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

‘It’s the final countdown’ as the group Europe sang.

I have begun attending the usual end of year celebrations and as the gentleman who was officiating at a service that I attended on Sunday said when you hear Christmas songs it tells you that Christmas is here.

It’s also a time of reflection and we at St Mary’s can reflect on a highly successful year.
It seems a long time ago, but our visit from the Education Review Office team was very positive and
complimentary.  They identified the excellent education that pupils receive at St Mary’s and this was
further born out by our excellent National Standards results.  Few schools would have produced the
excellent results that we have. 

Our mid season musical was also highly successful and it along with our excellent choir and brilliant Kapa Haka group shows that we are able to offer breadth as well as depth in our curriculum.

Our pupils have once again achieved some excellent results.  Some highlights that I would like to mention are the winning intermediate relay team and the senior boys basketball teams, where one team won the round robin and one team won the final—so St Mary’s was first and second in the grade.  Also the Year 7/8 and Year 5/6 Netball teams were also very successful winning their grades.  A great effort!

 

Now we see our new school rising up rapidly and so much of my time seems to be spent on coordinating aspects of this.  But as I see on each site meeting we are going to truly have a venue that is new and modern and helps to support our teachers and learners.

 

I would like to finish by saying a huge thank you to all of the people who help make our school a huge success: The BOT and especially the Chair, Donald Mitchell, few people realize the time and effort that he puts in and especially the key role that he plays with regards to the shift.

The PTA capably lead by Jacqui Dodson, do so much more than raise money (and they do this very well) but they also help to give our school a real sense of community.

To all of the parents who help in so many ways, by either coaching or managing teams, going on trips or camps, helping in class or just being supportive, to you all I say have a Merry and Holy Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

 

Have a great holiday—Mike Brosnahan