Kōtui: School & Policy Updates - Term 4 Issue 1 2023 (NZCEO)

TĒNĀ KOUTOU KATOA: Editorial by Dr Kevin Shore, CEO

Kia ora koutou

I would like to thank the staff of our state integrated schools in Southland and Otago who offered manaaki to me as I toured the region during the week of 11 to 15 September.  The scenery was of course stunning and it was a pleasure to visit Queenstown, Wanaka, Alexandra, Gore, Winton, Nightcaps, Bluff, Invercargill, Balclutha, Milton, Mosgiel and Dunedin. The weather was a little testing at times but given the flooding and winds that have subsequently hit this area I had nothing to complain about. I also considered myself fortunate not to have a close encounter with the Queenstown gastro bug given my stay there at the beginning of the outbreak. I express my sympathies to any of our stakeholders who were negatively affected by the spring storms and hope that spring lifts its game in the weeks ahead.

Unfortunately, a lot of the primary state integrated school principals in the area were involved in the New Zealand Principals Federation conference in Queenstown while I was visiting their schools. However, I was grateful for the welcome I received from school staff as I made my way around in a series of unscheduled stops. I was most impressed by the staff and students I met and their pride in their communities was obvious. It was a privilege to see how these schools had used their EPMP funding and to see the students and staff benefiting from the projects that have been undertaken.

I hope to visit more state integrated schools in other areas of the country over the next twelve to eighteen months.

As I write this editorial, our teachers are returning from the school holidays. The staff at APIS want to express our gratitude for the work you continue to do in serving our wonderful students and their whanau and we hope that term four is a time of joy and success in your community.

Ngā manaakitanga

AIS Conference

The AIS conference in September was a wonderful opportunity to connect with our state integrated stakeholders and colleagues. Congratulations to Mark Larson, Rhonda Thorpe and the AIS Executive for putting together such a wonderful event. Mark was excited to see so many in attendance and, hopefully, participants enjoyed the superb range of workshops and speakers. It was fantastic to have Minister of Education, the Honourable Jan Tinetti, as the opening keynote and I acknowledge that she had to make a significant sacrifice to be in attendance as it was the first week of parliament being closed for the elections.

APIS would like to congratulate Sir Brother Pat Lynch, Graham Preston and Vaughan Darby on the honour of being awarded life membership to AIS at the conference dinner. All three men thoroughly deserve this honour given their years of service and significant contribution to the state integrated sector. While being humble in accepting this accolade, all three looked very appreciative of being honoured by their peers and it was lovely to be in attendance on such an occasion.

The Development of Video Resources on the History of the Integration Act (PSCIA, 1975)

This project continues to make pleasing progress. The first video which is a ten minute historical snapshot through one hundred and fifty years has now been narrated using the voice of Sonny Ngatai who is a former student of Hato Paora College and director at ATA, a Māori language promotion and production agency. CORE Education are now working to incorporate the graphic elements including the use of black and white through to colour to emphasise the changes in society over time.

A second video on special character is to be started in early November and APIS is still intending to interview two or three more individuals to ensure we have voices that reflect the wider sector.   

Essential Property Maintenance Package (EPMP)

Things are a little quiet on the EPMP front and Jenny Gordon and Karen Raitt are making every effort to contact proprietors who are still to make an application to transfer funding for their project. Please remember that projects must be completed by August 2024 and APIS does not want to have to return any unspent funds that could have benefitted our schools to the Ministry of Education. If you have any concerns at all, please contact our EPMP team using this email contact: apis.epmp@nzceo.org.nz

General Election 2023

With the voting opening for the General Election as I write this editorial, APIS is very aware that there could be significant changes to navigate over the next six months. As we do every election cycle, once a Government is announced APIS will provide a briefing paper to the incoming Minister of Education. The briefing paper outlines key data about the state integrated sector, our strategic goals and the issues and challenges that we wish to bring to the Governments attention. If there is a new Government, it is the first opportunity to develop a working relationship with the incoming Minister of Education. If a Government is returned it is also an opportunity to reset and further develop the relationship. 

Ngā mihi nui

Kevin Shore, Chief Executive Officer

NZCEO & Te Kupenga 2023 Symposium Series

You are warmly invited to participate in the final session of the NZCEO & Te Kupenga 2023 Symposium Series. You can join from the comfort of your office, staffroom or wherever you have access to the internet!

There are three sessions in the series, each focusing on one of the theological Te Rama Aroha: The Light of Love Cross Themes in the new Religious Education curriculum Tō Tātou Whakapono: Our Faith. The first in the series was held on 31 May. In this symposium, Fr Merv Duffy SM facilitated a discussion on Whakaaronui Wisdom. The second session was held on Wednesday 2, August 3. Rev. Dr. Gerard Aynsley facilitated a discussion on Tika Justice. The videos and PowerPoint presentations can be found here.

The third (and final) session in the series will be held on 22 November, 3.30-5.00 pm. In this symposium, Murray Adams (Spiritual Director, Diocese of Palmerston North) will facilitate a discussion on  Īnoi Prayer. Īnoi Prayer is part of every aspect of living a Christian life. It is a critical area of personal and communal spirituality and Pope Francis tells us it “is both a challenge and an adventure”. In prayer we listen to God, discern God’s will and give voice to our heart’s desires. We enter into relationship with God.

Please find a PDF flyer below to download and share for Session Three: Īnoi Prayer:

Catholic Education Convention 2024

The Catholic Education Convention 2024 will bring together Catholic educators, bishops, priests, school trustees and a range of others associated with our national Catholic education system.  The Convention will provide the opportunity to be strengthened by our sense of community and renewed in our sense of mission.  The following is a brief outline of what you need to know.

The Convention planning team have been busy uploading information to the convention website.  The latest update is the registration information which can be found here.  The team are working on the registration form and will update you when registrations are open. The website has information about the theme, venue and how to make the most of your stay in Wellington.

Convention website – the convention website is currently under construction and can be found here.  Bookmark it for easy access as we will be updating it on a regular basis. 

Convention theme - The theme of the Convention is: Tūhono Whakapono: Together, one faith community.  Find more information about the theme on the convention website.

Accommodation – we are working with the conference organisers to block book several hotels close to the venue.  You will be able book these hotels when you register.

Keynote speakers and seminars – there will be four keynote speakers, some international and some national.  There will also be a range of selected seminars under the themes of governance in a Catholic school, Catholic special character, RE and the wider curriculum and the Church today.   

Please save Wednesday 19 June – Friday 21 June 2024 in your diary.  Planning is currently underway with more information to follow on speakers, seminars and much, much more!

The Convention will be held at TSB Arena in Wellington.

NZCEO Leadership & Education Scholarships

Each year the New Zealand Catholic Education Office (NZCEO) makes a significant financial contribution to supporting the development of Catholic teachers in leadership and the teaching of Religious Education. The Board of NZCEO has generously allocated a limited fund to provide scholarships for teachers and aspiring leaders and those in leadership positions to undertake tertiary qualifications – in the main at post graduate level in support of our future Catholic leaders given their need to undertake qualifications in Catholic Leadership or Catholic special character including Theology and Religious Education.

These scholarships will be available again for 2024.

Further information about the application process can be found here.

The application form is available here.

Applications should be sent to Rosalie Connors (Manager, Special Character) at NZCEO: email r.connors@nzceo.org.nz by 28 February 2024.

Student Faith Engagement in School and Parish

This article shares the experiences of staff and students at Sacred Heart Girls College in New Plymouth, and Francis Douglas Memorial College. The two schools have a close relationship and share a common student faith engagement journey.

Sacred Heart Girls’ College and Francis Douglas Memorial College are our two secondary Catholic Colleges in New Plymouth. We both belong to the Catholic Parish of New Plymouth where there is active youth engagement.

Sacred Heart Girls College

Our Mission is to share our charism and faith, through acting in the footsteps of Christ. Our community outreach has been inspired and influenced by our connections to the Parish and the Mission Sisters. The Year 7 and 8 Sisters in Action group works alongside the Special Character Council in organising and running our annual Mission Market Day. This is a fun lunchtime of music performances, food and games, with all money raised donated to support current projects of the Mission Sisters.

Providing opportunities for youth to answer the call to active participation in the Church is key to the success of the Parish Confirmation Programme. The 2023 programme, run by our new Parish Youth Minister, Susilo Kentjana, saw an unprecedented number of young people affirming their faith. Most of the 76 confirmation candidates came from Sacred Heart and Francis Douglas. The junior leaders, also from our two schools, assisting Susilo were from the group confirmed last year. The programme has aided in supporting and enriching contemplation in our own individual expressions of Christianity.

In communion, we are able to celebrate our one shared faith. The student-led Special Character Council encourages students to participate in activities to strengthen the enjoyment of belonging to a faith community. The Ascend group provides a lunchtime community space for fun and enjoyment with a Catholic focus. From Ascend, the group brings students to attend the Parish’s Illumin8 Youth Group, held every Sunday evening after 5.30 Mass. Younger students are welcome to participate in a junior youth group, Shine. These three community spaces provide continuity between school and Parish and bring a real-life liveliness to our faith. From Illumin8 Youth Group, a youth band called ‘The Mustard Seeds’ has formed, and similarly, from Shine, ‘The Seedlings’. The Mustard Seeds are a group of musicians from both FDMC and SHGC, along with students from state secondary schools – allowing for further community outreach extending beyond the two Catholic schools. Through upbeat song, the bands have enlivened Sunday Masses and provide a deepened form of prayer and worship that speaks to both old and young.

The Illumin8 Youth Group also hosts a radio show called The Catholic Couch. This channel, run for youth by youth, and enabled by Access Radio Taranaki, explores “life’s big, small and sometimes ridiculous questions” enhancing faith engagement for young people in a way that is a more accessible medium. Episodes focus on topical local and national events seen through the lens of young Catholics. While we do not know the extent of this platform’s outreach, in fact, our small Parish could be influencing faith engagement in young people all over the world. Listen in through wherever you get your podcasts and join us on the couch for a chat!

Francis Douglas Memorial Colllege

At FDMC, we exemplify our values of Faith, Service and Community in all parts of our Catholic Lasallian Special Character. In our school and wider community, we’ve helped initiate, serve and facilitate various faith, service and community projects including but not limited to the Marfell Breakfast in Schools Programme, where every morning FDMC students serve breakfast to children at a community primary school close-by; the Warehouse Stocktake, where FDMC students serve until early hours in the morning doing inventory stock-taking to raise money for the St Vincent de Paul Society; the St Vincent de Paul Society’s Community Meals, where FDMC students volunteer to help out serving food and talking to people in the community. Additionally, for 2023, the FDMC Special Character Council have initiated and organised FDMC’s 1^st Charity Concert (FDMC CHARCON) which will take place on the 7^th of September with all funds raised being directly donated to the St Vincent de Paul Society.

Through our annual Mission Action Day (MAD), FDMC students and staff spend weeks finding “sponsors” in preparation for a walk/run that is meant to raise money for our brother school, La Salle Boys’ High School in Malkhanwala [LINK]. In previous years, we have raised funds for a water filtration system, a school driveway and various buildings and classrooms. For 2023, we plan to raise money for an assembly area and a hall conversion into two classrooms. It is clear that the students, staff and FDMC locally and internationally illustrate our school’s commitment to the core values of Faith, Service and Community.

Our senior leaders, with assistance from Susilo, run our junior youth group called Existence. This is a faith, fun filled time where brotherhood is evident. During this time they are encouraged to also join in with the Parish Youth Group, Shine, run for our younger rangatahi.

A highlight of the week is our Wednesday afternoon Mass. A Year group and Parishioners gather together to celebrate Mass in our school Chapel. This has led to students asking to receive the sacraments, especially when they see their older brothers commissioned as Eucharistic Ministers and serving in this role at Mass.

The student faith engagement journey at Francis Douglas Memorial College and Sacred heart Girls college begins with a combined Welcome Mass for new students at the beginning of each year. Our Special Character Leaders this year are Bethanie Luke and Gabriel Gerente, who joined with the Priest in giving the homily.

This year their homily focused on the wonderful journey that awaits them in their new schools:

Te Kahu o te Ora – A Consistent Ethic of Life

Reproduced from the NZ Catholic Newspaper

New Zealand’s Catholic bishops have updated and expanded for the 2020s an important 1997 document that inspires the active protection and promotion of all life. NZ Catholic Bishops Conference president Bishop Stephen Lowe, the Bishop of Auckland, said that the revised and expanded version of Te Kahu o te Ora – A Consistent Ethic of Life reminds us that all life is a gift of God. “This understanding of the sacredness of all life guides us in making decisions in regards to human life in all its stages, our care for the vulnerable and our care of the earth,” he said.

The document has been published on September 27 as a 56-page booklet, ahead of the annual Catholic Church celebration of Support Life Sunday on the weekend of October 7 and 8. This year’s Support Life Sunday theme – A Consistent Ethic of Life – is taken from the title of the revised document.

Bishop Lowe said that the revision of Te Kahu o te Ora is timely: “While traditional human life issues continue to need our attention, we are now facing many new problems, all interlinked. The key message of Te Kahu o te Ora is that everything is connected, whether it is life in the womb or the life of the Earth.”

The reference to “kahu” in the title is a rich image in tikanga Māori. Kahu can refer to a cape or garment, but it can also refer to the protective amniotic sac membrane that surrounds the embryo, then foetus, before birth – the first garment that each of us is gifted with in the womb.

Dr John Kleinsman, director of the bishops’ Nathaniel Centre for Bioethics, expressed delight with the document’s succinct overview of eight key moral areas, including a new section on information technology and artificial intelligence. “I can see this becoming an important resource for classrooms, school boards, marriage preparation, parish groups such as Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults; indeed anyone interested in what we Catholics believe and why,” Dr Kleinsman said.

“Often, people know what the Church teaches on a particular topic, but it can be challenging to have an open informed discussion with other family or friends about why. Te Kahu o te Ora provides a great summary of key points which can give people greater insights into Catholic thinking.”

Caritas update

The Caritas team greatly appreciates the support schools have provided throughout 2023, enabling us to work together towards a world free of poverty and injustice. It has been fantastic to see the amazing social justice initiatives undertaken by students to make the world a better place. Whether it has been responding to emergencies or taking part in Caritas events like YCC Day, Caritas Challenge, Social Justice Week or Caritas Justice Chats, it has been inspiring. On behalf of all the communities we work alongside, we offer our sincerest thanks.

As the year draws closer to an end, we start to look to 2024, and there are exciting plan in store for upcoming Caritas resources. The Caritas school resources for Lent 2024 will be available online towards the end of November and school packs will arrive with schools in the first week of December. This will assist with planning for next year and finding ways to incorporate Caritas stories and activities into teaching and learning. The theme for Lent 2024 is 'The Time is Now! Ko Tēnei tonu te Wā!' Each week of the Lenten period has a special focus around time (e.g. Time for Love) and there are easy to use resources that include Gospel stories, relevant activities, and new Caritas videos from different countries. Look out for these soon.

Graduate Diploma in Theology: Enrolment closing soon

Enrolment closes next week for the Bachelor of Divinity and the Graduate Diploma in Theology .

2025 Australian Catholic Education Conference

The 2025 Australian Catholic Education Conference (2025ACEC) will be hosted in Cairns from 20-22 August.

To be held at the newly-refurbished Cairns Convention Centre, around 1,500 Catholic educators, leaders, clergy, parents and others will come together to focus on the strategic vision and mission of Catholic education in Australia.

Over three days, the conference will feature a broad range of speakers, presentations and workshops in Catholic identity and mission, learning and teaching, leadership and governance, parent engagement and more.

For further information, click the link below:

Congratulations to New Principals

Our warm congratulations to the following new principals:

Christchurch Diocese

Paul Cartlidge at St Patrick's School, Waimate

Artificial turf and landscaping solutions from Teamturf

Teamturf has been working in partnership with NZCEO / APIS for around 14 months and over this period have worked with several schools within the state integrated sector. Teamturf have installed artificial grass surfacing in a variety of areas, ranging from school courts, to playgrounds, landscaping areas, courtyards and cricket wickets.

Just in time for budgeting purposes, Teamturf have put together some price indications for converting various areas within your school to artificial turf.

School Multi-use court - installing artificial turf over old asphalt courts -  from $30,000 + GST

This pricing is for a standard size existing asphalt or concrete court of 550sqm, which includes tennis and netball line markings and using our mid-range turf, suitable for primary through to intermediate school court areas. For secondary schools, or where hockey is a predominant sport, we recommend our top of the line Elite Coolplus surface. Check out our school multi-use page on our website.

Playground surfacing - base preparation, shockpad and turf (150sqm) from $40,000 + GST

Artificial turf is a safe, low maintenance replacement for bark or older playground surfaces.  This pricing indication applies for surfacing on either a new playground or replacement of existing surface on a mid-size school playground (approx 150sqm).  This includes our 35mm recycled proplay shockpad under the turf that provides a critical fall height of up to 2.1m, and includes the base preparation. Check out our playground page on our website to view some of our recent projects. 

Cricket wickets - 25m x 2.8m cricket wicket including the concrete base - from $18,000 + GST

Our 10mm cricket surface is manufactured using straight pile polypropylene yarn, and is  designed for high intensity use at all levels. This surface provides a grass surface with consistent pace and bounce for both batters and bowlers. This pricing is an approximate cost for a standard size 25m x 2.8m new cricket wicket (which includes construction of the  concrete base).  See our cricket page for more information.

Existing natural grass landscaping and courtyard areas  -  convert existing grass to artificial turf-150sqm from $25,500 + GST

Converting a natural grass area at a school that frequently turns muddy into an artificial grass area offers a practical solution for year-round use. The artificial grass not only eliminates the problem of mud and dust, but also provides a durable and low-maintenance surface that can be utilised by students and staff throughout the year.This price is for removal of the top layer of soil, base preparation and supply and installation of the chosen surface. 

Existing concrete or asphalt courtyard - convert concrete or old discoloured asphalt  to artificial turf - 250sqm from $17,000 + GST 

(Around the size of half a basketball court). By transforming an old, dull concrete courtyard into an artificial grass area, the school not only creates a visually appealing space but also provides a year-round recreational space for students. A range of colours are available in our COOLplay range, games and educational elements can also be incorporated within the turf using our signgrass items.