Comments from the Principal 19.3.21

Kia ora e te whanau,
 
This week at assembly we had a focus on one of our school values- Community!
 
Our community includes the students, our staff, not just the teachers, but everyone who works here, to help the school run smoothly, our parents, aunties, uncles and cousins and anyone who came to this school before us make up our St Peter’s College community.
 
We are a diverse group, but we all want the same thing- a top education, whether that be in the sports, academic or cultural fields for all of our students. We are extremely lucky and privileged to have families and parents in our community who support us. When schools, family and communities work together to support the students learning, young people tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and like school more.
 
Families have a major influence on their children’s achievement in school and through life. If it were not for our family’s support, we would not be able to run our school production, our ball, our athletics days or go on camps.
 
St Peter’s College is one big family, and families as we know have their ups and downs, you may have a grumpy uncle you don’t particularly like or an annoying younger cousin who seems to get better birthday presents, but we still all love our family members, and know that we can go to any of them when we need. School is just like that, students may not always like every teacher they have but they know they are always there to help them, our teachers want our students to achieve and want the best for them always.
 
Parents and caregivers often ask what they can do to support their child’s education and we know from research that this is a crucial area we as a school need to focus on in supporting families to engage with their child’s learning at home. The following actions that make the biggest difference are straight forward and can be applied by all parents regardless of education or income levels, and do not take much time:
 
- Hold high but reasonable expectations for your children
- Provide a home that encourages and supports education and a healthy lifestyle
- Role model an interest in books and reading
- Encourage healthy eating and sleeping patterns
 
Young people discover by example how to learn and succeed. The attitudes and behaviours of parents demonstrate to children how to organise themselves, solve problems, persist to achieve outcomes, remain motivated and have confidence in their abilities. A core focus for us here at St Peter’s College is the wellbeing of all of our staff and students, and we will be sharing with you over future newsletters ways in which you can support your children in regard to bullying and harassment, particularly through digital media.
 
St Patrick’s day was celebrated in style this week with a get together of staff from St Peter’s and St Mary’s, with their children playing “Leprechaun games” in the school hall, led by some of our student leaders. Thank you to all who helped to make this an awesome Catholic community event.
 
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me……
 
From a prayer of St Patrick