On Friday 18 June, we celebrated our school's Feast Day.  It had been raining in the morning and we were all glad to be nice and warm in St Patrick's Church.  Virginia began the Mass by explaining the origins of the day and why we celebrate.  We then proceeded to pray and sing in honour of the special occasion.  Sister Colleen led us through a cheerful rendition of "My Life Is In You, Lord".  This Mass displayed a great sense of Special Character in our school community and it was good to have parents, friends, past pupils and other schools there to celebrate with us.  It  stopped raining, so we were able to walk back to school without getting wet.  For the Year 13's, this was a sad time as we realised this was our last ever Mass at St Patrick's in our school life.
When we arrived back at school, we went to our form rooms where each class was assigned children from Fairhaven school.  We played games on the top court and even had "pass the parcel".  From there we went back to our classes for a shared lunch, then we started getting ready for our afternoon of performing.   The afternoon was filled with songs, dances and drama acts ranging from a World Idol skit, a Heaven/Hell showdown, a flashback to the '80's with "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" - not to mention the teachers' extremely entertaining tribute to Abba.  It was a great afternoon and the Fairhaven children had a lot of fun dancing with us and joining in with our acts.  Awards were handed out this year with 10WG receiving Best Singing and 9ML Best Drama.  Thank you to everyone who contributed to make this year's Feast Day a memorable one.
Thoughts by Sinead Carroll (13BN) and Brigid Neilson (13WS)

Can you spot who they all are?  - Some of our students couldn't!!!

Mmmm!  Our Judges had a really hard time choosing the winners.

Dear Parents and Caregivers,
As we come to the end of Term 2, thank you for your support during a very busy term.  Students and staff are ready for a well earned break.  There will be an opportunity to see some of the cultural highlights from the year so far at the Arts Festival on 12 August in the Century Theatre.
It is very important to maintain good communication between parents and the school so that together we can support your daughters to achieve excellent results.  Please note the Parent Interview details later in the newsletter--including the Hastings venue.  Now is the time to help your daughter reassess goals and plan strategies for the final part of the year.  For senior students, the key for NCEA is to aim to achieve every credit available at the highest level.  Able students should be striving to achieve with excellence.
There is another opportunity for youth of the area to celebrate together at the next Youth Mass which will be held on 11 July at 5pm at St Mary's in Taradale.  I also urge anyone interested in confirmation this year to contact your local Parishes now as programmes begin early next term.
The wonderful Sacred Heart Spirit is evident in so many ways--at our  Eucharist celebrated by Father Anthony Ford on Sacred Heart Feast Day and at the fun activities with Fairhaven students that followed, at the Mission Cup Netball Tournament over Queen's Birthday weekend and at the P.T.A. working bee held recently.  The school is in good heart and enrolments for 2005 are looking very promising.
We wish our students a good holiday and hope that they return refreshed for a productive second half of the year on Tuesday, July 20.

God bless
Monica Johnson, Principal

(Back row) Tony Parker (Chair), Terry Marshall, Fiona McElroy, Susan Doohan, Mike O'Malley, Monica Johnson (Principal), Kathy Te-Ripo (Hostel Manager), Ruth Harding (Student Rep), Gary Dickinson, Greg Taylor
(Front row) Hemi Panapa, Lynda Pipe (Minute Secretary), Tania Pattison

Members of our Marian Choir singing the Psalm at Mass

Student Achievement … It is very important to us at Sacred Heart College that our students attain the very best qualifications that they are capable of achieving.  We are responsible for making sure that your daughters are well taught and that this school provides a learning environment that is conducive to their achieving at the highest standard.  The parents' and caregivers' responsibility is to ensure that the students attend achool regularly and on time, do their homework and are supported in their learning.  It is important that parents monitor the amount of time that students have to do homework.  Spending long periods of time watching television means that their school work is not being done.  Sometimes it is hard for students to be motivated to do their homework.  It may help if you as a parent sit down and ask questions and give some assistance to start them off and check back at various times during the homework session.  Creating interest and communication between parent and child can make the difference as to whether they feel striving for excellence is a worthwhile thing to do.
As students move through into the senior school there is sometimes a dilemma between having a job to raise money to get the funds to go to further education and having enough time to do homework.  If your daughter gets behind by not putting enough time into homework it can be very difficult to catch up.
Research shows that having high expectations of your daughter is one of the most  motivating influences you can have on her education.  Supporting her through the times when it is hard to stay focussed will reap rewards in the future.
Together, school, family and the student, have a winning opportunity when we all work together to make sure that success will occur.

Our Marian Choir took part in this year's New Zealand Secondary Schools' Choral Festival "The Big Sing" --East Coast Regionals--on Thursday, 3 June.   
During the day, our girls competed against 21 choirs from around the region under the watchful eye of Commentator, Robert Wiremu.  All choirs were required to perform three songs, one of which had to be a New Zealand composition.  Our choir performed "Pie Jesu", "The Lord is my Shepherd" and "My Girl".  This was capped off with an evening concert where each choir performed one of their repertoire and awards were handed out. 
We felt very proud of our girls. Under the direction of Mr Lundall, they performed beautifully.

This was held over the weekend of 18, 19 and 20 June at the Century Theatre.
This year we had 15 of our girls performing in five woodwind and string groups, plus, for the first time, we entered a brass quartet. 

Helena Brown, Maggie Johnson, Jerome Brown, Rachel Doohan, Kate O'Malley

Rachel Doohan, Brooke Soole, Stephanie Brenchley

Rosalie West, Lucy Whitlow, Meg Whitlow, Kali West

Sarah Mills, Charday Wooten-Lane, Helena Brown

Laura McElroy, Ana Severinsen, Kjerstine Severinsen

Our P.T.A. had another working bee on Saturday 13 to finish off the seats.  Many thanks to those who whirled a paintbrush and drove their sanders well for this day.
We are planning another Trivial Pursuits evening in August, so start thinking about getting your teams together for this great night of fun and frivolity.  A flyer will be coming home with your daughter. 
Two more working bees planned for Saturday, 3 July and Saturday, 24 July. 2.00-4.00pm. Next PTA meeting is 30 June, 7.30pm --all welcome.
You can contact me any time on 027 5111.935 or email me at gazel.makea@tremain.co.nz
Regards--Gazel, Chairperson

On Wednesday, 16 June it was Support Staff Day.  All our Support Staff were treated to a lovely morning tea and then a group attended the dinner at the RSA Club in Hastings in the evening.  Their guest speaker was Dr Lauren Roche.  The previous week, Carol Murphy and Mary-Anne Macintosh-Wright attended the Support Staff Conference at the War Memorial Conference Centre.

Playing Sport is a Valuable Experience for Students…
Winter team sports are now in full swing and a large number of Sacred Heart students are involved in a variety of codes.  The participation level is high with ten netball teams, two soccer teams, two hockey teams, three badminton teams, one basketball team and three canoe polo teams running at the moment.
Those of us who coach, manage or are involved in sports teams know the value of the activity and recognise the special relationships that can be developed between student and teacher and/or parent outside the classroom/home situation.  Research clearly shows that students who are active in extra-curricular activities are much more likely to succeed academically than those who are not involved.

The Mission Cup netball tournament was held over Queen's Birthday weekend at St Joseph's Maori Girls' College.  It went extremely well and had a great atmosphere.
Sacred Heart College Hamilton won the Mission Cup in a very close competition.  Our team was third--one point behind St Joseph's.

What is not always appreciated is the huge level of support needed for these students to become successful.  This support is essential if the young person is to be able to sustain the commitment needed to be part of a team.
We always appreciate the support of parents/caregivers in many ways;  prompt payment of fees, assistance with transport, positive cheering on the sideline etc.  Our student coaches certainly need, and appreciate, all the parental support they can get.  We know that community support will enable these students to get involved and all the positive outcomes from participating in sport will naturally follow.
Sue Wakeling,

HOD Physical Education

Report Covers:  These were  issued with the interim reports at the end of Term 1.  Full reports should be placed in this cover.

Earlier this year, elections were held for new BOT members.  Our Board was lucky enough to retain some very experienced people who in the past two and a half years have helped guide the school into a position today where roll growth is very positive, staffing is stable and the school is a great place to be.  We also welcome three new members to the BOT;  Gary Dickinson and Greg Taylor who are parent elected reps, and Mike O'Malley who is a Proprietor's rep.
The BOT has gone through some reorganisation of subcommittees and now has only two--Finance and Buildings which is chaired by Fiona McElroy and Operations which has Susan Doohan as its Chair.  The Finance and Buildings Committee is at present involved in a couple of projects.  These are a development in the gym, a refurbishment of the Caretaker's shed into a Learning Support Centre and the subsequent relocation of the Caretaker.  Also during the holidays the netting on the netball courts will be replaced.  The Operations Committee is at present revamping some of the school policies that are due for review.
The on-going work that is involved in replacing the school Chapel continues.  At present there is a committee of interested parties from BOT, PTA and the Mission Trust Board.  This committee is investigating various options regarding plans and sites.
Finally, should there be any issues that you want to discuss with any member of the BOT please feel free to contact us.
Tony Parker -BOT Chairperson

Well done … to Kiley Hikawai who travelled to Adelaide and captained the Under 21 N.Z. Maori Secondary School's Netball team.  They came home with a bronze medal and Kiley was chosen as player of the tournament.

We are looking for a caring Catholic family to provide a homestay for a German Exchange Student from the Black Forest Region who loves animals and outdoor life.
We require a home for her for Term 4 of this year and Term 1 and 2 of 2005.  The normal homestay fee will be paid.
If you are able to help, please contact Carol Murphy at school or on her home phone number--835.0762.

Reminder… Fees for National Qualifications (NCEA) will soon be payable.
The majority of all Year 11, 12 and 13 students will be charged $150, unless you qualify for financial assistance (I.e. have more than one child undertaking these qualifications in 2004, receive a benefit, or have a joint family income below the threshold for a Community Services Card). 
The final date for financial assistance applications is 31 August 2004.  Please ask for an application form as soon as possible, as this may reduce fees payable to as little as $20.
You will receive an account early in Term 3 and the school must receive full payment before 31 August to avoid penalties.

On Friday 11 June and Monday 14 June, our annual school Academic Challenge was held.  All classes participated in the Junior or Senior sections.  There were a variety of questions and the contestants were given twenty seconds to answer each question.
All teams performed very well--the winners from the Junior Challenge were Elizabeth Woolhouse, Morgan Pedersen, Sarah Portas from 10YG and the Seniors were Kelle-Lee Connolly, Virginia Walsh and Rosie Parker-Bevin from 13WS.
The next event will be on June 30.  Sacred Heart will be hosting the inter-school challenge with St John's College.  Five students from both the Junior and Senior school will compete.  We wish those students competing, the best of luck.