As a new staff member here at the beginning of the school year, I can now say I have experienced all aspects of school life as 2021 comes to a close. This morning we gathered as a school for the first time since lockdown back in September for our end of term liturgy. Following a time of reflection and prayer we got to appreciate items from the Year 7 group to honour the Year 8 leavers. We also had the treat of seeing the items the Year 8s prepared for graduation. Our time together finished off with a rousing haka- one of those very emotional moments to treasure. The talent, confidence in culture and joy in performance was something special to witness. Amidst the joy, laughter and tears that an end of year brings we say farewell to a special group of rangatahi and bless them as they go. 

Looking forward to 2022 we are excited about the possibilities a new year brings. We come back to school at Orange Alert level and we will let you know more of what this looks like before our whanau conferences. We are developing a theme around Connection which we will share more about in the New Year. 

At our end of year liturgy, I gave the Holy Cross Community these three challenges to consider over the holidays- challenges for us all to consider. 

                     Look for opportunities to help others- this builds connection

                     Think daily about things you are looking forward to in 2022- this builds hope. 

                     Laugh daily- joy is a wonderful medicine for the soul. 

            Meri Kirihimete

                           And may you know God’s blessing of peace and joy this Christmas. 

Room 4

Reading: Isaiah 9:6 

Waiata: Hark the Herald

Room 7

Reading:  Luke 1:26-49

Waiata: Magnificat - Mary’s reply to the Angel Gabriel. 

Room 1

Reading:   Luke 2:1-5

Waiata: Pepeha

Room 11 & 12

Reading:   Luke 2:6-7

Waiata:     Away in a Manger

Room 6

Reading: Matthew 2:11-12

Waiata:   We Three Kings

Room 3 & 5

Reading:  Luke 2:8-15

Waiata:  Silent Night

Reading: Matthew 2:13-15

Waiata:        Joy to the world

Room 2

Love brought Jesus to the earth and love brings us all together as we remember and celebrate the story of Jesus’ birth. 

May God bless and keep you all safe and happy over this wonderful Christmas time. 

Waiata: Mary’s Boy Child

WHAT:  Learning Conferences  - 30 minute individual meeting time

WHEN:  Thursday    3rd February 2022               9:00am- 4.30pm

                 Friday    4th  February 2022               9:00am -4.30pm 

WHO:    You and your child

WHY:    We believe these Learning Conferences will be extremely valuable for both families and teachers.

The purpose of the conferences is to offer you, your child and your child’s teacher an opportunity to start the year having met and discussed:

• Your ideas about areas of strength and interest
• Possible areas of challenge or concern for your child in their learning; behaviour or social/emotional needs
• Class routines and expectations
• Initial goal ideas for the first term
• Shared expectations
• Any other topics that will assist a positive start to the year.

We will also use this time to update any forms, permission slips and emergency contacts.

Learning conference template for you to discuss over the holidays will be uploaded in the newsletter,website and App in the New Year. If you are able to complete these prior to the conference and bring them with you that would be helpful.   

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

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

 WHAT TO DO NEXT:  Book  online  by going to:  www.schoolinterviews.co.nz  

Code :  2h9dw     or if you do not have access to a computer call the office and we will book a time for you. 

Our lively, energetic and diverse group of Year 8 Rangatahi were honoured at Graduation last week. Weeks of preparation paid off as we participated in a wonderful event that reflected all that is special about this group of young people. They have lived through tumultuous times and this has added to their sense of preparation for the future. We wish them well and wait to hear of future stories of success and adventure as they pop back into our lives. 

(Many thanks to all that contributed to the smooth operation and speedy clean up!)

Pictures of our amazing prize winners at the graduation. Congratulations to all students that received special prizes.

A tradition of Holy Cross School, supported by the Parent Support Group is to give out two scholarships of $500 each to Year 7 students. These funds can be put towards costs that come through the school; for instance, uniform costs, technology costs or camp fees. A special thanks to the PSG for supporting our students in this way and for all their hard mahi this year, when life was so difficult. 

This year these scholarships were awarded at a very special morning tea with staff and parents present. The recipients for 2021 were Faris Khayyat and Tilomai Mapu. 

Date: Term 1, Week 2 - Wednesday, 9th February 2022

From: 6pm to 7pm with shared kai after.

Venue: Holy Cross School - Staff Room

“Nākau te rourou nau te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi.

With your basket and my basket, the people will thrive.”

Nau mai, haere mai! Welcome. We are looking forward to re-establishing our Whānau group in 2022.  You are invited to join us to share your thoughts, ideas, visions and aspirations for our tamariki. Although our primary focus will be on ways that we support our Māori students and whānau, the benefits of our learning are for all students. 

More details about the meeting will be sent out in a school newsletter closer to the date. Meanwhile, if you would like to contact either Tala, Lyn or myself (Ethel), our emails are attached below. 

Ngā mihi o Hineraumati, Seasons Greetings and Meri Kirihimete!

Nā mātou noa, nā,

Ethel, Tala & Lyn 

ethel.renata@hcm.school.nz

tala.moemai@hcm.school.nz

principal@hcm.school.nz

Room 6 Book Reviews on our Library Webpage

Room 6 students have been busy reviewing a selection of our library books.  Their thoughtful reviews are displayed on a separate dashboard on our school library web page…

http://library.hcm.school.nz/#!dashboard

You can see different dashboards (or webpages) by selecting the dashboards field.

Summer Holiday Reading Adventure at Wellington City Libraries

Read books, explore the city, win prizes!

The WCL Summer Reading Adventure runs from 1 December 2021 – 31 January 2022 for children aged 5-13.  With a membership you can read books; write, draw or film reviews; and complete quests to earn all kinds of awesome prizes.  Read more at…

https://www.wcl.govt.nz/blogs/kids/index.php/category/summer-reading-challenge/

WCL Memberships

I know that many students already have a WCL membership.  For those that don’t, we will set up school memberships for each student in the new year (which allows limited borrowing and access to digital resources).  WCL have also kindly cancelled any outstanding fees on our students’ personal memberships.

A WCL membership is completely free and  not only allows you to physically borrow books and magazines, but also provides access to a wide range of digital resources such as online comics, eBooks and audio books.  More information about joining, including a temporary membership for one month, can be found at…

https://wcl.govt.nz/about/joining/

Finally, thank you to all the students who have returned their books before the end of term, and to the student librarians (listed on our library webpage) that ensure our library runs smoothly by giving up their free time to help.

Happy holidays and book wishes,

Kirsten

Kia ora e te whānau,

Adrenalin forest, ice skating, bowling, trampolining, STEM challenges, sailing, cycling, massive games of hide and go seek, water guns, smores, sing alongs, slip and slides, bouncy castles, graduation and... puberty! It’s been an exciting term in Rm 2. We’ve all grown a little braver, a little wiser, a little kinder and more inclusive and hopefully, we’ve learnt a thing or two too. Like percentages. Just a fraction out of 100. We get it.

The school year has come to a close and the students of Rm 2 will be leaving a classroom that’s felt very much like a little family in this last term. But we’ll be bringing some pretty amazing memories with us. Rm 2 wishes you all a very Merry Christmas! God bless.

We started off our term with a fantastic visit to Zealandia. This sparked our ideas about making bird houses and feeders for an animal or bird we saw at Zealandia. Our models were fantastic and we were able to explain why we made our designs how we did and if we would make any changes if we were to do our designs again. We did a lot of writing about our trip and researched creatures we saw there recording our information in a booklet

We have worked well in Garden To Table making and planting new beds and using ingredients from the garden in our cooking which has been excellent this term (apart from the sugar / salt incident in the muffin cooking!). The emergency second batch saved the day!

We have continued to work on our reading, writing and Maths skills and have made some great progress this year in these core subjects. 

Term 4, 2021 - Highlights from Room 5

We are sharing parts of student writing and examples of some highlights of our learning from Term 4. 

Zealandia Trip by Esther 

As I was walking up some stairs I could hear the loud kaka birds. There were lots of them. I think at least 5 or 6! They were drinking brown sugar water and special parrot food pellets that were sent to Zealandia from America. 

Next I saw the glow worms. They looked like tiny frozen water drops. They looked very very tiny, and I was surprised because I thought that they would be a bit bigger. 

We then went past the bank and I saw a hole in the dirt! Everyone said that they could see a tuatara in the hole but I was the only one who could not see it! I was trying really hard to find the tuatara and then,  I finally saw it. There it was, right there but it was camouflaged and just looked like dirt. That's why it was so hard to see!

Garden to Table

A Poem of Thanks to Olivia & Aleksandra for Garden to Table written by Mia and Rm 5!

Rm 5 Say Thank You

To Olivia,

Summer is dry

like the Autumn leaves,

crunching like a biscuit in the kitchen.

We all say thank you for the very last day,

without you, our skies will be gray.

With the adventures and skilled tips,

we plant a seed and our eyes are thrilled,

To Aleksandra,

We make delicious food just like salad with delicious dressings.

The windy breeze goes through the windows,

We say thank you

For helping us learn to cook the food we have harvested from the garden!

Kura Ahurea & Te reo Māori

Whataitai and Ngake 

We read the legend of Ngāke and Whataitai which tells a story of how Wellington harbour was formed. Next, we created an artwork to show our understanding as well as celebrating how much we enjoyed learning about places in Wellington. 

Te Reo Māori - We learnt 3 digit numbers in te reo Māori

100 Kotahi rau, 200 rua rau, 300 toru rau, 400 whā rau, 500 rima rau, 600 ono rau, 

700 whitu rau, 800 waru rau, 900 iwa rau and 1000 kotahi mano.

Orange Day Patrol Celebrations & Tug of War 

On Wednesday the 24th of November we had an Orange day celebration. We were excited because we had guests visit and some students gave speeches. We also got to play games. Maitri shares her experience of taking part in Tug of War!

¨Lean back, Lean back!” Try to capture the rope underneath your armpit and PULL!!!¨Mia announced.We were playing Tug of War with Aaron Dan, Justin Wong and Lynn our principal. We quickly held the rope as tightly as possible. It was exhausting!”

Religious Education

 We have been learning how The Rosary divides the life of Jesus into four sections called mysteries: the Joyful Mysteries, the Luminous Mysteries, the Sorrowful Mysteries and the Glorious Mysteries. When learning about The Rosary, we worked in pairs to make our own rosary beads. Here is an explanation of colours that Jayde and Matilda chose for their Rosary beads. 

 Rosary/ what the colour means     

Green = The green bead on the rosary means nature because green represents nature because there's a lot of green in nature. 

Blue = The Blue bead on the rosary means heaven because 

White = The white bead on the rosary means faith and peace

Brown = Brown means the cross Jesus died on because the cross was brown.

Purple = Purple on the cross means loyalty and bravery.

White heart = The white heart on the rosary is basically to love everyone just like Mary loves everyone.

Prayers for Celeste

Here are some words from the prayers Rm 5 students wrote to express our gratitude and aroha.

Elaisa - Thank you to Celeste for being the best principal and always helping people. Celeste is always kind and friendly to everyone. And also loving all the classes! 

Maloni - I am thankful for Celeste for showing the Holy Cross Way, Whanau by supporting us and being helpful, Aroha by making others feel better and Yes by never giving up on us.

Lydia - Aroha if you were in the sick bay Celeste would look after you and would  look for a book!

Zoe - You show whānau through all our school life and celebrations.

From all of us in Rm 5 - We wish Celeste all the best in her new job and will miss her!

Thank you to our Rm 5 whānau, and our school whānau for your aroha and support. 

Ngā mihi o Hineraumati, Seasons Greetings and Meri Kirihimete from Rm 5. 

Term 4 - Wrapping up the learning and tying it together with a bow!

Typically a time of completion, reflection and evaluation, the focus for Room 6 during Term 4 has centred around the consolidation of learning. Students have embraced opportunities to cement their knowledge and understanding and reinforce their newly acquired skills through EOTC experiences, spring to summer seasonal gardening and food preparation, and of course celebrating and farewelling our precious principal, Celeste. 

A highlight has been the way students have responded authentically to support local ecosystems. They ably applied technology design thinking as they conceptualised, drafted, refined and constructed various structures, such as weta motels and bird feeders to encourage the survival of local wildlife. 

It has been a privilege to be part of the Holy Cross community and to teach the Room 6 tamariki this year. I would like to thank the Room 6 whanāu for the support they have provided and I wish the whole of the school community a blessed Christmas and relaxing holiday.

A Moment in Time by Kena

 Rustle ,rustle. The leaves moved with the wind.

“What is that noise?” called Oscar.

“It's a takahe with its wonderful indigo blue feathers and sharp beak for chewing weta and other insects,” added Cahal. 

“Takahe are oval shaped with three long claws and strong legs, perfect for the swampy water.” said Aimee.

I will never forget that moment.

A Moment in Time by Angelina 

 “Wow! Look over there. It's a big takahe.”                                     

It's long head was covered in red and green feathers. I got a closer look to notice it more until it took cover into the green grass. Luckily two more came along and started to make sounds like krrrrrr, krrr, beak, beak.

I wonder how many more takahe are in Zealandia?

A Moment in Time by Luke 

“Aww look! The shags are feeding the baby shag! How adorable” I thought. 

I saw the shags zoom to the nest! I saw lots of families but down the lake there was just a duck chilling. 

Is this a party I wondered? We'll never know.  

A Moment in Time by Carter  

“Is that a duck?”

I looked closer, it was a shag swimming in the river. I could hear “Aaaa” “Aaaa” coming from the river, there were about seven shags communicating with each other. 

I could smell the river and the breeze while I watched the shags feed their babies in the high tree tops. 

A Moment in Time by Anna

 ''Wow! What's that fluttering bird up there in the tree?”

“It might be a tui. I heard the bird chirping”.

''Oh look, it is a tui trying to suck nectar out of a flower''. 

It's feathers were dark, shady blue and black with a little bit of highlighted green. It's beak was as long as a finger and it's body was as tall as a pencil. I noticed the tui's feather's twitching back and forth as it sucked the nectar out of a flower. The tui looked like it must have been starving. 

 I felt extremely lucky to experience this special moment at Zealandia. 

A Moment in Time by Zachary

 “Mmm. This Olearia Fragrantissima tree smells like pancakes with maple syrup”. 

On the slope of the hill, looking down, I noticed a kereru camouflaged by the tree it was perched on. 

“There is a kereru over there in the lush green tree” I cried out to the Zealandia leader. “I think the kereru likes pancakes”.

 It’s big fat body was covered in green-grey feathers with a sharp red beak sticking out from it’s head. It sat there looking over the valley. 

 While the walk was tiring, it was worth it. I will always remember this moment!

We have worked very hard in Room 7 in Term 4. We enjoyed a walk around Miramar, looking at the different parts of our ‘Past and Present’. Thank you to the parents who joined us for this. We love reading in Room 7 and enjoy sharing books with others. On Thursday, we enjoyed a fun afternoon of outside activities. Enjoy our photos!

Room 12 (which is now Room 4) have had a great end to the term. Not only have they continued to progress in their reading and writing, but we have also enjoyed making Christmas crafts, writing cards, and playing Christmas Maths games. Room 12 are very keen to learn as you can see in the following pictures of them 'exploring' 3-dimensional shapes. They were problem solvers and showed their resilience by staying calm and working out how to make their shapes stand strong (even when they kept falling apart!) . Ka pai!

29 November 2021 

The Wrath of Tāwhirimātea

Tāwhirimātea’s wrath is strong.

Finding those who did him wrong.

He finds the land and butchers it.

With a loud and strong wind that turns to spit.

Coming from the body of his father Ranginui like a falcon.

WHOOSH! He’s swishing through the sky, a ferocious teacher,

 bullying the people of Te Whanganui-a-Tara by crashing into them, making them feel makariri.

He goes through the forest and attacks the plants to get revenge on Tāne Mahuta, Rongomātāne, and Haumia-tiketike.

He goes to man and tortures their land to get revenge on Tūmatauenga.

He attacks the area of land and sea so Tangaroa feels the wrath.

Ruamoko gets to feel it with the wrath hitting him too.

Children flying kites annoy him, he carries on blowing.

BUT, Tāwhirimātea also goes easy on the land to show his love for Papatūānuku.

His wrath whips up the sea and causes problems.

Tsunamis and earthquakes are some outcomes.

His cyclones and typhoons endanger man.

And kites get lost when they are flown.

So remember for next time, when the wind is blowing, it may be a nuisance 

but it is only used to show the wrath and love of Tāwhirimātea.

Marlon Sinnott, Year 5

Room 5

*Ethel’s helped with macrons for the atua names. 

Downlad the Advent Calendar from the Sisters’ of Compassion

Ko te Wā o te Aweneti