PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Tēnā koutou whanau

What an amazing Market day our children have had today. The Kakariki children planned and prepared a wonderful array of stalls for their fellow students to peruse. The stalls included games, food and other items to purchase. Thank you to all the children and the whanau who supported this day. It involved plenty of learning and heaps of fun.

Next week we celebrate Mercy Week. St Joseph’s is a Mercy school. In January of 1893, Sister Alphonsus and Sister Mildred rowed across the harbour from town with six boys, and started St Joseph’s School. This was the first school on the North Shore. They arrived at a small cottage situated at the gate by Taharoto Rd, where the church stands now. Two of the rooms in the cottage were used as classrooms. The Sisters of Mercy were to stay for 96 years until 1989 when Sister Gemma, the last Sister of Mercy, left St Joseph’s.

The Mercy order was founded by Catherine McAuley in Ireland in the 1800s. She had a great love for God. Catherine McAuley witnessed many young women unemployed and with no place to live. She saw many children with no food, minimal clothing and no footwear. This influenced her and the direction she took with her life.

When Catherine McAuley was left an inheritance, she built a large house on Dublin’s Baggot Street. She called the new house the House of Mercy. The House of Mercy was a very special house and a very busy place!

Soon other young women came to help Catherine. Catherine and her team of helpers did a lot of things to help other people:

They cared for children who had no parents.
They cared for young women who had nowhere to live.
They set up a school for poor children.
They cared for people who were sick and dying.

The first group of Sisters of Mercy travelled out to NZ from Ireland in 1850, at the request of Bishop Pompallier. The need for teachers at that time was great and the sisters responded to this challenge. Their first convent was on the site of St Patrick’s Cathedral. The Sisters later moved to Ponsonby. And from there came Sr Alphonsus, the first principal of St Joseph’s and St Mildred.

We will be celebrating a school Mass on Friday, 27th September, beginning at 9:15 pm in our church. This will be followed by morning tea in the staffroom for whanau and parishioners. We would love you to join us for the Mass and the morning tea.

Following this we have our School Talent Quest which you are also welcome to view. It will be in the school hall following morning tea.

Kia pai tō rā whakatā

Alister Bridgman
Tumuaki

The Principal’s Message will cover the following topics:

Remaining Term Dates for 2024
PTFA – “Thank You for Your Support!”
Sharing the Learning
Market Day 2024
SKIDS Holiday Programme
Parish News
Community Notices

REMAINING TERM DATES FOR 2024

Term 3 Ends Friday, 27th September at 2:50 pm

Term 4 Begins Monday, 14th October at 8:50 am

Term 4 Ends Wednesday, 18th December at 1:00 pm

PTFA – “THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!”

A huge thank you to everyone who supported the Musical Bingo evening last Friday! It was a great event, enjoyed by many, that raised over $6,000 for our school community. We can’t do this mahi (work) without your support. All money raised goes to support our tamariki (children). This week two netball posts arrived, generously donated by funds from the PTFA and our community. Thank you for your ongoing support.