Principal's Message

Tēnā koutou St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic College whānau,

It is very fitting that our final newsletter before the opening of the college comes in Advent; a season of joyful expectation and waiting. As the buildings have risen over the course of the year, an exceptional staff body has been recruited and the planning and preparation for an excellent Catholic Ignatian education experience has taken place, it has been truly joyful to share progress with you. We are now in a position to joyfully await February 7th next year when the college becomes a reality.

Please read all sections of this Newsletter carefully, with some reminder information about uniform and first day arrangements. It is important that the college begins with an orderly start with all students arriving in full school uniform. An email will be sent to parents and caregivers one week in advance of the beginning of the first day with a repeat of essential information.

Through this Advent season, we await the celebration of the incarnation; when God became man on earth in the form of Jesus. It is the greatest event in human history and the beginning of the reconciliation of God and humankind through Jesus. We are also reminded of the promise of his return as our Lord and Saviour. We are truly Blessed with our faith and the seasons of Advent and Christmas are reminders of the gift of the possibility of union with God and the gift of eternal life that we may achieve through a life in Christ.

This Christmas season, please enjoy the gifts of family, friendship and our shared faith. Finding God in yourself, finding God in others and finding God in our beautiful home. In veniens Deum in omnibus. 

                                                   Dean Wearmouth

Thank you St Joseph's 

Since the beginning of our operations, the college has been based in two classrooms at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Pukekohe. Throughout this time, we were welcomed into the school community and provided the support and space we needed. We are hugely grateful to all staff at St Joseph’s for accommodating us, in particular, principal Ursula Hall for her support throughout this time. It is a true Blessing to belong to a Catholic community and an honour to witness the day to day life of such a wonderful and faith-filled school. We have grown a close bond that we hope will continue and grow for many years to come.

Uniform Update 

Please ensure that you have familiarised yourself with our uniform expectations over the summer break. The full uniform policy can be found on the school website and in the resource folder of the school app.  We have had a number of queries regarding uniform in recent weeks and confirm that the school blazer and tie are not optional items.    Thank you for ensuring that your child arrives to school on the first day of term in the correct and full summer uniform.

First Day Arrangements

First Day Wednesday 7th February 2024

Our first day at St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic College will be an exciting occasion for our entire community. We are looking forward to welcoming our ākonga / students and beginning the school year. 

To ensure the smooth running of this first day and the safety of our ākonga / students, please note the following:

  - Road works will be on-going and one entrance will be open for buses and drop-off

-The use of the college buses is strongly encouraged and familiarisation with the available routes and collection times should be carried out prior to our start day

- There will be a Pōwhiri during the morning of our first day for ākonga / students, staff and guests.  Please note we unable to accomodate parents on site at this stage

- A professional photographer will be taking photos as ākonga / students arrive and throughout the day's celebrations, these will be shared with the community in due course

Your cooperation and understanding in regards to these points is appreciated. 

School Buses Update

Last week, all ākonga/students who are eligable for our school bus services would have received information regarding Bus Routes for 2024.

The proposed bus routes provided to caregivers to view earlier this year were private services which would be at a cost to families. However, after a discussion with the Ministry of Education, it became apparent that the Ministry was able to provide our school with school bus services under their School Transport Assistance policy.

The bus routes have been carefully planned by the Ministry of Education and allocated based on ākonga/student home addresses, taking into consideration both the number of ākonga/students and the health and safety for all passengers. Unfortunately, due to these factors, it's not possible to accommodate individual requests for changes in bus routes. 
 
To determine the closest bus stop to your house, we recommend reviewing the provided information, particularly the maps or route details. These materials should help you identify the most convenient stop based on your home address.

The Ministry has guidelines which outline how their services are designed, which considers the length of time students spend on buses, school timetables and value for money. The school bus services that will be operating from next year do fall inside these guidelines.

It is important to note that as these school bus routes have not operated before, the bus timetables are indicative. As always, after a few weeks of operating the services, these timetables will firm-up and the time spent on buses will likely reduce.

For more information on the Ministry’s route design criteria, as well as other information on the School Transport Assistance offered by the Ministry, please visit their website: School transport – Education in New Zealand

Teaching and Learning

This week we have a spotlight on the Faculty of Religious Education. 

As the Director of Religious Studies (DRS) I am excited to introduce the Religious Education program at St Ignatius. For some of you, if your child has not been in a Catholic school, this will be your first experience of the subject. Religious Education (RE) is an NZQA-recognised subject that focuses on introducing ākonga/students to the beliefs, knowledge, skills and values of a Religion, in this case, the Catholic faith. As a core subject, all ākonga/students will have classes as part of their timetable throughout their time at school. It plays a major part in the wider school activities in supporting the Catholic character of the school through faith activities, it also has a supporting role for families by providing a platform to discuss faith and values. 
As a Catholic school, we follow The Religious Education Curriculum designed by The National Centre for Religious Studies which is approved by the New Zealand Catholic Bishops. The curriculum is specifically designed to be relevant and meaningful in the context of the lives of young people and often goes beyond solely teaching the rich tradition of the Catholic Church. It is broken down into four different topics which each year level will rotate through over a two-year cycle:
Te Atua God - This focuses on addressing such questions as who, where, what is God and what does God do? It addresses God’s relationship with us - individually and collectively, and our relationship with God.

Te Rongopai Good News - This focuses on Sacred Scripture in the Tradition of the Church, focusing on questions such as what does the Bible contain, where did it come from and what do the stories mean for me? 

Ā Tātou Whakapapa Our Story - This centres on the Church’s story so far, looking at questions such as where did the Church come from, what are the stories of the Church, and where do these stories intersect with my own life? 

Kia Noho Hāhi Being Church - This topic explores aspects of being Church such as discipleship, Catholic Social Teaching, morality, virtues and values, ethics and human relationships, and how we can develop and apply these understandings to my own life and all creation. 

We are conscious that some of our ākonga/students are not coming from a Catholic Primary School and we have designed our programme to cater to this. We have created engaging learning experiences that provide opportunities to reflect, share, and think critically about ideas, this means that we can meet all of our ākonga/students where they are. At the same time, we are aware that faith is a gift from God — it is not our role to ‘create’ faith but to support, model and nurture its growth. Our criteria for measuring success in RE are directly related to the student’s understanding and learning of content within the RE curriculum. 

If you have any questions around the material that we are going to teach please feel free to contact me at [email protected]

Ngā mihi nui,
Matthew Grevatt
Manutaki Akoranga Katorika | Director of Religious Studies 

Special Character

Loving Father,
Help us remember the birth of Jesus,
that we may share in the song of the angels,
the gladness of the shepherds,
and worship of the wise men.
Close the door of hate
and open the door of love all over the world.
Let kindness come with every gift
and good desires with every greeting.
Deliver us from evil by the blessing
which Christ brings,
and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.
May the Christmas morning
make us happy to be your children,
and Christmas evening bring us to our beds
with grateful thoughts,
forgiving and forgiven,
for Jesus’ sake.
Amen.

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