Acting Principal's Message
A warm welcome back to a very busy term 3. In fact, to a term which has begun in the most unexpected way. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the girls on the way in which they conducted themselves yesterday and to thank the staff for their professionalism and their calm care of the girls. I am sure that by now you will have received a much more exciting, and dare I say dramatic account of a day which will, no doubt, be remembered more vividly than the lessons they attended!
In all seriousness though, I would just like to reassure you that their safety was (and always is) of paramount importance, and that at all times during the incident we acted upon the advice of the Police and Ministry of Education.
To everyday matters; as we continue to navigate our way through the season of coughs and colds, flu and Covid, it is important that we all do our bit to try to keep the bugs at bay and ourselves and others healthy. Students in years 11-13 are beginning an important academic term as they complete internal assessments and prepare for external exams. To this end I thank everyone for taking up the challenge of mask wearing in indoor settings once again.
House music is firmly in our sights and rehearsals are underway in preparation for a spectacular event. If waiting till week 8 for a musical experience is too long for you, do come and join us next Wednesday evening at 6.30pm, for our Winter Showcase of artistic talent when the junior orchestra, jazz band, choirs, Kapa Haka, and dancers will entertain you.
Have a great weekend.
Sandie Sherwen
Around School
Boarding Note from Jo Booth
Term 3 is well and truly underway in the boarding houses! We have had a fantastic week, which began with all boarders, both part time and full time, returning on Sunday afternoon so we could all be together for at least one night this term. Although it has taken some boarders a little bit of adjusting to this request, it is so nice to get everyone settled in and informed of any new processes before the term begins.
Welcome to our five new boarders for Term 3 - Lily and Rosa in Hampton, and Jasmine, Jayda and Morgan in Main House. On Sunday morning I had the pleasure of collecting Jasmine Tang from Wellington airport. Jasmine spent the school holidays with her sister in Auckland but is from Hong Kong. It was such a lovely morning in Wellington, I couldn’t miss a photo opportunity of Jasmine with Oriental Bay in the backdrop.
I also could not resist putting this photo in the newsletter of boarders returning to Main House after a big day at school. Really nice seeing the girls return at the end of their school day.
Thank you to all parents who are trying out Orah, our Boarding App. If you are still finding it difficult to navigate your way around this, please refer to the following link for some assistance with leave requests - https://success.orah.com/en/collections/2964709-parent-guardians
Finally, please check your daughter only has one phone with her in boarding. Unfortunately we have discovered four ‘dud’ phones that have been handed in rather than their actual phone. The consequence of this is no town leave for a week, a week without their phone and a phone call to parents. If caught a second time, phones will be confiscated for at least 3 weeks. It would be good to have a conversation with your daughter about doing the right thing, as in boarding we really do rely on honesty and integrity.
Have a lovely weekend…hopefully in the sunshine!
Jo
Smokefree Rockquest Success
St Matthew's and Rathkeale senior students have recently competed in this year's Wairarapa Smokefree Rockquest regional final. After Covid related restricitons impacting upon previous year's competitions it was great to have a live format again this year. The combined Rathkeale and St Matthew's band “Not Yet” (with musicians Charlie Matthews, Chelsea Hawkes, Thomas Leskie & Ruby Matthews) were placed in the top three overall bands as well as winning the ZM “Best Song” award. Charlie was awarded the Apra Lyric Writers award for his song “Back Then”. This is a great achievement, as the band was only put together in the last few months to enter this year’s competition. If you would like to listen to Charlie & Chelsea’s original material on Spotify please search Charlie & Chelsea. A huge congratulations to all of the musicians for your hard work and fantastic performances.
Parent/Teacher Interviews
These are taking place next Thursday 4th August (2.10pm-5.30pm) and Friday 5th August (3.30pm-5.30pm). Bookings are quite full with only a few spaces available. Booking can be done through the following details: www.schoolinterviews.co.nz Code: edpnx
These are to be held in the Upper Classroom Block (please see the map below). Afternoon tea will be served in the Common Room on both afternoons. There will also be a display of Year 9 Social Studies from last term.
2022 School Board Triennial Elections
A reminder that nominations for the 2022 School Board Elections close at 12 noon on Wednesday 3 August 2022. Completed nominations must be received by the due date. Late nominations will not be accepted.
School App
If you are new to St Matthew's Collegiate, or have yet to download, please follow the link to install our school app https://schoolappsnz.co.nz/install
For current families, please update your subscription groups by clicking on the cog in the top right hand of the screen. It will take you to the groups for you to change.
Key Dates Term 3
- Friday 29 July - Sunday 31st July - Hokonui Fashion Awards (senior)
- Wednesday 3rd August - Mid Winter Showcase
- Thursday 4th August - Parent/Teacher St Matthew's
- Thursday 4th August - Parent/Teacher Rathkeale
- Friday 5th August - Parent/Teacher St Matthew's
- Sunday 7th August - Monday 8th August - Winter Quad (Nga Tawa)
- Thursday 11th August - Food Bank non uniform day
- Saturday 13 August - Exeat
- Sunday 13th August - Exeat
- Thursday 18th August - Viva Fundraising concert
- Thursday 25th August - Sunday 28th August - Big Sing Finale (Christchurch)
- Monday 29th August - Teacher Only day
- Monday 29th August - Friday 2nd September - Tournament Week
- Saturday 3rd September - Exeat
- Sunday 4th September - Exeat
- Friday 16th September - House Music event
- Wednesday 28th September - WOW preview show
- Friday 30th September - Last day Term