Newsletter No: 9 22 July 2009
Dear Parents, Caregivers and Students
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
I hope that you have ‘survived’ and enjoyed the holidays with your children and that they are now refreshed and ready to commence the challenges of Term 3. While throughout this term our standards and expectations in all areas will be maintained, our major focus will be on ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE. This is the term where we must extend the standards to ensure Academic Success at the end of the year. The senior school students have 70 school days remaining till they leave for their external NCEA examinations. They have completed 98 days this year so they are well over half way through the academic year. We will be ensuring that the students focus on their academic work, that their attitude in the classroom is at the highest level and that homework and assignments are completed. We will be contacting the parents of students who do not ‘measure up’ to our expectations.
I will personally meet with any student if I receive reports that indicate a poor attitude towards academic work. We will not allow any student to disrupt the learning of others in the classroom environment. These Year 11 – 13 students ALWAYS HAVE HOMEWORK. On occasions when such work is not teacher directed they should be doing supplementary reading or revision. Teachers will often run revision sessions and opportunities for reassessments. It is disappointing when some students choose not to take advantage of these.
Middle School Year 7 – 10 students will also focus on Academic Excellence as this is when they develop the habits that will ensure success in the senior school. They are also only 70 school days away from their exams which will start on 12 November.
Other activities will continue throughout the term. Our co-curricular programme in sport, music, debating and drama will continue. We are delighted with the success so far this year across many areas and look forward to ongoing success as many of our teams and groups make their way into championship rounds. We are proud of the success of individuals and teams who have already gained significant achievements which are noted in this, and earlier newsletters.
WELCOME
We welcome Mr Ian Vickers who joins our Senior Leadership Team as Assistant Principal. Mr Vickers has a formidable reputation as a teacher and as a leader in his educational areas of expertise. He has a wealth of experience in overseas schools and in New Zealand.
We look forward to his input into the ongoing growth of our school.
PROPERTY
The Gymnasium is progressing well and will be available to us in Term 4. This is a superb facility which will incorporate a full sized netball and basketball court, 2
half sized basketball courts and 2 full sized badminton
and volleyball courts. It will include space for tiered seating and a weights / gymnasium room.
PRIMARY SCHOOL
The Sancta Maria Catholic Primary School is also progressing well and will be ready for opening in February 2010. We welcome on site the foundation Principal, Mrs Gina Benade who will be working out of an office in the St Lukes Community Office through the foyer past the College Chapel. We will keep you up to date with progress of the primary school through this newsletter.
PTFA
The PTFA are busy organising their 2 main events for the year, the Trivial Pursuits evening on Saturday 15 August and the Cultural Festival on Saturday 31 October.
Trivial Pursuits Night – Saturday 15 August – Tickets $100 for table of 10 or $12 per ticket. Tickets available now from Tracey Monaghan on 5357609 or 021658700 or Matthew Caldwell on 2999761 or 0272240998. Both events in the past have been extremely well supported and we look forward to seeing you there for these ‘fun’ occasions.
FEES / DONATIONS
There has been much publicity recently regarding school fees / donations. Amongst all the debate there is a bottom line and that is that Catholic Integrated Schools cannot survive without financial support from the parent community. The Diocese purchases the land, builds the schools and provides the money for much of the maintenance and refurbishments. As with State Schools, the annual operation grant given by the Government does not meet the operation cost of servicing and resourcing a school. Low decile schools gain supplementary funding from the Government in recognition that it is difficult for them to get ‘donations or fees’ from their community. Higher decile schools, such as Sancta Maria College do not get the supplementary funding so approach their communities for support. It is called a ‘donation’ so that it can be claimed as an expense against your tax which entitles you to a rebate.
Principal Associations regularly represent to the Minister our concerns in relation to the lack of adequate funding for schools. A nationwide review over the past 18 months resulted in little recognition of the concerns expressed by Principals. A small percentage increase in this year’s budget does not go far enough in meeting our demands.
We appreciate greatly the support that we get form all of our parents / caregivers as you do all that you can to meet our financial requests. We need to make this commitment so that we can give our young people the best opportunity for a successful life based on Catholic values.
May God Bless You All
Paul Daley
Principal
SPECIAL CHARACTER – Mrs G Devoy
A warm welcome to Term 3. Although only the beginning of the new term, it is already very busy.
The Sancta Maria Family Mass will take place on the 2nd August. This is a wonderful opportunity to come together as a school, home and church community, a message emphasised by Fr Ezio at the opening school Mass. If you are interested in participating in this celebration, please contact me on 2744081 extension 226.
The Year 11 students will be on retreat on the 4th of August. A retreat is a period of time for religious exercise and meditation. The theme of this retreat is to examine the concept of self worth, both through the eyes of God and society. Over the course of the day, the students will have opportunities to reflect on Scripture readings, take part in team building activities and participate in an art experience. The day will conclude with Mass celebrated by Fr Ezio. If your son or daughter is in Year 11, you are most welcome to join us in the Chapel for this celebration.
The 15th August is The Feast of the Assumption. This is an important date in the Church’s year. On this day, we celebrate the departure of Mary from this life by her natural death and her bodily assumption into heaven. It is a day of enormous significance to all Catholics. It is a source of great hope to us all that through imitating Mary in her faithfulness, her love and her obedience to God, we too will share eternal life. We honour Mary for her part in the story of our salvation. We believe that Mary, like her Son, is already humanly in Heaven. She is the image of the Church and has, through her life and actions, shown us what God does for us, his children.
God of love
You chose the blessed Virgin Mary
To be the mother of your only son
Grant that we who have been redeemed
May share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom
Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord
Who is alive with you and the Holy Spirit
One God for now and forever
Amen
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS
Lauren Kubala has been awarded the Lions Club of Howick Scholarship for Outward Bound, Mind, Body and Soul Course 2010. This prestigious award was contested for by 10 other applicants from East Auckland Secondary Schools.
Jessie Fromont – 1st Place, Auckland Secondary Schools Aerobics
Troy Leathard – Silver Medal in U35kg Waikato Wrestling and North island Wrestling Champs
Lachlan McKenzie – Gold, Tae Kwon Do, NZ Open Champion; Trans Open; South Island Champion
Jarrod Wood – Selected for Air Force Challenge 2009
Sam Vincent – First Place, International French Story Writing Competition
AUCKLAND SCHOOLS DEBATING
Our debating teams were busy all first semester, competing in the Auckland Schools Debating regional qualifying rounds. The Sancta Maria Year 10 Junior Open Debating team (Ha-Ram Jo, Sunny Hwang, Claire Kim, Teresa Choi, Jessica Wilkins and Jamie Hong) won two of their four matches, gained lots of valuable experience, but met some stiff opposition and were knocked out of the competition. Our Year 12 Senior and Year 13 Advanced Senior teams have, however, done extremely well and should both progress to the Octo-Finals.
The Senior Debating team (Sam Vincent, Dominic Osika and Lauren Kubala) have won all their matches to date. They have one match remaining in the first round, which will be held at Mt. Roskill on 21 July. The team will compete against Glendowie College. The Advanced Senior team (James Stolten, David Agnew, Freddy Conquer and Christina Walker) have won four of their five matches and are expected to compete in the Octo-Finals on 28 July. We wish both teams the best of luck
INLINE HOCKEY
This was the team’s first year of competition. For a 3rd place finish out of 8 teams is a remarkable achievement.
Team Members:
Jarrod Wood (Captain), Waide Da Encarnacao, James Mullan Douglas, Floyd MacGregor, Alex MacGregor, Eythan Prendergast, Junior Warda, Dylan Govender, Connor Sutton (Yr 7), Jack Elliott, Kendra Da Encarnacao, Chris Stickland.
Special congratulations to: Eythan Prendergast who has been selected as NZ Representative
MUSIC
‘Output’ came 2nd in the East Regional Finals of the Rockquest and will compete in the National Finals.
Band Members:
Thomas Cho, Paul Cho
PHOTOGRAPHY
Year 13 Photography student Anastasia Niko 13BRN has been selected into the finals for the Manukau Youth Art Awards. The prize is to have a billboard presented with her work in the Manukau area.
UNIFORM SHOP
The Uniform Shop will be open Monday and Tuesday before school for the first two weeks of the new term as well as being open at the usual times of Friday before school and Thursday after school. This is for the sale and purchase of socks, jackets, pantyhose and PE gear only. Elizabeth Michael uniform items can be ordered but will not be available for collection from the school shop until the second week of the new term.
STUDENT ABSENCES – Medical
Please phone the absentee line and leave a message when your child is away from school due to illness. It is a Ministry of Education requirement that this is followed up with a written note when your child returns to school.
STUDENT ABSENCES – Non Medical
Any requests for leave for NON MEDICAL reasons must be in writing to the Principal at least 10 days prior to the event.
LOST PROPERTY
During the last term there have been a large number of lost clothing items, particularly school jumpers and rain jackets. We ask that all parents and caregivers check the names on their children’s clothing and return to Reception any items they find that do not belong.
Please ensure that all clothing items are clearly named.
KEY DATES
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Wednesday
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22 July
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Newsletter Distributed
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Friday
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24 July
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Yr 11 Drama Production at Harlequin Theatre
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Saturday
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25 July
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Yr 12 Drama Production at Harlequin Theatre
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Sunday
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2 August
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Sancta Maria College Family Mass 10.30am – Auditorium
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Tuesday
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4 August
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Yr 11 Retreat Day
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Wednesday
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5 August
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Newsletter Distributed
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Thursday
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6 August
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Parents Report Evening – 3pm – 6.30pm
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Monday
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10 August
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T3 – Teacher Only Day (NZ Curriculum)
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Tuesday
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11 August
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Parents Report Evening - 3pm – 6.30pm
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Wednesday
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12 August
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Careers Night – 7pm
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Friday
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14 August
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Assumption Day Mass – 10.30am
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Saturday
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15 August
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PTFA Trivial Pursuits Evening
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Tuesday
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25 August
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Meeting for Parents of Maori Students – 7pm
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Wednesday
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26 August
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Staff Professional Learning
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Wednesday
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2 Sept
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Meeting for Parents of Pasifika Students – 7pm
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Monday
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7 – 11 Sept
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Y10 Camp Week
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7Sept
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Y10 Group 1 Retreat
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11 Sept
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Y10 Group 2 Retreat
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Tuesday
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15 Sept
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Senior School Exams Begin
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Wednesday
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16 Sept
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Newsletter Distributed
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Tuesday
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22 – 25 Sept
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Yr 8 Camp
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Wednesday
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23 Sept
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Staff Professional Learning
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Friday
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25 Sept
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End of Term 3
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Dates and times are correct at the time of printing, but may be subject to change.
| OUR MISSION STATEMENT
We are committed to preparing our students to embrace the future by providing a complete Catholic education in a safe, nurturing community, shaped by our values.
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THE PRINCIPAL’S VISION
Within a safe, caring Catholic and disciplined environment the young people will be given the opportunity to develop strong Christian values and the opportunity to discover and develop their talents.
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KEY WORDS
We have identified Key Words to enable us to focus on the five areas of a child’s development.
We BELIEVE in Christ as our Saviour
We THINK so that we will achieve
We GROW in love and understanding
We CARE about ourselves and others
We ACT in a way that reflects what we believe
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