The document summarizes the special Catholic character of St. Mary's School through its symbols and practices. A cross window and statue of Mary's mother are displayed to represent the school's Catholic affiliation. Students learn about the school's six responsibilities and participate in house days, fundraising for charities, and maintaining a prayer area in each classroom to demonstrate the school's values.

6. These windows of the new office block has St Mary’s
Catholic Belief and the Charism Statement written on the
windows for everyone to see and remember.

7. We are named St Mary’s after Jesus’ mother Mary.
We have a statue of her in our entrance way. Our
new office block has a really big cross window on
the front that can be seen from the road. It shows
we are a special character school.

8. This cross sits on our office
bench and was made by one
of our Year 8 students last
year.
It was made from stones, a
heart mirror, cardboard and a
frame and each part
represents something to do
with God’s Kingdom or his
love for us.

9. Last year we planted trees in memory of Mrs D’Arcy Brain
who was one of our teachers for many years who sadly passed
away from cancer. This will become a quiet reflection area.

11.  They are like our school ‘rules.’
 We live by them and they can be seen
throughout the school.
 Each student marks themselves against the Six
Responsibilities and sets a goal to achieve. The
teacher then conferences with the student.
 When we get to Step 6 we write our own steps
because we are a role model in the school.
 They are the expectations we have for
ourselves at school and in the community.

12. We care for and respect everyone throughout the school. The
seniors and juniors always buddy up and the seniors enjoy helping
out in the JLC, especially with the iPads! We know who each other
are throughout the school…we are one big family!

13. Every class has a special prayer
table which is the most important
part of our classroom.

14. We have four houses which are St Patricks, St Josephs, St
Clares, and St Annes. Each teacher and student is put in a house.
We do lots of house days where we have fun, raise money and enjoy
looking after the juniors.

15.  We ran our own Relay for Life one day at
school and raised over $400 for the Cancer
Society.
 We have a garden that we grow vegetables
for the Wanganui Soup Kitchens.
 We raise money and collect cans of food for
people in need in our school and in the
community.

16. We have statues of
Mary throughout the
school to show who
our school was
named after.

17.  We have 8 different culture groups:
 Cook Island Maori
 Fijian
 Filipino
 Samoan
 NZ European
 German
 NZ Maori
 Indian

18.  We have really enjoyed finding out about our
Special Character at our school.
 We also enjoyed your letter and hope you
find out about your school’s Special
Character too.
 We hope this helps your study.
 Made by: The KnowledgeNet Team at St
Mary’s School (years 5-8 students)