Acting Principal Darren Jack comments T4 W1

Tena koutou whanau and welcome to the start of the blistering pace of term 4.

With the term break well and truly over it seems that week one of the term has been extra busy with events and excitement.  The senior students have had a week of Derived Grade Exams, and with results already trickling in, some will be confident that their diligence during the year has paid dividends, while others have results which indicate that they have to tidy up gaps in knowledge and understanding as they prepare themselves for the external NCEA exams that begin on November 7th. 

At the same time this week, 2 of our year 9 classes have taken part in a test they were nationally selected to complete called 'Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study TIMSS'.  As the name suggests this was an international study the results of which are used to form data for analysis across the world. There is never a dull moment here at St Peter's! Thanks to Janine Heads who facilitated the test here at school this week. 

We have also had our Ratcliffe College students arrive from the UK to begin the NZ portion of the their exchange programme with St Peter's. A very warm welcome to students and staff and we wish them a very enjoyable stay. The students are off to Te Anau this weekend with their billets and a huge thank you to Ronny Kotkamp who has organised their programme here in New Zealand. 

This week also we have had the year 9's being very fortunate indeed to visit the Anne Frank exhibition in Dunedin. Lee-Anne Kortbaoui and other staff have really put an enormous amount of time and effort into making this happen and for many it really will be an opportunity not to be missed. We hope the learning that comes from attending such an important historical exhibition will be taken home and shared with the whole community. Thank you very much Lee-Anne!

We are always looking to review and improve school systems and the experiences for our students and our community here at St Peter's.  So in line with this, a Pastoral Review Committee has been meeting regularly throughout the year to  gather data and make recommendations. As a result we will be trialling a change to form time from the start of the day to occur just before interval. It is hoped this change will improve engagement at form times, the flow of information and connectedness to interval meetings which will occur immediately afterwards. This trial will begin next week and will simplify the current bell time programme with all days now beginning with a period 1 start at 8:45am.

Form time will run from 10:25 till 10:40am.  There will be no other bell time changes to the rest of the day.
This week has been busy as well with the start of the important process of interviewing new students and their parents for 2020. It is always a pleasure to meet these families and begin the important process of building the relationships that will carry them through their years here with us. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those new students and families and welcome them whole-heartedly to the family of St Peter's College. We have a significant growth in roll for 2020 and those parents I have spoken to say that they noticed from the moment they first stepped into the school, the wonderful way they heard students speaking to each other, and also how staff spoke to students, and how those things created a wonderful sense of connectedness that they wanted to be  apart of. This is something I see every day with the students here at St Peter's but is lovely to hear it referenced by others new to the school. It is also a huge tribute to the love and values you as parents have instilled in your children from home as well as the support they experience from our dedicated staff here at school. Our kids don't always hear enough when they get it right, so its important to remind them when their everyday actions are ones to be proud of, so well done everyone and thank you all as always for the great job you do as parents and the ongoing support you give us as a school. 

Dear Lord 
Thank you for my parents. They have nurtured me and provided for my needs throughout my life. I am so grateful for their love, attention, guidance, help, understanding, and wisdom.  

Nga mihi nui kia Koutou

God bless
 
Darren Jack
Acting Principal

---