LIVING THE HOLY CROSS WAY

For the adults: 

If we provide opportunities that:

• help our children to develop an awareness of others, 

• to be thankful for their blessings and 

• they have the confidence to be the person they are called to be, 

                                  they can’t help but be kind.

Let us be intentional in our actions, let’s model what we expect and let’s make the time to share the wonderful examples of kindness, of Living the Gospel Values, we see each day in the world around us.

This week we have introduced a specific template that we hope will support our children to develop their understanding of the Holy Cross Way.

Please make this a priority at this time as well as moving forward. 

Just imagine the difference we will make if together our Community has a focus on Living the Holy Cross Way… 

I share my own example below:  

Our Invitation	Questions to think about	My  Weekly Call to Action
Reflect A  “good news” story I have noticed.	In what ways are people in our world showing  the gospel values as Jesus did?	‘Seven of the bouquets set aside for delivery... on one day last week went to residents who are "in extra need of cheering up", and they were bought by complete strangers’  What a beautiful way to show care, love and compassion to those in need.  In the gospels there are many stories that tell of how Jesus reached out to others in love and kindness.
Respond  Respond to the “good news” story in some way	What are your thoughts on this?	How can we reach out to others in love and kindness?   “ For it is in giving that we receive”. St Francis of Assisi I have been thinking about this quote and I know how good and how blessed I feel when I am able to do something for others.
Take Action Complete a task that shows you being more like the people in your ”good news”story.  What will you do today or this week to touch the lives of others?	How will you be more like this person / these people and Jesus?	My  “good news” story. At the start of each day I am going to sit quietly for a moment and imagine some of the kind things I might do for others. At the end of each day I am going to reflect on my actions and in my mind, insert into my imaginary journal, a  photograph of something I really have done.

 Challenge for our students- what do you think the word REMINISCE means?  Use the above sentence to help you work this out. 

I happened to look out the window to see the Vink family zoom past between zoom meetings! I heard all about the indoor slide they have been enjoying and Jonathan took great pleasure in explaining the workings of  his creative, complex constructions!

And then along came the Govenders. They love going to visit their Grandma, and they sit outside on chairs and chat to her from a distance. Ben is getting used to wearing a helmet when he rides the scooter- Zoe provides a great example. 

But wait there's more ......

Along came Austin and Henry with their Dad Steve, they had ridden all the way to the airport and were on their way home. Well done boys !

Later this week we expect to hear of the government’s decision about the COVID-19 Alert level. We encourage you to continue speaking with your children about practices to keep themselves and others safe.  

The key messages to keep revisiting include:

• Wash your hands with soap and water often
• Cough and sneeze into your elbow
• Don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth 
• Put tissues into the bin
• Keep a good distance between yourself and others - 1 m inside and 2 m outside

Parents we also reinforce the importance of keeping your child at home if he or she is unwell or if you are concerned about the health of anyone in your bubble.   

As soon as we know of any changes to the current alert status we will share details of how health and safety recommendations will be set in place in our school setting. 

Congratulations to you all… from our youngest new entrants right through to our senior students. We are just so impressed with the way you have all embraced the wonderful learning tasks that have been prepared by our teachers.  

Whanau we thank you for the support you continue to provide - the manner in which you have embraced the learning challenges. 

This week we launched a new look template for our youngest students and have had really positive feedback about this.  If you weren’t able to make the zoom meeting outlining the new format have a look on our website.  

Here are two examples of learning opportunities presented to our older students

Show Don’t Tell. 

Instruction given: When we 'show' instead of 'tell' in our writing, we use descriptions to show a reader something instead of telling them, for example, instead of saying, "He was happy," we could say, "He couldn’t stop smiling as he skipped home to tell his parents the good news."  

A number of examples were given and students invited to find a way to 'show' instead of 'tell'!  They were reminded to select descriptive adjectives, verbs  and adverbs to create a picture in the reader’s head. 

Here is some of the wonderful work completed by our students: 

Telling Sentence: It was an unusual cat

Showing Sentence: I could see a dark silhouette in the distance, sitting on top of a fence, with pointy tipped ears and a flicking tail. The cat must’ve sensed me because it jumped off the fence and came pelting towards me. It had round, glassy, yellow eyes, with a tail that flicked everywhere; a sudden electric spark filled the long, swishing tail!  

Anastasia

Showing Sentence: My, my, my look at that! With no fur, a pushed in face and two different coloured eyes,  the people in the vet turned around to look at the sleepy creature! 

Dylan

Showing Sentence: This feline creature started to slowly circle me, acting as if I was a bird or mouse…           

Sophia

Telling Sentence: It was a stormy night.

Showing Sentence: The rain began crashing on the roof shortly after the lightning flashed and the thunder boomed! I sat up in bed, rudely awakened from my deep sleep. I felt droplets of water on my forehead because the ceiling had been leaking due to the heavy rain. 

Matthew 

Thunder, lightning, rain and wind. It was the worst night ever…

Albert

The whistle of the wild keeps me awake;  an unusual sound knocking on my window-  my thought is,hail? But this could be anything….  

Gem 

5 Senses Lockdown Poems:

Instruction given: For writing today, we are going to write a 5 senses poem. To be successful, use your five senses to paint a picture in your readers head of what you will do after the lockdown! Make sure you edit your work before clicking ‘turn in.

After lockdown

I will see some of my family and classmates, and also see my teacher's smiling face.

I will hear squeals from the juniors on the playground, and also hear seniors sing in harmony.

I will smell McDonald's burgers as the shops open again, and also smell my grandma’s and aunty’s cooking coming from their house.

I will taste the meatball sandwich from Subway and the sweet yet spicy, sweet chili sauce.

I will feel the cold bars of the playground, and also be able to swim at the pools and feel light in the water.

After lockdown                     

Alexia 

After lockdown

After lockdown I will see the happiness and excitedness of others around me. 

I will see people doing the coronavirus hand shake.

I will hear all of the non stop talking around me and people giggling. 

I will smell the fresh coffee just made at the cafe and the smell of the fresh scones. 

I taste the new life and enthusiasm all around me.

I feel people getting nervous and excited to see people they have not seen in a long time.

After lockdown it will be busy and everyone will be filled with energy.

After lockdown                      

Billie

After lockdown

I will see lots of excitement and playing.    

I will hear lots of talking and and laughing. 

I will smell the nice bakery food coming from Jayden’s bag. 

I will taste the nice food from technology.

I will feel much happiness when I play basketball with my friends again. 

After lockdown                      

Krishiv 

Junior Learning Opportunity: 

Instruction Given

• Make a chair using blocks to fit a small toy. Count the blocks you have used. How many blocks high is the chair? How many blocks wide is the chair? Are the blocks all the same size?

• Make 3 chairs of different sizes one small one medium and one large. Count the blocks you have used. How many more blocks does the big chair have than the small chair?

• Make 2 chairs for your toys. Can you make the smallest chair half the size of the biggest chair? How many blocks does the smallest chair have? How many blocks does the biggest chair have? How many ways can you make a chair?

“Arnav would like to share the table and chairs that he built with his lego. He also built some robots that he wanted to share.”

Photos showing some more wonderful examples of home learning. 

The NZ Bishops have acknowledged the financial challenges that many families may be facing at this time and would like to assure you that there will be a compassionate response to any hardships faced.

If you have any concerns please make contact with Celeste or Suzanne here at school or email the helpful team at dues@wn.catholic.org.nz or 0800 462 725