- Posted by Mrs Bradley





The boys frantically finishing work before school. Lots of shared learning going on here!

Naomi

I was born and raised right here in New Zealand. I speak English and know no other language. What's so special about my family's culture you ask, well we may not go to Mass regularly, say our prayers every night or bless our food in the making but we still have a strong Catholic belief,
My family is much the same as any and we certainly do not have any cultural rules or any foreign culture at all.






My father doesn't have any beliefs. He has been to church once in his whole life and both his parents are from New Zealand. Well his adoptive parents are anyway, but he still respects the fact that my mother and I are Catholic.
My siblings on the other hand are still too young to understand about what we believe as Catholics. They can both speak fluent Maori and try to teach us as much Te Reo as possible.
My family is diverse in so many ways and we are proud to call New Zealand home.
Naomi Cole

Welcome to our blog for the last week of term

It's hard to believe it's October already but isn't the weather getting more beautiful every day.(it'll probably rain now that I said that).
This week will be another busy one; I am testing the students in both Reading and Maths using the asTtle tests and I while I am away on Tuesday updating my First Aid certificate Room 5 will be the capable hands of Mrs Moyle.
The festival choir sang some of the songs at assembly on Friday and although they said they were nervous it sounded really great. I must pass on too the complimentary comment the Press photographer made about the confident and meaningful way our senior students conducted the assembly. It is so wonderful that they are able to do this each week with such maturity and so gain the respect of the younger students at school.
I hope your week is an enjoyable one and that you achieve all you have planned.
God Bless

- Posted by Mrs Bradley

Junior

My name is Junior I am a South Pacific Samoan and part Chinese but mostly Samoan. At home my family members speak to me in Samoan and I reply back in Samoan sometimes. When I was little I was not scared to speak Samoan in public because it was the only language I knew. I went to a Samoan preschool called Tino e Tusi. Through my preschool and primary school years I have learnt the A,B,C to understanding words like comfirming or multiple languages. Now that I am all grown up Im still not embarrassed to speak my own language in public exept for when relatives or Samoan friends come over because if ask my mum or dad something in private I know that they will ask what is she or he doing and my mum or dad will tell them what I just told them and sometimes it's something personal.

Zoe

How we celebrate Christmas in India!

CLOSED- all schools are closed for 10 to 14 days for the Christmas season, not a second earlier and not a second later as all the Christian families start pre-paring for Christmas from around the end of November.

We start the Christmas season by writing and sending cards to all our friends and family from all over the world. Then we get to the fun part making all the Christmas SWEETS! ! !
From Chirstmas cake, to fudge, custard, and chocolate!
BUT WAIT ! ! ! That's only the beginning.

Then we would call the tailor to make us some clothes for Christmas, after we would go out and buy some gifts for all our family and friends. Within the days before Christmas we would decorate our homes and also help decorate the church. We'd also go Christmas caroling with people form within the parish and go for Christmas parties.

As Christmas got closer we'd prepare a Christmas lunch; go and visit family and friends and of course we'd all help to decorate the Christmas tree and put the star on top.

On Christamas eve we'd go for midnight mass, but because the were so many people; would have to be outside, and the on Christmas morning we'd all open up our presents then we would all have lunch together! And that is how we celebrate Christmas in India!
By Zoe Rodricks

Mikaela

There are so many unique cultures in the world. And all of them are special. There is one culture that I love. The Filipino culture. Of course there's only one Phillipines and I'm not in it. But I continue my culture at home. My Mum and Dad both come from the Phillipines so they speak Tagalog and English to me. We sometimes do your ordinary daily things differently. Like how we cook our food; how we wash the dishes and more. See, lots of cultures do things differently and that's what makes them so interesting and special. I love my culture and I'm proud of being a Filipino.

Bobby Jo

Hi I am called called Bobby Jo. I was born in New Zealand but my Mum comes from Cebu in the Phillippines. My Mum can speak Tagalog and she does when she's on the phone. I know some words in Tagalog, but I like to speak English.