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Weekly News – Term 1 | Week 6
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Weekly News – Term 1 | Week 4
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Key Dates for 2020 Term 1
Saturday 7th March – School Fair (see below for further information)
Wednesday 11 March – Years 7-13 Goal Setting Conversation with Whanau teachers (2.30-6.30pm)
Friday 13th and Saturday 14th March – Wanaka Show
Friday 20th March – Staff Only Day
Monday 23rd March – Otago Anniversary Day



Whanau Group Photographs
If you are interested in ordering a copy of the Whanau group photos these will be sold on McRobie website via this link: https://mcrobie.co.nz/st-hildas-collegiate-school-classes-2020/
Photos will be size 6″x 9”, in colour and cost $17 each.
Reporting
Throughout the year we will communicate about your daughter’s learning through Learning Conversations (which allow a three way conversation with the teacher, student and parent), Interim Reports on Learning which focus on learning behaviours and Academic Progress Reports which give specific comments on the progress being made in the curriculum and next steps for your daughters learning. The final report for the year is a summary record of your daughter’s learning for the year. This includes a comment from her Whanaungatanga teacher which gives you an overview of her year’s learning and involvement in school activities.
Our aim, with this combination of reports, is to give an accurate and timely overview of your daughter’s learning dispositions, next steps and progress.
2020 Reporting Timeline
Term 1
Week 6 Year 7-13 Interim Report on Learning
Week 7 Wed 11 March Years 7-13 Goal Setting Conversation with Whanau teachers (2.30-6.30pm)
Week 11 Years 7-13 Academic Progress Report
Term 2
Week 1 Years 7-13 Learning Conversations with subject teachers
Week 5 Years 7-13 Interim Report on Learning
Term 3
Week 1 Mon 20 July Years 11-13 Learning Conversations with subject teachers (9.30am – 6.30pm)
Years 7-10 Junior House Day
Week 2 Years 7-10 Academic Progress Report
Week 7 Years 7-13 Interim Report on Learning
Weeks 8-9 Years 11-13 NCEA benchmark examinations
Week 10 Years 7-10 Learning Conversations with subject teachers
Years 11-13 NCEA Progress Report
Term 4
Week 9 Years 7-13 End of Year Academic Summary Report
Newsletter Change
We are currently updating our website and as part of this we will be making some changes to our newsletter format. A link will still be sent to you and we will also put that link on the current newsletter site until the update is complete so you can access past newsletters. We will use the new format next week.
Ellen Mamier was chosen by Study Dunedin to produce a video for their website.
Ellen was chosen because she won an Education New Zealand (ENZ) scholarship to come and study in New Zealand. She chose Dunedin and St Hilda’s Collegiate. Even though the scholarship was for one year, Ellen chose to stay on and complete her NCEA Level 3 studies in Dunedin.
As you will see, she loved her time here, made some good friends and even picked up a bit of a kiwi accent! Here is the link to the video, found on the Study Dunedin website.
Year 7 girls – Literacy lesson with Anna Garthwaite
Achievements


Tolcarne News
On Sunday the juniors went on an outing to Tunnel Beach with Robyn, a first for many! They not only enjoyed the walk, but also a paddle in the ocean and getting to experience another part of the city. Koru this week involved a mindfulness body scan and mindful eating for the year tens, where they were invited to feel the effects of mindfulness and enhance their senses around food. The year nines looked into the Tolcarne values, gaining a greater appreciation for what they mean and how they can use them. This weekend the junior girls are heading to Waihola, where they will have a go at paintball!
A special mention to the new Tolcarne Council representatives for 2020;
Year 9 – Lucy Robertson & Ruby Cochrane
Year 10 – Emma Collett & Lucy Wright
Year 11 – Connie Bennington & Anika Smith
Year 12 – Molly Loe & Libby Dummond
Year 13 – Meg Huffadine & Sara Harding
Chapel Matters
The Very Reverend Dr Tony Curtis would like to extend an open invitaion to the staff, students and families of the St Hilda’s community. Below is an invitation with further details for all who might be interested.
Careers
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
Weekly News – Term 1 | Week 2 -2020

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
Weekly News | Term 4 | Week 6
Dear Parents and Caregivers
As the end of the year draws closer we have some important school events coming up. On Sunday we have our Carol Service which begins at 5:00pm. We look forward to seeing you there as it is always a nice reminder that the Christmas season has begun. The girls have been practising their caroling and are in great voice. We have asked the girls to wear tidy mufti for this event.
Next Friday 29 November will be our junior service day. The girls will be involved in a rotation of five activities that will support Anglican Family Care. For this day the girls should wear their PE uniform.
On Thursday 5 December we have our Prize Giving at the Town Hall. Prize Giving commences at 5.00 pm and we ask that your daughter is seated in the Town Hall lower level by 4.45 pm. On the morning of Prize Giving the junior students will wear mufti to school for the morning. They will be taken down to the Town Hall at 10:30 am fora run through of the prize giving service and will be released from the Town Hall at approximately 11.30 am.
Please ensure that your daughter(s) uniform is immaculate for the evening. This is her formal uniform and includes wearing a long-sleeved shirt. She may wear white socks rather than tights.
We look forward to seeing you all on the evening of the 5th December to celebrate the end of our academic year.
If your daughter is unable to attend Prize Giving, please email admin@shcs.school.nz with a reason.
Key Dates for Term 4
Monday 14th October – 5th December 2019
Sunday 24 November – Carol Service – Chapel, 5 pm – Families welcome
Wednesday 4 December – Leavers Dinner – Museum
Thursday 5 December – Prize Giving – Dunedin Town Hall (please note change of venue) students to be seated at 4.45pm for 5pm start.
St Hilda’s 125th Anniversary Celebrations
PFA Fundraising at Forsyth Barr Stadium
Call for Parent and senior student (16 years and over) volunteers.
To assist the PFA in fundraising at concerts being held at Forsyth Barr Stadium in February.
Elton John: Tuesday 4 February times TBC
Queen: Monday February 10 times TBC
At this stage the PFA are looking for expression of interest please email Ali Copeman pfa@shcs.school.nz once we have a few more details Ali will be in touch to confirm plans. This fundraising goes towards supporting SHCS students in sporting and cultural activities
Sports Uniform Reminder
St Hilda’s new sports uniform is now available at NZ Uniforms on Moray Place. If you need to update or replace items please head there over the holidays. It is compulsory for our students to have the PE top, Shorts, Trackpants, Dri fit and Hoodie. For all students who play in a weekly competition, travel on tournaments or as a PE class, these items are to be worn. No alternatives are allowed. For students with the current style these can still be worn. Over the past few weeks, we have noticed a number of sports teams wearing a variety of shorts and trackpants that are not school regulation. If you are unsure on what these look like, then please head to the website: http//www.nzuniforms.com
Activities
Year 10 Tautuku camp was again a great experience. The year group excelled in the outdoor environment, and it was an added bonus that the weather held throughout the week and we got to enjoy the range of activities such as abseiling, kayaking, bush navigation, tramping, confidence course and of course the iconic Tautuku camp mud run. Thank you to all the students, staff and especially the parents who were so kind to give up their time to support us on this camp.
Junior Sports Week.
This week many of our year 9 &10 students were involved in the OSSSA Junior Sports Week. This was a great opportunity for our volleyball and touch teams to get out and compete against teams from all over Otago.
Our junior Water Polo team are presently competing in Blenheim and we will have results from that tournament next week.
Otago Primary Athletics Day.
On Thursday, some of our Year 7 & 8 students headed down to the Caledonian for Athletics Day. Having qualified through North Zone Athletics Day, the girls were ready for another big day. Well done to Mya Haigh for throwing over 8m in her shot put and to Charlotte Cardno for jumping 4.46m in Long Jump and making a new record. Cassie Horo made the 100m final and our relay team of Phoebe Jackery, Katie Moore, Charlotte Cardno and Cassie Horo did a great job in their heat. Well done to Chelsea Sinclair for making her age group shot put final.
Achievements
Hannah Langsbury has been selected into the New Zealand U14 Maori Rep Team for Football.
Chapel Matters
This coming Sunday afternoon we have our Christmas Carol Service here at school which is a great way to get into the Christmas spirit. We always end our Carol service with the most published carol in the world; if you go onto You Tube you will find versions of it sung by everybody from Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey to church choirs and even cats! And all of this is true, even though this carol was written exactly 200 years ago, in 1719.
The carol is “Joy to the World” and it the lyrics were written by Isaac Watts. He wrote over 750 hymns for churches – this is quite remarkable when you realise that someone like Justin Bieber has written about 40 songs, Taylor Swift has written about 200, and Bob Dylan has written about 500! Isaac Watts’ family was “non-conformist,” meaning they didn’t belong to the Church of England, and his father was put in prison twice for his views. This also meant that Isaac wasn’t allowed to go to Oxford and Cambridge, because you had to be Anglican to go there. Isaac went to another university, became a tutor, and also wrote hymns. His hymns became popular – and he changed the way people sang in church – even in Anglican churches! Watts didn’t just write hymns though. He had studied philosophy at university, and he wrote a textbook on the topic of “Logic” – this was used by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge for over 100 years! Interesting for someone who wasn’t even allowed to study there!
The music for “Joy to the World” was written by an American musician, Lowell Mason, who lived in the 1800s. He also grew up in a family that went to a non-conformist church;
this is the Unitarian Universalist church, which is all about intellectual freedom, inclusive love, and spiritual growth, and although many members don’t actually even believe in God, many still attend church, pray and sing hymns. Mason was one of the church-going members, and he wrote the music for many of the hymns that they sang, played the organ and directed the choir. He wrote the music for “Joy to the World,” in 1839, 120 years after Isaac Watts wrote the words, but he also put lots of other lyrics to music, even including simple things like “Mary had a little lamb!” His church was in the South of the United States, in Georgia, and at a time when slavery was still deeply part of life in the South, Mason helped out at a nearby African-American Baptist church and started the first ever Sunday School for black children.
Even though these two men lived in different centuries, and in different countries, they both did things that went against the grain of the societies they lived in, and were non-conformist in their beliefs and faith, choosing to be true to what they believed about God in how they lived their lives. And in the end they both contributed to one of the most well-known and loved carols of all time, which I think is pretty special!
Reminder – School Canteen
The Canteen has closed for the year. Don’t forget a packed lunch.
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.