Newsletter Week One Term One

NEWSLETTER WEEK 1 TERM 1 2026

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to all our families and children. I hope you all had a lovely holiday break with your families. It is great to see our children returning to school rested and ready for a new year of learning. Thanks to our fantastic staff, who have been working hard over the holidays to prepare for our students' return. I am looking forward to an exciting year.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Lewis family as they grieve the loss of their mother, mother-in-law and Granna, Sue Knowles. Sue lost her life in the landslide tragedy that hit the Mt Maunganui Campsite during the holidays. Sue’s grandchildren attend our school.

On Friday, it is Waitangi Day. It is a great day to spend time with whanau and acknowledge the significance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi for Aotearoa New Zealand. There is no school on Friday as it is a public holiday.

It was so good to have the two Korero Mai days last week, during which you and your child could meet this year’s teacher, update your records, download apps, meet oral health people, and register for this term’s sports teams. Thank you for supporting this.

Welcome to our new staff member, Stacey, who is working at St Mary’s as a counsellor for two days a week. I am sure you will make her feel very welcome.

A special welcome to our 33 new children and their families. It is great to have you join our large St Mary’s family, and I hope you find your time with us rewarding.

We have our ‘start of the year’ Mass next FRIDAY, 13th FEBRUARY, and we will celebrate this in our Parish Church, St Mary’s, at 9.00 am. You are very welcome to join us for Mass.

Campbell Wright, a former student of ours, is competing for the USA team at the Winter Olympics for gold later this month. We wish him all the best in his events.

I am sure children read many books over the holidays, and we will have our lucky log draw soon. If you have been reading stories to your child, that counts too. Just write the story on the holiday log and all the other reading activities they achieved over the holidays. Please continue to support your child/children's reading at home.

Summer sports will be starting soon. If you want your child to play, please register THIS WEEK. Registration forms are on our school website. Sports offered are touch, cricket, netball, futsal, gymnastics, roller skating, indoor bowls and golf.

Our Gala Day is on Friday, March 6th. Our PTA is in full-organisation mode and is seeking businesses to sponsor prizes, activities, goods, or donations for the event. Our Gala is a great community event, and we would appreciate your support. A letter from the PTA on ways to help will be sent home shortly.

We are organising the roster for cooking sausages for the children’s Sausage Sizzle every Friday. We also need volunteers to help with the School Uniform Shop. The commitment is half an hour once a week. Please let Shanelle know in the office if you can assist us with this. Hopefully, we can get many people to help so we can put a roster together, so it doesn’t become a huge commitment.

Have a fabulous week. Please have your children at school on time, and if they need to be absent, please ring the school office.

David Macmillan, Principal.

TERM 1 DATES:

6th February, Friday, Waitangi Day. (Public Holiday)

13th February, Friday, Start of Year Mass 9am

18th February, Wednesday, Ash Wednesday Liturgy

19th February, Thursday, Commissioning Mass Rotorua

23rd to 27th February, Years 5 and 6 Camp

6th March, Friday, Gala Day

11th March, Wednesday, School Swimming Sports Year 4-6 only

17th March, Tuesday, Maths Whizz visits classrooms

20th March, Friday, St Joseph’s School Mass

1st April, Wednesday, CBOP Swimming Sports

2nd April, Thursday, School Holidays start. Easter takes place during the holidays.

Have a fantastic week.

Tomorrow we will be holding a Waitangi Liturgy, hosted by Totara 3 and Totara 6. You are warmly invited to join us in the hall at 12:15 pm.

Next Friday, 13th February, we will celebrate our Opening School Mass at 9:00 am. Please join us if you are able.

Wednesday, 18th February marks the beginning of Lent. We will gather in the church for a Liturgy where ashes will be administered, helping us to understand and reflect on the beginning of this special season in the Church calendar.

This year, our school theme is “The Dignity of All People.” This learning reflects the Catholic belief that every person is created in the image and likeness of God. Through this focus, we aim to help our students understand that everyone is valued by God and deserves to be treated with love, respect, and kindness. We also encourage our children to be curious, open-hearted, and respectful of the rich diversity in culture, language, traditions, and family life within our community.

Have a wonderful week.

Lorna Dobson

DRS