Dear Parents and families,

Founder's Day

Friday 2nd June 2006

St John Baptist de La Salle

Wishing everyone a very Happy Founder's Day.

Live Jesus in our hearts, forever!

 

Anzac Ceremony

The spirit and tradition of ANZAC Day were celebrated with a full School Commemorative Service on Friday 5 May.   The service, led by our Prefects and a group of Junior students, began with a procession of the New Zealand flag.   This was followed by a reading of the events of the landing at   Gallipoli Cove on what was to become the first ANZAC Day.   A reflective song, 'Sons of Gallipoli” accompanied by a series of images of ANZAC Cove during World War One and today, undoubtedly touched the hearts of all those present.    Congratulations to everyone who contributed in making this a solemn and significant occasion.   In particular, we thank Mr Mustchin who prepared the readings for our ceremony, Mrs Connolly for the powerpoint presentations, and the Music Department.   As we remember the sacrifices made by New Zealand soldiers for freedom, let us not forget those people who are still suffering the effects of war throughout the world.

 

National Certificate of Educational Achievement 2005

With the confirmed results of the 2005 NCEA being released in early May, it is now opportune to make some comment on College performance. The achievements of the 2005 NCEA Level 3 class were significantly above expectation. This is a credit to the students, whose hard work across the last three years has borne fruit in unexpected abundance. It is also a credit to their teachers, who have taught and guided them, who have supported and encouraged them throughout their time at the College.

The table below shows the percentage of students in each of Levels 1, 2 and 3 who have achieved the NCEA at that level. Our results are compared with all schools, with Decile 8 schools and with schools within the area. It is disappointing that at the time of publishing this report no comparative statistics have been made available by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.

 

In order to obtain NCEA level one, students must attain a minimum number of 80 credits at Level 1 NCEA, and must also meet literacy and numeracy requirements.

 

In order to attain University Entrance, students must gain sufficient credits at Level 3, and satisfy numeracy requirements at Level 1 and literacy requirements at Level 2.

 

FDMC Dux 2005 - Reuben Costello

Congratulations to Reuben Costello who is the College Dux for 2005.   Reuben has an impressive academic record and has maintained a remarkable consistency over the years.

 

NCEA Scholarship

¬?¬†¬†¬†¬†Nicholas Sidler gained a scholarship in Biology.

¬?¬†¬†¬†¬†Reuben Costello gained a scholarship in Statistics and Modelling

 

COLLEGE MERIT LIST

The top 20 students at levels 1, 2, and 3 are listed below along with the number of credits they attained:

NCEA LEVEL 3

 NCEA LEVEL 2

NCEA LEVEL 1

School Leaver Qualifications

Over the last few years the Ministry of Education has collated and published data on the level of qualifications held by school leavers for each secondary school. The following tables outline this information for FDMC:

The figures for 2005 remain within the normal range for the College.   The 1% leaving with no formal qualification is an excellent result and is in fact only one student.   This result is a reflection of how well the CPP programme is working within college.   Most students who are leaving to join the work force are doing so through our careers and transition system in a managed way, often taking with them credits in domains specific to their intended type of employment

 

'COLOURS' AWARDS

The awarding of 'Colours' to senior students has been a significant part of the recent history of the College.   During the early part of this year, a review of the criteria for the awarding of Colours was undertaken.   A significant change has been to simplify the Colours to four significant areas of College life – Academic, Service, Cultural and Sport.   Being amongst the top awards that the College can bestow, Colours are meant to recognise the efforts of those of our senior students who strive for and attain EXCELLENCE.   However, other than with academic achievement excellence on its own is not sufficient.   To be considered for Colours students must display elements of the three cornerstones of a Lasallian School – Faith, Service and Community.

 

How Colours will be awarded - A nomination process whereby a coach or teacher-in-charge will nominate a student, providing of the manner in which they have met the relevant criteria.   A Colours committee, will consider nominations and award Colours according to the agreed criteria The Colours Committee decisions will be final.

Academic Colours - This will be considered the pinnacle of Colours awarded.

• It will be awarded to up to and no more than 10 Year 13 students on the basis of the Grade Point attained in Level 2 NCEA.
• The 'cut-off' grade will be 70.
• Using grade point brings in numbers of excellences, merits, credits achieved.
• The Academic Colours will normally be awarded at the beginning of Term 1 of the College Year.

Service Colours - To be eligible for this award a student must:

• show in a variety of fields an unselfish commitment to serving others;
• actively support the Special Catholic Character of the College;
• take a significant leadership role in school based charity or service projects
• show a commitment to being a 'brother' to younger students within the College;
• show himself to be a role model to other students in terms of attendance, uniform and behaviour.

Normally the Service Award would be given to Year 13 students only.  

Cultural Colours - To be eligible for this award a student must:

• participate in a range of cultural (visual and performing arts) activities throughout his time at the College;
• reach an excellent standard in selected area
• actively co-operate with teachers and peers in the visual and performing arts
• represent the College in inter-school competition and/or public occasions
• provide support and leadership in the area especially as a senior student
• assist in the coaching of younger students involved in cultural events
• been a role model in practice and in performance as regards to things like attendance, uniform, behaviour

Sports Colours - To be eligible for this award a student must fulfil the following criteria:

• represent the College for at least four years in the nominated sport;
• been a member of the 'top' team for at least 2 years;
• demonstrate the highest levels of personal motivation and commitment;
• achieve representative honours at a interschool, regional level or New Zealand representative level;
• take an active role with peers or younger students in a coaching/managerial/mentor capacity on a regular basis (ie. at least one season);
• been an ambassador for the College on and off the field;
• been a role model in practice and in performance as regards to things like attendance, uniform, behaviour.

Live Jesus in our hearts, forever!

Br Peter, Principal

 

Please note :

Mid-Year Reports will be mailed home by Friday 30 June 2006.

Parent-Teacher Interviews will be held in the College Gym on Wednesday 26 July, 2006 @ 3.30 p.m. – 8.00 p.m.

 

 

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to Kane Barrett (Year 11) was selected as a member of the Under 17 New Zealand Rugby side.

Shane Rooyakkers recently nominated his friend Nigel through a radio promotion run by The Edge radio station which resulted in Nigel, his brother and father joining a group who visited the Gold Coast in Australia.   Well done Shane.

Congratulations to Brother Ollie, who had his 93^rd birthday on 20 May.

Congratulations to Chris Pearce (Year 8), Jason French (Year 9) and David Hills (Year 11), the Intermediate Dept, Junior Secondary, and Senior Secondary speech winners pictured with adjudicators Georgie Harding and Sarah Ashworth on Thursday night, 6 April.

 

 

SPORTS NEWS

FDMC Cross Country - This annual event was held on Friday 26 May – with one eye on the weather forecast.   The Year 7 and 8 boys started at 1pm, the Junior (under 14) boys at 1:30, the Intermediate A & B at 2pm and the Seniors (over 16) at 2:30pm.  

 

Cross-Country Results

YEAR 7

1. Thomas Doherty (L) - 13.11
2. Daniel Morris (B) - 13.21
3. Samuel Fastier (LS) - 13.40
4. Luke Hooper (L)
5. Joshua Smith (B)
6. Callum Bamber (B)
7. Adon Burkett (LS)
8. Lewis Berry (S)
9. Oliver Klupps (LS)
10. Jared Glentworth (S)

YEAR 8

1. Callum Stachurski (LS) - 12.43
2. Jamie Hareb (LS) - 12.44
3. John Paul Koenig (LS) - 12.53
4. Nick Sutton (S)
5. Daniel Osborne (S)
6. Nick Arnold (S)
7. Joe Clarke (B)
8. Caleb Ritai (LS)
9. Ryan Bishop (LS)
10. Joshua MacDonald (L)

JUNIOR

1. Lance Molyneaux (L) - 11.54
2. Stephen Kibby (L) - 12.11
3. Corey Furness (S) - 12.16
4. Jacob Gopperth (LS)
5. Christian McSweeney-Novak (B)
6. Tommy Death (B)
7. Simon Gray (LS)
8. Jordan Fleming (S)
9. Daniel Flynn (LS)
10. Troy Stevenson (S)

INTERMEDIATE B

1. Beauden Barrett (L) - 15.43
2. Edward Rawles (S) - 15.53
3. Jaden Hareb (LS) - 16.55
4. Jacob Blanks (B)
5. Dylan Dunlop-Barrett (L)
6. Tyler Maindonald (B)
7. Nicholas Cartwright (B)
8. Alexander O'Donnell (LS)
9. Thomas Hobbs (S)
10. Jared Crowley (L)

INTERMEDIATE A

1. Nathan Coombes (L) - 15.24
2. Adam Bridgeman (L) - 16.44
3. Russell Speirs (B) - 17.08
4. Luke Banks-Novak (L)
5. Max Williams (S)
6. Brad Dobson (S)
7. Michael O'Donnell (B)
8. Nicholas Henderson (LS)
9. Tomas Mosquera (S)
10. James Fastier (LS)

SENIOR

1. Gwylym Gibson (L) - 15.57
2. Ashley Reader-Noakes (S) - 16.07
3. Ashlee Kelly (S) - 16.58
4. Lachlan Whelan (B)
5. Isaac Trevis (LS)
6. Matthew Barnard (S)
7. Cain Ratahi (B)
8. David Freeman (S)
9. Leighton Gopperth (L)
10. Connor Landrigan (L)

 

TSS Triathlon - The TSS Triathlon Championships were held on Sunday 26 March at Ngamutu Beach.   The boys appreciated having a cooler, overcast day with little wind.   We had seven boys competing over the course, which included a 250 m swim in the harbour, cycling 10 km and then running 3 km to the finish.

Results were as follows:

Well done to all those boys.   The highlight was seeing Nathan Coombes take out the Senior Boys Event – a feat made all the more special by his having to push his bike for the last kilometre of the cycle stage after having a mechanical failure.

The following weekend, Nathan also competed in the Under 16 Division of the NZ Secondary Schools' Triathlon Championships, which were held at Lake Karapiro, near Cambridge.   This course consisted of a 500 m lake swim, a 16 km cycle leg and a 4 km run.   Nathan finished in 10th place, in a very closely fought race, where about 90 seconds covered the entire field.

Nathan was also selected for the New Zealand U19 Trans Tasman Challenge Team, which was to compete against Australia in a Triathlon held on the Gold Coast.   Unfortunately, the March 5th race day coincided with the arrival of a Hurricane and torrential rain with 150 km/hr wind gusts.   The cycle leg was cancelled and the race was shortened to a 750 m swim and 5 km run.   Nathan finished mid-field out of the 80 competitors in his race.

 

TSS Swimming sports - Once again our team of 12 boys acquitted themselves well at the Taranaki Secondary Schools' Swimming Meet in Stratford on 28 March.   The highlight was the Intermediate boys' medley team breaking the Taranaki record.   Dylan Dunlop-Barrett, Jared Grey, Edward Rawles and Luke Banks-Novak were in fine form taking out several other placings during the meet.

The results were:

100m Freestyle - Junior   - Drew Whitehead - 1^st,   Intermediate - Dylan Dunlop- Barrett - 3^rd, Senior - Greg Taylor 1^st

50m Backstroke - Intermediate - Jared Grey - 2^nd, Senior - Greg Taylor - 2^nd

50m Butterfly - Junior - Drew Whitehead - 2^nd, Intermediate - Dylan Dunlop-Barrett - 3^rd, Senior - Greg Taylor - 2^nd

50m Breaststroke - Intermediate - Edward Rawles - 3^rd

Medley Relay - Juniors 2^nd, Intermediate 1st – RECORD, Senior 2^nd

Freestyle Relay - Junior 1^st, Intermediate 2^nd, Senior 2^nd

 

CAREERS

Practical Education Institute - PEI are offering one student from each school the chance to receive 50% off their course fees when studying Hospitality, Travel & Tourism, Computing or Business Administration.   Call 0800 22 55 97 or check their website www.pei.ac.nz for further information.

 

www.in-transit.govt.nz - Life after school?    Visit this website for

• help in working out the job for you and how to get into it
• quick links to free online tools and advice on studying, training and work experience
• useful stuff on youth pay rates, employment rights, the jobs in demand, and more
• links to other sites and helpful information

WITT Open Day - Thursday 15 June - For more info contact Jessie O'Connor on 757 3100 or 0800 948 896 extn 8859 – j.oconnor@witt.ac.nz or check their website www.witt.ac.nz .

Lincoln University – Open Day Thursday 6 July - Students who cannot attend open day can arrange an independent visit to Lincoln by calling 0800 10 60 10 and talking to Rachel in Liaison.    Halls application forms will be available in August and due to be returned by 1 October.

Just add water - The water industry offers great career prospects for students who like the outdoors, have an appreciation of the environment and think that learning is more than just reading textbooks and sitting exams.   Water Industry Training offer a number of rewarding on-job training options, including Modern Apprenticeships, and advise that there is always demand for young people to enter the water industry.   They have relationships with employers who have vacancies for school leavers.

For further information contact Graeme Sawyer, Water Industry Manager, Water Industry Training, PO Box 10-383, The Terrace, Wellington - Freephone: 0800 Water IT (0800 928 374) - Tel: (04) 801 9443

Email: GraemeSawyer@waterit.ac.nz or check out their website www.waterit.ac.nz.

Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) Media Arts programmes - Contact details for further information about these interesting courses are as follows:   Student Enrolment and Information Centre, Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec), Private Bag 3036, Hamilton   Or : FREEPHONE: 0800 2 Wintec (0800 2 946 832)    

Ph: 07 838 6399     fax: 07 858 0246   Email: info@wintec.ac.nz     Web: www.wintec.ac.nz.   Or contact the schools directly:   School of Media Arts     Ph: 07 834 8888     ext: 8523 and    School of Communication     Ph: 07 834 8888     ext: 8464

University of Canterbury – Aurora Astronomy School – 3/7 July - A 5-day course held in conjunction with Mount John Observatory to allow students to learn more about astronomy, both theoretically and practically.   The course is free and is open to all Year 13 students who have an interest in astronomy or cosmology.   More info on www.outreach.canterbury.ac.nz, phone (03) 364 2178 or email outreach@cahterbury.ac.nz.

Get the best from your child's individual education plan - Parent to Parent NZ & Parents of Vision Impaired (NZ) are offering a free IEP Seminar for parents who have children with disabilities, health impairments and special needs.   The course will cover an overview of SE2000, the IEP process, the IEP meeting and document, the Parents' role.   The seminar will be held on 4 July 2006 @ 7.00 – 9.30 pm in the Craft Room of Taranaki Disabled Citizens Centre, 83 Hine Street.   If you would like to know more please freephone Parent to Parent NZ on 0508 236 236, Email: national@parent2parent.org.nz or www.parent2parent.org.nz

 

OUT AND ABOUT

Biology Class Field Trip - During March the Year 12 & 13 Biology classes went on their annual fieldtrips to prepare the students for their internal assessments on ecology.   The Year 12 class was taken to Egmont National Park to investigate wetland succession at the Potaemo swamp, stratification of lowland bush and altitudinal zonation on Mount Taranaki.   The Year 13 class visited Kawaroa Park to make a detailed study of the ecological niche of the intertidal shrimp.   Both classes were blessed with good weather on the day.   Ms Maclean, the laboratory technician, not only set up all the equipment for the students, but also accompanied both classes on their trips.

 

Francis Douglas @ Waka Ama Nationals - On Wednesday 26 April, 10 students went to Rotorua to compete in the Waka Ama Nationals.   The races were held over three days at the majestic Lake Okareka.   This was the first time the college has attended the competition so the focus was on participation rather than victory, however the teams were very competitive, improved with every race.   The senior team came 4th in the 250m plate final and our junior team is looking very promising for the future.   Congratulations guys, you represented the college and Taranaki very well.   Lets hope next year we can get 4 teams over to Rotorua.

The teams wish to acknowledge and thank the Health Promotion Unit for providing them with some cool shirts to promote the Smokefree/Auahi kore message.

 

O'Shea Shield - A team of FDMC boys went to Wellington during the weekend of 13/14 May to compete for the O'Shea Shield.   The boys acquitted themselves very well, and came home with cups for Debating (Shaun Butler, David Hills and Amrit Singh), Impromptu Speech (Shehan Gunatunga) and Junior Prepared Speech (Christian McSweeney-Novak).   Congratulations to all the boys who participated in the competition.

Team members: Jamie Barrett, Martin Barrientos, Shaun Butler, Seamus Doyle, Travis Graham, Kishan Gunatunga, Shehan Gunatunga, David Hills, Timothy Hills, Thomas Landrigan, Daniel Malili, Christian McSweeney-Novak, Scott Murphy, Amrit Preet Singh and Isaac Trevis.

 

Rugby Trip to Australia - A squad of 26 boys and seven adults went on a ten-day rugby tour to New South Wales in the Easter Holidays.   The team stayed at the Sydney Beach House Youth Hostel in Collaroy, just north of Manly.   The boys entertained all the guests with their group haka practices and the final team rendition on the Monday night.

On Tuesday we went to Hornsby for our first game against Barker College.   This was to prove to be our toughest game, with Barker not having lost in their competition for two years.   After a hard-fought game the final score was a loss to FDMC 7–12.

Thursday was our second game against the regional team South Coast Schools who had played the 2005 1^st   XV in New Plymouth.   The FDMC team won 26-7.  

On Saturday we had our third game at Camden Rugby Club against an Illawarra Under 17 and Camden combination.   The cohesion of a team on tour came good in this game, with the ref calling it off early when we were winning 57– 0.  

On Sunday we moved in to central Sydney.   Monday was sightseeing and shopping day with time for some quick photos in front of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

I would like to congratulate the boys on their excellent behaviour on tour and the way they represented the college and their families.   Also, a very big thank you to the management and wives: Chris Moller, Kevin and Gaye Bolstad, Keith and Karena Mawson and Sjaane Simpson for all the fantastic work they did to make it an enjoyable and successful tour.

Tour Squad: Daniel Walsh, Liam Coltman, Liam Richardson, Sam Connolly, Thomas Crowley, Ian Gray, Ethan Bolstad, John Julian, Wiremu McSeveny, Junior O'Brien, Willie Coulton, Kane Barrett, Rick McKenna, Brent Stevenson, Todd Curtis, Daniel Malili, Leighton Iwikau, Josh Barrett, Adam Warner, Michael Julian, Tim Gilmour, Jake Ward, Caleb Mawson, Brendon Walsh, Darryl McDavitt and Adam Bridgeman.

 Steve Simpson - Coach

 

 

Japan Trip - A group of 9 Japanese language students from Years 10-13, accompanied by Richard and Ruth Marris, undertook a 20- day trip to Japan in the April holidays.  

The students had been fundraising for the last 12 months.   Accommodation varied from a church hall in Tokyo to homestays in Hiroshima with one night in a hotel in Osaka (paid for by Air NZ) and two youth hostels in Kyoto and Osaka.  

Visits to Peace Park in Hiroshima, where the students left the origami cranes they had been making, travelling by bullet train, eating okonomiyaki (Japanese pancakes), going to various shrines and temples, eating at a sushi train, being shouted two wonderful Japanese dinners (one by ex-student Father Leo Schumacher) and the Universal Studios theme park were among the highlights of the trip.

 

NOTICES

Apologies to Teresa Bowe of Belt Road Seaside Holiday Park, who very kindly donated an accommodation voucher as a prize at the gala day.   Unfortunately Teresa was missed off our list of sponsors in the March newsletter.   Thanks for your support, Teresa.

 

P.T.A NEWS

CAN YOU HELP?   The PTA are looking for clean, dry, lockable, space.   We want to start storing items for the “White Elephant” stall next year.   Please call Wendy on 7573402 if you can help.

 

CALENDAR – TERM 2

JUNE 2006

 

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Apologies for the lack of photographs in this issue of the newsletter.  This is due to difficulties with our Web administrators who are working on correcting the problem.  As soon as this is sorted out, I will ensure that the images are uploaded for your info.  We have some great photos of the cross-country, Waka Ama and the Sydney trip, amongst others.

Fingers crossed it won't be too long.

Vivienne