Confortare Esto Vir

Last year I went on a 900 km walk across Spain. It was billed as a pilgrimage with those spiritual dimensions. In reality it was a hard slog of 30kms each day - over hills, through a desert and forests and along motorways.

One of the things that was expected of everyone, was to carry a small stone from your home and at  a particular point on the Camino, throw the stone away...like getting rid of the baggage we all carry around in our lives.

It was a powerful ritual of being reconciled with oneself.

Reconciliation as a value is really needed today. As the Catholic bishops wrote recently:
"We have to forgo our 'right' to be angry or to want revenge"
"Letting go of these 'rights' we find true joyfulness in living"

It is important for families, individuals and schools to be reconciled with each other.

And so it happened recently with another fellow Catholic school - De Lalle Salle College. Apparently in the past, going back 40 years, there have been some obstacles to friendship between the two schools. 

Strange, because both schools have so much in common - families, friends, teachers and of course a common religious tradition.

I attended one of their school assembly with our student leaders and their Head Boy presented St Paul's College with an appropriate olive tree.

Later that same week, the De Lalle Salle student leaders and Principal attended a St Paul's college assembly and presented similar gifts - an olive tree and a tapa - to St Paul's College.

Both events were extremely moving - hopefully laying to rest any antagonism with our fellow Catholic boys school.

As a school we need to remove any distractions to what the purpose of a school is...teaching and learning. That includes students who don't have a serious purpose in learning and those who don't build bridges with other schools.

It was a practical lesson about the value of reconciliation.

Congratulations to the students who went to the Shakespeare  play of Romeo and Juliet. They had to stand for 2.5 hours and were a model of self discipline. Their standard of uniform was excellent.

Another excellent fortnight.

In his peace 
K.F. Fouhy

CURRICULUM UPDATE

The school has an expectation that all senior students gain 20 credits each term towards their NCEA certificates. The last two weeks of any term are critical when it comes to seniors handing in work for internal assessment. Completing work at home and good time management will give the students the best opportunity to meet these assessment deadlines.

As parents, this is a good time to talk to your son’s about their achievement and help them plan their time effectively in order to meet the expectations from themselves, their teachers and the school. Students should be using their supervised study periods to ask for extra support where needed and the library is open during break times if students need a quiet space to continue working.

                               

This week I had the opportunity to relieve a year 11 Media class. It was great to see these young men so focused on their learning. The students all entered the class and immediately began blogging their lesson.

All of the young men confidently shared their learning and were able to complete all work that they weren’t able to finish in class time at home through the use of Google classrooms. This was a really positive experience and a great example of students taking responsibility for their own learning.

Well done gentlemen!


Raechelle Taulu
Deputy Head (Curriculum)

PASTORAL UPDATE

UNIFORM
A reminder that all students in Year 11-13 need to be in blazers from the start of term 2. Vests and jackets are not part of the accepted uniform as advised. Also, a reminder that students in year 7-10 will be required to be in PE uniforms for PE classes from the start of term 2. We will continue to advise you as more details become available.

ATTENDANCE AND PUNCTUALITY
According to Business New Zealand, 2 of the top 10 skills employers look for are planning and organisational skills and good work habits and independence.  Quite simply, if your son arrives late to school regularly his learning is being impacted. 

As parents and as a College if we allow this, we are not setting your son up for success. Those who do the best academically and who succeed in our College sports teams are often the same students with the best attendance.  If you value education and the opportunities it brings, please insist your son is here on time every day. 

You can log on to the kamar portal http://kamar.stpaulscollege.co.nz/ and view your son’s attendance at any time. Please contact the office if you are not sure how to log in.

BEHAVIOUR
I read something recently that said there is no such thing as old fashioned values. Right has always been right and wrong has always been wrong. Being “Men of Courage” means doing some things all day, every day. As we say being a St Paul’s man is not a part time position! Please discuss with your son what it means to:
•    Respect their teachers
•    Use appropriate language – i.e. no swearing or mocking 
•    Never resorting to violence
•    Always being honest 
•    Not interfering with others learning
•    Being ready to learn – have equipment, be prepared, do the work, learn from mistakes

CONTACT DETAILS
Please check the College has your correct details. You can do this using the kamar portal or by ringing the office. Do we have your right phone numbers, postal address and email? We need to be able to contact you quickly in case of an emergency.

ST PAUL'S LEARNING BASE 
The Learning Base lets you see a number of things about what is happening at school. You can see your son’s Timetable, Attendance, Results, Groups, Awards, Fees among other things. We are continuing to develop this area so more functions will become available. Your login is your son’s first initial and surname. Your password is available from the school office. Your son also has a login which you can use.



Laurence Caltaux
Deputy Head (Pastoral)

MUSIC UPDATE

The newly formed Yr 7/8 Choir is well on the way practicing for many events in the coming months, they have been invited by The Salvation Army to sing at a community event in New Lynn in May. 


Matt Salapu has been mentoring the year 11 Music class with songwriting, This was part of a mentoring project in which we received 10 hours of professional music industry standard mentoring through the NZ Music Commission.

  

Glen Stanbridge
Director of Music

SPORTS UPDATE

BLUES RUGBY 10s TOURNAMENT

On Saturday 2 April 2016 we competed at the Blues Rugby 10s tournament, with one training session and a team largely made up of rugby league players.  Whilst we didn't win a game, the young men that attended did St Paul's proud with their behaviour on and off the field.  

They demonstrated values of COURAGE, by putting themselves out there in front of so many people and schools at North Harbour stadium at a code they are still learning; BROTHERHOOD by committing to each other and the sport giving it their best even when oppositions kept scoring.  Most importantly they demonstrated RESPECT to all officials, referees, and other teams present. This was evident in the way they helped up members of the other teams and patted them on the back, and accepted rulings from the officials even when they did not fully understand them. 

Special thanks to our dedicated staff Mr. Jarvis, Mr. DeBerry & Mr. Cullen for their efforts and time with the team. 

Dave McDermott
Director of Sports

• Our learner licence class is passing with 100% pass rate – our restricted licence pass rate is 100% - congratulations to those young men who have worked diligently to achieve their driver's licence. Please drive safely. 
• 4 students are volunteering at Middlemore Hospital. 
• Downer NZ – one student has completed his placement at Watercare and has moved on to Projects.
• 8 students have commenced an Engineering Programme with Oceania Trade Academy. On completion of the programme they will have the opportunity to gain an apprenticeship with full time employment or a scholarship to MIT or Unitec.
• Learning Auckland Magazine – 2 students have their articles printed in the Education Today Magazine. 
• The Warehouse Red Shirts Programme – one student will complete his Customer Service Award and achieve 27 credits. 

• If you know your NSN number and have not logged in to your NZQA Record of Achievement before, you will need to register
• If you know your NSN number, and have registered, but have forgotten your password, fill in this form

• Visit youthguarantee.net.nz and build you career profile and information on Vocational Pathways