The year 9 students are starting to find their way around and gaining a bit of confidence and the year 13 leaders are doing a great job setting the tone for the year. 

Dear Parents/Caregivers

Happy New Year to you all and thank you for sending the students back to school looking so good. It has been a very smooth start to the year, despite the heat, and the students have settled quickly into their programmes. The year 9 students are starting to find their way around and gaining a bit of confidence and the year 13 leaders are doing a great job setting the tone for the year. They are a very enthusiastic and able group and keen to get some new initiatives up and running.

Here are a few things you may want to know:

· Our year 9 cohort this year is our first mandatory BYOD group. They all have laptops and are receiving a good portion of their course work through Google classrooms. We had a digital induction for them prior to the start of school and we are very pleased with the uptake from students, parents and staff. While it is still important to operate in two worlds and develop the key competencies, we are also mindful of the importance of preparing them for the digital world they will enter beyond school.

· Our senior students have all had their courses signed off at course confirmation and should now be settled into classes. While there still may be a bit of movement to balance class numbers, most students should be all set.

· This year we welcomed two new teachers to Roncalli, Reuben Fletcher (Spanish, English and Religious Studies) and Victoria Chappell (Social Sciences and English) and we welcome back Cat Sutherland (English and Physical Education) and Karin Cockroft who is our across schools Community of Learning Manager.

· A reminder that we have a Teacher Only Day on Monday, 5 February and Waitangi Day is the following day. Therefore, next week will be a 3-day week for the students.

If you have any queries regarding your child, please do not hesitate to contact the school. The first point of contact is the House Group Teacher, followed by the Year Level Dean. All staff can be contacted by using their first initial followed by a dot and then their last name (ex. John Smith j.smith@roncalli.school.nz). We welcome and encourage parent input.

We are very excited to launch our new website and newsletter format. The College is moving away from static information exchange in favour of engaging digital experiences.  

Until next time,