Newsletter No: 3 March 2009

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Students

EDUCATION REVIEW OFFICE REPORT

We have now received the confirmed Report from the Education Review Office. It reflects the school in an extremely positive light and comments favourably on the continued progress of the school.

The full ERO Report will be available shortly on the Education Review Office website. Their letter to the community is included with this newsletter.

Below are some extracts from the report.

* The school is characterised by Catholic values that encourage mutual respect, high expectations and continuous improvement.

* A high quality learning environment and committed staff support the school’s focus on individual success and development.

* The school continues to provide an inclusive and welcoming family environment. This is a significant aspect in a school that has grown to Year 13 since its first ERO report in 2006. .

* Mutually respectful and supportive relationships are evident in the school.

* Students are appreciative of the care and commitment that staff have for their learning and well-being.

* High quality teaching and a positive learning culture are evident across the school.

* Committed teachers continue to apply new knowledge and skills to their teaching programmes and practices.

* Classrooms are purposeful learning environments in which teachers share enthusiasm for their subject and support students to be successful learners.

* The school ethos of having high expectations for student achievement is a significant feature.

* Students benefit from the supportive and inclusive school environment and from various strategies in place that support students’ well being and learning.

* Students throughout the senior and middle schools are highly motivated and engaged by enthusiastic and committed teachers.

We are delighted with the report. It is a positive signal to the community, the Board of Trustees, Staff and Students that our values and expectations are resulting in positive outcomes. We will use the report as the basis for ongoing development at Sancta Maria College.

 

NCEA Results 2008

Again, the students have performed exceptionally well with over all pass rates at all levels exceeding national results for All Schools; Decile 8 Schools; Decile 8 – 10 Schools; and in most cases Decile 10 Schools:

Percentage Figures

	Sancta Maria College %	National %	Decile 8 %	Decile 8 – 10 %
Level 1	91	62.4	71.7	73.2
Merit	34.3	17.3	23	26.4
Excellence	9	4.6	5.9	8.3

	Sancta Maria College %	National %	Decile 8 %	Decile 8 – 10 %
Level 2	97.3	65.4	73.2	73
Merit	24.3	12.3	15.3	18.6
Excellence	5.4	3.1	3.7	5.2

	Sancta Maria College %	National %	Decile 8 %	Decile 8 – 10 %
Level 3	65.3	53.1	60.2	62.9
Merit	13.3	11.0	12.9	16
Excellence	4.0	2.6	3.0	4

Level 3 Scholarship Awardees

Charlotte Vincent	Accounting, Chemistry, Calculus, Statistics
Julia Young	English (Outstanding)
Ryan Sainsbury	English, Classical Studies
Mikhal de Jesus	Calculus
Walston Martis	Physics
Laura Conquer	Geography

Academic Honours Awards (Level 3)

Sancta Maria College has three Gold Awardees earning 60 or more credits with Excellence and ten Silver Awardees who earned 60 or more credits with Excellence or Merit.

 

Level 3

Gold Academic Honours

Mikhal de Jesus

Walston Martis

Charlotte Vincent

Silver Academic Honours

Laura Conquer	Sang Min Kim	Ryan Sainsbury
Edlyn Colaco	Charles McArthur	Deborah Simmons
Rachel Hilliar	Teresa Munro	Julia Young
Zané van Gulden

These students with their parents were invited to a morning tea in the staffroom and were recognised for their achievements prior to them starting their University studies.

Level 2

Gold Academic Honours 2 students

Victoria Shrimpton

Audrey Soegiarto

Silver Academic Honours 12 students

Chris Nunes	Freddie Conquer	Jessica Danbrook
Roshini Mathew	Annabelle Arrowsmith	Melody Lai
James Daniels	Sung Jung Cho	Christina Walker
Rachel Nath	James Stolten	Alastair Munro

Level 1

Gold Academic Honours 2 students

Sam Vincent

Stephanie Law

Silver Academic Honours 14 students

Keith Ho	Andrea Malto	Ellen Field
Suvishka Singh	Robert Osika	Alexandra Osika
Sonya Morrogh	Olivia Ambrose	Rossa Jeong
Maria Lin	Jessica Sim	Elliott Lam Po Tang
Abigail Pearce	Julia Aspeling

These students will be recognised at the school assembly during March.

Endorsements

NZQA recognises overall achievements with ‘Endorsed’ certificate for those who achieve 50 credits or more with Excellence or Merit passes.

At Level 3

3 students gained endorsed certificates with Excellence

10 students gained endorsed certificates with Merit

At Level 2

4 students gained endorsed certificates with Excellence

18 students gained endorsed certificates with Merit

At Level 1

12 students gained endorsed certificates with Excellence

46 students gained endorsed certificates with Merit

Once NZQA have confirmed these endorsements we will publish the list of students who have achieved at these levels.

SPECIAL CHARACTER

Our Opening Mass will be celebrated on Tuesday 10 March at 10.30am. This is a very special occasion and we warmly invite our community to attend this special liturgy.

2 March	Board of Trustees Meeting
10 March	Opening Mass. (All welcome: SMC Auditorium) Dedication Mass (St Patrick’s Cathedral)	10.30am 7.00pm
11 March	Y12 PES Camp begins
14-16 March	1st XI Cricket vs Aquinas College (Annual Fixture)
17 March	Year 7 / 8 asTTle Reading Testing
20 March	Year 7 / 8 asTTle Writing Testing
21 March	PTFA Cultural Festival Postponed until 31 October
1 April	National Bank Junior Maths Competition
2 April	Sancta Maria College Open Day	2.30pm– 6.00pm
3 April	Mufti Day
7 April	HPV Vaccinations for Year 8 / 11 / 12 / 13 Girls (Dose 1)
9 April	Last Day of Term 1
10 April	Good Friday
27 April	First Day of Term 2

Note: Photolife class and portrait photos – rescheduled to Week 1 of Term 2.

OPEN DAY AND ENROLMENTS FOR 2010

Sancta Maria College will hold their annual Open Day on Thursday 2 April. Enrolments for 2010 will open on this day. If you know of any families who may wish to enrol their child for next year, please ensure that they are aware of this very important date.