Special Character Review

A special ‘thank you’ to proprietors, parents and students that were involved in our special character review recently.

Many factors contribute to the Catholic special character, including:

the beliefs, values, traditions, and practices of the Catholic Church, and how they are expressed by both Katorika Māori and Katorika tauiwi, the religious content of its curriculum and the witness of people living their faith as disciples of Jesus. It is the interaction of these that creates the Catholic identify of our school.

The special character review team spent three days in the school meeting groups of staff, parents, students, and the Board, and visiting RE teachers and a range of other subjects.  Many informal discussions were also held and one of reviewers returned to attend the Feast Day Mass, celebrated by Bishop Steve Lowe.

On arrival the review team were welcomed with a mihi Whakatau led by a group of students that included a beautiful waiata they had written.  Click this link to view the video.

Areas of focus:

• Te Tutaki ki a Te Karaiti: Encounter with Christ
• Mā te Mātauranga ka Tipu: Growth in Knowledge
• Te Whakaatu Karatiana: Christian Witness
• Te Kaitiakitanga me te Whakapakari I te Tuakiri Katorika: Safeguarding and Strengthening Catholic Character

We are expecting a draft report very soon.

Pasifika Fono Evening

I acknowledge the wonderful turnout of over 100 parents who supported our ‘Pasifika Success’ evening.  This was an opportunity to provide progress made since the Talanoa event held in 2022.

Some of the developments shared were the Le Va peer cultural mentoring work, Stymie, a pastoral care anonymous reporting app, professional development for staff from the Tapasā document and work led by Caroline Taripo-Keith, Tui Tuia, University of Auckland.

This event was student-led by our senior Pasifika students and hosted by Head Girl Marina Jones and Year 12 student Jonarren Ngan Woo-Pulevaka who did an outstanding job on the night.

Former Head Boy, Tristan Tualagi, shared his experience of working in the film industry when he left school and former Cultural Prefect, Helen Pahulu, shared her experiences of pursuing an academic pathway at the University of Auckland.

There was an NZQA information session for parents and a cultural presentation by the Samoan cultural group.

At the fono, we took the opportunity to gather some parent voice and students assisted with leading parents in this activity.  There was an opportunity for parents to contribute to some of the discussion points raised using ‘sticky note’.

The school appreciates this feedback for consideration use for future development.  We enjoyed delicious food and the opportunity to enjoy each other’s company.  Thank you for coming!

God bless,
Louise Moore.
Principal