Kia ora whanau
Tēnā koutou kātoa ngā whānau o te kura
Easter is the greatest and the most important feast in the Church. The day that Christ rose from the dead. The day that we celebrate the LIVING Christ. It marks the birthday of our eternal hope. “Easter” literally means “the feast of fresh flowers.” We celebrate it with pride and jubilation for three reasons:
1) The resurrection of Christ is the basis of our Christian Faith. The Resurrection is the greatest of the miracles — it proves that Jesus is God. Without the Resurrection, Jesus would have remained forever a good person who had met a tragic end. People would remember some of his teachings, and a handful of people might try to live according to them. All the basic doctrines of Christianity are founded on the truth of the Resurrection.
2) Easter is the guarantee of our own resurrection. Jesus assured Martha at the tomb of Lazarus: “I am the Resurrection and the life; whoever believes in Me will live even though he dies” (John 11:25-26). Christ will raise us up on the last day, but in order for this to happen, we are reminded to take up our cross daily in preparation for our heavenly life in the Kingdom of God.
3) Easter is a feast which gives us hope and encouragement. In this world of suffering, sorrows and tears, especially with the events of Christchurch fresh in our minds, Easter reminds us that life is worth living and has purpose. It is our belief in the real presence of the Risen Jesus in our souls, in His Church, in the Blessed Sacrament and in Heaven that gives meaning to our personal, as well as to our common, prayers. Our trust in the all-pervading presence of the Risen Lord gives us strength to fight against temptations and freedom from unnecessary worries and fears.
Summer Sports
Summer Tournament Week marked the end of the summer sport season for most codes. As you will read in the newsletter, we had some excellent successes, punctuated by the achievements of our Junior Girls Basketball Team (finishing 3rd in New Zealand), our rowing contingent (four A Finals and four B Finals) and our First XI Cricketers (3rd= in Northern Districts Gillette Cup). I encourage you to read about all of our summer sporting successes in this newsletter.
It is a timely opportunity to thank most sincerely all of our staff, parents and the wider members of our community who have invested their time and efforts into our students so that they may participate in, and enjoy such a wide variety of sporting activities. Without your passion and commitment, our students wouldn’t enjoy the opportunities and successes they currently enjoy. Thank you so very much!!!
Twilight Festival
The Twilight Festival was another wonderful event this year. I sincerely thank our extraordinary PTA for their superb organisation, planning and dedication in bringing this event together. The Twilight Festival continues to bring such joy to our College community. I also give thanks to all of you who attended and supported our clubs and codes through their food and activity stalls.
Fiddler on the Roof
The biennial College production is coming in the second week of Term 2. Rehearsals are well underway and it is shaping up to be a wonderful season! I pay tribute to our students and staff who have already made an immense commitment to bring a wonderful show to us all. I also acknowledge the successful and proven team of Toni Henderson, Lynda Cooney and Laura Mansell who are once again leading the way for our cast. Let’s get in behind and show our support for the entire cast when the season begins!
Staffing Changes
I would like to advise of the following new staff additions. We are delighted to have made three exceptional appointments.
- Mrs Julie Green has been appointed to the part-time position of Arts Coordinator. Julie has a background in the Visual Arts, working in a variety of areas using graphic design and visual communication skills.
- Mrs Catherine Pitchford has been appointed to the part-time position of Teacher Aide. Catherine is a former teacher and has considerable experience and qualifications in assisting students with additional needs.
- Mrs Heather Ashton will join the College as a part-time teacher of Drama at the beginning of Term 2. Mrs Ashton brings a wealth of experience and we look forward to welcoming her.
Regretfully, I must also advise of the following pending departures:
- Mrs Desiree Boniface has resigned from her position as Administration Support and Careers Administrator, due to health reasons. We are devastated to lose Mrs Boniface under these circumstances, but thank her sincerely for 13 years of dedicated service. I ask that we all offer our prayers for Mrs Boniface at this time. We pray that the healing hand of the Holy Spirit be with her and her family at this time.
- Mrs Maggie Marriner has resigned from her position as TIC Drama, effective from 13th May 2019. Mrs Marriner will be retiring from teaching. We offer our congratulations and best wishes to Mrs Marriner for her 12 years service to Aquinas College.
- Mrs Wendy Consedine has also retired from her position as Gateway/Star Coordinator, effective from 22nd May 2019. We thank Mrs Consedine for the 11 years service she has given to Aquinas College and congratulate her on a fine teaching career.
These three ladies have been exceptional servants of our College and of Catholic education generally. The will be sorely missed and we will be challenged to fill the significant void they leave behind.
Committee Leaders
A new layer of student leadership has been introduced in 2019 to support the work of the Student Executive. Each of the seven student committees are led by a member of the Student Executive. The newly appointed committee leaders add further leadership into each of these committees. The structure is deliberately distributed to allow our committees to achieve more of their goals which will enable them to serve our student body more effectively.
The Committee Leaders are as follows:
Academic Committee Leaders Esther Barry & Caleb Parker-Lee
Arts Committee Leaders Bailey Bernsten & Tiziana Hawkes
Cultural Committee Leaders Erissa Bibi & Liam Kahle
Environment Committee Leaders Leah Mackinnon & Alex Fourie
Health & Well-Being Committee Leaders Lilli Fawcett & Madeline Gash
Special Character Committee Leaders Issie Dekker & Thomas Kengmana
Sports Committee Leaders Georgia Jones & Sam O’Connor
New Food Truck in Term 2
Aquinas College will have a new food truck from Term 2. The new vendor will provide a menu that aligns to our vision to promote healthier food and nutrition options for our students. The menu includes:
- Filled sandwiches (chicken or vegetarian) – $6
- Sushi – $1 per piece or 6 pieces for $5
- Fried rice (chicken or vegetarian) – large $10, medium $6
- Fried noodles (chicken or vegetarian) – large $10, medium $6.
- Chilled bottles of water.
Thank you to everyone for a great start to our 2019 school year and I wish you all a safe and relaxing holiday and another successful school term starting on Monday 29 April 2019.
May God’s Blessings be upon you all.
Matt Dalton
Principal
ENROLMENTS 2020
AQUINAS COLLEGE
Open Day
THURSDAY 30TH May 2019
Two sessions: 10-11am or 12:00-1:00pm
Visit the college to see it in action; take a guided tour; see a presentation from the Principal, Mr Matt Dalton. This is a prime opportunity for interested students to view the college facilities, interact with students and staff, have your questions answered by senior staff. The College Prospectus will be available for you to take home.
2020 Enrolment Applications close on Friday 5th July 2019
2020 Enrolment Process
2020 Enrolment Applications are open from Wednesday 29th May. To begin the online process, visit http://www.aquinas.school.nz/information/enrolments/
Enquiries to Moira Ramsbottom, phone 543 9032, email admin@aquinas.school.nz
SPECIAL CATHOLIC CHARACTER
The Catholic Schools Youth Ministry International ‘Equipping School’, Canberra, Australia
By Mrs. Susan Van Zyl, Assistant Principal – Special Character
Mrs Monique Harris (Leader of Learning – Religious Education), Laura Smith (Deputy Head Girl – Special Character) and myself were fortunate to be invited to the Oceania Equipping School, as the New Zealand representatives, run by Catholic Schools Youth Ministry International (CSYMI), in Canberra at the end of February. We also had support to attend the school from Paul Ferris (NZCEO) and Paul Shannon (The Commission for Justice, Peace and Aroha), who both kindly sponsored part of our trip. Including us, there were 150 participants from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Uganda, Kenya, England and Australia all coming together with the vision of developing a discipleship pathway throughout their school, diocese or country.
SPECIAL CHARACTER
Service Day
Service Day is to be held on Thursday, 23rd of May.
This is a wonderful opportunity for all students to give their time in service to the community. Service Day has become an important part of what we do as a college, and it has the potential to promote the values that the College stands for, as well as providing an insight into the needs of others in our local community.
Years 7 and 8 will take part an organised programme on that day. The programme will reflect being of service to others so you will not need to find your own service opportunities in the community.
If you know of a community-based activity or organisation that could use our support on this day, please contact svanzyl@aquinas.school.nz.
SPECIAL CHARACTER
Religious Education Term 1, 2019
As part of the curriculum at Aquinas College, all students participate in Religious Education. This is what will be covered across the year levels.
SPECIAL CHARACTER
Christchurch Tragedy
Reflection:
This is a challenging reading to listen to and to reflect on after what happened in Christchurch on Friday. At times it can be difficult to always get along with or show love to our friends, family and those close to us.
CURRICULUM
NCEA News
Incredibly, we are over one quarter of the way through the senior academic year. All students should be well underway with internal assessments and have a number of results from standards already completed.
Remember that a student needs to gain 50 credits at Excellence for a certificate endorsed with Excellence. If a student gains 50 credits at Merit (or Excellence) then they are awarded their certificate with a merit endorsement. Students can also gain subject endorsements by gaining 14 credits (of which at least 3 must be external and at least 3 must be internal) at Merit or Excellence.
CURRICULUM
REACH
All year 9 and year 10 students are part of the REACH academic programme at Aquinas College. This programme operates like a junior diploma where each subject contributes points towards a grand REACH total. The type of certificate awarded at the end of the year depends on the total number of REACH points that have been earned through assessments during the year.
CURRICULUM
International Faculty
Our 25 International Students are enjoying the ‘kiwi’ lifestyle and feeling very much a part of our Aquinas College community. This is a tribute to their class buddies who have made them feel so welcome.
“The students are so kind” reported Lisa Wang, a Yr. 12 Chinese student who has joined us from Bethlehem College this year. “One girl in my class helped me understand my assignment and she didn’t even know me. Now she always smiles and says ‘hi’ when I see her around the school”.
CURRICULUM
Technology Faculty
Focus on our Technology Technician Treasure
A Technology faculty treasure we’d like to share this month comes in the form of Bill Boulton – our terrific technician.
Now a kiwi, Bill originates from England with training and experience in engineering & design. Interestingly though, since the early eighties Bill crossed over into teaching. (The author was a student of Bill’s at Tauranga Intermediate as well as our Head of Faculty. He was awesome then too.)
ARTS
Fiddler on the Roof is a musical set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in 1905. The story centres on Tevye, the father of five daughters, and his attempts to maintain his Jewish religious and cultural traditions as outside influences encroach upon the family’s lives. He must cope both with the strong-willed actions of his three older daughters, who wish to marry for love – each one’s choice of a husband moves further away from the customs of his faith – and with the edict of the Tsar that evicts the Jews from their village.
Students are well underway with rehearsals and are looking forward to seeing you there!
Tickets are on sale at https://premier.ticketek.co.nz/search/SearchResults.aspx?k=fiddler+on+the+roof
Performance dates May 9th to 11th 2019 at Baycourt
Director: Toni Henderson
Musical Director: Mrs Cooney
Choreographer: Laura Mansell
SPORT
Term 1 is now coming to a close. It has been a full on 10 week with Summer sports all happening, and Winter Sports getting organized now.
Once your summer sport has finished, please return all of your sports uniform and equipment you have borrowed for the season back to the sports office. All gear should be returned in a bag with your name on it.
Summer Tournament Week was a great success, make sure you read about it below.
A special congratulations must also go to Connor Farrell who competed in the Legends of the Lake Ocean Swim at Rotorua on Saturday 16 March in the Amphibian Race. It was 1500m swim, 3.5km run and then 500m Swim. Connor won the event overall with a time of 44 minutes and 12 seconds, as well as winning the 14 – 19 Year old Male Division.
Congratulations must also go to Sean Curragh and Corbin Mackay who won Gold in the team Grand Cameron event in the Ocean’s 19 National Surf Lifesaving competition from the 7 – 10 March.
SPORT
Cricket – AC Teachers vs Year 13
Aquinas Teachers dominate Students with Cricketing Lesson
The Aquinas College staff have easily beaten the Year 13 students in a one side cricket match at Aquinas Oval on the 1st March 2019.
Mature batting and consistent line and length bowling was no match for the chatsnapping youngsters, as the teachers out gunned their opposition to win 105 to 40.
SPORT
AC Swimming Championships
AC students competed in the Annual Swimming Championships in March. Both the Y7/8 and the Y9-13 days were a great success with many students competing for house points, for school pride and for placings.
Read more to see results and photos
SPORT
5 Steps to Dealing with Disappointment in Sport
Have you ever missed out on selection?
Maybe you go dropped or injured and weren’t able to take part in something that meant a lot to you?
But often disappointment gives us an opportunity to make some changes for the better, to show us that what we’re doing isn’t working and helps us realise how much something means to us.
SPORT
Rowing
Aquinas College Rowers competed in the North Island Schools Rowing Championships at Lake Karapiro from 8 – 10 March . It was a busy 3 day regatta with nearly 2000 competitors from 105 schools.
The racing was fast and furious with all the schools putting out their fastest crews.
SPORT
Summer Tournament Week
Aquinas College has had a very successful time at Summer Tournament Week this year. Read on to find out about how our Basketball 3×3, Cricket, Rowing and Water Polo teams got on!
SPORT
Volunteers Letter
A thought provoking letter written by a Volunteer. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our Sports Volunteers we have at AC. Your contribution is truly valued.
PTA MATTERS – April 2019
Aquinas College Twilight Festival
The Aquinas Twilight Festival was held in March and it was a great success. Huge thanks to parents, teachers, students, our suppliers and our sponsors for making the evening such a hit. Together with our clubs and groups we were successful in fundraising $12,000+ and we are delighted with the feedback we have had regarding how enjoyable the evening was. Thank you to our supporters and sponsors including Kennards, the NZ Fire Service, Taylor Bros and everyone else who contributed to the Twilight Festival.
Celia Movie – PTA Fundraiser
We are pleased with the attendance at the March screening of Celia, the NZ International Film Festival documentary that celebrates the enduring legacy of Celia Lashlie. This evening raised $1200+ for PTA and was thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended. Thank you to those that donated food and to everyone who came along to support this event.
Mark the Date: Mid-winter Social Event
Our mid-winter social event is scheduled for Saturday 29th June and promises to be a great evening out. Mark the date in your diary and more details will follow soon.
Next PTA Meeting
The next PTA next meeting is being held on Tuesday 2nd April at 5pm, in the staffroom. This will be our 2019 Annual General Meeting followed by a regular meeting.
Join our PTA Committee or become a Friend of the PTA
We are looking for new committee members and ‘PTA Friends’. We have our regular meetings that committee members attend around twice per term and our ‘friends’ help us out with our events. We’d love to have you join us so come along or email us to find out more.
https://www.aquinas.school.nz/pta/
Email: ouraquinas@gmail.com
Other News
New Food Truck from Term 2
We have a new Food Truck, selling sandwiches, sushi and Thai street food.
Follow this LINK to view the menu for the new food truck, effective from the start of term 2.
Level 1 Science Help
Every Wednesday lunchtime in Room 13.
Come and get one-on-one support from a Science Teacher ?
Board of Trustees Elections
Every three years the Board of Trustees (BOT) Parent Representative elections are held. The 2019 election is due to be held in June this year. The BOT is required to appoint a Returning Officer for these elections. This role is critical to a smooth-running election process. It includes preparing the electoral roll(s), calling for and accepting nominations, running the elections (when one is required), counting the votes and declaring the results https://www.trustee-election.co.nz/returning-officers/ .
Further information on this role will be released next month, however if you’re interested email Scott Kahle, current BOT Chair scott.kahle@fmg.co.nz
Aquinas College will also be actively seeking nominees to take up five parent representative positions on the Aquinas College BOT. The Board of Trustees is the group responsible for the governance of the school. It oversees matters relating to personnel, curriculum, property, finance, employment of staff, and the College’s strategic direction in consultation with parents, staff and students. Being on the BOT provides you with a unique opportunity to serve and represent your community. BOT members are required to attend eight monthly meetings per year (no BOT meeting in January, April, July, or December) with the option to sit on sub-committees. For more information please visit www.trustee-election.co.nz/ and if you’re interested, email Scott Kahle, (scott.kahle@fmg.co.nz)
Host Families Needed
Aquinas College will be welcoming fifteen Year 7 and 8 International Students from China for a stay of 4 weeks this July. If you have a spare room and would be interested in hosting one of these students, please e-mail nkahle@aquinas.school.nz. You will be paid a weekly board to cover the provision of 3 meals a day, accommodation and expenses.
Season Change to Winter Uniform
A reminder to parents that we change to winter uniform for Terms 2 and 3, beginning after the Term 1 holidays.
Second-Hand Uniform Shop – where you’re sure to find a Bargain!
The Second-Hand Uniform shop is a great service a group of parents provides for our community. The shop is open every Tuesday during term time from 1:00pm to 3.30pm.
Want to purchase new uniform items?
NZ Uniforms is the only retail outlet available in Tauranga to purchase new Aquinas College uniform items. They are situated at 94 Elizabeth Street, Tauranga
Physiotherapy Available at Aquinas
Your Physio is
Marijke Sonneveld
Appointments available @ school for your injury rehab and injury prevention education
See the school office for appointment requests
Or phone 07 5779798
Twisted ankle? Out of plaster? Pulled muscle?
Sore shoulder? Injured Back?
Your first appointment is at no charge. No referral necessary
Your School Physiotherapist can help you
07 5779798
www.bayphysiotherapy.co.nz
Email: enquiries@bayphysiotherapy.co.nz
Safety around Railway Bridges
Trains and people don’t mix and we’d hate it if a young person (or anyone else) was involved in an accident.
- The KiwiRail team know the water’s tempting but they’re asking you to please stay off the Maxwell Road and Matapihi rail bridges
- The local railway line’s super-busy, trains are fast and heavy – and KiwiRail’s train drivers can’t stop quickly (check out the video below)
- Keep yourself safe by staying away from train bridges and only cross train tracks at a proper rail crossing
- Please keep safe during warm weather and remember: tracks are for trains!
Follow the link to a video where our train drivers talk about why it’s so important to keep off the tracks
https://www.facebook.com/KiwiRailNewZealand/videos/470839839945311
Itinerant Music Lessons
At Aquinas College we are extremely fortunate to be able to offer the following Itinerant Music Lessons in school time.
There is no cost for the actual lessons but there will be a $15.00 charge to cover folders and music that students receive and may keep. We do have a small number of instruments available to hire. Please contact lcooney@aquinas.school.nz
If your son/daughter would like to take up this fantastic opportunity they can collect an enrolment form from the school office or from Mrs Cooney
Instruments available include;
Strings: Mrs Gardiner violin, viola, cello, double bass
Woodwind and Saxophone: Ms Martin, Mrs Jones flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, bass, clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone
Brass: Mr Thomas Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, French Horn, Baritone Horn, Euphonium
Drums and Bass: Mr Barlow
Other instruments may be available upon request. Please contact lcooney@aquinas.school.nz
Out of hours beginner Keyboard lessons are also available Year 7 and 8 students.
Private lessons are also available where fees are paid directly to the tutor for voice, Upton Drum School and guitar.
Guitar Sean Bodley 021 02489460 seanbodley@icloud.com
Voice Glenese Blake 027 4913386 glenese@themusicshed.co.nz
Please contact the above tutors directly re lessons. Fees are paid directly to them.
2019 Term Dates
Please follow this LINK for the 2019 Term Dates and holidays.
