“For our external topic in Geography we will be learning about the South Island High Country”. The High Country, I thought to myself as I slumped back into my chair, “could this topic be any more boring.” 
Fast forward to three weeks later and there I was, standing on New Zealand’s longest glacier (23km) looking over the treasure that is the South Island High Country. The land was breath taking, from the mountains that towered above Mt. Cook Village where we stayed, to the snow that melted, taking the minerals from the rocks in the land and creating a dreamy blue lake. This is what it is to be a geography student.  
This year as part of the school curriculum for Year 12 Geography, students took a field trip to Aoraki Mt. Cook to study the South Island High Country.  For the 14 students who were lucky enough to go, this wasn’t just another school subject trip, this was a life changing experience that I will treasure for the rest of my life. We were extremely grateful to see all the parts of the South Island High Country. We walked around the Hooker Glacier track taking in the sights below the mountains, before being face to face with the Hooker Glacier and Aoraki Mt. Cook itself.  Shortly after that we were piled onto boats heading out onto the Tasman Lake where there we were met by giant icebergs that had fallen off the Tasman Glacier itself before they floated down the Tasman Lake. 
It was such a fine clear September day that it was perfect weather for boating; however it was also perfectly clear weather for stargazing. The sky was littered with stars and constellations that you can only see in certain parts of the world. The scene was breath taking as we took looking at the night sky to a whole new level. Mr Terry was still amazed at the sights of planets Saturn and Jupiter.  At 9am the next morning we were all packed into a ski-plane heading up past Mt. Cook to the neve of the mighty Tasman Glacier. There I stood, feet sinking into snow, as I stood on New Zealand’s largest glacier blown away by the view.  
This was a truly amazing experience and I would recommend this for the younger year groups coming up. On behalf of the Geography class of 2019, I would like to say a massive thanks to Mr Terry and Mrs Perkins for making this trip possible for us as well as organising this trip.  A big thanks to the school, also, for giving us the opportunity to take part in this memorable trip. 
By Brianna Shaw, Year 12 Geography
 
 

For our external topic in Geography we will be learning about the South Island High Country”. The High Country, I thought to myself as I slumped back into my chair, “could this topic be any more boring.” 
Fast forward to three weeks later and there I was, standing on New Zealand’s longest glacier (23km) looking over the treasure that is the South Island High Country. The land was breath taking, from the mountains that towered above Mt. Cook Village where we stayed, to the snow that melted, taking the minerals from the rocks in the land and creating a dreamy blue lake. This is what it is to be a geography student.  
This year as part of the school curriculum for Year 12 Geography, students took a field trip to Aoraki Mt. Cook to study the South Island High Country.  For the 14 students who were lucky enough to go, this wasn’t just another school subject trip, this was a life changing experience that I will treasure for the rest of my life. We were extremely grateful to see all the parts of the South Island High Country. We walked around the Hooker Glacier track taking in the sights below the mountains, before being face to face with the Hooker Glacier and Aoraki Mt. Cook itself.  Shortly after that we were piled onto boats heading out onto the Tasman Lake where there we were met by giant icebergs that had fallen off the Tasman Glacier itself before they floated down the Tasman Lake. 
It was such a fine clear September day that it was perfect weather for boating; however it was also perfectly clear weather for stargazing. The sky was littered with stars and constellations that you can only see in certain parts of the world. The scene was breath taking as we took looking at the night sky to a whole new level. Mr Terry was still amazed at the sights of planets Saturn and Jupiter.  At 9am the next morning we were all packed into a ski-plane heading up past Mt. Cook to the neve of the mighty Tasman Glacier. There I stood, feet sinking into snow, as I stood on New Zealand’s largest glacier blown away by the view.  
This was a truly amazing experience and I would recommend this for the younger year groups coming up. On behalf of the Geography class of 2019, I would like to say a massive thanks to Mr Terry and Mrs Perkins for making this trip possible for us as well as organising this trip.  A big thanks to the school, also, for giving us the opportunity to take part in this memorable trip. 
By Brianna Shaw, Year 12 Geography
 
 

This week applications for Gateway and Hokonui Tertiary High School were handed out to students who had indicated on subject choice forms that this pathway was an option for them in 2020.  These forms need to be completed and returned to the Careers Office by next Wednesday, October 30. Mrs Perniskie or Mrs Delahunt are available if you would like to discuss these options.
Summer jobs:
Money Hub has published a comprehensive directory of student jobs for summer 2019-2020. With 50+ well-known employers listed and links to their student job application details, there is something for everyone. Getting a summer job is a lot easier with this guide, exclusive to MoneyHub. To access the guide, visit the MoneyHub Student Job Directory.
 
Joy Delahunt  - Gateway and Careers Administrator

Project Based Learning, the story continues…
 
With the announcement this week that the PBL exhibition night will be in the latter part of Week 8, project work continues apace.  Every day as I pass students in the corridor, I’m randomly asking them what their project is, how they’re progressing and what they are learning.  After every interaction I’m left with a real sense of how proud the students are of what they are hoping to achieve, and what they have learned. 
 
When I asked JB Acuna to write something for the newsletter this week, this is what he had to say:
From last term our School has been trialing Project-Based Learning, a learning approach in which students engage themselves in investigating a complex question, problem or challenge. As we are a Catholic School, students strive to model their projects on the seven principles of Catholic Social Teaching. These principles are Solidarity, Human Dignity, Stewardship, Common Good, Participation and Option for the Poor and Vulnerable. We hope that we can bring positive changes to our school and surrounding communities by reflecting these in our projects.  
 
Project based learning also gives us the opportunity to hone our 21st century skills; a specific skill set that is crucial to ensuring a steady career in the future. Communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking all tie in to our PBL projects. As most of us work in group environments, we utilize these skills almost every day to solve conflicts, work efficiently and come up with unique ideas. With continuous practice, we believe that we will be prepared to enter the work force.  
 
PBL has been an interesting experience for our group. The question we were working around was “how can we help international students integrate better into New Zealand?” after we noticed the clear segregation between local and international students. We mean to create a website containing school related matters as well as sports teams, events and places to visit here in Gore. Since all three of us were fluent in one other language, we decided to translate this resource into different languages to make it easier for them to read. In the beginning, we struggled to corollate our ideas and were adamant on the ones we had already thought of.  Communication was a huge issue for us, as we hardly discussed problems we came across as a group. But as time went on, we got accustomed to each other and communicated more effectively as we began to realise that what we were working on was important and could potentially benefit future students of St Peter’s College.  
 
JB Acuna, Somi Park and Chris Yang
 
This morning I caught up with some Year 9 boys who have designed a bench, created a 3D model of it in Minecraft and are now building it.  Talk about a breadth of learning and knowledge! 
 
Over the past term and a bit, we have been designing and constructing a bench for the school. Last term we began the design and plan process and learnt very quickly how efficient we needed to be as well as the amount of planning it was going to take. After we had designed the bench, we started working out the cost for items such as screws, brackets and varnish/waterproofing.  Although we spent quite a bit it was quite good to have 4 people to evenly share the price. At the start of Term Four we showed our proposal to Mr Jack, to get permission to put it out the front of the school if we complete it to a high standard, which he agreed upon.  So at the beginning of this week we started constructing the bench. Already we have learned how precise everything needs to be or it will mess the whole project up.  
 
Fraser Wilson, Ben King, Luke Shallard and Jacob Hayward-Waddell
 
During my own PBL class this week I visited three students down in the tunnel house, where they are growing vegetables to donate to the “Pantry” in Albany Street.  The potatoes, celery, carrots and peas are doing well and while the weeding is hard work, there’s a sense of satisfaction in making it all happen.
Josh Lawton, Connor Watkins and Toby Burns
That would be the common theme I’ve come across this week – pushing through the hard “stuff” is worth it to see plans come to fruition.  It’s a pleasure to watch all these young people experience this important life lesson.
 
Bridget Ryan - Deputy Principal
 
 

Kia ora Whanau.  Please check your emails for information about option selection for 2020.  Current year 9s need to make their choices before the end of next Friday, 1 November.  Current year 10 - 12 students and their parents are invited to Conferencing for Course Selection during the 4 - 6th of November.  
 

Next Wednesday, 30th October is Mufti Day and we are fundraising for “Kids Can” in the form of a gold coin donation.  Please bring it along for collection at Assembly.  Thanks so much!
Maygen Ditchfield - Leader of Student Services
 

Tena Koutou everyone

With only another week left for seniors, they should be all in high gear finishing off internal assessments and making the most of revision time prior to exam leave beginning next Friday. I would like to encourage all students to not only make use of the tutorial sessions offered by staff prior to exams to revise their learning, but also to maximise the time they have left in class with their teachers by remaining on task, focussed and responsible for their own learning.
It is with sadness that we farewell the Ratcliffe students who have been with us all week. Their presence has been very welcome and reports from parents who have been looking after them during their stay have been very positive and they have thoroughly enjoyed their time with their English visitors. Travel well and our group coming to you next year will no doubt look forward to seeing you all again then. A big thank you to Ronny Kotkamp and Rosie Hickey and other staff and parents who have been part of their programme here in New Zealand.

Our own 'Arohanui Award' is due to be chosen again next week. This award goes to one Senior and one Junior each term and given that the seniors are leaving next week, please get the names of anyone you think may be deserving into the Office or myself as soon as possible. This award celebrates those who without any desire for self recognition, have gone 'above and beyond' with their generosity to others in need. These can be large things or small but will show Aroha or love for others and are often done behind the scenes. Parents or students may nominate any individual for anything either inside or outside of school, so if you have a suggestion, please get it in to the school with a little information as to why they would be a worthy recipient.
Next week is also the Sports and Cultural Blues Ceremony and we look forward to celebrating the achievements of our students in these arenas. It is also the week of the Southland Youth Mark Awards, Southland Secondary Schools’ Sports Awards and the Leavers’ Mass on Friday, so a fast and furious wind up to the senior calendar. It is important however, to pause amidst it all to really join in congratulating our successful people and recognise the significance of their accomplishments. It is also important to remember no-one does it on their own and that the family and support people who have been part of making it all possible, need also to be acknowledged.

With that in mind, I wish you a very restful and relaxing Labour Day Holiday and look forward to seeing you back on Tuesday for a shortened Week Three.
​
Nga mihi nui ki a koutou
 
Darren Jack
Acting Principal
 

Project Based Learning - written by Luca Metzler
Over the last few months during ‘Project Based Learning’ I have been designing shirts. The aim of my project is to create a comfortable and biodegradable piece of clothing perfect for the environment. This project was inspired by my family from generations ago who used to be street hawkers selling clothing. That is how I got the name ‘Street Hawkers’. I have designed and created a prototype shirt made of Gildan (a heavy cotton) which is being printed on as we speak, and I cannot wait to see the final outcome.
 
Lilly Marsh and Anya Benson are fundraising for Mental Health as part of their Project Based Learning, by the way of selling raffles.  You can ask them all about it and what the prizes are, as they are fabulous. They will be selling tickets at School during morning tea time, outside A block, if you would like to support them.  $2 per ticket. 
 

This week several scholarship opportunities have been emailed to students and parents.  Below is a recap of all scholarships that are available to school leavers and the Careers Office also holds hard copies.  It is important for students to look at the criteria for each scholarship.  Most important the students need to ensure they make the closing deadlines of each scholarship and to learn a little about the organisation who is offering the scholarship.  If it takes an hour to apply, including research, and the scholarship is worth $1000, then that’s a pretty good hourly rate.
Most scholarships are open to Year 12 and Year 13’s who are leaving school to go on to further study.  All tertiary study is included; Polytechnics, Universities, NZQA approved private institutions.
Now is also a good time to jump onto Money Hub which has a whole site dedicated to scholarships, with hints and tips.
The link is: www.moneyhub.co.nz/scholarships-nz.

​Joy Delahunt - Gateway/Careers Administrator

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