WITH MARY IN FAITH TATOU KO MERE E WHAKAPONO ANA House Captains and Head of House 3 March 2017 From the principal He mihi maioha, Faa-talofa atu, Greetings Athletics Sports was a wonderful day - the weather was fine, the atmosphere calm and happy and the staff won the relay against the Year 13 team. We were very impressed with the Year 13 students. They organised their houses, ran the activities and co -ordinated some amazing outfits, lots of Smurfs, Ogres, Cheer Leaders and Marge Simpsons! The Year 9s were keen and enthusiastic and the whole school was happily involved all day. It can sometimes feel that there is less contact once your daughter goes to high school. At Marian we firmly believe it is a partnership between home and school working together. So I am pleased to let you know of two initiatives for this year to continue improving our sense of community and also to look after the wellbeing of the girls. We are establishing a Parents and Friends of the school group, which we hope you will feel welcome to join. This is for people who have some energy and skills to share and would like to work with others for the benefit of the girls. You will all have received an email about this and an invitation to come along to the first get together on 15 March at 7pm. We are also improving how we report to you, and thank you to those parents who responded to the survey at the end of last year. You will find much more detail about this further on in this newsletter, but basically the parent portal gives us the ability to move to real time reporting and also regular engagement reports. This will be a positive step forward and we hope you will find it a valuable way of sharing up to date information about your daughter s learning. With faith in our future, Mary-Lou Davidson Principal Newsletter 3 March 2017
Lent Lent is a season of the Christian Year where we focus on simple living, prayer, and fasting in order to grow closer to God. Our Reflection These days, the fabric of the world is shredded. We are coming unravelled in hatred and division. So many voices are raised in fear, in anger, We can hardly hear the Spirit who calls to us. We enter this season of ashes and sackcloth Standing before the Holy in our brokenness. Heal us, God of mercy, of our hardened hearts, Our judging natures, our fears of The Other. Walk with us, God of Love, through deserts of hopelessness, Stay with us through valleys of brokenness. Take us, God of Love, and transform us as we find the path that leads to resurrection. Amen. SPECIAL CHARACTER Ash Wednesday Liturgy Special Character Hubs New Head Altar Servers for 2017 The response of our students towards the Special Character Committee was as usual amazing, so we decided to work in Hubs again. This year the Special Character Hubs are: Our Head Altar Servers for this year are Louise Daly and Sarah McKenzie. These two young women are looking after our altar servers for our Masses and help prepare them for their ministry. Grace-Hub: focuses on pastoral care and how to enhance the community of our College. Event-Hub: working to make the liturgical seasons, beginning with Lent, more visible and enjoyable for our students. Chapel-Hub: working to further develop our outdoor sacred garden into an Outdoor chapel. Louise and Sarah are always happy to get to know new students who have experience serving in their own parish. We are looking forward to all the good work that will be done!! Sacramental Programme Now is the time to get prepared! If you would like your daughter to be prepared for Baptism, First Holy Communion or Confirmation please contact the Pastoral Chaplain Antje (antjed@mariancollege.school.nz) or the Director of Religious Studies Ms Pope (abinap@mariancollege.school.nz). Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed. Joshua 1:9
ACADEMIC Marian College Reporting 2017 At Marian College two of our important goals this year are to communicate and report to our parent community effectively, and to focus on the pastoral care and wellbeing of our students. We have made two significant changes to reporting which will be introduced from next week. Parents and caregivers will get regular feedback on engagement and achievement through the Parent Portal on our website. This is a development we have been planning since last year and the parent feedback in the December survey was very helpful in this process Student Engagement Report This is new and will be a fortnightly report for students on their engagement in learning and their attendance. Juniors and seniors will be done in alternate weeks for the whole year and you can access this in the attendance section. These are the guidelines: Consistent effort - focussed on learning Participating positively in class - respect for others, actively involved in individual and class tasks or group activities Prepared for class - punctuality, correct equipment and homework completed. The criteria will be on a scale of 1-4 and we expect students to be at level 3 or higher. 4 = Is exceeding expectations 3 = Is meeting expectations 2 = Is not meeting all expectations 1 = Is consistently not meeting expectations At the end of each term, you will be emailed a summary, so you can see an overall picture. You will also get comment from the House Group teacher regarding your daughter s service, personal goals and progress towards them. Real-time reporting of academic achievement This will provide immediate information for students and parents, in the results section of the portal, as teachers publish final results of assessments. There will be brief comments from the teachers on the assessment result and feed forward for the student. This will be alongside the more detailed feedback in class. For NCEA in particular, this will give you an up to date and clear picture of your daughter s academic results, her strengths and areas to be worked on. This replaces the traditional form of reporting twice per year. We will continue to have parent teacher evenings, so you can meet with all your daughter s teachers. There will be two evenings this year so you can choose your preferred evening - Tuesday 16 May and Thursday 1 June. We will be carefully checking these reports and our teachers, house group teachers, deans and guidance team will follow up wellbeing or academic concerns promptly. We will also celebrate good performance! We know that you will find these changes helpful and much more immediate than the previous system. Any feedback is always welcomed. Mrs Mary-Lou Davidson Principal Reporting cont. NCEA NCEA assessment extension application process If your daughter misses an NCEA assessment for a valid reason such as illness or if she believes her performance has been adversely affected by a situation beyond her control, then she is able to apply for an extension or for an alternative assessment date. To apply for an alternative assessment date, your daughter must obtain and complete an Internal Assessment Extension Request form from the Office. This form is completed and a note from her parent or guardian attached. If the absence due to illness of three days or longer, then a medical certificate is required. She needs to begin this process as soon as she returns to school. Once the documentation is completed, it is returned to the Office. If approved, the form will then be given to your daughter's subject teacher who will negotiate an alternative date with her. Impaired performance (where an assessment grade is given using alternative evidence) can only be granted if your daughter's teacher has sufficient evidence to support a judgement of the expected grade. Please note, if an assessment is missed because of wilful absence, such as truancy or going away on holiday in term time, then your daughter will not be eligible to receive a result for that standard and the extension application will be declined. If you have any questions about NCEA procedure please contact Ms Victoria Spencervictorias@mariancollege.school.nz. The NZQA website is also a valuable source of information - www.nzqa.govt.nz.
Canterbury Athletics Congratulations to: Congratulations to our team of 35 athletes who are entered in the Canterbury Secondary School athletics championships. The prelims will be held this coming Tuesday, 7 March, with the finals on Saturday 11 March. All the very best to our team. Katie Baxter who competed in the National Touch Rugby Tournament in Auckland in February. Ngahiraka Dallas who performed on stage with Te Ahikōmau a Hamoterangi in the Te Matatini 2017 kapa haka competition in Hastings in February. Te Matatini is a significant cultural festival and the pinnacle event for Māori performing arts. Hannah Everingham (Year 13, 2016) who has won a scholarship for Emerging Leaders Head Girl plus the Leigh and Guy Pownall scholarship for geography and music. Ria Kney who has made the New Zealand Judo Squad and will be competing in Tonga at the Oceania competition in April. Rebecca Lake who competed in the Futsal National Women s League in Wellington in February and will be competing in the Auckland 17s tournament in March. Louise Daly Renee Rae who is competing in the Marching New Zealand Championships in Invercargill in March. STUDENT SUCCESS Rowing Women s novice coxed eight team 3rd place - Novice Eight South Island Club Competition Renee Davies-MacLean, Ruby Crowther, Elizabeth Wylaars, Abbey Stokes, Kate Mathie, Gina Weston, Lucy Jackson and Niamh Menzies (Absent Tyler Stewart )
STAFF AND COMMUNITY Parents and Friends Parents and Friends of Marian College This group is a new initiative to build connections and support for your daughters during their time at Marian College, and is a great chance to contribute to your daughter s education by sharing your skills and energy and have a good time also. It will be an opportunity to meet other parents and caregivers and be part of the Marian community. We envision this group will grow and develop over time, and will be a pool of people who would like to be more involved with Marian. It could possibly include representatives from the current PTA, Whanau group, Pasifika parents group, and our sports or cultural groups. It would be very much up to you what area you help with, depending on your personal interests. For example, if you have a son at St Bede s you might wish to be part of joint events such as shared Masses, the musical, shared social events or fund raising efforts. If you like fundraising, there would be opportunities to be involved with that, or if you can help with care for our families who are going through difficult times, that would be very much appreciated. We have a very high participation rate in sport at Marian, so assisting with this might be something which interests you. We also have a need for reader/writers for students who have special assessment requirements. All parents will have received an email with more information. We warmly invite you to join us at the inaugural meeting on Wednesday 15 March 7pm, in the school staffroom. Please note: This date has changed from the previously advertised date of 1 March - apologies for any confusion. For catering purposes please email exec@mariancollege.school.nz You are also welcome to come along to the PTA AGM 6pm in the school staffroom, also on Wednesday 15 March. Looking forward to seeing you there. University Open Days Tertiary Presentations 2017 Tuesday 9 March - 8.30am-9.20am - University of Canterbury Thursday 23 March - 8.30am-9.20am - Auckland University Thursday 6 April - 8.30am-9.20am - Victoria University Thursday 13 April - 8.30am-9.20am - Lincoln University To be advised: ARA, plus other private providers Tertiary Provider Open days The school will not be attending as a group, but parents can take their daughters to visit lectures and see the different College s of Residence and get a feel of the place Monday 8 May - Otago Tertiary Open Day (Otago University and Otago Polytechnic) Thursday 13 July - 9am-5pm - University of Canterbury Friday 14 July - 9am-5pm - Lincoln University Friday 25 August - Victoria University Wellington Study at Vic day - Massey University Wellington Campus Saturday 2 September - Auckland University To be advised: ARA institute of Canterbury The majority of the Universities will hold parent information sessions during the year, these will be advertised nearer the date. Library Christchurch City Libraries, at Linwood Library, are looking to start a book group. This will be a place for teens to hang out, connect with each other, connect with the library, and have some yum kai. There is a flyer, bookmarks and a sheet to show expressions of interest in the school library on the noticeboard. Further details to come later this term. Canteen The Marian College Canteen is now being run by the Libelle company. The new menu can be downloaded from the school website or click here. Staff and students are able to order and pay earlier in the day if they wish to order anything from the menu, and then collect at lunchtime. Please direct any feedback you have to Mrs Parkin.
ATHLETICS DAY Athletics Day
CULTURE AND SPORT The trials for the Marian College hockey teams are on Tuesday 14 March and Thursday 23 March at Nunweek starting at 4pm. Hopefully we will have enough players for two teams again which play in CHA secondary schools competition. A student meeting will be held and some more information will be given out at school shortly. Anne Dick Teacher in Charge Hockey Canterbury Junior Championships The Canterbury Junior Championships were held last weekend, Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 February, at Lake Hood, Ashburton. For the first time season the full programme of heats and finals were completed with the wind stealing the show. The regatta is a good dress rehearsal for the first of the two big secondary school regattas coming up in March. Our results were very credible and suggest that Marian Rowing is a force to be reckoned with. Of particular note is the success we are having in some of the big boat events, normally the domain of the traditional rowing schools. Of the seventeen crews entered ten made A finals. The following is a summary of the crews making A finals: Event U17 Coxed four U18 novice coxed eight U18 coxless pair U16 coxed eight U18 coxed four U17 coxed eight U18 coxed quad U18 coxed novice four U18 coxed novice four U18 coxed eight Hockey Marian Rowing Placing in A final 3rd 4th 5th 6th 6th dnf 6th 5th 8th 6th On the weekend, Marian College Rowing had 30 girls competing at the Canterbury Junior regatta. This was held on Lake Hood over the Saturday and the Sunday. We had a total of seventeen races and gained some very pleasing results. The under 17 four of Francesca Flynn, Sophie Gowans, Molly Ford and Kristen Laing was third in the A final. We also had a fourth placing in the novice eight and fifth in the under 18 pair and the novice four. Overall, it was a very pleasing weekend and a great lead up for South Island Secondary Schools next weekend. Claudia McAfee Polyfest and Fiafia Night The Pasifika girls are working incredibly hard on a dynamic performance for Polyfest on Saturday 18 March at Westminster Park. Everyone is invited to support them on the day and nearer the time the girls will be able to give you an idea of the time of their performance. Let's get behind them! The evening before the performance is Fiafia Night (Friday 17 March), where, again, everyone is invited to the school hall for a special dress rehearsal performance of Marian College's Polyfest item. The Fiafia Night will begin at 6pm. Please bring a generous plate for a shared meal, and bring your wallets to make a donation towards the considerable expenses involved with costumes, transport and paying tutors for their time and expertise. We look forward to a great turnout! Pasifika Group Raffle The Marian College Pasifika group is hard at practice for the upcoming SPACPAC Polyfest at Westminster Park on Saturday 18 March. To support fundraising for performing outfits we are planning a raffle to be drawn at school on Polyfest week itself. The raffle we are running is a Pamper Pack and we would like to ask for donations from the wider Marian College girls and their families. Items may include the likes of specialty soaps, shower gel, body or hand lotions, lip gloss, scented candles, face masks, nail polishes and any other similar unused items that would make a lovely raffle. The tickets will be sold at the school for $2, or 3 for $5, and can be purchased by the girls during school breaks. We are aiming for one main prize and a second and third prize also. Please send any donations into the school with your girls before Friday 10 March. There will be a collection box for all items in Mrs Prasad s room, AR 17. Thank you sincerely for all your support. We hope to see you at the Polyfest for a great day out on Saturday 18 March 18, Westminster Park. Marian College Sports Website Please click on this link for all Marian College sport information. This includes: Sports Calendar / Our Sports / Registration / Draws & Results / Player of the month and all our latest sports news. http://www.sporty.co.nz/mariancol http://www.sporty.co.nz/mariancol
ADMINISTRATION Any parents who have any questions, concerns or achievements regarding their daughter s schooling are encouraged in the first instance to contact their Dean. Year 9/10 - Mrs Terry Vousden terryv@mariancollege.school.nz Year 11/12 - Mrs Myra Fidow myraf@mariancollege.school.nz Yr 13 Pastoral Care - Mrs Vivienne Straight viviennes@mariancollege.school.nz House group teachers are also available for support and we encourage our students to talk to them regularly. Buses Buses available for Marian College students to use on a daily basis are: The Marian College bus service provided by Red Bus for those students living in the East from Queenspark, Parklands. The cost of this bus is $3 return or $2 one way. Metro cards, CANDO cards and cash can be used. Metro 722 - Students from North Canterbury and Main North Road use this public bus. Please note, this is not a school-run bus, and we are aware that lateness and overcrowding are issues on this bus. If you have any concerns or complaints, please contact Metro directly. Lateness to School and Lessons Students are expected to be on time to all classes. Any student who is late to school must sign in at the office. If a student is late to school or lessons during the period of one week, they will be required to complete a Tuesday lunchtime detention lasting up to 30 minutes. If a student fails to attend this detention, they will put on a Friday afternoon detention at 2.30pm for one hour. School Drops Offs Parents are requested not to park in school grounds before or after school, when dropping your daughter off at school. This is due to safety issues and congestion at peak times. The Pre-School car parks are not to be used at any time. Important Dates for Term 1 2017 Sunday 5 March - Marian Netball trials, 10am-6pm Tuesday 7 March - Canterbury Athletics prelims Thursday 9 March - Year 9 Retreat, St Joseph s Papanui - Year 12 First Aid Course Saturday 11 March - Canterbury Athletics finals Saturday & Sunday 11 & 12 March - SISS Rowing Championships Tuesday 14 March - Year 9 Retreat, St Joseph s Papanui - Hockey trials #1, 4-5pm Wednesday 15 March - PTA AGM, 6pm - Parents and Friends of Marian College, 7pm (see more details on back page of newsletter) Thursday 16 March - Year 9 Retreat, St Joseph s Papanui - Senior Tennis Championships Sunday 18 March - Polyfest Wednesday 22 March - Wednesday sport ends Thursday 23 March - Hockey trials #2, 4-5pm Saturday 25 March - South Island Dragonboating Monday-Saturday 27 March-1 April - Summer Tournament Week - SISS Rowing Championships Maadi Tuesday 28 March - Caritas Leadership Day Friday 31 March-Saturday 1 April - Caritas Challenge Saturday-Sunday 1-2 April - SISS Championships Thursday 6 April - Summer Sports Awards - Marian College Open evening, 4.30-7pm Athletics Saturday-Sunday 8-9 April - Leadership Camp Monday-Thursday 10-13 April - Year 10 camp Thursday 13 April - Holy Thursday Liturgy - Term 1 ends Term 1 Term 2 Term 3 Term 4 2017 Term Dates Tuesday 31 January to Thursday 13 April Monday 1 May to Friday 7 July Monday 24 July to Friday 29 September Monday 16 Oct to Tuesday 12 Dec