Thank you to everyone who made our Special Character Week (22-26 May 2023) an awesome week.  It went very well as the students were filled with enthusiasm and participated in all the activities prepared for them.  Click this link for an overview of the activities that happened throughout the week: 2023 Special Character Week – a week of amazing events | Sancta Maria College

Special Character Review 2023

The aim of the Special Character Review is to see how Sancta Maria College practise Catholic faith as a Catholic School.  One of the goals of the Catholic Church for establishing Catholic Schools is to help the people (most importantly the children) have another avenue to practise and grow their faith and bring them closer to God and the church.

The Reviewers came into school from 23 – 25 May 2023 and witnessed how the school promoted, taught and integrated the Catholic World View in different subject areas and we practised Catholic belief in various ways.  They interviewed key individuals and groups to help them gain a clearer picture of how we try to fulfil our mission.  They also observed classes, walked around the school and participated in different activities such as full-school assembly, liturgies, etc.

The students and staff received the reviewers with great joy as students and staff were enthusiastic to show how we live the Catholic way every single day.

The review also fell on the same week as the Special Character Week – providing more opportunities for the reviewers to see Special Character in action.  The week was capped with the Feast Day mass that was presided by Bishop Steve and Fr. Sherwin who were both pleased with the active response of the staff and students in the mass and the observance of the sacred tapu throughout the celebration of the mass.

Overall, the reviewers’ verbal message at the end of the review was very positive.  They have seen that we are doing our best to ensure that Jesus is alive in our every action in school.  They have also witnessed how we have incorporated Mary’s values and virtues in our everyday dealings.

Feast Day Mass 2023

The Feast Day mass was held last Friday, 26 May 2023 and was presided over by Bishop Steve Lowe and Fr. Sherwin Lapaan (Parish Priest of St. Mark’s Pakuranga).  The mass was held in the school auditorium, and the staff, students and guests were all blessed and pleased as the Bishop spoke of the love of Jesus and Mary and how we continue to use faith is our compass.  During the mass, altar servers and lectors were commissioned both for the school and the students’ parishes.  We congratulate the following students:

Altar Servers:

Lectors:

St. Luke’s Parish Announcements

Catechism of the Catholic Church is held on Monday 16 June and 24 July 2023 from 7.30pm in the Parish Lounge.

Please see below a schedule of Mass times within our community:

In addition, Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish, Howick are celebrating 175 years of history from Friday 11 – Tuesday 15 August 2023.  More announcements and details of events will be published via their website howickcatholic.org.nz 

God bless,
Mr. Omar Tamayo