Principal's Message
Kia Ora Koutou
For some of your daughters this will be the first year they vote in the National Election. I am sure you have spent time with them to consider in this year's General Election that they will be asked to make a choice on two different referendums. Before they cast their votes, it is important that they have all the information they need to make their choice.
What are the two referendum topics? Cannabis legalisation and control referendum which will give the public the opportunity to vote on whether the recreational use of cannabis should become legal, based on the proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill. They should spend some time researching this.
The other topic is the End of Life Choice referendum. This referendum will ask the public to vote on whether the End of Life Choice Act 2019 should come into force, giving people with a terminal illness the option of requesting assisted dying. Again, hey should spend some time researching this.
PE and Sport
PE is Curricular and Sport is Extra-Curricular. To give guidance- Curricular activities are those activities that are a part of the curriculum. Co-curricular activities are those activities that are outside of but usually complementing the regular curriculum. Extracurricular activities are defined as those school-based activities that are not tied to the curriculum.
Now where PE and Sport are the same is that all students are expected to wear correct kit and all students are required to wear appropriate footwear. When your daughter is readying herself for the day and happens to have one or both of these activities please say to her: “make sure your PE shoes and Sports shoes are in your bag; and make sure you wear them.”
Gossip
I find it astounding how quickly people want to believe ‘gossip’. The sensible can discern that it is no more than rumour and then quickly shut it down. I have included a story that I have delivered in an Assembly about Gossip and the damage it can do.
An old proverb relates the story of a person who repeated gossip- some rumour about a neighbour. Soon, the whole community had heard the rumour. Later, the person who spread the gossip learned that the rumour was untrue. The person was very sorry and went to an elder in the community who had a reputation for great wisdom to seek advice. The elder told the person “Go to your home and take a feather pillow outside. Rip it open and scatter the feathers, then return to me tomorrow.” The person did as the elder had instructed. The next day, the person went home and searched for the feathers, but the wind had carried them all away. The person returned to the elder and said, “I could find none of the feathers I scattered yesterday.” “You see”, said the elder, “it’s easy to scatter the feathers but impossible to get them back.” So, it is with gossip; it does not take much to spread hurtful words, but once you do, you can never completely undo the damage.”
The dictionary definition of a person when it comes to gossip is someone who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts about others. Some might want to use the banner that they are ‘sharing’. The reality is that it is just plain gossip.
Have a great, safe, and restful weekend
Ngā Mihi
Kiri
Around School This Week
Coming Up on the Calendar
Week Four Term Three
Monday 10 August - Whanau Time, Junior Choir, Viva Rehearsal
Tuesday 11 August - Fergusson House Chapel, Cultural Group Rehearsal
Wednesday 12 August - Assembly, Orchestra, Viva Rehearsal
Thursday 13 August - Junior Chapel, Jazz Band, House Music, Year 9 Social
Friday 14 August - House Music Rehearsal, Whanau Time
Week Five Term Three
Monday August 17 - Whanau Time, Junior Choir, Viva Rehearsal, Year 12 PE Tramp
Tuesday August 18 - Senior Chapel, Cultural Group Rehearsal
Wednesday August 19 - Assembly (Singing), Wai Maths, Orchestra, Viva Rehearsal, Y9 Event (organised by Year 12 Health), Level 2/3 NCEA Music
Thursday August 20 - Junior Chapel, Wai Maths, Jazz Band, House Music Rehearsal, Tough Girl/Tough Guy Challenge (Y13 PE), BOT Meeting
Friday August 21 - House Music Rehearsal, Whanau Time, Subject Information Evening for Year 12/13 2021 (Rathkeale), Victoria University Open Day
School Notices
House Music Tickets
As in previous years, we will be issuing all girls with three tickets each. These will be given to the girls at their House Music Rehearsal next Thursday afternoon. Please ask your daughter about these and keep them safe. If you do not require your tickets please hand them back to Mrs Traill at the school office. If you need more tickets, we will have a waiting list system and Mrs Traill will allocate these tickets nearer the time of the event. Contact her if you would like to go on the waiting list: office@stmatts.school.nz.
Careers
A week long experience of Otago student life. Open to all students who will be in yr 12 and 13 in 2021. Students stay in one of two student colleges on campus and choose their favourite subject to study for the week within the areas of humanities, business, health sciences and sciences. Runs 10th January to Friday 15th January.
https://www.otago.ac.nz/hands-on-at-otago/index.html
Dates for the End of the Year
As you may be aware as a result of Covid-19, NZQA has moved the NCEA Exams which has impacted our end of year.
Below are end of year dates:
Thurs November 11 - Senior College Prizegiving 7pm
Monday November 16 - NCEA National Exams begin
Friday December 4 - Non-NCEA students released from instruction Carol Service and Leavers' Service - 6pm St Matthew's Parish Church
Saturday December 5 - St Matthew’s Prizegiving -ALL students required - 12pm Wairarapa College (Please note change of time from 9am)
Wednesday December 9 - NCEA National Exams end; School and Boarding House(s) Officially closed
Monday December 14 - Year 13 Leavers' Ball
Family Zone
There are still a number of families who have not installed the Family Zone App for their daughters. Some have made the first step but their account is not active. Families who are not active and who have not registered their daughter's device/s will be contacted by email. If your family choises not to install the app, your daughter's phone will not be permitted at school.
Senior College Subject Information Evening – for 2021
Venue: Rathkeale College Dining Hall
Date and time: Friday 21st August 2020, 3:30pm to 5:30pm
All Year 11 and 12 students and their parents are invited to attend the above event on Friday 21st of August at Rathkeale College. The aim of the evening is to provide information about the subjects that will be offered at Rathkeale/St Matthew’s Senior College in 2021. Subject displays will be set up, and Heads of Faculty and Subjects will be present to answer questions. There will be careers information on display, and personnel from some tertiary institutions may also be present. Members of Senior Management and the Rathkeale Careers Advisor will also be available to answer questions.
Winners of the Friends of SMS Fees Raffle
The Friends Raffle winners for....
Term 1: Amy Drysdale and Annabelle Milne
Term 2: Summer Didsbury and Arna Williams
Friends of SMS - Eco Cloth Fundraiser
This is into its second week of promotion. Please note that all orders need to be in by Friday 14 August. Please complete the google form online (link below) and keep the hard copy as your own record.
1. Students take orders from their friends and family and record on the order form to keep a record.
2. When all orders are taken at the end of the 3 weeks record the TOTAL amount of orders on the Google form and this comes straight through to Good Change.
3. They deposit TOTAL amount into the Good Change Bank Account.
4. All cloths are sent to St Matthew's for distribution to each student with a list of orders.
Good Change account number (on the hard copy form):
06-0491-0256894-01
From here orders will be assembled and given to families for distribution.
Vocal Spectacular
On Friday night [ 7 August] we have the Vocal Spectacular in the Wairarapa College hall. It would be wonderful if you could come and listen to them and all the other choirs from the Wairarapa. Choirs taking part are: MIS Choir, Solway College Choir, Solway Soul Singers, Wairarapa Kids’ Choir, Waicol’s Cantate, Armonia Dolce from Waicol.
Start: 7pm
Should be finished by by 7:45pm
There is a koha (gold coin) at the door.