Kia ora whanau

Tēnā koutou kātoa ngā whānau o te kura

On Thursday 15^th August, Father Mark led our Mass of the Assumption. The Catholic teaching on the Assumption is that, because of her preeminent faith and goodness which was recognised in her being chosen as the mother of God’s Son, Mary was taken up body and soul into heaven at the moment of her death. Pope Francis reminds us that in celebrating this feast, we join together throughout the world in looking to Mary as our Mother of the Church and as our Mother of Hope. We look to her for help to guide us in transforming the world in accordance to God’s plan and to be ever present in our society. She shows us that our hope is real and is an antidote to the spirit of despair that tries to seat itself within our societies. The feast of the Assumption reminds us of the importance of spiritual values, of the reality of the life after death and finally it reminds us of the wonderful eternal future of happiness. May our Lady of the Assumption continue to lead us closer to her Son.

Sadly, this Mass was the last Mass that Father Mark will celebrate with our school community. Father Mark is leaving Tauranga and is moving to the Waikato. Father Mark has not only been a wonderful Parish Priest for our College and Parish, his roots in our College are much deeper. Father Mark was a foundation staff member, member of the Senior Leadership Team and the College’s first Director of Religious Studies. Many of our traditions and practices trace their origins back to Father Mark. In recognition of all his service to our College, we are holding a farewell liturgy for Father Mark on Friday 30^th August, at 2:15pm in the College gymnasium. This will be followed by a social gathering in the staff room. You are all warmly invited to attend and pay tribute to Father Mark. For planning and catering purposes, we ask that you RSVP by Monday 26^th August.

Community Consultation

Thank you to those of you who contributed to the recent rongohia te hau survey. You will find a synopsis of this feedback in this newsletter. We are continuing to reflect on this data and feedback and plan appropriately.

As referenced in the previous newsletter, I now present to you two separate links for consultation. The first link relates to our draft Graduate Profile and the second is a survey that canvasses a range of questions, but particularly pertains to curriculum design, mobile technology and future pathways. Please find the time to contribute to these consultation surveys. Your opinion is important.

Graduate Profile

Whānau Voice Survey

Recent College Events

I had the privilege of travelling with our Chanel Shield team to Hamilton this past weekend. The Chanel Shield is an annual event that focuses on Special Character and is competed for by the five secondary schools of our Diocese. Our students did our College proud, and while we placed 5^th overall, our team was awarded the Spirit Cup. More detail on the Chanel Shield is captured in this newsletter by Mrs Van Zyl.

Other successful recent events that have showcased the talents of our young people were the Performing Arts Evening held at the Otumoetai Baptist Church and the junior sports exchange with Campion College. The performing arts night showcased an array of student talent in choral, jazz, classical and musical theatre items. The junior sports exchange with Campion College yielded a host of positive results for our teams. You can read about more of these events in this newsletter, but I take the opportunity to acknowledge the efforts of our staff who organised and coordinated these opportunities for our students to shine.

Term 3 College Parish Masses

Students and families are warmly invited to attend our Term Three Aquinas College Mass times in their Parish. It is a wonderful opportunity to come together and celebrate the Mass, which is at the centre of our faith. It is here where we pray as a community and experience Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist.

St Thomas More Church Mass at 9.30 am, Sunday, the 8^th of September
St Mary’s Immaculate Church Mass at 10.30 am, Sunday, 15^th of September

These Masses are an opportunity for all of us to be authentic to the core of what we are about as a College. It continues to be my expectation that all our students, with their families, attend one of these Masses. This is a commitment you all made through enrolment and is an important part of supporting the Special Character of the College. A key function of these Masses is to connect with our two Parishes.  In doing so, we want our students to be visible and the connection to be explicit, therefore, I am reminding students of the expectation to attend in uniform. I look forward to your support of these Masses.

Winter Sports

As our winter sports codes are drawing to a close, this is an opportunity to thank our volunteers who have coached and managed our 40+ teams across five main sporting codes. This level of participation is outstanding, and we are blessed to have such support for our students on this scale. Without your passion and commitment, our students wouldn’t enjoy the opportunities and successes they currently enjoy.

Thank you also to all our students for representing our College in an exemplary fashion. I have been filled with pride as I have spent time watching our various teams throughout the season whether it be a junior side, senior side, social side or premier side. Our College’s values are always evident. I also acknowledge the role our parents play in transporting and supporting their children in these endeavours.

Good luck to our senior premier teams who will represent us at the Winter Tournament Week (Week 7) and then to our intermediate aged teams who will represent us in the AIMS Games (Week 8). We will track your progress with interest and know that you will put your best effort forward.

Bay of Plenty Times ‘Report Card’ Article, 3^rd August 2019

You may have read the recent article that was reported by the Bay of Plenty Times which outlined NCEA achievement across Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty schools. While we were very proud to see how well our student performed in this report, we were also disappointed that the reporter chose to use a single year analysis instead of a cumulative measure of achievement. In a school like ours, some students are accelerated and therefore achieve a qualification earlier than their chronological age suggests they should. Our results were therefore actually higher than reported. For the purposes of clarity, I share with you what the Bay of Plenty Times reported and what our students actually achieved using the more reflective measure of achievement.

As reported by the Bay of Plenty Times, 3rd August:

Aquinas College actual results, as reported earlier in the year:

Year 11
Pass Rate 97%
Endorsement  84%
Year 12
Pass Rate 100%
Endorsement 64%
Year 13
Pass Rate 88%
Endorsement 58%

Uniform

For our students, our uniform promotes a sense of pride, both in themselves and in our College, it gives them a sense of identity with the College. We have high standards in this regard and unfortunately some students are not meeting these expectations currently. We require your support to ensure your child(ren) leaves home in the correct uniform, inclusive of jewelry. The College will unreservedly support any families in need should it be required to ensure your child(ren) has the correct uniform.

Kia tau te rangimarie a te Atua ki runga i a tatou katoa

May God’s Blessings be upon us all.

Matt Dalton

Principal