Mr. 'Ofamo'oni

Manaakitanga Matters

16 February 2021 · by Mr. 'Ofamo'oni

Term 1 February 2021

GREETINGS TO ALL PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS AND CAREGIVERS

Welcome to all our new parents for 2021.

We hope that you had a wonderful New Year!

We would like to welcome our two new students. Luisa Moa and Maverik Tupe-Faleali’I, who have started their journey at Holy Cross Catholic School from qoverseas, and the Year 5s who have just joined the Manaakitanga Syndicate.

We have a busy term so below is an overview of programmes and events. Due to Covid, not all dates have been confirmed but we will endeavour to update this post as changes and confirmations come to hand. Luckily for us the board will be funding the entry and bus costs meaning that all we need is parent helpers. Another more detailed note will be given out to the students.

The following is an overview of the topics we will be covering this term;

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

School House namesakes
Prayer
God Strand
Lent Module
Holy Week

WRITTEN LANGUAGE

Recounts
Information Reports
Descriptions
Narratives

HANDWRITING

Letter Formation and Developing the Cursive Style.

SPELLING

You Can Spell Programme

MATHEMATICS

Whole Number
Measurement

SOCIAL STUDIES:

Korero Tuku Iho

HEALTH

Team Building

SCIENCE

The Natural World: The Estuary

Technology

The Estuary Environment

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Large Ball Skills

Sports: Swimming, Rippa, Cricket, Playball, Rugby, Netball, Soccer

ARTS

Sketching: Shading, faces and self-portraits

SPECIAL EVENTS

Thu 4^th February School Starts
Fri 12^th Feb Full School Mass
Wed 17^th Feb Ash Wednesday
Fri 26^th Feb Syndicate Mass
Tues 2^nd March Zone Swimming Competition
Wed 10th March Estuary Trip
Tues 16^th March Cricket and Playball Zone Tournaments
Tues 17^th March St Patrick’s Day
Thurs 18^th March Cricket and Playball saving day
Mon 29^th – Thurs 1^st Apr Holy Week
Fri 16^th April End of Term Mass

STATIONERY:

Your child will be issued their stationery in the first few days of the year and a costing list will be given out to the students. Please pay this through the school office.

HOMEWORK:

This is an extension of the school day and all children will be expected to complete reading, spelling, basic facts and specific activities each night as directed by their class teacher. Many of the activities will be online. If your child is struggling to complete any online work, then they may be able to come early into school at 8am and complete it on class devices if the teacher is available. My class should be available each day, except for Wednesdays due to a Senior Staff meeting. Please ensure all tasks are attempted to a good standard and that all books and work are returned to school each day as they may be needed for class lessons.

UNIFORM:

Please ensure your child is wearing the correct uniform and has their P.E. uniform at school every day. Children need plain black shorts (no stripes or monograms). Remember we do not allow any nail polish or jewellery apart from a pair of stud earrings and a watch. Hair should be tied up in the school colours or black. For safety reasons, there is no wearing of necklaces or the like.

Could you also please check to see that all clothing and footwear is clearly named as this enables us to return any articles of clothing that may be misplaced. All children must bring a note if they are not wearing the correct uniform.

SEESAW:

This app is a great communication tool for you, your child and their teacher. Please make sure that you have signed up to your child’s account for your classroom. See your class teacher for these details.

Yours Sincerely

The Manaakitanga Syndicate.

Sherwin Stowers (Room 17), Ahriel Siluuga (Room 19) & Bryan ‘Ofamo’oni (Room 18 and Senior Teacher).

Manaakitanga Matters

19 October 2020 · by Mr. 'Ofamo'oni

Term 4 October 2020

GREETINGS TO ALL PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS AND CAREGIVERS

Welcome to our final term for 2020.

Thank you for all the parent support we received last term.

This term is another busy one with Athletics, Cultural Festival, Prizegiving, Year 6 Camp and more!

The following is an overview of the topics we will be covering this term;

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Church Module
Communion of Saints Module
Advent
Christmas

WRITTEN LANGUAGE

Poetry
Arguments
Explanations
Information Reports
Narratives

HANDWRITING

Letter Formation and Developing the Cursive Style.

SPELLING

You Can Spell Programme.

MATHEMATICS

Numeracy.
Geometry.

SOCIAL SCIENCE:

Elections

HEALTH

Keeping Ourselves Safe

SCIENCE

Natural World: Native Bush

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Athletics

Small Ball Skills

Sports: Cross-country, Athletics

ARTS

Printing: Native Bush

SPECIAL EVENTS

Fri 16^th October Manaakitanga Election
Fri 16^th October Full School Mass
Mon 19^th October Art Display at Papatoetoe North Primary School
Thurs 22^nd October Zone Cross-country
Fri 23^rd October School disco
Wed 28^th October School Athletics Day (Thurs 29^th Oct Saving Day)
Fri 30^th October Full School Mass – All Saints
Mon 2^nd – 6^th November Testing week
Tues 3^rd November Confirmation
Wed 4^th November Papatoetoe Zone Speech Finals
Wed 4^th November Music Soiree
Sun 8^th November Holy Communion A-M
Wed 11^th November Manaakitanga Trip to Auckland Botanic Gardens
Sun 15^th November Holy Communion N-Z
Mon 16^th November Class Photos
Tues 17^th November Zone Athletics Tournament (Save days Thurs 19^th & Tues 24^th)
Fri 20^th November Manaakitanga Syndicate Mass
Fri 20^th November Rainbow’s End for Year 6 Boy service
25^th-27^th November Year 6 Camp
Fri 4^th December Full School Mass: Gifting Mass
Tues 8^th December Quikhit Girls’Cricket Tournament
Fri 11^th December Reports sent home
Tue 15^th December Prize giving
Wed 16^th December Year 6 Graduation
Thu 17^th December Year 6 Leavers’ Assembly
Thu 17^th December Full School End of Year Mass

HOMEWORK:

This is an extension of the school day and all children will be expected to complete reading, spelling, basic facts and specific activities each night as directed by their class teacher. Please ensure all tasks are attempted to a good standard and that all books and work are returned to school each day as they are needed for class lessons.

UNIFORM:

Please ensure your child is wearing the correct uniform and has their P.E. uniform at school everyday. Children need plain black shorts (no stripes or monograms). Remember we do not allow any nail polish or jewellery apart from a pair of stud earrings and a watch. Hair should be tied up in the school colours.

Could you also please check to see that all clothing and footwear is clearly named as this enables us to return any articles of clothing that may be misplaced. All children must bring a note if they are not wearing the correct uniform.

Summer uniform should be worn after Labour Day. Only Year 6 Boys may wear shoes. ALL children are expected to have school hats to wear.

Covid:

At any time our school dates and fixtures may be subject to Covid 19 Alert Levels.

Yours Sincerely,

The Manaakitanga Syndicate.

Sherwin Stowers (Room 17), Ahriel Siluuga (Room 19) & Bryan ‘Ofamo’oni (Room 18 and Senior Teacher).

Manaakitanga Matters

22 July 2020 · by Mr. 'Ofamo'oni

Term 3 July 2020

GREETINGS TO ALL PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS AND CAREGIVERS

Welcome to our third term for 2020.

Thank you for all the parent support we received last term.

This term is another busy one with sports exchanges, St Anne’s Shield, Holy Cross Week and more!

The following is an overview of the topics we will be covering this term;

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Imaginative and Meditative Prayers
Assumption
Sacrament Module
Church Module

WRITTEN LANGUAGE

Speeches
Poetry
Arguments
Explanations
Discussions
Narratives

HANDWRITING

Letter Formation and Developing the Cursive Style.

SPELLING

You Can Spell Programme.

MATHEMATICS

Numeracy.
Measurement.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

HEALTH

Healthy Environments

SCIENCE

Material World: Plastics

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Swimming

Sports: Netball, Soccer, Rugby, Rippa, Cross-country, League, Gymnastics.

ARTS

Myths and Legends

SPECIAL EVENTS

Thu 23^rd July Sports Exchange vs South
Fri 24^th July Full School Mass
Mon 27^th July Monday swimming begins
Mon 27^th July Parent Interviews
Wed 29^th July Parent Interviews
Thu 30^th July Sports Exchange vs Central
Thu 30^th July AMI Netball begins
Mon 3^rd August Room 19 Assembly
Thurs 6^th August Sports Exchange vs North
Fri 7^th August Pedal Power Room 18
Mon 10^th-14^th August Maths Week
Tues 11^th August Reading Degree Graduation
Thurs 13^th August Mathex at Pap Central
Thurs 13^th August Sports Exchange vs East
Wed 14^th August Full School Mass – Assumption
Mon 17^th-20^th August Art Week
Tue 18^th August Sports Exchange vs Puhinui
Fri 21^st August Teacher Only Day
Mon 24^th August Class Photos
Tues 25^th August Confirmation 6pm
Thurs 27^th August Sports Exchange vs SDA
Fri 4^th Sept Art Show
Sun 6^th Sept First Holy Communion A-M
Mon 7^th -11th Sept Book Week
Tue 8^th Sept Cross Country Zone Event (save days 10^th and 15^th September)
Wed 9^th Sept Counties Rugby League (save day TBC)
Sun 13^th Sept First Holy Communion N-Z
14^th-18^th September Holy Cross Week
Wed 10^th September Zone Speech Final
Fri 18^th September Full School Mass: Feast of the Holy Cross
Tue 22^nd September St.Anne’s Shield (save day Thur 24^th September)
Tue 22^nd September Zone Gymnastics Competition
Fri 25^th September Full School Mass.

HOMEWORK:

This is an extension of the school day and all children will be expected to complete reading, spelling, basic facts and specific activities each night as directed by their class teacher. Please ensure all tasks are attempted to a good standard and that all books and work are returned to school each day as they are needed for class lessons.

UNIFORM:

Please ensure your child is wearing the correct uniform and has their P.E. uniform at school everyday. Children need plain black shorts (no stripes or monograms). Remember we do not allow any nail polish or jewellery apart from a pair of stud earrings and a watch. Hair should be tied up in the school colours.

Could you also please check to see that all clothing and footwear is clearly named as this enables us to return any articles of clothing that may be misplaced. All children must bring a note if they are not wearing the correct uniform.

SWIMMING:

The Find Your Field of Dreams Foundation will be sponsoring free swimming lessons for Year 5 and 6 students. All students are expected to participate. Lessons will be every Monday, for 7 weeks, starting on the 27^th of July.

SPORTS EXCHANGES:

Due to Covid 19 and the cancellation of inter school sport in Term 2, we will spend the first 6 weeks having sports exchanges with our neighbouring Papatoetoe schools. As some of them have less teams than us, some teams only have a few games.

Yours Sincerely

The Manaakitanga Syndicate.

Sherwin Stowers (Room 17), Ahriel Siluuga (Room 19) & Bryan ‘Ofamo’oni (Room 18 and Senior Teacher).

How the Four Forces Help a Plane Achieve Flight

30 May 2020 · by Mr. 'Ofamo'oni

By Lui Onesi Room 18

I am going to be explaining how the four forces can help a plane get flight. The four forces are Gravity/Weight, Lift, Thrust and Drag. Which are all different types of forces. Now I will explain how each force helps a plane get flight.

Gravity/Weight – If there is too much weight on the plane the plane will start to fall to the ground. That is why at the airport they have to way your bags to make sure it is not too heavy to go one the plane. Gravity pushes the plane just a little bit so it doesn’t go too high up. When you go down to land that gravity is pushing the plane down as well.

Lift – Lift is what keeps the plane up in the air and flying. It helps the plane keep air and not go down. It is kind of pushing the plane upwards. It helps the plane to stay straight and move in a straight line. It helps the plane move up when the plane has just taken off. Lift pushes the front of the plane upwards for the plane to get high in the sky.

Thrust – Thrust helps the plane move forward to the location you are going to. It is pushing the plane and is helping the plane move faster. It is giving the plane just a little bit more speed. It is like a little booster for the plane. Thrust pushes the back of the plane, that is why on the back of the wings that have something hanging for the thrust to push that.

Drag – Drag is what slows the plane down. That is why on planes you will see the front/nose of the plane is pointy because it pushes most of the drag out of the way so the plane will only have a little drag. The way the plane turns is because the wing flaps go up on the side they need to turn too and so that side will slow down for the other wing to move that direction. When you are landing the wing flaps will come help and the drag will be pushing against both the wing flaps for the plane to slow down and have a safer landing.

Daily Life

4 May 2020 · by Mr. 'Ofamo'oni

By Georgina Brown – Room 18

I’m sure life has changed drastically for everyone due to coronavirus, it just shut off everything! When life was normal my day would be getting up and going to school, coming home, and maybe going places or visiting people. But now all that is pretty much illegal. I was happy that I had all that freedom, but I was so used to having it I didn’t realise how important it was!

Now because of coronavirus, all I do everyday is just stay at home, I can’t do much really, considering I have to stay inside all the time. My bubble consists of only me and my mum, and what we do everyday is find things to clean, go for walks, and do nothing. I don’t like staying home and doing nothing, I get bored quite quickly so I always try to keep busy and keep my mind active. I do wish that it would go back to normal, I miss school the most out of all the things, I don’t know why but it just doesn’t feel the same doing school work from home, I also miss my friends so that’s another reason why I want to go back to school.

It’s nice staying home and just relaxing, but it can get quite boring for me. I’m not really a relaxed person because as I said before I like to keep busy and keep my mind active, but lockdown and staying home has given me opportunities and time to start new hobbies! Like I’ve been practicing drawing, practicing cooking! And I even started knitting. Yes, knitting. I do hope that this coronavirus ends soon, but I will stay home for as long as I have to if it means that the rest of NZ is safe, wouldn’t you?

The Story of My New Typical Days

2 May 2020 · by Mr. 'Ofamo'oni

By Jacinta Kalolo Rm 18

Before Lockdown

It was busy and people were always working, including my parents, so we didn’t get much family time. School was still going, which was a relief, I was able to see my friends and play around with them and play sports. Shops were open and I could walk to the dairy by myself and get lollies and chat with the shopkeeper. Though my parents were always busy with work I always had my sisters, who always had their devices and I was practically left with nothing so yeah, I guess some people really are alone in this world, but I held the power of the T.V to myself!

During lockdown

These days, I can no longer go to the dairy, I can’t go to school, and I don’t have the T.V to myself, I can’t laugh with my friends face to face, nope that was all gone by far. And my parents are still working which worries me sometimes. And the worse part is there is no excuse not to do my school work, because we are working from home!!!. It was like I was actually living one of my own nightmares that I could never wake up from…. But we did get more family time, there was no laughing with my friends but there was laughing with my family. I guess that was better. My Parents got more days off work now. But sometimes I just sit on the couch and stare at the roof, because it’s just so boring!, just sitting there all day doing nothing, and it’s driving me INSANE!!!!.

Holy Cross School Papatoetoe

Posts By Mr. 'Ofamo'oni

Manaakitanga Matters

Manaakitanga Matters

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

MATHEMATICS

SOCIAL SCIENCE:

HEALTH

SCIENCE

Manaakitanga Matters

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

MATHEMATICS

SOCIAL STUDIES:

HEALTH

SCIENCE

How the Four Forces Help a Plane Achieve Flight

Daily Life

The Story of My New Typical Days