Newsletter - 1st November 2019

1st November 2019

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Whānau

Sadly our school was vandalised last night with extensive paint graffiti over numerous surfaces. The police are investigating and we have received excellent support from other secondary schools in the area. We are taking steps to remove the graffiti as soon as possible.

Today we have farewelled our senior students (Yrs 11,12, 13) at our Leavers’ Mass at St Patrick’s Church. Father James Lyons described the richness of school life comparing it to the sensory experience of eating fruit. The diversity of St Catherine’s was beautifully displayed when 8 Yr 13 students read Prayers of the Faithful in their different languages - a beautiful fruit salad.

The coming days are a valuable opportunity to study and revise for NCEA examinations. Students are welcome to study at school and/or attend tutorials with teachers.

Students have received briefings today from our NZQA Examination Centre Manager about the format and rules which govern NCEA exams. It is important that these are all taken on board for the next few weeks.

The end of the exams does not signal the end of the school year as all students have one important day to attend - Prizegiving day and evening on Tuesday 3 December 2019.

We expect all students to be in attendance at the prizegiving practice at St Patrick’s College at 10am as well as in the evening at 7pm.

ST CATHERINE’S COLLEGE PRIZEGIVING

ST PATRICK’S COLLEGE HALL

TUESDAY 3 DECEMBER 2019

7PM

I look forward to sharing this occasion with you as we celebrate and recognise the achievements of your daughter/s.

At the Board of Trustees meeting last week the full Board passed a motion to accept the Government’s offer of $150 per student for the year. This means that for 2020 we will receive a lump sum based on the July roll return from 2019. It also means that there will be no contributions requested from parents and caregivers for curriculum related costs. The Government has made some dispensations to this with school camps, leadership camps, and Geography field trips eligible for parent/caregiver contributions. The Chairperson of the Board of Trustees will write to you soon describing plans for 2020 school funding.

Congratulations to our finalists for the College Sport Wellington Sportsperson of the Year Awards - for Cross Country / Road Race - Esther Kozyniak and for Volleyball - Sophia Higgs. We wish them well for the College Sports Awards Ceremony on November 3.

Congratulations to Steph Edlin on winning the ‘Wellington Speaking Union's Stockley Cup’ senior speech competition last week. This is one of the Wellington region's premier public speaking events of the year.

Also, congratulations to Emma Cameron, from Year 9, who represented St Catherine's splendidly in the Wellington Speaking Union's Dunsheath Plate junior speech competition. While Emma was not placed, she performed exceptionally well.

EXSTREAMS Project

In week 5 the Year 9 and Year 10 students have an exciting opportunity to be part of the EXSTREAMS project. This is a cross-curricular project with the aim of getting students to work together to design a solution to a problem. They will be using components of the digital technologies curriculum and will follow the ‘design thinking process’. There are five different topics that the students have signed up to. The topics are:

Improving physical wellbeing

How to survive a zombie apocalypse

Building the Church

Prejudice

Surviving in a sustainable world

Within each of these 5 topics are three groups of 5 students who have come up with a smaller problem based on the main topic. They will be designing and creating a solution to their problem.

The students will work on this for sessions 2-5 every day in week 5. It is hoped that they will use and develop real world skills such as: problem solving, evaluation, researching, critical thinking, delegation and working as a team.

Catherine McAuley said, ‘God never refuses His grace to those who ask it.’ At this busy and sometimes stressful of the year let us place our faith and hope in God.

Regards and God’s blessings

Steve Bryan

We have an exciting opportunity for someone to make a difference for our students, so please pass this onto family and friends who may be interested in working in a rewarding role: -

St Catherine’s College

Sports Coordinator

We are seeking a motived person with a passion for engaging teenage girls in physical activity whilst also striving for excellence. This is a permanent position for 20 hours per week (term time only) commencing 27 January 2020.

Good communication and organisation skills, IT skills and basic financial skills are important. Support of the Special Character of the College is essential.

For further information and a job description please contact Chris Perry, PA to Principal on 939-8988.

Please forward covering letter, addressed to Steve Bryan, Principal, including the names of two referees, to Chris Perry (chris.perry@scc.school.nz).

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