We are looking forward to seeing all our new and returning students this week, as well as reconnecting with our St Catherine’s College families as the new year begins. Due to the red light Covid setting, our start of year details have now been adjusted. We have had to make a change to our welcome on Wednesday - Our mihi whakatau on Wednesday will be students only.

New Staff

We have some new staff joining us this year. I encourage you to make yourself known to these people and extend some of our St Catherine’s College manaakitanga.

Our new staff are:

Whaea Chez O’Donnell – Te Reo & Within School Lead

Jenny O’Brien – DRS

Kristina Rybinski – Sports Coordinator

Kate Bell – RE & Technology

Lavinia Foliaki – Tuakana & Attendance Office (8.30 – 10 Mon- Thurs)

These staff will introduce themselves to you through our newsletter in the first few weeks of the term.

Attendance

It is very important that we know if your child is absent for any reason. We have an automatic text messaging service twice a day that will let you know your child is absent but we have received no reason from home. This is not a perfect system, so if you receive a text but you know your child should be at school, please ring the office and we will follow up. If your child is late to school or needs to leave for an appointment, it is essential that they sign in and out at the office.

We welcome communication with you if you feel something is not going well for your child. If you wish to discuss a concern with the college, please refer to the flow chart on the website. The best way to nip a concern in the bud is to have a conversation with the people closest to the issue – I encourage you to keep a positive line of communication with your daughter's whānau teacher and dean.

Device and Cellphone use - devices (laptops and chromebooks) are used regularly as part of everyday learning. It is important that these come to school charged and ready for the day. Considerable learning time is lost when device use is disorganised. Should your daughter's device not be available at any time, a small number are available in the library to be taken out for the day, just as you would a library book.

Cellphones are not to be used in the classroom, and they are unacceptable as a learning device. They are to be kept in bags and will only be used if a teacher directs it as part of the learning. Students who choose not to follow our cellphone use expectations will have their phones confiscated for a period of time.

Our internet use expectations will be discussed with all classes early in the term, and information on cyber safety can be found on our website.

Covid implications

Under the red setting for Covid, we are following the guidance set out by the Ministry of Education and liaise with the Ministry of Health. The key points for returning to school are:

• All students must wear masks inside and staff will also be wearing masks

• Assemblies and whole school events will be changed to involve smaller groups

• Good hygiene by students is essential and social distancing needs to be observed as much as practicable

• Moving around the college campus will be adjusted to limit mixing within inside airspaces as much as practicable

• Lunchrooms will not be available in term one. Students will be required to spend breaks outside (with some exceptions), weather permitting

• Rooms will be organised to support distancing, and ventilation will be maximised

• No outside people, including parents, may come onsite unless for essential learning support or for urgent matters It is helpful that we know your child’s vaccination status and you can be assured that this information is only made available to those who need it for planning purposes eg EOTC activities where outside providers require a vaccine pass. If we do not currently have your child’s vaccination status, we will send information on how you can upload the details onto our Student Manager System. It is your choice whether you share this information with us. Learning within school continues to be available to all students, regardless of vaccination status.

Obviously, the situation in New Zealand remains changeable and we continue to follow the guidance given by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education. Please read the attached letter regarding the red setting for information links you may find valuable.

Contact Details

It is more important than ever to ensure your contact details are up to date. For example, we may need to contact you urgently regarding Covid. Please check your contact details on the KAMAR portal through your browser (not the app) and email the college office office@scc.school.nz if changes are required.

KAMAR App

We encourage you to install the free Edge App onto your phone and/or computer. This gives you real-time information about your child’s presence in class, timetables, their real-time reports (comments made about current learning), NCEA credits that are uploaded, notices, and finances. Look for ‘edge’ in the app store. Most of our students now use this app for notices and timetables.

Important dates to remember 

Term 1 

lease use the events calendar on the website – this will be updated as changes happen.

Week 1 

please note, unfortunately, no parents or whānau are now able to take part in our welcome events.

Wednesday 2 February (new students only and year 13 peer support leaders)

• All new students to gather in the courtyard by 9.30am in NON UNIFORM.

• A formal welcome will happen on the tennis courts

• Year 9’s finish at 3.20 pm (they will be farewelled from the Tennis Court, assistance will be given to students catching the bus.)

Thursday 3 February

• 8.50 am All students gather on the court, Year 9’s will be met by their tuakana.

Please continue to pray for St Catherine’s College and for the positive progress of all the young people in our care.

Monday 7th February

• Holiday as Waitangi Day is ‘Mondayised’:

Tuesday 8th February

• Year 13 Leadership Retreat overnight

God bless,

Whaea Katrina Kerr-Bell

Principal