Our Jimmy

It has been a week of sadness for our Holy Cross School Community as we learnt of the passing of Jimmy Stokes. Jimmy has been a part of our school community since 2015. 

Caretakers are special people; multi talented, practical, attentive to all that is required to keep schools running at a functional building level. Jimmy was all this and more. He brought particular electrical skills to his job along with a willingness to have a go at building and maintenance tasks, including keeping an eye on our bike fleet- a big job! Alongside his practical skills, Jimmy had a heart for people. He connected with everyone across the whole school, staff, students and families; even our regular visitors from different organisations were welcomed by Jimmy. He had a great sense of humour which would have us chuckling in the staff room or the spaces where he would be. 

Here are some of the special memories from a small snapshot of our students 

‘Dear Jimmy, Thank you for fixing everything’- Hendrix R 12 

‘I remember helping Jimmy clear trees and take them to the back court- he was a nice guy’- Carter R3

‘I remember that Jimmy would always say hi to me- he was kind’- Elmina R 3

‘I remember how Jimmy used to open and close the gates for the cars on the courts- he was always backing up the school’- Daniel R3. 

‘I remember I always used to see him at the football club rooms and he always talked to me- he was kind and special’- Anna R3

‘I remember the last job I saw Jimmy doing which was sweeping up the leaves’- Alexia R3

‘ I remember getting picked up with my dad and dad used to have a conversation with Jimmy. We used to meet in Jimmy’s garage’- Ethan R1

‘I remember we were biking and I cut through the grass. Jimmy told me not to do it again because it will ruin the grass- he cared about our school environment’ - Avalani R 1. 

To honour Jimmy and in lieu of attending the funeral, we are having a special liturgy  on Monday and would like to invite families to join us in the hall at 9am as we remember Jimmy and pray for his family. We know that many members of the wider Miramar community will want to honour and remember Jimmy. We ask you to consider making Monday, 9am the time to remember Jimmy as the funeral will have limited capacity.  This liturgy will be in place of school prayers on Friday and take approximately 30 minutes.  

Staff are  involved in catering for the funeral on Wednesday. We also have a group of middle and senior students who will sing. Permission slips have gone home for those students who have volunteered. In order to give staff space to be involved, we would ask that children work from home on Wednesday. Work will be provided by teachers either in Google classroom or via scrapbooks. If this is difficult for you, there will be a skeleton staff available to supervise students at school. Please let the office  know if your child will be coming to school on this day prior to Wednesday. Thank you for your support during this time. 

Children can experience grief differently.  If you need help supporting your child, please reach out. We have resources available to help. 

The Season of Creation is a special time on the Catholic Liturgical Calendar that begins this Thursday on the 1st of September with the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. 

This time of focus finishes on October the 4th with the Feast of St Francis of Assisi the patron saint of ecology. 

Staff prayers on Monday helped to set our focus on this area. Friday school prayers that will be led by Room 7  will encourage our tamariki to think about how they can take up the call of Pope Francis; to be agents of God’s mercy. We all have a special role of showing Kaitiakitanga- where we can be guardians and protectors of our earth,  God’s creation. But before action comes prayer, through prayer we can be inspired to  take a fresh look at ways we can act to bring change. Pope Francis asks us to pray for the individuals, communities, species, and ecosystems who are lost, and those whose livelihoods are threatened by habitat loss and climate change.  

MINESTRONE

Ingredients:

200g dried white haricot beans, soaked over night

2 onions (or leeks)

3 gloves garlic

2 large carrots

3 sticks celery

2 potatoes

olive oil

2 bay leaves

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 t dried oregano (or basil)

2 T vegetable stock + 2 litres water

Salt and pepper

150g dried pasta

Grated cheese

Selection of greens:

Cabbage, silver beet/kale and parsley

HOW TO MAKE IT:

1. Prepare the beans (place beans in large pot, cover with water, soak over night).

2. Once soaked, drain and rinse the beans.

3. Place beans in large pot cover with water and bring to boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer until tender. Remove from heat and leave to cool.

4. Prepare the vegetables.

5. Heat oil in large pot, add onion and garlic and bay leaf. Cook gently until softened.

6. Add garlic, carrots, celery and potatoes and cook for a further 10 minutes.

7. Add the chopped tomatoes, water, cooked beans, vegetable stock powder and dried herbs. Bring to boil, cover and cook gently for 15 minutes.

8. Chop leafy greens and add to pot. Also add pasta and simmer for another 15-20 minutes.

9. Taste for seasoning.

10. Serve with grated cheese.

PRIDE LANDS FUN HOLIDAY ADVENTURES 

SPRING SCHOOL HOLIDAYS AT WESTERN SUBURBS RUGBY CLUB (WILTON) AND SOUTHERN SUBURBS SWIS (BERHAMPORE - NEWTOWN)

Dates: 3^rd – 14^th OCT 2022 from 7.00am-6pm daily

Fees: Daily $81.04/cub per session
Weekly: $324.16 per cub/week

Social Development: Interactive Activities and NO TV or Video Games, Cooking, Fitness, and Life Skills Programme creating healthy Breakfast, Morning Tea, Lunch and Afternoon Teas

Qualified 1^st Aid Trained Activities Coordinators and Youth Mentors

One-on-One Care: Available for cub(s) if extra support is needed at $11/hr

MSD Approved & WINZ subsidies are available for eligible families.

SHUTTLE SERVICES (with booster seats) AVAILABLE

Please contact us: 0800 PRIDE 4 U Or Register online: www.pridelands.co.nz or Visit our Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/PrideLandsChildcare

PRIDE IN ACTION (1-on-1 Home support) Mentors are also available if needed at $33/hour

EVERYONE OUT HOLIDAY PROGRAMME

Everyone Out Holiday Programmes offer tamariki the opportunity to play and follow their own interests in an amazing natural environment. Whether they want to build huts in the bush, test out our slackline, learn how to start a campfire or just hang out in the hammock - there is something for everyone. 

Wellington Music Centre

Surf Life Saving Club - Junior Surf

At Holy Cross we have the following strategic goal. 

Honouring our commitment- we live our commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi; The Treaty of Waitangi strengthening a bi-cultural perspective.

As part of the mahi or work around that goal we have a once a term hui or gathering for parents of the children who identify as Māori. This took place on Monday 22nd August. Ethel Renata convened the hui and reported on the following events: 

Our Matariki Celebrations and Dawn ceremony; this was an enriching experience as a school and set a good precedent for future celebrations. 

Pōwhiri; we have tweaked aspects of support around the girls who kaikaranga (call and respond at the start of the ceremony) and the boys who open with the whaikōrero or initial speeches. We are also grateful for the support of our Māori whanau who offer to help with aspects of our Pōwhiri- this is becoming a more embracing ceremony involving a wider group from our community. 

Kura- Ahurea program; this is supporting kaiako (teachers) and tamariki (children)  in their learning of te reo Māori and Te Atiawa pūrākāu or original stories. We are also beginning to learn waiata through Kura Ahurea that can be a part of our culture group. A group of teachers are also learning te reo Māori on Thursdays after school. 

We also discussed possible ways to draw more people into our korero or discussion at these hui and will look at having term 4’s whānau hui via zoom and possibly a hangi or kai for our term 1 meeting in 2023. 

Look out for the short biographies and photos of the six candidates we have standing for our Board of Trustee elections. These will be in your children’s bags today and you can also find them in this newsletter.  Please consider who you might like to vote for and make sure you have your say. You can vote on voting papers that will be sent home today in your children’s bags.  There are two copies of voting papers per household. These need to come back to school before the 22nd September to be counted. The new Board of Trustees take up their role on the 29th of September. 

One of their first jobs will be to interview and appoint a new principal. We do have key Proprietors reps staying on to provide support and continuity around this and to support the new Board. The Principal position is currently being advertised in the Education Gazette. Please pray that we get excellent candidates who match our criteria and will be a good fit with our school.

Candidates for this years Board of Trustees Elections are as follows:

Harley Durkin

I’m the honoured husband to Abby and our daughter Anira is currently enrolled at HCS.

HCS has a unique and special character which my wife and I cherish and value. It’s something that is clearly evidenced in all our dealings with the school. It’s a delight to see this light develop and shine through the children, staff and wider school community.

In seeking nomination to the BOT, I wish to continue to promote and preserve this same unique character.

I have a broad professional background with a focus on leadership, project management and IT. Resource management, along with data and performance analysis are areas I have a particular interest in.

To this end I hope to utilise these skills to help provide the best possible learning environment at HCS.

Matthew Itzstein

Hi, I'm Matthew Itzstein and I recently relocated with my wife and 2 kids to Wellington (from Brisbane) to be closer to family. My daughter started at Holy Cross in June and my son attends Miramar Central Kindergarten.

I firmly believe that it takes a village to raise a child and want to help create an environment where our children can continue to be supported as they grow and learn at Holy Cross School. I am dedicated to providing my children with a well-rounded education both in the classroom and at home and I will bring this energy to my role on the board. 

I work as a marketing manager and have over 12 years of business experience. On the weekends, you will often find our family down at the beach, hiking or testing out the new pump track at school.  

Thanks,

Matt  

Paresh Patel

Hello everyone, my name is Paresh Patel and thank you for your consideration to allow me be part

of the Board of Trustees at Holy Cross School.

I was born and raised in Auckland and have a background in Information Technology, and have been

in the IT industry for the past 22 years. I now live in Wellington for over 4 years with my family, and I

currently work for Vodafone as an Enterprise Architect in their Enterprise Business team. Outside of

work I have an interest in building, carpentry and photography. I am also a current board member

and prior to moving to Wellington I was a board member at Waikowhai Primary School.

I am married to Malisha, who some of you may know, and we have two beautiful children, Diya who

is 13 years old and is in Room 1, and Rohan who is just turned 5 and is in room 11. Our family has

always had a strong connection with Holy Cross as both my sister-in-law and brother-in-law also

attended Holy Cross.

It would be a great privilege to be able to be part of the Holy Cross Board of Trustees again, so that I

can continue supporting the school in maintaining its high standard of education, so that we ensure

that we give our children the best possible start to their future in our ever-changing environment,

and that the needs of our school are met as we continue to grow.

As a parent who has one child who will be moving on from Holy Cross to go to college soon, and

another who has just started at Holy Cross, I would be able to help bring my experience and ideas to

ensure that all our students continue to receive the best education possible, and that we are always

looking to achieve our best, while maintaining our values.

Finally, I would like to thank you once again for taking the time to consider me to be a member of

the board of trustees.

Yours Sincerely

Paresh Patel

Craig Rofe

“Kia ora koutou katoa

Ko Craig Rofe taku ingoa (My name is Craig Rofe)

Ko Ngāti Rangi te iwi (My tribe is Ngāti Rangi)

We are a new family at Holy Cross with my daughter Māia in year one. We are really enjoying the school and how it values caring and serving others.

I am interested in a board position as I would like to give back to the school and feel I can contribute in some areas. I have had the opportunity of being on a primary school board before and in that time learnt many skills; financial literacy, conflict resolution, governance, ensuring good board/staff working relationships, monitoring and a whole bunch of other stuff

I was a teacher myself for over a decade and then trained teachers at Victoria University. In this time my appreciation for teachers, their dedication, their skill and hard work needs to be supported by an equally dedicated board. 

Ngā mihi

Craig"

Sarah Sinnott

I'm proud to be running for the Holy Cross Board of Trustees. I have two tamariki currently at the school - Marlon in Year 5 and Rory in Year 2. Our boys have had a wonderful time at Holy Cross and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to help develop the school into the future so more tamariki can have a great time at school. 

I've had Board experience as a past trustee of Kidz Corner childcare centre in Miramar, and have previously been an active member of the Parent Support Group.

Thank you for your support. 

Steven Skells

Kia ora, my name is Steven Skells and I would like to be part of the next Holy Cross Board of Trustees. I've been teaching at St Patrick's College in Kilbirnie for 13 years now and for the past several of those years as a House Leader. My experience in education could help support our wonderful staff through the trials and tribulations of our current covid climate. At the moment, my two son's attend Holy Cross. Henry is in year 3 and Austin is in year 5. Although my experience of working on boards is limited, I'd like to take this opportunity to give back to the community that has done an excellent job educating our sons in the Holy Cross WAY.  

Nga mihi,

Steven

We are participating in this tomorrow, Friday- children who wear a Onesie to school can bring a gold coin donation which will be collected in people’s classrooms and brought to prayers. Children might like to wear their sports uniform underneath so they are comfortable throughout the day.  

What is the Onesie Appeal?

Onesie Appeal is Wellington Free Ambulance’s biggest community fundraising event held in September each year.

It kicks off with Onesie Day on September 2 and runs through to the 9th. Onesie Day is focused on schools and businesses who wish to dress up in Onesies and show their support by making a donation.

Anyone can participate and donate to our Onesie Appeal - so don't worry if dressing up in a Onesie is not your thing!

We call it Onesie because we are the ONE’s (111) for Greater Wellington and Wairarapa, the only ambulance service in our region and the only ambulance service in New Zealand that is free.

Each year we aim to raise over $250,000 to support our services through this appeal. You can sign up, create your own fundraising page, get your friends, family, or workmates to support you, or simply make a donation. Whatever works for you.

We are very fortunate that schools across the region really get into the Onesie idea and encourage their students to wear a Onesie and bring a donation to school to support Wellington Free on Friday 2 September.

Whatever you choose to do, we are grateful for your support. Everything you raise or donate goes towards keeping our ambulance service free of charge for anyone who needs us.

The Board of Trustees will be conducting a review of our uniform. We are wanting to see if there is a need to change what students are currently wearing. This review process will take a period of time and we will keep you informed along the way of actions that will be taken. The first action is to have your say on a Google Form that will be emailed to you over the next couple of weeks. The more parents that indicate their thoughts, the clearer the Board of Trustees will be around what decisions need to be made. We are looking forward to getting your feedback.