This is our last newsletter for the year. Have a very special Christmas and enjoy special family time during the long-anticipated holiday break. Arohanui ki a koutou katoa

Luke 3:4-6
As it is written in the book of the sayings of Isaiah the prophet: A voice of one that cries in the desert: Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight!
Let every valley be filled in, every mountain and hill be levelled, winding ways be straightened and rough roads made smooth, and all humanity will see the salvation of God.

On Sunday I had the privilege of attending the St Joseph's Parish Mass, as part of this Mass we prayed for the Year 8 students moving on to College.  I have had the new students for 2022 as well as our 2021 leavers in my prayers.  Making these transitions is difficult, saying goodbye and facing the new challenges ahead.  Please keep these students in your prayers.

Thank you

A huge thank you to all of the St Catherine's Community for your big hearts, your aroha and awhi.  Your support of me as a new Principal and my family has been so appreciated.  Thank you for the support you have given to your children to help them to thrive as successful learners.  Learning is a partnership and the St Catherine's staff appreciate all the support you have given us in numerous ways this year.  Thank you for all the large and small ways you have supported St Catherine's College this year. This is a very special community, and whether you have helped with coaching sports teams, provided manaakitanga for our Open Day, took part in the working bees, or simply sung the praises of St Catherine's College in the community – thank you. You are as much a part of our college as those regularly on-site. 

It is time to publicly farewell some of our staff. Due to the exciting appointments to new jobs for some of our staff this year, Ilana de Vos is leaving at the end of the year and is taking up a leadership role with the Archdiocese as the Secondary Schools Religious Education Advisor.  Kate Lucas is leaving to take up a leadership role with NZQA in Communications. Lara Fort is leaving us to go to Aotea College as Assistant HoD Physical Education and Health and Janet Slater is retiring after significant service.

EXSTREAMS
Congratulations to Year 9 and 10 for their positive attitude and the hard work they put into their projects this week. There have been some incredible outcomes.

COVID-19 PROTECTION FRAMEWORK (CPF)
Last week the Government informed the country of the COVID-19 Protection Framework that came into effect at 11.59 pm on 2 December 2021.

What is the traffic light system?
The COVID-19 Protection Framework - traffic light system is designed to manage the spread of COVID, not to eliminate it. The traffic light ‘colour’ will reflect the risk of transmission within the local community rather than across major geographic areas and the pressures this places on the local health system.
· Green means some community cases, limited transmission, hospitalisations locally are manageable.
· Orange means a level of community transmission that is putting pressure on the local health system.
· Red means there is a risk of unsustainable numbers of hospitalisations locally.
Although Wellington moved to orange on the 3rd of December, the Ministry of Education has advised that all schools will move to the COVID-19 Protection Framework (traffic light system) from 1 January 2022. This means that the College will continue to follow Alert Level 2 settings. Therefore, the College will be open, and staff and students expected on site. NCEA external exams will continue to operate as normal.

Information regarding the COVID-19 Protection Framework can be found here:
Ministry of Education website
COVID-19 government website

UPLOADING PROOF OF STUDENT COVID VACCINATION STATUS TO THE COLLEGE PORTAL
The College will send out a separate email today to parents about providing evidence of student vaccination status which can be uploaded direct to the student portal.

VACCINATION MANDATE FOR VOLUNTEERS
As you may be aware, the Government has announced nationwide mandatory vaccination for the education workforce. This includes any community members who regularly come onto school grounds and/or are parent volunteers.
 
In accordance with the recently released Public Health Orders, all sporting coaches and managers are required to have received their first COVID-19 vaccination by 15 November 2021 and to be fully vaccinated by 1 January 2022.

Please provide Katrina Kerr-Bell with evidence of your vaccinations if you have not already done so by emailing katrina.kerrbell@scc.school.nz

If you haven't already you can get your COVID-19 record by setting up a My Health account using the link provided. https://app.covid19.health.nz/

Once you have created your account you will have access to your records. Take a screenshot of this and email it directly to verify your status.

This is another useful link for proof of vaccination: Request proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

If we do not receive verification of your vaccination status then you will be recorded as being unvaccinated.

If you haven’t already taken the steps to get vaccinated, you can go to Book My Vaccine.
Thank you for your cooperation.

FACE MASKS/COVERINGS
While face masks are not mandatory in school it is strongly recommended that your daughter wear one. Face masks must be worn on all school buses as well as public transport at Alert Level 2. I encourage whānau to ensure that your daughter has one with her even if she does not wear it. When it is worn she must wear it correctly. 

NZQA EXAMINATIONS
A huge congratulations to all our students.  There has been almost perfect attendance.  I hope that the students can now begin to rest after a difficult and challenging year.