2022 A pretty amazing year. One that challenged us and one that brought us so much joy.

So much kindness was given and received within our school.  Seeing our faith in action every day is our true highlight. 

We have continued to focus on well-being as a school ensuring that we are all "well to learn". 

Thank you to our staff- you constantly think outside the square providing amazing experiences for our tamariki. You show so much care for our students and your colleagues. We are all blessed. 

Thank you to our students- you are all so special we are so grateful for the way you go about your learning and doing your very best.

Thank you to our Year 8 students - thank you for all the amazing contributions you have made to our school during your time here at Sacred Heart Cathedral School.  Be the best version of yourself that you can be. Please take everything you have learnt with you to your new college. Please come back and visit us.

Thank you to our whānau - your contributions enable us to provide the rich curriculum that we are able to offer. In person with your time or providing us with generous donations so we can engage services and give our students rich learning experiences.  

Thank you to our Board- your wisdom and governance ensure all student's at our school get an education that is equitable and is one where culture and identity is truly valued. 

Thank you to our Parish - we look forward to continuing to support you all as we await the opening of our Cathedral. Our students who participated in the Sacramental programme enjoyed taking their faith a step further. 

Kia Tupu

Kia Hua

Kia Puāwai

To grow, to prosper, to sustain.

Together we can make a difference for each other. 

Being Principal at Sacred Heart Cathedral School is a privilege. I look forward to leading the implementation of the New Zealand Refreshed Curriculum.

Bernadette Murfitt

Principal Sacred Heart Cathedral School 

News from the Sacred Heart Cathedral School Board

A Board of Trustees Election was held this year on 7 September.  We had 5 parent vacancies and 6 parents stepped up for the election.  Two parent board members retired, Kitchie de Guzman and Nigel Ingram.  A big thank you, to Kitchie and Nigel for your contribution and commitment to the board and the school community.

Our 2022 Board comprises of:

Principal:  Bernadette Murfitt

Teacher representative:  John Grevatt

Proprietor representatives:  Suzanne Adair (Presiding Member), Amanda Gray, Odette Hoera and Jay Manuá.

Parent representatives:   Lionel Taito-Matamua, Nicola Nation, Keiran Kennedy, Caleb Te Taku Ware and Andrew Reid.

This year our focus has been on implementing the COVID protection framework and the construction of our new outdoor classroom. Our Board is very committed to upskilling in governance and participated in a range of training opportunities throughout the year.  We are grateful for all the support we receive from our school community.

Thank you for your feedback it helps us so much with our future planning.

Thank you so much to our whānau and extended members of whānau who help us at school in the classroom or on school activities.  Without the support of our whānau, we would not be able to provide the delivery of our rich curriculum.

Parents help with Netball, Summer Soccer, Basketball, Touch Rugby, camp, parent tutor reading, math extension and problem challenge in the Senior syndicate, swimming in the Junior syndicate, trips and outings, ASB, and athletics.

You are so amazing always being there to support school activities. 

Thank you so much for all your generous donations.

We make a dollar go a very long way.

As a result of these donations, we were able to provide amazing curriculum experiences for our young people inside and outside the classroom.

A stunning physical education programme including aquatic instruction at Kilbirnie pool and multi-sports at ASB.

Superb outdoor experience at Camp Kaitoke.

Resources for our library and classrooms.

Playground equipment.

Dance instruction for all students.

More I pads and Chromebooks for every classroom. 

Ergonomic furniture for classrooms.

Online platforms for all students so they can improve literacy and numeracy skills.

Kapa Haka for all students . 

Te kohanga  our new Outdoor classroom was blessed by Father Alliston.  We are very grateful to our whānau group who have gifted us this beautiful name. 

We have also visually presented the history of our school which was the result of a student-gifted and talented project.

 

Mark from Dance Curriculum, came in for 2 weeks in Term 1 and worked his magic once againg teaching all our students various dance routines.  This culminated in a wonderful dance concert which was videoed and shared with our parents as we were still in the Red Light traffic setting.

As a school, we are so proud of the following students who have won scholarships to College

Blossom, Room 9 won a scholarship to  Chilton Saint James College.

Keiffer, Room 9 was the recipient of the St Patrick's College Academic Scholarship.

Tammy, Room 10 was the recipient of the Queen Margaret College Academic Scholarship.

CENTRAL ZONE SPEECH COMPETITION:   Congratulations to Janiva Year 5, JC Year 6, Vanessa Year 7 and Keiffer Year 8, who were selected to represent our school in this competition at Mt Cook School.  

Janiva, Vanessa and Keiffer were placed second in their respective year groups in the Central Zone speech competition.  

Three teams of students participated in science and technology challenges.  We were so proud of the way the children approached the challenges. We could see many aspects of what a highly effective team consists of. Listening carefully, being patient with each other, having a go while being supported by other members of the team, being creative, standing back on pondering, acting on feedback, and reading instructions carefully. Special mention must go to the parent supporters who were so positive and encouraging. To the parents that were at South Wellington Intermediate last week, the students all felt your presence and love. 

Thank you also to Ann and Therese who prepared the students with a range of strategies and skills and ensured they were all confident and " competition ready"

SUMMER FOOTBALL

Sacred Heart Strikers got through to the finals, losing 402.  They had a great season winning almost all of their games and we saw so much improvement in the players' skills. Dom W, was not in the photo below but was part of the team.

Over half of the champion soccer team, the Mario Brothers, are current or former Sacred Heart students, Lucas S, Lucas D and Alex (along with former student Leon) joined with three of Lucas D's friends to form the Mario Brothers.  They finished the season by winning the final 2-0.

SENIORS BASKETBALL LEAGUE

Thunder: 

Sacred Heart Thunder won the Division 3 final playoff against Scots Red team, final score 30-18 at ASB Arena in Kilbirnie. Thunder played as a great team unit throughout the game and this helped them overcome a very physical Scots team that put a lot of pressure on our players, especially the ball carriers and shooters. It was too difficult to award a player of the day as the whole team performed great and each player contributed to the team’s success. Great result and the team's looking forward to playing next term too. - Matt (Coach)

Lightning:

We had a great season. All players improved and the communication between team members was fantastic. Some games were tough and some were pretty even. What we were really of was our awesome coach and the simple fact we were always good sports.  Seth/ Joseph T 

NETBALL

Special thanks to all the parents who supported the students over the netball season. Coaching, managing, and logistics are only possible when our parent community generously gives their time.

It was another great season that saw skill and fitness levels really improve 

Super Stars Yrs 5 & 6

Hearts Yrs 7 & 8

Emeralds Yrs 7 & 8

Congratulations to Pierre Room 6, for his outstanding achievement in Athletics this season. Pierre was awarded the following:
* 1st Overall Olympic Harrier’s Athlete - 9 year old boys
* Amanda Goldsmith Cup for Best Field Athlete
* Wellington Olympic Harrier’s Cup for Best Junior Thrower (boy)
* Wellington Olympic Harrier’s Cup for Best Junior Sprinter (boy) and
* Amanda Goldsmith Cup for Overall Top Performer Junior Athlete

CENTRAL ZONE

Central Zone Cross Country: 

Congratulations to all students who gave their best and completed this very challenging event. The following students finished in the top ten of competitors and made it through to the Inter-Zone Competition.

Year 5 Janiva F (Rm 6) and Enrico V (Rm 7).

Year 7 Emily A (Rm 8), Ava D (Rm 8), Dylan GB (Rm 8), Tommy C (Rm 10) and Lucas S (Rm 10).

Year 8 Lachie M (Rm 10), Theo L (Rm 10) and Felix B (Rm 9).

INTERZONE:  

Interzone Swimming:  Congratulations to our four swimmers who represented our school and zone at the recent interzone, Alyssa Rm 7, Keiffer Rm 9, Jiezl Rm5 and Audrey Rm 8.

Interzone Athletics: 

A big well done to all of our children who competed at the Interzone athletics day at Newtown Park. It was great to see our school values on display, with the students encouraging each other and trying their best. It was a very successful day for SHCS with some fantastic results and a number of students advancing to the Regional competition which was held in Masterton. Ka mau te wehi!

Congratulations to the following children who have made it through to Regional Zone Athletics:

Janiva - Year 5 : 80m and 150m
Veronica - Year 7: 100m

Tough Guy and Gal Challenge in Wainuiomata:

Lachie from Room 10, took part in the 'Tough Guy and Gal Challenge' in Wainuiomata last Thursday, 26th May. Well done Lachie! This is a non competitive, fun and very muddy, wet challenge that anyone can do at their own pace.
It is a 3km muddy obstacle course set up in a bush trail consisting of swamp crossings, climbing frames, crawling,hurdles, tunnels and  lots of water!

MUSIC ACHIEVEMENT

Congratulations to Caelum Rm 1 for acheiving the Most Promising Pianist of Kapi-Mana Music Festival Charitable Trust.

Rubik's Cube Competition

Congratulations to Levi Rm 9 who came in second place at the Tauranga Speedcubing Competition on 28th-31st Octtober in fewest moves category, one of the most difficult cubing categories, being the youngest competitor. Well done Levi!

Ngā mihi o te Kirihimete me te Tau Hou!

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Thank you for all the support you have given our school throughout 2023. 

To those families who are leaving Sacred Heart Cathedral School - thank you for everything you have done to make our school the great place that it is.

Please take time for yourself over summer. Do all those things you love doing and bring joy, truly relax and rebuild yourselves ready for the opportunities of 2024. We have deeply reflected and evaluated our progress and areas that we can strengthen as we navigate our 2024 approach. We will continue to embrace the required changes and adapt by building on strengths. We know we need to be adaptive, relational and strong in ensuring all of our students are grounded in their own culture and confident in who they are. This will continue to be a focus for us. Our  refreshed curriculum will continue to ensure that learning experiences for your children continue to be relevant and purposeful.

Blessings to you all!

Bernadette 

Covid impacted us and we had to reschedule our camp.

We were so grateful to our school community who all worked together to fundraise for all students. Our raffle, market day, iceblock selling and generous donations from our families who made generous donations for camp.

We had a stunning liturgy with many families to support us to celebrate Samoan Language Week. The children all sang beautifully, especially during the Presentation of the Word. 

For every Pacific Island Language week our senior students have prepared presentations for every class to enjoy.

Pasifika Club has been a real hit every Wednesday afternoon. We have covered role models and historical events e.g. Spanish influenza, The great migration and the Dawn Raids.

During term 4 students have learned Siva and Sasa from a former student of Sacred Heart Cathedral School.

Mānawa maiea te Mātahi o te tau — Celebrate the rising of the new year 
Mānawa maiea te ariki o te rangi — Celebrate the rising of the lord of the heavens
Mānawa maiea te putanga o Matariki — Celebrate the rising of Matariki

Matariki holds many meanings throughout Aotearoa and across the world and learning about it gives us an opportunity to explore and strengthen our local identities. We aim to protect the deep history of Matariki, including local variations and narratives.

Celebrating Matariki together as a nation provides an opportunity for Māori language, culture and history to be more accessible to all New Zealanders both here and overseas. It supports us to reflect the value we place in our cultural heritage and helps develop our national identity. 

What an extraordinary start we had to 2022.  The country was in the Red traffic light setting. 

Our first virtual school assembly today held via Zoom!

Then the 'protest' happened at Parliament.... this involved daily catch-ups with the Ministry of Education, Police, Wellington City council and ECE services to collectively come up with solutions to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our ākonga and staff as they travel to and from school. The protest lasted 23 days and ended on Wednesday 2 March.

We welcomed Fr Alliston Fernandes to our Sacred Heart Cathedral School community. Fr Alliston shared with us, 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. 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.

Liturgy leaders looking after our environment

The Catholic social teaching principle of stewardship – kaitiakitanga – is about being responsible guardians. We are all kaitiaki - guardians of the earth. Exercising stewardship is caring for the gifts God has given us, including our beautiful environment.

Liturgy leaders you are making a real difference at our school.

Pink Shirt Day

On Friday 20 May, we had our pink shirts on - Speak Up, Stand Together, Stop Bullying!

Laying our Wreaths at the British High Commission

On Friday 16 September, students stood outside the gates of the High Commission and said their morning Karakia.

The staff appreciated the wreaths our students made to acknowledge the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

Blessing New Mural outside Room 3

Our new mural outside Room 3 was officially blessed.  The blessing involved a karanga led by senior students, karakia, mihi, and a blessing from Fr Alliston.

Thank you to Whaea Katarina and Declan for your tautoko in leading us through this. Ngā mihi nui ki a korua.

A reflection from the artist Jesse Harte on the meaning of the mural outside Room 3.

This piece has a close connection for myself and artist, Pita Pekepō as we have used the image of Pita's mother as the central figure of this work and Pita himself as the pēpi she carries. She has been the maternal figure for Pita of course, but also played a great motherly figure throughout my own childhood. Pita and I have been the closest of friends from a young age, which allowed us to put emotional depth within the art. I was asked to reflect an image of mother Mary with connection to Aotearoa and I was instantly drawn to Hine Pekepō to represent this holy mother figure. Further, we have featured the now extinct sacred bird of Aotearoa, the Huia. This is purposely the female species of the bird with the extended curved beak, this, in turn, continues to carry on the matriarchal theme of the piece.

Feast of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz - First Filipino Saint

Today, we celebrated Saint Lorenzo Ruiz's canonisation. Our Filipino students dressed up in their Filipino attire to represent their culture.  

Thank you so much to John and Layana who took the whole school through their paces of fitness and dance.

The sessions were so energising and it was amazing to see the fantastic fitness levels of our students and staff.

John we really appreciate you coming into school and motivating us all to have fun with music. Layana (Rm 6), you are a real leader in the fitness field and we loved watching the way you supported your Dad.