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

Welcome back for Term Two, a term that is eleven weeks long and promises to be very busy.

I hope that everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable break.

Easter is a time for reflection and a chance to think about what is our next step going forward.

In the Bible in the Gospel of St Luke 6:31 Jesus says "Do to others as you would have them do to you". This is the golden rule. A similar ideal is prevalent in all major religions. The idea of be-ing empathetic, feeling what other people feel. Our school-wide focus for this term is going to be

living the golden rule. Treating others as you would like to be treated.

To support us in this focus I would ask that at home you talk to your children about the golden rule—what it means, and how we can live it.

The world would be a much better place if we all lived by this rule.. A big part is only talking to or about people as you would like to be talked to or about.

To ensure that our children live the "golden rule" we need to model it for them.

As John Lennon said "imagine" - imagine what the world would be like if we all lived by only

doing to others what we would like being done to us.

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan

Principal






Ea

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

Welcome back for Term Two, a term that is eleven weeks long and promises to be very busy.

I hope that everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable break.

Easter is a time for reflection and a chance to think about what is our next step going forward.

In the Bible in the Gospel of St Luke 6:31 Jesus says "Do to others as you would have them do to you". This is the golden rule. A similar ideal is prevalent in all major religions. The idea of be-ing empathetic, feeling what other people feel. Our school-wide focus for this term is going to be

living the golden rule. Treating others as you would like to be treated.

To support us in this focus I would ask that at home you talk to your children about the golden rule—what it means, and how we can live it.

The world would be a much better place if we all lived by this rule.. A big part is only talking to or about people as you would like to be talked to or about.

To ensure that our children live the "golden rule" we need to model it for them.

As John Lennon said "imagine" - imagine what the world would be like if we all lived by only

doing to others what we would like being done to us.

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan

Principal






Easter

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

As we approach the end of the period of lent and move into Easter it is important to remember that we are in the middle of "Holy week". For Jesus this was a week of huge changes: he was welcomed by a cheering crowd into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and less than a week later he was betrayed, humiliated, tortured, was deserted and died.

The message is that life is full of high and lows, we must enjoy the highs but also prepare our-selves for the lows. The Easter message of overcoming (extreme) adversity is one that we can all focus on for at the end Jesus rises and shows us that death is not the end.

Later in the week we will be holding our Easter Liturgy and the children will be presenting these ideas. As you take time over the Easter period and the subsequent two weeks of holiday please remember to talk to your children about the fact that it is darkest before the dawn and that when things don’t seem to be going your way they may be just about to change for the better. Jesus was an inspiration who we can all admire but I think that it is key to remember for some people what to us may be small, is, to them huge.

We all have our dragons to battle and overcome. As Bruce Lee said ‘a life lived in fear is a life only half lived’.

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan

Principal

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

Last week we held the AGM for the School PTA (Parent Teachers Association). I spoke at the AGM thanking the PTA for all that they do for our school. Along side the amazing job that they do as

Fundraisers, they also organise and facilitate a huge range of social events including our school disco, new parents morning teas, after Mass morning teas, and the school Fair to name a few.

I would like to thank: Sharon Wilson, Kellea Williams, Steven Alexander, Antoinette O’Brien and Rachel Morris all of whom stepped down from the PTA at the AGM, for all of their service over a number of years.

Congratulations to Jacqui Hyde (President) Julie Farr (Secretary) and Alison O’Neill (Treasurer) who all have been re-elected in their key roles for another year. Also welcome and thank you to all of the new members.

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan

Principal

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

What a great morning Sunday was. We had a very good turn out of pupils attending the Mass. The input of the pupils into the service was brilliant and when the children are so actively involved, I believe we see the future of the church in action. So well done to all of the pupils who fulfilled a role or who helped simply by their participation and singing.

The morning tea and games was also very successful. It is a great time to ‘catch up’ and the time and effort that was put in by Jacqui, Antoinette, Fiona and their team was greatly appreciated.

The new parents morning tea that was also organised by the PTA was also another excellent way for our new and soon to be new parents to meet people in a similar situation and to network.

So a huge thank you to our brilliant PTA and all of the great work that you do.

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan

Principal






Room

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

I was thrilled to see in the paper yesterday so many of our pupils pictured taking part in the Weetbix kids triathlon.

It is always great to see events where families can get together and support each other in a challenging, healthy and life affirming way.

We have so many events that are based around schools, clubs and representative teams that it is great to see an event where children can see their parents in a leadership and support role.

This Sunday is the PTA morning tea and games event, after family Mass.

This is a new event and one that promises to be a lot of fun, so please try to be there.

Over the next few weeks the children in the middle and senior school will be taking part in our annual PAT testing programme. This process gives us excellent information on where your child is with regards their learning, and what we and you can do to facilitate their future learning. As with all things we achieve

better results when we work together.

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan

Principal

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Friends of St Mary’s School,
This week we have been blessed with a number of our pupils achieving excellent results in a range of activities:

Devon Scott has been selected in the Dunedin Metropolitan Gold Cricket Team. They played Southland on Sunday and he scored 17 not out.

Gracin Fraser and Sam O’Neill where re-selected in to Metropolitan teams for the third year. Congratulations to all these boys.

Pyper Johnson has been selected to represent Otago in athletics in the national

interprovincial competition.

Aarnika Bungard donated her hair to the cancer society to be made into wigs.

This is an act of selfless service to people in a challenging and vulnerable time of their lives. Acts of giving like this is the Christian message that we should all aspire to live by.

Thank you Aarnika.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Lent, like Advent is a time of prayer-ful reflection and a time to refocus. In this hyper busy world that we live in the challenge is often to allow ourselves ‘time out’ to refocus on what really is important.

Sometime it is a case of "the less haste, the more speed".

Have a great week.
Mike Brosnahan

Principal






Whanau