Principal's Message

Kia ora kotou, 

In an address to the congregation during our Feast Day Mass this week, I asked our students to think back to 7th February and that very first day for the college and then reflect on all of the great times we have shared so far this year through subjects, through houses, through ākonga electives and through all of the other things that have been happening at school as we have accompanied one another.

I asked our students to take a moment to think about something that had touched their heart in those recollections, a time when somebody had done something for them or they had seen somebody helping out another person.. I was asking them to find the flame of God flickering inside your hearts through finding God in themselves and others. When our hearts are touched and we have looked deep enough within ourselves, there God is. This is one of the keys to our growth. We are finding God in all things, including oursleves. We do this everyday with our examen prayerful reflection just before lunch. We ask ourselves where we have found God in our lives throughout the previous day and reflect.

This approach to growth in our spirituality is one of the many legacies of St Ignatius and one of the most wonderful aspects for our spirituality. We can find God in ourselves and we can find God in others. We can find God in all things. Our living God is within us and amongst us. With this affirmation we know that we are loved and that we can find love for others. The flames of the love of God begin to flicker in our hearts and can grow into our thoughts, into our words and into our actions, we can then share the love of God with others so their flames grow too. We can go into the world and make a difference, we can go out and set the world on fire with the love of God. We can go out and become the leaders of tomorrow, the leaders who we are called by God to be.

Inveniens Deum in omnibus.

Dean Wearmouth

College Life

St Ignatius of Loyola Feast Day Celebrations

On Wednesday we celebrated the Feast of St Ignatius. The day was filled with fun activities, a yummy lunch, Mass, and a skit competition. We also acknowledged two adults in our school community, and one student from each year level, with a special Ignatian Spirit award. You can read more about our incredible day if you click on the news items at the bottom of this newsletter.

Sport

Swimming

Elysia Rollo and Annabelle Shields represented our school at the New Zealand Secondary Schools swimming Championships at the weekend.

There were 155 Schools at the Championships, from all over New Zealand. We only had 2 swimmers and no relays and still managed to end the competition ranked 91, which is a fantastic achievement!

Elysia missed out on a personal best (PB) in her first event, the 100m IM but went on to PB in all of her other 4 events. Elysia was on great form and made some big gains, here’s a summary of her PBs:

• 100m IM / Rank:24
• 100m Back -1.88 / Rank:15
• 50m Fly -2.24 / Rank:23
• 50m Back -0.87 / Rank:18
• 50m Free -1.76 / Rank:10

Annabelle made the Age Group Finals in all of the Breaststroke events, no overall PBs in those events but did improve her short course times in those. Here are Annabelle’s PBs:

• 200m Breast / Rank:05
• 50m Breast / Rank:09
• 100m Breast / Rank:08
• 50m Fly -1.90 / Rank:25
• 50m Back -0.91 / Rank:23

Both girls conducted themselves well over the course of 3 days of tough competition and hope to return next year with a larger team to challenge in the Relay events.

Annabelle and Elysia are both competing in New Zealand Short Course next month which is a step up in difficultly, so hopefully this has been a good launchpad for that competition.

AIMS Netball Fundraiser Raffle

Congratulations to SHANNA STOBART who was the winner of the $2000 raffle to raise funds for the AIMS games Netball team. Thank you to everyone who supported the girls in their fundraising efforts.

Netball

St Ignatius/Papakura Silver VS Alfriston=9-23

St Ignatius/Papakura Ferns VS Aorere= 19-13

St Ignatius/Papakura Gold VS St Pius= 9-31

St Ignatius/Pukekohe Black= Bye

St Ignatius/Pukekohe Ferns VS Pukekohe Hill= 30-9

 It was Finals night! Two teams came runners up in their section, one team winning their section!!! A huge thankyou and appreciation to the coaching staff and managers with our schools first season of netball. Having three teams in finals shows the dedication in creating team culture that is shown by their performance. Congratulations girls!!

Rugby

St Ignatius Under 14's VS Pukekohe was a loss this week. The score was tied at nil all for most of the first half, then remained a draw with a try each for most of the game until Pukekohe scored the winning try. This shows the grit, determination and developement of our players throughout the season with the team from Pukekohe being dominant early in the season to a finely balanced match this week.

Badminton

St Ignatius Gold and Silver played against Alfriston players on Wednesday night at the Pukekohe Recreation and Leisure Centre. Our players are developing their skills week on week this is shown in the decreasing score margins. Our players show a high level of responsibility in these self managed games.

Ākonga Elective

STEM Marvels

New this term is the STEM Marvels elective. Students are learning about physics, engineering, and the design process among other things. Trial and error was involved in this weeks challenge involving the creation of fan powered vehicles.

Ākonga Achievement

Counties Hockey Representatives

Jaeda Foster has been selected to represent Counties in the Under 16's Girls Hockey team. This is a huge achievement, especially considering she is only 13!
Jones Elliot and Drew Liefting have been selected to represent Counties in the Under 13's Boys Hockey team.
A lot of hard work has gone into getting into these teams, and we wish these students every success for the coming season.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Celebrating Ākonga

Manutaki Certificates

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

Year 7 - Nikheel Naran 
Year 8 - Larissa Weggen 
Year 9 - Hayley Thompson

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

485 Awards

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. Some of our top nominations this week are:

Alexis Walker nominated Ella Neels for always brightening peoples days with her contagious smile.

Drew Liefting nominated Douglas Eastthope for helping one of his friends when they looked sad and for picking up litter around the school

Aabel John nominated Manaia Davies for helping him study for a test

Emma Ronald nominated Alain Ravitt for demonstrating compassion by opening a door for a teacher who was carrying lots of things.

William Griffin nominated Alyxia Ibarra for showing compassion by helping him in Food Tech and English.

Ben Hunter nominated Hailey Zhao for including everyone and brightening the mood with his humour.

Charlie Foley nominated Azariah Stobart for not getting frustrated when the game kept getting passed to her in drama.

Samuel Speedy nominated Zuriel Cruz for consistently staying behind in class to help tidy up

Elysia Rollo nominated Saskia Balle for helping a student who was lost and unsure.

The winner this week was Sam Newby who was nominated by Nagorry Perelini for staying by his side when he couldn’t participate in cross country.

The Feast of Saint Ignatius - Ignatian Awards 2024

On our Feast Day every year, we will award one student from each year level and two adults from our school community who have demonstrated our school outcomes of conscience, competence, commitment and compassion.   
This year the following members of our community were celebrated

From our Staff:
Andrea Clark
Avril Johnston

Our Students:
Year 7: Samuel Speedy
Year 8:  George Moody
Year 9:  Olivia Fitzpatrick

See the recent news item below for further details of their nominations.

Congratulations to all our winners this week!

Cura Personalis

Internet Health and Well-being presentation for parents and whānau 

Raising Resilient Capable Children

Cybercrime is a very real issue facing families in NZ, but there are easy practical steps to reduce the risk. We invite you to a presentation on the issues associated with the inappropriate use of computers, mobile phones and the internet.  This invaluable presentation is led by John Parsons (www.citizen21.co.nz), a leading authority in New Zealand on Safeguarding children online.

This presentation :
- Identifies the specific challenges children face when using ICT
- Includes guidance on behaviour management processes for parents in the practical situations they will face
- This workshop empowers parents to take responsibility for safeguarding their children
 - Parents leave with the tools to support their children to use ICT safely and ethically at home and at school

Date: Tuesday August 13
Time: 6-7pm 
Venue:  School.

If you would like to attend please follow the link.  Click here to register your place

Our ākonga/students will also have chance to work with John Parsons on this day.

Art Shirts

Art classes will be using water based paint this term. All art students are provided with painting aprons to wear in class. Students may bring in their own art-shirts to wear over their uniform if preferred, which can be any old large shirt or t-shirt. Art shirts should be named and can be kept at school.

International Students

This past week has been a significant milestone for us at St Ignatius College. On Sunday, we welcomed 25 Chinese students to our community and warmly welcomed them into our homes with the help of 13 of our families. This week has been both a joyful and educational experience for all involved. All week our guests have joined their buddies in lessons and worked on developing their English language skills, whilst our students have learned certain Chinese phrases that will be useful for future travel. Nihao, XieXie and Cèsuǒ zài nǎlǐ (Hello, Thank you and Where is the Bathroom) are a few of the phrases they have perfected.

On Thursday, we visited the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Our St Ignatius homestay buddies proudly showed our guests around and helped teach them about our history, culture, and customs. Throughout the day, we witnessed many moments of compassion, empathy, conscientiousness, and commitment from our students, ensuring that our guests felt welcomed and well-informed. They reminded us that God is in all things and we are very proud of how they have conducted themselves this week.

On Sunday, our Chinese friends will be leaving our school to continue their New Zealand experience in Hobbiton and Rotorua. As it is the school holidays in China, we will welcome another group of students in two weeks, as we continue to build relationships with international schools.

It has been heartwarming to see how much our students have enjoyed this experience. We look forward to continuing these enriching exchanges and fostering global friendships.

Week 8: St Ignatius Book Week

In Week 8 of this term, we will be hosting our first St Ignatius Book Week. The focus of the week will be to promote everything great about reading! We will have author visits, quizzes, book promotions, and competitions to encourage our ākonga to become lifelong readers.

On Wednesday of Week 8, during House Magis time, we will be having a Book Character Parade. We encourage all students to dress up as their favourite storybook character - the teachers will be dressing up too!

If you have a reluctant reader at home, setting aside time before bedtime is a great way to reconnect and share the joy of reading with your children. Anything from the classics to a graphic novel by Roald Dahl or David Walliams would be a good start as you begin this new tradition. Just 10-15 minutes is very achievable and is a lovely way to prepare for a good night's sleep. Over time, as your child gains confidence, you will find that they will start reading on their own.

Each week we will put the spotlight on potential books/series you can read at home with your children and this week's option is:


The Chronicles of Narnia

If you haven't read The Chronicles of Narnia series yet, now is the perfect time to dive into these timeless classics with your child. The Chronicles of Narnia, written by C.S. Lewis, is a cornerstone of children's literature, having sold 120 million copies in 47 languages. This beloved series has been adapted for radio, television, the stage, film, and video games.

The most famous book in the series is The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. This enchanting story captures the imaginations of readers with its magical lands, talking animals, formidable villains, and relatable main characters.

The series comprises seven books, each offering a rich tapestry of adventure, courage, and friendship. 
The story follows four children who are sent away from their home in London during the air raids of World War II. With their father at war and their mother contributing to the war effort, the children are sent to a relative's house in the countryside for safety. The youngest child discovers a magical portal at the back of a wardrobe, leading them into the enchanting world of Narnia.

Reading this series with your child not only provides a wonderful bonding experience but also imparts important life lessons. Through these stories, children learn about bravery, loyalty, and the power of good over evil. They see examples of resilience and the importance of standing up for what is right.

We encourage you to take this opportunity to introduce your child to the magical world of Narnia. It's a journey that promises to inspire and teach valuable lessons that will stay with them for a lifetime.

Upcoming Events

Pre AIMS Games Rippa Rugby at Strathallan - Tuesday August 6th 9:30am - 2:30pm

Faber House Mass - Wednesday August 7th

Catholic Caring Foundation Mass - Wednesday August 7th

House Time  Lip Synch Competition start and prep - Wednesday August 7th 

Teacher Only Day - Friday 9th August

Community Notices

Catholic Character

En Todo Amar Y Servir

The school community has been acquainted with some terms which capture the charism of Ignatian spirituality, like “Finding God in all things” and “For the greater glory of God.” Another term is “to love and to serve in all things” or in Spanish, “en todo amar y servir.” Saint Ignatius of Loyola believes that love must manifest itself “more in deeds than in words”. And he observes that people who are in love share what they have with each other. The word “share” is understood by Ignatius as “communicar” (in Spanish). In a way, Ignatius believes that people who are in love communicate or speak love. Love actively speaks itself. 

It is our human nature to desire recognition and rewards for the good that we do. However, in our fallen state, humans can also be ungrateful despite the good we receive. Jesus himself knows this. Only one of the ten lepers returned to give thanks to him for having been cured (Luke 17:12-19). In our acts of service, when we are being generous to others, it could feel discouraging and hurtful if we are met by ingratitude. Ingratitude is a sin which Ignatius considers to be the greatest. Yet, Jesus embraces the frailty and the sinfulness of humanity. He covers it with great love and dies for it on the cross.

We render our service to others not because we find ourselves good in nature, but because we can recognise God who gave us the gifts of goodness. We can love because God has loved us first (1 John 4:19) and God never tires of bestowing a multitude of gifts on the world.  By offering hospitality and service to others, we are merely acting as faithful stewards of God (1 Peter 4:10). We are an extension of God’s love for our world. Our acts of service can become God’s active verb of loving. Such service could take many forms. For Ignatius, the acts of studying, teaching, following, leading, of being hospitable to others, or being available to someone in need can be a good service if dedicated to God. It is a service which allows God to be present in all things. So, we hope that  community members, especially our young students, will love God more and to be more versed in communicating love in real actions, even in the absence of rewards and recognition.

News