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Dear Parents and St Mary’s Community
One of the wonderful aspects of student life at St Mary’s is the plethora of opportunities for students to show leadership. I want to congratulate the Year 13 students who under the guidance of the House Perfects organised and ran the House Fun Day for 1000 students on Monday this week.
For most of us the prospect of organising events of this size would be put in the too hard basket but the confidence of youth enabled these students to grasp an opportunity that provided so much learning – managing others, strategic planning on many levels, logistics and all done enthusiastically in the interests of others – creating a wonderful experience for their St Mary’s sisters. The potential for offering such opportunities for leadership are only possible within a supportive environment that lives out respect for others.
The Student Council is another example of leadership action within the school. This year the students are putting the focus on how we can respond to the challenge of both Mercy International and Pope Francis to care for our environment
Mercy International http://www.mercyworld.org has a key focus on restoring our relationships with the Earth as it is the poor and marginalised who are most threatened by social and ecological injustice. They echo the sentiments of Pope Francis who, in his Encyclical ‘Laudato Si – Care of our Common Home’ expresses this graphically, please see the quote below.
Our Student Council is leading from the front, and bringing our school community along. It is investigating what we can firstly do within our school environment. Following an Inquiry Process that are laying down the challenge
How serious are you about making a difference?
Are you ready for a WASTE WIPE-OUT?
Members of the student’s council are collecting data which will lead to an action plan with ideas we can put in place this year. Within the school environment. It is hoped that this this initiative will move into ever expanding circles, taking us out into our community and world as we become responsible and active global citizens.
Yours in Mercy
Principal |
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ST MARY'S COLLEGE - 2017- MERCY VALUE
EXCELLENCE - creating Hauora for one and all
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"The simplest and most practical lesson I know is to resolve to be good today, and better tomorrow" - Catherine McAuley
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Would we be counted
among the doubters
hiding in the shadow
cast by that cruel cross?
Or, when challenged,
like Peter
openly deny you?
There are times, Lord
when doubts assail
and the distance between us
seems to increase.
There are times, Lord
when sin has its hold,
like a barrier between us
that will not move.
Who is there we can turn to
when we feel so overwhelmed?
Who can roll away the stone
and reveal the empty tomb?
No-one but you, Jesus,
no-one but you!
Amen
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Thursday 13 April - This week there will be no Mass in the Chapel as we are having a full school liturgy for Holy Thursday.
Marianne Bray, Director of Religious Studies
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End of Term NCEA Information
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It is coming to the end of the term and we know it is a time when you may decide to take students out of school for family reasons. Please note that a request for Special Leave of 3 days or more during term time, needs to be made in writing to Mrs Stockman a few weeks before the leave.
We ask that you review your daughter's assessment schedule before planning any trips so that she may not be disadvantaged. We do realise that sometimes this is not possible and a student may miss out on a few credits. However, often this has minimum impact on her overall NCEA certificate as the number of credits in a full year course is high.
Near the end of term there are often many deadlines for NCEA internal assessments to be handed in or completed in class.
I wanted to remind you of the guidelines for students missing assessments due to Special Leave. These guidelines are given in the student handbook. Students have a copy of this and it is on the Office 365 Student NZQA site.
Legitimate missed assessment could be for medical reasons, bereavements, school sanctioned events or any other significant explained absence at the discretion of the Principal’s Nominee. In these cases, where possible, students may be given opportunity for an extension. This might cover in class assessments/assessment trips/assignments that will not be attended to or handed in due to future absence or that have been already missed.
No extension is available for Special Leave or any unexplained absence from class assessments, trips or handing in assignments.
In this case if an assessment is due to be handed in whilst the student is away, it should be handed in before she leaves or sent electronically on the due date while away.
If the assessment is an in class test, the student will miss these credits. If it is an extended assessment done over a number of lessons in class, she will be expected to hand in the work at the end of the lessons she has attended.
These guidelines are in place to ensure that our assessment practices are fair and consistent for every student. If you need clarification on any of the guidelines please don’t hesitate to contact Mrs Barlow on 376 6568 ext.701 or cbarlow@stmaryak.school.nz
Christine Barlow, Deputy Principal
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St Mary’s College now has a School App available for free from the App Store on your Apple or Android device.
Functions include:
- Report when your daughter is absent - you can notify the school using the App
- Daily Notices
- Link to the Parent Portal
- Latest News posted on St Mary’s College Website
- Alerts for various Year Groups, Sports Teams and Clubs you may wish to subscribe to
- Term dates
- Newsletters, notices and calendar and Kamar Portal can be accessed via the App
**Go to the three bars on the side to access maps, alert subscriptions, and information about the app and to enlarge the text.
**Subscribe to the groups that you would like alerts for e.g. basketball. The sports tab has links to key websites with the draws.
**Access the calendar, then access the particular event. If there is an event that you would like to add to your personal calendar on your phone use the download tab as indicated below.
Additional links are also available for easy access - click here to access additional information. Click here for more helpful tips and an instructional video.
Elena Grant, Deputy Principal |
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BYOD students who do not have their devices at school for a genuine reason e.g. being repaired, will be required to carry a BYOD pass. They will need to show this to their subject teacher. Students can get their BYOD pass from their Dean. Please provide a note from home so that this can occur. They will need to have a loan device to use during the day. These can be loaned via Harvey Norman or the school library.
Just a reminder that our IT techie is available for students with issues with their devices every interval in the library. There are also student Tech Angels who are the first level of support for students when they are in class.
Elena Grant, Deputy Principal |
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Some junior students are bringing putty slime with them to school. They believe that by squeezing them while they think, this will help them to concentrate, when in fact it has become a distraction and making a mess in classes. Please support us in making sure that the students do not bring this to school.
Elena Grant, Deputy Principal |
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term 1 end & term 2 start
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Next week is our last week of the term. School finishes on Thursday 13 April at the normal time of 3.10pm.
Term 2 begins on Monday 1 May.
Brian Nolan, Deputy Principal |
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calendar - planning ahead
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Just a little forewarning about the major events at the College for 2017. Please mark in your calendars.
Friday, 2 June 2017 - College Ball
Friday 1 August 2017 Mid-term break - School closed
Tuesday 15 August 2017 - Option Evening for Years 10-12
Friday 1 September 2017 Mid-term break - School closed
Thursday 28 September 2017 - Cultural Evening
Thursday 26 October 2017 - Leavers Mass & Dinner
Friday 27 October 2017 - Leavers Assembly
Thursday 2 November 2017 - Senior Prizegiving
Friday 3 November 2017 - Thanksgving Mass
Monday 11 December 2017 - Junior Prizegiving
Brian Nolan, Deputy Principal |
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music department concert for year 9's
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On Thursday 6 April all senior music ensembles performed a concert during Period 1 for Year 9 in CM Hall. This event featured the Senior Concert Band, Chamber Orchestra, Senior Choir, and St. Mary's College Orchestra. These groups are preparing for a trip to the Queensland Catholic Schools and Colleges Music Festival in Term 3. The Year 9 band and orchestra enjoyed hearing the senior groups perform, and were inspired to conduct and dance along to the famous Can-Can by Offenbach.
Ben Zilber, HOD Academic Music
Rachel Snelling, HOD Instrumental Music
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Work Experience
Year 12 Work Experience is taking place on 28 & 29 June with all Year 12 students out on their placements at this time. By now all parents of Year 12 students will have received an email providing links to two forms, the first being a permission form and the second requesting the name and contact details of their daughter's work placement. Both need to be completed by 15 May so St Mary’s College can make contact with the work places involved well ahead of time. Work Experience is a very valuable experience so please encourage and support your daughters in finding a placement that will be of interest to them. The school holidays would be a good time for them to start researching and finding a placement.
Studylink News
Occupational Outlook App
The Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment has recently re launched its Occupation Outlook app and webpage to help young job seekers and students make important study and career decisions. The improved Occupation Outlook has an easy-to-use overview of job demand, likely income levels, and training requirements for different career pathways. It's available for both Apple and Android devices. Check it out at http://occupationoutlook.mbie.govt.nz/
Resources from The Commission for Financial Capability
Young people learn first from what the adults in their lives model for them – even without direct messages. The Commission for Financial Capability (CFFC) have put together resources - books, games, tips and tools for parents and children to use to help build financial literacy. “With a bit of care, talk and planning on your part, your kids will gain a sense of themselves as financially capable with more choices for their future.” http://www.cffc.org.nz/financial-capability/school-programmes/parents-and-kids/
Judith Adams, Careers |
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Last Monday we held the House Fun day. This was an initiative that the House Prefects requested as a replacement for the school Athletics day that was cancelled earlier in the year because of the weather. The organising committee with the help of the Year 13’s ran all the activities and the students enthusiastically joined in to make it a very successful event.
A special congratulations to Madi Swney, Isabella Marinovich and Eleanor Stewart who were the driving force behind the day's success.
Brian Nolan, Deputy Principal
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ST mary's college 2017 ball
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We are giving you an early alert regarding the date for the St Mary's College Ball this year which is Friday 2 June. All Year 12 & 13 students have been given a letter about the Ball this week.
Please ensure you and your daughter read it carefully. All details are contained in the letter - your questions answered, such as payment options, ticket issue, who can attend, venue and deadlines. Please click here for a copy of the Ball letter and click here for the ticket application form.
Please note that Friday 2 June is a Teacher Only Day (so appointments for hair, nails and makeup are to be made for that day, no earlier)
Janette Fawcett, Year 13 Assistant Dean |
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lost property & loaned uniform items
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Lost Property
Next Tuesday 11 April there will be a large display of lost property in the courtyard outside the main office at morning interval. This is a good chance for all students to check for items they have lost during the term and also for items they don’t realise they have misplaced. Would parents please encourage their children to check at this time? There are blazers, cardigans, PE items, shoes etc….most items are unnamed !!
Loaned Uniform items
Would all students who have borrowed loan items from me this term please have them back to the main reception office with their names included and be washed clean and tidy by the Tuesday 11 April.
Thank you.
Susan Comrie, Uniform Shop |
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Interzone Swimming
Congratulations to Liv Peebles & Anna Lepua who represented St Mary’s at the Intermediate Interzone Swim Champs on Wednesday. Liv finished 3rd in Freestyle and Anna 3rd in Backstroke.
Karate Congratulations
Tamsin Tighe-Umbers gained two silver medals in the Regional GKR karate competition last weekend. Well done Tamsin!
Pesio Matiseni, Sports Co-ordinator
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sport at st mary's in term 1
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Orienteering
Twenty six girls signed up to represent St Mary’s College in the Auckland Secondary Schools Orienteering Sprint Series during Term 1. With this number of girls competing each week, our school colours were dominant in the Auckland Central Zone race location each week. The series consisted of five races at various secondary schools in our region – Epsom Girls, One Tree Hill, Auckland Grammar, Mt Roskill and St Cuthbert’s College. With a good proportion of our team being Year 7 girls, we have a strong future ahead with this sport. Congratulations to all the girls who ran each week, learnt a new skill, came to the weekly coaching sessions lead by senior student Meghan Drew, who took on the task of learning about checkpoints/clearing and checking, who never gave up when they went the wrong way or learned from their mis-punches for the next race. It has been a great series and feedback is that the girls will return for more. Special mention to our two students who qualified for the Auckland Secondary Schools Sprint Finals – Isabella Hayes and Meghan Drew. Isabella finished 10 th overall in the Junior Girls category and Meghan finished 3 rd overall in the Senior Girls category.
In addition to the Sprint series, seven Year 7 students represented St Mary’s College at the Intermediate Zone Day. The next event on the calendar for orienteering is the Auckland Secondary Schools Individual Champs on 10 May at Woodhill Forrest here in Auckland. One week after this is the North Island Secondary Schools Orienteering Champs in Taupo. Best of luck to the students who will compete in these events for our school.
Futsal
We will be holding a Futsal trial on Monday 10 April from 3.30pm-4.30pm in the PK gym. We are looking for a team to take part in a one day competition on 11 May. This is open to ALL Year 7 and Year 8 students. All are welcome, whether you have played before or not!
Waterpolo
Please note changes to Waterpolo training schedules.
Senior Premier Team
Monday and Wednesday 6.45am - 8.15am
Tuesday and Thursday 3.15pm - 5.00pm
Senior B Training has now finished for the season.
Junior Training (Years 9 & 10)
Wednesday 3.15pm - 5.00pm
Intermediate Training (Years 7 & 8)
Monday 3.15pm - 4.45pm
This will be the final week for Term 1 training.
Term 2 Training Details
Intermediate Training (Years 7 & 8)
Monday 4.00pm - 5.00pm at West Wave Henderson starting on Monday 1 May.
No Junior Training in Term 2.
Netball
We are still looking for coaches for our Senior teams. Please email netball@stmaryak.school.nz if you or someone you know can help.
Pesio Matiseni, Sports Co-ordinator
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groundsman - vacancy - st mary's college
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Groundsman Part time – St Mary’s College – 8-10 hours per week, school terms only
We are looking for an energetic person to work 8-10 hours per week, term time only to keep grounds tidy, manage rubbish and to undertake any additional duties as may reasonably be required.
A Police Vet check will be required. Applicants need to have good interpersonal skills & be able to work in a team environment. Please complete the non-teaching application form on our website - (Community/Staff Vacancies) and send with a covering letter & CV to pa@stmaryak.school.nz
Bernadette Stockman, Principal |
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event sponsers needed - meet the makers
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Become an Event Sponsor at Meet the Makers!
Event Naming Rights, Gold and Silver Sponsorship Packages available. As a Meet the Makers 2017 Sponsor, you will receive great branding opportunities for your business and the chance to engage with the St Mary’s College community. For more information, email Jacob Sheehan at jsheehan@stmaryak.school.nz or phone (09) 376 6568 ext 733.
Jacob Sheehan, Development Manager
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MEET THE MAKERS - SAVE THE DATE - Saturday 12 AUGUST
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Please click here for the 1st Meet the Makers Newsletter.
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St Mary’s PTFA - pop-café Freemans Bay Art Mart
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St Mary’s PTFA is running a pop-café at the Freemans Bay Art Mart
When - 29 April 2017
Time - 10.00am – 3.00pm (Art Mart closes 4.00pm)
Where - Freemans Bay Community Centre
The Art Mart will have: original art, prints, pottery, linen, sculptures, garden art, crafts and jewelry. The Art Mart is hosted by Rotary Westhaven.
What the Café will have - We will serve tea, coffee, Oratia 100% apple juice, hot and cold savouries and delicious home baked scones, cupcakes, biscuits, loaves and slices.
Activities at the Café - Kids activity table.
On display - St Mary's College student art on display (not for sale).
Special bonus - St Mary's College girls will be busking to raise funds for their Brisbane trip.
Café profits are earmarked for outdoor shade and seating at St Mary's College.
Andrea Stevens, PTFA |
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School Holiday Programme - national youth theatre company
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Get the kids out of the house and on to the stage! AllStars Television now open for registration in both Belmont and CBD. Sing, dance and act for four days and then put on a show! Click here for registering. |
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STABAT MATER
The grieving Mother stood weeping beside the
cross where her Son was hanging
A Choral Music offering for Good Friday.
7 pm, Good Friday, 14th April at St Patrick’s
Cathedral. Featuring the Age of Discovery
Vocal Ensemble directed by James Tibbles.
Entry is free. A retiring collection will be taken.
Validated parking will be available at the Wilson’s Car Parks on Hobson St ($4) and Durham Lane ($2 |
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
LAST DAY OF TERM 1
Thursday 13 April
3.10pm
SCHOOL BALL
2 June
MEET THE MAKERS
12 August
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TERM DATES
2017
Term 1 - 31.1.17-13.4.17
Term 2 - 1.5.17-7.7.17
Term 3 - 24.7.17 - 29.9.17
Term 4 - 16.10.17-11.12.17
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Whats in the newsletter this week?
*Study group
*Groundsman vacancy
*House Fun photos
*NCEA assessments
*Term 2 start date
*PTFA Art Mart
*Lost property
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