Nau mai, haere mai, talofa lava, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, kia orana, warm greetings

As we come to the end of the third week of Term 2 our school community is a very busy place. This Sunday as a Catholic community we celebrate Pentecost, a fantastic day of community, prayer, and celebration. We are very excited to be hosting St Teresa’s, St Bernadette’s and Our Lady of Victories in our school hall for a South parish combined mass. Stephen Kennedy, our Director of Religious Studies, has written a wonderful reflection and explanation of Pentecost in this week's newsletter.

On Wednesday we held our annual Open Day. As expected, we welcomed over 500 visitors. We are always proud to open our school for prospective parents to come and visit, and speak to our students and teachers. Due to the level of demand and the limited number of places, we would encourage any siblings that are hoping to attend St Thomas' next year to have their enrolment applications in as early as possible, likewise any friends or extended family.

Academically, our staff have communicated via bi-weekly comments and face to face conversations with students regarding the grades they predict they will gain based on effort and evidence in Term 1. These predictions are a maker and not actual grades. It is our experience that these predictions have been a good motivating factor for our students, we would encourage conversations at home between parents and their sons about current progress levels. Any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to contact your son’s teachers for clarification and pathways forward.

I would like to congratulate our students involved in the combined production with Villa Maria, and Angela Smith for the quality of their performance last week. It was an outstanding production, one that all those involved in should be very proud.

On the sporting front, congratulations to the 1st XV on their victory over Shirley Boys High School on Saturday night at Orangetheory Stadium, and to the 1st V Basketball team on their strong victory over Christchurch Boys High School on Tuesday night. Well done to all players and coaches.