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 e te whānau,

Ash Wednesday is a holy day that signifies the beginning of Lent. It marks the entry into a season of spiritual preparation for Holy Week. The cross we received today represents Jesus. We are encouraged to always speak with a humble heart.

Thank you very much for all the support you have given us. It was wonderful to see so many families join us last week at the Seniors Fun night and Wheels Night. We were certainly blessed with the weather. My apologies for not having too many photos to share with you at the Seniors Night, I was doing too much chatting, and at the Wheels Night, I wasn't doing too much chatting but managed to keep a close eye on our students as they had fun with their wheels.

Our Junior Staff had a wonderful 3-day structured literacy learning. They were very positive and inspired by what they learnt. This approach will be slowly rolled out into our Junior classrooms.

Thanks for all your support with the Easter raffle, we had such an array of Easter treats. There is no pressure to purchase the tickets, just return them if you are unable to sell them. This year, I will put the money towards improving our outside environment. We have also given the Parish an Easter basket to raffle as well.

Fun times at our senior night.

Congratulations to Julius, Sue and Nik who were presented at the annual Commissioning Mass last night with Leadership endorsed certificates and Melissa who was presented with foundation level by Archbishop Paul. A fantastic achievement.

Later on in March, we will be receiving a visit from the Education Review Office. As a staff, we are looking forward to sharing how we know our learners and the strategies and processes we put in place ensuring progress occurs.

Have a wonderful week. Please reach out if you need anything from us.

Arohanui,
Bernadette Murfitt
Tumuaki
Sacred Heart Cathedral School

A casual vacancy has occurred on the school board for an elected parent representative. The board has decided to fill the vacancy by selection.

If 10% or more of eligible voters on the school roll ask the board, within 28 days of this notice being published, to hold a by-election to fill the vacancy, then a by-election will be held.

Request for a by-election should be sent to:

Suzanne Adair

Presiding Member

Sacred Heart Cathedral School Board

12 Guildford Terrace, Thorndon, Wellington 6011

by: 18 March 2025

Attendance continues to be a top priority for the government, which has set a target of 80% of students attending school more than 90% of the term by 2030. To achieve this, schools need to aspire to reach an average daily attendance rate above 94%.

Last week, 24th-28th of February we were 92.52%

Can we please work together on lateness - make sure your child is all organised the night before, it will make the morning routine go smoothly. 

Last week, the middle syndicate was very lucky to have a visit from Father Patrick.

Father Patrick came to speak about Ash Wednesday and how this begins the lead-up to Easter.

Ngai mihi Father Patrick for coming.

For SHCS, we also have ‘Park and Stride’ where parents drop students off further away from school, and they walk a greater distance to school in March. This includes students who walk from the Railway Station.

All students will be given a WOW passport, and senior students will come around to stamp cards of students who walked, biked, or scootered to school every morning in March. If they fill up their card, the student receives a small prize.

Each active trip gains a stamp on their Walk or Wheel passport, which are entered into a prize draw at the end of the month for all schools that partake in Movin’ March.

Prizes are 3 x $80 Prezzie vouchers or 5 x Micro Scooters and Helmets - this will be drawn in April.

Fancy Feet, which will be on this Friday 7th March is part of the Movin' March initiative.

On Friday, 7th March is Fancy Feet Day. The students can wear their creative foot wear to school.

Thank you for supporting our ‘non-school uniform day’ last Friday by sending along an item to go in our Easter hamper raffle. We have 14 hampers to be won!  Money raised from this raffle will go towards outdoor equipment.

5 raffle tickets in an envelope, each ticket $2.00, was sent home on Monday afternoon. Please sell them to friends/family or you might choose to up your odds on winning a hamper by buying the lot. Name and contact phone number need to be written on each ticket butt.

There is no pressure to sell the tickets, just return them to the office if you are unable to sell them.

Payment can be made by internet banking:

Account name:  Sacred Heart Parents and Friends

Account number:  12-3140-0397242-00

For the school reference use your child’s name an Easter raffle.

Extra tickets will be available from Cathy or Frances, in the school office.

Raffle closes on Monday, 31st March. Winners drawn on Wednesday, 2nd April and will be announced in the school newsletter. Thank you.

A reminder that on the first Friday of every month until the end of the year, we will be making a donation to the Parish Foodbank. If you would like to donate any non-perishable food items, please drop it off at the office. Thank you very much.

SUMMER FOOTBALL:

In Summer Football last Friday, Aoteroa Amigos fought hard against The Funky Monkeys but was defeated after an exciting game. Player of the day was Jarryd (Room 5), played well and defended against some tricky shots made by the Monkeys. Well done Jarryd!

Sacred Heart Strikers drew 2 – 2 against Saints FC last Friday, the team did well and had fun. Player of the day was Enrico (Room 9) for scoring the goals for his team.

NETBALL:

Netball season starting soon!

Season start date: Saturday, 3rd May 2025.

Please register using our google doc link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScGUuEGPa7H2zUkPdNYZHqcCosB1FZYUfkZ_rG4CcfX5lCm5w/viewform?usp=header

Registrations close Saturday, 15th March 2025 will advise trial dates after the cutoff date.

Open to all year 5 & 6 and year 7 & 8 students who are keen to play this season (term 2).

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Lalita at netball@sacred-heart.school.nz or check out Motu Kairangi website www.mknetball.co.nz  Motu Kairangi Netball Centre - 2025 Season information (mknetball.co.nz).

SURF LIFE SAVING 2025 CAPITAL COAST JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS:

Reid’s impressive results reflect his dedication and hard work in the sport, and we couldn’t be more proud of his achievements.  Well done Reid!

To purchase an entertainment book, click on the following link:  https://subscribe.entertainmentnz.com/fundraiser/

St Patrick's Day Parade and Concert - Sunday, 16th March 12noon-4:30pm:

Celebrate St Patrick's Day at the annual Parade and Concert on the Wellington Waterfront. Entertainment begins at 12:00 PM at Kumutoto Square (Lady Elizabeth Lane) with the annual Parade starting from there at 1:00 PM. At 1:30 PM, the Concert under the sails at Queens Wharf showcases Irish culture with Irish dancing and top local musicians.There's something for everyone with activities for kids and the popular 'best dressed in green'. More detail on Facebook @wellingtonirish.