Newsletter Week Four Term Four
29th October 2025
Principal's Message
NEWSLETTER WEEK 4 TERM 4 2025
Long weekends are great. I hope you were able to have some downtime with your family.
I really enjoyed the Interhouse Haka, Pepeha and Waiata competition on Friday. It is great to see our students putting their heart and soul into the competition. Whakaue House won the competition, and Mill Hill was runner-up.
We had a group of Chess players playing in the National Tournament in Auckland. Thanks, Mr G, for preparing the students for this competition and accompanying them in Auckland.
There is a measles outbreak in New Zealand, and it is spreading. The advice is that we identify staff who have been vaccinated and those who have not. We are updating our measles register, and you may be contacted to verify whether your child has had their vaccinations.
The PTA are organising their final Disco for the year. The date is Thursday, 6th November, and all our students are invited to attend.
We have a Teachers’ Only Day on Monday, 10th November. There will be no school for children on this day. If you require after-school care, you can ring Aidan from A-Z Kids’ Club (Glenholme Afterschool Care). Aidan’s contact number is 347 0709 or 021 1215599
GRANDPARENTS/GRANDFRIENDS MASS: Friday, November 14th at 9.00 am
Join us for Mass. We would love to see as many grandparents and grandfriends as possible there with us.
ATHLETICS FOR YEARS 4 TO 6
Interhouse Athletics Day 2025. Our annual Athletics Day for years 4 to 6 students will take place on Wednesday,19th November.
Have a great week.
David.
TERM 4:
Friday 7th November Legends of the Peak
Monday 10th November Teacher Only Day
Friday 14th November Grandparents' Day
Wed 19th November Athletics Day for Totara Team
Thursday, 20 November Celebration of Learning
Friday 21st November JPC Orientation Day for Year 6 students
Nov 28th Ahurei; Senior and Junior kapa haka perform.
Friday 28th November Year 6 Retreat and Year 5 Leadership Day
Tuesday 2nd December Year 6 Big Day In
Wed 3rd December Kakano team Big Day In and Totara team picnic
Friday 5th December End of Year Mass
Monday 8th December School Prizegiving
Thursday, 11th December, Missioning of our Year 6 students and the last day of school
PTA Fundraiser – St Mary’s Towels
This term, our wonderful PTA is running a fun fundraiser! You can order a special towel with the St Mary’s logo and your child’s name on it.
Each towel costs $35, and they’re perfect for school swimming or as a Christmas gift.
To order, please fill out the order form. Remember, you’ll need to complete a separate form for each towel you’d like to buy.
Thanks for supporting our PTA – we can’t wait to see everyone’s St Mary’s towels!
Sample of towel in the school office.
Director of Religious Studies
On Sunday, I had the privilege of attending the Baptism of 5 of our students. Baptism welcomes us into the Catholic Church. It’s like joining a big family of people who believe in God and follow Jesus. Congratulations to Bianca Hunt, Matilda Burton, Alice Burton, Safari Kadzungura, and Sanaa Kadzungura.
This Thursday, October 30th, we will be holding an All Saints and All Souls Liturgy at 12:15 pm. If you would like us to pray for or remember a relative or someone special who has passed away, please write their name on a piece of paper and bring it to your child's class. We will say prayers for all departed souls at our Liturgy.
You are most welcome to join us.
On Friday, 31st October, some of our students will be helping to lead the Rosary with our parish from 8:30 am. You are most welcome to come along and join us for Mass too.
On Friday, 14th November, we will be celebrating Grandparents Day, starting with a Mass at 9 am. Everyone is warmly welcomed to come along.
I hope you have a wonderful week.
God bless
Lorna Dobson DRS
Summer sport & other tournaments information is up on the website. Good luck to all participating in a sports this term. Please remember our values and fair play.
Girls Golf Fluro 2025
Event Details: Girls Golf Fluro Fun day
Where: Springfield Golf Club
Date: Wednesday 26th November
Cost: $5 Per Student
Cricket
Super Smash Cricket (for years 0-3)
$30 Term 4 (6week program)
3.45pm-4.45pm at Smallbone Park on Thursdays each term.
Term 4 Touch Rugby
Registrations are closed, see office if you would like to be put in a team.
We are looking for more Year 3/4 players
More information is on our website.
SPORTS PHOTOS
Please keep sending in and taking photos of our children playing sports. We love to see them and they all get used for the magazine pages at the end of the year. Please send to schooloffice@stmarysrotorua.school.nz
St Vincent de Paul Society AGM
The AGM of the St Vincent de Paul Society will be held after the 10 am Mass at St Mary’s on 2 November. We warmly invite Parishioners and others interested in Social Justice to attend. You may be an observer, or someone interested in helping in small ways with the mahi this small group does in our community, largely unseen. In these challenging times we remember our founder’s words, “Let us do without hesitation whatever lies in our hands.” We support our community in many ways, such as helping with power bills, food parcels, visits and much more.
We are looking to expand our group as the need is ever growing. Also, if you are aware of anyone needing our help, feel free to contact us.
Veronica Aislabie
Treasurer
Lunch Online
We're pleased to announce that Lunch Online now has a QR code that allows families to quickly and easily create an account. This will provide a convenient way for new families to get started with their service.
