Tuesday, July 30, 2013


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


 Welcome back for term three, as I write this July is almost over and we are beginning to see the end of winter.


This term is going to be another busy time with a number of sports afternoons, class Masses and the continuation of the sacramental programme.  We also have groups of senior pupils taking part in the Stars on Stage dance performance and the Catholic Schools Choir.


At St Mary’s we pride ourselves on giving our pupils a wide range of opportunities to enable us to do this we rely heavily on parental support.  I would like thank all of those parents who give up their time to support us, thank you.


 


One of the highlights of my position is meeting with Principals of schools that our children move to at the end of Year Eight.  Our pupils universally move into Year Nine seamlessly and judging by the feedback that I have from the high schools that our pupils go to, they achieve great things.  A full primary education ensures that our pupils are fully prepared for their move to secondary school in Year Nine (the old Third Form).  We will be holding an information evening for our senior class soon (date to be confirmed) so that the parents of pupils in Year Five and Six can appreciate fully the opportunities that our pupils get in Year Seven and Eight at St Mary’s.


Have a great week.


Mike Brosnahan


Principal


 

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Friends of St Mary’s School,
Yesterday I had the privilege of attending our annual inter-school sports competition with St Josephs from
Oamaru. This is the fourth year that this event has been held and again from the point of view of sports-man ship and participation, it was a great success. The first time the event was held we lost the rubber
3-2. The deciding event was the girls B netball which we lost 8-9. Then over the following two years we
struggled for success winning only the occasional game. Yesterday, however was a revelation. We
narrowly lost the B basketball but then won the A basketball and football by large margins and a great
team effort in the rugby ensured that we would win the challenge shield for the first time.
Then the netball girls put on a brave effort against much larger athletes and never gave in. The after
match afternoon and prize giving was a nice occasion and was a great chance for the competitors to
mingle.
The success that we enjoyed was due to the hard work put in by our teams and their coaches before
hand, so I would like to officially thank Simone Reynolds, Ray Kelly, John Hyde, John Peita (who also refereed the rugby) Jane Abernethy, Stacey Peita and also Mrs Matheson for preparing the teams. Also I’d
like to thank all of the parents who helped to ensure the success of the event by their behind the scenes
support. But especially I’d like to thank Mrs Baines for her stewardship and organisational skills that
ensured the successes of the whole day.
As this is the ;last week of the term I wish you all a great break and look forward to seeing you back next
term.
Have a great week.
Mike Brosnahan
Principal