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,

Our thoughts and prayers are with Sarah Maresca and her whānau with the passing of her Father-in-law last week. May he rest in peace.

This week is Holy Week. We continue to take courage as we journey towards Easter with forgiveness. Last Sunday was Palm Sunday and marks the beginning of Holy Week. It is a reminder for us all as we welcome Jesus into our hearts. The children will be learning about the different stations of the cross throughout the week. Our student  Liturgy Leaders prepared a beautiful Easter Liturgy for us. We had a time of reflection to always lend a hand, have a kind heart while being grateful for what we have.

Our school expectations of keeping safe, taking responsibility for our actions and always showing respect face to face in the classroom, outside in the playground and in an online environment are paramount in supporting our young people not only at school but also at home and when socialising with friends. 

Congratulations to Te Pora our Kapa Haka tutor who is a 2022 recipient of the Kupe Scholarship. We are so proud of you Te Pora.

Please have a wonderful break. It has been such a tough old term. Please keep well and look after yourselves. Try and do a few of the things that bring you joy and happiness. We look forward to welcoming back the children on Monday, 2nd May.

I am so hoping that the peak of COVID will pass soon and that we can get back to having social and other events for families again. We have missed the face-to-face so much. Thank you for the special way you support our staff and students. We are grateful. Everyone deserves a good break. Staff have planned some very exciting learning experiences for next term.

Me te mihi nui mo a koutou manaakitanga - in appreciation of your support.

Arohanui,

Bernadette Murfitt

Principal

Sacred Heart Cathedral School

At 11.59 pm this evening, the traffic light system will change to orange.

Tomorrow the last day of term, we will retain our current "Red" status and will move to "Orange" at the start of term 2. This is a directive from Iona Holsted Ministry of Education Chief Executive. Over the break, I will review our systems so that they are in line with "Orange" expectations.

The decision to move to Orange has been made on public health advice and reflects that we are moving past the peak of cases and our health system is able to cope. We are seeing that cases are declining due to high levels of vaccination and natural immunity after infection. 

I wanted to give you an update on what the move to Orange means for our school.  

At Orange, face masks are no longer required at school. However public health advice is that masks continue to be strongly encouraged when indoors. Wearing a mask is a key health measure that slows the spread of COVID-19 in indoor settings. For that reason, we ask that visitors to the school, including parents and whānau, wear a mask whenever they are indoors on school grounds.

We also ask that your child (if they are Rooms 5,6,7,8,9 and 10) continue to bring a mask to school every day. There may be times that we’ll ask them to wear a mask,  for example, when we are having an assembly in the St Mary's hall. If there are a high number of cases at school or in the community, we may ask that masks are worn in classrooms for a time.

At Orange, students aged 12 and above are still required to wear a face mask on school or public transport.

We will continue to keep all the other health measures in place at school that we know slow the spread of COVID-19. These include ensuring our indoor spaces are well-ventilated, maintaining good hand hygiene and cough and sneeze etiquette, appropriate physical distancing whenever we can and, most importantly, staying home if we are sick. 

We are looking forward to a few less restrictions and returning to school life that is a bit closer to normal.

https://covid19.govt.nz/traffic-lights/life-at-orange/ 

Robyn, on behalf of Sacred Heart Cathedral School, wishing you a very happy "special" birthday.

Thank you for everything you do for our school and the amazing way you help our parents with their after-school care arrangements.

We welcome Fr Alliston Fernandes to our Sacred Heart Cathedral School community. Fr Alliston has shared below some of his own journey, particularly his mission work with the Institute for World Evangelization - ICPE Mission.

I have spent 12 years on a missionary journey with the Institute for World Evangelization - ICPE Mission. A missionary vocation was enkindled in my early twenties when an overwhelming experience of the Lord’s personal love that evoked a desire to share that message to the ends of the world.

Starting off in my home country of India, this journey has taken me to minister across the globe; from the Philippines in the east to Oregon in the west. A considerable chunk of that time has been at St Gerard’s in Wellington with the formation and equipping of young adults with the charisms of worship and evangelization. 

As a mission, we have undertaken parish missions across this country for over the last 25 years. In these past four and half years away from New Zealand, I had taken up further studies in theology in Malta. Doing so, I have had the opportunity to delve into Pope Francis’ writings to reflect how he is shaping the church.

My pastoral work in this time has largely revolved around assisting in seminary formation and also reaching out to a growing migrant community there. I look forward to what the Lord has in store for me as I return to begin my “Second Innings” back in Wellington.

Fr Alliston Fernandes

For the past two Thursdays, an organisation called Challenge 2000 came to our school to train the liturgy leaders. We’ve been doing a balance between serious liturgy planning and executing, and playing games such as finger traps and jockeys up. The games help you think quickly under pressure. During the games my heartrate was going completely crazy. 

Even when we were doing tasks more on the serious side, such as said liturgy planning, we were all still having heaps of fun, especially when we were presenting our liturgies in front of the other liturgy leaders. 

Overall the experience was great and I really enjoyed getting to learn with my friends while the leaders from Challenge 2000 were here at school.

Veronica Room 9

Being a liturgy leader is a very important and fun role in this school.

As a liturgy leader, we work with people from Challenge 2000, who give us advice on how to plan liturgies and teach us about being a leader. We also do fun team building activities so that we can work well together with all sorts of people. 

A few weeks ago, we were grouped and practiced making and presenting liturgies. All groups were given a topic to work on and my group had Current Events. We prayed for Ukraine and all the people affected by Covid-19. Some of the other topics were ANZAC Day, Grandparents’ Day, Mother’s Day and Holy Thursday. 

What I really liked about it was all the groups’ presentations were decorated nicely according to the groups’ themes and they were all very prepared. I look forward to doing more work as a liturgy leader, especially with Challenge 2000.

Keiffer Room 9

The student council are organising a Mufti Day tomorrow, Thursday (14 April) for a gold coin donation. All proceeds will go towards the Year 8 Yearbook.

We will NOT be selling iceblocks tomorrow as unable to source.

The Senior Syndicate had their first technology session last Friday. They learned a lot and had so much fun.

The first two weeks of Term 2 are our transition time for children to move into wearing the winter school uniform. During these two weeks, children can come to school either in full summer or full winter uniform. From the beginning of Week 3 (Monday), 16 May, all children will need to come to school in full winter uniform. Trousers are an option for both girls and boys as part of the winter uniform and can be purchased from NZ Uniforms, along with all other uniform items.

Please make sure your child is in the correct school uniform for our Winter term. This includes a green tie.

Please ensure your child has a school jersey. Please note hoodies are not a part of our school uniform. I have a lot of second hand uniform available including plain black winter jackets.

Currently we have NO bigger sized second hand uniform items.  If you have some uniform items sitting in your child's wardrobe that they have outgrown and you are happy to donate these to the school, please drop them off at the office. 

Thank you.

https://www.read-nz.org/schools/school-library?category%5B%5D=junior

The following links will be helpful for whānau as support students in a digital world.

https://www.netsafe.org.nz/tiktokfamilysafetytoolkit/

Please note apps have different age restrictions.

https://www.msprugby.co.nz/Site/Juniors/registration

Springboard Diving at Kilbirnie Pool

Wellington Diving Club offer diving lessons for kids aged 6yrs+ to Adult sessions!

Try something new - visit our website and register for a FREE 30min Trial Lesson in the school holidays or during Term.  

After-school sessions available on Wed/Thurs and Saturdays - All levels welcome from beginners to competitive.  

FREE Community Diving sessions one Sunday per month during Term.  T&C’s apply.

For more information, please visit our website www.wellingtondiving.org.nz or call/text Barbara on 027 485 8888.

KELLY CLUB APRIL 2022 HOLIDAY PROGRAMMES

Kelly Club Holiday Programmes focus on giving children aged between 5 and 13 the opportunity to do things they enjoy in a safe, supportive and encouraging environment. The programme is packed with some fantastic activities to entertain and inspire children. We have some exciting days planned: "Eggstravaganza Day", "Kelly Club Top Chef Day", "Anzac Day", "Giant Ball Day", "Kelly Club Survivor" Plus trips to: Ice Skating, The Marine Centre, Zealandia (check your centre for the trip days as they differ).

Kelly Club runs at the following: Amesbury School (Churton Park), Churton Park School, Island Bay School, Kelburn Normal School, West Park School (Johnsonville)

To enrol www.kellyclub.co.nz email adminwgtn@kellysports.co.nz or call 04 972 7201

APRIL 2022  HOLIDAY PROGRAMME

Football - Wests Rugby Clubrooms, Ian Galloway park, Wilton

9.30am-12.30pm

Perfect for beginners and those just wanting to have fun!
Come along and improve technique, knowledge and learn more about the basic skills of "The Beautiful Game" (Football).  We will focus on the core skills of control, dribbling, passing, tackling, shooting but most importantly having as much fun as possible!

Week 1 - Tues 19 Apr, Weds 20 Apr, Thurs 21 Apr

Week 2 - Tues 26 Apr, Weds 27 Apr, Thurs 28 Apr

For full details and to enrol into our programmes visit www.kellysports.co.nz email adminwgtn@kellysports.co.nz or call 04 972 7201. 

It’s almost Easter Holidays! Annalee Sewing School has a range of half and full day sewing classes for kids aged between 7 and 12 years.

Your local Performing Arts School:

Dance, Drama and Singing for students aged 4-15 yrs old.

Led by a London West End performer!

AOTEA-JOHNSONVILLE-KARORI-LOWER HUTT-NEWTOWN-UPPER HUTT

Book your child’s two-week trial for next term NOW!

www.spotlightperformingarts.co.nz

Kia ora,

Take on our 50th Anniversary Treasure Hunt Challenge these school holidays and win your Golden Ticket!

Every Golden Ticket wins a prize and there are heaps of prizes to be claimed!

To enter download our Challenge Sheet, then visit us any time between 19th April and 1st May.  
Visit our website for full promotion details.