Dear Parents, Caregivers and Friends of St Mary’s School,

We are into Week Two already and it’s hard to believe how fast Week One disappeared. We have a number of beginning of the year occasions coming up this week.

On Wednesday evening we have our class information night. The purpose of the evening is to allow your child’s teacher to outline to you how they will organize their class for the year, the topics that they will be teaching and their expectations for the year.

Please remember that the expectation is that the teacher will be presenting general information, if you wish to discuss any personal or specific matters relating to your child then please make an appointment to meet your child’s teacher at another time.

On Friday we hold our beginning of the year Mass and Whanau day. The Mass will be held at 9.15am at St Mary’s Church and at 12.30 the pupils will have a picnic lunch (they bring their own lunch) at Brooklands Park (the Rec across the road), followed by an afternoon of fun games starting at 1.15pm. We will have a wet weather back up plan if required. Parents are most welcome to come and support the pupils.

Our Whanau programme is a vital component of our school as it allows our senior pupils to act as leaders and to develop the necessary skills.

These skills will be with them for the rest of their lives. It also allows our younger people to work as part of a group, larger than a family but smaller than a school and set the framework that allows them to aspire to a leadership role.

Have a great week,

Mike Brosnahan.