Tēnā koutou katoa St Michael’s Catholic School Community,
He aha te mea nui o te āo? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata!’ What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people!
It has been a bustling start to the year, and I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you for making me feel so welcome.
I would also like to extend a warm welcome to all our new families, namely the Barling family, Fernando family, Sia family, Smith family, Brydon family, Ford family, Noakes family, O'Brien family, Panbeyi family, Sacro family, Tan family, Masamba family, Patil family, and Matthews family who joined our school community. On Monday, during our morning meditation, Fr Tony blessed each of you, and we are truly delighted to have you with us. We hope your time here is filled with joy, growth, and wonderful experiences. Welcome to our school family!
Staffing
Thank you to everyone who attended the Meet the Teacher and Community Picnic. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to come together as a community and get to know your child’s teacher.
If you have any questions regarding your child’s learning, please reach out to their teacher via email only from 7am-5pm. Kindly refrain from using the Class Dojo page for communication, as it is intended for staff to showcase the learning activities taking place.
Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.
School Drop-offs
Our classrooms open at 8.30am, and children are able to be dropped off between 8.30am-8.50am only. Any children who are on-site prior to 8.30am, need to attend Before School Care as there will be no supervision provided by the school before this time.
Before School Care opens at 7:30 AM. To secure a place for your child, please contact Sayonara Quadras at:
Please ensure that all school gates are closed behind you as you enter the school grounds. This is to ensure the safety of all children on-site. Thank you for your support with this.
Attendance
Ministry of Education are continuing to focus on student attendance in 2025. Reminder all leave requests must be email and approved by the Principal at least 2 weeks prior to leave.
All sickness must be emailed to the school office at secretary@smcs.school.nz
The following is important information from the Ministry regarding attendance:
If a student misses one day of school every two weeks, they miss more than a whole year of school by 16 years of age. As a parent or caregiver, you, alongside our school, play a key role in building strong habits of regular school attendance.
All students are legally required to attend school every day and it is a shared responsibility to make sure students attend and engage in learning from when they first start school.
You must let the school know if your child is going to be absent or intends to be absent for a portion of the school term for whatever reason, like a tangi or medical procedure. Family holidays or taking time off for extracurricular activities (not organized by school) are not acceptable reasons for being absent.
If you're struggling at home with getting your child to school, please contact the school.
At SMCS we are continuing to build a culture that fosters attendance every day by having:
School staff who have strong relationships with students and family.
A school culture that recognises your child and your family for who you are, where you come from and what you value.
A school whānau that takes all practical steps to make sure your child is at school and progressing in their learning.
A school that is safe and welcoming for everyone in our school community.
If you have any attendance queries and issues, please contact us so we can work together.
Mobile Phones/ Smart Watches
In accordance with Ministry guidelines:
All mobile phones must be kept in your child’s school bag and are not to be used during the school day.
If your child has a smart watch, it must be set to ‘school mode’ or ‘flight mode’ during the day.
If a student uses their phone or watch during school hours, it will be confiscated and handed into the school office and will need to be picked up by an adult after school. We will ensure that you are notified if this happens.
School Parking
For school drop-off and pick-up, the preferred parking area is Bassett Road. We kindly ask that you respect our neighbours by avoiding parking across their driveways.
A reminder that the Parish carpark is for drop-off only—please do not park and walk your child into school from this area or park and collect your child at the end of the day. It becomes very congested, and we need to be considerate of all our St Michael’s parents who need to park.
Please note that parking is not permitted on school grounds.
Thank you for your cooperation in ensuring a smooth and respectful parking process for everyone.
Reports and Parent Interviews
In my next newsletter, I will provide the confirmed dates for the parent interview evenings and the reporting timeline for 2025. With the changes in the curriculum, we are working together as a school to determine what fits best.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate these updates.
Lunchtime Swimming
To make the most of the great weather and our school pool, lunchtime swimming is starting for Years 4-6 only in Week 3. Students will be told by their classroom teachers when their day will be.
Uniform
It is important that students at St Michaels are in their correct school uniform. Summer uniform is Term 1 and Term 4. Winter is Term 2 and 3. There has been an increase of students wearing a variety of jewellery. Please ensure your child has only stud earrings only, no sleepers. They may wear a watch, or a religious symbol around their neck.
Below is the correct SMCS Girls and Boys Summer uniform for Term 1 and Term 4.
As we look forward to the upcoming week, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to all the parents who volunteered to join the Year 6 camp. Your support and involvement made it a truly memorable experience for our students.
A special thank you also goes to our dedicated staff Rebekah Capon and Emma Cotterell for their hard work and commitment to ensuring the camp was a success.
Thank you all for your continued support. Have a wonderful week ahead and Valentines Day
Manaaki ki te Atua,
Vincenza Golding
Principal Tumuaki
Students at SMCS
Director of Religious Studies
Jubilee 2025 - Pilgrims of Hope
Pope Francis has declared 2025 as a year of Jubilee with the theme Pilgrims of Hope, giving voice to his desire for the year to foster a greater sense of global sisterhood and brotherhood, solidarity with the poor, and caring for the environment.
Jubilees are designed to be a time of conversion and increased emphasis on God’s mercy and forgiveness of sins. They are marked by the opening of the Holy Door in St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. The Holy Doors, present in each of the four papal basilicas in Rome, are destination points for pilgrims who travel to Rome during a Jubilee and who pass through seeking special graces and outpourings of God’s mercy.
The Jubilee Prayer
Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven. May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth. To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever.
Enrolments are now open for the St Michael's Parish Sacramental Programme 2025. We encourage families of St Michael’s School to get their registration (form, baptism certificate and fee) in ASAP so your place can be confirmed. Places can only be held until 31 March 2025, after which they will be offered to other children.
There can be no exceptions due to large numbers, so please enrol asap to avoid disappointment.
Receptionist/Administrator – Catholic Social Services, Auckland
Catholic Social Services is looking for a part-time (20 hours - 3 days – hours can be negotiable) Receptionist/Administrator based in Ponsonby. As a faith-based professional service Catholic Social Services provides social work, counselling, out-reach and support to individual people and families.
The successful applicant would be required to provide efficient, effective, and professional reception and administrative services to the team at Catholic Social Services.
For further details please go to our website www.aucklandcatholic.org.nz, Diocesan Services and staff vacancies.
News and Upcoming Events
The PTA's AGM will be held next Tuesday, 18 February, at 7pm in the Staffroom.
At the AGM we will elect the next group of wonderful parents to lead the PTA and continue to support our amazing St Michael’s community. The AGM will be followed by the first PTA meeting of the year. Come along and help us plan 2025!
The latest issue for Scholastic Book Club is available now!
Did you know that our school benefits hugely from the Scholastic book club? We get points that get turned into more books and educational resources for the school.
Issue 1 has been sent home this week and orders close at 5pm on Thursday 20 February 2025. Your orders will be handed out to your children in their classrooms once they arrive.
Remember to log on to your account and update your Child/Children's Year Level and Classroom to ensure that ordered books will be delivered to the correct place.
The Second-Hand Uniform Shop will be open on Friday, 21 February between 2:30-3:30 PM.
Payment methods are EFTPOS! (No PayWave), myKindo or bank transfer to the PTA bank account: 12-3075-0199134-00.
Uniform donations are always welcome! Please drop off uniform items (cleaned/washed) with Genevieve at the school Reception. To make the uniform shop a success, we rely on parents volunteering a bit of their time to help us run the shop, so if you have any spare time at school pick up, pop by, say ‘Hi’ and please lend us a hand.
2025 Yummy Stickers
Last year, our amazing community collected a whopping amount of stickers, which equaled $561 to spend on sports gear to be used at play times. Let's aim to collect even more this year!
You can start collecting your yummy stickers now (including the cut-out labels from Costco Yummy Apple bags) and drop them off to us at any time until October. Sheets can be put in the PTA box outside the principal’s office – remember, they don’t need to be full!
And for our Yummy apple enthusiasts: when cutting out stickers from the apple bag, ensure you're cutting out the Yummy sticker labels and not the barcode stickers. Here's an example of the correct labels to be cut out:
Thank you for your continued support and assistance in spreading the word about this initiative towards our school's sports gear!
Pizza Fridays
Please remember to order your pizzas by 9am on Friday mornings to avoid your child having no pizza for lunch. Cancelations are also accepted by 9am.
Thank you to the following families for helping with pizza and ice blocks today:
Penna (Rm02 and Rm09)
Strevens (Rm05 and Rm08)
Strong (Rm04)
Stuart del Rosario (Rm06)
Thank you in advance for our families on pizza/ice block duty in the next two weeks:
21 February
Zazulak-Baker (Rm07 Rm08)
Ambrosio (Rm09)
Amundson (Rm05 and Rm07)
28 February
Yap (Yiku, Rm09)
Yeung (Rm04 and Rm06)
Wong (Cecilia, Rm08)
Zhou (Rm04)
It’s been a pleasure! See you around!
Gio and Sam
2025 Sports News/Events
Winner of the Auckland Blues Mascot Design
Ethan Zazulak-Baker (Year 6) won the competition last year for the new Auckland Blues Mascot, Kahurangi. St Michael’s students sent in the most design entries than any school in Auckland. This week he got to go to Eden Park for the launch of his winning design. Well Done Ethan!
Football Season 2025
Ellerslie Football Club REGISTRATIONS ARE OPEN!
We are affiliated with the Tamaki League at Ellerslie Football Club. Register through the club and then you will be allocated to a St Michael's team.
The Year 5/6 Minipolo team opened up the 2025 season with a bang winning 8-4 over Kohia.
It was great to see our Year 6 boys Thomas R and Manu as leading scorers. The Year 6 girls Ella, Lulu, and Michaela played well with great teamwork and tenacious defense. Our Year 5s Josh and Ryder also got in on the action transitioning smoothly from Flippaball. The SMCS Aquanauts Minipolo team is coached by St Michaels Old Boy Joaquin Ambrosio who led the team to a win with his awesome strategy.
Sports offered at SMCS 2025
Please view the attached document to see what Sports activities are offered at SMCS.
