Mālō e lelei, Talofa lava, Taloha ni, Kia orana, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Namaste, Ni sa bula and warm Pacific greetings.

Another year comes to a close and as an ACCKA we have so much to celebrate as an organisation, a group of people committed to Catholic Education and whānaungatanga.

We are proud of the continuing focus and commitment of our Across Schools Teachers, they are passionate about all things Catholic. The cultural diversity across our schools is something we are very proud of and the relationships between primary and secondary schools continue to go from strength to strength.

Our first year with a shared kaiako kapa haka tutor across some of our schools has been fruitful with Whaea Liv taking on more schools next year. Liv is outstanding and goes beyond the call of duty.

We thank you for your ongoing support, passion and commitment to Catholic Education, our purpose as a Kāhui ako and the commitment to making a difference in each child’s life. We welcome Marcellin College to our community and look forward to a successful 2025.

We wish you all God’s blessings for a holy and joyous Christmas and New Year break. May the reason for the season be ever evident in our lives, our schools and our homes.

Stay well, travel safe and have fun! See you in 2024.

Carolynn Phillips and Michael Mullin

Next year 26 members of the Kāhui Ako and Marist College students will be travelling to Samoa, 28 th June – 7 th July to serve at Samoa Victim Support Group (Campus of Hope) https://svsg.org.ws . This will be Marist College’s 10 th Anniversary and the Kāhui Ako’s 2nd year of serving this organisation. Each malaga (trip) we take over specific supplies of resources. Next year, the focus is on collecting stationery equipment for children and hygiene packs for young girls and women both on campus and in different villages. We would love your support with this.

This term, teachers from St. Francis and St. Dominic's Primary Schools came together once again to moderate student writing based on the e-asTTle writing assessment. A key focus of the session was exploring the following question: How can we ensure consistent and reliable judgments of students’ work throughout the year? Teachers were encouraged to consider strategies such as collecting the same evidence at the same time each year to support this goal. Additionally, teachers were reminded to pay close attention to the specific language in the writing rubric that can influence judgment, such as terms like "brief," "simple," "unelaborated," "basic elaboration," "relevant," and "complex."

At the end of the session, teachers felt confident and reassured by the moderation process, as both schools demonstrated a strong alignment in their marking of writing samples.

ASL Primary Team

Moderation aligns teachers' viewpoints and hence increases the accuracy of assessment decisions that teachers make. After moderation, you're in a much better position to feedback to parents and families on pupils' progress.

Please get in touch next year if you are keen to be involved in writing moderation for 2025.

Positive Impact
Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi. Engari, he toa takitini: Success is not the work of one, but the work of many.

This term, our dedicated team of Within School Teachers gathered at St. Mary's Primary School to celebrate, reflect, and share their successes, challenges, and plans for 2025. It was a valuable opportunity to learn about the unique focus areas each school has embraced this year. Each leader was given time to reflect deeply on the individuals who have positively influenced them and how they, in their role as Within School Leaders (WSL's), have made a meaningful impact in their schools.

We acknowledge and appreciate the tireless work these remarkable educators do, both in their own schools and within our Kahui Ako. For those Within School Teachers who will be moving on from their roles next year, we sincerely thank you for your leadership and dedication. We wish everyone the very best for 2025.

Ngā mihi nui ki a koe 

Laureen Leituala (Across School Leader)

‘ If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to
him in his language, that goes to his heart.’ Nelson Mandela.
We acknowledge the language week celebrations that took place this term –
Niue, Tokelau, Papua New Guinea and the newly additional one, the Solomon Islands.

Niue Language Speech competition results
Judged by - Mrs Anthe-Florence Hiligutu (Teacher)

Winner of Years 1 & 2 Niuean Speech Competition – Jaelin Richard HIPA TAUTASI 
Winners of Years 3 & 4 Niuean Speech Competition -  Alycia PAEALIKI & Blake TAIFINOFU
Winner of Years 5 & 6 Niuean Speech Competition -  Emmeline FASI

Here is a link to the winning speeches.

Thank-you to all our students who were great ambassadors of our kāhui ako colleges who took part in sharing with mainly their former Primary schools of what their first year at college has been like. Many former staff and students were excited to see how ‘grown up’ and ‘mature’ the students were especially their confidence and knowledge of their current college. 
They did their college and the kāhui ako proud!

Marist School, Mt Albert 2024 Kapa Haka and Pacifica Groups (Junior and Senior) with the guidance of Whaea Liv) performed at the Irish Club Community Open Day.

The 2024 Year 6 Leavers from Marist School, Mt Albert, worked with artist Stu Duval to create these stunning panels. The panels were unveiled at the school's Christmas picnic on November 29th and will soon be displayed on the school’s fence as the Year 6 legacy wall. The artwork beautifully illustrates Marist School's Pepeha.

On Thursday 21st November all our Room 6 & 8 students did a magnificent job presenting their projects to our parents, family members, sponsors, experts and members of our local community. A huge congratulations to all students that presented.

Te Taiao, is where our Room 6 students explored the beauty and importance of biodiversity. This year, their work centred on creating a butterfly habitat, learning about native butterflies like the Monarch, Red Admiral, and Common Copper. Through this, they’ve not only gained a deeper understanding of conservation but also learned how their actions can help protect the environment for future generations.

Pūtātara, is our Room 8 project that calls our students to action as kaitiaki of the environment. This year, they’ve gone above and beyond—not only sharing their learning but also bringing it to life through animations created in partnership with the incredible team at Pacific Kids Learning. These animations showcase their creativity and their ability to communicate important messages about environmental guardianship in a modern and engaging way by retelling pūrākau in their own words. And also designing and creating their own Māra Hūpara that retells the pūrākau of Kupe and Te Wheke alongside their native bush planted area.

Both projects this year have fostered leadership, problem-solving, a sense of responsibility, a growth in knowledge, creativity and a dedication to making our school a beautiful place. 

A big thank you also goes to the following: