Newsletter Week 10 Term 3

Kia ora e te whanau

Unity is strength is a common thought that always rings true. We know that when we are united great things happen. This is the case in the natural or spiritual world. Romans 12:16-18 says “Be of the same mind towards one another. Do not set your mind on high things but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peacefully with all.”

This in some ways seems to sum up the term we have had. All our staff, students, parents, caregivers, and wider community have rallied to come together to support everything that has happened at St Peter’s College, and we have stood united for the greater cause of our students. The outcomes thus far have been a testament to this unity and now we look for this unity to be built strongly upon not only for the coming term, but for the years ahead.

This unity allows our St Peter’s Community to be recognised for its humble but firm approach across all spheres of school life. It ensures that we continue to have strong belief in the abilities of our young men and encourage them to go forward with confidence always. Your increased support and encouragement at this time of the year would enable our young people to work with a huge sense of purpose as they prepare for their end of year examinations, and for our Year 13 students, seek to perform at levels that will establish gains towards tertiary study or careers of their choice.

As we make big strides towards Term 4 and the business end of the year, it is essential that we thank you for your unconditional support over the past three terms. We have been able to bring back some sort of normalcy this term and host a number of events including the Girls Breakfast, Tournament week and in week one of term four our annual Eisteddfod competition. This has allowed us to come together and stand united in ensuring that we foster strong relationships that can be taken into the future. The Eisteddfod concert featuring the best of the best from the 3 day event will be on at the St James Theatre on the evening of Tuesday the 25th of October, straight after Labour weekend and tickets will be on sale through iTicket from Monday the 17th of October.

Recently, we have had some issues with some of our students getting hurt playing rugby or bullrush tag at break times. We want our students to be able to burn off their energy while playing games they enjoy but not to the detriment of people’s health and safety. Therefore, we have brought in some rules for these contact games. Bullrush or games like it are not allowed during school time. Any tackling must be part of an actual game with a ball and can only involve one tackler at a time (i.e. no joining tackles if you are not the first tackler). Also, year levels are not to mix when playing these games so only year 9s may play other year 9s etc. Just like in the real thing, lifting of any sort will mean you are banned from continuing to play. Please play responsibly and look after each other.

Charity Fulfils the Law

Tara Quinney,

Principal

Presiding Member message

Board News Term 3 2022

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members that have retired from the Board last month, a big thank you for the time and commitment you have put into your role on the St Peter’s College Board.

Last week we held our first meeting, with a number of us taking up new positions on the St Peter’s Board. We are looking forward to working alongside Tara in our various roles. It was evident that we will be a hardworking and energetic team. At the start of next term we will introduce ourselves with individual profiles.

For those of you who aren’t familiar, our School Board is made up as follows:

Proprietors Representatives:

Keriann Borlase, Daniel Butler, Aaron Stevenson, Fr Jaime Lalaguna (Bishop’s Representative)

Parent Representatives:

Ruth Mitchell (Presiding Member), Ceri Macleod (Deputy Presiding Member), Martin Mackereth, Adele McGarry, Vincent Sharp

Staff Representative:

Sam Sanson

Student Representative:

James Mackereth

Next month we will come together as a Board at a planning day looking at the current strategic goals for 2023. This is an exciting process to be involved in, the Board will work towards ensuring that students have the very best opportunities both inside and outside the classroom.

I will update the school community on Board news and matters in newsletters next term.

Enjoy the holidays with your families.

Ruth Mitchell

SMAC Maths

On Wednesday, 28 September, seven teams from Years 7 to 10 represented St Peter's College at the SMAC Maths Competition which is usually held annually.

Everyone throughly enjoyed the experience and the atmosphere was electric. All those participating can be proud of their efforts.

A special congratulations goes to the Year 8 team of Lachlan Gray, Oliver Gray, Eli Puna and Max McGregor for their impressive third place.

Edge School Accounts and Payments

All school accounts are now up to date with the information we have for subject donations, uniform and sports charges. Requests for payments are emailed out at the beginning of every month.

All uniform and sports are goods and services already paid for by the school, and as such are chargeable and recoverable items that we require prompt payment for. If you have outstanding uniform or sports on your account from this year, please pay this as soon as possible.

Prior Year Outstanding Accounts

If you have previous years chargeable items on your school account that have not been paid, please pay these immediately. We will be following these up over the next few weeks and if these remain unpaid you can expect to receive an email or phone call requesting payment.

The school’s bank account details are as follows:

St Peter’s College BOT

12 3434 0012635 000

Reference: Your child’s name

If there is a specific item you would like to pay for, please also use this in the reference. Otherwise, we will allocate the payment at our discretion. If you have more than one child you are paying for, we encourage you to have separate payments for each child to ensure correct payment allocation. Please also update any existing automatic payment references with the correct reference details, particularly if one child has now left school.

Thank you

Paula Robertson

Executive Officer

execofficer@stpetersgore.school.nz

Our annual Eisteddfod is coming up in Week 1 of next term. We look forward to celebrating the God-given gifts and talents of everyone in our school during the Festival on Wednesday, 19th to Friday, 21st October, followed by the Eisteddfod Invitational Concert on Tuesday, 25th October at the SBS St James Theatre. Tickets for the concert go on sale Monday, 17th October and will be available online from iTicket. Cost: Adults $14, Child $12.

Parents are more than welcome to attend the festival at school, please make sure you sign in at the office upon arrival. See the timetable below for the order of events.

Participants in the scripture and expressive reading categories will be able to collect their texts from the office on the first day of term, to practice before the festival begins.

Have an excellent holiday and make the most of the extra time to hone your acts!

Laura Thomas, English Teacher

Scholarship Opportunities

A number of scholarship opportunities have been emailed out to Year 12 and 13 students and parents over the last few weeks. If you have not received a copy, please check your junk mail or that you have the right email registered with the school. The following scholarships will close over the holidays:

MLT

Gore Pakeke Lions

Pioneer Women’s

Dr Victor Harris Memorial Scholarship (Year 13 only)

Please note if you are a Year 12 and leaving school for a trade or any type of tertiary study you can apply for most of these scholarships.

If you are applying for a scholarship and gain an interview, please do your research about the organisation who is offering the scholarship. Because there will always be questions about what you know about the scholarship.

If required we do have hard copies of all scholarships available at the Career Office.

Gateway or Murihiku Tertiary Academy in 2023

All Years 11 and 12 went to a presentation on the Murihiku Tertiary Academy and its programmes for next year. Information about the Gateway programme was also presented. For those students who wish to apply for Gateway or Murihiku Tertiary Academy in 2023, now is the time to get your application in. All programmes have limits on their numbers so the earlier we have our applications in the better. Please drop off at the Careers Office.