Kia ora whanau

Nga mihi nui ki a koutou me te tangi hoki ki a ratau kua riro atu.

As we approach the end of Term 1, it presents an opportunity to reflect on what has been a very busy and positive term in the life of the College, as you will read in this newsletter. At the risk of presenting some newsletter spoilers, I want to pay special tribute to several groups and individuals throughout my message to you.

Mr Vince Shaw

Firstly, I want to pay a special tribute to Vince Shaw, our Director of Special Character. Mr Shaw is retiring at the end of the term. Mr Shaw has been a teacher in Secondary education for over forty years. Although raised in Manchester, he did his training and initial teaching service in Scotland. Promotion took him back to the north of England until 1996 when Mr Shaw and his family emigrated to New Zealand. Mr Shaw taught in the Waikato, before moving to the Bay of Plenty to take up the Head of Mathematics role at Aquinas College in 2007. After four years in this role, Mr Shaw then moved into the Senior Leadership team as Director of Special Character (DRS). Mr Shaw loves to see students thrive, socially, educationally and spiritually. Seeing students in a most supportive environment is what gives Mr Shaw the most satisfaction. I know he is very happy to have been a part of their growth into young men and women of faith.

Four years ago Mr Shaw became a Deacon. This marked a new chapter in Mr Shaw’s life and he foresees that in his retirement this will take up more of his time. Alongside that he looks forward to spending more time with his family, including his new granddaughter.

We will have the opportunity to recognise and pay tribute to Mr Shaw in a special Liturgy on Friday 13 April. Furthermore, on May 16 we are fortunate to have Bishop Steve joining us to celebrate the Mass of the Holy Spirit. This Mass will also recognise Mr Shaw’s significant service and contribution to Aquinas College and Catholic education generally. Bishop Steve will also commission Mrs Susan Van Zyl as she steps into the role of Director of Special Character from Term 2.

While my personal association with Mr Shaw has been a short one, I have valued our time as colleagues. I have appreciated his wise advice and counsel.

While Mr Shaw is retiring in an official capacity, he has agreed to rejoin the College in a relieving capacity next term for Mrs Meyer who will be on leave for Term 2.

Special Character:

AC Sacramental Programme

This year marked the first official Sacramental programme facilitated by our College in more than 10 years. I was fortunate to be invited to the celebration dinner on Friday 6 April which marked the conclusion of the programme. Our students and their families were invited and shared a wonderful evening. 13 students, across Years 7-13, are preparing to receive the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Holy Communion. Four of these are also preparing to receive the Sacrament of Baptism. This has been a wonderful opportunity for the school, parishes and families to unite in supporting these young people as they make the next step in their faith journey.  We look forward to celebrating the sacraments with them next term as we approach the great feast of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the wonderful work of Mrs Harris and Mr Shaw. I sincerely thank them for leading our students, advancing and enabling their faith journey.

Easter Celebrations

17 students, supported by three members of staff, completed the annual cross walk on Wednesday 28 March. Our students carried the cross on through the streets of Tauranga. They started at St Thomas More church at 8.15am, travelling through St Mary Immaculate Church and St Mary’s School on their way back to the College in time for our Easter Liturgy. We held a beautiful student led Liturgy that focused on the events of Holy Week. Our Year 13 students planned and delivered a special Liturgy that brought the Easter story alive; paying tribute to traditional Catholicism, while melding in contemporary relevance. Our students managed to weave powerful messages for our College community throughout the Liturgy.

Caritas Challenge

Class 10P, who through their Caritas Social Actions, raised more than $2,500. This was an incredible feat for these students. They undertook a wide variety of fundraisers over two weeks. I congratulate them for their commitment to this cause.

Sport:

Summer Sports

Summer Tournament Week marked the end of the summer sport season for most codes. We had nine teams representing us proudly. As you will read in the newsletter, we had some excellent successes, punctuated by the achievements of our Senior Girls Basketball Team (finishing 8^th in New Zealand), Stella Janissen and Aoife Taylor who competed in the Maadi Cup, with Stella finishing 15^th in the country in the Under 16 Single Scull and our First XI Cricketers (3^rd in Northern Districts Gillette Cup & 1^st in the Northern Districts 20/20 Tournament). I encourage you to read about all of our summer sporting successes in this newsletter. We recognised these achievements in school assembly, with each team having a representative deliver a report.

Other Recent Sporting Successes of note

• Jack Egan has continued his amazing success. He has been selected to compete in the Under 18’s C1 team at the World Under 18 Slalom Competition in Ivrea, Italy.  He recently competed in the New Zealand Secondary Schools competition. In the Under 18 C1 Men competition, he was placed first and then Second in the Under 18 K1 Men.
• Milly Quinn who won five Gold medals and one Bronze as part of NZ Division II swimming championships.
• Lochlainn O’Connor, Connor Farrell, Ruby Helm and Caitlin Farrell who all achieved new school records in the College Swimming Sports
• Our Senior Boys’ Water Polo team winning the Tauranga premier competition this past Thursday.
• Liam and Ben Olsen won a Bronze Medal representing Tauranga in NZ National U13 Baseball tournament.
• Emma Wilson winning bronze at the nationals for 25 m standard pistol event (.22)
• The Sailing team winning silver in the silver fleet for the Central North Island Regatta.
• Megan and Amy Megan Cheetham competed in the Auckland regional artistic roller skating competition with Megan achieving three 1^st place finishes, a Second and a Third in the 13-17 year old section. Amy achieving two 1^st place finishes, two Seconds and a Third in the 9-12 year old section.

Swimming Sports

We have held both our Year 7/8 and Years 9-13 Swimming Sports this term. Well done to all of our students who competed in these Annual Swimming Championships. These events again brought the competitive House spirit to the fore. There were some great results achieved by our students. In particular a special congratulations to Lochlainn O’Connor, Connor Farrell, Ruby Helm and Caitlin Farrell who all achieved new school records in the pool.

At this point I must pay tribute to all of the people who invest their time and effort into our students so that they may participate in, and enjoy such a wide variety of sporting activities. A most sincere thank you to all of our TIC’s, committees, coaches, managers and volunteers who enable our students to have these wonderful opportunities. Without your passion and commitment, our students wouldn’t enjoy the opportunities and successes they currently enjoy. Thank you so very much!!!

Culture and the Arts:

College Haka

Our students have been diligently learning our school Haka. House assemblies have been the vehicle for the Year 13 student leaders to develop this special Taonga of our College. I look forward to seeing continued progress in this regard.

Music

Student Celebrations in Music include:

– Duncan and Ronan Hendry performed in Rotorua at National Pipe Band Championships.

– Baxter Blair performed at National Jazz Festival over the Easter break.

– Matthew Karton was nominated for PACANZ National awards in dance.

Culture

• Lilli Scott, a current Year 13 student, was announced last week as the senior winner of a youth essay competition created by Taonga Tauranga to encourage youth to voice their thoughts on having a museum on the city’s proposed Cliff Road site.  Lilli’s efforts awarded her the $1000 first prize. Lilli’s essay, titled “Tauranga’s Modern Museum” provided a thoughtful approach to this community issue as the Council’s referendum approaches.
• Samuel Rush has won a trip to attend the Silicon Valley Bootcamp as a representative of his iwi, Ngai-Tahu. The trip is designed to help Year 9 and 10 students engage with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Samuel will take part in design workshops and meet leaders from companies like Google and Facebook. As part of his application he had to submit a short video about himself.
• Congratulations to Lizzy Skelton, who gained second place in the regional United Nations Young Speechmakers competition. Lizzy’s topic was a weighty one: How should we balance climate change issues versus economic growth in NZ/ Are they mutually exclusive?

The Collective Chronicle

Two Year 13 students, Jessica Treanor and Lilli Scott brought a proposal to me about creating a student newspaper. They then set about establishing a group like minded students that were passionate about delivering a collaborative student newspaper. They have just completed their first issue of the Collective Chronicle, and I include the link here. I congratulate these students for delivering so impressively on their vision. We can look forward to three more publications this year, one per term.

Staffing Changes

I would like to advise of the following staff changes for Term 2:

Mrs Susan Van Zyl, as has previously been announced, will move into the role of Director of Special Character on the College Senior Leadership Team. I look forward to working with Mrs Van Zyl in this pivotal role in the life of our College. Mrs Van Zyl will also move into Mr Shaw’s teaching timetable as part of this change.

Mrs Alison Fitzpatrick is taking maternity leave at the end of this term. We wish Mrs Fitzpatrick God’s blessings as she and her husband prepare themselves for the birth of their first child.

We welcome Mrs Caitlin Tarr as our new Sports Coordinator. Mrs Tarr joined us several weeks ago from Papamoa College. We are fortunate to appoint someone of her experience and capability to this position.

We welcome Rebekah Thompson into the Year 7/8 Faculty. Mrs Thompson will be taking over from Mrs Van Zyl. Mrs Thompson is a graduate of the Bethlehem Tertiary Institute and joins us from Bethlehem College.

We welcome Miss Ashleen Fahy into the Music and Social Sciences Faculties. Miss Fahy is a new graduate of the University of Waikato. Miss Fahy is replacing Mrs Fitzpatrick for the duration of her maternity leave.

We also welcome Mr Joe Thomas in the Brass itinerant teaching role.  Mr Thomas brings a wealth of experience, he has just completed a six year stint playing professionally in the New Zealand Army Band.

Mrs Carla Moriarty has resigned from her position as library assistant at Aquinas. We farewelled Mrs Moriarty several weeks ago.

Student Leave in Term Time:

There have been a worrying number of requests for student leave in Term time. Schools, along with parents and guardians, are legally responsible for making sure students attend school. Under Section 25 and section 31 of the The Education Act 1989, every school board must take all reasonable steps to make sure students attend school when it is open. Our College procedure requires all leave of three or more days to be granted by the Principal. While I appreciate there are always special circumstances that necessitate these requests, I ask for your support when planning holidays during term time that don’t fit in this category.

A second issue that has surfaced this term is the number of students who are leaving school early on a consistent basis for work commitments. Unless special circumstances require it and permission is granted by the Principal, students should not be leaving school early for this reason. Whilst I appreciate the many benefits of part-time work for our students, I wish to avoid these working arrangements coming at the cost of their education.

Stop, Start, Keep Doing

I want to pass on my thanks to everyone who completed my survey earlier this term. As you will remember, I issued the same survey to our students, our parents/caregivers and our staff. There were 163 students, 92 parents/caregivers and 56 members of staff that completed the survey. This feedback is very valuable. It provides us clear signposts. Please know that ALL feedback has been read and we will be looking to act as appropriate on this feedback. The common threads will take the highest priority. I have included a synopsis of the common threads and how we are planning to address these below:

Common Threads:

Question 1 – STOP

• Gender inequality in uniform policy, appearance rules applied to boys / girls

–  Shared issue for Yr. 9/10 girls, Yr. 11-13 girls, Yr. 11-13 boys.

Planned Actions

• The changes to the appearance guidelines earlier this term addressed much of the inequality that was highlighted in this survey feedback. There is a scheduled BOT review of the uniform policy in Term 2. This feedback will inform the review.

Question 2 – START

• More subject options including dance, Spanish, Mandarin, robotics, fashion and film

–  Shared issue for Yr. 7/8 girls, Yr. 11-13 girls, Yr. 11 – 13 boys and whanau.

• Make changes to uniform and appearance guidelines.

– Shared issue for Yr. 9/10 girls, Yr. 9/10 boys, Yr. 11 – 13 girls, Yr. 11 – 13 boys.

Planned Actions

• We have a full and thorough Curriculum Review planned for Years 7-10 this year. This feedback will inform the curriculum breadth aspect of this review.
• Uniform and appearance guidelines as above.

Question 3 – KEEP DOING

• The Twilight Festival / Funathon, Aquinas Day, Performing Arts Night, Service Day and other fund-raisers

– Shared issue for Yr. 9/10 girls, Yr. 9/10 boys, Yr. 11 – 13 girls.

• The Touchstones, the ‘AC Spirit’, the celebration of excellence, the fun friendly atmosphere and the promotion of excellence

– shared issue for Yr. 11 – 13 boys, staff and whanau.

Planned Actions

• We appreciate the feedback that these activities are valued. I pay tribute to the PTA for their contributions in this regard also.
• The Touchstones, AC Spirit and celebration of excellence will not only be preserved, but enhanced.

Question 4 – ADVICE FOR OUR NEW PRINCIPAL

• Be positive, fun, enthusiastic, kind, nice, make us proud, respect us as students

–  Shared issue for Yr. 7/8 girls, Yr. 7/8 boys, Yr. 9/10 girls, Yr. 9/10 boys, Yr. 11 – 13 girls, Yr. 11 – 13 boys.

• Come to classes, meet parents, talk to students, be around, be approachable, listen to students, listen to parents, build relationships

– Shared issue for Yr. 11 – 13 girls, Yr. 11 – 13 boys and whanau.

• Raise the standards, value staff, celebrate staff, set high standards for staff and students, instill pride and passion

– Shared issue for staff and whanau.

• Revisit the end of year leaving process and graduation for Year 13 students.

– Shared issue for Yr. 11 – 13 girls, Yr. 11 – 13 boys, staff and whanau.

Planned Actions

• I appreciate the feedback and will endeavour to meet the aspirations of our students, staff and community in this regard.
• I can advise that we will be revisiting our physical graduation for Year 13 students based on this and other feedback.
• We will not entertain a Prank Day as part of this. I am advised that this practice became increasingly destructive and is not befitting of our aspirations for our leavers. Instead, Year 13 students were given ownership of their leaving celebration as part of their Year 13 leadership day at the start of the year. We want to celebrate our leavers, not create an environment where relationships are tested.

In this, the season of Easter, let me leave you with a piece of Scripture

John 20:19-21

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, “Peace be with you!”

²⁰ and, after saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord,

²¹ and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. ‘As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.’

The message: We are sent to proclaim the joy and the Good News of the Resurrection of Jesus – don’t keep it to yourself!

Thank you to everyone for a great start to our 2018 school year and I wish you all a safe and relaxing holiday and another successful school term starting on Monday 30 April 2018. May God’s Blessings be upon you all.