Principal's Message
Kia Ora Koutou e te whanau
You will recall that invited speakers to our school this year both remarked about the safety created for you as parents and for you our students of jointly being engaged in your social media lives. I extend that same invitation to the reading of the Newsletter. Some of what I write is about information, process, policy, and the like. However, there are occasions where I want to share musings that I hope uplift and grow us all.
A Pillow full of Feathers
I have given you a link that tells a wise story that reminds us ‘once a rumour, a gossipy story, a ‘secret,’ leaves your mouth, you do not know where it ends up. It flies on the wings of the wind, and you can never get it back!”
A Pillow Full of Feathers - Chabad.org
Celebrating the positive
This week Chaplain Wendy’s chapel messages considered our school values and how we connect them with our ‘gem’ jar. The concept of the Gems is about giving recognition in a tangible form, the coloured gems, to students when they are doing the right thing or living and breathing the school’s values.
Borrowing the words of a staff member who said that “just of late we have had a bit too much negativity”. Clear consequences have been meted out to a small number (and justifiably so) for not adhering to expectations regarding “vaping and… being unkind out of school.” She continued to say, “I remind myself there are a lot better [things] out there and I can give back to the girls by rewarding them with a little piece of plastic – a gem.”
Over the course of a day, negative and positive things inevitably happen to you. Sometimes we focus mainly, or even exclusively, on negative experiences. They are what we ruminate over, what we talk to our friends about, what we talk about when we get home. It sometimes feels good to talk about the negatives — it feels therapeutic. But if you understand Yin and Yang, or complementing principles, then there is a benefit to flipping the thoughts and changing the ruminations to positives ones.
It does have an element of being a Pollyanna, a person characterized by irrepressible optimism and a tendency to find good in everything. However, life can be about finding something to be glad about in every situation, no matter how bleak it may seem.
If I look inward, I can say that while having the privilege to care for Tony Gill, his greatest sadness was the rapid decline of his mobility. Rather than railing against the world that he could not walk he instead found something to be glad about when he with incredible joy welcomed the introduction into his daily life, of at first crutches and then latterly a walker; a seeming negative made into a positive. Who were we to feel the world was against us when a positive inspiration like Tony slapped us back into a more positive view of life. Focusing on the positive is not the magic antidote, but it is a darn sight better than the alternative.
The laughter of your daughters, the mass gatherings on the trampolines (fundraising note that we might need a new one soon), the four-square fun at Senior College, the joy from Primary Yellow at a game well played, the elation with Hokonui recognitions, the smiles of victory from our 1st XI Hockey at winning the Manawatu competition, the celebration of playing a great game even though you lost, and so many more examples- these are thoughts we should give time to ruminating over.
Policies Review
As per the App please take the time to go into the school’s policy cache on Schooldocs to review the Inclusive Education and Māori Educational Success policies.
Have a safe weekend.
Ngā Mihi
Kiri
Around School
Boarding Note
This photo was taken last week when we had a boarders trip to the Barbie movie for those who were keen to see it for the first, second or third time! Regardless of what the movie had been, the girls really enjoyed a trip out and the chance to relax at the movies. Thanks to Katie Woodcock for the suggestion, and to Mrs Keats for her organisation.
This week we had a “How well do we know our boarding staff” quiz, where boarders had to match photos of our boarding staff with their information sheet. Well done to all boarders who tried to solve the quiz. Below left to right: Sophie Herrick, Grace Jaspers, Poppy Tatham who were some of the girls who took part.
Have a great weekend.
Jo
Matharapa
This week teams from years 8, 9 and 10 all took part in the annual Matharapa contest. Teams worked hard to answer multiple choice questions and harder problem solving questions. The girls had fun and congratulations go to the Year 10 team of Isabelle Lynn, Evelyn Renil and Brianna Benkie who came fourth overall in their year group.
Well done to all the girls who took part.
Hockey
Our 1st XI Hockey team won the Manawatu Intercity 1 Hockey comp last night. It was an amazingly tense and tight game - at full time it was tied at 1 all, which led to a penalty shoot out which also ended in a draw, which was then followed by sudden death shoot out which we won 5-4!!
Netball
A massive congratulations to our Primary Yellow team who were all smiles after winning Grade 4 for the season!
Squash
St Matthew's entered a strong team in the Wellington Squash Tournament held earlier this week. Sophie Sweeney placed third in the Open Division. Johanna de Groot won her division from her 5th seed position - a great effort. Eden McCreary, Pheobe Goodman and Samantha Campbell also competed in this division.
St Matthew's Old Girl news
Old girl Hannah Maunsell (class of 2020) was selected to feature in a University of Canterbury promotional video. This is Hannah’s final year at UC and she has already secured an exciting full time job in Auckland, chemical formulating with leading skincare company Emma Lewisham.
Girls Who Grow
Girls who Grow was born out of a weekend at Lake Hawea Station where we took industry leaders, entrepreneurs and visionaries away to NZ's only Climate Positive Farm to curate a program for our next generation of female leaders, change makers and environmental guardians in agriculture and farming.
Girls who Grow was born out of a weekend at Lake Hawea Station where we took industry leaders, entrepreneurs and visionaries away to NZ's only Climate Positive Farm to curate a program for our next generation of female leaders, change makers and environmental guardians in agriculture and farming.
In September last year, we were grateful for the opportunity to join CreativeHQ's GovTech Accelerator to dig deep into the problem we were working to solve and design a solution to spark the imaginations of young women all over New Zealand by changing the narrative aligned to food and fashion and how they could be part of the solution. We presented Girls who Grow at The Beehive in December and have been activating our pilot program in Otago this year.
The work of Girls who Grow is activated through Imagination Centred Workshops in Colleges across New Zealand, 1 day Imagination Challenges working on real world problems, On farm Lunch and Learn educational experiences bringing the Future Farmers NZ manifesto to life and 3 day immersions to connect young women and their parents to the land to craft out a meaningful and values aligned pathway.
So here is where we need your support
Girls who Grow will be live on One Good Kiwi launching today (Tuesday 1st August) for the entire month giving us the opportunity to secure further funding to be able to continue our work in Otago, Wellington and the Greater Wellington region, Christchurch and Canterbury in 2024.
We are on a mission to engage thousands of young women, activate scholarships to support them on their journey and create meaningful education that aligns to Climate Positive Agriculture and farming in New Zealand.
So we would love your support in 3 steps
- Download One Good Kiwi from the App Store or Google Play
- Give your luscious green coins to Girls who Grow and other projects you connect with on the platform
- Share the experience across your social media, office intranet, friends, family and others in your network that know the importance of nourishing the hearts and minds of our next generation of leaders.
One Good Kiwi are giving everyday kiwi's the chance to give to the things that are important t them with $1.2 million contributed over the next 12 months.
Thanks for your support and we look forward to you being part of our journey
Catherine van der Meulen & Aimee Blake - co-founders of Girls who Grow
School App
If you are new to St Matthew's Collegiate, or have yet to download, please follow the link to install our school app https://schoolappsnz.co.nz/install
For current families, please update your subscription groups by clicking on the cog in the top right hand of the screen. It will take you to the groups for you to change.
Key Dates
- Saturday 19th August - Senior College Dinner Dance
- Thursday 24th August - Year/Sport/Cultural photos
- Sunday 27th August - Cooper House Chapel
- Saturday 2nd September - Exeat
- Sunday 3rd September - Exeat
- Sunday 10th September - Sheppard House Chapel
- Thursday 21st September - House Music event
- Monday 9th - Friday 13th October - Y11 Derived Grade Exams
- Saturday 21st October - Exeat
- Sunday 22nd October - Exeat
- Monday 23rd October - Labour Day public holiday
- Sunday 29th October - Wake House Chapel
- Thursday 2nd November - Last day for Y11-13
- Thursday 2nd November - Senior College Prize Giving
- Monday 6th November - NZQA Exams begin
- Saturday 2nd December - End of Year Prize Giving
2023 Term Dates
- Term Three - Monday 17th July - Friday 22nd September
- Term Four - Monday 9th October to Saturday 2nd December