Room 1 and 2 have had some wonderful opportunities to explore the outdoors and try some different types of adventures. In lieu of our senior camp, these students have enjoyed opportunities to sail, bike, ice skate, climb tall trees and soak each other in water. Wellbeing is impacted positively when we challenge ourselves and try something new or different. We can discover hidden talents and enjoy interacting with others in completely different settings. A number of parents have been involved in making this happen- we are grateful for the time taken to join us and make this such a success. Special thanks to Tala, Genevieve and Brenda who have spent time and effort to help make this happen. 

One of the wonderful aspects of teaching especially in a primary school is that you as parents have entrusted us with the care of your children for a large part of their life between 5 and 13. That’s a trust we don’t take lightly. At this time as we prepare to farewell a lively, diverse, energetic and engaged group of rangatira, we are impressed with the way they are flourishing in the face of global challenges. We are gathering with the Year 8 parents to farewell these wonderful people on Thursday 9th as we celebrate graduation together. As a special rite of passage, we know that they are prepared to face an exciting future as they move on to college.

We are also at the point of farewelling staff members who are moving on to other opportunities. We are saying goodbye to Genevieve Krefft Room 2, Clare James in Room 3 and Jeannine Winton in Room 6. These wonderful people have been very generous in sharing their skills and talents with us and for caring passionately for your tamariki. We wish them well. 

We are welcoming one new member to our staff for 2022- Ben Gittos and we welcome back Nik Solia. 

As our time as a school draws to a close for 2021, Monday is our transition morning where students will meet their teachers for 2022. In the afternoon Corrie Skells along with staff from Nuku Ora have organised a great afternoon of fun activities. Our Holy Cross Way reward will also be in action- a bouncy castle! Tamariki will get to enjoy this in a supervised way. 

Remember our last day is Tuesday 14th where we will be finishing at 1pm. You may pick up your child earlier.  

In New Zealand Christmas is an incredibly busy time as we plan for holidays, perhaps prepare for relatives and friends to come visit as well as Christmas shopping and organising food for special occasions.

We all get caught up in the rush and busyness. I hope you and your whanau can take time to pause, sing a Christmas carol and talk about the act of love shown when the Son of God left his Father in heaven and was placed in the arms of a teenage girl, Mary. Jesus is the way for us to rediscover the presence of God's love in our lives. I hope you know a sense of that love and peace at this busy time. I pray there are opportunities for us all to show kindness and love to others and reflect the love of God.

To help we are creating our digital Christmas liturgy which will be shared with you next week. Thanks to Virginia Blewman for helping keep us on track with this. 

We have been advised by the Ministry of Education to continue with the Level 2 Alert settings for the final weeks of school to minimise disruption. This means that parents are still to drop off and pick up their children outside the gate. We will be changing to the traffic light system from the beginning of next year. Our last newsletter will outline what this looks like for Holy Cross. 

Learning Conversations 2022 - please book by Friday 17th December 2021

WHAT:  Learning Conversations  - 30 minute individual meeting time

WHEN:  Thursday     3rd February 2022          9:00am-5:00pm  
              Friday         4th February 2022          9:00am-5:00pm  

WHO:    You and your child

WHY:   

• Feedback we have received has shown that these learning conversations are extremely valuable for both families and teachers.

• At the conclusion of the learning conversation, you are invited to update any forms, permission slips and emergency contacts.

HOW

Book  online  by going to:  www.schoolinterviews.co.nz   Code : 2h9dw  or if you would like help to book, please contact the school office. 

These dates are counted as term dates therefore we are expecting every child to attend a learning conversation on one of these days. Children who do not attend a learning conversation will be marked absent for both days.

Full classes will resume on Tuesday 8th February 2022 at the normal time of 8:45am.

Further information about the learning conversations will be sent closer to the time.

Ngā mihi,

Lyn Hough

Term 1           3rd February  - 14th April 2022      (100 half days)

Teacher Only Day Tuesday 1st February 

Teacher Only Day  Wednesday 2nd February

Thursday  3rd February       Learning conferences

Friday      4th February        Learning conferences 

Tuesday  8th February         Classes start

Thursday 14th April            Term 1 ends

Public Holidays

Monday 7th February (Waitangi Day observed)

Friday 15th April    Good Friday 

Term 1  School Holidays  Saturday 16th April - Sunday 1st May 2022

Includes Easter Monday, Easter Tuesday and ANZAC day.

Term 2         2nd May - 8th July 2022   ( 96 half days)

Monday    2nd May Term 2 classes start

Teacher Only Day Friday 3rd June MOE accord day 

Teacher only day  Friday 8th July   MOE accord day Kahui Ako

Public Holidays

Monday 6th June    Queens Birthday

Friday 24th June      Matariki

Term 2 School Holidays Saturday 9th July - Sunday 24th July 2022

Term 3            25th July - 30th September 2022    ( 100 half days)

Monday 25th July Term 3 classes start

Teacher Only Day (Date to be confirmed) MOE accord day

No Public holidays

Term 3 School holidays Saturday 1st October - Sunday 16th October 2022

Term 4          17th October- 16th December 2022   (88 half days)

Monday 17th October   Term 4 classes start

Friday   21st October    Teacher only MOE accord day 

Public holidays: 

Monday 24th October Labour Day  

MOE accord teacher only days- 1 taken in 2020, 3 taken in 2021 and 4 taken in 2022. 

8 days in total over the period 2020-2022

384 half days in 2022.

30.11.2021

Gardener of the Day - Today in  The Garden 

Today in the garden I was the gardener of the day.  We did some seed sowing of the gem corn plant and it is a very colorful seed. 

Next, Jayde and I did some weeding around the back of garden.

A question I have is, if you put the gem corn in a bowl and then put it in the stove/microwave  does it make rainbow popcorn and does it make popcorn at all?  

We also saw a really really big slug in a flower pot. I think it was trying to sleep in the pot in the garden.

By Meela, Rm 5 - Year 6

Salad of the Imagination - by Vianna, Chef of the Day

Today in the kitchen session, we made a Salad of the Imagination. Finn and I made the salad dressing with olive oil, vinegar, mustard seeds and some salt and pepper. The smell of the dressing was a bit sour, but we both managed to get it through. While Finn and I were making the dressing, the others had to chop some veggies for the salad.

Everyone had managed to make the salad with some chopped vegetables. Once the salad was done, we poured the dressing over it and then mixed in all the ingredients. The smell flooded the whole room, with a mix of a very sour and strong smell of vinegar and olive oil. Then after that, we put the salad in some bowls and  put plates onto the table. We also added some flowers into the salad, just for a bit of detail.

It was a wonderful experience for both Finn and I making the salad together. Hopefully this salad will make people's minds full of joy.

- Written by the voice of Vianna  (Rm 5, Y6)

Gardener of the Day

Today in the garden Olivia and our group were watering the cardboard because we needed it to be moist and we checked up on the potatoes and we saw that they were growing pretty fast!

Why we needed to water the cardboard was because Olivia wanted to add more space for those little tubs so we needed to to cover the grass with cardboard.

While we were making our little garden plants Olivia pulled out a sprinkler and accidentally wet us but she was using the sprinkler to put it near the baby potatoes!

At the end I felt amazing with our teamwork!

By Valantina

Chef of the Day

Today in the kitchen we made Polenta fries and marinara sauce.

Something that went well was that Mason, Flynn and Me {Parina} halved all of the ingredients correctly! 

Something we need to be careful about is using knives and holding bowls.

I would have added some more chilli. I liked mixing the sauce and Polenta.

By Parina 

23 November 2021

Science with Aimee (Bede’s mum)

Writing by Vianna, Rm 5 - Y6

Red Cabbage Experiment - Observation

Acid or Base?

Base : Turns blue if you put some hand soap in it or something that's not 

too acidic. Also smells weird too!

Acid : Turns purple or magenta if you put in something acidic or something

else like Vinegar or Salt water. 

Experiment : The Red Cabbage liquid is like a light purple colour, and it smells really bizarre. When I put in some of the Vinegar, the Red Cabbage liquid started turning dark. The acid starts to turn purple or magenta and starts to smell like a dishwasher.

Fact : If you mix all of the ingredients together, it will start fizzing and all of

the ingredients you put into the Red Cabbage wine will start to combine a

very weird smell ( the smell also start filling the room you are in right now

and its starts to smell like the dishwasher in the kitchen! )

Bede’s Birthday Science Experience

23 November 2021

By Astyn, Y6

Today it is Bede’s birthday. Bede's mum Aimee bought some cups and different types of liquids. The liquids were hand soap mixed with water, vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda mixed with water. We mixed the liquids with cabbage juice. 

Amy told us that if you pour the liquids in the cabbage juice, it will turn or fade into another color, if it turns purple pink red it is called acid if it is blue green and yellow it is called a base.

My favourite experiment was the hand soap mixed with water because it turned blue and smelt bad. I don't know what it smelt like but it was definitely a base.

Science with Aimee (Red Cabbage Juice) (Observations)

By Maxwell, Rm 5, Y6

     On November 23, 2021, Bede’s mum Aimee came to do science with us about Red Cabbage juice and using Blended items to switch the colour. The items we used to switch the colour of the Red Cabbage juice was

• Soap

• Vinegar

• Lemon

• Baking Soda

     First we used the Soap on the Red Cabbage Juice and it turned green. The colour purple is in the middle of the acidic and alkaline scale and green is closer to the alkaline side; it's an alkaline. Next, we used Vinegar to the Red Cabbage juice and it turned pink. On the acidic and alkaline scale, pink is closer to the acidic side so it's an acid. The next blended item was lemon and it turned dark pink. On the scale, dark pink is closer to the acidic side so it's an acid. Lasted but not least, we used baking soda to the red cabbage juice and it turned blue and on the scale, blue is close to the acidic side so its an acid

     Me and Charles tried it by ourselves and first we used vinegar and it turned pink. Next we used Baking Soda and it turned green. After that we used the blended ingredient soap and it turned pink again. Finally we used lemon and it turned blue. So we discovered that when we mixed all the blended items, it would 

turn blue so it was alkaline.                                                                                             

     When Aimee was demonstrating, I thought, what if you used two colours for one cup and two different colours for the other and what would it turn into? Something I would say that was gross was when Charles drank the Red cabbage Juice and he said it tasted nice and he would want to have it again. This was so fun I would love to do it again. 

Science with Aimee

By Marlon, Y5, Rm 5

Science notes

• If cabbage juice is mixed with a liquid it will change colour depending on if it is a base or an acid.
• If it is a base it will turn blue, green, or yellow.
• If it is an acid it will turn pink, orange, or red.

My favourite experiment:

• The first liquid was soap. It smelled like dishwasher liquid and it looked like dishwasher liquid.
• The juice turned green because it was a base.
• The second liquid was vinegar. It smelled like vinegar and it looked like vinegar.
•  The juice turned pink because it was an acid.
•  The third liquid was lemon juice. It smelled like lemon juice and it looked like lemon juice.
• The juice turned pink because it was an acid.
• The final liquid was baking soda. It smelled like water and it looked like water.
• The juice turned blue because it was a base.
• 
  It was an awesome experiment and I would recommend it to everyone!

Basketball

Winning a gold Medal by Flynn McLaren-Bacon

Yesterday Holy Cross Titans year 5 and 6 played basketball,we had to play two games because Scots College dropped out of the competition. We were really happy that we got another chance, but we had to play two games if we wanted to win.

The first game was against Island Bay. We won that. We had one more game against Haitaitai. In the beginning we were winning, in the middle of the game we were losing by five shots,  at the end of the game we needed to get three shots in if we wanted to win and we got 5 !!!! So we won and we were really, really  happy!!!! Astyn’s mum gave us some chocolates. And that's how we won the basketball! 

By Flynn

Thank you so much to all the families who donated and sold tickets in the Christmas raffle. We made a grand total of $ 1134.00 whcih will help greatly with the bike track upgrade! Well done !

The winners of the raffle were:

1. Nilay Patel  (Parthiv's Uncle)
2. Babu family
3. Benyamin family
4. Williams family
5. Raman family

Congratulations to the Williams and Patel families who sold the most tickets.

The Parent Support Group is extending an invitation to all Holy Cross parents to join us for an end of year get together at the Park Kitchen next Friday 10th Dec from 7.30pm. An opportunity to meet new friends and farewell a few from our school community.  We would love to see you.  If you can come please RSVP by Tuesday 7th Dec to email: psg@hcm.school.nz.  Looking forward to hearing from you!

Welly Philosophy & Creativity is a new holiday programme offered in January 2022. It invites young people aged 7-14 to grow as critical and creative thinkers in a fun and playful atmosphere. Designed by a team of educators and researchers at Victoria University of Wellington, the programme will include a mix of:  

• Philosophical dialogues to explore fascinating questions that matter to young people and to the world; 
• Collaborative creative projects, from making witty comic books to putting on whimsical plays; 
• Outdoor activities including sports, camp games and scavenger hunts! 
  
  
  Dates: January 10-14 for children aged 7 to 10; January 24-28 for children aged 11 to 14. 
  
  Time: Drop off 8.30-9am; pick up 3.30-4.30pm. 
  
  Location: Ridgway School, 120 Mornington Road, Brooklyn, Wellington 6021. 
  
  Cost: $75 per child. 
  
  
  To find out more information about the programme and to fill out an Expression of Interest form: https://wellyphilosophy.wufoo.com/forms/expression-of-interest/