Newsletter Week Three Term Four

Principal's Message

NEWSLETTER WEEK 3 TERM 4 2025

The NZEI Union has formally notified us that its members will be taking strike action on Thursday, 23rd October, which is tomorrow. On the day of the strike action, a large number of our staff who are union members are expected to strike, so we cannot adequately staff the school on this day. For this reason, the School Board has closed the school for instruction, so we ask families to please make alternative arrangements for your children. We know that this may cause disruption, and we appreciate your understanding and support.

The fire alarms blared away on Friday, before school, and I was very impressed with the way children automatically walked calmly to the evacuation area at the end of the field. Incidentally, it was burnt toast that triggered the alarm.

Students from Kakano 10, 11, and 12, and Totara 6, 7, and 8 are working with the Education Team at the Rotorua Museum and will be visiting the library this week and next. Their focus has been on Art..

Students are enjoying watching chicks hatching in Kakano 1. There is a lot of excitement as students watch the eggs moving and chicks pecking their way out of their shells. The chicks now have lots of little uncles and aunts.

The PTA has their meeting tonight (22nd October) at 7.00 pm in the staffroom. You are all welcome to come along and see what they are doing.

We have received the sad news (for us) that Ray - Mr G, will be finishing at the end of the year and moving to Christchurch to be closer to his family. Ray wants to ensure that the great work he is doing at our school continues in the future. If anyone can help coordinate the Golf, Chess, or Indoor bowls, please let Ray or Shanelle in the school office know. There will be a chance to farewell Mr G at the end of the term.

Have a wonderful week

David

TEACHER ONLY DAY

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.

TERM 4:

Thursday 23rd October. School Closed Strike

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.

TBC: Year 6 Retreat and Year 5 Leadership Day (Have to reschedule due to the retreat being on the same day as the Ahurei. Date to be confirmed)

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

We warmly welcome all levels of involvement with the PTA — every bit helps strengthen our school

community and it truly is a great team to be a part of. If you're interested in getting involved or learning more, don’t hesitate to reach out!

The PTA are looking for 4 more volunteers to join our dedicated team who run the weekly sausage sizzle. If you're able to give 2 hours of your time between 11.15 - 1.15 on Fridays, we would love to hear from you. Please contact the school office.

Next Meeting: 22 October 2025 at 7pm in the Staffroom at school or

contact: stmaryspta@stmarysrotorua.school.nz

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.

https://forms.gle/AKB6bD6TYDLZLTbM7

Director of Religious Studies

Today is the feast day of Pope John Paul II. He was the first non-Italian pope for 455 years. He served as Pope from 1978 to 2005. He was one of the most influential religious leaders of the 20th century. During his 26 years as pope one of the longest times anyone has served he worked to make the Catholic Church stronger around the world. In 1993, he asserted, “Do not be afraid to go out on the streets and into public places, like the first Apostles who preached Christ and the good news of salvation.” This reflects his encouragement for Catholics to share their faith boldly and help the Church reach people across the world.

He encouraged peace and understanding between different religions, such as Judaism and Islam, and spoke often about the importance of respecting human life and good moral values. Despite his declining health in later years, he continued to serve actively until his death in 2005. He was canonized as a saint in 2014 by Pope Francis.

Next week on Thursday, 30th October, we will be having 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 then write their name down on a piece of paper and bring it into your child's class. We will say prayers for all departed souls at our Liturgy.

You are most welcome to join us.

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

Year 6 JPC Orientation Day

We have our annual Y6 Orientation Day. Here are the details

- Friday 21st November.

- Start at 10:45am

- Wear your regular school uniform.

- Bring your lunch and drink bottle.

- Bring a hat

- Meet Mrs. Fraser, the Y7 Dean, in the Edmund Rice Centre (the school gym).

- We're all finished at 2:30pm ready for parents to come collect (from inside the gym).

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

Click here to register

Cricket

Super Smash Cricket (for years 0-3)

$30 Term 4 (6week program)

3.45pm-4.45pm at Smallbone Park on Thursdays each term.

Click here to register

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

Lucky Books

Lucky book orders due back 24 October 12 noon, no late orders please. Please ensure that your

child’s name and classroom number are on the order form otherwise the order will remain in the

office. There are 2 ways of paying either 1) through the loop system which is on web page LUCKY

Book Club | Scholastic New Zealand and selecting the parent’s tab, or 2) paying cash and sending the

money and order form to the school office. If the order is a gift, then please mark this clearly and

you will be contacted to collect the order from the office.

Lucky books donate the school 15% of the total amount spent to purchase extra books or on

classroom resources.

There is a promotion with this issue to get up to 3 free books, which is only available to parents

using the LOOP system to order and pay, and can only be used once per customer. The LOOP system

will direct you to the selection of free books to choose from.

1 free book when $25 is spent

2 free books when $50 is spent

3 free books when $75 is spent

This is the last book order for the year

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

Please drop any old, unwanted or broken phones into our collection box in the school office. We receive apple dollars for every phone collected.

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.