Dear Parents and Caregivers
Athletic sports on Wednesday was a feast of colour and athletic enthusiasm. The sunshine was a real bonus and in traditional form the inter house cheerleading began the day. The routines were very slick and the judges were given a difficult job. The winning cheerleading team was Lawrence. There were some fantastic performances on the track and in the field and added to this was the great level of participation and house spirit.
Well done to the newly elected house captains who did such a good job in the first inter house event.
Our 2020 House Captains are:
Havelock – Amelia Hall and Bee Park
Lawrence – Faith Ainsley and Carolyn Patman
Nelson – Makayla Hawker and Annie Timu
Wellington – Grace Brenssell and Mia Urquhart
Timetable
The timetable follows a structure of two periods, chapel/assembly/Whanaungatanga followed by interval then two periods followed by lunch and then sustained silent reading followed by one period.
This structure also allows for a second version of the week featuring double periods to allow for extended learning time. This is identified on KAMAR and the calendar as Timetable B and will be the timetable we are following next week.
Key Dates for 2020 Term 1
Wednesday 12th February – Year group and Whanaungatanga photos (am)
Saturday 7th March – School Fair (see below for further information)
Friday 13th and Saturday 14th March – Wanaka Show
Friday 20th March – Staff Only Day
Monday 23rd March – Otago Anniversary Day
Also we need:
Perth Exchange
We have an annual exchange programme with St Hilda’s in Perth, Australia. We are now beginning the process for the 2020.
This exchange is open to girls in Year 10.
The exchange student from Perth will come to St Hilda’s in Term 3 of 2020. She will be timetabled into our school programme and weekly board at Tolcarne. The St Hilda’s student will travel in exchange for Term 2 to St Hilda’s Perth. Further information and application forms for this exchange have been shared with the girls as a Google form.
Tolcarne News
Tolcarne has had a very busy week; hosting a pool party, voting for new Tribe Captains and participating in Waitangi Day games with the other boarding schools! Koru has also started this week, with the juniors trying out Laughing Yoga. Tonight the girls are off to Leap and will be heading to the beach on Sunday to go surfing!
We would like to congratulate the following Tribe Leaders on their selection;
Baxter – Penelope Chapman-Cohen and Emma O’Meara
Highgate – Anna Harucs, Sophie Lucas and Tia Dougherty
Falkland – Sam McTavish, Grace Beattie and Meg Huffadine
Grendon – Sara Harding and Anna Clarke
Chapel Matters
One of the things we do in chapel is begin with an opening affirmation in English
and in te reo Maori. The reason we do this relates to Waitangi Day.
Before the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840, the Anglican church had
been settled here in 1814, and there was a strong sense of partnership and learning
from each other between the local Maori and the church. But over the following
decades, as more and more people from the UK started settling in this land,
and Maori sought protection of their sovereignty, a treaty or agreement
between the Crown and Maori was eventually proposed. The church was
involved in this, in an idealistic way, seeking justice and protection for Maori,
and ministers travelled around persuading Maori rangatira to sign the Treaty.
But of course, as we know, promises by the British to protect the rights of Maori
were broken, and the process of reconciliation and compensation is still ongoing.
By the 1970s, the Anglican church recognised that while things had started off
well in the early 1800s, they needed to make some changes in the way they
did things to truly return to a partnership model. So in 1990, they adopted
a three-tikanga model of the church – a recognition of Pakeha, Maori and
Pasifika tikanga, or ways of doing things, and ever since then, it has been
important to actively live that out. One way we do that here at school is to
start with a response in both English and te reo Maori. This term we are learning
a new one which goes as follows:
O come, let us sing to the Lord,
Tēnā kia waiata tātou ki te Ihowā,
Let us rejoice in the rock of our salvation.
kia hari tātou ki te toka o tō tātou whakaoranga.
The word whakaoranga means relief, redress, revival, recovery,
restoration, rehabilitation, and rescue – words that are very appropriate
for Waitangi Day!
In God, our rock, we have a strong foundation, just as our nation has a
strong foundation which is the Treaty of Waitangi. And God is the one who
can save us, not just as individuals, but as a people, as a country. God can
inspire us to redress the wrongs we have done, and seek restoration,
and can inspire us to revive those principles of partnership and equality,
and to revive language and tikanga.
BLUE RIBBON INSTALLATION
This is a fundraising initiative that current families, Old Girls and past families can support – purchase a Blue Ribbon plaque with your/your daughter’s name on it, to be displayed permanently in the foyer of the new Arts Building.
Please contact the Director of Development at aburke@shcs.school.nz to reserve your Blue Ribbon today.
Information regarding Coronavirus
With recent concerns raised regarding the spread of coronavirus, we wish to inform you that we are following the Ministry of Health Guidelines regarding best practice for public health.
We have taken the necessary precautions to ensure the wellbeing of all our international students, when they arrived at school and at Tolcarne, and as most of them have been in NZ for at least a week prior to the start of school, they are at minimal risk of infection, however we will continue to monitor their health. We have no students from the Wuhan region.
The school and Tolcarne will be vigilant with hygiene instruction as well as providing masks as required, and hand sanitiser. They are all the necessary equipment to isolate infection. Frequent hand washing and practising cough etiquette will be encouraged.
Recognising that coronavirus is now a global issue, if you or your family members have been travelling in Asia or currently infected areas over the holidays, or have been in contact with international visitors, we trust you are monitoring your family’s health and following the Ministry of Health guidelines.
As stated we have in place precautionary measures, and are advised that the risk of infection is still very low. We will continue to monitor the health of any students currently considered to be low risk. The Ministry of Health has advised that there is no specific action to be taken at this time. Should the situation change, we will follow our pandemic plan for managing illness as we do with other infectious diseases such as measles, mumps, and influenza.
For those of you concerned about possible infection, the Ministry of Health has provided practical information on their website which we encourage you to read –
NoNovel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) guidance – Ministry of Health website:
included in there is some advice to help reduce the general risk of infection:
– avoiding very close contact with people showing symptoms
– frequently washing hands
– practicing cough etiquette (maintain distance, cover coughs and sneezes with disposable tissues or clothing, and wash hands).
the Ministry of Health will continue to update that content, as further information becomes available