First planting on Our Lady of Kapiti School site

BLESSING: Catholic Archbishop of Wellington Cardinal John Dew plants a nikau palm on the site of the new Our Lady of Kapiti School which is under construction.

The Catholic Archbishop of Wellington Cardinal John Dew has blessed the construction site of the new Our Lady of Kapiti School, in Milne Drive, Paraparaumu.

The ceremony, involving prayer, blessing, karakia, waiata and tree planting, took place on Friday.

The school, which will replace the existing St Patrick's School in Tongariro St, is scheduled to open for the start of the 2017 academic year.

"It's a wonderful site," Cardinal John said.

"It will be a great asset for the parish and the school to have them together, and to have easier access with the new expressway.

"It will be a wonderful blessing for the whole of the Catholic community and hopefully the wider community."

Cardinal John planted a nikau palm. Six other nikau palms were taken back to St Patrick's School where they will be looked after by pupils before being taken back to the new site for planting.

"It's 17 months ago to the very day that Stephen Lange from Bayleys Real Estate took Rick Goodman, Dave Sowry and I on a tour of this land," Father Michael McCabe said.

"And 17 months tomorrow, Cardinal John, that you first visited the site and told us to go for it over the phone, as you left for Rome.

"Well, we have gone for it and you have returned.

"Thank you to our leadership groups and Cardinal John for inviting us into a future full of hope."

Sister Breda Ryan said, "We will continue to pray that this new school will be bursting with possibilities unfurling like the fern fronds, nurturing and teaching future generations of our Catholic church. May our new school be filled with blessings as numerous as the stars in the southern sky. And may it be a significant blessing to the Kapiti community."