquake evacuation. Parents should pick up children from the top of the zig-zag between 2:30 – 3:00 pm.
• Thursday, 3 April – 2:00–7:00 pm: Celebration of Learning. Families are invited to visit classrooms anytime between 2:00–7:00 pm, with a family picnic from 5:00–6:00 pm. More details to come.

Friday, 4 April – 11:30 am–12:30 pm: Baptism Celebration in the school hall for students receiving baptism.

Cell Phone Policy

We have seen an increase in students bringing cell phones and other devices to school. Our policy allows students to bring mobile phones (iPhones, Androids, etc.), but they must not be used during school hours.

• Students must place their phones in a designated phone bag, which is taken to the office at the start of the day.
• Devices will be returned at the end of the day.
• If a student is caught using their phone during school hours, it will be confiscated and must be collected by a parent from the office.

Bringing Special Items to School

We have also seen an increase in students bringing valuable or special items such as Apple Watches, game consoles, and Pokemon trading cards. We ask that these items remain at home, as they risk being lost or damaged at school. If a child brings a special item, they may be asked to store it in their bag or leave it at the office for safekeeping. However, the school does not take responsibility for lost or damaged items.

Plans for 2025

I am currently working on the school’s Annual Implementation Plan, which reflects our achievements and areas for growth from last year. I will share this in future newsletters.

Here are some key focus areas for this year:

• More events with our Parish and visits to our local churches.
• Implementation of a new kawa and tikanga for our school pōwhiri.
• Establishing a Pasifika fono to better understand and support our Pasifika families.
• More fun events and opportunities to share learning.
• Gathering community feedback and voice on important topics, including:
• Our 2026 Strategic Plan.
• Puberty education (PE & Health curriculum).
• Other key areas requiring consultation.

I look forward to building on our strong start to the year. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Fa’afetai tele lava,

 Tala 

Ash Wednesday 2025

This week we celebrated Ash Wednesday at HCM. Fr Bill and Deacon Kinh presided over the liturgy, which was mainly led by our year 7 and 8 students. Ashes were traced on our foreheads with the words “Turn, and be faithful to Jesus”. Ash Wednesday is the first day of the liturgical season of Lent. We begin a journey of renewal - from death to life. The ashes symbolise a personal act of remembrance and are a sign for others.

The Readings for Ash Wednesday are a reminder that the real purpose of the season of Lent isn’t to make public demonstrations of piety—even the wearing of ashes—but to seek conversion of heart.  

Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. - Joel 2:12-13

ROOM 12

It is hard to believe that we are in week 5 already! The children in Room 12 have settled in and have been working hard. We have been learning about healthy foods, statistics in Maths and Jesus in RE. This week, we have been thinking about how we can follow in the footsteps of Jesus. We have also been thinking about our Lenten promises, after our Ash Wednesday Liturgy, preparing us for Lent.

ROOM 11

In Room 11, we have been embracing our kura kaupapa Whānau, Aroha, and YES! as we learn and play together. Our tamariki are beginning to read and write, and explore numbers in maths. We had lots of fun making playdough, getting creative during dress-up time, and acting out stories! It’s been so lovely to see these ākonga supporting each other and growing in confidence every day. Ka mau te wehi, Room 11.

ROOM 7

Whānau, Aroha, YES

In room 7 we have been learning that we are all part of the Holy Cross Family. We know how to be inclusive and to be a good friend, how to share and take turns and how to solve problems by talking about it rather than pushing, snatching or fighting. We have learned about the “ZOnes of Regulation” which is times in your life when you feel sad, happy, overwhelmed and frustrated and what you can do to calm ourselves down again. We have learned about box breathing.

Recycling and compost

It was fun when Lorraine came to our classroom because she showed us her worms from her compost. Humans should not tough worms because it hurts their skin. Worms like to eat fruit scraps like banana skins, apple cores and fejoas, but they don’t eat orange peel.

(From Charli)

I learned about worms. They eat left over fruit and vegetable scraps and then they poop out good soil. We can use the soil for planting new vegetables. 

(From Zac Young)

Maths:

Manisa: I am learning to skip count backwards from 100.

Cung: I am learning to find, read and write 2-digit numbers. 2-digit numbers have Tens and Ones like 34 has 3 Tens and 4 Ones.

Hemi: I have been learning how to count in 5s using tallies. We can use tallies when we count big numbers up to 100.

In the kitchen we made muffins. (Jarvis) We cut some apples (Tyrese). We cut some rhubarb (Kalypso). We mixed milk with vinegar (Hana-Lucia). We put apple in the bowl (Mary).  We put flour in a bowl and then we put most of the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients (Tessa). We poured some sugar in (Anna). We put it in the oven and we waited. Then we invited the other group to come (Kalypso). I didn't like it (Nas). The muffins were good (Rohan).

ROOM 5

Gardener of the Day

I was the gardener of the day. We wrote out the karakia for the year that we say before we start working in the garden.

We tasted different types of apples in the garden- Some were cooking apples and were floury but sweet and some were eating apples, crisp and tasty. We had a vote and most people liked the….

I had found a dead hedgehog before school so we decided to bury it. We got the shovel and dug a hole and Curtis, who was braver, scooped it up and put it in the hole. We covered it up and said a little prayer. 

(By Amaan)

Chef of the Day

Today my group the Mushroom's were in the kitchen and I was the chef of the day. Aleksandra, who is our supervisor/caretaker  in GTT set up. Hitasha a helper in the GTT, wasn't there. We thought she might be sick.

First we started off with a karakia and started to progress towards our baking. We are making Rhubarb and Apple muffins but in a mini version. Next we split up into two groups: the chopping group and the mixing group. I was in the mixing group.

After that we put in vegetable oil, brown sugar, flour and eggs. We put the dry ingredients in a separate bowl from the wet ingredients. When we were doing the dry ingredients we had to sift it to make sure there were no lumps. We all had to take turn mixing everyone was doing a fantastic job at mixing. The mixture looked watery and flavorful and the apples and rhubarb were mushy with a crispy/crunchy texture.

We put everything together and we started to mix the batter. Everyone mixed the batter. Soon we put the muffins into the oven. While they were cooking in the oven we started to put the tables out. I could smell the muffins. It smelled like an aroma filled with rhubarb and apple. It had a delicate appetising taste .

I had a great time making apple and rhubarb muffins but maybe next time we could add strawberries and some berries in the muffin to give it a more rich taste.

Thank you for reading about my GTT. Have a good day.

(By Isabella)

Apple and rhubarb muffins

PREP: 20 MINS
COOK: 20 MINS
EASY, SERVES: 18 Muffins

Ingredients

1 cups Brown sugar

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 Eggs

3 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup chopped Rhubarb

2 Apples

1 cup milk with 1 tsp. vinegar mixed in.

Method

Turn oven on to 180 degrees. Line 18 hole in a muffin tin with muffin cases and spray with non stick oil.

In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, oil and eggs, and beat well with a wooden spoon.

Sift the flour, baking soda and salt together in a separate bowl.

Chop the apple into small pieces and put into another bowl with the rhubarb and milk mixture.

 Using a wooden spatula fold the chopped apples and rhubarb into the brown sugar mixture. The gently fold the flour through until just combined. Don’t over mix or the muffins will be tough.

Spoon batter into the lined muffin baking trays.

Bake muffins for 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden.

ROOM 3

In the kitchen, we started by learning how to cut potatoes. We made roasted potatoes and butter. First we cut the potatoes into small pieces and we were mincing the rosemary and we put the potatoes in the oven. We put the potatoes and parsley, rosemary in the oven.

I used a little knife and it was hard to cut the potatoes but I asked if I could use a bigger knife and it was easier to cut the potatoes. Me and Sophie got the table ready and me and Sophie also put the food on the table and we prayed and we said "God bless our food healthy for our bodies feed our spirit the bread of life Jesus Christ our saviour forever and ever Amen" and then we ate our food. The food was so good and the class liked it.

(By Nitya)

Term 2 Sports Update:

This term we have Basketball and Senior Netball.

Basketball runs for 8 weeks in Year 3-4, 9 weeks in the other grades.

There are the following grades:

Year 3-4 Mixed Tuesday

Year 5-6 Boys Monday

Year 5-6 Girls Monday

Year 7-8 Boys Wednesday

Year 7-8 Girls Wednesday

Netball runs for both Term 2 and Term 3

These are the following grades:

Year 5-6 Saturday 9-11am

Year 7-8 Saturday 11-2pm

If your child/ren are keen on either sport, please return forms to the Office only by the end of Week 8 - Friday 28th March.

We will not be accepting any registrations after this date.

Congratulations Millie - coming third place in the Surf Life saving champs in Tauranga last week. Well done !

A BIG shout out to the following students who are celebrating their Birthday over this time. Happy Birthday to Ruby, Winter, Zac, Daniel B and Alexandra, have a wonderful day everyone.