Kia ora e te whānau
Over the coming weeks there are many events and activities planned across the College with Bully Free Week next week (there is a free Pink Mufti Day on Friday May 17th to raise awareness), Eisteddfod practices, a Year 13 Biology trip, and a Year 12 Driving course. On Monday evening at 6pm in our Chapel, there is a meeting for all parents of Year 11 students to share information with you about the upcoming Co-requisite Reading, Writing and Maths NCEA assessments. Next Friday night there is also a fun netball fundraiser Jingo Night at Pioneer club rooms starting at 6pm, and we hope many of you will come along and support getting our girls to Christchurch for tournament next holidays.
There is an early finish day next Wednesday for teachers to attend a union meeting, with school finishing at 12:15pm. Please note that we do have some non-union member teachers who are at school working and available to supervise any students who need to stay at school, especially for the buses. Please just contact the office to let us know if your child needs supervision.
Winter sporting codes are well underway and it’s great to see so many students participating and representing the College with pride, whether it be for top level competitive grades or just for fun and participation. I am looking forward to getting to as many games as possible this season and joining in with the positive side line support for our students as they strive for their personal excellence. As always, the challenge for our young people is to find the balance between their academic endeavours, family responsibilities, co-curricular activities, and their social lives. This is always easier said than done, so for those young people who are finding it challenging to manage expectations and commitments, we encourage them to seek support from their Whānau teacher, Dean, Guidance Counsellor or members of our Senior Leadership team. We want our young people to make the most of every opportunity but learn how to prioritise whilst managing expectations and their personal wellbeing, and this is a skill that they need support in developing.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our mothers, grandmothers, and other significant female figures in the lives of our young women, a Happy Mother’s Day for Sunday. It is important to acknowledge and celebrate that it is the parents who are the first teachers of their children and that parents will continue to teach and guide their children long after they have left our school grounds. So, to our parent community, thank you. Thank you for being the base and an integral part of our community. Thank you for supporting the staff at St Peter’s College who work with and alongside your children to ensure that they develop the skills and attributes to be equipped and empowered to pursue their personal excellence, so that they will be prepared to challenge and shape the future, whilst being young people of Christ who act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with our God.
A Prayer for Mothers
All loving God, we give you thanks and praise for mothers young and old.
We pray for young mothers, who give life and count toes and tend to our every need;
May they be blessed with patience and tenderness to care for their families and themselves with great joy.
We pray for our own mothers who have nurtured and cared for us;
May they continue to guide us in strong and gentle ways.
We remember mothers who are separated from their children because of war, poverty, or conflict;
May they feel the loving embrace of our God who wipes every tear away.
We pray for women who are not mothers but still love and shape us with motherly care and compassion.
We remember mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers who are no longer with us but who live forever in our memory and nourish us with their love.
Amen.
Charity Fulfils the Law