A Message from our Principal

We are greatly looking forward to Trinity Day tomorrow for a few reasons. The most important, of course, is the opportunity to celebrate the Holy Trinity – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – the foundation of our faith and from which our college is named. Trinity Sunday the weekend follows Pentecost Sunday last weekend, and tomorrow we will commemorate the end of the Easter season with a College Mass celebrated by Bishop Michael Dooley. I would like to acknowledge the courage and commitment of the nine young people who are discovering their faith more deeply by being part of our sacramental programme at school with the help of Mrs Tili and Fr Hook. Congratulations! We are privileged to be witnesses to your Confirmation at Mass tomorrow.

Trinity Day is also a celebration of who we are as a college and, after some pretty miserable weather over the last couple of weeks, having a day of celebration, activities and house competitiveness is sure to lift everyone’s spirits! Thank you to the House Prefects – McAuley, Rice, Nagle and Dominic – who have worked hard to prepare their Houses for the competitions.

Our Musical next week is not to be missed. Back to the 80’s (particularly for some of us who can truly relate to that era!!) is sure to be yet another very professional and polished show. If you haven’t got your tickets yet, they are going fast. Remembering the nominations and awards we gained at the OSTAs – Otago Southland Theatre Awards – earlier this year, I strongly encourage you to come along to experience the huge talent of the more than one hundred students involved in this show.

And after that .... it is back to work! Assessments are happening for year 7s through to year 13s in our college as the end of term approaches. Reports will be with you at the end of the term and these will give a good gauge as to whether your child is on track for NCEA and UE success. Our teachers spend much time writing valuable feedback and feed-forward for your information to help you have conversations with your children about their learning. Please also take advantage of the face to face conversations with your child’s teachers that will be available early in term three.

If your child is in their younger years at school, you may find that their curriculum level does not align with achievement levels gained last year. There has been a great deal of change in maths curriculum and the associated levels due to the new maths curriculum, along with the use of a consistent and standardised assessment tool for English and Maths from years 7-10.  Remember that the report comments will also guide you to an understanding of how your child is progressing and, again, I encourage a face to face chat that will clarify any questions you have.

See you next week at the musical!

Ka kite ano

Kate Nicholson

Principal