On the Tuesday 27 – Friday 30 May 2025, our school held our annual Special Character Week with an awesome set of activities to celebrate our school’s special character. For the four days, unique events were held to remind us of our school’s special identity and charism.
On Tuesday, the prefects organised a house charity multi-sport competition which pitted Kororāreka and Hokianga against Akaroa and Waitematā. A gold coin donation was required to enter, and all proceeds were donated to charity.
On Wednesday, all students were allowed to wear their own clothes, as part of the non-uniform day for Caritas. A gold coin donation was donated and the money helped struggling people around the world through Caritas. The CSYMI team also hosted our three feeder primary schools and Year 7s, for Catholic Schools Day 2025. With the theme of ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, the activities and liturgy were all carried out excellently. The day was filled with joy and educational value for them, and they were left buzzing at the end of the day.
At lunch, the Auckland NET team came and ran a Praise and Worship session in the auditorium. The atmosphere was calm, serene, and filled with praise for the Lord. The session was reinvigorating and powerful – thank you to the NET team for a wonderful job!
On Thursday, a bake sale was organised to raise money for Caritas in the C-Block courtyard.
Finally, on Friday, we had our annual Feast Day Mass, celebrating the ‘Feast of the Visitation’. Mass was wonderfully presided over by Bishop Peter Brown. It was a special Mass, honouring and reflecting on the visit of Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth, the twelve stars of Mary, and the core values of our school. In addition, new Ministers of the Eucharist and Ministers of the Word were commissioned and blessed. There was also a celebratory, bonus, free sausage sizzle after Mass!
Numerous senior students also took part in the Caritas Challenge, which took place at the end of the week on Friday evening. The purpose was to replicate the lives of people going through tough times and who are less fortunate than we are.
Thank you to everyone who participated in this special week, and a massive thank you to those who made this week possible – the staff, students, prefects and especially the Special Character Prefects: Luke McEnteer and Hannah Ernstzen.
