Kia Ora, Ni Hao, Bula Vinaka, Malo e lelei, Kia Orana, Tālofa, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Bonjour, Xin Chao, and Kumusta Whānau,

Welcome to our third newsletter of of Term 1, 2026.

Community Dreaming Day 2026 – Thank you, thank you, thank you!
What a special day we had on Saturday – casting a reflective lens over our school vision, mission, values, dispositions and strategic goals. With Board, staff and community we numbered over 120 adults, fully engaged in sharing and giving voice to what is special about our school and what else we can do to continue to grow strength in our practices. I cannot thank our amazing teaching staff, who alongside our board members hosted the event, not to mention our dedicated PTA who took care of the food and drinks for both parents and children. We were so well supported by Sancta Maria College students, who worked alongside Mr Campbell, providing games on the field while the parents shared. Thank you all for your participation, engagement and thought that went into the sharing on Saturday – God is good and has blessed us with an amazing community! Very soon we will send out a summary of the content discussed, and the voice gathered with an invitation to those who were unable to make it on the day to also have their say and contribute to the way forward. Keep an eye out in your inbox in the next few weeks for this summary.

HPPA Cricket Competition Congratulations to our Year 5/6 cricket team, many of whom are brand new to the sport, who under Mr Campbell’s coaching participated in a two day cricket competition over the past two weeks. They pulled together as a team and did a great job of demonstrating their school values throughout the competition. See later in this newsletter for photos and details.

Senior Swimming Sports Tuesday saw our Year 4 to 6 students head to Lloyd Elsmore pools for our senior school swimming sports. A great experience was had by all, with some wonderful results. Huge thanks to Mrs Denise Bailey for her organisation and to Mrs Ailsa Thorpe who ran the event on the day. See later in the newsletter for the results.

Looking Ahead: Next Thursday, 19th March we have Parent, Teacher, Student Conferences between 2pm and 8pm. You will have received an email on Monday with instructions on how to book. If you have any questions regarding booking please phone the office. Formal teaching concludes at 1.50pm. Students are welcome to head home at 1.50pm. Students who cannot be collected will be supervised in the hall until our usual closing time of 2.45pm. Bizzy Bodz after school programme will run as usual. Mufti day on Friday 20th March is one of our Christian Outreach activities, supporting the Caring Foundation – wear home clothes to school and bring a gold coin. WOW (Walking or Wheels Week) is happening the week of March 23rd. Park away from school and walk down Oakridge Way to get a ‘click’ on your WOW ticket and be in the draw to win prizes. See Later in the newsletter for more details about fun activities that week, designed to raise awareness and support reducing traffic congestion around school. The HPPA Cultural Festival is confirmed for Wednesday 25th March at Sancta Maria Primary School from 6pm.

I wish you a safe and blessed fortnight ahead, until we next share news and updates from our beautiful school in our next school newsletter.

Arohanui, Zhù hǎo, ‘Ofa lahi atu,  Tōfa soifua, Cordialement, Loloma levu, Fakaue lahi, 안부 인사를 전합니다 , salamat po

Louise Campbell
Tumuaki/Principal

Encounter with Christ:
Lent is a special time when we reflect on Jesus’s journey and how we can grow closer to God. Each week, we can think about different ways to do this, like helping others, praying, or giving up something we enjoy for a while. As we travel through Lent, let’s remember that the destination isn’t just Easter Sunday, but a stronger connection with God and the joy of new beginnings.

The Stations of the Cross is a form of prayer used traditionally in Lent. Each of the 14 Stations retells part of Jesus’ Passion (his suffering and death) through images and words. The outdoor stations and boardwalk around the school are a wonderful resource for our school community. You are welcome to bring your family, extended family or prayer group to school over the weekends or after school to pray the stations together. Each Friday at 7pm during Lent in the parish church, the parish gathers to pray the Stations. Father Rob extends an invitation to each and everyone of you to do this as an extra spiritual exercise that we can stick to during Lent. Our school liturgy team will be leading the stations in our parish Church on Friday 27 March. Please come along and support them

Growth in Knowledge:
The Liturgy Team recently attended a Caritas Justice Chat.  Schools from around New Zealand joined the session. The aim was to inspire and support students to become active leaders of social justice, peace and change in their schools and to use the principles of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) in the process. Collectively, the students shared ways their schools promote CST giving inspiration to each other. The Liturgy team will use this opportunity to consider further outreach opportunities our school can be involved in this year. 

Christian Witness:

Our school Lenten Challenge of We Can Bring a Can continues through Lent. Every Thursday the Liturgy Team collects the donations from each classroom and works out how many families as a school we can feed. There are so many people in our immediate community and the wider area that are in desperate need of support. The foodbank requires in excess of 140 items of food per week. Donating items to the parish foodbank is a simple way of showing your children how to put their faith into action. 

The Catholic Caring Foundation provides funding for care and support of families/whānau and communities affected by poverty and hardship. Friday 20 March, we will be holding a Mufti Day fundraiser in support of the Foundation.Children may come to school in home clothes in exchange for a gold coin donation. 

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did to me.”
(Matthew 25:40). 

Do your children like to sing? Would you like them to serve God, grow in confidence and feel a strong sense of belonging in our parish? Bring them along to try our Parish Children’s Choir!  For more information contact Jennifer Maybee, 022 169 10130    [email protected]

“We are a Christ centred community
fostering belonging (whanaungatanga)
and outreach
through selfless giving (manaakitanga)
in Mary’s Way”.

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