Week 4, Term 2

Dear Parents, Friends and Caregivers,

I was sent a beautiful quote by a friend this week - so l I want to share it with you:

“For those of us who grew up in the church, believing in Jesus was very important. For me, what that phrase used to mean in my childhood and into my early adulthood, was “believing things about Jesus.”  To believe in Jesus meant to believe what the gospels and the church said about Jesus….

“I now see that believing in Jesus can (and does) mean something very different from that. The change is pointed to the root meaning of the word believe. Believe did not originally mean believing a set of doctrines or teachings; in both Greek and Latin its roots mean “to give one’s heart to.”  The ‘heart’ is the self at its deepest level. Believing, therefore, does not consist of giving mental assent to something, but involves a much deeper level of oneself. Believing in Jesus does not mean believing doctrines about him. Rather it means to give one’s heart, one’s self at its deepest level, to Jesus, who is the living Lord, the side of God turned towards us, the face of God, the Lord who is also the Spirit.

Believing in Jesus, in the sense of giving one’s heart to Jesus, is the movement from secondhand religion to first-hand religion; from having heard about Jesus with the hearing of the ear to being in relationship with the Spirit of Christ. For ultimately Jesus is not a figure of the past, but a figure of the present. Meeting that Jesus - the living Jesus who comes to us even now - will be like meeting Jesus again for the first time.”

It is our desire at MCS that our children would not merely become parrots of ideas we teach them about God (second hand religion), but that they would desire to open their hearts to God.

It has been said that “the glory of God is a human fully alive”, and it is a privilege to help children to be fully alive - academically, physically, emotionally, socially - and spiritually.

For a healthy child, being fully alive is a perfectly normal way of being. Over time we become more constrained and less ‘fully alive’, and it is our hope and intention to keep them growing in life-giving ways!

Privileged to share the journey with you.

Helen Pearson

SCHOOL NEWS

Assembly

This Friday Room 4 will be taking our assembly and we will have Pastor David Jensen coming to speak to the children.  Parents, grandparents and caregivers are welcome to attend.

Wanted:

We are currently looking for a new school cleaner. If you would be interested in this role, please contact Mrs Helen Pearson directly.

We are in need of a nice coffee table for the staff room. If you know of one that is no longer required, please contact the school office.

Sports Uniforms

As of 2016 sports uniform will become compulsory for Years 4-8. This will be black shorts and maroon polo shirts. The total cost to parents for these uniforms will be approximately $45 per set. These will be used for lunchtime sport, PE lessons (the school has provided these for free in the last two years), and Saturday sports and interschool sports.

School Uniform

There are currently a large number of children missing their school polar fleeces.  Could all parents and caregivers please check that you have the correct polar fleeces at home.

Photographs for the School Website

On Wednesday 13^th May we are having Matt Gerrand come in and take photos of the children for our website and marketing.  Please could the children all have uniform, shoes and sports uniform that day.

Hockey
Our teams had great games on Saturday, with the Rockets having another win.

The draw for this Saturday (Week 3) is:
MCS Rockets v M Superstars on field 1 at 9.20am
SB Snapdragons v M Falcons on field 3 / 4 at 9.20am
SB Strikers v M Eagles on field 3 / 4 at 10.10am

Parent Group

INTERSCHOOL NETBALL

The senior class had a great day in Wellsford on Tuesday 5 May at the interschool netball competition with some very good netball skills showing.

It was appreciated to have parent help on the day and we would like to thank the following for their effort. 

• The year 7 and 8 students who ran the canteen very well.
• Debbie Renahan who supported Louise Pryde in coordinating the teams for their games.
• Barbara (Ursula’s mum) who helped manage the canteen.
• Paul Carstensen who ran a very successful sausage sizzle.
• The parent supporters who came to see the children playing and cheered them on.
• The families who sent baking.

 The canteen raised $250.00 which will be used for sandpit equipment for the students.

SCHOLASTICS

Scholastic Book Orders are due back tomorrow WEDNESDAY 13 MAY

WIN IT IN A MINUTE FAMILY FUN NIGHT

We have a great family fun filled night coming up at the end of June.

• $20 team entry
• 3-6 in a team
• Prizes to be won

 Get your team thinking cap on.  Registration will open next week.  This will be a fun children and adults night with healthy family and friend competition guaranteed along with a load of laughs.

Prayer for our school

If you are interested in praying for our school, you are welcome to come along to a prayer meeting being held each Tuesday morning, during term time.  The meeting is from 8.50am - 9.20am in the crèche room, in the chapel.   Any queries please contact Louisa Kimber through the school office.

Yummy Stickers

Its that time of year again, when we are collecting YUMMY Apple Stickers  The link below is for a sheet to put the stickers onto.

HTTP://WWW.YUMMYFRUIT.CO.NZ/PDF/NEW_VARIETY_STICKER_COLLECTION_SHEET.PDF

Parking

Please note that the gravel carpark is the main carpark for children to be dropped off and picked up from.

COMMUNITY NOTICES

Forensics at Kristin

 Forensics@Kristin is a high quality, high energy, non residential  holiday camp experience for gifted students from all over New Zealand. A completely student-led programme, the camps involve tremendous fun and new friendships with like-minded students from a wide variety of places and backgrounds.

There are three divisions: Junior Forensics (Year 3-6), Middle School Forensics (Year 7-10), Senior Scholars (Year 11-13). Registrations are now open so go to http://www.kristin.net.nz/ for further details.

Homebuilders Courses

Homebuilders have two courses they are running in May.

Benefit Entitlements

Presented by Quentin Jukes 

Dates: Wednesday May 20th  

Time: 12-2.45pm  

Venue: Homebuilders Family Centre. 5 Haxham St. Warkworth 

Are you on a low income, or a Work and Income benefit and finding it hard to make ends meet? Come to this course and find out the criteria for getting work and income assistance with

food, health related costs, dental treatment, bond/rent in advance, washing machines and fridges etc. 

This course will cover all these topics and provide you with accurate impartial information on the criteria for all of these Work and Income payments. 

Vege Gardening for Real Beginners

Presented by Mike Hanne

A two-session course for people on a tight budget, who want to get started on growing vegetables for their families. Especially for those who are renting and only have limited outside space.

The tutor Mike Hanne is retired and started gardening with his Dad 60 years ago. For many years he lived in rented properties in England and New Zealand and had to learn ways of gardening that would be productive and enjoyable, didn’t require too much space, and wouldn’t upset the property owner. Now he’s lucky enough to have a big section and a 150 square metre vege garden.

Venue: Homebuilders Family Services, 5 Hexham Street, Warkworth

Dates: 9.30-12.30 Friday 22 May and Friday 29 May

For enrolment email homebuilders.courses@hotmail.com or leave a message at Homebuilders on 425 7048.