​Kia ora tatou

Eisteddfod 2019 will be a great memory for many. The quality of performances was exciting and the talents on display by so many of our young people were quite special. Well done to all who put themselves out of their comfort zone to perform in front of large audiences. I also must acknowledge the student audiences in every venue, for their respectful participation and encouragement of others, which allowed students to feel safe in performing in front of their peers.

At Mass on Friday, we welcomed in the korowai gifted to our Kapahaka group by the people of the Whanganui River and Hiruharama (Jerusalem). This cloak has a double woven band that signifies the connection made between the Whiritaunoka Marae of the Te Atihaunui iwi, and Hato Petera (St Peter’s College), reflecting the similarity between the two rivers that flow through both towns. It is certainly a very special taonga (treasure) for our college.

We were pleased to be able to present Mr Tony Hanning with a gift today on behalf of the St Peter’s College community. Tony has been the Director of the Dunedin Diocesan Catholic Education Office for many years and has contributed to Catholic education for the past 60 years. Although one of Tony’s last duties will be officiating at the Bishop’s Shield Competition at Verdon College in August, we took this opportunity as a whole school community to farewell him today. Thank you, Tony, for all the support you have given St Peter’s over many years.

I wish to take this opportunity to thank the group of staff, able led by Mrs Anne Perniskie, who organised the meal and house decorations in the Rosmini House Dining Room for our student and staff lunch today, to celebrate our first 50 years as a college.  We were fortunate to have Jude Taylor helping with the food preparation – thanks Jude.  Watch out for the photos next week in the newsletter.

Make sure you are coming along to the Art Expo this Saturday night at the Town and Country Club. There will be something for everyone, from some significant pieces of art from well known artists, through to student photography and celebrity auction pieces. We feel very excited by the quality of art that will be on display for sale.
Have a great weekend and see you tomorrow night!

Kate Nicholson 
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The Eisteddfod eliminations are next week on Wednesday, 26th and Thursday, 27th June. The ‘Best of the Rest Concert’ will be held at School on Friday, 28th June after lunch. The ‘Final Night Concert’ will be held at the SBS St James Theatre on Thursday, 4th July.   The Wearable Arts are to be dropped off at School this Monday, 24th June and bought to the Office to mark off and then then can be taken to the allocated room. Please encourage your child/ren to practice their entry.  All parents/caregivers/family etc. are invited along to the eliminations and the Best of the Rest Concert.  Tickets for the final night at SBS St James Theatre are for sale from the Main School Office. $15 Adults and $12 Students/children. If your child is performing in the concert and wants to watch it they will need to purchase a ticket.
Nikki Cunningham - Arts Co-ordinator

This week we had Laura McKenzie visit us from the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT).  Laura spoke to a large crowd of Year 12 and 13’s who are looking at going on to SIT in the future.
Over the next few weeks, we have ex pupil Sophie Holland with us helping students prepare and write their CV’s.  Sophie has experience with the Career Hub at Otago Polytechnic as part of her degree, writing CV’s for Polytechnic students.  Her up to date knowledge is proving worthwhile and students are usually able to complete a CV within one session.

Joy Delahunt - Gateway Co-Ordinator / Careers Administration

A huge congratulations to both Isabella Gordon-Glassford (Year 9) and Grace Turipa (Year 13) who took part in the Otago Southland Maori Speech competition, known as Manu Korero, last Friday. The competition was held at Taieri College in Mosgiel and was well represented with a large number of Southland and Otago schools in attendance. It was the first year Isabella had taken part and she stunned the audience with her speech which she had apparently only finished in the early hours of Friday morning.  Then to go through in front of that large audience without notes;  Amazing! Grace is a seasoned performer with all things cultural and the arts, but even those of us who know what Grace is capable of, were not ready for the amazing performance that came next. Grace scored 99 out of a possible 100 points and won the Senior English Prepared Speech section. Well done to you both, a fantastic achievement!  Thanks also to the small but committed supporters from our own Kapa Haka group who attended with our two Speakers, sat with them on stage and preformed a Tautoko when they had finished speaking. A fantastic day had by all those that attended and St Peter’s certainly shone brightly among other talented schools in our region.
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Darren Jack
Deputy Principal
 

Kia ora, Sawadee ka, Bula
We are moving into our week of celebrations which is a wonderful way to end the winter term. There is always much to celebrate at St Peter’s, even the small things where we see students gaining confidence or working hard on areas of their life they want to improve and develop, but it is great for our school culture when we come together as a school community and celebrate what is special about us as a whole.
Eisteddfod begins on Wednesday, and if the house singing practices and other items being worked on at school are anything to go by, we are in for a real treat this year. We will have the ‘Best of the Rest Concert’ on Friday afternoon in the hall, and the final night concert programme will be unveiled at the end of the week so that you can begin to buy your tickets for Thursday 4th at the St James Theatre. (Please note that although there is a PPTA Union meeting this Thursday afternoon to vote on the recent contract negotiations, we will remain open and continue our Eisteddfod auditions which will be covered by non-union staff.)
An important day for St Peter’s College is the Feast Day of Saints Peter and Paul which is celebrated on the 29th June. We will be holding our Feast Day Mass on Friday morning at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Ardwick St and, in Fr Damian’s absence, this will be celebrated by Fr Vaughan Hook. We are thrilled that our PTFA have made a donation to us that will go towards the cost of a meal together as a school after the Mass to celebrate our 50-year anniversary. This will be held in the college hall and more information will be emailed to parents early next week. 
Another change to the usual format of our Feast Day Mass will be the gifting of a beautiful korowai that was created for us by the people of Jerusalem when our kapahaka visited them in April. As well as St Peter’s families’ connections to this area, there is a special character connection through the work of Suzanne Aubert, founder of the Sisters of Compassion. You can read more about her below. Please feel free to join us for this special occasion at 10:30am on Friday.
We farewell our awesome Sports’ Coordinator this week. Daniel has only been with us a short time, but he has had a very big impact in this role. We are disappointed that we are losing him but understand that a promotion waits for him at the University of Otago and we wish him all the very best. We hope to have a new person in this position for the start of term 3.
My office is filling up with some exceptional art!! I urge you to come along to the Town and Country Club next Saturday evening for the Art Expo being organised by the PTFA. At only $10 a ticket, which includes a drink and nibbles, this is a very cheap night’s entertainment which allows you to keep a bit of cash for buying some artwork! From what I can see it is going to be a fantastic night.
Good luck to all our sports teams competing this weekend – play hard and as a team.
 
Warm regards,

Kate Nicholson

Suzanne Aubert, better known to mainly as Sister Mary Joseph or Mother Aubert, was a Catholic sister who started a home for orphans and the under-privileged in Jerusalem, New Zealand on the Whanganui River in 1885. Then many other works of compassion in Wellington and throughout New Zealand. Suzanne Aubert was born on 19 June 1835. Each year the Sisters of Compassion celebrate the occasion with a Birthday Mass.
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Dear Parents, Caregivers and Whanau, 
St Peter’s College are currently looking for warm, welcoming and caring host families for 9 young boys (aged 13-14 years) from China, from 21st July – 19th August 2019.  
You must be able to provide a safe and caring environment for the student and be willing to treat the student as a member of your family. The students have pre-arranged activities on some weekends so you will need to be able to arrange transport to and from St Peter’s College so they can participate in these activities.  
A weekly payment is provided for each student and our homestay co-ordinator, Nikki Cunningham, will be available for any support or assistance you may need during your students stay.  
For more information, please contact Nikki Cunningham. 
Nikkicunningham@stpetersgore.school.nz 
 

Last week the Year 13’s who are part of the Health Hub programme went to Gore Hospital where they visited the various departments within the hospital and also went aboard the Surgical Bus which was based in Gore for the week.
Students Mia Walton, Jennifer Reidt and Alice Diack got to spend some time with the Chris, the Anaesthetic Technician on board the bus.
Delwyn Soper, the Clinical Manager for Gore Hospital, spoke to the students about what happens in the Emergency Department.
The final Health Hub for Year 12’s will be on Tuesday, August 6th.
The final Health Hub for Year 13’s will be on Monday, August 26th.
 
On Wednesday, Greg Hellyer from Otago University, came to speak to students about scholarship applications.  Greg had great advice on how to prepare your application.  No matter what tertiary institution students are going to, now is the time to start thinking about scholarship applications.  If you know which tertiary institution you are going to, jump onto their website and look for scholarships.  There it will tell you how to apply, when applications are due and what you are entitled to.  All the scholarships that the school receives are placed on the Career Pathways Facebook page.  Year 13’s should be checking this page for regular scholarship additions.
 
Two full time jobs have come in from Bridgestone, details are on the noticeboard outside the Careers Office.
 
Joy Delahunt - Gateway Co-Ordinator / Careers Administration

The School Hall was abuzz with people when the Year 11 Commerce class held their Market Day on Wednesday. After much hard work, planning, compromising and communicating, the Year 11 class ran a fabulous Market Day for the College.  The learning is student-centred where each group is responsible for making their own decisions, problem solving, meeting deadlines, preparing a plan, relating to others and engaging with the school community.  Thank you to all the families, staff and students who supported  this group of students. 
Annie Chamberlain - Teacher of Commerce

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A letter has been emailed to all parents/guardians on Friday, 14th June.
Dates:
8AK – Sunday 25th August – Wednesday, 28th August (Mr Kotkamp and Mrs Kotkamp)
8KS – Wednesday, 28th August – Saturday, 31st August (Mr Kotkamp, Mrs Thompson and
Mrs Sinclair)
Classes will be leaving the College at 8:15am and will be arriving back at approximately 3pm.
If there are any students that cannot make the set dates, it is very important that you contact Mr Kotkamp or the Main Office ASAP.
Cost: To date the approximate cost will be $250. This is due by Friday, 16th August, unless prior arrangements have been made with Mrs Robertson.  The school can accept part payment at any time.
The weather is often wet and cold at Deep Cove and the students need to be equipped to dress warmly as the majority of the activities are outdoors and will go ahead regardless of the weather.  Inadequate clothing presents a safety risk to the child and the group. It is therefore very important that parents ensure their child is equipped with the appropriate gear/clothes for this type of environment. A comprehensive list will go home with the students shortly. If students do not have the correct equipment they will not be going. Any enquiries please don’t hesitate to contact any of the staff going on camp.
 
Parent Supervision/Helpers:
At this stage we require up to four parent helpers for each group, especially one who is willing to be camp cook. There has been some interest from parents already. However, if you are interested in helping, could you please let Mr Kotkamp know by emailing or writing a brief note about what experience and skills you could bring to the camp (e.g. current 1st Aid, etc.). This needs to be handed into Mr Kotkamp or the Main Office by Monday, 24th June, at the latest.
 Any questions please phone Ronny Kotkamp  on 208 9060 ext.744.