A World Without Borders

On 3 October, Pope Francis went to Assisi to gift his latest encyclical (letter to the world) on Fraternity and Social Friendship. The encyclical is titled 'Fratelli Tutti'.

In signing the encyclical at the tomb of Saint Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis recognised this saint as a model of 'fraternal love, simplicity and joy'.  We recognise that Pope Francis is equally a model of the same and he is inspiring the world through action and word.

I know that I will come to quote this encyclical often because it sits firmly at the heart of what our Catholic schools are called to be; places where we learn what it is to live the Gospel message in our daily lives.  This encyclical encourages us to 'brotherhood and sisterhood’' with one and other.  

Cardinal John has recently encouraged us to read the encyclical, recognising that it is an invitation for everyone to broaden their perspective and to view a “world without borders” and to view every single person on the planet, and yes, the planet itself, as brother and sister. In particular, he pleads on behalf of the world’s poor on the margins of society, as well as the handicapped, the infirm and the elderly who often live on the margins but who ought to be at the centre."

You might like to start your engagement with the encyclical by reading the 'short summary'.

Kia ora and welcome back to a new and exciting term!

I hope you all managed to enjoy some special family time during the term break. 

The final term is always an exciting time and we have some fantastic learning opportunities, activities and events planned. 

Throughout term 2 and term 3 I was at the front gate each morning and afternoon- and I really valued the opportunity this provided to have conversations with students as they came through the gates and adults at the gates!  I  endeavour to be present and available in the playground as much as possible but have decided to set aside a regular time for whanau to pop in and see me to share ideas, ask questions or just say hello!  

I have decided to make Mondays my special ‘connection’ day so if you’d like to see me I invite you to pop in anytime between 2:00pm - 3:00pm. There will be some weeks when I may not be available so perhaps check in with the office staff. 

Some weeks I might have a topic of interest to share information about or invite your thoughts and ideas;  I will let you know ahead of time.  

Please remember that at any time if you have wonderings, ideas or require clarification come and speak with us. 

Welcome back! We hope you have had a wonderful break with your tamariki and we look forward to another full term of learning at Te Rotokura / Holy Cross.

In Term 4, Rooms 1 & 2 will continue to explore the Holy Cross WAY (Whanau, Aroha, YES!)  through the leadership programme. It was a delight to hear their projects pitched to Celeste and Tim at the end of last term with their themes of kindness, caring and inclusion. This is also the term for senior students to hone their persuasive speech writing skills as well as their memoir writing of special memories they have had at Holy Cross. There are also many special leadership opportunities coming up for our senior students as we prepare for our special Thank you morning tea, Christmas Liturgy and GRADUATION!

On November 12, Rooms 3 and 6 will be visiting the Botanic Gardens to explore the medicinal qualities of plants and a notice will be coming home soon to invite parents and caregivers to be part of this learning. Room 5 have a very special project with our friends from ‘Waste Heroes’ with funding from Wellington City Council to explore how we can build a sustainable recycling and composting system throughout the school.

All students in McAuley Syndicate will be working on running, jumping and throwing as they prepare for the Athletics afternoon which leads to students representing the school in the Eastern Zone Athletics. (extra curricular sports that are offered in term 4 are basketball, netball for juniors, touch rugby). Monday afternoons is now a time where students can choose to be part of cultural group, ukulele group or they can develop their own inquiry investigation into a topic about the performing arts. 

For Religious Education, students will be exploring the meaning of All Souls and All Saints Days as well as the season of Advent. October is the month of the rosary and students will explore how the Joyful Mysteries of the rosary can bring us closer to Mary during prayer time. Students are also encouraged to think about what the Holy Cross WAY looks like, sounds like and feels like throughout their day. 

It will be a busy term as some programmes that were planned for Terms 2 and 3 are now happening this term due to COVID 19.  Students can also look forward to a visit from Vane from ASB moneywise programme, an excursion to see the ballet ‘Sleeping Beauty’ as well as the Pedal Ready programme - not to mention a fun day at the ASB sports centre!

Reminders

All students are required to bring their PE gear every day so they can participate comfortably in fitness and Athletics training.  Students participating in Garden to Table every Tuesday (Rooms 3, 5 & 6) are required to wear PE gear as well as sneakers (students wear sandals to school).

We ask that students take great pride in wearing their school uniform to and from school and only change into their PE gear once at school.

Hats are also compulsory during Term 4 - please don’t hesitate to contact the school office if you need support with this.

Welcome back to learning in the Marcellin Syndicate through the topics of Think, Talk and Create. It has been a wonderful meeting with you and celebrating the learning in our Whanau Chats. As the weather warms up there will be opportunities to learn in the classroom and out in the playground. The students can wear their summer uniform which includes shorts, a summer dress and black sandals.  It is a good idea to apply sunscreen in the morning before coming to school and this can be topped up from the classroom supply. We have a no hat no play policy in Term 1 and 4. Please support your child to be ready for learning each day by bringing a drink bottle and hat everyday.

This term your child/ children will be learning about four different Think Talk and Create Topics. Each week they will be bringing home learning stories that you can share and talk about at home. The more your child talks about and uses the language of the topics the more they will learn. Please let your child’s class teacher know if you have any ideas, resources or experience you would like to share to support the learning at school.

We have four new topics this term starting in week 1. Each class will learn about a topic for two weeks and the topics are rotated around the classes. There will be lots of opportunities to talk about the learning at home or when you are out in the community. 

Seasonal Clothes is a Science topic We are learning to notice seasonal changes and the impact these changes have on our daily lives. The students will be learning to:

• Name and describe seasonal clothes 
• Explain what materials the clothes are made from 
• Identify the weather which would be most appropriate for each type of clothing
• Notice interesting objects, patterns and changes in the environments
• Shares their ideas about experiences to make sense of what they see and working with others to improve their ideas

Playground Games is a Health and PE topic. We will be learning about how different playground games are played. The students will be learning how playing games can:

• Help us to work as a team
• Keep us healthy 
• Help us to learn new skills and practise the ones we already have
• Be played with equipment and or our imagination
• Make play-times fun

There will be a T.I.P.S activity to include families in our learning. We want to find out about the games our family played at school. 

Patterns is a Maths topic. We are learning to recognise and create patterns. 

The students will be learning to:

• Understand that a pattern involves a continual repetition in some way
• Identify a number pattern
• Identify repeating patterns in the books they read
• Guess and check for the next number in a pattern
• Skip count in 2s, 5s, and 10s
• Predict "what comes next" based on the understanding of number patterns or patterns in a story

The Journey is a RE  topic. We will be learning about the story of the First Christmas, The Nativity. 

The students will be learning to:

• Identify items that relate to the story of The Nativity
• Retell in order the story leading up to The Nativity
• Create a role play – the story of the First Christmas
• Identify and describe the main people in the story

Here are some other online resources you can use to support learning at home:

Maths at Our House is a great way to get ideas to support learning at home by using everyday experiences and resources found around your home. It includes ideas for supporting your children’s learning in all areas of mathematics: geometry, measurement, statistics, algebra and number.

Wushka the Online reading resource gives you access to the levelled reading resources your child is using at school. You can enjoy a range of quality fiction and non-fiction books together. Please contact your child’s class teacher for their Wushka login.

We will be sharing your child’s learning at the end of the term with a written report. Please contact your child's class teacher if you would like to find out more information about the topics, share ideas or celebrate the learning from home.

Have a great term!

From the Marcellin Syndicate Team

On Tuesday, 5 students from GTT were invited to Bellamy's restaurant at Parliament to try their Wellington on a plate burger.

(see the recipes below, you could try this at home!)

Thank you to Aleece for transporting the students to Parliament and back to school.

Labour day Monday 26th October (Public holiday). School reopens Tuesday 27th October.

A Samuel Marsden Collegiate School education for your daughter in Year 9, 2021

Key dates:

Open Morning (tour the school, ask questions and find out about Marsden’s Visible Wellbeing approach and programmes): Friday 23 October, 8.45am-12pm. Principal Narelle Umbers will be speaking briefly at 9am. Please register here.  

2021 enrolments are due now and places are limited in Year 9.

Please contact Marsden Enrolment Registrar Leigh McCathie on 476 8707 if you have any questions marsden.school.nz

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