Each year we review our strategic plan and set an annual plan with initiatives and objectives that guide our focus for that year.  We describe our plans as ‘Living documents’ because they are reviewed and changed on a regular basis.

Whilst all of our nine initiatives support the Special Character of Holy Cross school, two in particular guide this specific focus. 

• OUR CATHOLIC IDENTITY: Our faith is at the heart of everything we do.

• LIVING THE HOLY CROSS WAY: We provide and evaluate opportunities for students to authentically experience the Holy Cross WAY, both inside and outside of the classroom.

The Holy Cross WAY is based on Gospel values:  Whānau  Aroha Yes

Since our return to school this term we have continued to deepen our understanding of these values by capturing and sharing examples of them in action- linking them explicitly to ‘the way we do things at Holy Cross’  Our senior students are working to provide visual presentations that will help us all reflect on our Values in Action.

As we look to the holidays we invite you to consider how you can continue to “Live the Holy Cross Way’ using the structure we shared during the lockdown 

Reflect - Open your eyes, ears and heart -notice ‘Good News’ examples around you

Respond- Think about something you might do in response to your reflection

Take Action- Carry out an intentional act of kindness.

If we all do this there will be at least 600 acts of kindness each day!! 

'Take care of our children. Take care of what they hear, take care of what they see, take care of what they feel. For how the children grow, so will the shape of Aotearoa’. Dame Whina Cooper

As we near the end of an historic term I have spent time reflecting on this year of immense change, challenge and opportunity. We all have a chance to slow down and consider the things that matter most; it is important that we continue to work to preserve or achieve these. 

One morning last week one of our students walking through the gate asked me, ‘Is everything back to the way it used to be now?’  - I paused to think about what might be behind the question, perhaps a need for reassurance, perhaps a desire to return to the regular home and school routines, perhaps some sadness that the special time had with his family had changed again?

In my reply I said, “ Some things are back to the way they used to be but I think it’s really important that we try to keep going with the activities and family times that we really enjoyed”. I added how important it was that we keep up with the handwashing and other practices we put in place to keep everyone well. He seemed happy with my response and as he skipped off he added,”Yes, I think our world is getting better.”

What a wonderful thought, what a powerful invitation he has given to us all.  As we prepare for our  break. Let’s hold onto those precious times, those special moments; let’s continue to show awareness of those around us and let’s treasure our family times. 

As part of our Wellbeing and Celebration Reports we asked the question, what is something your family did during lockdown that you wish to continue?

Recorded below are some of the wonderful thoughts and ideas you shared:

We walked a lot, which we enjoyed as a family.

Te reo māori and arts and crafts.

Scenic walks, being creative, talking, making different meals

Family bonding games.. cooking together.

Doing things together as a family instead of individually. 

Beach walk. 

Playing together - board games, cards, jigsaws etc.

Eating together at the dinner table. We have continued to do this as it brings our family together and also gives us all a chance to talk about how our day went.

Our family walks, cooking and baking together, bike rides and home activities eg: playing cards. 

More family walks exploring our neighbourhood. We also made a video diary during lockdown even through we won’t continue with that it will be fun to look back at.

Hands-on activities such as gardening.

We had a prayer and reflection time every night- to pray for our family and our world. I think we became more aware of others.

Building- someone built a play house, someone built new stairs.

Sharing and discussing imagination time.

We helped with home learning and we will continue to help and be interested in this.

 Our son learnt to play chess with his dad which was cool; family walks. 

Family walks and scooter outings.  Taking time to enjoy baking sessions involving all the kids. 

Something we will continue doing is working in the garden.

Playing games, especially playing tag outside.

We really enjoyed being able to go out in nature as a family everyday - we had lots of scooter rides, found treasures on the beach and even found some hills to roll down!

We all enjoyed our  daily dance parties before bed, and this sense of togetherness is something we'd like to continue in amongst the busyness of normal life. 

Opportunities to learn alongside.

Backyard camping.

Cooking together, playing cards, renovating our house and just time with each other. 

Keeping in touch with friends further afield.

More involved in knowing the nature of school work my child is doing on a regular basis.

We had a lot of fun doing playdough during lock down, we  really enjoyed playing Ludo, Chinese Checkers and Rummikub.

Have more family time and games.

We would like to continue to play soccer and go for walks around the peninsula. 

We became more aware of our neighbours and people in our street. 

Yes, I think our world is getting better but let’s not stop… let’s continue to find ways to show love and kindness, to ‘Live the Holy Cross WAY’.  

We wish you and your whanau a wonderful break; we look forward to seeing you back at school next term, well-rested and ready for an exciting time of learning. 

On Thursday your child will bring home a very special report. I would like to thank staff, students and whānau for contributing their thoughts and ideas at a time when everyone is feeling a little weary but recognise this significant time in history and the importance of recording this.  

We will print the reports on light card and place them in A4 envelope to ensure they are well-protected.  We are sure you will enjoy reading these together.

On June 25th I had a special and significant birthday and whilst this is not something I would usually include in a newsletter I would like to acknowledge the generosity and aroha shown by students, staff and those of you who heard whispers of a surprise celebration! I was truly humbled to be entertained by music, dance and words and was presented with a most beautiful book in which each student had written a special message in a heart shape; this book I will treasure forever. I feel truly blessed to be part of a community such as ours.

I said to the school, I would like to gift a ‘Celebration Board’ on which we can recognise and  celebrate: birthdays, individual, class and school successes, students receiving sacraments,  the birth of new family members etc.  

I’m not yet sure of how this will look or where it will go but it will happen!

The staff are delighted to share with you, ideas for ways to support reading at home. They have utilised their skills and knowledge to put together video clips that provide fun and practical tips that will help you enjoy and celebrate reading with your children. This special edition newsletter will be sent to you all before the end of the week... This special learning newsletter is linked to a further of our strategic initiaives, Sharing the Journey-Increasing whānau engagement in learning. This is not what we envisioned at the start of the year but in light of the term we have had we believes it captures the digital technology developments we have all been part of during lockdown. 

We trust you will enjoy these videos and find them helpful as we work together to support each student's engagement with learning!

On the morning of Monday 29th June we represented Holy Cross School at Parliament building for Garden to Table. We met Josh, a head chef  at a Wellington restaurant Bellamy’s who told us about his new burger he was making for this year’s Wellington on a plate. Together we planted beetroot, onion, and lettuce crops that Josh would use for his new burger. We learnt more about the benefits of having your own vegetable garden and how biodegradable planting pots are good for the Earth. We both really enjoyed ourselves and thank Garden to Table for the opportunity.

By Mia Chlebowicz Room 3  And Nu-Tha Thian Hlun Room 5

PS We loved the cookies and thank you Victoria for the little seedlings we were given.

Room 1 Learning, 

In RE and circle times, we are talking about being leaders of the school and finding ways to show initiative. We have done this by learning about the Holy Cross WAY. We have also created videos showing what Whanu, Aroha and YES looks like in our school.

In numeracy, we have been focusing on our basic facts skills and using strategies to solve problems with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  We have also learnt about geography and how to find properties of shapes. To end the term, we have been working on financial literacy and planning a holiday on limited funds.  We will be presenting our imaginary holiday plans and Holy Cross WAY videos to each other on the last day of school. 

A big thank you goes out to our families who have supported us during lock down and  with our return to school. I hope you all have a restful holiday with your whanau. 

This term has been a term unlike any other and Room 2 has taken it in their stride. We began the term face to face, but far apart, connecting through the wonderful world of Zoom! We learnt geometry, descriptive writing, virtues; we read, we prayed, we played a heap of games - all through the screens of our various devices! It wasn’t school as we have ever seen it before. Some loved it, some not so much, but we all kept learning, every one of us. 

Back at school, we started with three weeks of arts and well-being activities! Dancing, drama, visual art and mindfulness eased us into business as usual. Some highlights have been our stunning visual art creations, circle time, investigating the Black Lives Matter movement and the 1981 Springbok tour, and building our collective pride through waiata and the Siva Samoa. 

As the term comes to an end, we have fuller heads, hearts and spirits than before and are standing a little taller, shoulder to shoulder!

What an unforgettable term for Room 3!

• We sorted out the myriad of sound, wifi, device, camera, background issues to catch up with one another in zoom meetings
• We got to meet everyone's pets (online!)
• We became digitally capable citizens and confident users of google classroom
• We strummed away with hundreds of other students for the NZ Music Month song launch and became a ukulele orchestra for our birthday item for Celeste
• We participated in Holy Cross Zoom assemblies 
• We loved using play dough to explore fractions
• We created our first stories using code (ask your child about their Scratch projects!)
• We created beautiful shadow tree art and futuristic time machines
• We mastered the Vietnamese Handwashing Dance
• We created our very own class dance art work exploring new ways people greet one another during COVID-19
• We wrote beautiful lockdown poetry to remember this historical time
• We harvested our ingredients and tried new recipes in Garden to Table
• We became buddy readers for Room 12

Lockdown

Lockdown was kind of unusual; it had

silent streets, lots of reading, 

home baking, birds tweeting, 

and even seven weeks away from class.

My family and I did what people in bubbles do,

exercised loads, watched educational things, 

cooked up a storm, completed home learning.

Doing nothing important.

By Marlon

Written in the style of James K. Baxter.

What a whirlwind of change for Room 6 students -  family bubbles, home learning, digital devices and Google Classroom, a change in teacher and time away from classmates and friends!

Back at school there have been new connections to build, new expectations to meet and different learning routines to embrace. It is wonderful to be teaching such a resilient, caring and flexible group of learners at Holy Cross School.

Highlights include the Te Rito Toi performing arts-based learning experiences and ‘Garden to Table’ Through the arts, students have had the opportunity to discover more about themselves as learners. They have explored their strengths and how they can use them to grow in the ‘Holy Cross Way’. Students have applied their creativity and visual literacy skills to tell the story of ‘who we are’. We hope whanau will come and view our cultural x-rays early next term.

In the garden, students have worked with Olivia and Cilla to prepare the garden for winter, spreading topsoil to keep the plants warm, adding to the compost, pruning the fruit trees, thinning the carrots and harvesting greens and herbs.

In the kitchen, with guidance from Aleksandra, Room 6 has prepared some wonderfully delicious and nutritious winter meals with vegetables and herbs harvested from the garden.

This term in Room 7, we have worked on working together in pairs and in groups, to support each other. In the first couple of weeks after returning to school, we have supported each other in circle times, we have completed different meditations and we acted out a lovely story about a 'Cloak of Dreams'. The children decorated a piece of cloth with their dreams.  We have also completed some different pieces of art that make our walls look lovely. We are all glad to be back together! 

What an amazing term this has been!  Our Room 11 students and teachers have learnt so many new skills.  We are now all experts at communicating on Zoom and learning online.  We learnt how to put our hands up so that we could share ideas, we learnt to listen really well, we learnt to take turns talking and we learnt to stay focussed, even though we were all in different houses.  We really enjoyed meeting up with each other online three times a day during lockdown!  We even had a brand new student, Cleo, start school during lockdown.  That was pretty special.  We loved hearing what different families were doing at home.  We got to chat to mums, dads, brothers, sisters, grandparents (and sometimes even pets).  We celebrated Easter and ANZAC Day together.  

When we came back to school, we were excited to welcome Etana, Robbie, Parthiv, Emily and Hosanna to our class.  We all had lots of stories to share about our time in lockdown.  There had been some happy times for families and also some sad times.  It was wonderful to spend our first three weeks in the classroom, focussing on drama, dance, art and play.  It really helped to settle us back into school.  We have focussed on being kind and caring friends and noticing when others need help.

In Room 12 we have been focusing on our wellbeing by dancing and moving our bodies around. We love listening to music and we are good at line dancing! We are also learning how to show Aroha to others. We can help someone if they fall over and even ask someone to join in a game with us. We are excited to have reading buddies with Mr.Carson’s class.