Principal's Comment

Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

I have not written a blog for some time, but feel it is a good idea to take five minutes to touch base before our final teaching week of the year next week.

Firstly, I would like to thank families for their support over the year and especially with regards to the recent examination round. For the first time in many years we had an almost 100% attendance rate for our RE examination which was so heartening. We were also very thankful for those families who were able to get students to the holiday tutorials, they certainly helped our young people to feel more confident in approaching the Cambridge examinations.

Results are due out on the 15th Jan 2025, Cambridge results will be due out on the 16th Jan 2025 (these are marked offshore). Scholarship results are usually released mid February.

I would also like to thank families for responding to the various surveys and questionnaires we have put out over the course of the year. All of the data received has gone towards building a picture to inform our strategic planning. Our next strategic plan will take us through to 2027, which is the end of our centenary year.

Speaking of which, the lovely Kara has put together a fantastic plan for celebrating our 100 years. It is very important that we are aware that this is not only a celebration of St Kevin's but also of Teschemakers and St Thomas' schools which were absorbed into SKC in the 1980's. We are very keen to hear from anyone who is interested in helping us with the planning for the centennial events, especially any women who hold the girl's story so that we can be guided on how to best include that history.

Next week will be 'activities week' for our year nine students which is a mixture of class time and fun activities. The year ten cohort will be on camp. I would like to thank all of the staff involved in organizing both sets of activities. We have a set of staff who do go the extra mile to ensure that the school year finishes on a high. Thank you to all of the staff in advance for your hard work.

Junior prizegiving will be held at 11am on the 13th December. Please ensure that students attend in their 'number one' uniform. Boys may wear shorts, but we would like the prize winners in their ties and white shirts please. Students are free to go home after prizegiving.

Thank you to Ira Mitchell, our artist in residence for this beautiful shot of the Castle.

Have a happy weekend.

God Bless

Jo

Principal's Commnent

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

Just a quick blog post to welcome our new Top 6 for 2025 and offer a few reminders. As is tradition, the 'old hands' took the newbies out to dinner today to share some of the secrets and tricks of the trade for surviving their year as school leaders. Working alongside teachers as prefects is a whole new world for school student leaders. They become part of the staff when they are in prefect positions and we have high expectations that they will perform responsibly in that role.

Just a quick reminder that the ceremony that inducts our new Top 6 takes place at our Senior Prizegiving this week at 6:30 on Thursday night. There is an expectation that families will attend both Mass and prize giving as our Catholic identity is our first and foremost reason for existing as a College. When Year 9's enter the College they do so by being welcomed to the chapel. It is fitting then that we farewell our students from it.

I look forward to seeing you at the prizegiving and wish all our graduates the very best of luck in their future endeavors.

God Bless

Jo

Principal's Comment

Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

Next week will be the final week at school for our senior students. This is a bittersweet time for many as they want to leave us, but they do not always feel they are quite yet ready. An important message we want to send to all of our graduates is that on the first day they attended the College they were welcomed as new Kevinians, and they will always be part of our history.

Over the past few days Kara Cox , Paul Olsen and myself have been in Auckland and Wellington visiting with Alumni from the College. The purpose of these visits is to keep them connected with our College community. These events remind us of the wide range of opportunities there are in the world for motivated, community oriented people who have made the most of their opportunities whilst at the College.

My plea to our graduating students every year is the same. Please finish in a way that adds to your mana and makes you feel good about ending your time with us. Please keep in contact and, where you can, engage with the College. Please remember that you have written your name in the history of our school and it is now part of your history.

I wish all our graduates the best for the coming final week and remind all families that our prizegiving is the week after on the 31st October starting with Mass at 6:30pm.

God Bless

Jo

Principal's Comment

Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

Spring has sprung here at the College and the blossoms are out. This always feels like a major turning point in the year as we climb out of winter coughs and colds and into the warmer weather. After the stress of examinations last week hopefully students are able to appreciate time to enjoy the sun.

There are a few things that I need to draw families' attention to as we head towards the real examination period. Firstly, Level 1 Cambridge Mathematics is on at 9am on the first Monday back. Because this examination is sat on the same day all over the world, there is no chance to delay this or reschedule. If your student is taking this examination please consider this in your holiday planning.

Secondly, we will be sending a 'fridge schedule' of examinations in the next couple of weeks. Please keep an eye on this as students who are late to examinations start at a real disadvantage. Also please discuss any clashes with your son or daughter to ensure that the school knows about them in advance as we have to make careful arrangements to maintain authenticity.

Last but by no means least. Our Singing festival will be held next week. This is a real opportunity for our students to support one another and their Houses. There is an expectation that students will attend and do their best not only in House competition but also in support of solo singers. Year 12 students looking for leadership positions in 2025 should take this opportunity to step up to set and example for their Houses.

Have a great weekend

God Bless

Jo

Principal's Comment

Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

Next Friday, our senior students will be beginning their exam leave. This will last from the 23rd to the 30th August and will be followed on the following Monday by Teacher's Only day.

This timing seems very odd, so I am taking this opportunity to explain it to you. Firstly, our teachers only day is a mandated TOD. We usually choose to take this on the Monday of Tournament Week as that is usually a disrupted week anyway.

With regards to the timing of examinations, by adding the IGCSE in Year 11 we are now bound to the same timelines as the rest of the countries in the world who undertake Cambridge examinations. The Year 11 Mathematics examination will be held on the first day of Term 4, as it is on the same date all over the world. As we are also offering NCEA examinations in selected subjects, we are combining both sets of exams in our upcoming derived grade examinations. In order to have enough time and space to create derived grade examinations for both systems, we have had to take the Friday of next week as well as the following normal Term 3 examination week. By pushing these forward, we are ensuring that we are allowing a greater period for revision and study leading up to exams than usual. We believe that this added to the purposeful use of the study periods we have provided all year for students will enable them to meet their potential in either system and across all year levels.

This week we received the results from the Cambridge English Literature course which we embarked on last year as a trial run. The results were excellent. Of the small group who sat (18 students) 16 of them achieved a B or above (a D is a pass in Cambridge) with 3 of them achieving A Star results which ranks them as the best in the world at their level.

Earlier in the week the SLT put together a pack for Year 11 students with the examination time table, a letter from myself and a wall planner study guide to help support students to create a study plan.

If your Year 12 or 13 student would like a copy of this planner, please ask them to pick one up from the office.

I would like to thank Lorena Marshall for this beautiful shot. You will see more of her amazing work in our school magazine. There are still a number of these that have not been collected from last year, so if you have paid for one as a family, please ensure it is picked up from the office.

Have a lovely weekend

God Bless

Jo

 

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

Welcome to Term three! Term three is a time of consolidation and consultation as students and their families look forward to completing the year's assessment tasks and planning for the year ahead.

Mr Herbst has been doing a lot of work to ensure that the nuts and bolts of Cambridge are in place and our PN staff Mrs De Souza and Mrs O' Neill are doing the same for our NCEA entries.

It has been great to see the parents and caregivers who were able to attend our student led conferences tonight. It is always worthwhile for our young people to be able to talk about how they feel they are getting on with their studies and their school environment with our staff and supported by whānau.

I would like to invite any families who were not able to make it, who have concerns about their students to feel free to reach out to their child's teachers at any time. Whilst we set this time aside as a matter of course, we are happy to hear from families whenever the need arises.

The third term goes by very quickly and with the addition of the Cambridge examination period this year, we are facing a shorter than normal term four for senior students before they are into examination mode. If you have any concerns around Cambridge or NCEA, or if you feel your student is not where they need to be, please check with us sooner rather than later.

Those enrolled in Level 1 NCEA courses need to be aware that because of the changes made to NCEA, external examinations are making up a large component of the course and must be attended. Over the next few weeks we will be looking at how we award excellence in the Year 11 cohort given the mixture of NCEA and Cambridge that most students are doing and the emphasis on external examinations and assessments in NCEA. At this stage we are thinking there will be a minimal number of A or B grades needed, Excellence endorsements in NCEA and in addition, how students achieved in RE will also likely be a factor as that is the one subject all students take. We will clarify this in the coming days but at this stage that is the most likely scenario.

Have a great weekend everyone.

God Bless

Jo

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

Firstly, I wish to congratulate the Religious Education department on the beautiful Matariki liturgy we had today to celebrate this special time of year. It was a very moving acknowledgement of God's creation of the world and our place as travelers to this country in it. Congratulations to Mr Devereaux on organising a great trip for Year 11 Geography last week.

There are several things that families need to be aware of as we navigate the next few school days.  

School reports will be published in the next few school days.  Please ensure that you check these, and if you have questions or concerns, feel free to contact your class teachers.  You will have basic levels reporting on Reading, Writing and Mathematics.  This should give families a quick reference with regards to how well your student is performing compared to their cohort expectations.  These numbers in writing have been taken from across the curriculum areas so are a fair result of their writing overall not just in English classes. 

With the wet weather we are seeing at the moment, it is very important that students stay off the grass.  This is for two reasons, firstly they drag wet grass into our carpets which then need to be cleaned and secondly when their leather shoes constantly get wet and dry out after contact with the acid in the grass, they start to crack which is an expense for families. On the day of the Waitaki matches, if students are watching the rugby or football games on wet turf, I am happy for them to wear gumboots or waterproof boots. 

The wet weather is also bringing out all of the variety of colors of jackets.  Can I please remind families that we have two styles of wet weather jackets available for purchase at the Uniform shop and that the other option is a plain black or navy jacket.  Camouflage jackets, swandries and bright colours are not part of the uniform.  

Lastly (this is a big information dump and I do appreciate that), can we please have a real push by families to remind our young people and ourselves of the importance of good sportsmanship both on the field and on the sidelines.  It is always very disappointing when we have to deal with discipline issues with regards to this and it is my hope that TEAM SKC will conduct itself well in the upcoming events.  I know I sound like I'm betraying my NZ citizenship when I say this, but it is just a game….  Refs will get it wrong, people will make mistakes.  Let's make sure our kids aim for a bigger picture than just what happens on a field for an hour in aiming to be decent citizens and team players. 

Have a wonderful long weekend, rain too is a blessing…

God Bless

Jo 

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

As we come to nearing the end of the term we are very conscious that there is a lot going on at the College for families and staff alike.  We are at the time of the year where we are faced with the shortest day, the weather is getting cold and the inevitable cold and flu season is upon us which means that we end up demanding the most of people when they are least equipped often to give it.  

Which means, when people do go out of their way to make sure events run smoothly it's very important that they are thanked so here we go!  Firstly, a huge thank you to Mrs Jennifer Gower who has balanced being away from school following an accident with coaching our ‘Big Sing’ choir.  This is the first time in many years we have entered the competition and we won a prize for ’ best newcomers’.  Thank you also to pianist Peter McMullen for all of his support. 

Thank you to the amazing team who ran a very successful Ball on Saturday night.  Mrs Mellor and her team, spearheaded by Summer Moriarty and Kristiana Whiston did a fantastic job in the planning and decorating.  Thank you as always to Sam Growcott and the Te Ngakau Nui team who put up and broke down the Ball.  Thank you to the Hostel for accommodating the event and thank you to the SLT team and teachers who supported the event on the night without whom we could not run a successful ball.  Thanks to Mr Dupu for sorting out the auditorium lighting and for those who also helped out at the Ball Parade. Last but not least, thank you to the families who have supported nervous young people through the ball season.  It can be a challenge financially and emotionally which it is important to recognise. 

Thank you to those families who had input on our sexuality education survey.  This is run every second year and we appreciate the time and effort that goes into this feedback which helps to shape how we deliver this very important topic in our college. 

Finally, I do need to signal that with an increasing number of staff members testing positive for Covid 19 as well as the flu that has hit, there is a possibility that during exam week, next week, we may need to roster a cohort home.  As you will be aware, we are very tight for relief teachers in North Otago and with a number of those available also being reader  - writers for exams, we are very tight indeed on staffing.  We will do our best to avoid this.

Have a wonderful week.

God Bless

Jo 

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

Today we celebrated 'Pink Shirt Day' which is a concept which was imported from an anti - bullying campaign established in Canada. It has grown in popularity and sees our College become a sea of pink once a year.

I spoke with staff this morning about the importance of reminding our students that everyday needs to be an anti- bullying day and we need to do our best to ensure that our school culture is focussed on bullying prevention work and that when bullying does occur, we move to stamp it out. Schools are often the focus for communities of this kind of work because of our ability to reach a wide range of young people with a focussed message. However, as families the first lessons regarding bullying must come from home.

In speaking to the staff I reminded them that Christ delivered the best lesson around bullying when he said :"Do unto others as you would have done unto you". Schools have no more of a moral mandate or compulsion to teach young people to respect others than families have, and whilst we may have access to a range of anti bullying programmes, one thing we cannot do is be young people's primary role model.

I was speaking to a family about our surveillance policy yesterday. At the College we have 33 cameras in operation including cameras in some offices and meeting rooms. The reason for this is that, as teachers we can often be the subject of bullying from students or caregivers. Schools, like supermarket workers, police, call centre workers, parking wardens and an increasing number of professions have had to have a way of defending themselves from false accusations and bullying behaviour from other adults. Whether this is an assault on a coach on the sideline or an unfounded accusation, a student hitting a teacher or a staff member having to physically restrain a student, we live in an age where surveillance is a necessity. Our cameras delete themselves after a week and we have several protocols which we work through in ensuring they are used in accordance with the law, which have been developed over the decade we have had them.

Bullying, though often spoken about in conjunction with teenagers and children, is a whole of society problem which is currently exacerbated by the behaviour, both online and in real life of adults, whether it be politicians, parents abusing other parents, attacks on volunteers or by opposite sides of social debates. This pink shirt day, our message is that we are all teachers of prosocial behaviour, that as a community, that every day is 'Pink Shirt Day' .

Have a good weekend.

God Bless

Jo

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

I would like to begin by wishing all the Mums Happy Mother's Day for last Sunday.  I am in my second phase of this now after becoming a Grandma last year.  My granddaughter is an amazing wee girl who I love to pieces!  The bad news was that I got Covid for Mothers Day so I am working from home for a couple of days this week which has not been an ideal start to the term. 

I would like to thank all of the families who came to our open day last week.  It was great to have the opportunity to speak with you about the direction and expectations of the College.  As I alluded to in my speech, I think that because we are in an even greater state of flux than normal in education at the moment, it is really important for schools to be able to map a clear pathway for families in terms of what they have to offer as they move into the next decade.  

At St Kevin’s we are doing this in conjunction with our sister school St Joseph’s.  That our young people have a clear pathway through their education from primary to secondary education with shared values, approaches to learning and strategic vision seems to be something  very valuable that we can offer collectively.  That we can hope to offer environments from  ECE, all the way through the Year 13 where students identify with the signs and symbols of the faith and the values which that faith offers, to help form their lives and outlook seems to me to be a very good reason for us to pull together as a Catholic educational community.  

Over the next few weeks, in order to finalize the process, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education we will work to collate the community voice regarding the merging of our School Boards and the relocation of St Joseph’s to the St Kevin's site. Whilst both schools have been engaged in this conversation for some time, it is important that the Ministry of Education records this independently. We thank the MOE team in advance for their work and support in this process. 

God Bless

Jo

PS: In this picture, my Granddaughter is getting annoyed with me because I wouldn’t let her go paragliding ... .watch this space.. :)

Principal's Comment

Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

Welcome back for Term two to all of our families and students. Term two is arguably the most important term of the year due to the fact that much of the internal assessment for NCEA is done during this term and in the junior school summative assessments are being undertaken to help to give a picture to parents and caregivers of how their students are tracking. On the Cambridge front, we have the first of our students sitting their  initial IGCSE exams in May. This was the group which was fast tracked from extension English in Year 10 and who are attempting the language paper.

Term two can also be challenging in terms of student and staff welfare as the winter chills begin to bite and some of us get the 'blues' with the darker nights and colder mornings. If that is happening for your student, please let the Deans know so that we can help to support you to get your young person to school. Helping to support your young person to manage the demands of increased academic pressure is less about avoiding the pressure than it is about helping them to develop the best strategies they can to help them manage their workload and the stresses that come with it.

If we hope to raise young people who can lead our community in the future, who can tackle some of the challenges that are in store for them such as the climate or economic and technical challenges, we must teach them that stress is a normal part of life and that learning how to deal with it is the key. Our student advocate Esther can be a great help in supporting students to find what works for them and School TV also has some great ideas for you to check out on the pastoral tab of our website.

I will be emailing the families of students doing the Cambridge course shortly with an update regarding timings of examinations and the options students have around when to sit these. Please be on the lookout for that letter.

Open day is next week so please remind any friends or family who are hoping to enroll their Year 8 students that this event is on and equally that applications need to be in as soon as possible to avoid dissappointment.

Thank you to all of the families who came to parent interviews on Friday and especially to those who left feedback with regards to restorative practices.

Have a great weekend

God Bless

Jo

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

As we come to the end of our first term for the 2024 year I am very pleased with how the school is tracking both in terms of teaching and learning and it's overall health.

Teachers and faculty leaders have done an excellent job of embedding the Cambridge curriculum alongside of our NCEA offerings. This has taken a lot of planning and hard work and I am very proud of the way in which our staff and students have stepped up to the challenge. In a recent survey conducted with the year 11 students, they fed back to us that although it was a challenge, they are enjoying the structured nature of the courses and have improved in areas such as personal time management. I believe that if we expect a lot from our young people, they will deliver.

I would like to thank the staff and students for their efforts this term. Our staff have supported students in retreats, milestones within their spiritual life such as confirmations, artistic and sporting events. We have also hosted a brilliant group of young international students and gappers, thanks to the tireless work of June Campbell and our ODENZ agent May Britt Christiansen. Thank you to the hostel staff, our wonderful learning assistants in the Ako Hub and our dedicated grounds and admin staff.

You all make our College the dynamic, warm and hopeful place that it is.

I have included a picture of our grotto which has recently had its original lighting reinstalled in time for ANZAC Day.

Have a safe, restful and happy break.

God Bless

Jo