Dear God,

You come to us in Jesus who teaches us that the way to happiness is through our love for one another.

Watch over the teachers, students and families of Sacred Heart Cathedral School as we try to be faithful to this teaching.

Help us to be a welcoming and joyful community, so that others may come to know your love and peace.

We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord,

Amen.

Kia ora koutou katoa,

A special welcome to Owen, who started school in Room 1 today. Owen you are going to have a wonderful time at Sacred Heart Cathedral School and will make life long friends.

Thank you so much for your generosity last Friday.  Our student council were outstanding being "Santa's little helpers".  The Christmas baskets are a treat for all.  Extra tickets are available at the office if you would like to sell extras.  We have also given the Parish two baskets to raffle as well for part of the Cathedral fundraising project.

A big win at Touch Rugby 12-1 over South Wellington Intermediate.  Well done to all who played a great team effort.

Congratulations to all students who represented our school at the E-Pro 8 challenge at Queen Margaret College.  Our students all learnt so much about themselves and working in a team situation.

As we learn to live with the implications of COVID we are moving into a time period that is likely to have long-term requirements to keep our children and each other safe. You will no doubt have heard through the media that schools throughout the country are required to implement the mandatory vaccination legislation that was brought into law last month.

Basically, anyone working in a school, or with or around children at the school - staff, contractors, parent volunteers etc  - this extends to people such as camp helpers, parents offering transport, supporting sports events, volunteers in the school space such as library, and helpers in the classroom.  From 15 November, it is a legal requirement for every adult visiting a school to have had at least one vaccine shot.  If you want to continue to be a volunteer helper, you will need to present your vaccine proof into the office.  We will enter your details into our vaccine database and when you visit we will issue you with an ID to wear when you are at school or on the trip (Sacred Heart Cathedral School volunteer).  Please also note that you are also required to wear a face covering when visiting school.

A reminder that if your child is unwell, they must stay home until they are better.  If they are unwell at school, we will call and ask you to collect them.

"Life is precious."  During November, we remember those who have passed.  May our loved ones all rest in peace.

Arohanui,

Bernadette Murfitt

Principal

Sacred Heart Cathedral School

By The SHCS Warriors (Charlotte, Iliana, Aloema and Maddie)

After weeks of preparation the day came.  The day of the Epro8 competition, our nerves and stress levels were rising as we began to think of what was to come.  Our team was ready and prepared, although nerves were high we were pumped to start the competition and show off our newfound skills.  As our two school teams were walking over we started to revise our strategies and talk about ways to stay calm under immense pressure and we all know that if you're not calm your team will just collapse under the pressure.

We arrived at Queen Margaret College and looked around.  Jokes were made and we found our nerves were starting to subside.  We looked around at the other teams and realised that this competition would be grueling.

The minutes were counting down, and we were about to start.  Our hands were shaking and our mind set was clear.  Win, win, win. 3...2...1.. BEGIN!

We watched as the other teams began building their challenges, Charlotte (Team Captain) and Maddie (Engineer) were exchanging ideas.  This lasted around 5 minutes before we decided on going with the Netball Hoop challenge.

The boys team across from us were doing very well! From the beginning, we knew that they had a good shot at winning!

We soon realized, after starting, that our strategies were not working, we had to throw everything we thought would happen, out the window.  We found ourselves glancing at the other teams and watching painfully as we slipped behind.  Everytime we heard the blaring music signalling that a team was about to get more points, our motivation was slipping from our grasp.  We had severely underestimated the difficulties of Epro8.  Finally, we had finished the first section of our challenge or so we thought the judge came over and we were doing a little victory dance as the music was blaring.  He came over and measured and the measurements were all wrong. We were officially last.  We saw the team beside us who were doing the same challenge receive points.  So we decided to pick up the pace and not lose any more motivation.  YES!  We all exclaimed all the measurements were correct and we pushed the button as hard as we could and we were right. We moved up to 4th place then we got started on the next challenge and we finished it so quickly. What we needed to do was to get a balloon to float using the electronics and fans. We were on a roll and more points were floating in.  Then we finished the section after. Our work space was tidy and we were doing so well.

Near the end, there was an opportunity that if we had a clean workspace, we would get points!  We went from 80 points to 180 within minutes! Life was good, we were happy and our motivation was climbing back up into our grasps. We found ourselves in third place not long after, we had racked up 240 points! With 10 minutes left on the clock, we could win this thing! We were building our second to last challenge and we were struggling  but this challenge was worth 60 points and we could not skip this challenge.  We blew a fuse. Tensions were high and we started to snap at each other.

 The judge came towards us, a stern look on his face. He checked our structure and our challenge booklet. He muttered something under his breath that sounded like 60 points. We watched happily as we thought he was going to give 60 points. No! 60 points snatched away from us. Down to 180, seventh place. 3 minutes left on the clock. 

Doubt had wormed its way back into our hearts, we weren’t going to win!  Hope was lost, but we still had a challenge to finish. From being in contention to win to being in nearly last place.  Fighting back sadness and despair, we got back up and carried on until the last second.

We are so proud of the boy’s team for coming in third place, we are happy that at least one team got through to the semi-finals.  We can’t help but feel disappointed that we were so close to victory only to have it taken away.  Even after the competition, we can still find humour in our loss, we recognised what we had to improve on and what we did right.  We are happy that we entered and we are even happier that we got to experience the challenge.  We can only wish that the boys team succeeds in the next round.

Tiny men walking

(Rupert, Felix, Daniel M  and TJ)

Our hearts were full of excitement when we were walking to Queen Margaret College at 12:20pm.  We arrived about 12:40 but we weren't allowed in for another five minutes. When we finally were allowed in we went to our designated square and sat down.  The room was mind blowing there were so many bits and pieces it was impossible to name everything.  First up the judge gave us a briefing on the rules, he told us what pieces of equipment there were, how to use the electronics and how to get points.

After the briefing, we were given five minutes to decide what challenge to do. We chose the safe because it looked like the easiest way to get quick points.  “Honk!” The buzzer went off and we started the challenge.  The first section of the challenge was to build an easel and draw a piece of art and place it on the easel. We were the first team to complete a section so we got  twenty points on the board and were currently in first place.

An hour later we were still in first with one hundred and forty points but we still had to worry because one of the Swis teams had been on our tail the whole time.  Fifteen minutes later and we were in second, little Einsteins had just got a whole load of sections for their challenge done in the space of ten minutes.

There was half an hour left of the competition. We were in third place with two hundred points.  The Swiss team had caught up to us and we were a bit tired.  We had decided to start a new challenge but before we could do that we had to pack away the stuff from the old one.  The new challenge was a netball one where you had to build a netball hoop and make a balloon float in through the hoop  with fan force but unfortunately we ran out of time.  In the end I thought we did amazingly well, we came third and we got into the semi-finals.  I think we were all proud of how we did.  The girls team did really good too, I think they were one spot away from being in the semi-final they just were a bit unlucky at the start.

Julius Solia has been purchasing books to support Pasifika learners.  We have even purchased some for our library.  Feedback from the students has been really positive.   We will continue to build these titles to support learners and some will be available for students to borrow from the library.

https://readingwarrior.com/

Last Thursday, 04 November was a fun filled Market Day!

Last Friday, 05 November was our school disco.  We had a wonderful time.  Lots of fabulous dance moves were shared by many including our staff.

Congratulations to all students who participated in this venture this year.  The students were so creative and innovative.  They worked as a team and as a result created end products that were breathe taking.

Thank you so much to Ann Stephen and Kate Woodbury who motivated and inspired the children to keep going once Wellington City Council cancelled 2021 Artsplash.  Lionel Taito -Matamua who did a photo shoot with the students over at Parliament and captured the detail of each garment.

We are so proud of these students who continued on to completion as the easy option was to give up once the event was cancelled.  An example of resilience in action.

Due to COVID restricitons this event has now been cancelled.

Cooper (Rm7) donated his birthday gift money to Michael of Caritas. Thank you, Cooper for your very generous donation.

Today, we sent home 5 raffle tickets with each child. The tickets cost $2.00 each.  Please deposit your payment into Sacred Heart Parents & Friends account number #12-3140-0397242-00 with your child's name and "raffle" as reference.  Your generous donation of Christmas items for our hampers, have resulted in 17 hampers to be won! 

All ticket butts to be returned to the school by Friday, 26 November with the draw taking place on Wednesday, 1 December.  Good luck!

Thank you for your generosity and ongoing support.

We are in the process of digesting the new COVID-19 Public Health Response Order for Mandatory Vaccinations for Education which came into effect at 11.59pm on Monday 25 October.  Clearly there are implications for school life, and it is going to take some time to appreciate what all of these are.  A school like ours is highly dependent on the support of parents and the community, and this is something that we appreciate a great deal.

The advice that we have received from the Ministry of Education is that everyone who works or volunteers for a school who may have contact with children or students, or will be present at a time when children and students are also present must have had a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by 15 November 2021 and be fully vaccinated by 1 January 2022.

This also applies to:

* principals

* teachers

* relief teachers and casual staff

* afterschool care workers

* administration staff

* caretakers and cleaners

* contractors and other tradespeople (if on site when children are around)

The vaccination requirements apply wherever in person schooling occurs, such as on the school site, but also at school camps, swimming pools, museums, or where other education outside the classroom (EOTC) programmes take place.

This means that we can only allow people to help at school events with children if they have had at least their first dose by 15 November 2021, and are fully vaccinated by 1 January 2022.

If you wish to be involved as a helper in any events after 15 November, please email through or pop by school with evidence of your vaccination/s before that date.  When school starts next year, we will need evidence of full vaccination by 1 January 2022 for any school helpers (or evidence of exemption).  Your vaccination status information will enable us to know the vaccination status of our volunteers and helpers to ensure we comply with the Order.

It is important that we keep your vaccination information safe and secure.  We will confidentially collect and store your information in our Vaccination Register in our school database.  Only authorised staff will have access to the Vaccination Register, and access to the information in the Vaccination Register will only be for authorised purposes.

Under the Privacy Act, you have the right to request a copy of, and correction to, any personal information held by us.  You can do this by emailing office @sacred-heart.school.nz or calling 04 47204047.

Please also remember that we are still at Alert Level 2.  Pick up and drop off is at the gate.  If you do come into school please wear a mask, scan our QR code and adhere to public health measures with social distancing.

I realise that there will be plenty of questions, and it is likely that we will not have answers right away.  All schools are in the same boat and working through various situations and scenarios.

Thanks very much for your understanding and support.

The Sanitarium Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon will be held at Kilbirnie Park on 27 March 2022.

It is designed for Kiwi kids aged 7-15 years to help them stay active and healthy through a programme of participation.  Participants get to swim, cycle, and run their way around age appropriate courses, either as an individual or as part of a team of two.

This is always a popular event for Sacred Heart children and once again in 2022 we have registered a school group.  By registering as a school we go in the draw to win prizes for our school.  If you are planning on registering your child for the 2022 TRYathlon, please register via our school group link using my details as the school coordinator (Suzanne Adair, suzanneadair@hotmail.com):  

https://www.registernow.com.au/secure/Register.aspx?E=44544&G=141796