Dates: Tuesday 5th June 4-8pm & Thursday 7th June 4-8pm.
Book your interview times online here: http://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/
St Catherine’s College School code for 2012 is FLUT4
Open Day – Tuesday, 29 May 2012, 12.30pm-3.30pm
This is an opportunity for prospective students and their parents/caregivers to see the College in action. Enrolment packs for 2013 will be available, and applications will be accepted from this date.
On Wednesday the 9th of May we had two teams in the annual schools Cross Country Relay Championships. With the welcome return of Jean Kozyniak coming back from foot surgery, and in her first year as a senior girl we had to enter our best team in the senior grade. Josie Kozyniak and Laureen Duggan (still in the intermediate age group) were having there first race in a long time as they had both been doing a lot of swimming lately and our fourth runner was a promising year 9, Alex Langley. Sophie Burns, Ngiste and Birtukan made up a year 9 team but could only run the first 3 legs, nonetheless enjoyed the experience. So on a rainy afternoon, with a scratch team with three girls running in a higher grade and lots of questions to be answered. Had Jean recovered? how was Josie’s and Laureen’s running fitness? finally, could Alex handle the pressure?
The girls answered in the affirmative. Josie ran the first leg and carried the team into fourth place (fifth fastest time in senior girls that day). Laureen ran strongly to bring us up to third (tenth fastest time in seniors). Alex held the teams position (27th fastest time in senior’s and still a year 9) and Jean ran superbly (second fastest time) to scorch past St Mary’s and Wanganui Collegiate to give us a win by 30 seconds.
Congratulations girls a really gutsy effort and a Wellington title!
Gabrielle Armstrong-Scott – United World Colleges Scholarship winner
Year 12 student, Gabrielle Armstrong-Scott has recently reached new heights, being awarded the United World Colleges Scholarship for 2012. This very prestigious and sought-after scholarship will take Gabe away from New Zealand in August of this year, to Li Po Chun High School in Hong Kong, where she will study for two years, undertaking the International Baccalaureate exams before beginning her tertiary studies. Gabe is already well known as St Catherine’s and in the wider community for her career in international diving that culminated in representing New Zealand at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India. Gabe was, for some time, the New Zealand National Women’s Diving Champion. She was also voted Young Wellingtonian of the Year in 2010. Early last year Gabe gave up her competitive diving career to focus on her violin studies and her academic goals. She is a wonderful violinist and has been a member of the New Zealand National Youth Orchestra for the past two years. This year she has been the Leader of the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Orchestra, attending a week-long course in Christchurch in the last holidays.
In addition to these achievements, Gabe is an excellent scholar. She achieved NCEA Level One with Excellence last year, as well as gaining Level Two with Merit at the same time. Before she leaves for Hong Kong, Gabe will have achieved Level Two with Excellence and is setting her sights on completing Level Three, also striving for an Excellence Endorsement. Gabe has also represented St Catherine’s College for three years in the O’Shea Shield, winning the Junior Prepared Speech in 2010 and competing in the Oratory section both last year and this year. She has been the Junior Athletics Champion and has represented the school in athletics, football and dragon boating. In all, Gabe is an all-round champ!
The United World Colleges Scholarship is the latest of her great achievements. The United World College is an organisation of high schools established in 1962 with a goal of uniting people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. They offer an educational experience based on shared learning, collaboration and understanding, so that their students will become champions of world peace. There are 13 colleges worldwide, offering a two-year pre-university education, and most of the students at these school come from countries all over the globe. Gaining admission to a UWC school requires exceptional academic grades and proven skills, abilities and wide-ranging interest in world affairs. Many of the students are scholarship holders. This is the second time that St Catherine’s College has been successful in achieving a UWC Scholarship. A former pupil, Maddie Dai attended Li Po Chun High School in 2009 and she is now studying at Middlebury College in Vermont, USA, a university that specialises in Liberal Arts.
We wish Gabe all the very best as she prepares to take the plunge into her new school experience and know that it will provide her with an exceptional platform for the next stage of her education. Good luck, Gabe!
Drama Team – Sophie, Fatima, Patricia, Rita (back row) and Saasha and Sandi (front)
On Saturday 5th of May, 24 staff and students travelled to Wanganui to Cullinane College. Our team performed in the debating first on Saturday morning and won well against Sacred Hear Lower Hutt. The students had amazing skills to defend their moot, that was “that society values human life”. Next, we watched Petala enthrall the audience with her Impromptu speech on “Opening Doors”. It was lovely that her mum was able to be there to watch her win, as her mum’s shopping exploits featured so much in the speech. Our Junior Prepared Speech followed where Eva gave a speech on sibling rivalry, while her brother, Ollie, cheered her on.
Petala and her cup
Gabe’s Senior Oratory was impressive as she took us to the reality of the Jonestown mass suicides. Gabe enthralled her audience. Later that same day we performed the Drama, among 17 schools and were judged 1st. We were very excited!. On Sunday morning early, our Religious Questions team performed with flair and considerable expertise. The last, but not least member of the team was Lagi, who did Scripture Reading. Her unseen reading moved the audience to a standing ovation even though no applause was allowed.
Our final placing in the overall O’Shea Shield was 3rd which is an amazing feat considering that we are one of the smallest schools. The students were a credit to the school and we are very proud of the results.
Nera Tautau, a Year 11 student at St Catherine’s College, travelled to Auckland last weekend to participate in the National Finals of the Race Unity Speech Awards. She received high praise from the five judges in the Wellington regional finals for the excellent delivery and provocative content of her speech ‘A New Dawn’, looking at historical injustices with the 1970s dawn raids, and her solutions to systemic racism.
Nera is used to travelling, as she commutes every day from Porirua to St Catherine’s in Kilbirnie. She will be travelling even further afield in August when she and another St Catherine’s student, Sian Gregan, leave for a five-month exchange at a college in Arras, France.
“I don’t mind the long bus and train trips every day because I really love St Catherine’s,” says Nera. “It just keeps giving me fantastic opportunities.”
Mary Curran, St Catherine’s Principal, says that the whole school is incredibly proud of Nera’s success. “She’s just a fantastic young woman who grabs every chance with both hands. There are no limits to how far she can go.” The National Finals of the Race Unity Speech Awards was held in Auckland on 31 March to 1 April 2012.
Creativity Abounds
This happy little fellow was made by Danielle in Year 9 Materials (Textiles) Technology.
Everyone designed and made their own masterpieces which ranged from turtles, dogs and cats to dressmakers’ dummies decked out with draped fabric lace and flowers.
Artist, and former SCC student, Rosalie Jurczenko demonstrates the art of art
Thank you to all the students, parents, staff, Lions Club of Wellington Host members, businesses and friends who assisted with our recent Art, Craft and Ethnic Food Fair. We raised over $3000 which we will use to benefit the students.
Don’t forget that we can still earn some funds for the college via any purchase you make at Jo Luping Design Store in the Willis Street Village. When you buy something (it has a huge variety of gifts) say you are from St Catherine’s College, Kilbirnie, and they will donate 10% of the sale to the college. At the end of each month until 30 September 2012 they will tally the sales made and donate the 10% into our school funds. The store is at Shop 6, 142 Willis Street, Wellington.
Mr Mac shows how it's done
