Star Board Term One Week Nine

Principal's Message

Kia Ora Koutou

I find this period of Easter celebration sombre but important. As a faith-based school we celebrate Easter which begins with Good Friday. On this day we remember the day Jesus willingly suffered and died by crucifixion as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. Easter follows it, the glorious celebration of the day Jesus was raised from the dead, heralding his victory over sin and death, and pointing ahead to a future resurrection for all who are united to him by faith.

Wanted: One trumpeter

Our trumpeter has moved on to university and we are looking for someone kind enough to play the Last Post and Reveille for our ANZAC Service at 8.10 on Wednesday 1 May - the first Wednesday back at school after the holidays.

If you play the trumpet yourself, or you know of someone who does and would be willing to play for our service, could you please get in touch with Mr Clarke by emailing tim.clarke@trintiyschools.nz

Ikura | Manaakitia te whare tangata: Period products in schools extended

When our school does grocery drives for those in need in our community, we ask for the donation of period products because they are considered ‘luxury’ items. In some households, period poverty is a real issue and young women absent themselves from school whilst they are menstruating because the grocery bill cannot stretch to the provision of pads and the like for what we here sometimes take for granted every month.

When access to free period products was made available to state and state integrated schools, I jumped on this for our school.

Our access to products is not necessarily a barrier but I believe I join many others in the hope that his scheme eliminates the idea that periods are "taboo’’. We did not talk about it back in the day and there was a sense of whakama that went with it.

It is 2024 and we need to continue to acknowledge the fact that 50 percent of our population menstruate. And why should we have to pay to be women.

It is with gratitude to have the fabulous news to read that the government has put aside $2.9 million to continue providing period products in schools.

The scheme is a continuation of the one put in place in June 2021 by the Labour government and is expected to benefit up to 200,000 students.

I agree as do my colleagues and our students with a comment made that “Continuing the funding”, particularly for those in greater need is a “matter of dignity, and it meant girls would not have to miss school because they did not have the access to period products.”

"For too long, periods have not been discussed openly. It's important conversations around our bodies are normalised, and part of this means ensuring young women can access the products they need, without feeling embarrassed."

Wairarapa Kitchen Tour - Friends of St Matthew’s

Massive thanks to all involved in this but particular thanks to the committee for the planning, organisation, and fun times.

Have a safe Easter and we will see you all back in school on Wednesday April 3rd.

Ngā Mihi

Kiri

Boarding Note

During the holiday breaks boarding staff put a great deal of thought into room allocation in both boarding houses. Each term girls can put in room requests of where they would like to go and who they would like to room with, but as you will appreciate not everyone gets what they want.

This was one note that I thought was worth sharing from two of our younger boarders-

Important information for boarders and their whanau-

• The boarding houses open at 7pm next Tuesday. There is a small number of students returning on the Palmerston North bus on Tuesday slightly earlier, but only those boarders are to be in before 7pm. Thank you.
• Boarding interviews are available after Easter as part of the Parent Teacher Interviews on Wednesday and Friday afternoon. Please book a time if you would like to come and have a chat. Likewise, if you are parents of a daygirl and you want to know more about boarding, please feel free to book a time.
• On the last Thursday of every term, we have a special “Boarders End of Term Dinner.” If your daughter is a part timer who does not usually board on a Thursday but she would like to attend the dinner please email jo.booth@trinityschools.nz about either staying an extra night in Week 11 or switching nights as a one off for this important boarding event.
• At the end of each term all students are required to take all their belonging’s home. This is so we can make sure all rooms are thoroughly cleaned before the girls return for Term 2.

Happy Easter everyone.

Jo

Equestrian

Congratulations to all our St Matthew's Equestrian team who competed yesterday. St Matthew's had a THREEPEAT (thanks Helen) with our team of Briar Wilkinson, Emily McMaster, Zahara Winyard and Lily Butler taking St Matthew's to the overall win at the Nga Tawa Interschool Showjumping Event for the third year in a row. Alice Bourke, Maddy Heathcote and Briar on her second horse rode superbly as well.

Cricket

Congratulations to the St Matthew’s Collegiate 1st Xl Cricket team who were runners up at the Gillette Venus Qualifying Championships in Palmerston North yesterday.

The team had a great win in the first game against Woodford House but sadly went down in the final to a very strong Palmerston North Girls High School team.

The conditions were very testing which made for a tough day of cricket but the team did incredibly well securing the silver medals.