Marian College

Children’s Day 2026 - Volunteers Needed

Children’s Day 2026 will be held Sunday 1 March 2026 at Cuthberts Green from 11am-3pm, car parking will be set up in Linfield Park. Children’s Day is a FREE community event which is about celebrating children. The day is about having fun, learning and gaining information. More importantly, parents and caregivers don’t have to say NO, as all activities are free. Our aim is to create an environment to provide moments of joy and fun to families that might not necessarily be able to have moments like this often. About 15,000 people visit over the 4 hours of the event.

What do student volunteers do at Children’s Day?

Each volunteer will be assigned a role for the day. There are a variety of roles available such as;

Directing public, managing lines and giving out information
Face painting
Helping out with activities
Evaluations
Being a runner
Giving away trees
Rubbish pickers
Bin removers and collectors
Helping in the car park
Setting up and cleaning up
Supervising the bounce zones

How to sign up?

Click on the link below to sign up or, scan the QR code above to complete the form.

https://form.jotform.com/HannahMartin430/childrens-day-2026---student-volunt

Children’s Day is not possible without the help and support from student volunteers. We had an amazing turn out for the 2025 Children’s Day with over 100 students registering for the event and without them, the event would have not been as smooth!!

Marian College PTA - Thank you Team

The Marian PTA has had a productive and inspiring year, growing our membership and supporting a wide range of school initiatives. We helped enhance Marian’s outdoor spaces through the ongoing collaboration for the Growing Greener Together project, including new fruit tree plantings, irrigation, and a new garden shed. Pastoral care was strengthened with the addition of a compassion freezer, generously provided by Michelle Malone to support families in need. Our lively quiz night in the middle of the year raised $3,200 toward a new school stage, complemented by a $7,000 grant from the Kiwi Gaming Foundation. A huge thank you to our amazing PTA team, our supporters, and the wider Marian community for your ongoing enthusiasm and generosity. Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday, and we look forward to welcoming existing and new members to our first meeting early in the 2026 school year. Merry Christmas.

Kirsty Mahoney, PTA Chairperson

Rauru

If you are a past student of Marian College, we would love to invite you to join Rauru: The Marian College Past Whānau Network. This network is about connecting past students to the school and each other and includes mentoring opportunities, archives of our past yearbooks and photos as well as the opportunity to attend reunions and other events. You can join online at rauru.mariancollege.school.nz.

The Environment Canterbury Youth Rōpū is recruiting now!

The Environment Canterbury Youth Rōpū (EYR) is a body of rangatahi aged 14-24 who are enthusiastic about advocating for the environment, civics education, and empowering young people across Waitaha Canterbury. If you know a young person who fits this description and would love to grow their leadership skills and influence real decisions, please tell them about this opportunity. Applications close on 14 December.

If you have any questions, please contact - nicky.thorne@ecan.govt.nz.

From the Board Chair

With 2025 school year drawing to a close, I want to acknowledge every member of staff at Marian College for their outstanding work this year, our role as a Board is made so much easier having such a dedicated team who care deeply about our students and the values the College espouses.

At our final meeting of the year we farewelled Sr Eleanor Capper who has been a proprietor representative for 13 years and was the founding Principal of Marian College. Sister Eleanor's incredible institutional knowledge. Her deep understanding of Marian College's history, traditions, and values has been an anchor for us all. She has been our living memory, ensuring that every step we take is informed by the lessons of the past and inspired by the vision that has guided our school since its founding 43 years ago.

We are grateful for her service, her wisdom, her sense of humour, and her unwavering faith in Marian College, while she may be stepping down from the Board, her legacy will remain, and we know Sr Eleanor will still have a presence here at the College and be keeping a very close eye on what’s happening. May God bless her and continue to guide her path, just as she has so graciously guided ours.

We look forward to consulting with our Marian College community in 2026 as we work on our strategic planning to ensure our Kura continues to provide high quality education and care for our students.

Ngā Mihi o te wā

Carmel Gregan-Ford, Board Chair