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

The sky is grey, the nights seem to be getting longer, the Highlanders are playing (and winning) so it must be Autumn.One of the best parts of my job is talking to parents who are coming to look at our school as a prospective school for their child.

The questions that I am asked are almost always about how we can cater for their child overall or their holistic needs. They ask about our school Catholic Special Character and Christian values—especially the Whanau system. They ask about the opportunities we offer in the arts, sports and outdoor education and they check how well resourced we are in all areas but especially in technology.

Parents ask about all aspects of our school’s curriculum but ultimately what we as parents want is for our children to be happy and content citizens, for some people like Bear Grylls a constant extreme challenge is needed but most of us rather enjoy a mix of achievable challenges and time when we can relax.

We are all different with different needs and aspirations. At St Mary’s we keep the individual needs of our pupils foremost in our minds when we develop our school curriculum.

Next week we will welcome into our school Suzanne Lewis and Christina Gold from the Education Review Office.

Have a great week,

Mike Brosnahan.