Principal's Message

Tēnā koutou,

It has been another great term for the college; growing community, establishing traditions and becoming closer as one body in Christ. Students have maintained efforts to strive towards their own and collective excellence for the whole term and it is pleasing to see this reflected in strong academic progress and our community spirit; families will see this in the reports sent out.

Personal excellence at St Ignatius, as we know, is not solely about academic excellence. It is about growing to become the best person God has created us to be. Personal excellence can be achieved in all aspects of our life, in all aspects of who we are. We are concerned with the whole person and how we can grow into our own unique fullness.

Throughout this term, we have witnessed growth into fullness in so many ways; through the academic programme, the co-curricular programme, student leadership, house competitions, kaiarahi time and in many other ways. However most importantly, we have been growing towards the Catholic people who God wants us to be. This has been through; the Sacraments of the Church, the service of one another in everyday life and through the growth in knowledge of our loving God. We have been finding God in the everyday experiences of our lives; learning that God is working within us and among us, God is within our midst. We are growing in our knowledge that when we are open, we can easily find God present in our whole lives. This is so affirming for our students and through this way of being, they will feel the fire of the love of God burning in their hearts; they will become great and they will go out and set the world on fire.  

Have a very safe and Blessed break and we look forward to gathering together again in term 3.

Finding God in all things. Inveniens Deum in omnibus.

Dean Wearmouth

College Life

Curriculum

English

On the evening of Monday, July 1st, George Moody, (8 AM), represented St. Ignatius at the 2024 Franklin Year 7 & 8 Speech Competition. This year's event was held at Pukekohe Intermediate School and was attended by schools from all over the Franklin area. George's commanding language choices and stirring delivery were excellent, with a focus on the virtue of "Fortitude." There were a total of 19 students in the competition, and the calibre of speeches was impressive, featuring topics such as "Why Social Media is Harmful," "The Importance of Punctuation," and "Why We Should Have a Three-Day Weekend." Although George did not win, his performance was outstanding and captivated the audience with real-life examples and powerful language choices. Well done, George!  

Year 9 Theatre Trip

On Wednesday, year 9 ākonga attending Auckland Theatre Company's production "Red, White & Brass" enjoyed a captivating blend of drama, culture, and music. The vibrant storytelling and dynamic performances engaged our students, offering an educational experience beyond the classroom. The lively brass band sequences and the poignant moments of the story were a perfect balance of entertainment and reflection, leaving the students inspired and eager to explore the arts further. More photos from our trip are on the website, follow the News link at the bottom of this Newsletter.

Music Some Year 8 and 9 music students, as well as the choir, put on a performance at lunchtime today to celebrate the end of term. They performed such hits as 'Shake it off', 'Uptown Funk', 'Roar', and 'Fireworks'. They sounded amazing, and those that watched had a blast.

Sport

Cross Country

Last week our students ran their first Cross Country event here at school. Everyone showed great perseverance and gave it their best. Congratulations to those who placed. A list of those that placed, and photos of the day are on our website in the Cross Country News item. The link for this is at the bottom of this Newsletter.

Hockey

On Friday last week we had our very first Hockey event, with the Matariki Hockey Tournament in Pukekohe. The boys came up against very experienced Under 16 teams, and showed great resilience, courage, and perseverance during each of their 3 games. Their skill and team work improved steadily over the day, and each of the boys did an amazing job. Many thanks to the whanau who supported the team.

Badminton

St Ignatius first wins of the season with La Reina Weale and Natalie Lee winning their singles game and Nic Madelozo winning his singles game! Congratulations!

Netball 

There were no games at Pukekohe this week, but the Papakura girls gave it their all during their games.

St Ignatius/Papakura Silver VS Alfriston Loss 14-26

St Ignatius/Papakura Ferns VS Rosehill Win 34-7

St Ignatius/Papakura Gold VS St Pius Loss 12-22

Ākonga Elective

Behind the Scenes
 
Ākonga in Mrs Harrison's 'Behind the scenes' elective have had great fun learning how to create special effect cuts and bruises with makeup for theatre.
Many staff members were fooled by the realistic cuts, blood and 'acting' by ākonga when showing off their finished effects around the school!

Nacho's News

Issue 10 is out now! Follow the News link at the bottom of this Newsletter.

Chess Club

The grand final took place this week with Samuel Speedy against George Matthew. All the students in the chess club have made great progress in their understanding and skill in the game.

Ākonga Achievement

Ashleen Kaur

Congratulations to Ashleen Kaur who participated in the Abacus Mental Arithmetic National Competition over the long weekend. Ashleen came away with 2nd place in her level!

Sam Newby

Sam Newby competed at the North Island Wrestling Champs on Sunday. He won the North Island title for Under 13 boys under 41kg, and was 3rd for Under 13 boys under 44kg. Sam will be wrestling at Nationals in August in Mount Maunganui.
Congratulations Sam!

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Celebrating Ākonga
This week the following ākonga/student were recognised by their Manutaki for having received an outstanding Weekly Excellence Review.  

Year 7 - Michaela Arnet
Year 8 - Cedric Dena
Year 9 - Joann Arun

We celebrate these ākonga/students being more fully alive and reflecting the greater glory of God through their work and actions.

Principal's Award
The following ākonga/students received a principal's award for receiving the most number of House Points in their year group.

Year 7 -Emma Ronald
Year 8 - Sophie Wynne
Year 9 - Ignatoius Noue

485 Award

We had many nominations again this week and it was a pleasure for senior leaders to read of students finding God in others through their nominations.

Our top nominations this week are:

Loisi Liava’a nominated Olivia Malele for always being by her friend's side.

Jack Morton nominated Shania Norris-Ruru for showing compassion to a student who was sick and taking them to the nurse.

Olivia Fitzpatrick nominated Tate Yorke for helping a friend who was struggling and encouraging them to keep going.

Hayden Waters nominated Jack Bethell for helping him with his Scratch Game.

Faustina Finau nominated Lilian Hewitt for striving to helps students who needed extra help.

David Harrington nominated George Moody who accompanied him to collect his PE Gear.

Kian Bernardo nominated Jackson Samuel for returning his bag when had forgotten it.

Aidan Todd monated Daniel Dumper for helping him when he was struggling.

Caitlin McFadden nominated Tamara Edwards who volunteered to fill in for someone in Drama.

Jasmine Matangi nominated Jemimah Rwothomio who recognised when her friend was lonely and needed company.


The winner was George Moody who was nominated by David Harrington who accompanied him to collect his PE Gear.

Virtue Awards

This week we held our end of term celebration assembly in which ākonga were awarded the Term 2 Virtue Awards. Kaiako/teachers have been nominating ākonga over the last week who exemplify or demonstrate these virtues.

The awards are:
Faith - For Ākonga who have demonstrated particular support for the Catholic Life of our College
Hope - For Ākonga who bring light and hope into the world for othersLoveFor Ākonga who demonstrate love of God and others
Prudence - For Ākonga who consistently make great choices
Temperance - For Ākonga who practice self-control 
Justice - For Ākonga who are fair and just to all 
Fortitude - For Ākonga who demonstrate resilience and courage

Congratulations to all those who received a Term 2 Virtue award.
A list of the award winners is on our website - please follow the link in the News section at the bottom of this Newsletter.

Cura Personalis

Locker Rental Term 3 and 4 2024

We hope to make lockers available to ākonga/students at the beginning of Term 3. We have a limited number of lockers available for rent (70).
For Terms 2 and 3 Locker rental will be $10 and a $10 deposit for the lock will also be required.  This would mean there is an overall $20 charge with $10 being returned at the end of the year on return of the lock.
If your child would like to rent a lock please complete the form below.  
The first 70 names registered on this list will receive the information to make the $20 payment at the start of next term.  Locks and locker details will be issued on receipt of payment.
There will be a similar process at the start of Term 1 2025 when ākonga/students can rent a locker for the whole year.
Locker Registration Form

Homestay caregivers needed

We are looking for more families to become homestay caregivers for our short-stay international students.
We have students joining us in Term 3 from various countries looking to learn about New Zealand and have a "genuine Kiwi experience".
The length of stay for our first few groups is 1 week. 
You do not need to know any other languages as they would prefer you to speak in English. Families will be reimbursed financially for looking after the students.
If you are interested in becoming a homestay caregiver, please get in touch with us at [email protected] and we will send further information.

Are you interested in International Travel?
Is China on that list?
We are gauging interest to see if anyone would like to travel to China in July 2025 with teachers and other students from St Ignatius. The trip involves a 9-day tour to Shanghai and a summer camp in the Wenzhou Region. Costs are approx $2500.
If you are interested please get your parents to email me at:
[email protected]

Illumination Arts Showcase

Last Wednesday 26th June was the Illuminations Celebration of Arts evening at St Ignatius Catholic College. The performance was a showcase of the amazing work that has happened so far this year in Art, Dance, Drama and Music as well as ākonga electives ‘Band’ , ‘Choir’ and ‘Musical Theatre’. 
It was also an opportunity for the year 7 and 8 speech finalists from the English faculty to present their speeches. Special guest speech judge Mr Richard O’Malley from Toastmasters was thoroughly impressed with all the performances and speeches and placed Toby Benge as the Year 7 Speech winner and George Moody as the Year 8 winner. George will also go on to represent our college at the Franklin speech finals.

Overall, it was a fantastic and entertaining night and everyone was blown away by the gifts and talents of our St Ignatius ākonga. We look forward to many more evenings of performances and artistic displays in the future. Please follow the News item link at the bottom of this Newsletter for more photos from the event.

Matariki Liturgy

We started our week with an ākonga led Liturgy. Students spoke of the significance of Matariki in our lives, and placed a candle for each of the nine stars alongside our school candle.

Your Choice of Clothes Day

Today the staff and students fundraised $431.50 for YCC day. YCC Day is an initiative by Caritas, supported by the New Zealand Catholic Bishops, to fundraise for a specific project overseas. YCC Day involves staff and students donating a gold coin so that they can wear their own choice of clothing. This year the focus was on Holy Trinity School in Papua New Guinea, which is in desperate need of new desks and learning equipment. Thank you to everyone who participated.

Upcoming Events

Term 3 Starts Back - Monday 22nd July
First Morning Mass -  Monday 22nd July 7:30am All Welcome
House Assemblies - Wednesday 24th July
School Board Voting Closes - Friday 26th July
Year Level Assemblies - Friday 26th July
PTA Meeting - Tuesday July 30 6:30pm All Welcome
Feast of St Ignatius of Loyola - Wednesday 31st July 
Teacher Only Day - Friday 9th August

Morning Mass - Term 3

Starting in Term 3, the College will celebrate a morning Mass twice weekly.
The times are as follows:
- Monday at 7:30am followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
- Thursday at 7:30am

We invite all families to attend with their child/ren. 

The first Mass will be on Monday 22nd July, the first day of Term 3. 

PTA News

We are pleased to announce that our St Ignatius PTA is establishing.

With your help, we can make a big impact for our students, teachers and school community.  Your support will help a variety of school activities and programs while creating a fun, engaging and welcoming Ignatian community.

There is no obligation to volunteer or attend meetings but friendly faces and creative ideas are always welcome.

Our next meeting is a casual social cheese and wine event - it's a great opportunity to get to know one another and build community. All welcome!

Tuesday July 30 6:30pm

Our email is:  [email protected] feel free to drop us a line!

Community Notices

Job Vacancies

Job Vacancy 1 – Administration Assistant to the Leader Pastoral Services Group
 
The Catholic Diocese of Auckland is seeking a methodical, cheerful, dedicated, and highly efficient person for the role of Administration Assistant to the Leader PSG to provide administration and operational support.  This is a part-time role of 20 hours per week, Monday to Friday, with flexibility of hours between 9.30am and 3.30pm. 
 
Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills, along with proficient IT competency in Word, Excel, Free Source Design e.g. Canva and knowledge of websites (WordPress), Facebook. Can work under own initiative be creative and have a can-do approach to work and is efficient, accurate and organised.
 
For more details, and a full position description, please visit the Diocesan website https://www.aucklandcatholic.org.nz/staff-vacancies/
 
Applications close on 23 July 2024.
 
 
Job Vacancy 2 - Marriage and Family Life - Administration Assistant
 
Marriage & Family Life are seeking an exceptional hardworking administrative assistant to join their team of marriage educators.  This is a Part – time role of 16 hours, working 4 hours a day 10am -2pm Mon, Tue, Wed and Fri every week (with some evening and weekend work in venues) at the Pompallier Diocesan Centre in Saint Mary’s Bay.
For full details and requirements please visit the Diocesan website www.aucklandcatholic.org.nz, under Diocesan Services and Staff vacancies. Closing date 23 July 2024
 

Catholic Character

Reading the Signs of Our Times

Once, Fr. Richard Leonard SJ told his congregation a joke about an encounter between a pope and a Jewish man. Many centuries ago the Pope decided that all the Jews had to leave the city. Naturally there was an uproar from the Jewish community.  So the Pope made a deal.  He would have a religious debate with a member of the Jewish community.  If the Jews won, they could stay.  If the Pope won, the Jews had to leave. The Jews realised that they had no choice, but no one wanted to debate the Pope. The only volunteer was a poor, simple, old man named Moishe who opened the door to the synagogue each Friday night. Not being used to words Moishe asked for only one addition to the debate - that neither side be allowed to talk. The Pope agreed.

The day of the great debate came.  Moishe and the Pope sat opposite each other. The Pope raised his hand and showed three fingers. Moishe looked back at him, shook his head and raised one finger. The Pope waved his hand in a circle around his head. Moishe pointed to the ground where he sat. The Pope pulled out a wafer and a glass of wine. Moishe pulled out an apple. The Pope stood up and said, "I give up. This man is too good. The Jews can stay."

Later, the Pope explained what happened: "I held up three fingers to represent the Trinity. He responded by holding up one finger to remind me that we believe in the same one God. Then I waved my hand around my head to show that God was all around us.  He responded by pointing to the ground, showing that God was present right here. I pulled out the bread and wine to show that God has given us the Eucharist. He pulled out an apple to remind me of original sin. He had an answer for everything. What could I do?"

Meanwhile, Moishe explained to the Jewish scholars how he won the unwinnable debate. "Well," said Moishe, "First he said that the Jews had three days to get out of Rome. I told him that not one of us was leaving. Then he told me that this whole city would be cleared of Jews. I let him know that we were staying right here." "And then what clenched the debate?" asked the Rabbi. "I don't know," said Moishe. "It was strange. He took out his lunch, and I took out mine!"

Life always depends on how we read the signs!

As the school concludes Term 2, we have so much to be grateful for. God’s presence has been constant in our journey, encouraging us, challenging us and nurturing us. The result is evident in the distinct school culture that can be seen, heard and talked about by people in our school community, in different Catholic communities; and in the wider New Zealand Catholic (and non-Catholic) education sector. This is already a positive sign for the Church.

We shall continue to strengthen our identity by promoting more signs of our Catholicity. A Sacramental Program will be introduced next term to allow more students, and perhaps, staff and others to be fully initiated into the Catholic Church and receive the Eucharist. The Eucharist is very important for Catholics. In fact, it is the source and summit of our Christian life (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1324-27). The Eucharist allows us to talk about, see, hear, touch and taste God’s true presence among us. The consecrated bread and wine would transform us into discipleship and encourage us to read and scrutinise the signs of the times (Matthew 16:3, Gaudium et Spes #4) especially when times could feel challenging. 

Our full membership in the Church would hopefully draw us more into a life of joyful and humble service; and a life of a faithful and hopeful community. It would hopefully provide a stronger sign to the world that God is present in it.

Postscript: We look forward to welcoming all members of our school community to Monday & Thursday 7.30am Masses and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from Term 3.

News