A busy four-day week has flown by. Year 13 students have been having fun dressing up in theme as part of the leaver’s tradition.

 The reality of the end of their school years is starting to hit home – it's always a more emotional time for students than they realise. The last day for seniors before exams begin is Thursday next week.

Parents of senior students will be receiving end of year written reports this afternoon via email, there should be useful ‘next steps’ outlined for students as they prepare for independent exam study. There is plenty of space at school for students to study during the exam period, and teachers will be very happy to help.

Students from JPII and St. Patrick’s School came together with Rory Paterson and Ken Joblin from Christchurch to rehearse songs in MM1 on Thursday afternoon for Jubilate on Thursday evening at St Patrick’s Church, ably supported by Joanie Roberson and Ivory. More about this in the newsletter below.

The junior sports competition continued this week with student teams playing 7s rugby.

We again have concerning reports about vaping on school buses, we believe this is our junior students. As we identify the students involved, we will let parents know and include them in the process. Like other New Zealand secondary schools, vaping by under 18s is deeply concerning to us and we know it is for parents in our community too. Please check-in with your young people about vaping and the impact it is very likely to have on their health. Vaping on school buses and on school grounds is absolutely banned for health reasons. Use the link below to find out a bit more about vaping. We are in contact with community health and will have guest speakers in for juniors once seniors leave, to share information about the impact of nicotine, vaping, energy drinks etc.

https://vapingfacts.health.nz/vapefree-schools/supporting-students.html

Next week is very busy and seniors last week:

Next week is the second ‘testing window’ for the new NCEA Literacy (reading and writing) and Numeracy Corequisites. The year 10, 11 and 12 students involved know who they are. The Reading test is on Monday morning, the Writing test is on Tuesday morning, and the Numeracy test is on Thursday morning.

On Wednesday:

• Town vs County game at Wingham Park, kick-off at 1pm, all welcome to come and watch.

• Year 13 students leave for their overnight retreat at Punakaiki straight from Wingham Park.

• Senior drama is rehearsing for their evening performance all afternoon, this is an invite-only audience event as the performance is the focus of assessment.

At the end of the day on Thursday is Leavers Assembly, an opportunity for Year 13 students to say goodbye to the student body and reflect on their time at school. Leaver's dinner is on Thursday evening at Monteith’s.

Please note that Friday next week (3rd November) is a Staff Only day, teachers continue their professional learning to implement the refreshed curriculum and understand the new Common Practice Model for teaching.