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Why is Advent Important?

We culminated the season of Ordinary Time in the liturgical year of the Church’s calendar last Sunday (24 November) with the Solemnity of Christ the King. So, now we are in the new season–the season of Advent. Preparation for Christmas is an important theme for Advent, but more is involved. Advent gives us a vision of our lives as Christians and shows us the possibilities of life. The vision of life that Advent gives us is twofold; it looks back to the first coming of Christ at Bethlehem, and it looks to the future when Christ will come again. In the interval between these two events we find meaning for our life as a Christian. First we celebrate Christ-become-human. We view his life and experience his presence as a human being in our history. Christ came to show us what life can and should be. He gave us true and valid principles by which we can live true and valid lives. But Jesus knew that the human heart could not live in isolation. He formed the Church around the concept of a people held together by love. In that community we discover unlimited possibilities and meaning. Alone we can do nothing. Together we find real meaning. Advent is our time to become more involved, more caught up in the meaning and the possibilities of life as a Christian community. Thus we are preparing not only for Christmas but also for Christ’s Second Coming. Come Lord Jesus and fill our whole being with your presence in this season of Advent!

Graduate Profile

Consultation on the Aquinas College Graduate Profile has concluded. Thank you to those members of the community who engaged in the consultation phase. Our Graduate Profile will be implemented at the beginning of 2020. It communicates the strategic aspirations for Aquinas College graduates and expresses the value of excellence in a holistic Catholic College. Although each individual will forge their own path and develop at Aquinas College according to their abilities and ambitions, all students will have the opportunity to Belong in a faith community, Believe with Reason and Become through actions. These opportunities will be embedded within learning programmes, and within students’ wider experiences at the College. This reflects our College’s founding framework and strategically aims to develop a deeper sense of what it means for each of the Touchstones to come alive in the life of our students.

Aquinas College, through the Graduate Profile, aspires to develop a sense of belonging by encouraging students to be strongly connected to their own identity, their whānau and wider community so that they may participate in the mission of the Church and bicultural Aotearoa New Zealand. By believing with reason we seek a deeper understanding of ourselves, our faith and the world around us to make ethical decisions, which are based on Truth and conscience. Finally, in becoming we are all called to be servant leaders, who positively influence the lives of others through our actions by advocating, promoting stewardship and by using our God given gifts and talents for the common good of society.

2020 Timetable Change

Following a substantial period of consultation and discussion, Aquinas College will be implementing a change in timetable structure for 2020. This change in structure enables us to most effectively deliver our vision of a broad and balanced curriculum while also meeting the needs of our students.

Adopting a three block day – (up to) 6 x 50 minute periods, every day of the week provides greater consistency across the week for students and staff. Importantly, this model enhances flexibility, more practically enabling the timetabling of single or double lessons to meet different requirements across learning areas and student learning programmes.

As we shape our curriculum around our new Graduate Profile we will continue to review our timetable design. It is possible that there may be further changes in structure in the coming years. As a vehicle for the delivery of teaching and learning, our timetable must continue to be adaptable and reflect our vision for learning and the needs of our students.

2020 Period Times (if operating as singles)

First Block         Period 1 – 9:00am-9:50am

Period 2 – 9:50am-10:40am

First Break          10:40am – 11:05am

Second Block   Period 3 – 11:05am-11:55am

Period 4 – 11:55am-12:45pm

Second Break    12:45pm – 1:35pm

Third Block       Period 5 – 1:35pm-2:25pm

Period 6 – 2:25pm-3:15pm

2020 will also see the following changes to the timetable:

Morning Operations

The school day will begin at 8:40am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday next year. Tutor Class will operate on Monday and Friday and Year Level Assemblies / House Assemblies will alternate on Wednesday mornings. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings however, students will begin with Period 1 at 9:00am. The library will be open for students on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8:20am.

Year 9 Classes

In response to one of the recommendations of last year’s Junior Curriculum Review, we piloted a Year 9 class this year that was taught by a reduced number of teachers. Maths & Science was taught by one teacher, and English & Social Studies was taught by one teacher. Our aim was to provide opportunities for collaboration, creative thinking and cross curricular learning, all linked to the Special Character of the College.  Feedback that has been sought and received has confirmed that the pilot class was successful across pastoral, social, and academic indicators. Consequently, we are extending this programme to all Year 9 classes in 2020. Evidence suggests that learning occurs best when it is connected to meaningful contexts and when there are coherent links to other learning areas within the curriculum. The allocation of a single teacher across two learning areas provides opportunities for these connections and links to occur naturally. The teachers in these areas will also be working collaboratively as a team to produce programmes of work that explicitly connect with our local community and our students’ lived experiences. Current planning is focused on generating theme-based topics of work that will make these connections as well as linking important disciplinary knowledge across learning areas. The staff who are working as a team in year 9 are excited to see how the learning journey evolves for our students in 2020

Mentoring

In line with the College’s third goal in the Strategic Plan, there will be Mentoring introduced into the timetable. This will happen in Tutor classes and will alternate with assembly on a fortnightly basis. Tutor teachers will work with the students in their Tutor Class on an intentional Mentoring programme which is progressional and targets holistic well-being to align with the vision of the Graduate Profile. We see this as an exciting and essential further step in supporting our students in their academic and well-being outcomes.

The mentoring programme will not begin until Week 8 of Term 1 to ensure that the programme and Mentor teachers are well prepared. We will be deliberate within our professional development plan leading into Week 8 to support this new programme.

Tutor Class Construction

We will be changing from vertical Tutor classes to horizontal. Tutors will remain in Houses. This is a significant change and not one decided upon lightly. Ultimately, it was determined that the benefits of operating Tutor class and mentoring horizontally will provide many more benefits than drawbacks when compared to the current vertical system. This change will align our Tutor system to our horizontal pastoral care system. Further, this will enable the Deans to work with a team of four Tutor teachers on matters pertaining to their year level instead of the current 28. This also ensures that the resources and messages as part of the Tutor class and the Mentoring programme can be age appropriate within each Tutor class. As a College, we will need to be deliberate in ensuring that our senior students continue to have opportunities to engage with junior students through Tutor time in addition to their House assemblies at different points in the year.

The vision is for teachers to move through the school with their Tutor class, continuing to enable the development of richer and deeper relationships over time.

Self-Determined Learning

We will be trialling Self Determined Learning blocks for Year 13 students in 2020. The proposal of including ‘study periods’ received strong support from both students (92% Yes, 8% No) and community (70% Yes, 21% Neutral, 9% No) in recent consultation surveys.

All Year 13 classes will have one of their 10 contact periods across a cycle assigned as Self Determined Learning periods. The only exception to this will be Religious Education who carry through eight contact periods into the new timetable model. All Year 13 students will therefore have five Self Determined Learning periods per fortnight. Teachers will not cover new content related to the learning programme in this allocated time. Teachers will guide and support students in their study, opening opportunities for tutorials and enrichment.

Self Determined Learning periods will foster the attitude, behaviours, self-management and thinking skills students will need every day as they transition from our College into further study or employment. Because students take an active role in directing their own learning, they will develop the skills necessary to prioritise their tasks and manage their learning. Students and parents will receive a copy of the College’s Self Determined Learning Management Policy which will provide clarity of operation and information about student obligations and responsibilities.

Community Consultation

Thank you to those members of our community who engaged in the community consultation survey recently. While we would have preferred wider engagement in this survey, we are thankful to those 80 members of our community who did contribute. Your feedback is most valuable and will help inform our future planning. Follow this link for a summary of the consultation and our responses to this feedback.

As this newsletter will be our final publication for the year, I share with you some key dates for your planning:

 Final Prize Giving – Tuesday 10^th December

The final Prize Giving to acknowledge 2019 academic prize winners is to be held on Tuesday 10 December in the College Gymnasium, beginning at 10am.  Parents and community members are warmly welcomed to attend this main event.  Students will be free to leave for summer break after they have been to their final Tutor group meeting following the final Prize Giving.

2020 Term Dates

The 2020 term dates are below. As previously published, we have worked with St. Mary’s School and St. Thomas More School to share a common start of year date.

Term 1

29^th – 30^th January – Student Executive Leadership Camp

30^th – 31^st January – Staff only days

30^th January – Course confirmation for senior students

3^rd February – All Students present (College pōwhiri for new students and families)

27^th March – Staff Only Day

9^th April – Term 1 Ends

Term 2

28^th April – Term 2 Starts

29^th May – Kahui Ako Staff Only Day

3^rd July – Term 2 Ends

Term 3

20^th July – Term 3 Starts

10^th August – STCA Accord Teacher Only Day

25^th September – Term 3 Ends

Term 4

12 October – Term 4 Starts

23 November – STCA Accord Teacher Only Day

9^th December – Term 4 Ends (College Prizegiving)

Thank you for your continued support of our College and may God’s Blessings be upon you all.

To Him be the glory.

Matt Dalton

PRINCIPAL