01/09/2026
A Very Special Day at St Mary’s!
What a wonderful and truly memorable day for our St Mary’s School whānau as we officially opened and blessed our beautiful new classrooms and administration building!
It was a real privilege to welcome Archbishop Paul Martin SM, who travelled from Wellington to join us for this very special occasion. We were also delighted to welcome our many special guests, parish representatives, community supporters, past and present staff, and St Mary’s families who came together to celebrate this significant milestone in the life of our school.
The ceremony began in a particularly special way, with our kapa haka group opening the celebration with an amazing performance. Their strength, energy and confidence filled the space, and their performance was a wonderful expression of the pride they have for their school and their place within our St Mary’s whānau. It was a beautiful reminder of the culture, identity and sense of belonging that sit at the heart of our school.
Our school choir also shared their beautiful voices, singing during the blessing of our new building by Archbishop Paul Martin. Their heartfelt singing created a peaceful and uplifting atmosphere and added another very special dimension to the ceremony.
A particularly meaningful part of the celebration was the blessing of a taonga gifted to St Mary’s School — a magnificent pakohe rock, standing proudly on a beautiful pedestal. Pakohe holds deep significance within Te Tauihu, and having this special taonga become part of our school is a wonderful symbol of our connection to place, our history and the generations of tamariki who will learn and grow at St Mary’s. Its presence will be a lasting reminder of this important chapter in our school’s story.
The opening and blessing of our new buildings marked not only the completion of a significant project, but the beginning of an exciting new chapter for our school. Our new classrooms provide modern, flexible learning spaces where our students can learn, grow and thrive, while our new administration building provides a welcoming and functional space to support our school community for many years to come.
A huge ngā mihi nui to everyone who has been part of this journey — from the initial planning and design, through to construction and completion. Your hard work, dedication, generosity and support have helped create something truly special for St Mary’s.
We are incredibly grateful to our Archdiocese, project team, builders and contractors, staff, Board, St Mary’s families, parish and wider community for the many contributions that have brought this vision to life.
It was wonderful to see so many members of our St Mary’s whānau gathered together to share in this celebration. Days like this remind us that a school is much more than its buildings — it is the people, relationships, faith, culture and sense of belonging that make it truly special.
As we look around our new spaces, we can already imagine the learning, laughter, friendships, celebrations and memories that will fill them in the years ahead.
We are incredibly proud of what has been achieved and excited for all that lies before us.
He wā hou — a new chapter for St Mary’s!
Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa for helping us celebrate this very special milestone and for being part of our St Mary’s story.
**Special thank you to Anthony at Phelps Visuals for the photographs and to Cathie Bell for writing a wonderful article in the Blenheim Sun
