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

Recently I began rereading an old favourite novel of mine Charles Dickens "A Tale of Two Cities".

It is the famous opening lines that always catch my attention

"They were the best of times, they were the worst of times…" It is a novel that deals with themes of social justice, self sacrifice and resurrection (of the spirit).

It is a work that also deals with the idea of perceptions and the concept that while for some people times may be great for others they are terrible.

The resurrection of Sydney Carton in the novel focuses on our ability to value something not by what we (personally) may gain from it but rather if something is right.

This is something that we need to teach our children, for in this day of being told to place their own

interests above all else, the concept that we may need to sacrifice something for others with no personal gain is not easy for them to grasp.

It is a difficult concept for children to grasp, yet, we as New Zealanders love team sport and team sport is about giving up personal gain for the greater glory.

As a Catholic school we obviously bear testament to the Jesus’s resurrection and the ultimate example of someone making a sacrifice for the greater good.

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan






 

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

One of the key conflicts that continually happens in the world is that of tradition versus innovation.

Tradition is obviously continuing to do something because we have always done it that way. Innovation is when we change something to improve it. Tradition is saying if it isn’t broken then don’t fix it, but also we are strong because we know what is to be done and what is required of us. Innovation is saying things may be working OK but they could be better.

I read a story yesterday about how quickly photography changed due to digital cameras. Some of you will remember well the old 24 or 36 exposure rolls of film. The button was never pushed on a photo until it was perfect because it was one less photo that could be taken and one more development to be paid for. Now with digital cameras, you take as many photos as you like and then decide which, if any that you would like to print.

In a short period of time: selling cameras, films and developing films became a very restricted industry, Was there anything wrong with the old way of taking photos? I would say no, but I think that all photo takers would say the new way was better.

None of us can see the future, none of us know what the world would look like in a year let alone ten years.

All we can do as parents and teachers is to prepare our pupils the best that we can so that they may face the future with confidence.

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan






Golf Lessons

With

Melanie

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

As this is the last newsletter for the term, it is a good time to thank all of the people who have helped us to enjoy such a successful and busy term. To all of the wonderful supporters who help on outings and camps, coaching, attended meetings, serve on committees, and help out in the classrooms, thank you for giving up your time and energy to support our school.
Road Safety


Road and traffic safety especially at the end of the day continues to be a major concern. We still have people: leaving their vehicles in the drop off zone between 2.30pm and 3.30pm, people driving too fast on the school driveway, people double parking, parking in mobility areas (when they are not entitled to) or parking in no parking areas. As a one off these things may not seem a big deal but we need to remember that we are a school and that young children are impulsive and don’t always think before they act, so we need to err on the side of extreme caution to ensure that all of our pupils stay safe.

One accident is one too many and one that will effect all involved for the rest of their lives. So please while it may slightly add to your pick up time, obey the rules as mentioned above.

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan

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

What an exciting week last week was. The visit from four of the Highlanders rugby team was very popular and the four players: Marty Banks, Gareth Evans, Greg Pleasants-Tate, and Malakai Fekitoa were great ambassadors for their team and sport.

Perhaps the highlight was when asked who he looked up to when he was younger Malakai Fekitoa said his father. He then went onto say all that his father had done for him. It was great for the pupils to hear a role model of theirs being very humble, and noting how much someone in a role that we often take for granted, has done for him.

As a friend of mine pointed out on Saturday, cricket finished two weeks ago and rugby starts today—indeed a number of winter codes have started.

Speaking as a parent who has been (and still is) heavily involved in children's sport it is a good time to

reflect on just who the sport is for and how important that it is in the greater scheme. I have witnessed a parent who became so obsessed with his sons success and promotion in a sport that he behaved so badly towards coaches and selectors that his son was never selected in teams that he should have made. It was the ultimate example of cutting off his nose to spite his face, and his son lost out.

I was at a representative managers debriefing a couple of years ago and the high performance coach in this code (and probably one of the regions top coaches) said that he saw all teams were developmental up to the under 18 grade. That means it’s about developing skills, having fun, and learning to be a part of a group right through Primary and Secondary.

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan






The Highlanders

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

As we begin ‘Holy Week’ and move through the end of Lent and into the season of Easter, it is a good time to focus on how the ideas of Christianity are visible in our modern world.

Each time we come into contact with other people we need to think of some of those important themes that Jesus spoke of: the ‘golden rule’ (do to others as you would have them do to you); let he who is with-out sin cast the first stone, and to learn that forgiveness is a key to moving on for both the sinner and the sinned against.

If we can apply these ideas into our lives we will become for more optimist and happier in our own lives. We will develop far more positive relationships with others and people will see us in a more positive light.

To really attempt to live a life close to Jesus we need apply all of these. Key thoughts all of the time and not just to pick out the bits we want to apply.

Treat other people as you want them to treat you, don’t hurt other people even if you think they have done wrong and to genuinely forgive people who do thing that hurt us.

If we do this then we don’t waste our time and energy on things that we really can’t change. But rather we change how we react to these things, in a positive way.

So as you celebrate Easter it is a great time to reflect on how the Christian message can help us to lead happier lives.

Have a happy and a holy Easter.

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan

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

Last week I was looking through some old files and I found a photograph of a class of children that I taught in London. The children in the photo were all aged about eight at the time.

Incidentally I was speaking to a friend who had also taught at the school at about the same time. We were talking about some of the pupils in the class and she said that she had heard that one of the boys in the class had joined the British army. This is not a boy who you would expect to be a soldier. When I googled this boys name a sheet came up from the British Military saying that this officer had been killed while on active duty in Afghanistan. The article was in the form of an obituary and it spoke in some depth of his schooling, his tertiary studies, his travel and his career in journalism and in the army.

Tragically he was only 27 years old when he was killed while on an infantry patrol by a roadside bomb.

He was obviously a young man who had achieved a great deal during his short life and judging by the

tributes that were paid to him he affected a great number of people in a very positive way.

Paul, as this was the boys name, led a life crammed full of action and achieved more in his short life than many do who live to be a hundred. He was born into a life of some privilege but rather than be content to live a comfortable life in this setting he challenged himself in many ways.

As a teacher, that is one of the attributes that we would like all of our pupils to possess; the confidence to challenge ones self and to become truly life long learners.

Lieutenant Paul Mervis

2nd Battalion, The Rifles

Born London 30/09/1981

Died Sangin Afghanistan 12/6/2003

RIP

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan

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

During the last two days of last week Mrs Dillon and I were at the Diocese Principals and DRS

conference. This was a very informative couple of days lead by Brendan Spillane. One key message that came out of the conference was to remember to celebrate success.

In this busy world it is always so easy to focus solely on the negative, the glass is half empty, but the glass is also half full.

In life it’s not how we deal with our successes that part is usually easy but rather what we want to teach our children, is how we deal with the times that we don’t get the result we desire.

When we aren’t selected in a team, how do we react.

My daughter Grace has enjoyed a lot of success in her sporting endeavours, but the time I believe that she gained the most as a person from sport was a time when she didn’t get selected into a team that she trialled for. She on missing selection, had two options: suck in her pride and aim to be the best player in the B Team or throw her toys out of the cot and refuse to play for the lower team. She chose I am pleased to say, option A. She was the team MVP and has gone on to enjoy a lot of success. But the key lesson was she celebrated being in a team, being a leader, being well coached and winning. She didn’t focus on the negative.

Our school National standard results are a huge source of pride for us so this week to help us celebrate successes I have included them for you also to also share in this success.

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan
National Standards Data Summary

Year	Writing	Reading	Maths
2014 – Whole School National Average	80% 71.1%	86.9% 78%	79.2% 75.2%
2015 – Whole School	81.8%	89.2%	82.6%