In my Commissioning service, back in January, I referred to the ‘Parable of Talents’ from Mathew's Gospel Chapter 25, and the importance of each and every one of us maximizing our talents and abilities in our lives.
In last year’s Scholarship examinations, St Paul’s saw the positive manner in which many of their senior students were able to gain recognition for their drive and determination in the nations most demanding and challenging academic benchmark examinations. Twelve of our Year 13 students gained a subject scholarship, with Hayden Gutry (four scholarships including one outstanding), John Scott-Jones (three scholarships), and Jennifer Jin (two scholarships including one outstanding), being the best St Paul’s performers. When you consider that each of these students sat a number of three-hour scholarship papers in addition to their five NCEA Level 3 examinations, competing against New Zealand’s brightest and best students, their achievements deserve our praise and respect. Each of the scholarship successes enjoyed by our St Paul’s students wasn’t achieved without considerable sacrifice, hard work, self-discipline and extraordinary high levels of motivation.
Access to a tertiary institution can no longer be regarded as a right, but instead should be viewed as an opportunity, which is possible if you are prepared to work for it. In recent years, Auckland University has restricted entry to its courses, by ranking the students on their “best eighty credits in their NCEA Level 3 certificate”. In 2011, Victoria University will also use these criteria to determine entry and it is highly likely that other universities will soon follow suit. Ham-strung by funding restrictions, universities can no longer accept all of the students who apply who have gained the old ‘tertiary entrance’ requirements (i.e. 42 credits at NCEA Level 3). It is no longer so much the number of credits students receive, but the quality of the grades that is important – the number of Merits and Excellences that they are able to gain for their Achievement Standards.
The same pressure is on Year 12 students. Entry into Halls of Residence is dependent on one’s NCEA Level 2/Cambridge AS results. Many of the Halls are significantly over subscribed, with universities/polytechnics struggling to place all the applicants in accommodation close to their tertiary institution. It is vital that our sixth form students strive for their ‘Personal Best’ in completing their internal and external assessments, if they want the best possible chance of gaining entry into their preferred hostel.
The number one focus of any St Paul’s Collegiate School student is their academic studies. Involvement in co-curricular activities – sport, cultural activities, leadership, Christian Dimension – is a crucial part of St Paul’s aim of developing well-rounded and secondary school grounded graduates. But these co-curricular activities must be balanced by a full commitment to class work, homework, and internal assessment. Time management, prioritising tasks, and personal organisation are crucial life skills that not only determine one’s success at school but also later in life.
G W Lander
Headmaster