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As you know, this year we are focused on naming and appreciating, 'The Gifts That Surround Us'.
The gift of self (My Story), the gift of place (Our Story) and the gift of faith (The Story).
At our start of the year learning conversations much precious information was shared about your child and whānau. Each class is building on this and at the end of term your children look forward to welcoming you into their classrooms to celebrate their learning.
Special people in our whānau. During the week I spent some time looking through family photos, remembering special people, special times. The photograph below is of my darling mother on her 90th birthday and my niece Grace who turned 21 on the same day.
I invite you to share memories of some of the special people in your families. You may have photos to talk about or stories to tell. Help your children get to know and appreciate these special people.
A message from our new Parish Priest
Hello Everyone.
As of 1 Feb I have taken up a new appointment as Parish Priest of Holy Trinity Parish. This includes the three primary schools of St Patrick’s in Kilbirnie, Holy Cross in Miramar and St Anthony’s in Seatoun, and the two colleges of St Catherine’s and St Patrick’s in Kilbirnie. I am one of six children and grew up in Lyall Bay. I was educated at St Patrick’s Primary School in Kilbirnie, Holy Cross in Miramar and St Patrick’s College in Cambridge Terrace. My working background was in banking with the CBA as it was in Kilbirnie, now on the current site of the Westpac Bank in Onepu Road. I look forward to working alongside and building a continued relationship with the schools and parish together as best I can. I am very much a people person, enjoy visiting and encouraging people to use their time, treasure and talents.
With every good wish and blessing,
Bill Warwick ( Fr )
A Lenten Journey - The Way of the Cross
At the end of this term we will farewell two of our wonderful teaching staff, Nik Solia and Tim Carson.
Nik and his brother Darcy have purchased a house in Naenae and Nik has secured a teaching position at a school in Upper Hutt. Nik has been part of our Holy Cross family for twelve years and has made a significant contribution in so many areas. We wish Nik all the very best as he embraces these new and exciting opportunities.
At the end of term 1 Tim is moving to Nelson to be closer to family and will be working with the Ministry of Education to relaunch the back catalogue of Kiwi Kidsongs so that NZ teachers have access to quality classroom singing resources. Tim has been a valued member of our community since 2017 and he too has contributed greatly to our school's journey.
We have been blessed to have these two wonderful teachers and role models as part of our community and wish them every success for the future.
We have advertised Tim's Assistant Principal position through a specialist education recuitment company and hope to be in a position to advise you of who will fill the role of Assistant Principal and Room 3 teacher before term ends.
Room 5 Class teacher Term 2: For the rest of the 2021 school year, Ethel Renata, will be the Room 5 classroom teacher. Ethel has had an association with Holy Cross since 2012; she understands and supports our school practices and the direction we are taking. She is an exceptional teacher who will continue to provide a positive year of learning for our students. We look forward to welcoming her back in a full time capacity.
We warmly welcome four new teacher aides who are joining our amazing support staff team: Pam Cambridge, Kelly Bush, Aggie Lowl and Jeanene Weyers will all be working part-time to support our learners.
Pam and her family have lived in the Eastern Suburbs for a number of years now. She is an experienced secondary school teacher but has chosen to work supporting younger learners while her children are still young and attending kindy and school.
Kelly is currently working toward a Masters of Educational Psychology, hoping to work as an Educational Psychologist in the future. She has worked as a teacher aide both in the UK and NZ.
Aggie is a parent and volunteer here at Holy Cross; she also works for our after school care provider, SKIDS. We are delighted to have her join our team.
Jeanene has an established connection with our school as the Holy Cross SKIDS Programme Manager; she also works part time at Miramar Central School.
Pam, Kelly, Aggie and Jeanene we are delighted to have you join our community.
Gardener of the day
Luke writes:
Today I found 1 caterpillar in the garden and 4 more green caterpillars that equals 5 caterpillars. Caterpillars eat the vegetables and plants.
Question : Can caterpillars stick on peoples thumbs?
Answer : True because they have a little web
Question : Where do caterpillars come from?
Answer : They come from an egg
Chef of the Day
Kena writes :
In todays session in the kitchen we made durum wheat pasta. I really enjoyed kneading the dough.
I think I need to be careful when I use the knife in the kitchen.
HEALTHY FOOD- A school lunch with a fruit and/or vegetable snack and a water drink bottle are essential for providing children with the energy and nutrients they need to get through the day. Please ensure you pack enough food for your child to get them through the day. Reminder we are a WATER ONLY school.
REDUCE WASTE- We are most impressed with the efforts many are making to reduce waste. Please remember as a school we aim to keep our waste to a minimum so less wrapping and plastic please.
LUNCH SUPPORT- If you would like your child to receive a lunch from school, Eat My Lunch provide lunches from Monday-Thursday. Please contact the office if you would like your child to receive one of these.
SUBWAY- On Friday the children can order a Subway for lunch. The PSG kindly take orders in the morning in the library from 8.30am and the lunches are delivered in time for lunch. Spare envelopes are available in the office as well.
Room 1 & 2 Beach Education Day
Last Wednesday, Holy Cross Miramar’s Year 7 & 8 classes had our Beach Education Day. We learnt that there are around 37 fatal drownings a year here in Aotearoa. In fact, our fatal drowning toll has increased by almost 40% in the last 5 years. So we feel really lucky that we got to spend a day learning how to keep safe at the beach. Our beaches are an important part of our story, and we want to be able to enjoy them and stay safe.
We started off in the clubhouse, learning all about first aid! Next, we went on a tour to check out some of the gear the lifeguards use to save lives. We also had to put our thinking caps on so we could learn how to identify and escape from rip currents and other important safety tips. Then it was time to head to the beach for some games to apply some of our learning and of course, our favourite part, WATER ACTIVITIES!
A huge thank you from all of us here in Room 1 & 2 to the instructors, Nikita, Zak and Cam for helping us to properly understand the risks of being near the water. Another huge thank you to our wonderful, WONDERFUL parent helpers who braved the cold south coast's chilly seas so that we could learn, have fun and splash our teachers A LOT.
A picture tells a thousand words, so we’ll let these photos do the rest of the talking...
Throughout the month of March we will be reviewing and practicing emergency procedures and drills at school for Fire, Earthquake, Tsunami and Lockdown.
Practicing what to do in the event of an emergency is known to have saved lives. Please speak with your children about the fact that these drills are there to help and support us so that in the event of a genuine emergency we would know exactly what to do; this may lessen anxieties some children experience.
NOTE: On Friday March 26 we will have a full-school evacuation to the top of the Athens Street zigzag. Parents or emergency contacts are required to collect and sign their child out.
More information will be sent out closer to the whole school evacuation.
This provides a great opportunity to discuss and review your own home procedures at the same time and we recommend you do this.
The following website provides useful information to help you with your review.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions, concerns or feedback at any time about this or any other aspect of our school.
You can view our Policies and Procedures, please click on the following link.
https://www.schooldocs.co.nz/Home/SchoolLogin.aspx
Our username is :hcm and password : schooldocs
This term the BOT are reviewing Finance and Property Management Policy and Home Learning.
Happy birthday to Rory, Ashley, Denis and Anastasia,
We hope you had a wonderful birthday
Farewell to Tessa and her family who have moved to the Kapiti Coast. We wish you well and we will miss you.
½ Price Kids Entry at Staglands on Children’s Day
Staglands Wildlife Reserve will be celebrating Children’s Day on Sunday 7th March by offering ½ PRICE ENTRY into The Reserve for ALL CHILDREN.
In addition to their usual attractions visitors can enjoy free off-road tractor-trailer rides. So if you are looking for a fun Children’s day outing for the whole family; meet at Staglands and Connect with Nature on Sunday 7th March.
*Offer is not available with any other offer. Children (0-16 years) must be accompanied by paying adult.
For more information visit www.staglands.co.nz
NOTICEBOARD