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.

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

Kia ora koutou katoa.

A special welcome to Tilomai who has joined Room 1 this week.  Welcome to the Sacred Heart Cathedral School Community you are going to have a wonderful time at our school and will make lifelong friends.

“Implore the Holy Spirit to pour into our hearts the life of God, who is love.
• Be willing to open their eyes and hearts and to change.
• Do for others that which we would hope for ourselves.
• Give encouragement to those who are afraid of being vaccinated
• Care for those who are alone and struggling with the changes in our world.
The way forward is not that difficult, if we need hope for tomorrow then we give hope today." - Cardinal John 

There are many things that our school can do to reduce the risk and impact of a COVID-19.  It is useful to conceptualise this as having layers of preventative measures in place to protect staff and students.  The more layers of protection in place (eg, vaccination, good hygiene practices, handwashing, ventilation, cleaning and disinfecting high touch areas regularly etc.), the harder it is for the virus to get through.  If you are coming into school please wear a mask and scan our QR code.

The children really are troopers during this time.  They never complain about the fact that we have to adjust our normal way of operation.  As a staff, we remind each other often how flexi and agile our students are.  There are so many aspects to my job that I love - one would have to be the privilege of reading student summative reports and seeing the progress that has been made throughout the year.  Reports will come home on Thursday, 9th December.

I will leave you with a beautiful karakia Mrs Stephen shared with the staff this morning. 

Count your gains instead of your losses.

Count your joys instead of your woes, 

Count your friends instead of your foes, 

Count your courage instead of your fears,

Count your health instead of your wealth,

Count on God instead of yourself.

Blessings to you all.

Please continue to keep Mrs Geraghty in your prayers as she continues to make a good recovery at home.  She is hoping to be back with us towards the end of next week.

Arohanui,

Bernadette Murfitt

Principal

Sacred Heart Cathedral School

https://fb.watch/9tkmOOpssG/

Congratulations to TJ, Felix, Daniel and Rupert, who competed in the Epro8 Challenge last night.  These students were innovative in their problem-solving and were a real credit to our school.

Our students had two and a half hours to earn points by completing science, technology, and engineering challenges.  The boys just missed out on a spot in the final.  They were fourth equal and had to do a tie-breaker challenge.

Every time they completed a challenge they pressed a "Big Red Button" so they could be judged and points are given.

Each challenge had criteria with a few hints as well.  Our students worked as a team. Communicating clearly with each other.

Engineers in the making.  Thanks to Miss Regan who coached the boys to the semi-final.

Living out the values that we promote at Sacred Heart Cathedral School.

Congratulations to Enrico Room 5, who has been awarded a Gold certificate in Mathletics.  Well done Enrico.

Steven and Libero (Rm 10) were selected to play for the Samoa Wellington League team and Carlos (Rm 8), was selected to play for the Tonga Wellington League team played each other last weekend.  Well done boys!

Thank you so much for your generosity with toothpaste and toothbrushes the Parish St Vincent de Paul group was very grateful for such a generous donation.

If you have a daughter heading to St Mary's College next year, we have a selection of uniform.  Let us know and we can give it to your daughter.

If your child has grown out of a uniform article of clothing and you are happy to donate this to the school, please drop them off at the office.  Thank you.

Now, you can ride the Johnsonville train during our pilot with your Snapper card.

Before you get on board, there are a few things you need to know:

You must tag on and off for every journey using the Snapper card readers on the train platforms.

During the trial there are no transfers between the bus and the train, and you are unable to tag on extra people.

Metlink Transport Officers may be onboard the train to check your Snapper payments.  If you forget your Snapper card or don’t have one, you can still pay with cash or use paper tickets.

If you don’t have any way to pay, the on-board staff may give you a payment notice to pay for your trip at a ticket office later – they’ll explain this to you.

Find out where to get a new Snapper card at Snapper.co.nz, then top up on the Snapper iOS or Android app, at a Snapper retailer or kiosk.

Monthly passes will not be available on Snapper initially, but you can top up your Snapper like you would for the bus and pay for each journey.

Your current concession or child card (green or student ID card) will work just like on the bus and you’ll be charged the discounted fare.  If you have any further questions or concerns about your concession, find out more at Snapper.co.nz/child-concessions.

Find out more at Metlink.org.nz/snapper-on-rail and Metlink 0800 801 700.

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