Kia ora koutou, nei ra te mihi, maioha ki a koutou katoa. Hello everyone, special greetings to you all. I hope you enjoyed the long weekend and the beautiful weather that we were lucky enough to experience. Thanks for your cooperation with the Teacher Only Day, we hope this worked to the advantage for you and your families.

This week's newsletter begins with the news that Monica Whitham is leaving us at the end of this year to take up a new position at Lemonwood Grove School in Rolleston. It is with mixed emotions that we say goodbye to Monica who began her teaching career with us as a beginning teacher 5 years ago. It has been a pleasure watching Monica grow in stature as a teacher, at different levels of our school, and we wish her our very best as she embarks upon a new challenge in her career. We will keep you informed about her official farewell.

Please do not forget to join us on either Saturday the 21 November at 5.00pm or Sunday the 22 November 10.30am in the St Bede’s Gymnasium to celebrate the North Parish Mass which formerly marks the amalgamation of the four parishes of the north.

Thank you to those relatively new families who were able to take up the invitation to our Mihi Whakatau last Friday. This ceremony is enjoyed by the whole school, and was made even more special in having Matua Matt Bateman from Burnside Primary as our Rangatira from Ngai Tahu.

Congratulations to those teams who participated in the Catholic School's Lit Quiz hosted by St Francis, the Year 5 and 6 team did particularly well finishing in the top two positions. First place: Ida Clausen, Isla McInnes, Fino Shinn & Jeremy Gao. Second place: Ronan McCormick, Maddison Sillifant, Ollie Cowan & Benjamin O'Brien.

Thank you also for your support of the Junior and Middle School disco on Friday night. The children were really excited and seemed to have a great deal of fun. The Parent Council runs these events as a service to the children as well as a fundraiser, however the emphasis was well and truly on them having fun at this event.

Our school roll is full for next year and filling up fast for 2022. There is no doubting that word of mouth is the best advertisement for our school, and going by the feedback, you have been extremely proactive in this area…thank you. If you do know of any families wishing to enrol for 2022, please ask them to enrol as soon as possible in the new year to confirm their place.

Good luck to the choir who are taking part in Jubilate at the Pro-Cathedral on Monday morning at 9.30am. Mrs Kearns and the choir have worked hard on the songs for this event and we hope that they enjoy the opportunity to be able to sing with schools from our Catholic Community.

Nga mihi

Mike Bonisch