POMPALLIER CATHOLIC COLLEGE Diligere Verum Love the Truth. Merit. Merit VISION STATEMENT

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1 NO MARCH 2015 Diligere Verum Love the Truth Tēnā Koutou Katoa, Greetings to you We live at this moment in time, there is no escaping that. But time can also be referenced by past or future. While living in the moment, we place our conscious thoughts and reference behaviour in terms of the past and future. Imagine that you are standing in a river contemplating life choices or just thinking about the Black Caps playing in the Cricket World Cup. Are you someone who looks upstream and experiences the present moment in reference to the future coming towards you? Or do you face downstream and find that present moment is referenced to what is coming from behind you? People tend to reference one direction over another when making choices or reflecting on their sense of self-worth. If the present is referenced by the past we need to make sense of the tension between what is and what might have been. If the present is future referenced we need to make sense of the contradiction between what is and what might be. Facing upstream, with the future coming towards you, may give a sense of hope and anticipation or fear and anxiety that there is something better, or worse, coming. There are possibilities of new beginnings and birth into something yet unknown. It is a time to dream about what might be and use that to reference your present. There will be a tendency towards mitigation, acceptance and greater tolerance. We were all young once. They learn from their mistakes. Of course they will get better. Good things will happen if we are patient. Facing downstream, with the past always coming back to us, may give us a sense of regret, or delight, over choices and actions that we have made or omitted. We may be more aware of our own mortality and the limited time we have left. There will be a tendency towards judgement, a desire to make right the wrongs behind us and to receive forgiveness or seek redemption. They deserve what they got. Do the crime, do the time! I wish I had done something else. However we cannot face one way continuously if we desire good mental health. Saint Paul tells us how he was eagerly anticipating the birth of a new creation and all that was good to come in the future (Romans 8). But he was also conscience of how often he failed to live up to his own ideals and wanted to escape his past (Romans 7). The only way he could make sense of this was through the Easter experience. We know from Saint Paul and our own life experience that judgement often overrides the sense of hope we might have. So most of us are prone to living with a sense of guilt over the might-have-been s in our life. The Christian message clearly tells us that we need to unlock ourselves from the chain of our past failings and our sense of accountability for that which disappoints us and has disappointed others. Forgiveness provides us with the key to the lock. The crucifixion of Jesus is the ultimate message of forgiveness and love from God. Jesus dies so that all people, not just those in Palestine, can encounter the Holy Spirit and the possibility for a new life. Good Friday is about forgiveness and liberation. Easter Sunday opens our minds to new possibilities. It is a promise of something to come that can only be glimpsed through the limitations of our intellect and senses. There is a new creation with us and in the future. We can grasp something of the possibilities when we look into the eyes of a loved one, when we inhale the fragrance of nature, when we marvel at the created world, feel the lightest of touches and hear the wonder of music. Easter draws us to be future focused. It opens our eyes to dare us to dream of the possibilities before us. As a nation we have dared to dream about the Black Caps. Imagine what might happen if we dared to dream about something even more significant. NORTHLAND NCEA RESULTS Our dream is for all of our students to experience educational success. This dream helps us to attain some high quality outcomes. Last week I compared our NCEA performance with some of the larger schools in Northland. We were placed first in five areas of NCEA (five gold medals) and second in three (three silver medals). We were just 1% off getting another gold medal at Level 2. The next best College had two gold medals. Well done everyone! We are once again the best academic performers in Northland. Level 1 Pass Merit Pompallier (%) Participation based figures We also had three scholarship awards in Geography. Our congratulations to Nathan Gavin, Thomas Perkins and Catherine Absil-Couzins. Catherine attained an Outstanding scholarship award which placed her in the top 1% of students in NZ. Our thanks also goes to Mr Crawford who taught Geography to these three students Excellence 14 Level 2 Pass 91 Merit 28 Excellence Level 3 Pass Merit Excellence University Entrance Richard Stanton PRINCIPAL VISION STATEMENT Pompallier Catholic College is a Marist community that challenges all students to excel in their endeavours. We promote Christian values, learning excellence and quality relationships to enable students to be outstanding citizens.

2 Page 2 UPCOMING EVENTS: Term 1 You can also check the Events page on our website for upcoming events. MARCH Sat 28 - Sun 29 NISS Athletics Auckland Mon 30 - Thu 2 12PED Kayak Assessment Ruakaka Tue 31 Parent/Teacher Interviews College classrooms pm Tue 31 Chrism Mass SFX Church 10.00am pm APRIL Wed 1 Te Tai Tokerau Festival Opononi 7.00am pm Wed 1 AUT Liaison 9.00am Thu 2 Stations of the Cross College Hall Thu 2 Victoria University Liaison 2.00pm Thu 2 Last Day of Term 1 School finishing at 12.00pm Sat 11 Youth Mass SFX Church 6.00pm Mon 20 First Day of Term 2 INTERNATIONAL NEWS Noell Gundlach and Miku Ito, two of our International students, will be leaving us at the end of this term. Noell has been with our school since July last year, and Miku since May last year. We hope they have enjoyed the experience. We would like to wish them a safe trip home and all the best for their futures. BUS PASSES... If your child loses their pass, they can apply for a replacement by paying $6.00 to the College office. A temporary bus pass will be issued, and a new permanent pass will be ordered for them. As these are printed off-site, this can take a few days.

3 Page 3 SPORTS DEPARTMENT NEWS : Term 1, Week 8 WPSSA SWIM CHAMPIONSHIPS We had 3 swimmers from Pompallier join the 4 swimmers from Huanui College as part of our zone team. They swam against other schools at Whangarei Intermediate on Tuesday 10 March. David Hanrahan placed 1 st in 50m Freestyle and 2 nd in 50m Backstroke and 50m Breaststroke. Many thanks to Mrs Simpson for taking the team to the event and ensuring they had a good day and returned safely to school afterward. Save. The winner of the lucky draw will be contacted and asked which gift they choose STUDENT SUCCESS - SWIMMING Madison Brooke attended the Div 2 National Swim Meet in Dunedin last week and managed to achieve Gold medals in 100m Backstroke, 100m & 50m Freestyle, and a Bronze medal in the Northland Girls 15yrs & over freestyle. In the relay finals she came 4 th in both the 200m & 50m Backstroke. She also managed to achieve 4 NAGS qualifying swims. Well done Madison! NSS TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS We had 5 students compete in track & field events, here are the results: Chad Whitehead 1 st Senior Boy Triple Jump, 12.45m and 1 st SB Long Jump, 6.03m. This last jump breaks a College record set in 1980 by D Henare of 5.78m. Congrats Chad! Kieran King 2 nd Senior Boy 3000m and 1500m, and Jack Ryan 2 nd Junior Boy 800m. Thank you to Mrs Svetlana Stanton for attending the event as an Official! SPORTS UNIFORMS - ISSUE AND RETURNS All students playing sport for the College are issued with a uniform for the event, or a full season. Please take care of these and wash and return them as soon as you are finished. I am STILL trying to collect back uniforms from 2014, for Twilight Hockey and Basketball, which is very disappointing! YEAR 7 & 8 SPORTS EXCHANGES Next term we have two sports exchanges with Bream Bay College and Tikipunga High School, which involves the Number One teams for Rugby, Netball and Football. Teams are selected and train at the College and there is a small travel cost a newsletter will come home if your child is participating. If there are any parents interested in helping manage the Rugby or Football teams then please contact the Sport Co -ordinator. *** Keep your eyes on daily notices for training/trials for the Rugby and Football. The Intermediate Netball Team 1 is already selected and practising for their winter season. SPORTS FEES PAYMENT & PRIZE DRAW INCENTIVE Playing sport for Pompallier Catholic College is a user pays system. Fees are set for each code/event and the expectation is that the amount due is paid BEFORE that event begins. For students playing weekly sports for the College, a fees newsletter is sent home and we ask you to pay before the season starts. If fees are paid for Hockey & Netball by Friday 24 th April (other sport codes draw date TBC), this year the incentive prize is a gift card for either Stirling Sports, BP or Pak n NEW EVENT IN CROSS COUNTRY - TERM 2 This year the Cross Country (Tuesday 26 May) will require entries (same as Swimming) to be completed by runners wanting to compete, and be eligible for team selection at the Northland Secondary Schools Championships. Only runners and officials will go over to Barge Park in the morning. Further details on the changes and programme will come. In the afternoon the whole school (Years 7-13) will be out on the College field to participate/support at the XOR - Xtreme Obstacle Run. The course will go around the school grounds and involve wading through water, mud, climbing obstacles and sliding down a hill. It is hoped this will be an ALL INCLUSIVE event that anyone can have a go at! Students will be awarded a House point only if they wear obvious House colours. Teachers will be Marshalls at some obstacles but others can compete and parents/caregivers are welcome to attend and join in also We would also love to see family supporters at the Championship Cross Country run so if you are able to get away from home/work commitments it will be great to see you there. Also the Sports Department is looking for some donations/sponsorship to secure resources needed to setup this event - maybe you are in a business that uses these items or can source them at a good discount? Items needed are: Black Polythene sheet - approximately 30-40m length Bulk dishwashing liquid about 20 litres Medium sized pieces of sponge about 20 Haybales 10 standard rectangular bales and also 3 circular bales If you can help please contact me on ext 222, or chantelle.yorke@pompallier.school.nz. BOYS/GIRLS SCOUT CAMP - BASKETBALL With David Jernigan (NBA/WNBA/Euro League/USA Pro/ USA College/USA Prep). 8 th April at Huanui College, 328 Ngunguru Road, Glenbervie. Cost $ Contact Niasi Malua nasjon@hotmail.com OR Tai Upoko tai.upoko@gmail.com. continued on page 4...

4 Page 4 continued from page 3 PUBLIC HEALTH NURSE INFO... ALL STARS KIDS IN ACTION HOLIDAY PROGRAMME We will be running our All Stars - Kids in Action OSCAR school holiday programme on the following dates: Tuesday 7 th - Friday 10 th April Monday 13 th - Friday 17 th April Venue: Raumanga (The Pulse) OSCAR School Holiday Programme (8.00am pm), $35.00 per day, 5-14 years. Activities will include: movies, swimming, turbo touch, basketball, bike riding, scooter and skate boarding, arts & crafts and more. For further information visit our website: or contact Paul on Spaces are limited. SCHOOL LOCKERS Chantelle Yorke SPORTS CO-ORDINATOR Ext 222 chantelle.yorke@pompallier.school.nz More lockers are now available! If you would like a locker from Term 2 until the end of this year, you will need to fill in an online order form, at: They are $50.00 until the end of the year, including a refundable $10.00 bond. STUDENT SUCCESS Matthew Brereton (Year 11) has recently been accepted into the NZ Secondary Students Choir. He will be travelling to Wellington in the holidays to take part in this wonderful opportunity. Well done Matthew on your achievement! SUPPORT FOR THE PEOPLE OF VANUATU Much of Vanuatu has been devastated by Cyclone Pam. Caritas is on the ground and working with the Bishop and people of the Diocese to provide humanitarian aid. To support Caritas relief efforts in Vanuatu, you can Text PAM to 833 to donate $3 to Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand relief efforts, or donate online at: The school community will also be collecting for this appeal. At the moment we are looking at running a cake stall, having a raffle of some sort (perhaps with every student donating an item of food) and possibly having a money trail using the islands of Vanuatu as a starting point. Other ideas would be very welcome. MEASLES - Taken from Immunisation Advisory Centre Measles cases still occur in Northland and that s because the overall level of immunity is not high enough. Measles is a serious disease and it s highly infectious. It s often associated with complications and some of these can be very severe. It is imperative to ensure that your child is vaccinated as if they are not vaccinated they are very susceptible should they be in contact with a case of measles. Symptoms: The illness begins with fever, cough, runny nose and conjunctivitis (inflammation in the eyes), which lasts for 2-4 days. It may be possible to see small white spots (Koplik spots) inside the mouth. A rash appears 2-4 days after the first symptoms, beginning at the hairline and gradually spreading down the body to the arms and legs. The rash lasts for up to one week. It usually takes days from exposure to the first symptom. Measles is spread through the air by infectious droplets or direct contact with secretions from the nose or throat of infected persons, for example by touching items or surfaces contaminated with secretions. The person with measles is most infectious during the first 2-4 days of symptoms and stays infectious until 3-4 days after the rash appears. Who s at risk? Anyone who has not received at least one dose of a measles containing vaccine e.g., the combined measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine or who has not already had the disease. How serious is measles? Complications from measles are common. They may be caused by the measles virus or a bacteria because the measles virus lowers the body s ability to fight other infections. The risk of complications and death are higher in children under 5 years and adults over 20 years of age. Anyone who has a weakness of their immune system is at greater risk of very serious disease. These people are often unable to be immunised and rely on protection from those around them being immunised. Preventing the disease from spreading Immunisation given on time is the best way to prevent measles. Two doses of the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine is 99% effective in preventing measles. MMR vaccine, if given within 72 hours of exposure to measles virus, may provide protection to the unimmunised and thus limit the spread of measles. In the event of a measles outbreak unimmunised children (with no history of prior measles infection) who have contact with infected cases are advised NOT to attend school or early childhood services until notified. If you think you or anyone in your family may be experiencing these symptoms please call your doctor or ring Healthline Remember, if you have a student success you would like to share, us at newsletter@pompallier.school.nz

5 Page 5 YEAR 7 ADVENTURE CAMP, 2015 Camp by Kieran Hamilton Yawnn I woke up on 11th March 2015 at 6:30am and had to get up straight away because it was Year 7 Camp at The Farm YAY! So I got up, had my shower, got changed, had breakfast and took everything downstairs and waited for Neil and DJ, and waited, and waited, and waited, and WAITED, until they arrived. We loaded everything into his trailer and car boot and drove off to Pompallier. When we arrived at Pompallier at quarter to eight, it was like a ghost town. We were the first people to arrive so me and DJ scampered off to the playground. 15 minutes later everyone was here so we all hopped into our corresponding cars and travelled off. It took about one hour to get there and we (and that we was Me a.k.a Kieran, Roshan and DJ a.k.a plain swagger) finally we arrived at.!!!!!the FARM!!!!! Everyone was sooo excited but we had to wait for the go ahead and put your tent up bell to ring - that took 5 minutes. After it had rung we started to put our tent up 45 minutes later. our mini fabric home was standing. After that we did our first rotation which was Raft Building/ Waterslide. It was really fun, the water was warm but the wind made us all shivvvver and get very cold. A few hours later we played Wolf Pack - that was really good fun and I was in a group with all my friends. On Thursday our group did Kayaking/Mud Run. The mud smelt like Rotorua but much worse! On the same day we also did Motorbikes/Horse Riding which was the best rotation. My favourite horse was Bukar. On Friday we all had to take our fabric homes down, pack up and drive to Oakura for yummy Fish & Chips and home baking. Then back to school and home. Year 7 Camp was Awesome and now I can t wait for Year 8 camp!!!!! (Only 1 year to go!). Kayaking by Ben Matson When we arrived at The Farm I examined the campsite as if I was a robot. Everyone was in a rush to put the tent up. It was like I was standing in a swarm of bees. After all the moaning we finally put up our tent. We moved our stuff in & put our beds up. We had lunch and played Uno. Keelan and Corban acted like it was a game of poker. Mr T rang the old bell and everyone zoomed into line. All the groups did roll call some yelled others did it more softly. The farm staff gave us a safety warning about animals, water activities, roads etc. After that we were sent off to our first activity. In our group (group 2 the best one) we did the kayak challenge! First we got into our car groups and drove off to the house. Then we needed to get into two groups. The group I was in did the kayak first. We walked to the kayaks (a kayak is a small boat a bit like a canoe). The long journey was exhausting my shoes got wet but it was still fun. We played a game when we had to put our kayaks in a line and jumped over them. That was the first activity with lots more fun to come!

6 Page 6 YEAR 7 ADVENTURE CAMP, 2015 cont. The Mud Run by Niamh Adair Grrrrr I could hear my stomach twisting and turning. All I could think about was the horrific smell of the brown slimy MUD oozing down my legs. Suddenly someone started to count. ten. nine. eight. seven. six. five. four. three. two. one.ahhhhhhhhhh! I turned around and that s when I saw them - brown, slimy, gooey swamp monsters ahhhhhhhhh!! Oh wait.that s just the parents. One by one they lifted us off our feet straight head first in the MUD. All I could hear was I'm coming to get you Ahhh.no.not the hair, not the hair plonk into the MUD I ran for my hair. I grabbed a hold of the tree trunk holding it tightly with both hands and pulled myself up NO NO! I shouted at the very top of my voice. Wolfpack by Lucy Jakicevich Crunch!... Crunch! That was the sound of our shoes going along the rock path in the night. What were we doing? Well, we were playing the game wolf pack were we got split into teams and howl. When the other team howled we would know if they were close or far away. When one group found the other they would shout WOLFPACK! Our group was walking along the steep driveway, the trees loomed over us like dark, scary monsters. We decided to go down a steep hill where there was cover from the trees. We were trudging down when I slipped and the silence was broken, oops! We all started crashing on top of each other, man that hill was steep! We were creeping ever so silently, making sure that no one shone their torches so the other team wouldn t see us. Cautiously we went down a track that was covered in gorse! Ouch! I got pricked over 100 times! (well it felt like that). We turned a corner then... a bright light and the sound of the other team shouting WOLFPACK!!!!!!

7 Page 7 KAPA HAKA WĀNANGA: Friday 20 - Sunday 22 March, 2015 Te Whānau o te Kura Pomapārie Upcoming Events for Māori Whānau Monday 4 May, 2015 Meeting: pm, College Staffroom Next meeting has been changed to the above date. There wil be an opportunity to meet with Mr Stanton and discuss goals for the Māori students of the College. Te Wairua o Pomapārie Upcoming Events for Kapa Haka Wednesday 1 April, 2015 Tai Tokerau Festival Performance: 1.30pm, Ōpōnoni Area School Our second wānanga was very successful and wouldn t have been possible without the support of our whānau. Ngā mihi nui.