Dear members of the Aquinas College community,

Welcome back to Term 3!  I trust that all students have had a restful break & return refreshed for the new term.  We have had a fair amount of winter illness occurring with both staff and students, so hopefully the brighter weather will help in this regard.

A special mention to the Year 13 Fiji Service trip group who spent much of their break working in the village of Vanuakula.  We also had the Year 9 HOEC (Hillary Outdoor Education Centre) group away at Tongariro National Park in the last week of Term 2.  Our congratulations go to the students for the way in which they represented the college & themselves. Comments from people involved in these trips reinforced that they were very successful events, so thank you also to the staff and parents involved for the preparation and the work before and during the events.  Such opportunities provide students with lasting memories and friendships.

I reminded the students at our first assembly that this is another very busy term and of the actions they can control which will help them to be the best that they can be.

These actions include:

• Being in the right place at the right time! Be on time in the morning – this includes getting to Tutor time where the day starts. Get all the information/notices that you may need to understand what is happening during the day. This is also important so that you contribute to the tutor group!  It also includes getting to classes promptly – if you are late to class, you can miss the aim of the lesson, and you interrupt the teacher & fellow students in their teaching & learning.
• Being there with the right gear & equipment! Make sure you are organised for each class the night before – don’t be in a rush in the morning, that’s when you’re likely to forget something! 
• Coming with an attitude to learn! You are all capable of learning & contributing to each class. Be positive and be prepared to put in the focussed work that is needed.  Everybody needs to put in the effort to understand and grasp new ideas. Nobody just gets it!  Those who do well are those who, without exception, put in the work!  That often involves sacrificing or restricting other immediate “nice to do” things.
• Factoring in the time you need at home to complete homework or other tasks set! Most often it can’t all be done in class time.  There will be things you need to practice & consolidate in your learning!  You should have a set/regular place at home where you can do this. 
• Minimising other distractions! – ie TV, other devices, your phone. Research proves that our brains cannot multi-task – we need to give each task our full attention, otherwise we do not learn effectively. 

Report meetings:

This week we have had our Student Led Conferences at Year 7 & 8.  Also on the evenings of Tuesday August 1 and Thursday August 3 we have the Year 9 – 13 report evenings.  I have encouraged the students to ensure they attend these meetings so that they can discuss their academic progress and recognise the steps they need to take during the term.

Staff changes

We welcome back Alison Fitzpatrick who returns from leave.  Our thanks go to Lis Hanna who has covered Alison’s classes during her absence.  Lis will continue with some vocal tuition as well as the Arts Co-ordination hours.

We also have three Year 7/8 staff (Mr Banbury, Mrs Van Zyl and Mrs Swanepoel) involved in the ALiM (Accelerated learning in Mathematics) project during the term. They will be working with selected students on mathematical literacy at certain times each week.  We thank & welcome Premila D’Mello who will be covering classes as needed for each of the teachers involved.  This is a Ministry funded project and part of our ongoing Community of Learning work.