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,

Special thanks to our Junior School Teaching team, who worked with a media team from the Ministry of Education regarding a new parent portal that is being set up to support parents with the structured approach to Literacy and Mathematics. Thanks to our Junior School parents. It was a very tight turnaround with permission and I was very grateful. Feedback given indicated that we have 3 superstars teaching in the Junior School.

Thank you for all your support and generosity. We made a very substantial contribution to the Parish food bank last week.

Lent is part of the liturgical season, during which we prepare for Easter. It is also a time when we focus on forgiveness. We encourage our students to do good for others and be kind during this time.

Congratulations to all those students who have registered for the Weetbix triathlon this weekend. We are super proud of you all.

For the remainder of the week, I am up at Waitangi as part of Tautai o le Moana, where I will learn to foster a collaborative environment where our Pacific students feel supported, valued and empowered. I look forward to sharing my new learnings with our staff and students.

For Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week, our middle and senior teachers are learning about structured literacy - so your child will have a different teacher for three days.

You are most welcome to join us next Thursday, 20th March at 8:50 AM to welcome the Education Review Office to our school.

If you have any concerns whatsoever about what your child is learning, please reach out to the classroom teacher. 

Have a great week.

Arohanui,
Bernadette Murfitt
Tumuaki
Sacred Heart Cathedral School

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, 3rd-7th of March, we were 90.14%.

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

https://youtu.be/LBRoyjIo3CM

Please make sure that your child does not have chewing gum at school.

If ears are pierced, please use simple stud earrings.

Long hair needs to be tied back.

Our students and staff were looking amazing with their fancy footwear!

Fancy feet Room 5

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.

On Friday, 4th April, there will be no school on this day as the staff are learning about structured mathematics.

Basketball is currently being planned for Term 2 and Term 3 of 2025 at Sacred Heart Cathedral School. We are considering moving from Ako Tangi to the Nairnville Recreation Centre in Khandallah in response to some parent input.

Please click the link below and select your preferred site if you would want your child to play basketball or miniball next term so we know where to make the booking.

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).

Summer Football:

Aotearoa Amigos had a smashing game against the Flashing Tigers winning, scoring 6-0. The player of the day was Joaquin, Rm 7. He played with passion and determination and was integral to the team's win.

Central Zone Cricket:

On Tuesday, the 11th of March, a group of middles and seniors attended the CZ Cricket tournament.

The 4 teams of 8 players each played 5 games against other schools.

Scared Heart was well represented, and the students who attended showed great sportsmanship and respect to fellow teammates as well as their opposition. 

Ngai Mihi to the parent helpers who helped on the day.

Touch Rugby:

Sacred Heart Jets have started their touch season and have only played one game so far and they came away with the win 7-6. There were some great tries from Archie, Jackson and Violet, all from Room 7!

Golf:

Last weekend Archie, Room 7 and Isaac, Room 8, who play for different golf clubs, competed in an Interclub competition. Both boys came away winning their individual games and overall, in the team event it ended up a tie.

Tennis:

Reid, Room 8, played in the Titahi Bay Tennis Club Championship competition yesterday and won the 12 and Under Boys' final.

Achievements of an Ex-Sacred Heart Student:

Levi has had some great successes in high school - he became Whanganui Collegiate’s Under-15 Swimming Champion and, this past weekend, won a silver medal in coxed quad rowing at the North Island Championships. In two weeks, he will be competing in the Maadi Cup.

The Greater Wellington initiative works with schools to encourage students to walk, bike, or scoot to school. 

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.

Join us for an afternoon of fun, games, live entertainment, refreshments, raffles and goody bags for the kids!

This year 's FREE family fun event is all about getting around in our community - finding the secret gems only known to those who walk, run or bike around our beautiful places. All of these end up at our picnic - or you can just join us there!

Choose your adventure and join in the sustainable transport fun:

- Scavenger hunt starting at Cummings Park that shines a light on some special shortcuts and gems in our neighborhood.

-Decorate your bike or dress up and join the kid-friendly bike ride from Cummings Park to Huntleigh. Prizes for the best decorated wheels or costume that you walked/ran down in. 

See you there!

Nga mihi,

Beanie Rowe
Climate Action Officer | Climate Change Response | Wellington City Council
M 021 249 7334 | E beanie.rowe@wcc.govt.nz | W Wellington.govt.nz