Piper Issue 61 June 2017

June 2017

Introducing David Hodge, Head of Saint Kentigern

Contents Saint Kentigern Trust Board Chairman of the Trust Board: John Kernohan Head of Saint Kentigern: Mr David Hodge 130 Pakuranga Road, Pakuranga, 2010 PO Box 51060, Pakuranga Auckland 2140 Phone: 09-577 0720 Fax: 09-577 0736 Email: trust@saintkentigern.com Saint Kentigern College Principal Senior College: Mrs Suzanne Winthrop Principal Middle College: Mr Duncan McQueen 130 Pakuranga Road, Pakuranga 2010 PO Box 51060, Pakuranga, Auckland 2140 Phone: 09-577 0749 Fax: 09-577 0700 Email: skc_admin@saintkentigern.com Saint Kentigern Boys’ School Principal: Mr Peter Cassie 82 Shore Road, Remuera 1050 PO Box 28790, Remuera, Auckland 1541 Phone: 09-520 7682 Fax: 09-520 7688 Email: skb_admin@saintkentigern.com

Trust Board

Boys’ School

From the Trust Board.....................................4

Remain in Control of Technology............ 12

A Tribute To Rev Dr Glen Pettigrove .................................4

Boys’ School Prefect Team 2017.............. 13

Our Thanks to Mr Steve Cole.......................5

Anzac Service.................................................. 15

Head of Saint Kentigern Commissioned...................................................6

Celtic Day.......................................................... 16

Introducing David Hodge.............................7

Preschool A Taste of Scotland.........................................8 Natural Encounters..........................................9

Building Minds Building Futures.............. 14

The Haggis........................................................ 17 A Taste of Yesteryear .................................. 18 ‘Peace and Order Under One Sovereign’.................................. 18 Boys Join Boardroom Table!...................... 19 Sports Science............................................... 20

Young Entomologists!....................................9

Camp – A Growing Sense of Independence........................................... 22

Tadpoles to Frogs............................................9

Year 8 Tongariro Adventure...................... 23

Buttercup the Bunny.................................... 10

Wishart Wins Swimming............................ 24

Cheep Cheep, Quack Quack!..................... 10

National Aquathon Title!............................ 24

Bus, sand, play, boat..................................... 10

Zone Swimming............................................. 25

Nimble Fingers................................................. 11

House Swimming Relays............................ 25

Learning to Write............................................ 11

South Island Sports Tour............................ 26

We Love to Move!........................................... 11

Amazing Mr Matthews................................ 26

Saint Kentigern Girls’ School

Lights, Camera, Action!............................... 26

Principal: Ms Juliet Small 514 Remuera Road, Remuera 1050 PO Box 28 399, Remuera, Auckland 1541 Phone: 09-520 1400 Fax: 09-524 7657 Email: skg_admin@saintkentigern.com

Boys’ School Parents and Friends...........27 A Day at the College.....................................27

Girls’ School

Saint Kentigern Preschool

The Value of Mistakes.................................. 28

Director: Mrs Sue Nash 514 Remuera Road, Remuera 1050 PO Box 28 399, Remuera, Auckland 1541 Phone: 09 520 8814 Fax: 09 524 7657 Email: skp_admissions@saintkentigern.com

Girls’ School Leadership Team................. 29 Flora MacDonald Day..................................30 Loving Piping! ................................................ 31 Year 4 Learn Judo Moves!.......................... 32

Saint Kentigern OCA

Leavers’ Mural Now Installed.................... 32

President: Hayden Butler Secretary: James Bennett Treasurer: Neville Lyne PO Box 51060, Pakuranga, Auckland 2140 Email skoca@saintkentigern.com

Making A ‘Greener’ School........................ 33

Parents & Friends (SKC)

Wishart Wins Swimming............................ 36

Chairperson: David Courtney Secretary: Mark Jenner Treasurer: Sandra Oliver

Year 7 & 8 Athletics...................................... 36 Zone Swimming..............................................37

Parents & Friends (SKBS)

Sacha’s Title Haul!..........................................37

Chairperson: Simon Ward Secretary: Katie Taylor Treasurer: Fiona Freeland

Tartan Inspired Soap Box........................... 38

Parents & Friends (SKGS)

Experiencing Shakespeare........................ 34 National Treasures........................................ 34 Girls’ School Go On Camp! ....................... 35

House Swimming Relays.............................37 Off to World Soapbox Champs!.............. 38

Young Entomologists09

Girls’ School Parent and Friends............. 39 Family Picnic................................................... 39

Chairperson: Mrs Rebecca Scoones Secretary: Mr Stacy Colyer Treasurer: Mrs Julie Bolton Published by the Communications Office for the Saint Kentigern Trust Board and the Saint Kentigern Old Collegians’ Association.

Editor Jane Kneale, Communications Manager Email: jane.kneale@saintkentigern.com PO Box 51060, Pakuranga, Auckland 2140 Phone 09-577 0738 www.saintkentigern.com

2

BR-j9574

Celtic Day16

College

Old Collegians

Our Students Farewell Mr Cole................40

From the President of the Old Collegians................................... 76

2017 College Prefects Commissioned................................................ 42 Four Houses Become Six!.......................... 43

Hayden Butler: New President of the Old Collegians Association.......... 76

2016 External Examination Results........44

SKOCA 2017 Calendar................................. 77

NCEA and International Baccalaureate Diploma...............................44

Old Collegians Annual Dinner.................. 78

NZQA Scholarship........................................ 45

Address to Steve Cole................................. 79

Top Scholars Ceremony.............................. 45 A Time for Reflection.................................. 46

James Thomson – Former Guards Officer.............................80

Academic Colours and Honours............. 46

Happy 90th Jack!..........................................80

Bruce House Leaders 2017........................ 47

Ambassador Peter Thomson..................... 81

Bruce House ‘Stay Back Weekend’........ 47

Dean Poole – Award Winning Graphic Designer........................................... 82

The Goodfellow Centre............................... 48 Insight Into Ancient Egypt!.......................50 Vision and Verse............................................50 Discovering the Scale of War.................... 51 Girls Top Auckland World Scholar’s Cup..................................... 51

Show ‘People!’................................................ 82 SKOCA Boys’ School Golf Day................. 83 Iron People...................................................... 84 Rebecca Clarke – Triathlete....................... 85 Maddy Park – Living Her Dream!............ 85 Chris Clegg – Aspiring Dancer................. 86

Feltloom Workshop...................................... 52

Jared Kristensen – Online Marketer....... 86

After Nature: Wildflower Workshops.... 53

Steffi Jamieson – Volunteering Overseas............................ 87

Les Miserables - School Edition............... 54 Shakespeare Awards at Festival!............ 56 Pipes and Drums Win Again!.................... 56 Last Night of the Proms..............................57

It tells you that there is even more information available online for your desktop or mobile device at: www.saintkentigern.com

Our Old Collegians’ Choir.......................... 79

Object Art: Silver Smithing Workshop. 52

$500 for Budding Chefs!........................... 53

Look for this symbol

National Soap Box Derby38

Connor Mattson – Animation Workshop............................... 87 Old Collegians Hockey................................ 88 Annual SKCOCA Cricket Day................... 88

Music Tour to the USA................................ 58

Jared and Anna Graham (Nee Simpson)............................................... 89

Senior Solo Music Competition............... 59

Will and Laura Hughes (Nee Wright).... 89

Media Studies Trip to the USA.................60

In Memoriam................................................... 89

Inspiring Leadership Tour USA................ 62

Les Miserables54

Japan Tour....................................................... 63 Yad Vashem..................................................... 64 An Exchange to Spain................................. 65 Rain, Mud and Wind…

Build Character!............................................. 66 Happy, Confident Campers....................... 67 Hamilton Wins Swimming – Again, Again!............................................... 68 Chalmers Defends Athletics Title!.......... 69 Sports Centre Extension............................ 70 Tennis Season Ends on a High!................. 71 The Highs and Lows of Rowing................72 Tough Season for Waterpolo.....................72 Top Multisport School in NZ!.....................73 Greater Auckland Touch Champions!.....73 Regional Athletics Championships.........74 Auckland Golf Champions..........................74 College Parents and Friends......................75 Cricket Growth................................................75

Our Students Farewell Mr Cole40

Field Centre - A Rite of Passage 54 Te Whare Me Ona Tikanga 16

trust boar d

Top Ranking for Josh....................................75

3

John Kernohan Elected Chairman From the Trust Board T

he Saint Kentigern Trust Board is pleased to welcome Dr John Kernohan and Mrs Rosemary Harris as its new Chairman and Deputy Chairman respectively. These appointments were unanimously approved at the Trust Board Annual General Meeting held in late May. The Trust Board also took the opportunity to thank Dr Bruce Goodfellow, who will remain as a Board Member, for the exceptional service he has provided as our Chairman over the last 18 years.

The new appointments reflect the Trust Board’s stated intention to re-evaluate its strategy for the long-term enhancement and growth of Saint Kentigern as a successful, leading educational organisation.

As part of this strategy, Saint Kentigern committed to significant structural change last year. Following the announcement that Head of College, Steve Cole planned to retire at the start of 2017, it created the new role of Head of Saint Kentigern, appointing David Hodge to the position, and more clearly defined the separate roles of its four schools. The College’s new structure was implemented at the beginning of the year with Mrs Suzanne Winthrop taking up the role of Principal – Senior College and Mr Duncan McQueen, Principal – Middle College.

Newly elected Chairman of the Trust Board

In keeping with this new direction, and to ensure the Trust Board continues to refresh its membership, Dr Kernohan said it will also be establishing a nominating process to secure the continuing appointment of suitably qualified Trust Board members to lead Saint Kentigern in the future.

Dr Kernohan said that while Dr Goodfellow did not seek re-election as Chair, the Trust Board is very pleased that he is remaining as a Board member and will be making an on-going contribution to Saint Kentigern. During Dr Goodfellow’s 33 years on the Board thus far, he has given outstanding service, often going above and beyond the call of duty. In his time as Chairman, our Saint Kentigern schools have more than doubled in size and now include over 400 staff teaching 2846 students, making it one of the largest Independent Schools’ groups in Australasia. The Trust Board is proud that through this growth, Saint Kentigern has retained its firm commitment to excellence and service to the community.

With the 2017 year now well underway, The Trust Board, in conjunction with management, has started the process of master planning for our campuses. This is an opportunity to further bring our ‘one organisation’ together to provide benefits for the advancement of our students.

Fides Servanda Est

Newly elected Deputy Chairman of the Trust Board

Dr John Kernohan

Mrs Rosemary Harris

As a past parent, John has had a long association with Saint Kentigern.

He has been a Board member since 2000 and now takes on the role of Chairman. John was founding Chief Executive Officer of Auckland Uniservices Ltd, a company owned by the University of Auckland to undertake commercial research projects and to develop technology. He is now retired but active in a number of church related organisations.

One of the longest serving, Rosemary has been a Board member since 1996 and is pleased to accept the role of Deputy Chairman. Rosemary is a past parent at both the College and the Boys’ School. Rosemary is particularly involved with the Boys’ School and is on the Roselle Foundation committee; part of the Saint Kentigern Development Office which focuses on fundraising for the Boys’ School and other philanthropic activities.

A Tribute To Rev Dr Glen Pettigrove

trust boar d

T

4

he Rev Dr Glen Pettigrove has been a member of the Saint Kentigern Trust Board for the past five and a half years but tendered his resignation from the Board to take up a new role in Scotland at the end of April.

During his time on the Board, Glen contributed well-received devotional insights at most Trust Board meetings and has involved himself widely both as a trustee and parent in the affairs of each of our schools, as well as providing support for our chaplains. Glen’s wife, Kaila has also assisted with pastoral concerns and as assistant from time to time in Christian Education.

Glen was originally nominated to the Trust Board by the Northern Presbytery. He had held the position of Associate Professor in the Philosophy Department of the University of Auckland and is a world authority on grace and love, meekness and ambition, anger and moral judgement, and forgiveness; all areas of interest lying behind the Saint Kentigern ethos.In May he took up the prestigious Chair of Moral Philosophy at Glasgow University, whose predecessors include the well known philosopher/economist Adam Smith.

The Trust Board congratulates Glen and gives thanks of appreciation to him and his family for their involvement with us.

We offer the family our best wishes and prayers as they establish themselves in Glasgow, the home of Saint Kentigern. Whilst it is our loss, at least we will have our own representative in our ancestral home city! Enjoy the bagpipes Glen!

Our Thanks to Mr Steve Cole Eight Years of Loyal Service uring his tenure at Saint Kentigern, Steve Cole has shown unwavering dedication to his role as Head of College, a sincere passion for the achievement of every student and a vision and desire for success.

The profile and reputation of the College has steadily grown under his leadership and demand for places at the College is extremely high. Mr Cole embraced a non-selective student entry policy resulting in a diverse and interesting student cohort with a mix of ethnicities, abilities, talents, academic prowess and gender. He has led the growth of the roll from 1630 to 2050 in eight years.

The 2013 introduction of girls’ boarding substantially increased the roll of the boarding house and together with the increased numbers of international students, it means that Bruce House is now at full capacity. The College now has the biggest roll in its history.

With his relentless pursuit of continuous improvement, he established the absolute expectation of success for every student and set NCEA target pass rates of 100% at Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3. The interest in the IB programme has grown over the past eight years and, as the overall achievement of every student entering the programme has improved, many successive students have gone on to achieve over 40 points in the Diploma. The higher levels of academic achievement have seen more students than ever being accepted into New Zealand and international tertiary institutions.

He fostered the introduction of innovative teaching and learning programmes. He reinforced the shift away from a separate intermediate years programme to the more progressive Middle School model. He initiated the integration of the traditional library with a learning commons to create the Goodfellow Centre; a modern, flexible, collaborative learning space that encourages both students and teaching staff to experience different ways of learning. The curriculum has expanded to include a broad array of options designed to prepare students for the rapidly changing workplace. He fostered the expansion of the Enhanced Learning Centre supporting the idea

that not all students learn the same way but that all students have the right to be well prepared and empowered for whatever awaits them in the future.

He revitalised the teaching cohort by recruiting the-best-in-theirfield, qualified and committed, academic teaching staff and setting the expectation that all of them would also invest time and energy in the co-curricular life of the College.

His development of an unrivalled co-curricular programme led to 16 national sports championships, unprecedented national achievements for choirs and music groups and numerous awards for the drama productions and musicals. To support these programmes, he recruited specialist coaching and teaching staff from the ranks of New Zealand’s best sports people and performance artists.

A significant capital development programme over the past eight years has seen the completion of the Macfarlan Centre in 2013 and the Goodfellow Centre in 2015. An indoor cricket pavilion to provide facilities for year-round practice was constructed in 2016. The Sports Centre is undergoing major renovation and expansion work to include an improved strength and conditioning gym, more dance studios, more gym space and added teaching spaces. It is due for completion in 2018.

The Service programme at the College has expanded significantly.

The appointment of the Service Co-ordinator in 2010 to develop more and broader service opportunities in New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and Africa means that all but a handful of students, are now involved in spending time in the service of people less fortunate than themselves. The pastoral care programme has been strengthened by the introduction of two new Houses added to the existing four. This has engendered more leadership opportunities for both students and staff, and has reinvigorated the traditional spirit of competition between the Houses.

The Chapel programme flourished under his leadership through his strong advocacy for it. He appointed the Chaplain to his Senior Management team to provide counsel and a Christian perspective at the leadership table.

The Board would like to thank Steve for his extensive contribution and wishes him all the best in his retirement.

trust boar d

D

5

Head of Saint Kentigern Commissioned A

t the beginning of Term 2, the Saint Kentigern community came together at Somervell Presbyterian Church for the formal commissioning of the new Head of Saint Kentigern, Mr David Hodge, marking a new chapter in the history of Saint Kentigern education.

The commissioning of a new school leader is a formal Saint Kentigern tradition, dating back to the founding of the College in 1953 by a group of Presbyterian elders, and the commissioning of the first Headmaster, Reverend Adam MacFarlan.

The official party was piped in by College piper, James Milner with the Head Prefects from all three schools joining Trust Board members, Principals and invited guests in the processional. Mr Hodge was supported by his wife, Maggie, his mother and two of his children, Caitlyn and Charlotte, along with staff and students from his former school, Rangitoto College.

The Minister of Somervell, Reverend Brett Johnstone welcomed the congregation before Chaplain to the Boys’ and Girls’ Schools, Reverend Reuben Hardie, made the call to worship.

It was a pleasure to invite Deputy Principal of Rangitoto College, Mrs Ros Robertson to speak on behalf of their students and staff; her words confirming that in choosing Mr Hodge, the Trust Board made a sound decision for the future of Saint Kentigern. She concluded, ‘David is an exceptional leader, and his educational vision is vast, exciting and challenging – he will serve and lead you well.’ The Fundamentals Choir from Rangitoto offered a moving performance of ‘Muse E’ as they made their final farewell to their former Principal.

trust boar d

Following on, it was the turn of the Girls’ School Kapa Haka group to entertain with a polished performance of ‘E te Hokowhitu a tu’ accompanied on guitar by Whaea Vikki Demant. The Boys’ School Head Boy, George Beca then led the congregation in the Prayer of Saint

6

Kentigern before Reverend David Smith addressed the congregation, welcoming Mr Hodge to ‘this exciting new era in the life of our Trust.’ As the new Head of Saint Kentigern comes to know the Trust Board, the Principals of each school, staff and students, Reverend Smith encouraged him to ‘walk with them, listen to them, teach them, guide them, lead them and serve them.’

Accomplished Year 13 College soloist, Sophie Maehl, well known for her jazz vocals, gave a powerful rendition of ‘Have a little faith in me’ accompanied by College pianist, Mr Stuart Saunders.

In undertaking the Commissioning, Chairman of the Trust Board, Dr Bruce Goodfellow spoke of the history and accomplishments of our schools. He said, ‘In 2016, the Trust Board determined that to enhance the organisation and to provide for its future growth, including evaluating new educational opportunities which may arise, it needed to appoint a Head of Saint Kentigern who, through outstanding educational leadership, can take us into the future. Following an extensive search and interview process in late 2016, the Trust Board selected Mr David Hodge for the new role of Head of Saint Kentigern.

Mr Hodge has extensive experience in education in New Zealand with outstanding achievements. He is internationally recognised for this work and we are delighted and privileged that he has accepted our offer of the position.’

Dr Goodfellow asked Mr Hodge, ‘David, to the best of your ability, will you uphold the objects of the Saint Kentigern Trust Deed? Will you, to the best of your ability, serve the stu dents of Saint Kentigern, its staff, its Principals and its Trust Board?’ Dr Goodfellow then addressed the Saint Kentigern Community asking, ‘Will you, to the best of your ability, support David as Head of Saint Kentigern?’

Dr Goodfellow concluded the commissioning saying, ‘On behalf of the Saint Kentigern Trust Board, I now commit to your charge, the role of Head of Saint Kentigern, the care of our Principals, teaching and administration staff, students and all whom we serve as a community, assuring you of the Board’s confidence in you, and

The Boys’ School choir came forward to sing ‘The Saint Kentigern Blessing,’ a beautiful piece written by New Zealand composer, David Hamilton for the School, with Oscar Van Druten taking the lead solo.

Representatives from each of the age groups, the College, Schools and Preschool, then came forward to present gifts to Mr Hodge. College Head Boy, Matthew Stirling, Girls’ School Head Girl, Lola Wiltshire and preschoolers, Monica Qian and Oscar Hunter were given the honour. As Mr Hodge gratefully accepted the gifts, bending down to greet the preschoolers, he was left with no doubts about where his allegiance now lies – he was presented with a Saint Kentigern Bible, a Saint Kentigern presentation tie and a Saint Kentigern supporter’s jacket – all in blue and white!

In response, Mr Hodge gave thanks to all those who came in support, in particular his family and representatives from Rangitoto.

Humbled by the trust that has been placed in him to serve Saint Kentigern, he said, ‘In the past week, I have been overwhelmed by the strength of commitment, the enthusiasm and the expertise that exists within each of the schools. To be tasked with bringing these people together so that they can build the capacity of one organisation is truly exciting. The role of facilitating the sharing of perspectives and expertise for the benefit of all is something I look forward to with great anticipation.’

The service concluded with the ‘Saint Kentigern Song’ and, out of respect for our forebears, a Scottish Benediction delivered by Reverend Reuben Hardie.

Mr Hodge is now formally a member of our community. The Trust Board is confident that Mr Hodge will provide robust and effective leadership for Saint Kentigern as it continues to build on the strong foundations and achievements of the past 63 years of Independent Education.

Introducing David Hodge T

he Saint Kentigern Trust Board has great pleasure in announcing the appointment of Mr David Hodge, M.A. (Honours), M.Ed. (Honours) to the newly created position of Head of Saint Kentigern, effective from the beginning of Term 2 this year.

Mr Hodge has considerable experience in the education sector and is held in high-regard by his peers. For the last eleven years, he has been Principal of Rangitoto College, a Decile 10 school on the North Shore; the largest and one of the most successful coeducational schools in the country. During his tenure, Rangitoto College has enjoyed unprecedented improvement in its academic performance, as well as excelling in co-curricular activities. Prior to this, Mr Hodge had a most effective period as Principal of Tamaki College, a Decile 1 school in Glen Innes, raising the profile and driving exponential improvement in the educational performance of the school. Whilst at Tamaki College, he was recipient of a Woolf Fisher Fellowship.

Mr Hodge is also actively involved in wider educational circles.

He is a Board member of the Global Connections International Principals’ Group; an educational leadership organisation of 100 school leaders worldwide that promotes an international exchange of ideas on excellence in education. He is also a Board member of the AUT Millennium Operating Trust and was a member of the Education NZ Advisory Committee. In addition to this, he has been a presenter, facilitator and mentor in the New Zealand First Time Principals training programme, part of the Reference Group for the Ministry of Education’s e-learning policy, and the University of Auckland’s research into school leadership.

The appointment of the Head of Saint Kentigern concludes a restructuring of the organisation that has been under rigorous review by the Board over the course of the last year, since Head of College, Mr Steve Cole indicated his intention to retire from the teaching profession this year.

Under the new structure, following Mr Cole’s retirement, the position of Head of College will be disestablished. From the beginning of 2017, the former positions of Heads of Senior and Middle Schools at the College will be renamed, Principal Middle College and Principal Senior College, with their roles moving towards a full responsibility principalship. Mr Duncan McQueen (Middle College) and Mrs Suzanne Winthrop (Senior College) have been appointed to these roles. They, along with the Principals of the Boys’ and Girls’ Schools, Mr Peter Cassie and Ms Juliet Small, will report to the new Head of Saint Kentigern. Mr Hodge will have oversight of all four schools on the three campuses with responsibility for providing excellence in the education of over 2750 students, including pre-schoolers, across the Saint Kentigern organisation.

trust boar d

support of you in implementing the objects of the Trust. May God richly bless you in this task.’

7

PRESCHOOL

A Taste of Scotland A

ll our schools, including the Preschool, can trace their history back to Scotland and so each year our Preschool boys attend Celtic Day at the Boys’ School while our girls join in with the Flora McDonald Day celebrations at the Girls’ School. Whilst the sound of the Pipes and Drums can be a bit intimidating at first, the preschoolers soon rose to the occasion marching proudly dressed in tartan!

pr eschool

Our Preschool girls were so proud to be marching in the Flora MacDonald day parade at the Girls’ School. They donned tartan sashes and marched behind the Pipe and Drums, before going into the hall for the official ceremony. The girls listened to the choir sing and watched the orchestra play which included Principal, Ms Juliet Small on her violin. Ms Small retold the story of Flora MacDonald and Rev Hardie recited a Scottish blessing.

8

Year 11 College student, Fayth Doherty played with the Pipe and Drums during the parade. While Fayth was a Girls’ School student, she completed her Service at the Preschool, helping in the mornings and afternoons. The Preschool girls were proud to have their photo taken with her. What a fabulous morning!

The Preschool boys headed to the Boys’ School early to join Celtic Day. After watching the Kapa Haka group perform, the Pipe Band led the marching parade, with the preschoolers following behind waving to all the visitors as they made their way around the field before heading into the Sports Centre. The boys sat beautifully during the formalities, listening to all the speeches, singing Scottish songs and watching the Head Boy, George Beca recite the ‘Ode to the Haggis.’

Some of the boys were very brave and ate some haggis, some happy to ask for more – whilst others much preferred the shortbread!

Natural Encounters I

n a world increasingly dominated by technology, with fewer children truly experiencing the opportunity to play freely outdoors, it is fantastic to give our preschoolers a taste of freedom! This was a day to take a picnic lunch and head across the road to Wairua Reserve for an adventure!

The wide expanse of grass provided excitement to run freely, whilst the investigation of bugs in a tree hole and a dead bird nestled in leaves were fascinating for our youngsters. But the real excitement was the big tree for climbing that provided an amazing opportunity for many of the children to move outside their comfort zone.

Climbing trees fosters a range of different skills including creative thinking, balance, problem solving, spatial awareness, natural exploration, tactile experiences, coordination, strength and above all else enjoyment, fun and freedom!

Young Entomologists!

After discovering many insects in tree stumps and under leaves during their visit to Wairua Reserve, our Preschoolers became fascinated with hunting for bugs. Each day we had a menagerie of insects brought into Preschool by children for our show and tell - praying mantises, cockroaches, spiders, snails, wetas, centipedes and more. Our staff were stoic!

Our ‘Nature’ area became full of all things living and crawling, both alive in our bug catchers, along with our children’s amazing art displays on the wall.

The preschoolers loved going on hunts around the playground to find different insects to bring back to our ‘Bug Hotel.’ They were never scared to hold them or look closely with the microscopes. What great entomologists!

Tadpoles to Frogs T he arrival of tadpoles saw the children absolutely enthralled in the process of metamorphosis.

Within two weeks, the Preschool had ten gorgeous tree frogs – all with different shades of green and varying patterns on their skin. The children caught live flies at home and brought them in for the frogs to eat, watching with great fascination as the frogs jumped to catch them on their sticky tongues.

Preschool became a sea of green with artwork of frogs in all shapes and sizes covering the walls and paint covering the children’s faces!

As with all new encounters, the possibilities for conversation and discussions opened wide with new words, language and songs introduced, furthering the children’s opportunities to learn.

pr eschool

Each day they checked with excited anticipation, waiting for the legs to grow as they gradually turned from tadpoles into frogs.

9

Buttercup the Bunny A

very special part of our Preschool programme is to expose the children to a range animals so that they may gain an understanding about, and have a hand in, their care. For short periods of time, the Preschool has been home to turtles, frogs, birds, fish, piglets, lambs, chickens, ducklings, eels and more!

Term 1 saw the arrival of a baby lop-eared rabbit, bringing a very tactile learning experience. Buttercup the bunny is very tame, cuddly and loved by all our preschoolers. The children bring in vegetables as a daily treat to hand feed her, discovering that her favourite choice of green leaves are herbs, including parsley, basil and mint!

She is quite a pampered bunny; she loves to go for walks on her lead with the children and with the arrival of the colder weather, she has been seen to sport her very own cable knit, pale pink jumper!

Cheep Cheep, Quack Quack!

F

ollowing on from the arrival of Buttercup the bunny, the children returned to Preschool after the Easter break to find four-day old chicks and ducklings, sourced from a farmer at the Farmworld Royal Easter Show. Their arrival brought sheer joy and excitement! A heated lamp was setup in their new home to keep them warm along with straw, sawdust, water and food.

These young animals changed almost daily so it was another great hands-on experience for our children watching them grow, while they took part in their care and feeding. Seeing the ducklings take their first swim was very special!

Bus, sand, play, boat W

pr eschool

ith the topic of the moment, transport, the preschoolers set off on an adventure to Devonport, catching buses down to Kohimarama, along the waterfront, into the city and over the Harbour Bridge to Devonport Beach, all the while keeping watch for as many different kinds of transport they could spot from bicycles to ocean liners!

10

After a stop for morning tea, the children set off to explore the beach front. The tide had just begun to go out, exposing plenty of shells and seaweed for the preschoolers to discover as they fossicked in the sand. Together they constructed sandcastles and enjoyed the chance to paddle in the shallow water. There was also plenty of fun to be had in playground on the swings, seesaws and slides.

To complete their round trip, the youngsters boarded a Fuller’s Ferry for a ride across the harbour back to Auckland City, before getting back on the buses to Preschool.

ur manipulative programme, ‘Nimble Fingers’ is well embedded throughout our day, keeping young hands active to develop their fine motor skills.

Before children can begin to successfully form shapes and letters they must have developmentally achieved a correct and automatic pincer grip, and control of a pencil.

By providing the children with activities such padlocks and keys,

pegs, threading beads and connector sticks, it helps to develop a pincer grip, crossing the midline and finger control.

To be able to master this skill, children need and be exposed to opportunities for practice. Practising their pincer grip with a pencil, while following patterns and zig zag lines, helps with the smooth flow onto shapes. Once our children have achieved this, they move onto our Casey the Caterpillar writing programme.

Learning to Write C

asey the Caterpillar writing programme is a developmental, pre-literacy curriculum that ensures children learn how to correctly hold a pencil, enabling them to form all the shapes needed to write the letters of the alphabet. The children learn 15 different shapes which they can visualise through illustrations and practice. When the shapes have been mastered, they are put together to correctly form all the letters of the alphabet, followed by numbers.

All children have the opportunity to be involved in the programme at their own level, moving through shapes and onto letters at their own pace. Both the Boys’ and Girls’ Schools also use this programme in their Junior classes – which helps our children with a seamless transition to school.

We Love to Move!

P

roviding regular fitness classes is one way we can help our preschoolers to look after their health, encouraging a healthy attitude to personal wellbeing from a young age. As well as the fun of joining in exercise, the classes have many other benefits - helping to develop co-ordination, agility and balance, midline skills, as well as fostering happy, social and healthy children!

The programme also gives different children the opportunity to be ‘fitness leaders,’ providing a sense of responsibility that in turn develops self-confidence and an appreciation of ways they can contribute to the group.

pr eschool

Nimble Fingers O

11

GIRLS’ SCHOOL

The Value of Mistakes

I

have a favourite picture book which I love to read to children as it has such a positive message. Barney Saltzberg’s ‘Beautiful Oops!’ is itself a work of art. [1] The book shows children that we can get creative results through relaxing about our mistakes and actually using what we think are errors to create beautiful pieces. This three-dimensional picture book focuses on creativity and imagination, turning mistakes into animals and mysterious shapes.

Is your child that person who starts drawing, makes one little line and says, ‘Oh no, that’s not right!’ before scrunching the paper into a ball and throwing it into the rubbish bin? Does she then try again and throw it in the bin repeatedly in frustration? In situations like these, children need to be encouraged to embrace any imperfections and be told that they can draw, they can write and they can create!

Gir ls’ School

Our New Zealand Curriculum states that we want our young people to be, ‘Creative, energetic and enterprising.’ [2] The document lists values which are important and makes specific reference to ‘Innovation, inquiry and curiosity, by thinking critically, creatively and reflectively.’ Sir Ken Robinson is an English author, speaker and international adviser on education. He speaks a great deal to educationalists about the importance of creativity in schools.

Robinson says, ‘Creativity is as important in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.’ [3]

28

As teachers and parents, we need to create situations where we encourage risk-taking.

It is essential that we demonstrate to children that making mistakes is part of learning. We must model having a go, making a mistake and taking a risk. We need to share our feelings by verbalising what is going on for us during frustrating moments, because it shows our children that it is normal to get frustrated and cross with ourselves. In fact, we can model working through this frustration by using strategies such as taking a break and coming back with ‘fresh eyes’.

Many inventions in the modern world actually resulted from a mistake.

Some of these inventions also illustrate that creativity is a very important part of scientific endeavour.

Creativity is not limited to the arts but is important across all curriculum areas, including science and mathematics. It’s a great idea to talk about some of these inventions with your children.

Frank Epperson was only 11 years old when he invented the popsicle.

He was stirring drink mix and water and then accidentally left his drink outside over night with the stirring stick in it, only to discover in the morning that it had frozen solid.

Safety glass was invented when a French chemist, Edouard Benedictus, accidentally knocked over a glass flask in his lab. Instead of shattering into a million pieces, the fragments hung together because he had lined the flask with cellulose nitrate.

Velcro was invented by a Swiss engineer, George de Mestral, in the 1940s. George was trying to get the burs off his clothes after walking through a field. He was so intrigued that he put the burs under a microscope and discovered the fibre had little hooks. Ultimately, he was able to adapt this concept to produce Velcro which is made from thousands of little hoop and loop structures.

Why am I sharing these stories? Because we need to share these scientific illustrations with children and young adults. These examples teach them not to be afraid of making a mistake but instead to relish the opportunity to think differently and outside the square. If your child is battling with a Science Fair project, think of the invention of the popsicle. Sometimes the simplest idea is the most effective.

It doesn’t matter if the resulting idea is different to what was first planned. It doesn’t matter that the outfit that your child put together for Book Week looks more like ‘Thing One’ and ‘Thing Two’ than her first idea of a character from Harry Potter. If one of the hip hop dancers is away sick on the day that your child’s group is recording the video entry for the school competition, help your child to look on the bright side. Maybe the asymmetric look of the choreography will start a new dance craze?

So the next time there are tears over a homework project because it doesn’t look right or the work didn’t come out as planned, encourage your child to view it as an original piece of work. To use Barney Saltzberg’s phrase, ‘When you think you have made a mistake, think of it as an opportunity to make something beautiful.’

[1]

Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg.

Workman Publishing, New York.

[2] nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New ZealandCurriculum [3] Creative Schools by Ken Robinson.

Penguin.com.au

Ms Juliet Small, Principal

Girls’ School Leadership Team A

t a very special chapel service, the Girls’ School Prefect Team for 2017 was commissioned with proud parents and invited guests in attendance. It was a particularly proud moment for newly elected Head Girl, Lola Wiltshire, Deputy Head Girl, Zoe White and their families.

At the commissioning service, Principal, Ms Juliet Small welcomed the Principal of Senior College, Mrs Suzanne Winthrop, who introduced this year’s College Head Girl, Isabella Denholm to address the girls. Isabella spoke to the girls about what it really means to be a leader, why a strong team is always important to the success of any school and the biggest challenge for school leaders being getting other students involved.

Isabella quoted writer, Steven Covey, ‘What you do has far greater impact than what you say.’ She said, ‘Actions speak louder than words. Being a leader is not about simply saying something and then expecting other people to do it all. It’s about me or in your case – you, being involved personally, rolling up our sleeves when we need to and getting stuck in.’

Ms Small called upon Lola to join her on stage to accept her duties as the 2017 Head Girl followed by Deputy Head Girl, Zoe. Ms Small asked all the 2017 Prefects ‘whether they promise to uphold the values and standards of Saint Kentigern School and to serve its students, teachers and parents to the best of your ability and for the glory of God’. Each new leader then signed the Prefect Book and received their badges.

HEAD GIRL - Lola Wiltshire Lola joined Saint Kentigern Girls’ School at the beginning of 2016 as the recipient of the Margaret Lamb Performing Arts Scholarship, and quickly became part of the school community through her involvement in a wide range of activities with specific interests in the Arts and in Sport. Lola was proud of winning the Year 7 speech competition and is highly committed to her dance interests.

Currently she takes jazz, ballet and contemporary dance classes and has danced with her troupe in Los Angeles. A big dream for her is to be accepted to a University overseas. Lola is well respected by the school community, understands the values of Saint Kentigern and is excited about this important role she is undertaking; appreciating that she will be responsible for making sure that the leadership team work together and is inclusive of all others.

DEPUTY HEAD GIRL - Zoe White Zoe started at the Girls’ School when she was a Year 5 student and quickly became involved in a range of school activities. She demonstrated that she understood the values of Saint Kentigern and remains committed to making sure that students are supported at school.

Drama and the arts are of special importance to her and she has especially shone in acting. Zoe has been successful in her speech exams and intends to continue this year with her grade examinations. At the 2016 end of year prize giving, she was awarded the prize for exceptional achievement in Speech and Drama. Zoe also won the Year 7 prize for diligence and she was placed first in Social Science in Year 7. Going forward, Zoe would like to apply for a scholarship in performing arts. She has ambitions to run her own business and perhaps be in a movie one day.

Leadership Team 2017 Lola Wiltshire

Deputy Head Girl

Zoe White

Head of Student Council

Sharmaine Tapling

Head of Chapel

Vivian Pettigrove, Kate Frazer

Head of Cargill

Grace Paul

Head of Chalmers

Verity Ward

Head of Hamilton

Ocean Scott

Head of Wishart

Kaythi Finn

Head of Cargill: Grace Paul

Head of Chalmers: Verity Ward

Kate Frazer (Chapel), Sharmaine Tapling (Student Council), Vivian Pettigrove (Chapel)

Head of Hamilton: Ocean Scott

Head of Wishart: Kaythi Finn

gir ls' school

Head Girl

29

Flora

MacDonald Day After her first Flora MacDonald Day last year, Principal, Ms Juliet Small felt a need to research her own Scottish ancestry. Like the Saint Kentigern community’s strong ties to Scotland, Miss Small discovered that she too can trace her roots back to the far side of the world. Her great grandfather, William Baird, was the first of the Baird clan to be born in Invercargill, after his parents sailed to New Zealand in 1862 from Scotland. Also, on Ms Small’s paternal side, her Irish ancestors from Galway, Ireland crossed the water to fight in support of the McMurray clan in Scotland.

N

o matter how tenuous the link, many of us feel a deep sense of pride in the connections we have to Scotland; so cheerfully celebrated by the Girls’ School at their annual Flora MacDonald Day.

gir ls' school

The Saint Kentigern Pipes and Drums are a feature of many Saint Kentigern events, travelling from the College to lead the parade, with Fayth Doherty among their number - a former Girls’ School student.

Following on were invited guests and the clans of Glasgow, Kirkcaldy, Inverness, Roxburgh, Dundee, Stirling, Argyll and Skye, dressed in an array of colourful tartan. The final group in the parade were our 3 and 4 year old girls from the Preschool marching in time!

30

surprise of our guests, Ms Small joined the orchestra to support the girls, playing her violin!

Ms Small set a challenge for the girls, she said, ‘We have girls here at school who are learning the chanter. It would be ideal to have a couple of new learner pipers at the Girls’ School – particularly for our formal occasions, the prize giving and Chapel services. It’s an especially good opportunity for girls moving through to the College.

So, the challenge is out!’

As everyone made their way into the hall for the official ceremony, Ms Small welcomed one and all, explaining that the purpose of the day is to celebrate our Scottish Heritage with a female flavour and naturally a Scottish heroine – Flora MacDonald. Flora was chosen as a strong namesake for the Girls’ School day of celebration for her act of bravery when she risked her life in June 1746, to ‘smuggle’ Prince Charles Edward Stewart, better known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or the Young Pretender, over the sea to the Isle of Skye. It was because of her immense courage, that Flora was chosen for the day of celebration.

With the formalities over, the guests were invited for morning tea of shortbread, whilst the girls prepared themselves for a day of activities. The girls made their way around to each activity, conquering the inflatable obstacle course on the back field, racing down the soapy water slide and testing their balance in the aqua-orbs in the pool. The girls also enjoyed Scottish country dance, made soap in the science lab and learnt how to weave Celtic knots. In another link to Scotland, the girls learnt about Alexander Bell’s invention of the telephone and went on to make cup and string phones, discovering if they pulled the string tight, they could hear each other’s commands ‘down the line.’ The smell wafting out of the cooking room was divine, with the girls making oat pancakes for immediate consumption!

Ms Small then introduced the School Orchestra who gave their first performance of the year with a traditional Scottish Folksong. To the

Experiencing new things and learning about our Scottish heritage – it was another highly successful Flora MacDonald Day!

Loving Piping! n 2013, when past Principal, Dr Sandra Hastie threw out the challenge to the girls to learn the bagpipes, only two determined girls accepted; Fayth Doherty and Kate Pennycuik. Now four years on, Year 11, College student, Fayth returned to the Girls’ School to perform with the Saint Kentigern Pipes and Drums at Flora MacDonald Day. As well as playing in the parade, Fayth was also invited to the stage to demonstrate her skill on the bagpipes - and show everyone how far she has come since she and Kate were the first students at the Girls’ School to learn how to play the chanter, both eventually progressing to a full set of pipes. Both Fayth and Kate will be travelling overseas with the Saint Kentigern Pipes and Drums in July when they take part in the Basel Military Tattoo, in Switzerland.

gir ls' school

I

31

Year 4 Learn Judo Moves!

I

t took one smooth move for Year 4 Girls’ School student, Emily Swain to throw judo expert, Sensei Lester Harris over her shoulder to the ground on the day our ‘Local Heroes’ were invited to morning tea!

opponent to the ground. He demonstrated a few moves before calling for a volunteer.

Year 4 girl v. fully grown man - it hardly seemed a fair contest so there was little reticence to step up at first!

On the surface there doesn’t appear to be much in common with a judo sensei, a shoe designer, a ship captain, surgeon, church minister, dance teacher, student nurse, tennis and ice skating coach but in the eyes of our Year 4 girls, they are all ‘Local Heroes’!

Emily bowed as she walked onto the mats and bowed again when facing the Sensei. He showed her how to grab him by the shoulder, rotate, bend and flip him over her head. He counted to three and in one fell swoop, ‘Bang’ he hit the ground; Emily had done it! The girls erupted with laughter, so surprised their class mate had pulled off the move! Having proved it could be done, all the girls were keen to give it a go. One by one, each student came forward with a bit of hesitation but left brimming with confidence having pulled off the seemingly impossible!

As part of their Social Science unit, with links to English, the girls hosted a special morning tea for their heroes, during which each group of students presented their guest, outlining what they do and why they were nominated, finishing with a jingle that was crafted especially.

They were then treated to a Judo demonstration by Sensei Lester Harris. It was during this session that Emily rose to fame!

Sensei Lester Harris gave a brief history of Judo and how it differs to other martial arts.

The girls learnt that the bow before entering the mats is a greeting like shaking hands and that the focus of the exercise if to bring your

Well done girls on your presentations and for defeating the Sensei!

Our thanks to the following members of our community for giving up their time for the girls: Judo Sensei, Lester Harris; Shoe Designer, Katheryn Wilson; Ship Captain, Andy Light; friend and neighbour, Shannon

Leavers’ Mural Now Installed E

very year, the graduating Year 8 students create an art piece that is left for the younger girls to enjoy and remember them by. The ‘magical garden’ mural created by the 2016 Year 8 leavers, which includes a monarch butterfly, a dragonfly and a snail among flowers, is now installed high on a wall brightening up the Junior School.

gir ls' school

At the end of last year, the girls took on the mammoth task of collecting the plastic bottle tops, enlisting help from friends and family, fellow students, local cafes and teachers to amass the large number required to complete the work.

32

The giant flower and insect patterns were sent away to be cut from marine plywood and once back at school, were undercoated and painted with exterior house paint to survive in all-weather conditions. The bottle tops were then arranged and glued down. Art teacher, Mrs Roband said, ‘The finished mural has exceeded all of our expectations.

Glimpses of it can be spotted from different parts of the school and it has certainly brightened up the wall.’

Doctor; Church Minister and Youth Pastor Nicky Watkin; Ice Skating Coach, Tracy Danbrock; Tennis Coach, Melanie Reeves; VP Dance Teacher, Tim WIlson; Student Nurse, Rachel Graham and Surgeon, Stewart Walsh.

Making A ‘Greener’ School

T

o reuse, reduce and recycle in a fun way, the girls have been using their recently acquired sustainability skills to come up with ideas on how they can help and get stuck in.

Papier Mache Bottles: As a way to explore how to reuse waste and make it into ‘something better,’ the Year 1 students made ‘Bottle Faces’ out of discarded, large, plastic detergent bottles, designing their face on paper before constructing it with papier mache.

Wrapper-less Wednesday: The Year 2 class came up with the idea to reduce waste at school by having a ‘Wrapper-less Wednesday’ which entails the girls coming to school with no wrappers in their lunch boxes to create rubbish.

After trialling it in the Junior School, the Year 1 students each wrote a letter to Principal, Ms Juliet Small to ask if the rest of the school could join in on the initiative. As part of their persuasive writing unit, they also made posters to encourage the rest of the school to join in for house point rewards.

Recycled Paper: Paper is used every day at the Girls’ School; it is scribbled on, cut, glued, folded, ripped and the recycling bin is always full. So instead of throwing it all away and buying new paper, why not reuse it all by making recycled paper? The idea fitted perfectly into their sustainability unit, so all the Junior classes made recycled paper and used it in a variety of ways.

This helped the girls have a greater appreciation of what happens to the paper they discard at school.

The Worm Farm: The Year 3 students were given the responsibility of looking after the school’s two worm farms as part of their Science unit about recycling. By teaching the students

how to recycle, we are embedding sustainability skills and ideas, not only for our school but for our community.

The focus questions for the girls were: ‘How can I look after our environment by reducing, reusing and recycling? How does a worm farm help the environment and how can we use the products from the worm farm?’

Science Teacher, Mrs Jess Francis said, ‘Education and knowledge on how to treat rubbish, making good choices in the home and creating sustainability is becoming more widely accepted. Emphasising these ideas at Year 3 level encourages the girls to think about what they can put into the worm farm instead of the rubbish bin.’

The Worm Farm process has become a full cycle. Mrs Francis said, ‘Scrap foods from lunches go into the worm farm, we collect soil from the worm farm, the soil then goes into the school gardens and the worm tea created from the farms also goes on the school vegetable garden instead of using fertiliser. The vegetables from the garden are then used in Food Technology’.

The next stage was for the girls was to collect the ‘Worm Tea’ and sell it. They have been bringing in food scraps from home to help build the food source in the farms, they have also been supplying plastic bottles to fill with worm tea. They were given the task of discussing with their families what price they would like to sell the worm tea for and what they would like to do with the proceeds. The girls wanted to donate the money to help others and a suggestion was made by a parent to donate to World Vision Pacific Partners Charity.

Labels, prices tags and advertisement posters were made to promote the Worm Tea stall, which was a great success. The Girls made $365.00 on the day and had a further $70.00 in orders, which took their total to $435.00. It is a great way to make money out of food scraps, a good lesson in helping others, as well as caring for our environment and planet whilst recycling waste.

gir ls' school

The Junior School has taken on the challenge to be ‘more green.’ Years 1-3 have been studying ‘Recycling’ as part of their Social Science and Science units, with a focus on the ‘3 Rs’ which will help look after our planet; Reduce, Recycling, Reuse.

33

Experiencing Shakespeare D

uring Speech and Drama at the Girls’ School last term, the Year 7 and 8 students delved into the world of Shakespeare. For an authentic Shakespearean experience, the girls headed to the Pop-Up Globe to enjoy the vibrant, dynamic and thought-provoking performance of ‘As you like it.’

The girls witnessed that Shakespeare’s plays are indeed alive and well; with this play challenging literacy, action and listening. Our girls were up close to the action as ‘groundlings’ and were literally on their toes as the action unfolded. The play was exceedingly well executed, showing the ability of the Globe’s cast to bring out the best in the audience. There was no doubt that their use of energy, humour, love, song, physical agility and fighting aggression, ensured entertainment was sustained for all.

The students continued exploring the play for the rest of term, studying the scenes and acting them out in response to the performance. Reflecting back on the live show was great inspiration and had a great influence on their own work.

National Treasures M

any famous historians, sporting greats, singers and New Zealand icons were brought to life when the Year 8 students dressed in character to tell their stories. Queen Victoria, Lorde, Sophie Pascoe, Sir Edmund Hillary, Sir Peter Jackson, Anne Frank, Billy T James, Dame Silvia Cartwright and Margaret Mahy were among those who gathered to recount their lives.

gir ls' school

The presentations were part of an English unit to introduce the concept of biographical works. The girls were given the task to choose a famous person to research, with the assignment requiring them to produce a visual presentation board with information that covered, in chronological order, the person’s life achievements, timelines, quotes and photos, as well as a biographical speech.

34

The girls set up in the hall ready to entertain and at the ring of a bell, they switched into role play. At the beginning, the girls looked a little nervous and relied on their speech cards but as the afternoon wore on, the students’ oral language skills, eye contact and voice projection improved immeasurably as their confidence grew, to the point where they recited their speeches without prompts or hesitation. Parents, friends and fellow students all enjoyed the informative, yet fun filled afternoon.

Head of English and Year 8 teacher, Mrs Jill Wahlstrom said, ‘Having the girls research, write and present their biographies, not only covered many skills but made the whole experience more authentic and a great deal of fun for the students’.

S

tunning weather all week, House competitions, beach cricket, glow worms and camping under the stars were some of the experiences for the girls in Years 5 – 8 when they headed away to camp last term. The Year 5 and 6 girls went to Shakespear Lodge in Whangaparaoa which has it all farmland, bushes and beaches right at their doorstep, whilst the Year 7 and 8 girls joined together for a week at McLaren Falls in Tauranga.

The Year 5-6 girls enjoyed many activities including orienteering, raft building, archery, kayaking, climbing, swimming and taking a night time walk to see glow worms. Adventure camps, being at one with nature and putting themselves in new situations helped to build the girls’ confidence, determination and teamwork.

McLaren Falls Park is an idyllic venue where the older girls had the opportunity to experience a variety of

water sports. The girls all jumped at the chance to give windsurfing, paddle boarding, surfing and Frisbee golf a go.

Their time at camp, gave opportunities to develop confidence, responsibility and initiative both in individual and group activities.

This group camped in tents for the duration of their stay, looking after their own campsites but on the last night they slept under the stars. Each student was also responsible for cooking her own breakfast, lunch and dinner - under parent/teacher supervision.

Cargill won the House competitions, which was a combination of paddle board races, team initiatives, fire starts and swamp running. They also won the House skits! Well done Cargill.

Year 5 & 6 Camp Hiking up the towering mountain with the dazzling sun in my eyes. I saw a panorama of lush dancing trees dotting the parks and the gorgeous deep blues was a highlight for me even though climbing a mountain was exhausting.

- Mia Li, Year 6 My biggest achievement was facing my fear in coast steering by swimming when I knew there were fish.

- Charlotte Higgins, Year 6 Something I found challenging was getting to the top of the yellow climbing wall.

- Alisa Iosua, Year 6 My biggest challenge was rock climbing because I got up high then I wanted to come down. I was inches from the top.

- Lucy Grant, Year 6

Year 7 & 8 Camp I loved the wind-surfing. It was difficult as it required lots of balance, strength and concentration to stay on the board and sail.

- Ayra Blackler, Year 7 I found some of the challenges on camp really frightening but I had my group to encourage me to do my very best.

- Qing Qing, Year 7 I think the cooking on camp with burners was challenging because you had to try not to burn things and it had to be edible.

- Megan Yeo, Year 7

gir ls' school

Girls’ School Go On Camp!

35

Wishart Wins Swimming F

or the fifth year in succession, Wishart achieved a head start to the year, claiming victory at the swimming sports. The day got off to a great start, beginning with the youngest swimmers in Years 1-3. For this age, the full length of the pool may seem a long way to go but the juniors had been well prepared during lesson time and each gave their race their absolute best. The senior girls did a fantastic job assisting the youngsters in the pool when they needed it, cheering and encouraging them along the way.

The Middle and Senior School finalists stepped up to the mark in the afternoon, beginning with the 100m freestyle. As the starter beep sounded, the girls dived into the water, their Houses lining the pool to cheer them on. Next was backstroke and breaststroke followed by butterfly – what an impressive display of skills across all swimming styles!

S

THLETIC HOUSE A S N CHAMPIO T WISHAR 1ST S HALMER 2ND C CARGILL 3RD N HAMILTO 4TH

Congratulations to all swimmers, age-group champions and Wishart for holding onto their title at the first House event for the year.

GIRLS’ SCHOOL SWIMMING CHAMPIONS 2017 Overall Champions

1st

2nd

3rd

Year 8

Eva Colyer (CA)

Kate Frazer (CA)

Isabel Li (WI)

Year 7

Olivia Rooney (HA)

Zara Nelson (WI)

Grace Gilbert (WI)

Year 6

Alexandra Campion (CH)

Frances Revell-Devlin (WI)

Alex Lamb WI)

Year 5

Sienna Hirst (CH)

Katie Donaldson (CA)

Priscilla Zhong (CH) Sienna Haar (WI)

Year 4

Emma Scholtz (HA)

Ella Taylor (CA)

Sophie Grant (CH) Amy Hilliam (HA)

Year 3

Brooke Rowntree (CA)

Sienna Robertshaw (CH)

Charlotte Albrecht (HA)

Year 2

Violet Lindsay-Smail (CH)

Daniella Gillard CA)

Phoebe Wakelin CH Olivia Lidstone (CA)

Year 1

Kasey Wray (HA)

Maggie Griffins CH

Sadie Fitness (CA)

Year 7 & 8 Athletics gir ls' school

T

36

he Year 7 and 8 girls competed alongside the College students in the annual Athletics Championships.

Congratulations to Year 7 student, Jade Nomani, who came 2nd overall, competing against over 100 girls, also placing 1st for the Girls’ School. The girls ran, jumped and threw to the best of their abilities, giving almost every event a go to collect House points. After the first athletics day was cancelled due to torrential downpours, the rescheduled preliminary day and finals day were more than anyone could have asked for.

Congratulations to all the girls for their efforts representing the Girls’ School and to our Year level podium winners.

Girls’ School Athletics Champions 2017 Year 7

Year 8

1st Jade Nomani (WI) 2nd Olivia Rooney (HA) 3rd Arya Blackler (HA)

1st Khanye’-Lii Munro-Nonoa (CH) 2nd Savannah Samson-Tuinukuafe (WI) 3rd Eva Barry (WI)

Zone Swimming

A

fter finishing at the top of the Girls’ School events, the winning swimmers went on to represent Saint Kentigern at the Zone Championships with great results.

Well done to the Year 5 and 6 girls who competed in the Remuera Zone held at the Boys’ School. There were 9 podium finishes including placing 2nd in the girls’ event with 3rd place overall (boys and girls combined). A most notable achievement was Year 6 Girls’ School student, Alex Campion gaining 1st place in five events! Well done Alex!

The Year 7 and 8 representatives competed in the SouthEastern Zone competition and won 3 medals. Well done to all our swimmers who qualified and achieved placings in their events.

SOUTH EASTERN ZONE SWIMMING Year 7 Girls Grace Gilbert

2nd

50m Backstroke

Olivia Rooney

3rd

100m Freestyle

3rd

50m Backstroke

Year 8 Girls Eva Colyer

REMUERA ZONE SWIMMING Year 6 Girls Alexandra Campion

1st

25m Freestyle, 25m Butterfly, 25m Backstroke, 25m Breaststroke, 50m Freestyle

Year 6 Girls 4x25m Freestyle

2nd

Alexandra Campion, Frances Revell-Devlin, Alex Lamb, Keeley Berkovits

Open Girls 4x25m Medley

3rd

Alexandra Campion, Frances Revell-Devlin, Alex Lamb, Katie Donaldson

RELAYS

Remuera Zone Swimming Champions

W

hat a great way to end swimming sports with the top swimmers from the Girls’ and Boys’ Schools battling it out for the House Relay title. Coloured wigs and costumes created a sea of colour as the House chants rang out in in full force, for a fun filled morning of House Relay rivalry. With all the points tallied, Chalmers won the House Cup. Well done to all the participants who swam on the day, dancers and their supporters.

2nd

Girls Champions

Girls’ School

3rd

OVERALL BOYS/GIRLS CHAMPIONS

HOUSE RELA Y CHAMPION S 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH

CHALMERS WISHART CARGILL HAMILTON

Sacha’s Title Haul!

Y

ear 7 student, Sacha Earnest is currently a three-time age group Union Cycliste Internationale BMX World Champion and has recently added a few more titles to her name!

Over Easter weekend, the keen BMX rider competed in the 2017 BMX New Zealand National Championships in Te Awamutu, winning Gold in her age group and becoming the 11 year old Girls’ National Champion.

She also won gold in the SuperNats (professional) Female Junior Class taking home her first big cheque.

As well as becoming a National Champion in her age group, Sacha has been selected to represent New Zealand and captain the BMXNZ Mighty 11 girls test team, travelling to Sydney in June to compete at the Trans-Tasman Mighty Elevens Test. Congratulations Sacha and we wish you all the best for the competition in June.

gir ls' school

House Swimming Relays

Girls’ School

37

Off to World Soapbox Champs!

C

ongratulations to the Girls’ School ‘Soap Box’ drivers and pit crew who held onto their 2016 national title after winning the final of the National Rotary Soapbox Derby, following on from their win at the regional event the previous week. Year 8 student, Kaythi Finn was crowned New Zealand Super Stock Soap Box Champion and will travel to Ohio in July to compete in the All-American Soap Box World Championships! This will be the second year in a row that a Girls’ School student has travelled to the States to represent New Zealand after Ocean Scott took the honour last year.

The win did not come without its challenges though!

After the success of last year, many girls were keen to get involved in the lead up to this year’s competition. A determined group of ten students gave up many of their lunchtimes to build a second Soap Box car from a kit set, comprised of hundreds of parts! The girls did all the work on the car precisely to specifications, due to the rigorous scrutineering that occurs at each competition.

An intensive six weeks of trials and training followed to select two teams to compete in the Super Stock class at this year’s East Auckland Rotary Regional Soap Box Derby. This was first taste of competition for some of the girls but they did really well – often finding themselves head to head with drivers from the Boys’ School! Girl power won on this occasion with Kaythi and Year 6 student, Emily Hall selected as the fastest drivers to go through to the National competition.

At the Nationals, the first race of the day resulted in a crash for Emily but luckily she was not disqualified and nor did the mishap deter her; she went on to race fearlessly through to the final 12 cars, but unfortunately did not place. It was a fantastic outcome for a ‘rookie’ to the sport.

Up next was Kaythi. Having reached the New Zealand Finals for the previous two years, she knew what to expect and showed composure and focus throughout the day. Kaythi believed she could do it this year, firstly making the final eight before executing two great final runs to win!

Soap Box racing is not for the faint hearted - the girls were speeding down the newly sealed Brightside Road hill in Whangaparaoa notching up speeds of well over 60km/h! They really were hurtling like professionals! Year 8 student, Ocean Scott also competed in the Masters Division placing 3rd.

A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes, so we would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has been a part of the process and journey so far. There have been many hours of work gone into the building of the car, making repairs, researching, fixing parts, arranging logistics, practice sessions on weekends and organising the girls. We would like to sincerely thank our parents for their input and especially our sponsors, Mr Warren Linn from iSign It for the vinyl wrapping of the soap box car, Black Fasteners Ltd for the training t-shirts and Blueriver Creative for supplying the graphics.

Tartan Inspired Soap Box Towards the end of last year, the Girls’ School students were encouraged to design their best Saint Kentigern inspired shell for the new Soap Box Derby car that had been built by the girls themselves. There were about 100 entries ranging from unicorns and flames to house colours and one very impressive Porsche design, but one design stood out from all the rest. Year 8 student, Torie Pickering created a design using the Saint Kentigern tartan. Torie was asked to unveil the new car at assembly.

gir ls' school

The new Soap Box design look fantastic, well done Torie!

38

Girls’ School Parent and Friends W

elcome to all of our new families who have joined the Saint Kentigern Girls’ School community this year and welcome back to our returning families. We have had a great start to 2017 and the year is already flying by quickly.

We recently held our Parents and Friends Annual General Meeting and it is my absolute pleasure to be writing this article as your newly elected Chairperson. Mrs Rebecca Gadsdon-Green and Mrs Kim McGregor have stepped down from their respective executive roles as Chairperson and Deputy Chair after three years and one year respectively.

I would like to thank Mrs Slavka Yildiz for her fantastic organisation of the annual School Picnic early in the year. This event was a huge success on a beautiful Auckland evening. It was an amazing sight to see the school lawn filled with so many of our families who enjoyed getting to know each other and talking about the excitement of the year ahead.

All our girls thoroughly enjoyed Flora MacDonald Day, participating in a range of different activities while sporting the tartan of their clan. Our thanks to the parents who offered their services on the day.

As we progress into Term 2 and the rest of the year, we have many events to look forward to on the school I would like to take this opportunity on behalf calendar. These include the Mother Daughter High Tea, Rebecca Scoones, Girls’ School of the Parents and Friends committee and fellow the School Disco, and the Father Daughter Breakfast.

Parent and Friends Chairperson parents to thank Rebecca and Kim for their We welcome any support from parents who would like contribution to Girls’ School. Their dedication and to assist the committee with these events and would commitment to their roles and to the School have been exceptional. encourage you to get involved and to help out where possible.

Our 2017 Parents and Friends Executive now comprises returning members, Mr Stacy Colyer (Secretary) and Mrs Julie Bolton (Treasurer), who are joined by new members, Ms Gretchen Weightman (Deputy Chairperson) and myself.

Lastly, I would also like to thank our many volunteers that helped to make our 2016 events such a success. I look forward to 2017 and working with you all to make this another exciting and fulfilling year at Saint Kentigern Girls’ School.

Rebecca Scoones, Chairperson

Family Picnic F

amilies and friends of the Girls’ School set themselves up on the lawn in front of Corran House for their annual family picnic. It was a beautiful evening with sausages and steak cooking on the BBQ, treats ready to be purchased and a Sushi Truck for those who wanted something different.

The scene was perfect for a relaxing picnic under the shade of late-summer trees, sheltering families from the evening sun, while music played in the background. It was a fantastic opportunity for parents to socialise with fellow parents while the girls happily played.

gir ls' school

The girls and their siblings were kept entertained with face painting, playing on the playground, playing cricket on the tennis courts and having a cool dip in the pool, with on-duty lifeguards to keep watch. A wonderful evening was enjoyed by all. Thank you to the Parents and Friends Association for organising this successful event.

39

BOYS’ SCHOOL

Remain in Control of Technology T

he end of the first term saw the weather deteriorate causing floods throughout New Zealand. Communities were just getting their lives back to normal when the threat of Cyclone Debbie appeared to be tracking to our shores. Already inundated, towns were fearing the worst and Auckland was bracing itself for some wild and wet weather.

We are informed via TV, radio, messaging and social media what to expect and when to expect it. Gone are the days where we look out the window and make a semi-educated guess about what to wear or what the weather is going to bring by just feeling the temperature, or by looking at the sky.

Are we over protected? Are we relying too much on other sources to tell us what to do? Is common sense now not needed?

We were told to expect the worst! People and organisations reacted differently. School closures in the Bay of Plenty later spread throughout the country even permeating into Auckland. The Harbour Bridge was under threat of closure if the winds reached the expected levels and those using ferries for transport were unlikely to get home. The CBD made the decision to close early allowing commuters to get home before the heavens opened. Clearing the city at lunchtime created its own problems, particularly with public transport and of course, the grid-locked arterial routes out of the city. All of this information and perhaps misinformation, quickly did the rounds via social media and in some cases created unnecessary panic. If major companies are closing for the safety of their workers, why aren’t schools?

During the course of the day and later in the evening, we were constantly updated as to the status of Cyclone Debbie and the destruction she was causing. We were taken around the country and provided pictures, information and human interest in real time images and stories. Using the same technology, we were also shown a video of pre-schoolers sliding down a slide in the pouring rain landing in puddles of mud.

There were squeals of delight and I guarantee that every person who viewed the video had a smile on

12

their face. Within 24 hours, the video had gone viral and had been viewed by 10,000,000 people. Seven days later, the same video has been seen by over 36,000,000 people worldwide. What causes this phenomenon?

Life has changed…we have immediate access to a wealth of information, human interest stories, facts, fiction, humour, causes, advertising, propaganda and we know what our friends are doing at the same time they are doing it …if we want to! My hope is that we don’t become slaves to technology but use it for the purpose it was designed – to make life easier and in a number of cases, faster. Take back control – do we really need to check our messages or news updates so regularly or be consumed by the fear of missing out.

Breaking News: 1 in 6 (17%) 15 year olds spend six hours per day in front of a screen; 5 in 6 (83%) 15 year olds do not! (The power of the media – scaremongering!)

The availability of technology in education today is a given and a necessity. Our students have access to any information they want; they are able to collaborate with peers, world experts and their friends. Our role as educators is to provide the necessary protocols for digital citizenship so that technology remains a tool for learning and where real learning (as articulated by George Curos an innovative teaching and learning consultant) ….

1.

Promotes starting with a question

2.

Is about creating

3.

Is about exploring your passions and interests

4.

Is about challenging perceived norms

5.

Can happen any time, all of the time

6.

Is often social

7.

Is personal

8.

Is about making your own connections

9.

Is random and non linear

10. Is about deep exploration

Fides Servanda Est Peter Cassie, Principal

Boys’ School Prefect Team 2017

O

n the very first day of the new school year, the 2017 Boys’ School prefects were commissioned at a special service attended by their parents and invited guests. For the parents of the newly elected Head Boy, George Beca, and Deputy Head Boy, Archie Nightingale, this was a particularly proud day. These fine, young men both have the capability to lead the School with distinction.

Principal, Mr Peter Cassie welcomed Head of College, Steve Cole, who introduced this year’s College Head Boy, Matthew Stirling.

Matthew spoke to the boys with great confidence using Nelson Mandela as an example of good leadership. Matthew told the boys

that, ‘Leadership isn't about being the best at things. I have always understood leadership to be simply living with passion and an open heart, encouraging others to do so too by providing them with an example to follow.’

Mr Cassie came forward to challenge both George and Archie with the Prefect Pledge: ‘Gentlemen, do you promise to uphold the values and standards of Saint Kentigern School and to serve its students, teachers and parents to the best of your ability and for the glory of God?’ The boys signed the Prefect Ledger, first started in 1995, then introduced the rest of their prefect team to the School, as they in turn accepted the duties of leadership.

HEAD BOY - George Beca

DEPUTY HEAD BOY - Archie Nightingale

George started the Boys’ School as a Year 0 student in Term 4 2009. At the end of Year 3, George received the class prize for General Excellence, the Year 3 Sprint Award and the Junior Citizenship Cup. At the completion of his Middle Schooling, George continued to excel in all areas of school life. He received the Class Prize for Excellence, the Junior Speech Award, he was winner of the Remuera Zone Speech Competition and was awarded the Old Collegians’ Jubilee Scholarship. He was a member of the Performers’ Choir, Colts Cricket and Football, as well as the Year 6 Athletics Champion. George’s academic results and commitment to school life show a young man who is self-motivated to learn and willing to put in the extra effort required to gain the best results, as well as making the most of the many opportunities available. At the end of Year 7, he received a Year 7 Diligence Award. During the course of last year, he gained Distinction in ICAS Mathematics. He is a member of the Performers’ Choir and represented the School in Football, Cricket Cross Country and Athletics. George is a young man with many talents. We look forward to his leadership of the School during 2017.

Archie started at the Boys’ School as a new boy in Year 7 last year. It was evident early in his school journey that he embraced the Saint Kentigern Way and made the most of every opportunity presented to him. He involved himself in a wide range of activities throughout the year which included the following: A Miromiro Monitor, attainment of a Bronze Service Award, a member of the cast of ‘The Lion King’ and a member of the Year 7 Mathex Team. Archie is also a keen sportsman who played cricket and football for the School and represented us in the cross country zone teams. Archie is well respected by his peers and is ready to take on this leadership challenge.

Head Boy: George Beca Deputy Head Boy: Archie Nightingale Chapel: Isaac Wong Academic: Campbell Joyce Cultural: Zavier Edmonds Junior: Jackson Horton Council: William Tisdall Sport: Louis Eglinton Cargill: Benjamin Heron Fynn Rowntree Chalmers: Oscar Cottrell Jack Priddy Harrison Waymouth Hamilton: Ethan Agaimalo

Thomas Hiddleston Wishart: Oliver Avis

Tetauru Cuthers

Cargill House Leaders: Benjamin Heron, Fynn Rowntree

Chalmers House Leaders: Oscar Cottrell, Jack Priddy, Harrison Waymouth

Hamilton House Leaders: Ethan Agaimalo, Thomas Hiddleston

Wishart House Leaders: Oliver Avis, Tetauru Cuthers

boys' school

2017 Boys' School Prefect Team

13

Building Minds Building Futures Roselle House Renovation Well Underway!

A

fter the rooms were cleared and the administration team relocated part way through last year, the old house lay silent for a while but over the past few months, contractors have been busy on the extensive renovation project. The site was fenced off, scaffolding went up and recently the entire building disappeared under ‘shrink wrap’ for the next phase of work.

Built in 1876, Roselle House was generously gifted

by John Martyn Wilson to the St Kentigern Trust, a charitable entity with links to the Presbyterian Church. He stipulated that his bequest was for the sole purpose of educating boys, bequeathing a further £5,000 pounds to develop the first classroom block. Generous of nature, Martyn also offered three acres of land in Shore Rd to the Council, expressing the wish that the School, when established, should have the use of the land for field sports. To this day, Roselle House and Martyn Wilson Field are used by the School for this purpose.

boys' school

The majestic house, that was so generously gifted, has been at the heart of Boys’ School since the bell first rang on 1 February, 1959. In those early days, Roselle was filled with the noise of young boys as many of the rooms were given over to classrooms for ‘Primers 1-4’ and the library. As the roll expanded over the years, new classroom blocks were established and Roselle’s primary function shifted from classroom use to become the administration centre of the School.

14

Now, 58 years after the boys first entered Roselle, work is well underway to transform the upper floors into a high tech Learning Commons for the boys, including a new library and modern learning spaces, while the ground floor, once refurbished, will continue to function as main reception and administration for the School.

As a listed Category B Heritage building with significant heritage value, not just to the School but the wider Auckland community, all work must

take into account its heritage status; accordingly, planning and consenting of the project took some time. The project gathered momentum in 2016 with completion of the design documentation and receipt of the necessary Resource Consent approval. Tendering took place in August/ September 2016 with Dominion Constructors Ltd being appointed as Main Contractor at the end of October 2016. The project involves major structural upgrading, alteration and refurbishment to the existing two storey building.

Hoardings went up in mid-November 2016 and careful demolition, dismantling and stripping out works gathered pace from December 2016 onwards.

The building floors and majority of wall and ceiling linings have been carefully removed exposing many of the original features of the building which has been altered over the course of its life. The recent ‘shrink wrapping’ will give the necessary weather protection whilst the main roof coverings are replaced, repairs are carried out to the façade and the exterior is re-painted from top to bottom.

The project will not only create new facilities for staff and students to enjoy – it will also address all the building and construction related issues impacting the condition of the building. The work will be carefully undertaken to respect the heritage value of the building and to ensure it will stand for another hundred years. One example, is the removal of the ornate heavy brick chimneys (a potential risk in a seismic event) and their replacement with lightweight replicas precisely matching the original structures.

The project is currently on schedule to reach ‘Practical Completion’ in mid-November 2017 with the interior fit out and furnishing being completed

by Christmas 2017. Students and staff will be able to enjoy the refurbished facility from the start of Term 1 2018 when Roselle will, once again, be used according to John Martyn Wilson’s bequest – ‘for the sole purpose of educating boys.’

Anzac Service ‘In the quietness of this time, we remember the sounds of the battlefield, the despair of defeat, the deprivations of captivity.

We remember those who paid the supreme sacrifice, all who lie buried in distant lands.’ he impact of war, and especially the First World War, on New Zealand as a nation, has been great. It has fashioned our nationhood and is embedded in our history and culture. Sacrifice has always been a central theme to ANZAC services around the country as we recall those who served in the many theatres of war over the last century. With reverence, we acknowledge the debt we owe to the many who fought, were wounded and, for a very significant number, failed to return to the shores of our country.

Every year since 1916, dawn services have been held on 25 April as a mark of respect for the fallen soldiers of World War 1 in particular.

Marking the time of the initial landings at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, dawn holds the symbolism of darkness making way for the light of a new day. These services do not serve to glorify war but to honour the memory of those who, in time of war, faithfully served their country, many sadly paying the ultimate price.

On a crisp morning in the first week of Term 2, as the sun began to rise over the Boys’ School, an estimated 1500 members of our Boys’, Girls’ and Preschool communities joined in remembrance for the fallen. In the early morning light, the Boys’ School Pipe Band played prior to principal pipers, Nicholas Berry and Nicholas Forgie, piping the official party to the field. Representative students and staff from each of the Schools and the Preschool, along with Chairman of the Trust Board, Dr Bruce Goodfellow and the newly appointed Head of Saint Kentigern, Mr David Hodge, took their places under flood lights.

Before Reverend Reuben Hardie made the call to worship, Boys’ School Principal, Mr Peter Cassie recalled the dark days on the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915, when 2779 New Zealanders were killed (5 times the number of students at our School) and 4852 wounded during a bitter eight and a half months struggle which failed to achieve any military objectives.

Girls’ School Principal, Ms Juliet Small, followed, reading an ANZAC prayer that remembered the ‘ordinary’ New Zealanders, especially those from the Auckland region who lost their lives.

Students from each of the schools had a part to play in the service with Boys’ School Head Prefects, Archie Nightingale and George Beca each taking a reading. George highlighted the misery of the Gallipoli trenches, reading Corporal George L. Smith’s first-hand experience of life in a cramped dug-out. Girls’ School Head Girl, Lola Wiltshire read the evocative Western Front poem, ‘In Flanders fields the poppies blow, between the crosses row on row’ before Lily Kate Umaga and Sharmaine Tapling bravely sang the first verse of the congregational hymn, ‘Abide with me.’

Four wreaths were laid - one by Mrs Sue Nash, Director of the Preschool along with preschoolers Lola Leport-Symonds and Sid Naiker; one by Ms Juliet Small with Head Girl Lola Wiltshire; one by Mr Peter Cassie and Head Boy, George Beca; and the fourth was laid

by Dr Bruce Goodfellow, Mrs Rosemary Harris and Mr David Hodge on behalf of the wider Saint Kentigern Community, both past and present.

Year 3 Student Will Mcleod was called on to deliver Binyon’s wellknown poem, ‘For the Fallen.’

‘They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. We will remember them.’

The service concluded with the ‘Last Post’ played by Oscar Van Druten followed by silence as we remembered the fallen.

boys' school boys' school

T

15

Celtic Day Y

es, it’s Celtic Day! Without doubt the most favoured day on the school calendar; a day universally acknowledged as ‘the best’ – the only day of the year when the entire timetable is suspended in favour of activities arranged around a Scottish theme, with both fun and learning in mind. This year’s Celtic Day certainly lived up to its reputation, providing tradition, formalities, humour - and a timehonoured taste of something that, more than any other food, has an exceptionally bad reputation! More about that later…

In a term when rain was the norm, curtailing camps and outdoor events, and in a week when sadly great swathes of the country were under water after Cyclone Debbie unleashed her fury; Shore Road was blessed with a day of sunshine for our annual Scottish festivities.

The clans gathered, painted, ‘tartaned’ and full of expectation before Sam McLeod stepped forward to lead the haka; challenging onlookers and stirring the spirit for a day of action.

For the past 20 years, the College Pipes and Drums have led the parade but now our own Boys’ School Pipes and Drums share that honour. Under a blaze of sunshine, our older boys took their younger buddies under their wing and followed the bands, knowing plenty of fun lay ahead! The transition boys from the Preschool were also there to join in the fun.

Principal, Mr Peter Cassie began with a Scottish blessing, ‘May the roof above never fall in; may we below never fall out,’ before handing over to our student leaders to tell the story of our patron saint, St Kentigern, also known as Mungo. Each House leader stepped up to deliver their part of Mungo’s story telling of ‘the bird that never flew, the tree that never grew, the bell that never rang and the fish that never swam’ – the four symbols that make up Glasgow’s coat of arms, adopted by our Houses.

boys' school

Nick Forgie and Nicholas Berry had the honour of piping in Head Boy, George Beca and Deputy Head Boy, Archie Nightingale, bearing the haggis. This year, we thank Mrs Jen Aspinall for helping George to learn the eight long verses of Robbie Burn’s ‘Ode to the

16

Haggis;’ no mean feat for a twelve year old - a feat accomplished with a confident and spirited address!

Despite its formidable reputation for being less than palatable, a tray of the aforementioned haggis greeted the boys as they left the assembly! This was sampled by a good number of boys who smiled stoically and swallowed quickly – and looked enviously at the trays of shortbread offered to the parents and invited guests! Meanwhile, the Preschool boys, too young to appreciate the contents, gladly tucked into the haggis downstairs, enjoying the peppery taste!

So let the games begin!

Spirits remained high throughout the day as the boys rotated between ‘wet and dry’ activities. Active dancing and noisy drumming to quiet times for craft, cooking and reflection. From giant balls on the pool, tossing the caber on the field to the much anticipated ‘Castle Siege’ with a multitude of cardboard boxes and wet sponges, there was plenty of outdoor fun.

If the Castle Siege won the outdoor stakes, it was cooking with a boy flavour that won the indoor activities. The cooking element in more recent times has focussed on porridge, pancakes and oat biscuits leaving tempting aromas – but with the involvement of the science staff this year, it took a new turn. The crowning glory of Scottish cuisine was laid bare in the science lab! Take the liver, kidneys, lungs and heart of a sheep and let the boys have a good prod and poke while learning a little about a sheep’s anatomy. Passed through a mincer, the boys added oats, spices and seasoning and cooked up their own mini haggis for immediate consumption. What their results may have lacked in appearance, they made up for in taste and, despite the less than palatable ingredients, the boys were more than happy to taste their own wares!

By the time the 3 o’clock bell came, the boys were tired, the staff were tired and the parents were tired but all concurred that Celtic Day is ‘the best!’

I

n the days when hunting was a means of basic survival, all parts of the dead animal were used. The skins were used as clothing, the gut and tissue used as thread for sewing, with the main carcass and organs used as food. The bulk content of the meat was often dried or salted and proved suitable for a long ‘shelf life’ but the innards and organs of the beast were perishable and had to be consumed first.

Someone, somewhere, sometime recognised that an animal stomach made an excellent cooking vessel, and that mixing the organs with spices and ground meal, and placing them in this natural ‘pot ’ to cook provided a highly nutritional and tasty meal. This basic method of cooking has been traced back to Greek and Roman times, long before its ties to Scotland.

It was Robbie Burns, in writing ‘Ode to the Haggis,’ who firmly presented the haggis as a unique and symbolic part of Scottish identity and culture. Through the power of the spoken word and the imagery of vivid language, he successfully portrayed a picture in the mind of an unusual dish, which has long since become the focal point of Scottish celebration!

s, lungs and • Take the liver, kidney boil them. and ep she heart of a mix with and ult res the ce Min • d oatmeal, chopped onions, toaste es. salt, pepper and spic aned • Take one properly cle that was sheep's stomach, yes, ff with stu and ch, ma sheep’s sto ts. the prepared conten (leaving • Sew up the stomach ion to enough room for expans losion) exp ssy me ge, avoid a lar and boil.

• Lovely.

50 0 young • Now serve to over boys!

boys' school

The Haggis

17

A Taste of Yesteryear T

he Year 3 boys had a taste of life in colonial times when they visited Howick Historical Village last term as part of their Social Studies programme. With a central idea to their learning that ‘children play games to socialise and interact’, part of their inquiry focussed on how children spent their time over 150 years ago. For boys who have grown up in an era where much is done at the push of a button and there is a comfortable bed to retire to at the end of the day, this visit to yesteryear was a real eye-opener. Dressed in period costume, the boys set off to explore.

Run as a ‘living museum’, the Village is an authentic 19th century reconstruction of the Fencible settlements built to protect the outlying communities of Auckland. It has the most extensive collection of early colonial buildings in New Zealand including raupo whares, a courthouse, a school, a general store, Fencible soldiers’ cottages, a church, a mill and a forge. The guides, dressed in period costume, took our students on an historical journey to a time when chores consumed the day and there would be few idle hours.

focus moved to expending energy indoors. Clearly in the 1800s, no batteries were required! The only source of energy came direct from ‘boy central’ as they got down to games like ‘duck, duck, goose’ and ‘I wrote a letter to my love.’ It was amazing how much fun could be had trying to throw and catch a hanky!

No trip to the Village is complete without the obligatory, ‘scary’ visit to the Victorian classroom. This was the boys’ chance to thank their lucky stars they are no longer required to sit at wooden desks in rows, while a cane-wielding teacher struts the aisles! With hair, hands and nails inspected, it was time to sit up straight and take notice! Writing lessons were conducted on a slate while the abacus – yesteryear’s ‘computer’ – was put into to action to calculate. The teacher may have been ‘firm but fair’ but the cane did not go unnoticed! The boys sat very, very still and were pleased their nails were clean and they had no potatoes growing behind their ears!

We are fortunate to have such a well preserved record of Auckland’s early history so accessible for learning.

Despite the constant drizzle, this proved to be a great learning opportunity for our students, giving them a sense of their place in time, and an understanding that they have much to be grateful for in the 21st century!

The main aim was to look at the way children played all those years ago. Sadly persistent rain eliminated the outdoor activities and so the

‘Peace and Order Under One Sovereign’ ‘For over five hours, through the heat of the day, Maori chiefs spoke for, and against the proposal of the Treaty of Waitangi. Their main concerns were about their authority, the land and trade dealings.’

E boys' school

ach year, the Year 5 boys visit Karaka Bay on Glendowie’s waterfront to re-enact the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The little stretch of beach marks the spot where Ngati Paoa signed the Treaty on 4th March 1840, following the Waitangi signing.

18

There was much excitement from the boys as they made their way down the long, winding path to the waterfront in costume, half of them dressed in full Victorian style men’s clothing and the others wearing Maori cloaks. In the lead up to the trip, the Year 5 classes had written a short role play to perform under the coverage of the big red pohutukawas that line the beach.

The role play delved into how at the time of the signing, many of the Maori chiefs didn’t agree with what was being proposed. The students had been assigned roles on both sides - the missionaries, Captain William Hobson and the Maori chiefs, Te Kemara, Tareha, Hakiro, Whai, Rawiri, Moka, Tama Waka Nene and Hone Heke. The boys spoke loudly and with confidence finishing the re-enactment with Hone Heke’s immortal words 'He iwi tahi tatou' (We are all one people).

Boys Join Boardroom Table! ear Six began this year inquiring into how groups organise themselves and how the responsibilities and decisions of the members, impact the group and the wider community. The boys formed small groups of common interest and prepared an investigation of one or two local companies, big and small, in order to gain a greater understanding of the dynamics of group organisation, decision-making and responsibility.

After exploring how their own homes and the School is organised, the Year Six students encouraged their parents to invite small groups of boys into their place of work. Once they’d established who they would be visiting, the boys brainstormed with their peers to develop meaningful and relevant questions for their proposed visit and interviews with an ‘expert’ in the company.

Their own responsibilities for this excursion also included organising the event themselves and filling in the school’s IOP (Internal Operating Plan) and transport forms as part of our school’s communication and safety organisation.

Many parents were involved in either organising the company in preparation for the

student visits, being the expert onsite or supplying transport for the boys. The boys were given tours and the opportunity to ask their many questions – some around the boardroom table! A big thank you to the Saint Kentigern Boys’ School Year 6 extended community for getting in behind this venture.

The boys returned from each event, buzzing from their experiences and all they had learned.

Organising a business is really complicated and the leaders have so many different matters that they have to deal with. - Ashan Weerasinghe 6AW There was an enormous amount of smaller organisations and leaders within the larger organisation. - James White 6AW I found out that everyone in the organisation has a challenging responsibility, not just the people at the top. - Lachlan Kennedy 6MJ It was surprising to see how companies can develop so much over time and how much work goes into communicating with other organisations.

- Will Ormond 6MJ I realised that even a small company can have a big responsibility in the community.

- Harry Taylor 6MJ

boys' school

Y

19

1

00

3

00

7

00

1

200

1

900

2

ACCELERATE

800

Sports Science B

ones, muscles, tendons, body mass, heart, lungs, motion, force, speed, velocity, acceleration, nutrition….

In a world full of differing values and beliefs, sport has long been one of the greatest unifying factors. Since the very first Olympiad in Greece, humans have been trying to gain the competitive edge to run faster, jump higher, throw further - the science of sport can be traced back to these ancient times. Whilst Hippocrates laid the foundation of Greek medicine as a rational science, it was the ancient Roman physician, Galen who further developed its theory and practice. Galen wrote 87 detailed essays about improving health through proper nutrition, aerobic fitness and the strengthening of muscles. Translated to Arabic, GrecoRoman physiology spread throughout the Middle East and then on to Europe.

boys' school

During the Renaissance, new ideas about the working and functioning of the human body emerged as anatomists and physicians challenged the previously known theories. Da Vinci’s detailed anatomical drawings were undertaken, lasting the test of time, and new scholars went beyond the simplistic notions

20

of earlier physicians, shedding light on the complexities of the circulatory and digestive systems.

In more recent times, during the course of the 20th century, the world’s superpowers not only battled it out in military combat but again in the Olympic arena as the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc nations applied physics and physiological principles to exercise.

America followed suit and Sports Science was well and truly born, and the desire to enhance athletic performance sparked a revolution in the way athletes prepared for competition.

Today, Sports Science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of Sports Science traditionally incorporates areas of physiology, psychology, anatomy, biomechanics, biochemistry and biokinetics. Entire industries have been born as attention is turned to not only the human body but the implements used to enhance performance. From large head tennis racquets to dimpled golf balls and shoes for every endeavour, sports scientists and performance consultants are in growing demand as nations vie to be the best!

At Year 7, the Sports Science option focuses on the growth, development and anatomy of the human body and students learn to identify the major bones and muscles of the human skeleton. Students explore movement related concepts as they participate in a range of physical activities, such as fitness testing and sports specific skills, designed to enhance their knowledge and enjoyment of physical activity. Although the Year 7 programme is very theoretical, the boys are learning to apply their knowledge in practical settings as they test a range of movements of their choice.

During core curriculum Science at Year 8, the Sports Science unit focuses mainly on how the human body responds to exercise - in particular, the circulatory and respiratory systems. Students look at the structure of muscle fibres and how they contract with the help of ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) which requires glucose (from the digestive system) and oxygen (from our respiratory system). Waste

products of exercise are then filtered and removed from our body through the sweat glands, urinary tract, liver and lungs. They develop their fair testing skills through this context, testing and comparing variables such as grip strength to hand volume, heart recovery rates, aerobic fitness levels and comparing this with various anaerobic strengths.

The Sports Science option at Year 8 expands on this work to include a more focussed approach to an athlete’s performance. Students look at the ways that nutrition impacts the body and how physical performance can be increased through careful attention to diet.

Students also explore the concepts around biomechanics and the ability to improve accuracy and skills through refining technique.

Students test the physical attributes and skills of a partner and create a plan focussed on developing their athletic achievement. The students then monitor the progress through the semester.

Combined with core science at Senior School level, the Sports Science option, for those who select it, brings a wider viewpoint to the students as they gain a broader knowledge about the application of scientific thinking to sports related modules and gain an awareness of the industry that has grown around Sports Science.

boys' school

This year, alongside the Sports Science unit that is part of the Science programme, additional Sports Science units have been offered in the Year 7 and 8 option programme as a link between Physical Education and Science to further extend the boys’ knowledge.

21

Camp – A Growing Sense of Independence T

22

McLaren Falls Park, Tauranga

Year 7

boys' school

Year 6

Kauaeranga Valley

Year 5

MERC, Long Bay

Year 4

Peter Snell Youth Village, Whangaparaoa

he boys in Years 4-8 relish Term 1 as, along with plenty of outdoor activity at School, this is the term that they get to go on camp! As the whole of New Zealand has come to know, February and March this year were not exactly the ideal months to be planning a camp, as the country suffered deluge after deluge! Fortunately, most of our camps either ‘lucked it’ or managed to ‘work around it,’ with the exception of Year 7 who simply had to ‘bail out’ when

the unrelenting rain, and their proximity to a water course, made conditions impossible to continue.

No matter what the age group or the location of the camp, all our camps away aim to offer new experiences, develop independence, discover self-confidence and help the boys find success in the face of new challenges. The boys returned to school at the end of the week brimming with excitement and totally exhausted!

Year 8 Tongariro Adventure With thanks to Dean of Senior School, Mr Richard Kirk.

I

n a new initiative, a change of location from Tauranga to Tongariro National Park was decided for this year’s Year 8 camp, to offer our boys experiences in the outdoors that provided greater challenges and more opportunities for leadership and growth; both individually and as a group.

With the boys spread across three locations, each boy had the opportunity to undertake a significant hike. Half the group made it across the Tongariro Crossing while the weather was fine but when the weather turned, the other half undertook a mountain walk which included a rock climb, a bush scramble and required the boys to take turns navigating the group safely. Being in the National Park, the weather plays an important role and it is great that despite the fickle conditions, both groups experienced a hike.

The heart of the camp was the expedition that each team undertook. This involved packing a pack, hiking to various locations, pitching tents and undertaking different activities along the way. Caving, abseiling, rock climbing, flying fox, canoeing as well as making camp, cooking their own food and ensuring that all members of the group were looked after were necessary for each student. The boys spent three days and two nights out in the park relying on their own resilience and each other before returning to the lodges. The weather did turn for the worse on Tuesday evening, but it was nothing these boys couldn’t handle and the expeditions continued as normal. A little bit of wet kit did nothing to dampen the spirits of the groups!

A camp like this is designed to challenge the boys to achieve things beyond what they thought was within their capability. Each boy (and staff member!) reached a point at some stage where they wondered how they were going to continue. The pleasing thing is that everyone did! Working out how to get through difficult moments is a skill for life and one that these boys learned without exception. The boys learned a lot about themselves, the other boys around them and how to work together for the good of the collective whole.

While the camp was designed to challenge, it was very important that it also included activities that were fun and engaging. The feedback from the boys has been that the camp was just that! Interestingly, not many of our boys had experienced the outdoors in this way before and when asked if they would do it again, the answer was a resounding yes!

Thank you to all the staff who attended to make this camp a unique experience for our boys.

The last words go to the boys….

‘Camp challenged us physically, mentally and pushed us out of our comfort zone.’

Devon Banks ‘Even though camp was one of the most challenging weeks of my life, it was also the most worthwhile.’

Lachie West ‘When you try new things, good things and bad things, it really shows who you are in a positive way and it definitely showed me what I can actually do.’

Tommy David ‘This camp was a massive learning experience and I learnt things I never thought I could do.’

Ethan Byloo ‘This camp was full of things I have never done and new opportunities for my group and I to experience.’

Jack Priddy ‘Camp was extremely hard work, but in the end, it was extremely rewarding.’

Will Tisdall

boys' school

The staff at Hillary Outdoors did a great job at challenging our boys, but also made sure they were supported where necessary. The Boys’ School staff who attended the camp were challenged also, but did a great job at motivating the boys to achieve all they could.

23

Wishart Wins Swimming F

rom the first day back at school, the swimming programme at the Boys’ School got underway in earnest – after all, when you’re going to get wet in the pool, what’s a little rain?! Yes, despite this summer going on record for its seemingly endless downpours, the programme in the pool continued unabated! By the time the Senior, Middle and Junior School swimming events came around, the boys were ready to dive in and give it their best.

OVERALL HOUSE CHAMPIONS 2017

Two records were broken this year. Middle School student, Luke Gibson broke the Year 6, 25m butterfly record with a time of 17.22. Senior School student, Jack Mitchell broke the Year 8, 25m breaststroke record with a time of 18.37. Well done boys for your fantastic effort!

There is a huge amount of organisation that goes into these days with well over 200 separate races to get underway, involving marshals to get the swimmers to the starting blocks, race-starters, timekeepers, results recorders and, of course, the boys themselves - every single one of them had the chance to swim!

1ST

WISHART

2ND

CARGILL

3RD

CHALMERS

4TH

HAMILTON

The swimming talent coming through the Boys’ School is impressive and it will be great to see what the future holds for our champion swimmers.

BOYS’ SCHOOL SWIMMING CHAMPIONS 2017 Overall Champions

1st

2nd

3rd

Year 1

Austin Zhao CA

Eddie Robinson HA

Jackson Fawcett WI

Year 2

Austin Aves CH

Jacob Goldwater CH

Harry Lynn CA Harold MacCulloch CH Ben Daley CA

Year 3

Toby McFarlane CA

Will McLeod CA

Spencer Wharfe CH

Year 4

Max Trankels HA

Theo Colyer CA

Oliver Dennis WI

Year 5

Oscar Bower WI

Lachlan Hay CA

James Hiddleston HA

Year 6

Luke Gibson WI

Sam McLeod CA

Ethan Knox CA

Year 7

Jackson Kennard WI

Brendan Meyer HA

Thomas hunter HA

Year 8

Alexander Dennis WI

Oliver Avis WI

Benjamin Haskell HA

National Aquathon Title! boys' school

C

24

ongratulations to Luke Hair who came 1st overall in the U12 Aquathon at the New Zealand Schools Triathlon Championships in Whanganui in late March. The Aquathon event entails a combination of a swimming and running leg. At national level, Luke was up against 21 fellow competitors all vying for the title.

Luke won in a time of 13m 19secs.

Luke competed in his first triathlon at the age of seven! He regularly competes in the Takapuna Triathlon, the People’s Triathlon and the Panasonic Triathlon. He trains with the United Club for swimming, and cycles and runs with his father. Well done Luke on a national title!.

REMUERA ZONE SWIMMING

Zone Swimming

Year 5 Boys

fter finishing at the top of the School championships, our best swimmers went on to represent Saint Kentigern at the Zone Championships with great results.

Well done to our Year 5 and 6 swimmers who competed at the Remuera Zone Swimming Sports. There were 14 podium finishes including placing 1st in both the Boys’ event and the Field Championship Open Relay, as well as being named Overall Champions (boys and girls combined).The Year 7 and 8 representatives competed in Eastern Zone competition and won 13 medals. Well done to all our swimmers who qualified and achieved placings in their events.

House Swimming Relays

HOUSE RELAY CHAMPIONS 2017 1ST

WISHART

2ND

CHALMERS

3RD CARGILL o complete all the swimming events each year is the highly 4TH HAMILTON anticipated House Relay event, when the Boys’ and Girls’ Schools come together for a morning of relay racing and friendly House rivalry – interspersed with the now legendary ‘danceoffs’ led by Reverend Reuben Hardie!

T

This event always draws a fantastic crowd of supporters along to the Boys’ School. Families gathered on the banks along with the students to cheer on the teams. As the races got underway, cheers and House chants rang out clear across Auckland!

Competition in the pool was extremely close and the effort made by every swimmer was amazing! Before the House winners were announced, staff from both schools gathered their teams together for the annual fun race against the fastest student swimmers. The Boys’ School staff team won the race but the students were hot on their heels!

With all the points tallied, Wishart came in first. Well done to all the participants who swam on the day, dancers and their supporters and a big congratulations to the winning Houses!

Tom Butler

2nd

25m Breaststroke

Oscar Bower

3rd

25m Backstroke

Oscar Bowers

3rd

50m Freestyle

Year 6 Boys Luke Gibson

1st

50m Freestyle

Luke Gibson

2nd

25m Freestyle

Luke Gibson

3rd

25m Butterfly

Ethan Knox

3rd

25m Freestyle

Charles Adams

3rd

25m Breaststroke

Year 6 Boys 4x25m Freestyle

1st

Luke Gibson, Ethan Knox, Sam McLeod, Tama Timu

Open Boys 4x25m Medley

1st

Sam McLeod, Ethan Knox, Luke Gibson, Charles Adams

Year 5 Boys 4x25m Freestyle

2nd

Lachlan Hay, James Hiddleston, Oscar Bower, Joshua McLister

Relays

Remuera Zone Swimming Champions Boys’ School

1st

Field Championship Open Relay

Boys’ School

1st

Boys Champions

Boys’ School

1st

OVERALL BOYS/GIRLS CHAMPIONS

EASTERN ZONE SWIMMING Year 7 Boys Jackson Kennard

1st

50m Backstroke

Jackson Kennard

2nd

50m Breaststroke

Jackson Kennard

3rd

50m Freestyle

Year 8 Boys Alexander Dennis

1st

50m Backstroke

Alexander Dennis

2nd

50m Freestyle

Jack Mitchell

1st

50m Breaststroke

Ben Haskell

3rd

50m Backstroke

Charles Adams

3rd

25m Breaststroke

Alexander Dennis

2nd

100m Freestyle

Oliver Avis

3rd

50m Butterfly

Year 7 Boys Relay 4x50 Freestyle

1st

Jackson Kennard, Adam Morrison, Johnny McElwee, Thomas Hunter

Year 8 Boys Relay 4x50m Freestyle

2nd

Alexander Dennis, Oliver Avis, Ben Haskell, Jack Mitchell

Open Boys 4x50m Medley Relay

2nd

Jack Mitchell, Oliver Avis, Ben Haskell, Alexander Dennis

Year 7/8 Boys

Relays

boys' school

A

25

South Island Sports Tour I

t was an excited group of cricketers and tennis players who headed to the South Island at the end of February to take on Medbury, St Andrew’s and Waihi.

At their first stop, Medbury School, the tennis players made a clean sweep winning the fixture 8-4. The cricketers put in a good performance but Medbury proved to have the edge with more experience on the slower grass wicket; the Saint Kentigern boys being more attuned to the faster astro-wicket on home turf. Still stiff from the Medbury fixture, it was up early the next day to take on St Andrew’s. This time, both teams came away victorious, the tennis notably winning a comprehensive 12-0. The following day the boys boarded the bus for rural Waihi, two and half hours away, where in beautiful weather, both cricket and tennis had solid wins.

Saint Kentigern is grateful to the three South Island schools who so graciously hosted our boys, billeting them in their homes, feeding and entertaining them; our boys are truly grateful for the experience.

Amazing Mr Matthews T

he boys in Year 1 have been inquiring into ‘where we are in time and place’ with a particular focus on the history of the Boys’ School – how it is now, compared to how it was in the past. Who better to ask than archivist, Mr Brian Matthews? Mr Matthews has worked at the Boys’ School for an amazing 42 years, originally as a teacher before moving in to the archivist role. He is a font of knowledge when it comes to the history of the School and was able to bring many artefacts to show the boys. They were particularly interested to see that the Celtic Cross on the earlier Boys’ School uniform items had an element of red included!

In a follow up session, Mr Matthews was joined by one of the boy’s father, Denver Simpson who had been taught by Mr Matthews during his time at the Boys’ School all those years ago. He showed the boys a book he had received at his Year 1 prize giving in 1978! He went on to be part of the prefect group that donated the bench that now sits outside the Junior School!

Lights, Camera, Action!

T boys' school

here was great excitement at the Boys’ School when ex All Black Hooker, Keven Mealamu arrived with a SKYTV film crew to shoot a short segment, with a group of our boys, for an advert to promote the Lions Rugby Series in June. The lucky boys selected sat with Keven as he showed them his Lions Jersey from the 2005 Lions Tour.

26

It was a fantastic experience for the boys to see first-hand how a film crew go about their job. They also learnt how long it can take to perfect a segment of film. Whilst filming took about 45 minutes, the boys will only feature for about 2-3 seconds of a 30 second advertisement! Watch out for the advert – don’t blink, you might miss our boys!

Boys’ School Parents and Friends T

he Saint Kentigern Boys' School Parents & Friends Association (P&F) have started 2017 with further improvements to our constitution and overall function. The new changes to the P & F framework are aimed to better develop and encourage friendship bonds within our fantastic school.

The AGM in March saw the voting in of some existing and new faces. Shelly Horton as Vice Chair, Fiona Freeland as Treasurer, Katie Taylor as Secretary, Vanessa Playle as Senior School liaison, Rebecca McLeod as Middle School liaison, Sarah Welch as Junior School liaison and myself, Simon Ward, re-elected back as Chairperson. This new and enthusiastic team was established for our 2017 year as part of our new constitution that was also approved at our AGM. Our event year starts with an awesome ‘meet the teachers’ evening which the P&F always enjoy working with the School to create. The evening, while providing key information, is also a great chance to get to know fellow parents.

Celtic Day was held on the 7th April and the P &F were again delighted to be able to host and sponsor the field activities. With exceedingly tight time frames of ten minutes per group of boys on each one of the field activities, the event planning, led by Vanessa Playle and assisted on the day by Hilary Chaytor as well

as a group of team leaders responsible for each activity, resulted in yet another successful and efficiently run Celtic Day. This year we also have a special event happening which the boys and teachers have already been working hard on last term. For those who have been following the P&F, you will know that on Thursday 29 June there will be an Art Exhibition and Auction Extravaganza. Every class within the school has been very busy creating a combined class piece of artwork, which will go up for auction. I’m sure these one of a kind masterpieces will become collector’s items to the winners!

In May, we are looking forward to hosting a Mothers Morning Tea to celebrate and honour the Mothers in our community. We feel very lucky to have secured another inspirational speaker, and look forward to the opportunity to give our guests a small respite from their busy lives as they sit back to be entertained by yet another interesting story.

Our 2017 Quiz night will be held 19th August and the team is currently being established to create another fun night of laughs and competition.

Lastly, the Fireworks Evening is loaded to go off on Saturday the 4th of November. A sell out event last year, be sure to get your tickets early for 2017’s popular show and ensure to save these dates to your calendar.

A big welcome all the new families who have joined us, this year, and we look forward to enjoying their company either at one of our meetings or one of the many events over the year.

Simon Ward, Chairperson, Parents and Friends

A Day at the College P

remier sports training, biology, chemistry and physics were some of the things the Boys’ School Year 7 students could explore into when they visited the College. The students were hosted at the College for an afternoon as part of their annual ’Taster Day.’ On arrival, they headed to Bruce House for lunch where they heard from Bruce House Head Boy, Harrison Taylor, who spoke to the students on what life is like living as a boarder.

After lunch, the boys took a tour of the Science Centre and were given a taste of science at secondary level. In 15 minute rotations, they received an introduction to chemistry, biology and physics by College Science teachers, watching some eyepopping experiments involving chemical reactions!.

The last part of the visit gave a glimpse of the co-curricular programme with the boys able to choose to take part in a training session with Mr Tai Lavea, Coach of 1st XV Rugby, Mr Chris Zorocich, Coach of 1st XI Football, Mr Ramesh Patel, Coach of 1st XI Hockey or eperience Drama with Drama Teacher, Mr David Sheehan.

boys' school

The boys thoroughly enjoyed their visit and thank the College staff for making them feel welcome.

27

college

Our Students Farewell Mr Cole I

n an emotional week of ‘lasts,’ retiring Head of College, Mr Steve Cole was honoured at many gatherings from Bruce House and the Old Collegians Dinner to a very poignant assembly run by the students in his final few days. With the Massed Choir, Bruce House Haka group and The Pipes and Drums of Saint Kentigern in attendance, the tables were turned as Head Girl, Izzy Denholm and Head Boy, Matthew Stirling had the last word, reading a report card for Mr Cole as seen through the eyes of the student body!

College

college

Report

40

The students had worked out that during his eight year tenure, Mr Cole had read and signed around 2000 mid-year reports and 2000 end-of year-reports every year, which add up to a whopping 32,000 reports read and signed over the years! They felt it was fitting that he should hear one more, his own report as written by the students of Saint Kentigern.

NAME

Mr Steve Cole

EN ROLM ENT DATE

July 2009

GR ADUATION DATE

Saint Kentigern

keen at Saint Kentigern as a O: Mr Cole has arrived YE AR ON E AN D TW ediately immersed imm has he and set out ster from the by all and commit ted Headma alre ady known on campus College life. Mr Cole is ool sch t himself in all aspects of mos ication. When endous suppor t and ded rtside, the student s for his trem meal, Mr Cole is at cou ily fam a to n dow ing sitt Headmasters would be able other events. mer innu and all ketb water polo, bas to suppor ting the teams at re dawn, the first in line s, Mr Cole will be up befo Early Saturday morning watch cricket or tennis. e he suppor tive - and the tim Mr Cole is dedicated and rall , Ove d.

Student Comment s: nte ede rec unp is s on s, cheering the student spends on the side -line as of rugby, rugby e – especially in the are mis pro at gre wn sho has Mr Cole por ting! coaching and rugby sup racing e has sett led in well, emb UR AN D FIVE: Mr Col ly and ent dilig YE AR S TH RE E, FO ked wor rn. He has available at Saint Kentige hing the blis the many opportunities esta as h suc s, ent for his many accomplishm lity to should be commended or Cricket Training faci tre, the OLE and the Indo Cen g rnin Lea ed Enhanc name a few. ent s is t and dedication to stud Mr Cole’s encour agemen him sitting see will Student comments: up gro le e ensemb duc tion , musical or larg up night after out standing. Every pro ing turn and ns itio pet por ting them at com around through rehearsals , sup e, frequently seen walking ws. He is alw ays availabl sho ir the ch wat to t nigh t. men age our enc -talks and words of campus offering up pep e to school life and the wid EN : Mr Cole’s dedication nd is atte ally YE AR S SIX AN D SEV son per and t por vities he continues to sup range of co- curricular acti e has well passed t of his innings , Mr Col par this In ive. ress imp his run rate . In not hing short of ding buil of patch led down into a steady the 50 mark and has sett to the Goodfellow e rad upg ary libr zing initiated the ama ’s identity this report period, he has a solid par t of the school ip style has now become ersh lead his ressive and imp tre this Cen Mr Cole continues A of Saint Kentigern. If , ops - and in fact the ver y DN who , man bats any ieve the highest score of innings , he will clearly ach the leader-board. name at the ver y top of his e plac will and , age Headmaster his

April 2017

lay suppor t, passion and Mr Cole continues to disp Mr Student comments: ome par ticularly fond of r the student s have bec dedication, but this yea his track suit pants, s, joke d goo for love of humour, his hot Cole’s endearing sense nod to sleep in those long tives and the occasional his dog Cassie, his superla assemblies.

l shown a remark able skil UATION: Mr Cole has winds, ng YE AR EIG HT GR AD stro ugh thro lege t while managing the Col in leadership developmen ce tidal flow in 2016. Mr will all remember as a fier we t wha and ers bumpy wat ngth and security not just stre d leadership has provide rently at Cole’s strong and positive to the 200 0 student s cur 70 suppor t staf f, but also to the 170 teachers and the College . model, ager, passionate, a role Mr Cole is a gre at encour ate and sion pas Student Comment s: fair, but ate, firm kind , determined , passion suppor tive , passionate, t. bes ir the student s striving for 100% commit ted to the

rn’ a true ‘Son of Saint Kentige Mr Cole now graduates as the future. and we wish him well for

AT TITUDE

Excellent

EFFORT

Excellent

INITIATIVE

Excellent

RE SPECT

Excellent

RE SPONS IBI LIT Y

Excellent

PU NCTUALITY

Excellent

Completion of office work

Pride in Uniform and Appearance

Ver y good, but… he often goes ‘missing in action’ out his office side door!

Some concerns!

Thank you The students finished the assembly by saying, ‘Mr Cole - on behalf of all the thousands of students who have attended Saint Kentigern under your leadership, we want to say thank you. Thank you for the thousands of hours spent walking around the College, thank you for attending our sports matches, our drama productions and our assemblies. Thank you for supporting our prizegivings, our fundraisers, our school balls, and our personal and collective endeavours. Mr Cole, you have led by example during times of success and during times of trial and you have never waivered. You have believed in us as individuals, as teams, as classrooms, as tutor groups, as Houses and as a College. You’ve demonstrated excellence, perseverance, diligence and fortitude.

Your dedication to everyone and passion about every aspect of College life are resounding themes highlighted by all the students we interviewed for this speech – and they are a legacy you have left with us. We cannot thank you enough for all you have invested in us. Your pride in us, and your dedication to Saint Kentigern is palpable. Under your leadership, we believe Saint Kentigern has become the very best school in New Zealand.’

As a final gesture, the students presented Mr Cole with a 100+ shirt which recognises the 100+ side lines, sports stands and audiences he has been a part of. He can leave knowing that he remains in the hearts and thoughts of those he leaves behind.

college

You have shown us that rather than talking about doing something, it is better just to do it.

41

2017 College Prefects Commissioned A

t a formal assembly early in Term 1, our Senior College student leaders for 2017 were commissioned.

This year, we congratulate Isabella Denholm and Matthew Stirling whose hard work, confidence, pride in the College and leadership skills have seen them appointed as Head Prefects. Both students have been fully involved with the College during their time here, carefully balancing their academic studies with many co-curricular activities.

They are well organised, meticulous students who have demonstrated the right attributes of a Saint Kentigern College Head Prefect.

The Head Prefects will be supported by Tate McGregor and Josh Looker in their role as Deputy Head Prefects, as well as an extended team that includes House Leaders, Chapel, Art, Service and Sports Prefects.

The prefect team has significantly increased in number this year, reflecting the addition of two new Houses to the College pastoral care structure. At the College, Stark and Wilson join the long-established Cargill, Chalmers, Hamilton and Wishart Houses, with the prefect teams for the two new Houses having chosen to change ‘House allegiance’ for their final year!

The selection process for prefect roles at the College is lengthy and thorough to ensure the best team of students with complimentary talents and skills are selected to represent the student body. These students are often ‘all-rounders’ who have taken every advantage of our ‘world of opportunity.’

Congratulations to all the students who have been appointed as prefects for 2017!

2017 College Student Leadership Team Isabella Denholm Matthew Stirling Tate McGregor Josh Looker Holly Foster

Head Girl Head Boy Deputy Head Girl Deputy Head Boy Chapel Prefect

CARGILL PREFECTS

college

Hunter Williams Josephine Crawford Georgia Bennett Kyle Robb Lauren Pickett Victoria Hockley

42

CHALMERS PREFECTS House Leader House Leader

STARK PREFECTS Fergus Ellis Georgia Ropati Brendan Waters Callum McDonald Kendall Mead Sam McDonald

Thomas Hyland Bella Conyngham Amelia Ayres Victoria Kolose Dane Schnell

Ethan Jupe Victoria Tse Anna Wilkinson Claudia Winn Lucy Scarborough Max Danesh-Clough

HAMILTON PREFECTS House Leader House Leader

WILSON PREFECTS House Leader House Leader

Erin Meek Tom Lott Freddie Cashmore-Chatwin Jessie Liu Kayleb Milne Sid Chand

Chapel Prefect Service Prefect Arts Prefect Sports Prefect Sports Prefect

Ashley Potter Ben Sterritt Alexander McDonald Fraser Hamilton Jamie Lindsay

House Leader House Leader

WISHART PREFECTS House Leader House Leader

Luke Paanakker Yasmin Shakes Anton Hitchcock Eleanor Buttle Harrison Taylor

House Leader House Leader

HEAD GIRL: Isabella Denholm

Four Houses Become Six!

Isabella is a confident, bubbly, high achieving academic student who excels as a public speaker and debater. In 2016, she received Academic Colours and Honours. Since Year 7, she has immersed herself in all facets of College life, in particular the Performing Arts and Service. She has been fully engaged as a member of the premier choir, Kentoris and has been involved in many of the College productions. She both plays and coaches netball and is currently working towards her Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. Isabella has a strong Christian faith which has seen her fully committed to service both within and beyond the College community.

She is a member of the Chapel Band, took part in the Malawi Service Trip in 2015 and for the last five years has been one of the top three fundraisers for World Vision’s 40 Hour Famine. Beyond College she has travelled to Tanzania as a NZ Word Vision Youth Ambassador and is a Youth Speaker for Tear Fund NZ. Isabella aims for excellence in all she does and is well-deserving of this appointment.

F

Matthew has attended Saint Kentigern since Year 7 and has well-developed leadership experience through his senior positions in the College Premier Water Polo team, as well as his club Water Polo and position on the New Zealand Water Polo U20 team. He is a high achieving academic student gaining Colours in 2016. He is well-versed in public speaking and takes all his responsibilities seriously, particularly enjoying the opportunity to help others enjoy College life as much as he does. Matthew was a member of the Malawi Service trip in 2015, has been a fundraiser for World Vision’s 40 Hour Famine and is working towards his Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. Matthew is well organised proving that he can balance demanding co-curricular activities on top of a busy school timetable. He is well-deserving of this appointment.

DEPUTY HEAD PREFECTS: Tate McGregor and Josh Looker Isabella and Mathew will well supported by Deputy Head Prefects, Tate McGregor and Josh Looker who are both friendly young people with positive outlooks. Both students are also excellent public speakers and enjoy the opportunity to lead by example.

Tate is captain of the 1st XI Girls’ Football team and has been in both Auckland and NZ age group Touch teams.

Josh plays Waterpolo and is committed to the music programme at the College playing saxophone in a number of our ensembles. Both students are skilled debaters and have embraced servant leadership.

They both relate well to other people and are looking forward to the challenges that this year will bring.

The steady growth of the roll prompted the College to review its pastoral care system during 2016, with the decision made to introduce two new Houses from the beginning of 2017. This new structure that increases the number of Houses from four to six, adds another two Heads of House at both Middle and Senior School level, therefore, greatly reducing the ratio of students to each Head of House. The new Houses, Wilson and Stark are named after Scottish Martyrs, Margaret Wilson and Helen Stark.

MARGARET WILSON (Unknown – 1685)

W

ilson was a ‘Covenanter’ which was an ‘early’ type of Presbyterianism. Covenanters were anti-royalists who would not take an oath to the English king and, therefore, by implication, the Anglican episcopal system. Alas, like most church history, religion and politics overlapped. Coventers died a dramatic death by being drowned for their beliefs in Presbyterianism as an emerging movement.

During ‘The Killing Times’ of the Covenanters in the 17th century, Wilson was one of the two Wigtown Martyrs who were executed in 1685 by Scottish Catholics in Wigtown, Scotland. Their story, as told in various sources, tells how the two women were betrayed by an informer. After a month in prison they were tried as rebels and sentenced to death by drowning. Wilson and Margaret McLachlan were tied to stakes on the town’s mudflats to drown with the rising tide.

It was hoped that as a young 20-year-old, Wilson might be persuaded to change her mind after watching the older McLachlan drown. The strategy failed and both died. This execution was carried out by dragoons under the command of Major Windram in the presence of Sir Robert Grierson of Lag who held the King’s Commission to suppress the rebels in the South West.

HELEN STARK (Unknown – 1543)

O

ne of the earliest Scottish Protestant martyrs, Helen Stark (or Stirke) was executed by ‘drowning in sack’ in Perth, Scotland. She was among a number of heretics, known as the ‘Perth Martyrs,’ who were condemned during the visitation of Cardinal David Beaton, Archbishop of St Andrews, in January 1543.

Stark was charged with having refused to call upon the Virgin Mary in childbirth and having claimed that the Virgin had no special qualities that made her superior to other women. Along with her husband, she was also accused of disrupting a sermon that claimed there was no salvation without intercession and prayer to the saints. The pair confessed the charge, adding that it was people’s duty to bear testimony to the truth and their right not to suffer false doctrine. The townspeople sought to save the accused but to no avail, since the local priests refused to intercede for any found guilty of such crimes. Helen and her husband left several children, including their new baby, to the care of the townspeople.

Helen’s religious beliefs were strong enough to cause her death, and thus give her a prominent place in Scottish martyrologies. Her story is recorded in ‘Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.’

college

HEAD BOY: Matthew Stirling

or every student currently at Saint Kentigern, and for those who came before, the names Cargill, Chalmers, Hamilton and Wishart run deep. The four original Houses were put in place soon after the College was founded, forming the early beginnings of the pastoral care system at Saint Kentigern.

43

2016 External Examination Results

NCEA and International Baccalaureate Diploma With thanks to Mr Richard Stead

T

he 2016 results in both NCEA and the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB) qualifications showed a pleasing increase in the number of NCEA students gaining Excellence Endorsements. Seven of our IB Diploma students gained 40+ points. Overall, the majority of our students can be pleased with their achievements with the vast majority gaining their respective NCEA Level Certificate and IB Diploma.

89.3% of our Year 13 students overall, including both NCEA and IB Diploma students, gained University Entrance.

Of note, three of our Year 11 students, Andrew Chen, Daniel Mar and Samuel Scott each gained a GPA of 100% in their NCEA Level examinations with the next three students on 99% or over; a most pleasing achievement!

NCEA LEVEL 1 At Level 1 (Year 11) 99.4% of all the students gained their NCEA Level 1 certificates with 39.9% attaining their certificates with an Excellence Endorsement and a further 42.2% gaining a Merit Endorsement.

We are pleased for the 74 students who have met the criteria for gaining Saint Kentigern Academic Colours or Honours.

Congratulations to our top five NCEA Level 1 students: Andrew Chen Daniel Mar Samuel Scott Desmond Yong Jason Hsiao

Average GPA – 100 Average GPA – 100 Average GPA – 100 Average GPA – 99.17 Average GPA – 99.0

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE DIPLOMA At the end of 2016, our seventh cohort of 28 Year 13 International Baccalaureate Diploma students completed their two-year course of study, culminating in their final external examinations.

89% of students were awarded the Diploma, well above the world average of 70%. The average point score for our Kevin Shen students was 36 points which compared very favourably against the world average of 29.2 points and 33.6 points for the rest of New Zealand.

Andrew Chen

Our Level 2 results continue to remain strong with 99% of students gaining their NCEA Level 2 certificates. 25.2% gained their certificates with an Excellence Endorsement and a further 45.9% gaining a Merit Endorsement.

We are proud of all students. However, the following seven students all gained ‘40 points and over’ from a maximum of 45. They join the elite few that gain more than 40 points in the Diploma Programme worldwide; their results are outstanding.

43 points 42 points 42 points 41 points 41 points 40 points 40 points

High Achievers’ Awards These top performing students were honoured at the New Zealand IB Schools High Achievers Awards Ceremony at Government House, Auckland, in the presence of the Governor General, Her Excellency The Rt Hon Dame Patsy Reddy.

Samuel Scott

NCEA LEVEL 2

Top Performing IB Diploma Students:

Kevin Shen Lanlie Zheng James Hansen Has Brooke Cameron Low Henry Mellsop John Won

Daniel Mar

David Thibaud

We are proud to acknowledge the 34 students who have met the criteria for gaining Saint Kentigern Academic Colours or Honours.

Congratulations to our top five NCEA Level 2 students: David Thibaud Average GPA – 98.33 Alyssa Hatton Average GPA – 97.17 Isabella Denholm Average GPA – 96.83 Ashley Potter Average GPA – 95.67 Matthew Stirling Average GPA – 95.0

NCEA LEVEL 3 Our 2016 leavers also produced a good set of results. 97.6 % gained a NCEA Level 3 Certificate while our University Entrance success rate for NCEA was 88.3%.

Excellence Endorsement was achieved by 16.3% of these students with a further 45.1% gaining a Merit Endorsement.

Alfie Robertson

college

Congratulations to our top 5 NCEA Level 3 students:

44

Alfie Robertson Nicholas Allen Douglas Gibson Spencer Johnstone Claudia Stewart

Average GPA – 94.4 Average GPA – 91.6 Average GPA – 91.4 Average GPA – 90.8 Average GPA – 90.4

NZQA Scholarship

2016 NZQA SCHOLARSHIP RESULTS

PREMIER SCHOLAR – KEVIN SHEN

Kevin Shen

It is with great pride that we announce that Kevin Shen, our IB Diploma Dux medallist for 2016, has been named as a recipient of a Premier Scholars Award by NZQA – granted this year to the top ten Scholarship students in the country. Kevin sat Scholarship exams at the end of 2016 in Chemistry, Physics, Statistics, and Calculus and was rewarded with Outstanding Scholarship passes in each of his subjects, qualifying him for a Premier Scholars Award. This award offers a grant of up to $30,000 towards further studies.

SUBJECT

SCHOLARSHIP

Accounting

Ryan McEwen

Biology

Nicola Williams

OUTSTANDING SCHOLARSHIP

Greer Hunter Nishanth Francis Samantha Louie Rebecca McQueen Calculus

Henry Mellsop

Kevin Shen

Has Brooke Cameron Low

TOP IN SUBJECT – ANDREW CHEN

Andrew Chen (Year 11)

Another outstanding achievement goes to Andrew Chen who came top in the country in Statistics. This in itself is a remarkable feat but is made all the more remarkable knowing that he was only in Year 11 when he sat the Scholarship exam! The Top in Subject Award offers a grant of up to $600 towards further studies.

Andrew also gained a Scholarship in Calculus.

Andrew Chen

Chemistry

Dominic Devlin

Classical Studies

Alex Grigor

Design & Visual Communication

Ainsley Foster

Kevin Shen

Douglas Gibson Craig Roxburgh Drama

Hannah Lamberton

English

Alyssa Hatton (Year 12) Erin Meek (Year 12)

NOTEWORTHY RESULTS

Shalom Arymowicz (Year 12)

Other noteworthy results came from Dominic Devlin, who gained an Overall Scholarship by gaining three individual Scholarships in Chemistry, Geography and Statistics, and Cameron Low, Nicola Williams, Tate McGregor (Year 12) and David Thibaud (Year 12), each gaining two Scholarships each.

At Saint Kentigern, our brightest NCEA students can elect to study towards Scholarship exams. Scholarship exams are offered by NZQA and are, therefore, aligned to NCEA. Where course content is similar, our IB Diploma students can also elect to sit Scholarship exams. However, in many cases this is not possible for some of our brightest IB Diploma students as each year there are examination clashes.

New Zealand Scholarship examinations assess students against challenging standards and are demanding for the most able students. In the 2016 end of year exams, 34 of our students gained a total of 44 scholarships with 5 classed as Outstanding, across a broad range of 16 subjects.

Joshua Looker (Year 12) David Thibaud (Year 12) Zhaolin Zhang (Year 12) Geography

Tate McGregor (Year 12) Dominic Devlin Katherine Chang Kelly Connolly Caitlin Walker Alexander Murray (Year 12)

History

Eleanor Buttle (Year 12)

Japanese

Rina Sekiyoshi

Music

Emily Young

Physical Education

Dylan Morris

Physics

Nicola Williams

Kevin Shen

Cameron Low James Hansen Statistics Dominic Devlin

Cameron Low

Nicola Williams

Tate McGregor

David Thibaud

Tate McGregor (Year 12)

Kevin Shen

Dominic Devlin

Andrew Chen (Year 11)

David Thibaud (Year 12) Technology

Maximilian Ballard

Top Scholars Ceremony T

2016 graduate, Kevin Shen and current Year 12 student, Andrew Chen attended the ceremony with Senior College Principal, Mrs Suzanne Winthrop and their families. This was a proud moment for all concerned and a fitting recognition for two hard-working students.

college

wo of our students who achieved at the highest level in the 2016 NZQA Scholarship examinations were recognised at an award ceremony at Parliament House in Wellington.

45

A Time for Reflection With thanks to Mrs Susan Mudford, Head of Christian Education

D

elivering a curriculum based on a faith founded over two thousand years ago, to young people very much living in the present and with increasingly less understanding of Christianity, is a constant challenge for the Christian Education Department. So it is always encouraging when something appears to hit the mark of being relevant, challenging and engaging. Such is the case with the ‘Stations of the Cross’- historically a Catholic tradition that encourages quiet contemplation on the events of Maunday Thursday and Good Friday Jesus’ suffering and death.

The ‘Stations of the Cross,’ as presented in the Chapel, involves thirteen interactive reflections set in the context of students’ lives today. Students walk quietly through, stopping at each ‘Station’ to think about such Easter themes as the humanity of Jesus, the Last Supper, betrayal, injustice, bearing burdens, surrender, family, unfairness and sacrifice.

At one Station – the Last Supper - students are asked to consider what they would say to their close friends if they were given just twenty-four hours to live and this was to be their last meal together. At another Station, rather than thirty pieces of silver, students are offered a fifty dollar note to hold in their hand and consider the questions, ‘Is your heart tempted by material things?’ and ‘Could you betray a friend for money?’

Latest fashion clothes juxtaposed against a red robe and crown of barbed-wire prompt students to think about when Jesus was stripped bare of his clothes and his dignity. They are asked to consider the emphasis the world puts on physical appearance. As they approach

Academic Colours and Honours

A

college

t special assemblies early in Term 1, Academic Colours and Honours were awarded to our highest achieving Senior School students whilst our top Middle School students received their Academic Endeavour Awards.

46

The standard set to gain Academic Awards is high and intended to motivate our top academic students to achieve at the highest levels of excellence. We are extremely pleased that the number of students attaining Colours and Honours is growing each year, showing our students’ commitment to achieving at their personal best; a philosophy we promote to our students. The students who are awarded Colours receive a special breast pocket to wear with pride on their blazer.

the altar and a rugged wooden cross, students write down a time when they have treated someone unfairly, or something they want to be forgiven for. They then staple their paper to the cross and walk away – leaving whatever they write behind them.

Whilst the Stations of the Cross focused on the suffering and death of Christ, students are reassured that this is ‘Part One’ of the Easter story. After Easter they explored the context and meaning of Easter Sunday – the resurrection of Christ – and the message of hope for humanity.

In terms of delivering a Christian Education curriculum that speaks relevantly to our young people, we live very much on the edge. There is always a risk that what we attempt might fail, or offend, or miss the mark. This is the 11th year we have run the Stations of the Cross.

Overall, we are delighted with the response of the vast majority of Year 12 students who undertake the ‘journey.’

Reflection and contemplation do not come easily for most people, let alone young people – especially in the busyness of Saint Kentigern life. And yet for the most part, students engage themselves in the journey and many appear to be impacted in various ways by different aspects. Interestingly, during feedback discussion many of them refer to the Station that asks them to think about their relationships with their parents.

It continues to be a pleasure and a privilege to work with these young sons and daughters of Saint Kentigern as they candidly and openly respond to issues of life and faith.

Bruce House Leaders 2017 A

t the end of the day, when all others have gone home, there are currently 120 students who stay behind on campus and head up to Bruce House to share dinner, do homework and settle for the night. For these 31 girls and 89 boys who board, College life is so much more than a school day – it is a 24/7 immersion! Accordingly, the student leaders of Bruce House have the responsibility and privilege of having a huge impact on their fellow boarders’ lives.

This year, Harrison Taylor and Risa Miyaura have been appointed as Bruce House Head Boy and Head Girl, having demonstrated leadership, self-discipline and empathy in their time as boarders. They will be supported by their Deputies, Ty Stevens and Louis Poot. The four leaders received their Bruce House prefect badges at the first formal dinner of the term.

Bruce House Head Prefects: Harrison Taylor and Risa Miyaura

Between them, Harrison and Risa have amassed nine years of boarding life and so are well attuned to lead their fellow students and help new students adjust to life as a boarder. As young boarders, both recall the initial feelings of missing their

families but have assured new students that the best way to combat homesickness is to get involved. With the College and all its facilities on their doorstep, the capacity for boarders to engage and gain the benefits of our ‘World of Opportunity’ is greatly increased. In speaking at the dinner Risa said, ’It’s so much easier when you are busy and active!’

In the wider life of the College, Harrison is also a prefect, plays rugby, volleyball and has been involved in Art Space. Risa is a peer support leader, is undertaking her Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award and has been successful in aquathon, cross country, swimming and netball. Both students are studying towards their International Baccalaureate Diploma.

We wish them and their deputies well as they take on the challenge of leading Bruce House.

Bruce House ‘Stay Back Weekend’ ruce House is home to both girls and boys from Year 7 to Year 13. This year there are 20 international students in the boarding house from eight different countries - Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, Thailand, Fiji, China, Canada and France - bringing a vast diversity of cultures. The Kiwi boarders come from all around New Zealand, many from rural homes but there is also a large contingent from Greater Auckland. These ‘local’ students live a little too far away for an easy daily commute by bus or car and so often in their senior years, they choose to board to take full advantage of co-curricular activities that take place before and after school, as well as the assistance of

tutors during Prep time. A 7am music rehearsal or a sports training that finishes at 5pm are much easier to manage when they take place only a few minutes’ walk away!

For those new to boarding, those first few nights away can be a bit of a scary prospect and so the first weekend back to school each year has become known as ‘Stay Back Weekend.’ All the boarders, even those who would generally head home for the weekend, ‘stay back’ for a weekend of fun activities to make new friendships and form new bonds between the age groups.

college

B

47

The Goodfellow Centre With thanks to Mr Chris Martin, Head of the Goodfellow Centre

T

he changing nature of teaching and learning, of learning spaces and access to information is changing the role and nature of libraries. No longer seen as depositories and distributors of books and other hard-copy materials, or silent and formal spaces, libraries are repositioning as dynamic spaces, encouraging people to interact with information and each other, sharing their knowledge and culture.

As Osborne (2014) puts it, libraries are increasingly seen as third spaces acting as ‘anchors’ of community life, facilitating and fostering broader, more creative interaction than that possible at home or in the classroom’ (p. 7). Certainly, the Goodfellow Centre, a transformational learning, project, research and social space aims to be just that.

college

Over a period of two years, the College library and learning commons gradually combined to finally come together as the Goodfellow Centre, with the name acknowledging the original Sir William Goodfellow Library built in 1987 and the immense contribution the Goodfellow family continue to make to Saint Kentigern. The brick and wood elements of the existing buildings were incorporated into the new structure, and the open-air walkway that once separated the two spaces has been covered over to create a seamless indoor flow.

As a flexible learning space, the design of the Goodfellow Centre,

48

acknowledges recent trends in teaching and learning, enabling innovative and collaborative experiences, for students and staff alike.

The redevelopment of the physical environment aims to encourage the uptake of new philosophies and change the way students engage with information. The Goodfellow Centre enables research and study requirements at any stage of an inquiry – from the initial exploration of a subject, to expanding students’ knowledge, meeting with others to share ideas, and working individually on assignments and assessments. The collaborative nature of the space encourages students to work together to develop their own solutions and expand understanding of concepts and topics of study. The connected search for information and learning creates links between subjects and ideas that may not have been discovered independently.

A variety of learning opportunities are catered for within the Centre with a sound proof silent study area available for student reflection and concentration. The expansive open spaces encourage collaboration and the sharing of ideas, while the more intimate café style space and purposefully designed enclaves, provide students

To enable such a variety of learning approaches, the Centre is equipped with affordances and amenities to reflect the change in mindset of the way space is utilised. Movable tables with whiteboard surfaces allow groups to pool their ideas, writing and erasing their thoughts as they go. Eight metres of writeable wall space, allows students to extrapolate their thinking, representing thought in vivid colour through word or sketch. Push to view technology enables students and staff alike to showcase their learning on a variety of highdefinition TV, projector and LED screens. Further, students have access to two 3D printers, enabling the creation of tangible manifestations of a student’s design and coding work. The centre also provides multimedia tools for students to record, edit and share their learning across a variety of platforms and in a variety of ways.

Amidst this richly equipped learning space, the print collection is distributed on low, moveable shelves for ease of access and to maximise the flexibility of the space. Goodfellow Centre staff ensure the collection is comprehensive and relevant, selecting reading and reference material to both engage and inform learners and learning. eBook access and support is rapidly improving in recognition that learning is not confined to time or space. All check-in and check-out

processes are now automated with a self-serve and returns kiosk, freeing Goodfellow Centre staff to work alongside students to identify and access the information they need.

A primary outcome of the Goodfellow Centre is to establish an environment that inspires and celebrates a lifelong culture of learning.

As such, teachers are also encouraged to engage with the facility to utilise approaches constrained by traditional classroom spaces.

Collaborative teaching, inquiry learning, and inter-curricular approaches are all enabled by the openness and flexibility that the Goodfellow Centre provides. The flexible spaces are also used for professional development workshops and seminars. The new space is also ideal for teachers to implement innovative classroom practices, as it predisposes the students to fresh ways of thinking and learning. By seeing teachers seeking to continuously improve their skills and try creative approaches to their work, it emboldens the students to apply the same attitude to their lifelong education.

Just as classrooms have come a long way since the first Saint Kentigern classroom was built in 1953, so has the change in sourcing information. Waiting in turn to borrow an encyclopaedia for quiet research has long gone. The Goodfellow Centre is a bright and vibrant space that encourages visitors to interact, collaborate and take charge of their search for knowledge.

Reference Osborne, M. (2014). Modern learning environments and libraries.

Collected, (12), 7-8.

college

and staff places of consolidation and peer to peer interaction. Breakout spaces also allow small group didactic instruction or space for student to engage in small group projects. The addition of an open and airy outdoor area, with shade from native trees, provides an idyllic spot for recreational reading, relaxation or as an alternative space for group work.

49

Insight Into Ancient Egypt!

Y

ear 8 the students who are taking the extension class, ‘Ancient Languages and Civilisations’ were treated to a visit by a lecturer from The University of Auckland, Dr Jennifer Hellum. A leading Egyptologist and lecturer on Classics and Ancient History, she spoke to the students about ‘things that they may not have known’ about Ancient Egypt. She introduced a number of ‘random facts’ that caught the students’ attention! Did you know that the world’s oldest prosthetic limb comes from ancient Egypt? It was discovered attached to the foot of a mummy of Dynasty 19 and was used in life, not just added to complete the body in death. The first dental bridge came from a Dynasty 5 burial, although in this case, it seems likely that this was added so the body was whole in the afterlife, rather than being used during life, as the wires were wrapped around and through the teeth.

The students also discovered that Ancient Egypt had one of only two religions in the world that had a male earth God, Geb. Dr Hellum explained to the students that most refer to the earth as a ‘she,’ that is, ‘Mother Earth.’

We would like to thank, Dr Jennifer Hellum for taking the time out of her busy schedule to speak with our Year 8 students and give them insight into ‘parts of ancient Egypt they didn’t know.’

Vision and Verse E

xperiences that weave together real world texts and learning opportunities offer students the most enriching experience. With this in mind, our Year 9 English students visited Auckland Art Gallery to take part in Vision and Verse; a programme that works to encourage students to create their own written work using original works of art as a starting point.

college

The outing was part of the Middle College English programme which works to challenge students to use their creative and critical thinking to make sense of the world around them in a range of forms, from the written and oral texts they typically meet in the classroom, as well as, in this instance, visual texts such as those found in the gallery environment.

50

The students spent time in the gallery exploring visual language through the guided exploration of artworks. By using the artworks as inspiration, the students were encouraged to experiment and craft written work independently, with guided tasks to support their efforts.

One student commented that she ‘appreciated the opportunity to set her imagination free and express her feelings in response to art,’ while another found it helpful in making him ‘approach creative writing differently.’

Discovering the Scale of War T

he scale and impact of war is a recurring theme for History students in their senior years. Whether focussed on the global scale of World War 1, that drew fighting units from across the world to stem the tide in Europe (Year 12), or on a more localised scale in New Zealand, uncovering facts about the Waikato Wars (Year 13), field trips become an invaluable learning experience. During the course of Term 1, both of Year 12 and 13 travelled away from College to enhance their studies.

Year 12 took an action-packed day trip to Wellington to visit a number of exhibits to help broaden their understanding of World War 1. Te Papa’s exhibition, ‘Gallipoli: The Scale of our War’ was an excellent starting point to gain insight into the Gallipoli Campaign, the battles, the personal experiences of the soldiers, doctors and nurses involved, and its sad outcome.

This was followed by a visit to Pukeahu National War Memorial Park for a detailed presentation on the Western Front and on to the Great War Exhibition created by Sir Peter Jackson; a year by year walkthrough beginning in pre-war Belgium and following the events and developments of the Western Front from 1914-1918. They continued on to the Hall of Memories inside the National War Memorial and

concluded their experience with a moving wreath laying ceremony at ‘The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.’

The Year 13s were focussed on a crucial period in New Zealand history - the Waikato Wars – travelling down to begin their day at the Mangatawhiri stream. This beautiful and peaceful location carries enormous significance in New Zealand history as the place where war was first declared in the Waikato. This stream was the aukati (boundary) of Maori land and the crossing of it by the British symbolised the declaration of war. The students travelled on to Rangiriri Cemetery, where many British soldiers who died in the battle were laid to rest, and then on to the actual Pa site where the battle took place. Rangiaowhia Church overlooking the Pa gave an opportunity to rest and discuss before concluding their day at Orakau Pa, the site of the last battle of the Waikato Wars and Rewi Maniapoto’s last stand.

Our senior students are not dissimilar in age to those who went to war all those years ago. For them, these visits were both enlightening and humbling as they came to understand the sacrifices made in the past. The full description of these two trips, as recounted by the students, are available to read online.

Girls Top Auckland World Scholar’s Cup I

The first World Scholar’s Cup took place in Korea in 2007; a small regional tournament that was followed by the first ‘global’ round a few weeks later, bringing together students from Korea, Singapore and the United States. Since then, the World Scholar’s Cup has grown to reach tens of thousands of students in dozens of countries with the ultimate goal of working through the regions to take part in the final at Yale University. This was the first year that the competition was held in Auckland.

The global competition took the theme ‘An Unlikely World’ for the 2017 round. The weekend was split into four different components: Collaborative Writing, Team Debating, The Scholars’ Challenge and the Scholars’ Bowl. Well done to all six students for representing themselves and Saint Kentigern with distinction.

college

n a weekend of academic competition, a team of three Middle School girls topped the Auckland round of the World Scholar’s Cup, paving the way to international competition! Amelie Murphy, Josie Lu and Heeju Rho were originally entered in the Junior round, but with insufficient interest from other schools at this age level, they were moved to join the Senior event, alongside a team of three of our own Senior boys, Ben Shepherd, Richard Lu, Ben Fraser. The girls punched above their weight with their combined results placing them as Senior Champions and overall Scholars’ Bowl winners! The boys’ team placed 5th overall in a strong field of contenders.

51

Object Art: Silver Smithing Workshop O

bject Art students in Year 11 spent a fascinating, intensive weekend learning the art of silver-smithing with artist, Mia Straka at Workshop 6, the work space of a jewellery collective in Kingsland.

Object Art is a specialised course that combines the technical skills of Technology with the creative freedom of Visual Art. It offers students the chance to make three-dimensional products that aren’t bound by functionality or a rigid design process. Object Art students work across Technology, Design and Visual Communication, and Visual Art curriculums. This cross-disciplinary approach offers the students some unique learning opportunities designed to teach them divergent thinking practices whilst developing a range of technical skills such as basic silver smithing, carpentry, illustration and 3D ideation. The Year 11 Object Art course leads to Sculpture for Years 12 and 13.

The first major Object Art project for this year required the Year 11 students ‘to make a specified outcome using resistant materials.’

In this instance, multi-materials, including silver, were chosen as

the medium with a view to designing and producing a piece of contemporary jewellery – a riveted multi-layered pendant.

Whilst the task sounds deceptively simple, in reality silver-smithing is a complex process that requires expert tuition and facilities. Over two days, students ran through a complex process that relied on their patience, precision and ability to accurately mark, measure and cold join. After the work completed in class last year, the students had already developed a proficient grasp of the basic procedures and the language associated with the craft. Mia continued the work, showing them how to extend these techniques, adding riveting, texturing and machine finishes to their fabrication repertoire.

By the end of the weekend, a group of tired but proud students had outcomes befitting their hard work, completing a piece of work that would have taken a term in class. Most importantly, the project has provided students with a broader skill set to assist them with their own design outcomes as the academic year progresses.

Feltloom Workshop

college

Y

52

ear 13 Fashion and Textiles Design students visited Auckland University of Technology to extend their knowledge of creating textiles with a FeltLOOM workshop. This visit not only challenged students to re-think how fabrics and textiles are designed and manufactured, but also showed them first-hand how dynamic and exciting a tertiary education in this field could be.

stated she was surprised at just how individual a textile can be, as everyone’s ‘looming’ outcomes were very different. She said, ‘I enjoyed it immensely as I was able to personalise my material in a way I wanted.

The opportunity was amazing, especially being able to use technology we had not heard of before.’ Such technology included an automated knitting machine, digital textile printing and the industrial loom.

A key focus of the Jack Paine Centre is helping students to engage in a range of practical learning experiences, helping them build connections between subject areas and extend their own Art and Design practices. The facilities at AUT’s Textile and Design Lab are world class and the introduction of the FeltLOOM (needle felting machine) has been a great success. The machine considerably speeds up the process of making felt from traditional fibres such as wool and alpaca, but also offers a creative tool for other fibre and fabric felting explorations. It can transform fibre to fabric up to 160cm wide and of a continuous length.

The students came back totally enthused to get underway with their year-long project that starts with the design of a specific bolt of fabric/textile, which will be later crafted into a collection. The collection will then be displayed in a unique exhibition space designed by each student in the Jack Paine Centre’s atrium, alongside the Year 13 Spatial Design and Animation and Motion Graphics students.

This project was developed to give our Fashion and Textiles Design students the opportunity to refine their personal design voice and help them prepare a relevant portfolio for tertiary, should they choose the extend their education in these or related fields.

During the workshop, the students expanded their knowledge of crafting a textile in a personal and ‘designerly’ way, using many different colours and fabric combinations. Year 13 student, Madison Johnson

Overall, a stimulating and eye opening experience for those lucky enough to be involved.

After Nature: Wildflower Workshops T

his year, Year 13 Sculpture will be investigating the context ‘After Nature,’ which will challenge students to think about the human influences and cultural conventions associated with flora and natural materials used in contemporary sculptural practice. The students are researching relevant artists and planning to develop a large-scale installation in a specific space in the Jack Paine Centre.

As Technology and Visual Art at the College is underpinned by the aim of developing a collaborative culture that fosters visual and design literacy through both creative and critical practice, we work to develop cross-disciplinary learning experiences and actively seek the input of experts to help develop our courses and mentor students.

This is particularly important when taking on a context that students may already have a fixed perception about, such as flora.

In order to ensure a successful start to the year, and in an attempt to shift the thinking of students, we invited local floral designer, Vicki Roycroft of Wildflower to introduce the context and to help the students create a ‘Flora Masterpiece’ with two four-hour workshops.

In the first workshop, Vicki introduced the evolution of her own practice, discussed relevant sculptors’ work, and unpacked the use of flowers across cultures and in an art history context. Through examination of the Victorian ‘language of flowers’ and the idea of

sending a coded message to another party using specific blooms, students were taught how to compose and arrange an ‘undone’ bouquet. More than just ‘arranging flowers’, the workshops built skills to help the students plan towards their own conceptual journey. To ensure they had all the relevant engineering problems solved and to provide further specialist skills, Vicki returned for the second workshop to help guide the students towards planning for their final installation.

Artistic style such as the Dutch Masters were prominent during the second workshop. The students worked on encased flower arrangements, worked without water, wove garlands, deconstructed floral arrangements and made scale model ideas of a final piece.

Photographs were taken at each stage to inspire the development of their external portfolios.

The students are now in the process of creating a construction plan for their large-scale installation which will include ideas around how they are going to do it, what challenges they could face, how much foliage will they need, when and how will they put it together and how long will it live for – choosing whether to include a decaying effect by using certain types of flowers. The large-scale installations are planned to be in place by mid Term 2.

$500 for Budding Chefs! ear 12 Food Technology students, Benji Manning and Lewis Elliot joined other teams of aspiring secondary school chefs to be put through their culinary paces in a Masterchef-style cook off held at the Botanic Gardens in Manurewa during Term 1. As part of the ‘Eye on Nature,’ event, they worked to the theme: ‘Edibles: From the Ground to the Table,’ preparing, cooking and serving their dishes in front of a live audience.

With only 45 minutes assigned to complete six portions of each of two courses, the pressure was on, with the boys’ prior planning critical to their success. Both boys are extremely competent cooks and chose dishes based around their own food interests and the assessment they will complete for Food Technology this year. Both students are working on a design project ‘Aotearoa House’ for NCEA assessment that requires them to investigate New Zealand’s indigenous design culture in the context of food design. The selection of sustainable and ethical food underpins this project and they carried their research through to the ‘Eye on Nature’ competition.

Their final menu reflected principles of seasonality and sustainability. Using suppliers from both within the College community and wider geographic region, the boys placed emphasis on sourcing ingredients that were local, ethically farmed and have low environmental impacts.

Under their watchful eye of the judges, the boys presented their dishes of Clevedon Beetroot Organic Spelt Risotto with fennel, horseradish and toasted karengo fronds as a starter, and Horopito rubbed Venison with viberi blackcurrant jus, parsnip puree and baby carrots as their main, catching the judges’ attention for second place, winning $500 for their efforts! The judges were impressed with their dishes and commented that Lewis reminded them of a ‘young Simon Gault!’

college

Y

53

Les Miserables School Edition

Dreams. Passion. Redemption. Resolution.

I

t’s nine years since Saint Kentigern last staged Les Miserables.

An epic masterpiece of musical theatre, the popular version of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel, Les Miserables, has stood the test of time, enthralling audiences across the globe.

Nine years on and there could be no audience more captivated than our own! Forget the West End, Broadway, Sydney … after the opening night of our Senior College musical, Les Miserables – School Edition, word spread. The word was, ‘Outstanding.’ Quickly followed by, ‘Have you heard the students sing?’ And as the word spread further, the auditorium was packed to capacity on subsequent nights – all left in awe of this year’s production. ‘Outstanding’ did not do it justice.

As Principal Senior College, Mrs Suzanne Winthrop said, ‘More than outstanding, this was an exceptional performance and each of you should be proud of the energy, dedication and enormous amount of talent you brought to the stage tonight.’

Hugo’s melodramatic tale is raw with emotion and it took a talented cast to give it the depth it deserved. Our cast poured themselves into their characters bringing them to life with maturity well beyond their years. The orchestra did a superb job working with a difficult score to provide the backing.

The curtain opened in Digne, 1815, as Jean Valjean was released on parole after 19 years on the chain gang. Within moments of the opening number, we hear the first of our talented vocalists. The star role of Valjean was cast to Sid Chand (Year 13) and his delivery at all vocal ranges was ‘spine tingling.’ His ability to draw us in and hold us with his song was done with a sincerity and depth of feeling that defied his age.

college

Set free by the policeman, Inspector Javert, Valjean is condemned to be an outcast, but is given a second chance through an act of kindness by the Bishop (Desmond Yong, Year 12). Starting his life anew, we catch up with Valjean eight years later as the Mayor of Montreuil-Sur-Mer and owner of a factory. The dismissal of one of

54

his workers, Fantine, is demanded by co-workers as she is found to be raising an illegitimate child, Cosette. Fantine was played by Erin Meek (Year 13), another beautiful, clear delivery, played with passion.

Valjean stepped in to save Fantine from Javert and the scene is set.

Javert, played by the rich baritone voice of Braydon Robinson (Year 13), was unswerving in his beliefs. Whilst he may have appeared as a villain, he was a dedicated policeman with a rigid and profound sense of duty. Brayden carried the stern, forbidding role most capably.

As Fantine dies, Valjean promises to look out for her daughter, Cosette. We meet young Cosette (Scarlett Jacques, Year 10), five years later as she confidently delivered her heart-wrenching song, ‘Castle on a Cloud,’ before we discovered the true villains of the show, her guardians, Monsieur and Madame Thenardier. What characters!

James Fisher and Molly Griffiths played these parts with true aplomb!

Course and vulgar with a wicked sense of humour, they provided a comedic levity and were deliciously nasty! The Thenardiers poured scorn on Cosette, whilst indulging their own daughter, Eponine.

Valjean, discovering their wicked ways, takes Cosette under his wing.

Time moves ahead, Cosette is now a young lady (Izzy Bayley, Year 12) and the mosaic of characters continues to build as the other main theme emerges; the student revolution of 1832, a classic struggle against adversity in 19th century France. We meet Marius, a student (Luca Heard, Year 13), Eponine, now grown (Millie Elliot, Year 12), the street urchin, Gavroche (Axel Bostock, Year 9) and Enjolras, the student leader, a role powerfully delivered by Harrison Griffiths (Year 12). Each of these students is to be applauded for beautiful voices, clear lyrics and the passion brought to each of their roles making their characters truly believable.

And so the roller coaster of emotions continued as the romances were played out, the songs were sung, and the barricade was built and fell; with glory in death, as young lives were lost for a cause.

From the swinging rowdiness of ‘Master of the House’ and the heart-stopping delivery of Valjean’s ‘Bring Him Home,’ to the roof-raising, ‘Have you Heard the People Sing,’ every song was superb. Lead roles were played out in solo; the vocal range, strength, power and beauty taking us by surprise. This was an enthralling spectacle and the production team, headed by Producer and Music Director, Ross Gerritsen and Director, Jason Te Mete, along with their cast and crew, are to be applauded for having the courage, talent, dedication and commitment to bring this to the stage.

college

The word, ‘Outstanding,’ could not be used strongly enough!

55

Shakespeare Awards at Festival!

T

he SGCNZ University of Otago Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival, held at Botany Downs College was a very successful event, with the College Drama students coming away with three of the six awards!

The College entered six pieces from the Bard’s plays, including Macbeth with a Mafia twist; Antony & Cleopatra with elegant red carpet overtones; The Merchant of Venice set in the 1990s as Clueless; a steampunk twist for Othello; and King Lear was based around the TV show ‘Hoarders.’ Four of the pieces were student directed and two were teacher directed.

In each regional festival, one 5-minute and one 15-minute piece is selected to represent the region at the National Shakespeare Festival in Wellington during Queen’s Birthday weekend. Saint Kentigern College won the ‘Best 5-minute Scene’ with Thomas Webster and Jack Horsnell student-directing a fantastic and imaginative piece from Macbeth set in the prohibition era when the Mafia was dominating Chicago. The cast included Thomas and Jack, Nick Reidy, Callaghan Jones, Zac Attwood, Jacob Attwood and Sam Ashton.

Congratulations to this talented and dedicated group of predominantly Year 11 boys, with Jacob from Year 7.

Year 12 student, Stephanie Ramlose won the ‘Best Overall Actor’ on the day, winning direct entry to Wellington to participate in NSSP - the National Shakespeare Schools Programme, where she will have an opportunity to vie for

a place go to The Globe in London in 2018. Also, Head of Drama, Mrs Jess Acheson’s piece won the ‘Best Concept’ for King Lear, being located on the set of the TV show ‘Hoarders.’ The College picked up three of the six awards available on the day.

The Festival followed on from our own ‘Shake the Quad’ event, which allowed the students to perform their pieces to an audience before competing. Ex-tropical Cyclone Debbie managed to move on just in time, allowing the stage to remain outside on a refreshing Autumn evening.

The audience lounged on cushions, wrapped up in their winter woollies, while enjoying Shakespeare’s plays in Saints Café Quad.

Teacher in Charge, Mrs Jess Acheson said the open-air performance created the perfect conditions for another successful Shake the Quad. She said, ‘The students performed a range of Shakespeare’s best scenes accompanied by a number of talented College musicians making it a real feast of Elizabethan Theatre. Students performed beautifully, and this was a wonderful opportunity for their parents and friends see them in action.’

Well done to all of those involved in both the Shake the Quad and the Sheilah Winn Festival and congratulations to our award winners. We look forward to hearing about Stephanie’s experiences in Wellington.

Pipes and Drums Win Again!

I

college

n the blistering heat and humidity, The Pipes and Drums of Saint Kentigern once again kitted up and competed at the Auckland Provincial Pipe Band Championships, hosted in Drury. This annual gathering sees competition across Auckland’s pipe bands, and some from further afield, culminating in the Massed Bands at the end of the day.

56

Saint Kentigern again successfully defended the U19 grade title. This is the ninth year in a row the band has held the ‘Alexander Family Trophy’, once again establishing them as the top juvenile band in the region!

One of the highlights of the day was being awarded ‘The Auckland Ladies Rosebowl’ for first place across all disciplines of piping, drumming and foot drill in the Street March event. This was judged against the adult bands across their grade, which is a significant accomplishment for such young

players. They also received the ‘J S Clapham Challenge Cup’ for top marks in music and received top marks in their grade at the dress inspection.

The extra practice hours required of the students, as well as extra rehearsals in the summer holidays and weekends, helped secure the band their success. Special mention should be made of the 2017 leaders: James Milner - Pipe Major, Fraser McEwen - Drum Major and Ryan King - Leading Side Drummer who showed leadership in both attitude and performance throughout the day. The newest members of the Pipes and Drums also showed diligence and determination in their first ever competition events.

We welcome all members of the community to come along and support the students at the annual Ceilidh on the 10th of June as they build up to their tour to England and Switzerland.

Last Night of the Proms he Proms series in London is one of the most famous extended celebrations of music in western culture. Orchestras, Choirs, Bands, Opera stars and all manner of international music acts entertain tens of thousands of concert goers in as many as 70 concerts over an 8-week season. The culmination of the season is the Last Night of the Proms, where only the staunchest proms ticket holders are afforded a place.

Hot on the heels of Les Miserables, the joint forces of the College Music programme presented its own version of the Last Night of the Proms with a concert that brimmed with festival atmosphere.

The Concert Band, directed by Head of Music, Mr Ross Gerritsen, opened the evening in style with ‘Instant Concert’ – romping through a selection of 32 wellknown tunes in less than three minutes!

In a change of pace, this was followed by ‘Shenandoah,’ a beautiful arrangement that featured the superb French horn and flute sections. The guest soloist was percussionist, Rachel Thomas who dazzled the audience with her work on marimba, xylophone, timpani, glockenspiel and timpani with cameos on bass drum and tam tam. Her encore on snare drum was world class. Observing a performer of this calibre was a fantastic experience for our musicians.

The USA Tour Band, directed by Mr Paul Norman, presented four selections from their tour programme featuring not only instrumentalists but also a five person jazz vocal line up for ‘Souled Out’. Their set was a crowd favourite.

The Chamber Orchestra and the Premier Choir, Kentoris, directed by Mr Lachlan Craig, delivered a finely tuned collaboration, while the Chamber Orchestra’s lone performance of ‘Fantasia on Greensleeves’ showed the quality of our top string players.

The finale of the concert was delivered by the Saint Kentigern Symphony Orchestra and the Massed Choir, who, resplendent in Union Jack bowler hats, were a magnificent sight. Following a spirited performance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘Dance of the Tumbler’ they played Andrew Baldwin’s ‘I lift my Eyes to the Mountains’ which was written for the College in 2013.

The night finished on a high with audience participation in the traditional ‘Jerusalem’ and ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ from ‘Pomp and Circumstance No 1.’ A fabulous end to an equally fabulous evening!

college

T

57

Music Tour to the USA With thanks to Head of Music, Mr Ross Gerritsen

T

he April tour to the USA was a chance for our aspiring young musicians, both instrumental and vocal, to immerse themselves in a world of musical opportunities. From the iconic sounds of New Orleans Jazz, to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Los Angeles

Philharmonic, the students watched, listened and joined in, becoming inspired to refine their own craft . Alongside performance and workshop opportunities, each day was jam-packed with sight-seeing from the east to west coasts of the USA.

Chapter 1 – New Orleans The birth of ragtime, blues and Dixieland at the end of the 19th century saw the emergence of a style of music that would change the path of music worldwide. We owe much to New Orleans for its contribution to the story of Jazz and eventually Rock n’ Roll, so it was fitting that the 2017 Music Tour, comprising of a 21 piece Jazz Band and 6 singers, began its adventure in NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana).

New Orleans is a city like no other. Its rich, deep and difficult past has created a colourful city that exudes character and life. Its musical vibrancy is second to none; something we fully experienced as we immersed ourselves in the street vibe of traditional New Orleans Brass Bands along Bourbon Street.

A visit to Mardi Gras World provided a short glimpse behind the scenes of the biggest party in America and was the setting for our

first performance of the tour, perched on the banks of the mighty Mississippi.

Tourist attraction highlight: Swamp Tour in the heart of Louisiana’s swamp country.

Musical highlight: Attending a concert at Preservation Hall, one of New Orleans’s oldest Jazz venues.

Educational highlight: Workshop at Loyola University with 45-year jazz bass veteran, Ed Wise.

Performance: Mardi Gras World.

Best Story: The Swamp Tour guide hand feeding marshmallows to wild alligators!

college

Chapter 2 – San Francisco San Francisco’s modern, international city was a stark contrast to New Orleans. Brimming with an array of tourist hot-spots, the entire tour party had a fabulous time here. Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 33, Pier 39, Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and a monumental CBD power cut provided plenty of stories!

Tourist attraction highlight: Walking the Golden Gate Bridge as a tour group and the fantastic view of Alcatraz, where we’d been just hours earlier.

Performances: California Academy of Sciences and The Sequoias.

58

Educational highlight: Workshop at Stanford University with Fred Berry, the Conductor of the Stanford Jazz Orchestra.

Best Story: Being caught in the middle of a power cut which blacked out a quarter of Downtown San Francisco and having to perform a concert in the dark!

Chapter 3 – Los Angeles Los Angeles brought for many of us the highlight of the tour: The Los Angeles Philharmonia performing Dvorak’s 9th Symphony, one of the most loved and well known pieces in the orchestral repertoire. Our fabulous seats, right above the orchestra, gave us an intimate musical experience that many had never experienced. Regarded as one of the top orchestras in the world, the chance for our students to hear them live was a truly authentic and memorable aspect of the tour.

There were many other parts of the ‘Los Angeles Chapter’ that will miss out on being listed in the highlights section below, yet deserve an honourable mention! A full day of fun at 6 Flags; dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp; a visit to Universal City; and dinner and a music theatre show at the famous Catalina Jazz Club.

Tourist attraction highlight: Sunset Studios where the Beatles, Prince, Metallica and Led Zeppelin recorded many of their albums.

Educational Highlight: Workshop at the University of Southern California with Drum Legend, Peter Erskine (He played drums on all the Austin Powers movies).

Musical Highlight: The Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Performance: Hollywood Boulevard.

Best Story: The ‘interesting’ locals on Hollywood Boulevard who were determined to teach us to rap – or sell us their demo CD’s. Security was called…!

A tour with the quality of musical (and non-musical) experiences we had would not have been possible without the work done by the team at Tour Time to secure truly world class experiences. Our thanks to our US based TourTime guide, Joe, our drivers Charles and Dayvid and to Saint Kentigern staff, Mr Ross Gerritsen, Mr Paul Norman, Mr Lachlan Craig and Mrs Siobhan Gerritsen for their dedication to making the tour an unforgettable one for our students.

Senior Solo Music Competition n a change of venue and format, eleven of our best senior musicians stepped up to compete for the title of this year’s Senior Solo Music Champion. Selected through earlier audition, the finalists performed to an appreciative audience in one of four categories: Piano, Voice, Wind or Strings. Staged in the Jack Paine Centre, the evening was, reminiscent of previous Jazz Cafés, with audience members seated at small tables to enjoy dessert platters and barista style coffee from Blue Brew, our signature coffee cart. Despite the relaxed setting, the competition was no less fierce than previous years!

Each player came to the spotlight, under the watchful scrutiny of our two adjudicators for the evening, Dr Te Oti Rakena from The University of Auckland and Mrs Delysse Glynn, the national NCEA Music Moderator. As the winners were announced, the judges conveyed the difficulty of their decision. In an evening of exceptional talent, they were judging the total performance from the moment the students stepped onto the stage, watching in particular for the connection they made with their audience.

Whilst selecting winners in each section proved difficult, they were unanimous in their decision to select Sid Chand as the Overall Winner. This was the fourth consecutive year that Sid has won the Voice section; his poise

and confidence in front of an audience was clear for all to see. Selena Chen (Piano) and John Moon (Wind Section on Double Bass) were both second time section winners.

First time finalist, Nick Scott, was the winner of the wind section, playing on trombone.

Overall Solo Music Champion Sid Chand - Voice Solo Music Competition Finalists Voice Section

String Section

Sid Chand – Winner Luca Heard

John Moon, Double Bass - Winner

Braydon Robinson

Ericia Chang, Violin

Victoria Tse

Joshua Pan, Violin

Piano Section

Wind Section

Selena Chen – Winner

Nicholas Scott, Trombone - Winner

Miyuki Chan

Ethan Blight, Clarinet

college

I

59

Media Studies Trip to the USA With thanks to student reporters, Margaret Li, George Shirtcliffe and Erin Meek

D

uring the April holidays, a contingent of senior Media Studies students headed to the USA to gain a broader perspective of the industry associated with their studies. In a whirlwind three city tour, they visited businesses, studios and schools to extend their learning, also mixing it with some fantastic tourist opportunities to round out their trip.

San Francisco San Francisco was the first stop on our trip to the USA. After a long plane ride and good night’s sleep, we were fresh-faced and ready for the city! On Day 1, we paid a visit to Google’s office and were given a personal tour by an old Collegian, Ashley Cornall, who now works there. Getting the chance to explore behind the scenes of Google - a huge technology company and creator of the search engine we regularly depend on, was rare and exciting. On our tour, we observed many ‘Googlers’ in action, each curiously immersed in their computer screens. When we asked what they were doing, Ashley explained they were each trying to solve problems unique to their field, to make our everyday lives easier. Open, creative and even some ‘hidden’ thinking spaces, including multiple kitchens, a cinema and gym, were readily available to promote the flow of ideas that would hopefully lead to new solutions.

For many of us, this was our first glimpse into the mechanics of a business and we were amazed by how different and independent their studying was – out in the real world. Ashley was super helpful in answering questions, resolving myths about the application process and running an interactive presentation about Google’s formation and purpose.

That evening, we enjoyed an exotically diverse dinner at ‘Off the Grid’– an open night market filled with food trucks and entertainment. In the fun, low-key environment, we had the opportunity to properly interact with American culture through the food and friendly locals.

college

Over the following days we did plenty, more ‘touristy’ activities such as walking the Golden Gate Bridge and strolling through the Palace of Fine Arts. Vising Ghirardelli Square and Fisherman’s Wharf was particularly memorable, mainly because of the appealing chocolate shops and noisy piles of sea lions lounging by the wharf!

60

That afternoon, we explored a wet and windy Alcatraz Island, finding shelter in the renovated cell house which reproduced the prison blocks and dark memories that once lived there. A guide told us of some fascinating (and slightly mad) great escapes, which we experienced intimately in the appallingly detailed stories and recounts told by actual inmates and officers in the audio tour. We left the island feeling quietly spooked out!

The first city we visited in the USA did not disappoint to say the least! We were exposed to the secret happenings of a big media

business, had our first taste of American culture and met some friendly people along the way! It was a truly precious and eyeopening experience. On the last day, we were sad to leave but overall, satisfied and looking forward to the next stop.

New York We landed in New York at 7:30 in the morning. A full day of sightseeing ahead meant that a diner breakfast and coffee were much needed. We were thrown headfirst into life in New York City, visiting Central Park before taking the loud and tightly packed subway to see the Empire State Building. From here we walked the streets and boarded a ferry to see an American icon, the Statue of Liberty.

The next morning was spent at the Paley Centre for Media, where we had the opportunity to take part in a workshop: ‘The 1970s: Age of Relevancy.’ Lecture, screenings and discussion were all part of the workshop in which we examined how political and social issues of the period contributed to the uniqueness of storytelling and programming of 1970’s television. The rest of the day was spent discovering the city and visiting Times Square. That evening, the group travelled to the Imperial Theatre on Broadway, to watch the musical to receive the most Tony nominations this season, ‘The Great Comet.’

The Museum of the Moving Image is dedicated to all forms of moving image, including optic toys, digital art, classic cinema, and gaming. Displays in the museum include props, costumes, and sketches from films like Silence (2016), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), and the Star Wars saga. Our third day in New York was spent in a workshop at the museum, exploring its exhibits, and travelling to Soho before seeing an animated film, ‘My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea’, directed by Dash Shaw.

Two of the New York’s top universities to study film and media are NYU Tisch University and the New York Film Academy. The next day, we had the opportunity to visit both of these schools, shoot around the city, and see the new Jordan Peele film, Get Out (2017).

Other sites we visited over the next two days included the 9/11 memorial, the High Line, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York was constantly bubbling with life and activity, always living up to the name of ‘The City That Never Sleeps.’ Leaving the hostel to fly to LA was certainly bittersweet, but we eagerly anticipated the sun and glamour of Santa Monica.

Los Angeles Los Angeles was huge. We initially thought that it would be more of a small, centralised beach city but we were surprised to learn otherwise. When we arrived in LA, we were quick to learn that it would take about an hour for us to reach any of our trip destinations.

This wasn’t such a bad thing as we got to explore and drive through huge urban landscapes, as well as the beaches that LA is so famous for. Whilst it was clear to see that we were still in America, Los Angeles felt closer to home. The people were different from those we had encountered in other cities. Wearing shorts and jandals, it felt like we were back in a typical New Zealand summer, especially paired with the warm climate.

The city was packed with movie history and movie makers. We explored the Warner Bros Studios, walking on a sound stage and looking through a warehouse of props and costumes where you could have been lost for what seemed like weeks. There was furniture to dress Presidential suites, tomb artefacts, chandeliers and so much more.

People were moving items in an out the entire time we were there as sets were prepared for filming.

as an opportunity to see the characters in costume of Megatron and Bubble Bee from Transformers. We also ate dinner at Bubba Gump on the Santa Monica pier.

To wrap up this amazing trip, we spent a day at Mira Costa High School seeing an exciting nation award winning Media programme run by Mr Hernandez. In their school, students applied for positions in the Mustang Morning News team to write, produce and then present stories from within the school and beyond.

The trip was amazing. It was a great experience - certainly one which has benefitted our understanding of the media industry.

college

Later, we walked the footpath in Hollywood filled with stars and matched hand and footprints outside the Chinese Theatre before heading up to a lookout spot to view the Hollywood sign up on the hillside. On our last days in the sun, we spent time adventuring and learning about film sets at Universal Studios. Presentations in the day included ‘Special Effects’ and ‘Working with animals’ – as well

61

Inspiring Leadership Tour USA With thanks to Year 13 student reporters, Ekaterina Lieshout and Kate Fouche

T

he Inspiring Leadership Tour to the USA during the April holidays was an incredible experience for our students with exclusive, behind the scenes visits to some of the most intriguing and successful businesses in the world today.

The students who undertook the tour returned inspired, saying it enhanced their understanding and opened their young minds to the infinite opportunities the business world has to offer.

Year 13 students, Ekaterina Lieshout and Kate Fouche reported on behalf of the students: On our tour, we met with top executives from major companies to inspire and share their wise words, learned from the difficulties they faced during the day to day setting up and running of their businesses. Our trip began in San Francisco and finished in Los Angeles with both cities providing the chance to meet many successful company founders and employees.

Spending only five days in San Francisco proved to make our schedule very demanding. We spent 1-2 hours at every place we visited and drove approximately 2-3 hours a day, as we moved around the area visiting the following companies: Air New Zealand, BladeMed Technologies, Microsoft, Google, the Co-Founder of the multi-billion-dollar company NVIDIA, JLabs, Facebook, the Kiwi Landing Pad, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Twilio, as well as visiting Stanford University.

college

As we made our way through Silicon Valley in the first few days, no matter which company we visited, we began to realise that these unbelievably talented leaders had similar words of wisdom to describe their vast variety of journeys.

Some of the most memorable were: ‘fail quickly; be creative; good choices come from bad choices and experiences; take risks; and communication is crucial.’

62

This trip opened our minds to a world we never knew existed. San Francisco was an incredible place to visit as we were really immersed in both the feel of the city and the ideas around Silicon Valley. Within all the companies we visited in San Francisco, the ones located in Silicon Valley were always so willing to share their information with us. We will all carry the memories of this amazing experience with us as we aspire to be as great as the employees we met on this unforgettable journey.

Our last half of the trip took place in Los Angeles. These few days were jam packed full of unique and inspiring talks by many different leaders in their specific career fields. We visited many places including the Warner Brothers studio, Vista group, the University of Southern California, and many more. One of the standout visits we had was to US-based Kiwi entrepreneur, Claudia Batten’s house. Here, Claudia shared her many experiences and life lessons, explaining her journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

Coming from a New Zealander, these wise words were reassuring and allowed us to hear what it takes to become a successful leader.

The Vista group talk was also very interesting and inspiring. Here, we talked to four different employees of the Vista company, who shared with us their upbringing and what they contribute to the company. All from many different countries and childhoods, they all shared the same passion and motivation for both their job, and the company.

Along with these inspiring talks, we were also able to have some downtime in places such as Santa Monica Pier, the Angels baseball stadium in Anaheim and Universal Studios. These relaxed activities allowed us to catch our breath and reflect on our trip while experiencing some American culture.

Japan Tour With thanks to Head of Languages, Mrs Christine Leishman uring the April school holidays, fifteen students, accompanied by Mrs Leishman and Mr Swart, travelled to Japan for 14 days of sushi, sakura (Japanese cherry blossom), shinkansens (bullet trains that reach speeds of 320km per hour), shopping, and of course speaking Japanese as much as possible.

We left early on Easter Friday and after an eleven hour flight and a further one and a half hour coach ride, we arrived at Sakura Youth Hostel in Tokyo’s Asakusa.

Over the next three days we were able to visit very traditional places such as the Meiji Jingu temple, the Asakusa Sensooji temple and Ueno Park, alongside the latest that Tokyo has to offer in Ginza, Shibuya, Akihabara (electrical city) and Shinjuku. Along the way, we tried out Japanese food, as well as fitting in a few shopping opportunities! We also spent a day at Tsurumine High School in Kawasaki City on the first Monday where the students enjoyed the opportunity to practise their Japanese in a real Japanese setting. We went to Tokyo Disney Sea the next day and had loads of fun on the rides there!

Wednesday saw us lining up on the Shinkansen platform at 9:00am for our first experience on the bullet train. The seats were far more comfortable and spacious than economy class on our flight so we all really enjoyed that, and all subsequent bullet train rides Kyoto is organised in a grid-like pattern, and we were able to walk to our hostel which was clean, modern and centrally located. At every stage, we tried to ask for information using Japanese and most of the time we were understood!

We spent one of our evenings in Kyoto in Gion, watching the traditional entertainers called geisha and walked along a street built in the style of 16th Century Japan. We spent a couple of days in central Kyoto, where we saw the beautiful golden shrine at Kinkakuji, the mysterious Japanese rock garden at Ryoanji, and former Imperial castle

called Nijojo. This was followed by a visit to Kiyomizu-dera, up on top of the hill overlooking Kyoto city.

From Kyoto we made a day trip to Nara, the first capital city of Japan. Famous for its big Buddha statue, I think the wild deer roaming the park remained the real attraction for our students. We enjoyed beautiful weather on this day and it was a most enjoyable day out.

On Monday 24 April, we made a start on the last leg of our trip to Hiroshima, with a stop-off at Himeji castle – one of the iconic images of Japan. It was a stunning day and a beautiful castle.

The A-bomb Dome in Hiroshima and the museum in the Peace Park were always going to be a focus of our visit to this city, made more poignant by the fact that it was ANZAC Day back in New Zealand.

We were careful to take our time as we went through the museum so that we could understand the full impact of what happened to Hiroshima on August 6 1945.

It was a pretty horrific event and the images we saw in the museum will stay with us for some time.

We were ‘set free’ that afternoon to wander around downtown Hiroshima, shopping and using our Japanese some more. Wednesday morning we went to Miyajima Island – a local tourist attraction for foreigners and Japanese alike, starring the Itsukushima Shrine (the shrine in the water). It was nice to get out on the water and although a rainy day, we enjoyed the experience on our last day in Japan.

It was a really long trip back to Auckland on Thursday. A six hour ride on the bullet train, another one hour changeover in Tokyo onto the Narita express for the airport trip, and a further three hours waiting for our flight before the eleven hour flight home! It was an amazing trip, however, with a great group of students who really got a lot out of the experience.

Japan is an incredible place – full of contrasts - and I would encourage all Japanese languages students to take the opportunity to go if it is offered to you.

college

D

63

Yad Vashem

“Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous.

More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.”

With thanks to History teacher, Mr Simon Johnston As part of the History curriculum at senior level, History teacher, Mr Simon Johnston, is tasked with teaching students about the Holocaust, a most sensitive and complex period of history. To further his own understanding, he spent part of his summer break studying in Israel.

‘It is difficult to outline the experience I was fortunate enough to become involved in over the summer break. Three weeks studying at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum in Israel was almost incomprehensible. Generously sponsored by the Wellington Holocaust Museum and Saint Kentigern College, I embarked on a historical learning curve that will resonate with me for the rest of my life.

The focus for this Professional Development in Israel was to ultimately understand the evil within mankind, in the hope that such atrocities can never happen again. To understand the complexity of such a statement, our course was broken down into lectures and workshops that covered everything from philosophy, religion, Nazi ideology, resistance, the Holocaust and the difficulties and problems that emerged for the survivors after 1945.

I was immersed with 26 other educators from all over New Zealand who had a range of objectives and motivations. The binding incentive of all though, was the desire to learn how to teach such a complicated and deep concept. From this, my philosophy and methodology was completely overhauled. I learnt how to make meaning and form connections. I learnt how to bring students safely in and safely out when dealing with horrific evidence. I was also fortunate enough to gather endless amounts of primary and secondary resources.

college

The Professional Development consisted of lectures from Sunday through to Thursday and during the weekends, we could travel

64

Primo Levi throughout Israel. On one of these trips I was able to pay my respects to the fallen and sometimes forgotten, New Zealand heroes of the 1917-18 Palestine Campaign; in which the allied forces successfully defeated the Ottomans. We also travelled extensively through the biblical sites of this ancient land, gazing over the city of Nazareth, sailing on the Galilee, floating on the Dead Sea and walking amongst the stones that Jesus once walked along the Western Wall - a spiritually and enlightening experience that words cannot describe.

Within the course, I was also fortunate enough to meet and spend time with several Holocaust survivors including Eva Lavi, who was saved by Oscar Schindler’s ‘list’. After an empowering afternoon, Eva took us to Schindler’s gravesite where we could pay our respect to one of the many, ‘righteous amongst the nations.’ To describe such heroic people with the word 'resilience’ does not give justice to their strength, compassion and determination for life. It was clear after this day, that we must become their messengers for others.

So after all of this, do I understand how the Holocaust happened? Well, to be honest… no. I don’t think anyone can truly comprehend the nature of systematic murder on an unimaginable scale.

This question may never be answered. However, what I do know is how the human spirit prevailed. Through the worst of times I learnt about resistance, unity and empathy. I learnt about the evil of ‘bystanders’ and how one must speak out if they see wrong doing.

Perhaps this is the underlying message for our youth: ‘Be righteous citizens and stand up in the face of adversity.’

For more information: http://nz.educationhq.com/news/37902/ teachers-delve-into-holocaust-history/#

An Exchange to Spain With thanks to Year 13 student, Chelsea Simmons uring the course of their College lives, there are opportunities for students to spend time away from their families as they develop a growing sense of independence. From camp at Year 7 and 9 to Field Centre at Year 10, Duke of Edinburgh tramps and opportunities to travel abroad as a group to enhance learning or offer service overseas, the chance is there to pack their bags to experience a little more of life. All these trips engage a degree of familiarity as friends and peer groups share the experience.

So, it takes a brave student to take the plunge and exchange the familiarity of home and school for a different family life and schooling on the far side of the world. Year 12 student, Chelsea Simmons reports on the five months she spent in Spain as an exchange student; a trip that proved to be a fantastic experience but not without a very serious challenge.

Chelsea reports: ‘I never thought of myself as the one to go on an exchange - it was a quirky thought to go, but in the end, it was probably the best thought I have ever had. Some people would call an exchange an 'amazing experience' or an 'unforgettable experience'. Well for me, the five months I spent in Spain changed my life. I have a different perspective on almost everything. I now find myself relating to people on a much more personal level - and now, I think I am so open minded. I have a better understanding and appreciation to how amazing the world we live in is, along with the incredible people who live in it.

I contemplated the USA and Europe but decided that if I was going to do this, the biggest change in culture and lifestyle would come from Europe, with the benefit of grasping a better understanding of a new language. I set out in September last year (Year 11), headed for Murcia, a small city on the Mediterranean Sea south of Valencia to stay with the Garcia Samartin family. Here I was to be looked after

by Mum, Tatiana, Dad, Nani, and share in the family life with four brothers, Bruno 14, Hugo 13, Gonzalo 10, Guillermo 8. With only one older brother at home, to suddenly have four younger siblings was a big change for me!

For me, the change of culture was extreme, however, I loved every part of it! The city centre was filled with pedestrian-only winding streets which made for a lovely atmosphere. I went to a small school, Los Olivos, with only 200 students and was in a class of 28. The language barrier was something I was very worried about but with my loving host family, I learnt more than I thought possible. At times, I worried at the rate I was learning but I came to understand that I needed to have trust and confidence in myself to know I would pick it up.

My exchange tested me for all I was worth.

There was one thing, however, above all else that tested us all. My family was involved in a car accident that left me with five broken ribs, gave me five nights in hospital, and a battle scar on my knee, which will be one reminder of my trip in Spain. My ‘dad’ was also injured and we shared a hospital room. This accident was probably one of the most challenging experiences of my life but I found myself surrounded by my host family and friends, who provided me unlimited love and support. I will be forever grateful to my host family especially my mum, Tatiana, who spent every moment at the hospital with me, comforting me through some nightmares, and helping me walk again.

This challenge demonstrated how a family who I had known for just over three months had accepted me and loved me as if I was their own daughter - I felt a part of their family.

This accident taught me that ‘life happens’.

Whether you like it or not, you deal with the cards you have been dealt.

My exchange and short time in Spain, has changed my life for the better, and I am so grateful to have had this opportunity. I learnt there is always a positive even in the darkest moments; be patient and let life play out but most importantly, take every opportunity as it comes and don’t hold back. If the chance presents itself, grab it - go on an exchange and see the world through the eyes of the locals, I promise you won’t regret it.

Gracias, Thank you

college

D

65

‘ What I enjoyed at camp was the Flying Fox because I felt like a bird soaring over a lake!’ - Joshua Evangelidakis

‘The Confidence Course was my favourite activity because it tested me to my limits!’

- Daniel Hayes

Rain, Mud and Wind…

Build Character!

‘I think camp was a really good experience for Year 7’s because you got to know more about other people.’ - Jaden Lin

F

or over 20 years, our College Year 7 students have been heading away to a five day camp at Chosen Valley in the Bombay Hills during ‘sunny March.’ Twenty years of photos show predominantly sunny days, blue skies and big smiles as our newest and youngest students enjoy everything the venue has to offer.

So Year 7 Camp 2017 was just a ‘wee bit different!’

‘I learnt I can do lots of things when I don’t hold myself back.’ Christian Solomon

Yes, camp just happened to coincide with the worst conceivable weather for a week away! The weather bomb of Tuesday night dropped over 100mm of rain, left rivers flowing down the field, an overflowing lake, an underwater confidence course, several large carpeted areas awash, a layer of mud through the main toilet block and a quarter of our students ‘sleeping’ in 16 sodden tents and pools of water!

Whilst the rain stopped on Wednesday morning – it was only to be replaced by gale force winds!

But there is nothing like resilience and the ability to bounce back in the face of adversity. By Wednesday lunchtime ‘things were largely sorted.’ The wet sleeping gear had been dried in the laundry, the tents were abandoned for marae style sleeping in the Chapel for all remaining nights, and the planned activity programme simply carried on in the wet weather that continued to dump abundance of excess water!

‘Splashing through the rapids that used to be a driveway before the rain came, was loads of fun.’ - Jacqueline Cao

college

‘The mud oozed through my toes as I trudged through the murky lake bottom.’ - Sienna Smith

66

‘I loved the flying fox because it felt like I could fly!’ - Grace Hunter

Happy, Confident Campers D

uring a week of glorious sunshine, Year 9 had a fantastic week away at Totara Springs Camp in Matamata.

Set amongst 90 acres of park-like grounds and native bush, Totara Springs offers a multitude of challenges both indoors and out. The students enjoyed many of the traditional camp activities with highlights including the hydro-slide, abseiling, archery and the kart track. The students were also set team-building tasks that were particularly worthwhile as it got the whole Tutor Group talking, helping to set up their Tutor Group dynamic.

Camp is a fantastic opportunity for the boys and girls to step out of their comfort zones and challenge themselves physically and mentally in a new yet supportive environment. Through their time away from home, they were able to learn more about themselves and others, while growing in self-confidence. Our Year 13 Peer Support leaders played a big part at camp, providing support, encouragement and guidance for the Year 9’s and instilling a sense of what it means to be a Son or Daughter of Kentigern.

college

‘Fear may consume you at the thought of facing challenges such as bonding with people you don’t know, participating in activities you have never done before or just plain fear of going to camp. I promise you, this camp will leave you happy and confident at your new school. Take my word for it! - Will Eaton, Year 9

67

HOUSE CHAMPIONS 2017 HAMILTON 1ST CHALMERS 2ND STARK 3RD WISHART 4TH 5TH 6TH

Hamilton Wins Swimming – Again, Again!

F

or the third year in succession, Hamilton has pulled ahead early in the term to claim victory in the pool at the College Swimming Sports. This, despite there now being six Houses vying for the title! For the first time, the two new houses, Stark and Wilson, paraded into the pool to make their mark, adding teal and purple to the line-up of House colours.

Preliminary heats had been raced during the first weeks of Term 1, to award House points for participation and determine which swimmers would race in the finals. Stark clearly set out to forge a new path, taking out top honours in the early participation stakes.

took their mark. The noise was deafening as the races got underway and the students cheered on their House representatives. Once again we welcomed Year 7 and 8 swimmers from the Girls’ School who put in a strong performance.

With the final marks tallied, Stark slipped back into third place after some very competitive swimming from Hamilton and Chalmers. The day concluded with the annual staff v prefects race. Who won?

Hard to tell but each would like to claim the victory!

Congratulations to all swimmers, age-group champions and Hamilton for holding onto their title at the first House event for the year.

college

On finals afternoon, the atmosphere around the pool was buzzing as the first group of swimmers

68

1st

2nd

3rd

SENIOR GIRLS

Lisa Miyaura (H)

Mayah Coleman (W)

Anna Wilkinson (Ch)

SENIOR BOYS

Ben Fleming (H)

James Gordon (S)

Matthew Sills (W)

INTERMEDIATE GIRLS

Grace Chang (Ca)

Beth Harford (S)

Maddy Clarke (H)

INTERMEDIATE BOYS

Cam Church (Ch)

Josh Harford (Ca)

Eamon Foley (Wn)

JUNIOR GIRLS

Brooke Hill (Ch)

India Doo (W)

Sophie Spencer (Ch)

JUNIOR BOYS

Will Bason (Ch)

Danny Wang (Ca)

Jack Treneman (Ch)

YEAR 8 GIRLS SKC & SKGS

Isabella Campion (Ch)

Eva Colyer (Ca)

Kate Frazer (Ca)

YEAR 8 GIRLS SKC

Isabella Campion (Ch)

Jess Keyte (H)

Laura Lightfoot (H)

YEAR 8 BOYS

Santiago Johnson (Wn)

Alex Perry (W)

Jack Arbuckle (S) & Bailey Liu (Ch)

YEAR 7 GIRLS SKC&SKGS

Kaia Ashmore (W)

Zara Nelson (W)

Olivia Rooney H

YEAR 7 GIRLS SKC

Kaia Ashmore (W)

Ruby Spring (Ch)

Charlotte Richardson (Wn)

Year 7 BOYS

Sunny Sun (W)

Harry Moulder (H)

Sam Van Den Brink (W)

CARGILL WILSON

Chalmers Defends Athletics Title!

A

fter the first College Athletics Championships Day was cancelled due to torrential downpours, the rescheduled day was more than anyone could ask for. Hats, sunscreen and plenty of water were needed.

Thank you to all staff who stood in the scorching heat to time, measure and record!

Well done to all the students, overall champions and especially the winning House, Chalmers!

HOUSE TICS 2017 LE H AT CHALMERS 1ST WISHART 2ND

With lots of House points on offer, the preliminary day got off to a great start, whether the students were competing for the top three places or participating to just receive points.

3RD

CARGILL

4TH 5TH

WILSON HAMILTON

6TH

STARK

Wilson was in the lead at the end of the preliminary day with Chalmers hot on their heels. On the second day, the 100m finals and House Relays were trialled in a new area. All students lined the banks of the practice field by Manor Park; this created more space and better views of the track. This year proved to be very close competition between many runners which resulted in quite few photo finishes.

1st

2nd

3rd

Tori Kolose (W)

Hannah Ward (W)

Catlin Ward (Ca)

SENIOR BOYS

James Uhlenberg (H)

Michael Wood (Ca)

Luke Paanakker (W)

INTERMEDIATE GIRLS

Lisa Putt (Ca)

Jaymie Kolose (W)

Cecile Velghe (S)

INTERMEDIATE BOYS

Cam Church (Ch)

Valance Yates (Ca)

Logan Cowie (Ca)

JUNIOR GIRLS

Sacha McLeod (H)

Natalia Rankin-Chitar (Ca)

= Caitlyn McKenzie (H) & Mia Harries (W)

JUNIOR BOYS

= Adrian McCord Wn & Nick Wales (H)

Harry Lowe (H)

YEAR 8 GIRLS

Charlotte Manley (W)

Neve Webster (H)

Isabella Campion Ch

YEAR 8 BOYS

Bailey Liu (Ch)

Nick Parkman (Ch)

Daniel Pirret-Buik (H)

YEAR 7 GIRLS SKC & SKGS

Ruby Spring (Ch)

Jade Nomani (W)

Emily Clark (H)

YEAR 7 GIRLS

Ruby Spring (Ch)

Emily Clark (H)

Catalina Addis (S)

Year 7 BOYS

Jaxon Wilson Wn

Daniel Hayes (S)

Daniel Watson (S)

college

SENIOR GIRLS

69

Sports Centre Extension T

here are probably not many people on the College campus today who realise that prior to 2001, the original College ‘gymnasium’ was housed in what is now the Music Centre! A look at the roof line inside that building gives away its origins.

The Old Collegians Sports Centre, as we currently know it, was opened in 2001. At the time, this was a magnificent addition to the College campus to meet the needs of a growing roll of students.

The roll at the time of its opening was a burgeoning 1099 students - but 16 years on, the role has continued to swell to over 2000 students, with the Sports Centre at full occupancy from early morning to well into the evening!

Construction work for an expansion to the Sports Centre began late in 2015, when 4800 cubic metres of soil was moved from the ‘Bruce House end,’ to open up a flat building platform. The soil was relocated to the sports grounds, where it was added to extend a training pitch into a full-sized playing field.

The project will double the size of the number two gymnasium and allow it to be configured into two separate spaces for physical education classes, sports training and matches.

The increasing popularity of dance as an examinable subject has meant that the existing dance studios are no longer sufficient to meet demand. Two new purpose-built dance studios will be housed on a mezzanine level with cushioned floors to reduce the impact on students’ bodies. This will also be used as an alternate performance space for smaller dance presentations.

A moveable dividing wall between the spaces will give flexibility of use.

college

The strength and conditioning programme has come to play an important part in our sports programme in recent years and so the existing

70

weights room will be relocated to a much larger Fitness Centre that will house state of the art fitness equipment and allow access for a greater number of students at one time.

The area vacated by the weights room will be converted into two full sized classrooms, as well as a smaller PE classroom. Additional changing rooms will be provided to cope with the increased use of the Sports Centre.

Following the excavation work in late 2015, the actual construction work got underway part way through 2016, when Aspec Construction was awarded the contract. The scheduled completion is anticipated for December 2017, allowing for full use by the College from Term 1 2018.

All construction traffic enters the site from the Grammar School Road entrance, avoiding the need for the contractor to use the main entrance, thereby greatly reducing disruption to the College.

For the majority of the construction period, the Sports Centre has remained in operation, however, for the second part of this year, it will be necessary to take Gym 2 out of action to allow the contractor to join the existing building and new extension together.

Despite the recent spell of very wet weather, the contractor is on target. To date, the structure has been completed, the concrete poured, roofing is underway, and windows and cladding has commenced.

As a community, we now await with anticipation for this fantastic addition to the sporting facilities at the College to be ready for action!

Tennis Season Ends on a High!

I

Auckland Secondary Schools Tennis Teams Championships

National Tennis Teams Championships

In the Auckland Secondary Schools Tennis Teams Championships, the Boys’ Premier Tennis team defended their title and won the Auckland final against Auckland Grammar, taking home the trophy for the third year in a row.

n the final weeks of term, our tennis teams were involved in both national and regional competitions proving that the tennis programme at Saint Kentigern continues to be strong with some great results from both our boys and girls.

In what were three very close competitions for the National championships, the three Saint Kentigern teams – Girls, Boys and Mixed - all came away with Bronze medals. These results indicate the depth in the College tennis programme, especially at the younger age group. The younger players all acquitted themselves exceptionally well against much older and experienced opponents.

AUCKLAND TEAMS COMPETITION

NZ TENNIS TEAMS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Liam Stoica, Mathew Mulyadi, Freddie Cashmore-Chatwin (captain), Sean Kelly

GIRLS’ TEAM: BRONZE Caitlin Ward, Alysha Nowacki, Ela Vakaukamea, Ema Miyuara, Aimee Brown BOYS’ TEAM: BRONZE Liam Stoica, Matthew Mulyadi, Freddie Cashmore-Chatwin, Sean Kelly, Sam Hodges MIXED TEAM: BRONZE Max Dickey, Daniel Persson, Max Allais, Olivia Moulder, Bridget Han, Ashlee Graham

Auckland Champion of Champions Twelve players represented the College at the Auckland Secondary Schools Tennis Champion of Champions, competing in singles and doubles with accumulated points going towards the overall best school awards.

BOYS PREMIER TENNIS TEAM Liam Stoica , Mathew Mulyadi, Freddie Cashmore-Chatwin (captain), Sean Kelly

Champions

BOYS PREMIER TENNIS TEAM Champions

GIRLS PREMIER 1 TENNIS TEAM Caitlin, Ward , Ema Miyaura (captain), Ana Tamanika, Alysha Nowacki, Tina Li, Ashlee Graham

Runners up

GIRLS PREMIER 2 TENNIS TEAM Ela Vakaukamea, Aimee Brown, Bridget Han, Livvie Moulder , Kirsten Swindell

3rd Place

JUNIOR BOYS A1 Jack Loutit, Tom Downs, James McPherson, Yu Dian Dong, Seb Price, Joey Huang, Ethan Farmer Mathew Larsen

Champions

JUNIOR GIRLS A1 Ashlee Graham, Sophia Shing, Peata Fatai, Ella Simmons, Lilly Ellis, Grace Funnell, Tayla Craigen, Ling Kong

Champions

AUCKLAND CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS SENIOR Freddie Cashmore-Chatwin, Liam Stoica

Boys Doubles

Champions

Caitlin Ward and Alysha Nowacki

Girls Doubles

Runner Up

Ema Miyaura and Ela Vakaukamea

Girls Doubles

Champions

Sean Kelly

Boys Singles

Runners Up

Max Dickey

Boys Singles

Champion

Max Dickey and Daniel Persson

Boys Doubles

Champions

Aimee Brown and Bridget Han

Girls Doubles

Runners Up

Boys’ Team: Liam Stoica , Freddie CashmoreChatwin (Senior); Sean Kelly, Sam Hodges (Intermediate); Max Dickey Daniel Persson (Junior)

Champions

Girls’ Team: Caitlin Ward; Alysha Nowacki (Senior), Ema Miyaura, Ela Vakaukamea

Runners Up

(Intermediate) Aimee Brown, Bridget Han (Junior)

Runners Up

INTERMEDIATE

JUNIOR

college

OVERALL SCHOOLS TROPHY

71

The Highs and Lows of Rowing A

ll rowing crews engaged in a full winter training programme to prepare for the season resulting in our rowers making 10 A finals at the North Island Championships and 8 A finals at the New Zealand championships. The level of energy and the commitment to perform was evident with every training and regatta.

Earlier in the season, the Boys U18 VIII had a victory in the KRI 1 and followed this up with a win in the Head of Harbour, breaking a 13 year drought for this title! The girls also continued to improve, with the Girls U18 VIII placing 2nd and the Girls U16 VIII placing 3rd at the KRI 1.

At the New Zealand championships, the U18 VIII Boys showed their capability in the heats, recording the 2nd fastest time of the regatta to place second and go directly through to the final. Their time of 5:52 was .01 of a second outside the course record set in 1987! With high expectation comes a great deal of disappointment when goals aren’t reached and the boys just couldn’t find their rhythm in the final of the

Maadi Cup and faded to 6th place. This was a huge disappointment for them.

The Boys Coxed IV also medalled for the first time in 13 years placing 3rd at both the North Island and New Zealand championships, as well as the earlier Head of Harbour. In racing for the Springbok IV title at the national event, the final was dominated by a strong crew from St Andrew’s but the race for 2nd, 3rd and 4th was epic! Racing at this elite national level is intense and with so many strong crews, it often comes down to who can deliver on the day. It is important to celebrate the achievement of medalling, no matter where on the podium.

U18 Boys Eight: Head of Harbour Gold: Cole Brann, Angus Wilson, Nick Lyon-Ramsdale, Matt Kelly, Tom Mills, Kieran Blockley, Ethan Blight, Sam Ingleton, Sam Morrow.

Boys Coxed IV: Head of Harbour, North Island and National Bronze: Tom Mills, Ethan Blight, Angus Wilson, Matt Kelly, Sam Ingleton

Tough Season for Waterpolo

college

T

72

he season began well with the Auckland League; a successful campaign with comfortable wins over Rosmini, Westlake, Auckland Grammar and Saint Peters to prepare the team comfortably for the top four. Important wins against Rangitoto and King’s left the team in second place behind a dominant Sacred Heart. A win against King’s College in the Auckland semi–final set them up in front of a packed crowd for a final against Sacred Heart. Down with seconds remaining, Ben Fleming sent a shot straight over the goalie’s head to send the match to a penalty shootout but after almost two full rounds of penalties, Sacred Heart took the first major competition of the year leaving the team in second place.

North Islands was a similar affair with the team cruising through the early rounds with dominant wins over Saint Patrick’s and Mount Maunganui. An early loss to rivals, Sacred Heart was frustrating but wins over Rangitoto, Aquinas and Rosmini sent the team back to

another final, but once again, Sacred Heart proved too strong and the boys collected another silver medal and moved on to the Nationals.

An early loss to Aquinas was the defining moment of the tournament and despite good wins in their next matches, a loss to Sacred Heart in the semi-finals, followed by another loss to Rangitoto placed them 4th nationally. Congratulations to Ben Fleming who was named in the tournament team for both North Island and NZSS events.

The Girls Water polo team competed in the Auckland Senior division undefeated after narrowly missing out on the Premier division.

At North Islands, they placed 9th, winning the plate final against Saint Mary’s College and then, for the first time in 5 years, the girls competed at Division One Nationals down in Wellington. After some tight pool round robin games, the team placed 10th with a loss to Saint Mary’s College in the plate final.

Top Multisport School in NZ!

A

pre-season training camp during the summer holidays set our multisport athletes on the right track for success this season. At the Auckland Secondary Schools (AKSS) Triathlon Championships held at Maraetai, Saint Kentigern was not only dominant in the number of students competing, we also amassed 11 medals across the age groups. Success continued in ideal autumnal racing condition at the AKSS Aquathon with a further 7 medals added to the haul.

With such a great start to the season, our triathletes were on form when they travelled to the National Secondary Schools event in Whanganui with medals in both individual and team events. Along with five individual gold medals, three team gold medals and a further four silver or bronze places on the podium, Saint Kentigern College was also named overall top School for the competition!

NZ Triathlon Championships Individual Triathlon Sophie Spencer

Gold U13 Girls

Sacha McLeod

Gold U14 Girls

Emma Hannan

Silver U14 girls

Dylan McCullough

Gold U16 Boys

Tag Team Triathlon Sophie Spencer, Sacha McLeod, Emma Hannan

Gold U14 Girls

Sophie Wilkinson, Annabelle Waterworth, Maddy Clarke

Bronze U16 Girls

Aquathon Sophie Spencer

Gold U13 Girls Race

Dylan McCullough

Gold U16 Boys Race

Maddy Clarke

Bronze U16 Girls Race

Teams Event (4 Person Team) Gold

U14 Team: Sacha McLeod, Jacob Spring, Sophie Spencer, Tommy Stevenson

Gold

U16 Team: Annabelle Waterworth, Maddy Clarke, Fin Orr, Dylan McCullough

Silver

U19 Team: Ryan Church, Emma Hannan, Sophie Wilkinson, Dan Whitburn

Saint Kentigern College was also named overall top School for the Competition

Greater Auckland Touch Champions! he inaugural College Sport Greater Auckland Premier Girls Touch competition provided our girls with a strong early season challenge with tough opposition.

In pool play, a 4-3 loss to a very competitive Westlake Girls team created a bottle neck at the top of the ladder with the girls dropping to second behind Mt Albert Grammar (MAGS). Westlake, Rangitoto and Howick College were only separated by a single point with one round to go. Saint Kentigern advanced to the semi-final to play Howick College, securing an 8-4 win to advance to the final against MAGS. Our girls set the pace and skill to finish the game 8-1, to be crowned the 2017 College Sport Greater Auckland Premier Girls Touch Champions.

The team went on to compete in the Zone 2 regional tournament with the goal of qualifying for the National Championships in December.

The girls were top qualifier in their pool and then beat Mt Albert Grammar in the semi-final to set up a final with Howick College, which

the girls lost but still gained qualification for the National Championships in December.

college

T

73

Regional Athletics Championships O

ver 40 College students competed with great success at the Auckland Athletics Championships held at Mt Smart Stadium.

The students hauled in 20 medals, including seven gold, and a record that had stood for 33 years was smashed by our Intermediate Girls Relay team comprising Lisa Putt, Jaymie Kolose, Briana Gibson and Cecile Velghe. The previous record was 50.64 and our girls ran 50.60 for the new record!

Year 11 student, Lisa Putt led the charge with the most medals on the day, she won gold in the Intermediate Girls’ triple jump, gold as part of the 4x100m relay and silver in both the long jump and 100m. Year 13 student, James Uhlenberg came away with two gold medals in the Senior Boys’ 3000m and 1500m. Another outstanding result was from Year 11 student, George Kozlov who won three silver medals in the Intermediate Boys’ 100m, 200m and as part of the 4 x 100m relay.

Congratulations to all the students who participated, our medal winners and especially the record breaking Intermediate Girls’ Relay team.

Junior Girls Sophie Spencer

3rd 3000m

Natalia Rankin-Chitar

3rd Shotput

4 x 100m Relay

3rd: Olivia Ropati, Charlotte Manley, Mia Harries, Caitlyn McKenzie

Intermediate Girls Lisa Putt

1st Triple Jump, 2nd Long Jump, 2nd 100m

Jaymie Kolose

3rd 200m

Cecile Velghe

1st Long Jump

4 x 100m Relay

1st: Lisa Putt, Jaymie Kolose, Briana Gibson, Cecile Velghe

* New Auckland School Record Senior Girls Tori Kolose

1st 200m, 2nd 100m

Mayah Coleman

1st Javelin, 3rd Discus

North Island Championships

S

Junior Boys Ben Ake

3rd Shotput

Intermediate Boys George Kozlov

2nd 100m, 200m

4 x 100m Relay

2nd: George Kozlov, Cam Church, Benji Pauga, Valance Yates

uccess continued for Lisa Putt and James Uhlenberg who won gold medals in the North Island Secondary Schools Championships representing Auckland in Inglewood. Lisa Putt won gold in the Intermediate Girls Long Jump and Triple Jump (breaking the North Island Record) and won Bronze in the 100m. James Uhlenberg won gold in the Senior Boys 3000m. Mayah Coleman also won Bronze in the Senior Girls Discus and 4th in the Javelin

National Gold Medal for Lisa

L

Senior Boys Michael Wood

3rd 800m

Ryan Barrett

3rd High Jump

Luke Paanakker

3rd Long Jump

James Uhlenberg

1st 3000m, 1500m

4 x 100m Relay

2nd: James Uhlenberg, Mitchel Gibson, Lucas Stead, Luke Paanakker

isa Putt won gold at the NZ Athletics Championships in Hamilton in the U18 Girls Triple Jump smashing the College Record. Others to medal were James Uhlenburg in 3rd place in the U20 Men’s 1500m, George Koslov 3rd in the U18 Boys 100m and 3rd in the U18 Boys 200m.

George and James also medalled in relays for Auckland.

Auckland Golf Champions college

T

74

he Premier Golf Team of Andrew Meng (Captain) 71, Karan Nalam 70, Tommy Liu 73 and Karl Jorgensen 75, once again dominated the Auckland College Golf Round Robin event, finishing the league section unbeaten for the season.

In the Battle of the Bridge Knock Out, Auckland met their North Harbour competition in the finals

at Whitford Park Golf Course. Saint Kentigern and Macleans squads represented Auckland and both competed till the end on equal terms but eventually, in beautiful golfing weather, Saint Kentigern defeated a quality Macleans team by five shots to retain the title they have won the last three years!

College Parents and Friends O

ur P&F Functions Convenor organises parent help to provide assistance at a variety of College events such as the parent/ teacher interviews where we offer tea and coffee for parents in between their interviews. These are great events for those who are only available in the evening and so cannot help in the café or lunch bar during the day. This year we assisted with a very well attended College Open Day, followed the Senior School Musical Production and then Parent Teacher Interviews.

Last year we surveyed our College families to find out what talk topics they would like to hear presentations on. The feedback from this has resulted in a parent talk schedule this year covering such topics as the hugely popular Parenting in the Digital Era, College Updates and Bullying and how Saint Kentigern deals with this.

As last year, our Asian Parents Social Group has continued to grow with Chinese parents who want to be involved and informed on matters relating to the College and education.

At the end of April, we bid our long-serving café manager, Sharon Saul adieu. The P&F thank Sharon for her dedicated service and professional, capable management of Saints Café and the Lunch Bar. The P&F Convenor will be taking over the management for the next few months with a long-term view of recruiting another manager.

Through the Parents and Friends management of Saints Cafe and the Lunch Bar, we pass all profits directly to our College students. We provide funding for facilities and equipment for a wide range of items and support for student travelling groups and more. Our annual average support is around $50,000.00.

We thank all our parents for their continued voluntary help in the Saints Cafe and Lunch Bar which allows us to raise these funds.

Once again, we have a committed, capable and great bunch of parents on our 2017 Executive Committee – all volunteers - who enjoy being in amongst College activities and contributing in a meaningful way. We thank them for generously giving to our College and look forward to another great year.

David Courtney Parents and Friends Chair person

Cricket Growth C

ricket at the College enjoyed real growth and an energy that hasn’t been there for some time. The combination of the new indoor facility and the appointment of Mr Ben Williams, as the convenor of our School of Cricket and 1st XI Coach, meant that we fielded five afternoon cricket teams, as well as a number of competitive morning teams. Mr Williams has done a fantastic job breathing life into the cricket programme but we wish him well as he moves on to take up a new role with the Howick Pakuranga Cricket Club.

The 1st XI went through Term 1 unbeaten in the 50 over competition and were firm favourites to win the final played at Eden Park number 2. Unfortunately in a game that seemed to be played in slow motion, the team didn’t perform with either the ball or the bat. Rosmini won the game with two balls to spare and will now represent the Auckland region at the Nationals in Christchurch in December.

The 2nd XI finished Term 1 at the top of their competition. The 3rd XI were first equal on points and the Colts 1 team were 4th. The Girls team were also 4th in their Wednesday afternoon competition. A wider squad of 1st XI players will be embarking on a seven match tour to the UK in the July holidays.

A

t the age of 16, Year 12 student, Josh Oxenham is currently ranked New Zealand’s No.1 U19 Mountain Bike rider. Josh, who won the New Zealand U19 Downhill title at the National Mountain Bike Championships, had automatic selection into the NZ Downhill U19 team and will be racing in the Downhill World Championships held in Cairns, Australia in September this year. Josh will also be representing NZ in the U19 NZ DH Team racing in two Crankworx events in Les Gets, France and Austria, followed by two UCI World Cup Races in Andorra and Switzerland.

A keen Downhill rider, Josh says that stepping up to the U19 class this year at the age of 16 has proved a challenge but he has worked incredibly hard through the season to achieve this result. This was assisted by his selection to ride in the newly formed New Zealand Cycling High Performance team, which supports his ambition with training camps, training programmes and soon-to-be support overseas. Alongside his riding successes, Josh has also won the Counties Manukau Sportsponsored Howick Junior Sportsman of the Year 2017 award. Congratulations Josh and good luck for the World Championships.

college

Top Ranking for Josh

75

OLD COLLEGIANS

From the President of the Old Collegians T

he Boys’ School Annual Golf Day was held in early February and again attracted a resilient and talented field of golfers.

With the perfect summer day, the attendees were treated to a prestigious course in top condition and a handsome prize pool. It is a fantastic way to start the Saint Kentigern year and it would be great to see more OC’s with a Boys’ School connection attending the day.

The College 1st XI Cricket side played a gifted SKOCA Cricket team in mid-February on a perfect No 1 wicket. A number of district reps were included, however, the College were too strong and won by 11 runs. We wish the College Cricket team every success on their UK tour in mid-June and that they will be up to the mark against rivals including Eton and Harrow in their seven match tour.

The College Hockey 1st XI also had an annual match against a SKOCA team which also included some national reps and at full time were drawn 3-3, however in a penalty shoot-out the College won 1-nil. The game was fast and furious and teams well matched, and again, we wish the College side all the best for their season.

The 64th Annual Dinner was held in Elliot Hall on 7th April with guest speaker, retiring Headmaster Mr Steve Cole (2009-2017). The introduction was by Rev David Smith who spoke of the Head’s primary focus always being his students and striving to ensure they put their utmost effort into everything they did, every day. The Head’s address included his early teaching years. He spoke proudly of his time at Saint Kentigern, striving for excellence in everything, every day. Speaker thanks was by 2013 Head Girl, Sharnika Leleni, a student during Mr Cole’s tenure, who gave a passionate congratulations to the Head for a job very well done, and for instilling in her the passion to excel and succeed, and never doing less than 110%, and being proud to be a student of Saint Kentigern. Shanika is a valued member of the Old

Collegians committee and provided a reflective thanks to a Head who has clearly made Saint Kentigern College an outstanding campus. The evening included the Old Collegians Pipe Band, also an Old Collegians Choir led by Lachlan Craig. Representatives from kindred schools, King’s, Sacred Heart, Auckland Grammar and St Peter’s also attended.

The 58th AGM was held prior to the Annual Dinner, and the treasurer Neville Lyne presented the accounts and confirmed another profitable year despite supporting 20 SKOCA events, 16 scholarships and various sporting and cultural grants at all three campuses. The meeting also recorded the election of a new SKOCA President, Mr Hayden Butler, who attended both the Boys’ School and the College and has a son and daughter attending Saint Kentigern schools. Hayden is a proud Saint Kentigern Old Collegian and will lead the SKOCA committee of 20 with commitment and passion, to enhance the opportunities for members of the greater Saint Kentigern family.

I have enjoyed my time as President, meeting so many proud Saint Kentigern Old Collegians around NZ and the world in business, at OC events and socially. I thank my committee for the nine years of support and the extra efforts each member has made to ensure SKOCA makes a positive difference at all three campuses. The support of the Trust Board and the three campus Heads/Principals has been noticeable in making things happen. I thank members of the Trust Board, the SMT and Saint Kentigern staff who all contributed to this support.

I wish Mr Steve Cole every success in the future, and know that as an Honorary Old Collegian, we will see Steve at events in NZ and UK as we further what he has started. I remain proud to be a Saint Kentigern Old Collegian, and look forward to the years ahead as Saint Kentigern continues to excel in all areas, in the classroom and on the field, court and stage.

Fides Servanda Est. The committee welcomes feedback from members so please keep in touch via the website; skoca@saintkentigern.com Andrew Morgan, President of the Old Collegians Association

old collegi a ns

Hayden Butler: New President of the Old Collegians Association W

76

e congratulate Mr Hayden Butler on his election to the role of President of the Old Collegians Association, taking the chains of office from former long-serving President, Mr Andrew Morgan.

After graduating from the College, Hayden spent 15 years in banking and finance in London and New Zealand. He then went on to manage Bayleys Central Auckland for four years and is currently a property developer and investor.

Hayden is a past student of the both the Boys’ School and the College having spent Year 7 and 8 at the Shore Road campus from 19861987, before moving on to the College from where he graduated in 1992. Whist at school, he was a keen sportsman, playing rugby during his school years and becoming a member of the Senior Rowing Squad and the Senior A Basketball team at College.

Hayden and his wife, Abi have two children, 12-year-old daughter Tyler who attended the Girls’ School and 9-year-old son, Tom who is currently in Year 5 at the Boys’ School.

We wish Hayden well in this challenging role and look forward to his contribution to the Old Collegians Association.

SKOCA 2017 Calendar 8 JULY - SATURDAY SKC 1st XV 1967 REUNION LUNCHEON Pre-1st XV Game: Saint Kentigern v Mt Albert Grammar Time: 11.45am Price: $25 Venue: Bruce House RSVP: skoca@saintkentigern.com

8 JULY – SATURDAY After Match Function Join us for drinks and nibbles following the 1ST XV game: Saint Kentigern v Mt Albert Grammar Venue: Elizabeth MacFarlan Centre RSVP: skoca@saintkentigern.com

8 SEPTEMBER - FRIDAY BRUCE HOUSE BOARDERS DINNER 2000-2010 LEAVERS MATRON OF 25 YEARS RETIREMENT Calling all former boarders, especially those from 2000-2010.

Join us for dinner as we celebrate the retirement of our much-loved matron, Mrs Rosemary Capill after 25 years of dedicated service to our boarders.

Time: 6.30pm Price: $65 (ROC’s $45) Venue: - Bruce House, College.

RSVP: skoca@saintkentigern.com

14 JULY – FRIDAY LONDON REUNION With Pipes and Drums in attendance.

Calling all UK based Old Collegians! Join us for dinner in London during the Saint Kentigern Pipes and Drums tour to the UK and Switzerland.

Time: 6.45pm Price: £65 (ROCS’s £40) Venue: Overseas House, St James, London RSVP: skoca@saintkentigern.com

19 OCTOBER – THURSDAY SKOCA NETBALL Premier and Senior A Netball v Old Collegians Girls Start: Games start at 6.00pm Venue: Gym 1 and Gym 2 RSVP: skoca@saintkentigern.com kelly.alexander@outlook.com

13 NOVEMBER - MONDAY SKOCA – COLLEGE GOLF DAY

TBA AUGUST – FRIDAY OTAGO UNI - ROC’S RECENT OLD COLLEGIANS COCKTAILS Time: 6.00pm Venue: Starters Bar, Frederick Street, Dunedin RSVP: skoca@saintkentigern.com

Time: Assemble at 11.00am Venue: Remuera Golf Club Ticket: $100.00 per head.

Refreshments provided.

RSVP: skoca@saintkentigern.com

18-19 AUGUST – FRIDAY/SATURDAY AUSTRALIAN REUNION – SYDNEY Calling all Australian based Old Collegians.

Join us for a get together on Friday night followed by the Bledisloe Cup game on Saturday.

(Rugby tickets purchased separately.)

RSVP: skoca@saintkentigern.com scott.beach@bigpond.com rodney.steel@mainfreight.com.au

TBA AUGUST - SATURDAY CHRISTCHURCH/LINCOLN- ROC’S RECENT OLD COLLEGIANS COCKTAILS Time: 6.00pm Venue: Volstead Trading Company, Riccarton.

RSVP: skoca@saintkentigern.com

TBA NOVEMBER - FRIDAY AUCKLAND - ROC’S RECENT OLD COLLEGIANS COCKTAILS Time: 6.15pm Venue: Juice Bar, Windsor Hotel, Parnell RSVP: skoca@saintkentigern.com

15 DECEMBER - SUNDAY BOYS’ SCHOOL - TOUCH RUGBY & BBQ FOR 2011 LEAVERS The 2011 leavers and their parents are invited to return to the Boys’ School to rekindle old friendships before the boys move on to tertiary studies or work.

Time: 3.30pm Venue: Jubilee Sports Centre & No 1 Field RSVP: skoca@saintkentigern.com sue.bowskill@saintkentigern.com

old collegi a ns

Time: 6.30pm Friday Venue: TBA Ticket: A$65 (ROC’s A$40) Refreshments provided.

Saturday 19th – 2rd Bledisloe Cup Rugby – ANZ Stadium (Tickets Available- Enquire to SKOCA)

77

Old Collegians Annual Dinner F

ollowing on from the 58th AGM where former President of the Old Collegians, Mr Andrew Morgan, handed the chains of office to newly elected President, Mr Hayden Butler. Old Collegians from all walks of life gathered in Elliot Hall for their 64th annual dinner.

Colleges ‘within a College.’ All four Principals will report to a new position, the Head of Saint Kentigern, Mr David Hodge. Both Suzanne and Duncan paid fond tribute to Mr Cole, saying that during his tenure he brought passion and drive for a truly student-centred education.

As is traditional, the Old Collegians Pipes and Drums led the diners to their tables.

Prior to dinner, we welcomed back a growing choir of Old Collegians to entertain. This is a group who loved to sing while at College and have continued their love of singing as choir ‘beyond the College gates.’

Don Craig gave thanks to Andrew for his nine years of loyal service to the Old Collegians Association, a tenure that has been unprecedented in the history of the Association. Don paid tribute to Andrew’s outstanding leadership, enthusiasm and devotion to all matters relating to the Old Collegians and, through him, their association with each of our schools. His energy for the cause has been tireless and his motivation unwavering. Don finished by looking back to our founding Headmaster, Rev Dr Adam MacFarlan, who established so many of the Saint Kentigern traditions, and in quoting the School Song, said that Andrew has undoubtedly been ‘loyal to the faith we’ve known.’

Prior to dinner, each of the four Principals had the opportunity to give an update on activities at their campuses. Now in her second year as Principal of the Girls’ School, Ms Juliet Small spoke about the need to develop strong resilient girls in preparing them for College life. Principal, Mr Peter Cassie, fresh from Celtic Day, said he believed he had the best job in the world! On behalf both schools, he thanked Andrew Morgan for his constant presence and support at all school functions throughout the year.

old collegi a ns

For the first time, Mrs Suzanne Winthrop and Mr Duncan McQueen spoke as newly appointed Principals of the Senior College and Middle College. With the retirement of Head of College, Mr Steve Cole, the structure of the College has changed in 2017 with the Principals now taking responsibility for the running and functioning of their own

78

The true focus of this year’s dinner was to honour retiring Head of College, Mr Steve Cole. Reverend David Smith was given the honour of introducing him saying it was a true privilege as he has ‘much aroha for this man.’ He described Steve’s relentless passion, drive for excellence and immense capacity for work, saying that above all else, this has always been ‘about the kids’ - his desire to see staff improve was to ultimately see the students improve. Rev Smith said he would be remembered for his unrelenting commitment to holistic education, to academic rigour, to pastoral care, to a robust co-curricular programme with all its breadth and diversity and for being inclusive, compassionate and competitive.

In making his address, Mr Cole reflected back on his 42 years in education. He said that he could not be prouder of the College as the leading independent school in Australasia. He recalled his first walk around the campus believing that the challenge ahead was all that his previous experience had led to. He finished by saying, ‘We are privileged to be associated with this institution and undoubtedly that privilege carries with it expectations and obligation which we all know we must embrace. Would be wrong for our graduates to not succeed, excel and lead.’

Former Head Girl, Sharnika Leleni gave an impassioned thanks to Mr Cole, wishing him well as he heads into retirement.

Address to Steve Cole At the Old Collegian’s Dinner, former Head Girl, Sharnika Leleni gave a heartfelt thanks to Mr Steve Cole as he headed to retirement.

M

y first meeting with Mr Cole was not actually in person. I was an enthusiastic Year 9 student when Mr Cole appeared on screen at assembly. He was still in England but was addressing the assembly in preparation for his arrival. My first impression was of someone authoritative, passionate and excited about the prospect of leading Saint Kentigern College and although I have come to know him a lot better over the last eight years, those qualities I saw as a Year 9 student haven’t changed.

A

t the Old Collegians Annual Dinner this year, a group of former College choristers came together to entertain the dinner guests. All were recent graduates with the exception of Lachlan Craig, who graduated in 2007 but has since returned to the College as the Director of Choirs. Each of the other singers were taught

by Lachlan, many of them encouraged to follow musical studies at tertiary level.

The Choir: Lachlan Craig (graduated 2007, College Director of Choirs); Manase Latu (graduated 2013, final year of Music Honours degree in Classical Voice); Jessica Allen (graduated 2015, second year of Medicine); Iris Lee (graduated 2016, first year Medicine); Isaac Samuels (graduated 2016, first year Medicine); Emily Young (graduated 2016, first year of Music degree in Classical Voice); Nick MacQueen (graduated 2015, first year of Music degree in Classical Voice); Caitlin Houghton (graduated 2015, second year of Music degree in Classical Voice); Jack Muirhead (graduated 2014, third year of Music degree in Popular Music); Sam Elliott (graduated 2015, first year of Music degree in Popular Music); Harry Matheson (graduated 2012, third year of Commerce Degree).

Mr Cole is often talked about in reference to the sporting arena and I hear people talking about how he is so passionate about sport at the College and, during his time here, how well our sports teams have done - which is oh so true! During his tenure, we have been world champions in rugby and national champions in rugby, football, tennis, touch, table tennis, netball, cycling and cross-country. So extremely impressive!

However, I was also involved in the Arts programme through both the Music and Drama productions, and being a member of the Kentoris Choir. I have to say that the passion and interest Mr Cole showed in that aspect of the College was second to none. I remember him sitting in Elliot Hall late at night watching us rehearse and showing real emotion when he listened to Kentoris run through their last set of songs before we travelled to Nationals.

Whether Mr Cole was watching netball or touch training, or whether he was sitting in the Music Centre or Elliot Hall, the message was the same - give nothing less than your best. It was truly amazing how the tempo, energy and focus of those trainings and rehearsals increased when the whispers went through the students that Mr Cole was ‘watching!’ For me Mr Cole’s passion has translated into every part of the College.

Saint Kentigern College is at the forefront of educational innovations and has the reputation of being the best co-educational College in Australasia. To lead a College like this, you need to be a very special person who can relate to a vast array of students. And Mr Cole is that person. He has always had the time to talk to, give confidence and encourage all students whatever their aspirations may be.

In 2013, I was made Head Girl of the College. It was in this role that I really saw how much Mr Cole cared about every student and made their problems or triumphs his own. He respected individual difference. I quickly learnt that he lived and breathed for the College and that his unlimited energy never wavered.

old collegi a ns

Our Old Collegians’ Choir

During Mr Cole’s first two years at the College, I was a Middle School student and so most of my contact with him was observing him from afar. His presence was everywhere and it became very clear, very quickly that excellence and giving your absolute best was an everyday expectation. I remember vividly walking to class one day and Mr Cole shouting at boys to pull their socks up and then pulling them aside to explain how important pride in the Saint Kentigern uniform was, and being proud of your uniform meant you were proud of yourself. I remember, too, him running onto the running track in the middle of the Athletics Day to pull students out of the race because they were being silly and not giving it 100%. He followed up at the next assembly by reminding us all that it doesn’t matter whether you are the worst runner in the school, it is the effort you put into something that counts.

79

James Thomson – Former Guards Officer L

ike his father, Peter Thomson, James attended Saint Kentigern for his secondary schooling from 1988 – 1993. After graduating from Auckland University, he also followed in the family tradition of service. James was accepted as an officer cadet at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst and was commissioned a year later into the senior regiment of the British Army, The Life Guards. He served in the Household Cavalry Armoured Regiment for three years as an Armoured Reconnaissance Troop Leader and in Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment in Knightsbridge on State Ceremonial Duty for two years before resigning his commission in 2006.

During his time in the Household Cavalry, he recalls one occasion leading the British Army contingent down the Champs Elysee in Paris at the head of the Bastille Day Parade in 2004. The British Government had been invited by Jacque Chirac, who was President of France at the time, to send a contingent to lead the annual Bastille Day Parade through Paris to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale agreements between France and the UK and James was given command.

mounted police when not on ceremonial duty so he says they had free reign of the city and it was a great way to see the sights of Paris!

James was also the Queen’s Carriage Officer on a number of occasions, including a State Opening of Parliament and was a Life Guard Divisional Commander for a number of State Visits including that of Hu Jintao, who was the leader of China at the time. His time as an Armoured Reconnaissance Troop leader in the Household Cavalry Armoured Regiment coincided with 9/11 so he undertook a lot of counter-terrorism work, mainly domestic with the Metropolitan Police.

After leaving the Army, James moved with his Kiwi wife, Laura, to Sydney for six years before returning to New Zealand four years ago to educate their three daughters, Grace (7) Mirabelle (5) and Poppy (3). Since leaving the Army, he has held senior executive roles with both privately owned and publicly listed companies. He is currently involved with an inbound tourism business specialising in luxury travel in New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific. He is a keen scuba diver, ocean sailor, horseman and naturalist.

This is the only time foreign troops have been invited to parade down the Champs Elysee. James took a division of Household Cavalry men and horses across the channel to Paris from Hyde Park Barracks.

The officers had great fun riding around central Paris with their French counterparts, the Republican Guard, prior to the parade. The Republican Guard are Paris’

Happy 90th Jack!

F

ormer Deputy Headmaster, Jack Paine celebrated his 90th Birthday on 18 April 2017. Andrew Morgan, retiring President of the Old Collegians, and a group of Jack’s former students from the early days of the College, celebrated with Jack, his wife, Beverley and daughter, Bronwyn by bringing a special morning tea and 90th birthday cake to his residence in Huntington Park. On behalf of the Old Collegians Association, the group presented Jack with a knitted rug in Saint Kentigern blue and white stripes.

old collegi a ns

Jack Paine began teaching at the College in 1954 and retired in 1992 with 25 of those years as Deputy Headmaster. Many Old Collegians share memories of Jack.

80

David Thomson, Andrew Morgan, Warwick Bell, Bruce Goodfellow, John Gilbert, Malcolm Wilson with Jack Paine

Ambassador Peter Thomson B

orn in Fiji, the second eldest of eight children, Peter Thomson, along with his brothers, Andrew and John, were boarders at Bruce House during the 1960s, Peter attended for three years from 3rd form to 5th form before moving to the UK to complete his secondary education. His son, James, followed suit, attending Saint Kentigern from 1988 to 1993.

Further back, his father, Sir Ian Thomson read economics at Glasgow University in Scotland with Saint Kentigern’s founding headmaster, Rev Dr MacFarlan before the Second World War. Sir Ian was a colonial administrator in Fiji for most of his career and then Governor of the British Virgin Islands. Peter followed his father into a life of civil service.

The Thomson family have a long history in Fiji, dating back to the arrival of Captain William Petrie, on his mother’s side, in the 1870s.

Like his father, James was born in Suva, Fiji, making him the sixth generation of his family to live in Fiji. Sir Ian Thomson arrived from Glasgow on the cusp of World War II as an army officer and was aidede-camp to the Governor of Fiji in 1941 serving as an officer with the Fiji Army during the Solomons Campaign.

On 13 June 2016, the United Nations General Assembly elected Ambassador Peter Thomson of Fiji to serve as President of its seventy-first session, running from September 2016 to September 2017. Peter had taken office in New York as Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in February 2010, serving concurrently as Fiji’s Ambassador to Cuba until assumption of his duties as President of the UN General Assembly’s seventy-first session.

He held office at the UN as Vice-President of the UN General Assembly in 2011-2012 and was elected as President of the Assembly of the International Seabed Authority’s 2011-2012 session, and then as President of the Council of the Seabed Authority’s 2015-2016 session. For the duration of 2013, he chaired the United Nations’ largest negotiating bloc, the Group of 77 and China. From January 2014 to January 2015, he served as President of the Executive Board of UN Development Programme/UN Population Fund/UN Office for Programme Support (UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS).

In a speech opening the 71st session of the General Assembly, the UN’s prime decision-making body, Peter said the session would be the year for action on implementing all of the Sustainable Development Goals. He said he had appointed a team dedicated to getting meaningful momentum in implementing the goals aiming to end poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate change. He also pledged

to strengthen relationships between the UN’s various bodies and help find new ways of resolving conflict, better management of migrant flows and reversing the decline in ocean’s health.

A graduate in political studies (Auckland University, New Zealand) and development studies (Cambridge University, United Kingdom), Peter has had lifelong involvement in the field of development.

Following university, Peter worked from 1972 to 1987 as a civil servant in the Government of Fiji, working in the fields of rural development and then foreign affairs. His Fijian government career began as a district officer in the rural regions of Navua, Macuata and Taveuni. In 1978, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Suva, where he took on political and overseas development assistance responsibilities before being seconded to the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in 1979.

He was posted to Tokyo in 1981 with the responsibility of opening the Embassy of Fiji in Japan. He remained in Tokyo thereafter as First Secretary (Economic) until 1984, when he was appointed ConsulGeneral of Fiji in Sydney.

In 1986, he returned to Fiji to become Permanent Secretary of Information, first under the leadership of Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, and then under Prime Minister Dr Timoci Bavadra. In May 1987, he was appointed Permanent Secretary to the GovernorGeneral, Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau, a position he held until his resignation from the civil service following the second military coup d’etat of 1987.

Peter has served as a board member of the Fiji Visitors Bureau, Fiji TV and the Fiji Broadcasting Commission. From 1988 to 2009, he worked in private enterprise as a company director, an investment consultant and a management consultant specialising in Pacific affairs, with clients ranging from government agencies to regional organisations, banks, universities and investment corporations. He is a founding member of the executive committees of the Australia-Fiji Business Council and the New Zealand-Fiji Business Council and in 2007 was made a life member of the latter.

In 2014, he was made an Officer of the Order of Fiji, an award bestowed by the President of Fiji recognising contributions and achievements by Fijians to the nation. He married Marijcke in Suva in 1973 and they have a son (James), a daughter (Nicola) and three granddaughters.

For more information about Peter’s role in the United Nations General Assembly, visit: http://www.un.org/pga/71/

old collegi a ns

President of the United Nations General Assembly

81

Dean Poole – Award Winning Graphic Designer D

ean attended the College between 1984-1988. He is now the founder and creative director of a multi-discipline design studio called Alt Group. They work across all aspects of design, brand strategy, graphic communication, digital, product and experience design.

During his time at the College, Dean won many Art Prizes, which he says was not surprising given he spent every spare second in the Art Rooms! He said, ‘In fact, I often went to art instead of all my other subjects. I also got in trouble for ‘crucifying’ a Pterodactyl in an art show at the Fisher Gallery (Te Tuhi). I spent my weekends doing all the ball decorations and stage sets for the school musicals from my fourth form year onwards.’

Dean always knew what he wanted to do and tried leaving school in Year 11 to go to university and study art. The teachers at the College realised that this was Dean’s ‘destiny’ so they helped support him to stay in the system. Dean says his Art Teacher, Mrs Robin Binsley was ‘the most amazing art educator you could ever have’. He said, ‘I still reflect on the impact she had on me when I was young. She encouraged me to have exhibitions of my work at the Fisher Gallery, connected me with famous New Zealand artists and at a very young age she also helped me to sell my work.’

In the years following his graduation from the College, Dean spent a year at AUT in a foundation course doing Art and Design, he then went on to Elam School of Fine Arts where he majored in sculpture.

Dean was awarded the top prize at Elam, the Scott Ellery Medal.

After spending a couple of years immersed in the Art world in London, Dean returned home and set up an ideas company called Alt Group. He said he had never worked for anybody else, ‘It is the classic start up story where we went from a small garage with four of us to a now busy studio of 26 designers.’

Dean has won 460 National and International awards for his work including The German Design Prize, Red Dot Grand Prix, Cannes Lions, D&AD’s, Webby awards. In 2010, Dean won the John Britten Black Pin to acknowledge his contribution to design in New Zealand and Internationally.

Show ‘People!’

old collegi a ns

P

82

rior to the closing night of this year’s Senior College musical, Les Miserables, a group of former ‘show students’ convened for drinks and nibbles in the Goodfellow Centre – the first time most had seen the amalgamation of the library and the former administration block. Whether an actor on the stage, or part of the technical and backstage crew, the affinity to being part of a production is long-lasting.

Former cast: Lucy Dunlop, Jessica Allen, Annelise Katz, Jack Hofer, Sam Elliot, Alexander Maehl, Sharnika Leleni Former crew: Andrew Lindsay, Philip Dnlop, Emily Levin, Claire Skelton, Matt Ellwood

He was also invited to be the first New Zealand member of the prestigious AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale) which is group of the world’s leading designers with 450 members from different countries.

Dean said that the best thing that came out of his time at Saint Kentigern College was friendship. He said, ‘Fellow Saint Kentigern student Aaron Edwards and I have been working together and creating things ever since school. He is one of the lead designers at Alt group. We still sit side by side at a desk all these years later. We have been working together for over 30 years!’

SKOCA Boys’ School Golf Day n relatively cool conditions compared to other years, a field of over 70 players convened at the Royal Auckland Golf Club for the annual SKOCA Boys’ School Golf Day. The guests, many of them former students, enjoyed lunch and a catch up prior to play.

Principal, Mr Peter Cassie outlined the high stakes for the afternoon, notably ‘The Mungo Cap’ - a replica of the original grey school cap worn in earlier times – to be awarded to the top team at the end of play. At the other end of the scale was the gaudy, multi-coloured blazer, not exactly a prize to be coveted; one that would be awarded for ‘blooper of the day.’ As the first recipient of the jacket two years ago for a less than admirable shot, Mr Cassie is always keen to see the jacket go to a new home!

As the fours headed out to their starting tee, carts loaded with provisions did the rounds to keep the players fed and hydrated. Frozen ice-blocks were very well-received at the mid-way point!

Following play, the teams retired to the club house for refreshments and the prize giving. The School is grateful to the many generous sponsors who provided some fabulous prizes for those whose score cards were favourable; we thank them for their generosity.

The winning four and recipients of the Mungo Cap was a team hosted by Deputy Principal, Mr Grayson Aspinall, including Mark Sixton, Warren Douglas and Neil Wang. The ‘Longest Drive on the 18th’ was won

by Amanda Wilkinson for the ladies, with Alex van Shaardenburg picking up the award for the men.

‘Nearest the Pin on the 7th’ was awarded to Tessa Larsen and Nigel Smith.

The Ron Stone Memorial Trophy is awarded to an Old Collegian displaying ‘the true spirit of sportsmanship.’

This year it was presented to Peter Nelson who continues to do a tremendous amount for the School.

And the Jacket? It was awarded in the first few minutes of play for a ‘slightly unusual’ first drive off the tee by former student, Alex Smith!

This was a fabulous afternoon and it was great to see former students of all ages turn out to support the School. Our thanks to organisers, Mr Grayson Aspinall, Mrs Sue Bowskill and Mrs Karyl Kidd for their work ensuring that the day ran smoothly and to Old Collegians’ representative for the Boys’ School, Mr Peter Nelson for his support.

Our special thanks to the following sponsors for their generosity: Ace Kare Cleaning, APS Ltd, Brez Electrical, CBRE, Matassa Property Services, Outline Design, Ricoh, SKOCA. Thank you also for the amazing range of prizes donated by: John Martin, JUCY Group Ltd, Atlas Travel , Giltrap Audi, Abbex, ANZ, Burger Burger, CBRE, Chesters, Collective Hospitality, Cornwall Park Café, Cuthbert Interiors, Dominion Construction, Ecoya, Family Boats, Flowers After Hours, Home Interiors, Greg Horton, Lexel Systems, Made 4 Baby, Odyssey Wines, Outline Design, Pelikan Artline, Raw Honey NZ, Ricoh, Sulco Tools, Tax Traders, Trilogy, Working Style.

old collegi a ns

I

83

Iron People

E

arly March saw a number of Saint Kentigern Old Collegians complete the gruelling New Zealand Ironman in Taupo. Matthew McQueen, Olivia Faulding and Jono Bacon, along with Saint Kentigern College Latin teacher, Mr Jared Banham, successfully completed the 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42km marathon run. Not only were the distances challenging while competing against over 1200 athletes, but the conditions were appalling this year with a choppy lake make swimming difficult and a strong gusty wind on the bike section. With over 170 participants failing to complete the race, the Saint Kentigern competitors did particularly well to strike a 100% success rate.

Jono Bacon After graduating from Saint Kentigern College in 2011, I got into Engineering at the University of Auckland, specialising in chemical and materials engineering. In my second year, I was lucky enough to gain a scholarship with Jacobs SKM, an engineering consultancy, where I worked for all the subsequent summers, also landing my first job there at the end of my degree. I finished my degree achieving a Dean Honours List Award.

While studying, I went back to Saint Kentigern to become the Head Coach for the Girls’ Cycling Squad, alongside my best mate from College, BJ Ludlam. We coached the squad for three years.

After University, I wanted another individual challenge, hence the Iron Man! Mr Rick Faulding was certainly my inspiration for this and after chatting to him and receiving a programme, I just really took to it. During my time at the College, I hadn’t really learnt how to swim properly so I took adult swimming classes and became proficient enough at it. The cycling was never really an issue as I’d done lots of big rides, and getting a lot of kilometres under the belt, was the key for running.

Matthew McQueen When I graduated from Saint Kentigern College, I took a gap year in 2011 working at St Bede’s in England and travelling around Europe. I then returned to study at Auckland University from 2012-2016 completing a double degree in Commerce (Economics and Finance double major) and Civil Engineering (with first class honors). In 2016 I was co-president of MCC (Management Consulting Club), the largest academic club on campus at Auckland University, leading a committee of 24 running events for our 1000 student members. I was awarded a University of Auckland Blues award for my service and leadership to the club in 2016.

I decided to do Ironman as it has been on my bucket list ever since I did Triathlon and Cycling competitively while at Saint Kentigern. Since leaving the College, I continued to do triathlons, shifting my focus to more endurance races doing several Half Ironman events. This summer, having just completed my degree and with time off before starting work, I decided it was a perfect time to tick off Ironman training over the summer months to be ready for the race in March.

In April I moved to Sydney to work at BCG (Bolton Consulting Group) and, therefore, I will be having a break from triathlon. I will, however, continue to run as I would like to run a sub 3-hour marathon time!

Olivia Faulding

old collegi a ns

After graduating Saint Kentigern College, I embarked on a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Psychology and Anthropology at Victoria University in Wellington, before returning home to Auckland to complete my studies. This degree began to shape my world view and sparked a passion for a more specific crosscultural gender and sexuality studies. During student employment, I really found my passion working as a youth educator for the Auckland-based organisation ‘Rape Prevention Education’, which aims at promoting healthy and consensual relationships in adolescents.

84

I have always been relatively fit throughout my life and have strongly valued sports as part of my lifestyle having been involved at school completing multiple half-marathons and TearFund Poverty cycles. Following school, I watched my dad (Rick Faulding) coach Jared Banham for Ironman and I knew it was also my time to embark on this challenge too. To add an extra element to the race, Jared and I both chopped off our long hair to raise money for the Starship Foundation. We both raised over $3,000 with the help of friends, family and co-workers. This journey has been incredibly tough in every way, but the support and love of everyone made Ironman feel like a team sport.

My first memory of Ironman was in 2003 when dad raced in the World Championships in Hawaii. I was super young and I remember watching dad and not comprehending the insanity of it all. I do remember understanding that he was doing it in memory of my brother James, who passed away in 2001. This became a key motivator and source of inspiration in committing to Ironman.

Rebecca Clarke – Triathlete R

ebecca started at Saint Kentigern as a Year 11 in 2004, the second intake of girls to the College. While at the College she pursed her love for swimming and Waterpolo. With her exceptional swimming skills, Rebecca became a National Champion in her age group for the 400m medley and had multiple placings in various National swimming events. At College level, she also won the Swimming Cup for two years, received Swimming and Waterpolo colours, was Captain of her Waterpolo team and was nominated for Sportswoman of the Year.

Since leaving College, Rebecca has gained a Bachelor of Physical Education from Otago University. This included an exchange semester in her last year to the University of Alberta, Canada.

After university, Rebecca moved back to Auckland and started working as a swimming instructor and fitness trainer. At the same time, she turned her attention to triathlons, after enjoying competitive multisport events while at the College.

Rebecca had success in her first year, winning her age group (20-24) at the World Triathlon Age Group Championships in Beijing in 2011. Following this she moved up to racing as an Elite Triathlete and progressed from racing Elite Continental Cups in New Zealand, Australia to World Cups in Europe and America.

Her results gave her enough points to be ranked 65th in the world and go on to competing in her first Elite World Championships in Edmonton in 2014, placing 23rd in the world. In 2015, Rebecca raced on the ITU Triathlon World Series spending five months overseas and having the opportunity to race in the Rio Olympic Test Event, qualifying for the World Final. Unfortunately, after a run of injuries, missing the Olympic selection and a bad

bike crash, Rebecca took a step back from full time triathlon training and competing. After settling into fulltime work at a physiotherapy practice in Auckland, she switched her attention to training for long distance triathlons and competed in Taupo and the Port of Tauranga Half, placing 4th and 6th respectively.

Rebecca said that being a student at Saint Kentigern College helped her focus on her academic studies, which allowed her to pursue her choice of study at University and sporting wise it encouraged and gave her the confidence to challenge herself in triathlons. After competing in triathlons at the College and attending the triathlon camp, it gave her a ‘little taste’ and knowledge of the sport. She wanted to build on this to challenge herself after university, which led to success as an elite triathlete.

Rebecca said what she enjoyed the most while attending the College was the sporting programme - being encouraged to compete in a wide range of events and sports teams such as. cycling, team triathlon, swimming, waterpolo and cross country.

She said she always felt supported by the sports department and facilities such as the Sports Centre were amazing.

She said, ‘There was a well-equipped gym, and swimming pool which along with swimming, was used for kayaking training in physical education class. I also enjoyed the run along to the Yacht Club and back when training for the secondary schools duathlon. I really enjoyed the Camaraderie within my house, Cargill, and the rivalry and fun of inter-house competitions whether it was swimming sports, athletics, or house music.’

Recently Rebecca joined the staff at Saint Kentigern as a Sports Administrator.

I

n 2015, while still a Year 12 student at College, Madeleine Park achieved a double medal win at the Junior World Track Cycling Championships, winning gold as part of the NZ Women’s Pursuit team, setting a new world record. She then went on to win bronze in the 2000m Individual Pursuit. Since that moment, Maddy has had a very clear goal in mind – to live her dream and cycle professionally.

On graduating from Saint Kentigern in 2006, Maddy moved to America, having been selected as part of the Team Tibco Silicon Valley Bank Women’s Professional Cycling Team. She is based between Menlo Park in the San Francisco Bay Area and Boulder Colorado. Maddy said, ‘These are two great places for training with a mix

of flats, climbs and altitude. I came to be selected into my team, after applying to them in 2016. I was lucky enough to make the roster, as their youngest rider. My daily life is fairly similar to what is has always been, although my training load is higher now that I am competing in the Elite Ranks. I am training 60% of the time and racing the other 40%.

The races we compete in take us all over America, Europe and Asia. My next race is the Tour of Chongming Island in China, this will be my first Women’s World Tour event and I am really looking forward to the step up.

The lifestyle is definitely not that of an average 18 year old and it can be pretty demanding, with a lot of travel and intense racing, but I am living my dream!’

We’ll follow Maddy’s progress with interest!

old collegi a ns

Maddy Park – Living Her Dream!

85

Chris Clegg – Aspiring Dancer C

hris graduated in 2015, having found his passion as a dancer whilst at College. He excelled in this art and was a key performer in the Dance Showcase under the tutelage of College Head of Dance and former New Zealand Ballet dancer, Mr Geordan Wilcox. Chris reports on his first year as a dance student in Wellington.

and I would have loved to have started this style of dance earlier in my life now that I can see where the potential leads.

Thank you to my teacher at Saint Kentigern College, Mr Geordan Wilcox for taking the patience and interest in me to lead me into this life, the journey is hard but a fulfilling one and an amazing experience.

My first year at the New Zealand School of Dance in Wellington has been a fascinating adventure filled with exciting and difficult challenges that have pushed my body to its boundaries. The physicality of the course has done so much with engraving my body with new skills and movement styles that over time, I have come to learn the way to move like a New Zealand contemporary dancer, under the teachings of Jarek Cemerek, Paula Steeds-Huston and Tor Colombus.

Jarek has taught our class a very fine European styled of moving to physical law and making our movements seem effortless and easy from floor work to partnering. Paula has impressed us with the way she finds fluidity in her body to produce beautiful movements which she has passed onto us and, last but not least, Tor Colombus has enveloped each of us with skills we thought we never had; skills to create and modify our own individual and group pieces to an extent that it can be performed professionally in front of an audience, finding different ways to affect and involve those watching.

Tor has also given our class the opportunity to be involved in the World of Wearable Arts Awards Show, in which we discovered the professional working environment and were able to interact and entertain the crowds which attend this magnificent event.

These new-found skills have compelled me to further pursue this career as an art form, for not only my body, but also my mind. Other than the school and specific dance styles, living in Wellington has been excellent for all my other skills to improve in skateboarding and breakdancing to keep me sane during the long weeks there away from friends and family. Overall the year has been an amazing experience

Photographer Stephen A’Court, for the New Zealand School of Dance.

Jared Kristensen – Online Marketer

old collegi a ns

J

86

ared Kristensen is the Founder and CEO of Audience Republic, an online marketing platform helping event organisers increase their ticket sales – primarily for concerts and music festivals. The company is Sydney-based, and has attracted $600k investment to date.

Jared reports: ‘When I finished school in 2007, I studied a Bachelor of Commerce at The University of Auckland, majoring in marketing and commercial law. On the side, I had a business where I promoted music events. I’d book bands and DJs ‘off the back’ of Australian music festivals, and brought them to New Zealand to perform.

Over three years, I produced around 20 events and some did very well, and others not so well! There was one in particular where I lost

$20k in one night because I didn’t sell enough tickets. That was an immense learning curve and eventually became the inspiration behind starting Audience Republic.

Straight after graduating university, I moved across to Sydney where I worked for two technology start-ups: ASX-listed Flamingo as Head of Marketing, and OneSaas. Eventually, I resigned my job to concentrate on my own start-up, Audience Republic.

At Audience Republic, we’re growing fast, have an incredible team and are very fortunate to be backed by some amazing investors.

Currently we’re focused on the Australian and NZ market, but will be soon expanding to the UK and North America. We’re also looking to go beyond music and in to other customer segments including sport, theatre and conferences.

Saint Kentigern College certainly provided a fantastic platform, and I’m very grateful to all the people who supported me along the way.

Steffi Jamieson – Volunteering Overseas S

teffi was one of the Foundation Girls who started at the College as a Year 7 in 2003, graduating in 2009. Unsure what she wished to pursue at university, Steffi chose to initially take a GAP year and worked at St Bedes, East Sussex in England - Head of College, Mr Steve Cole’s previous school.

While working as a ‘Gappy’ Steffi undertook a variety of jobs around the school and came to realise that she has a passion for helping people and, as a result, decided to enrol in a Bachelor of Nursing at the Manukau Institute of Technology on her return. On completion of her studies, Steffi said she was offered her ‘ideal’ job at a busy medical centre in Mangere, where she stayed for three years.

Steffi said what she loved the most about the whole experience was seeing the smiles on the children’s faces when they arrived at the childcare centre ready to learn English and play games. She said, ‘They seem to have never ending energy and love for us volunteers. Even when I know some of them come from very sad backgrounds.’

Steffi said that she feels volunteering is the perfect opportunity to appreciate and understand another culture. She said, ‘Volunteering was a good break from nursing to open my eyes to how another culture lives and experience things that I can take with me into future nursing jobs and life.’

Through a friend, she heard about IVHQ, a New Zealand based volunteering programme with many projects worldwide. Steffi thought it would be the perfect opportunity to do a childcare project and give back to a less fortunate community. She said, ‘I worked at, both an orphanage and day care in Costa Rica for two months. Most of my two months was spent working in a day care in an impoverished area where all children are also supplied food. I looked after and fed sick babies, and taught the older children hygiene and English through games, crosswords and singing.’

Connor Mattson - Animation Workshop uring Term 1, Old Collegian, Connor Mattson returned to the Jack Paine Centre to share his knowledge and expertise with the Year 12 and 13 Animation and Motion Graphic students. Connor is a former Animation student who excelled in the subject and, understanding the pressures associated with project based learning, was a perfect candidate to share his knowledge and experiences.

Connor is passionate about all aspects of design and was a founding member of the Year 13 Design Council. He is currently completing his undergraduate degree in Engineering and Science at the University of Auckland and is a member of the Jack Paine Centre Collective, which is set up for past students who are keen to share their creativity with the next generation of students.

The two-day intensive workshop covered what could have taken up to eight weeks to cover in class time. Students were introduced to the concepts surrounding ‘the illusion of movement’ and were challenged to create a convincing ball bounce using vector based graphics in After Effects, hand drawn rotoscoping from live action in Animate (formerly Flash) and 3D CGI in Maya. One of the most

obvious outcomes of the course is how we take animated outcomes for granted in everyday life! The course was held in JPCOM, the digital lab in the Jack Paine Centre. Here students used specialised software and the new industry standard Wacom tablets.

Animation and Motion Graphics is a specialist Technology subject offered in Year 12 and 13 and follows on from Digital Technology and/ or Digital Art. It is a dedicated subject that is unique to Saint Kentigern College and has been developed with tertiary providers to ensure the content and experiences are robust and relevant for tertiary and industry. Teaching and learning in such an environment can be challenging as students join Year 12 Animation with a wide range of experiences of the craft and software involved. All students have different interests, strengths and weaknesses so it is vital the class runs more like a studio where all members work together to share information and mentor each other. A key to success in industry is understanding how to work in a pipeline environment and effectively collaborate towards an end goal. With past experience in exactly this, Connor had a great deal of insight to offer.

old collegi a ns

D

87

Old Collegians Hockey

Annual SKCOCA Cricket Day

O

B

After a rigorous but evenly matched game, the score was tied 3-3 at full time, so the winner was decided in an exciting penalty shoot-out. On this occasion, the current 1st XI won, with Josh Child scoring the game winner. As per the 2016 event, the afternoon was very enjoyable, serving as a great opportunity for Old Collegians to catch up and share advice and stories with this promising team. Thanks to Mr Chris Dowdle, Mr Ramesh Patel, Mr Paul Bennett, and in particular Mr Malcolm Cowie for making the arrangements.

The 1st XI were off to a slow start. Ryan Phizackerley bowled a difficult line and length at good pace and bowled two maidens. He only bowled the two overs with figures of 2 overs 0-0. Despite the slow start, there were some lusty blows from Jono Low before he was removed for a very handy 30.

There was also some assistance from Shane Setia and Jimmy Webb who contributed 19 and 22 respectively. Then Nikith Perera played a nice hand in the last few overs, hitting a few boundaries to finish on 35* and help lead the Saints to a competitive total of 163 from their 20 overs.

n Wednesday 5 April, the 1st XI Boys Hockey played their 2nd annual fixture against an Old Collegians side at Lloyd Elsmore Park. The match served as preparation for the College 1st XI’s up-coming season, with the experience and talent the Old Collegians possessing and providing a decent challenge for the current College team!

eautiful cricket weather set up what was a fantastic day out for all at the annual College 1st XI cricket match against the Old Collegians X1. The toss was won by 1st XI captain, Fergus Ellis and on the back of SKC’s good form, had no hesitation in batting first. The Old Collegian’s X1 were made up of some highly talented cricketers, many representing their respective clubs at a high level. Last year’s captain and New Zealand U18 representative, Sandeep Patel, was also present.

The Old Collegians’ batsmen came out all guns blazing. However, Matt Soroka picked up a wicket in the first over of the innings, placing pressure on the Old Collegians. Sandeep Patel, the classy right hander, now came out to the middle and looked in ominous form. He blasted his way to 49 with a strike rate of over 200 until he was given out lbw and had to depart. It then looked all too much for the Old Collegian’s X1. Nikith Perera picked up 3-10 from his 3 overs. There was still a twist in the tail, or so it seemed, when big hitting Ryan Phizackerley came to the crease and hit six 6’s in 12 balls.

Thanks to some handy death bowling by Jimmy Webb, the Old Collegian’s X1 fell 10 runs short of the target, and the SKC first XI came out victorious.

A fantastic barbeque and much needed refreshments capped off a fantastic afternoon of cricket. Special thanks to Malcolm Cowie, Ben Williams, and Pat Lowe for their work behind the scenes, organizing food and umpiring for the lads, thanks fellas!

Results: Saint Kentigern 1st XI – 163/7 from 20 overs Old Collegians XI – 153/7 from 20 overs

WHERE ARE YOU? old collegi a ns

WHAT DO YOU DO? EVER WONDERED WHAT YOUR OLD CLASSMATES ARE UP TO? EVER THOUGHT THEY MAY BE INTERESTED IN WHAT YOU DO?

88

These pages belong to you, our Old Collegians. We need your help to make these pages interesting and informative. Write a few lines to fill us in on what you’ve been doing since leaving school, or what you are about to do, a recent achievement, a momentous event or any other item of interest. Alternatively, we also welcome more in depth articles, as appear on these pages. Family and friends, tell us what our sons and daughters of Kentigern are up to nowadays.

Pictures speak a thousand words! In this digital age, it’s really easy to provide a photo but please email all digital pictures at maximum resolution. We look forward to hearing from you.

Please direct all correspondence to the Editor: jane.kneale@saintkentigern.com Communication Manager, Saint Kentigern Trust Board

Jared and Anna Graham (Nee Simpson) W

hen Anna Simpson joined Saint Kentigern in 2008 as a Year 12 student, she organised to join the French and History trip that was travelling to Europe that year, in the hope of making new friends at her new school. Anna said, ‘Who knew I would come back from France with a boyfriend and then eight years later we would be married!’ Anna and Jared join a growing number of Old Collegians who met at College and went on to marry.

Anna and Jared said that they were incredibly grateful to all their friends and family who were able to be at their wedding to celebrate their special day with them. Their bridal party included Old Collegians, Renee Simpson, Jenni May, Alex Clark, Tim Wilson and Seb Graham.

They report that since leaving Saint Kentigern College, they have remained in Auckland. Anna said that after graduating she went on to work at TVNZ and now works as an Event Manger whilst Jared is in the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

We wish Anna and Jared happiness in their life together.

Will and Laura Hughes (Nee Wright) W

ith a sister, Sarah (2006) and two brothers, Anthony (2003) and James (2010) who are former students, along with mother, Renae who is a long-serving member of staff at the College, there was certainly a strong Saint Kentigern presence when Old Collegian, Laura Wright (2007) married Will Hughes in December! The wedding took place at St Luke’s Church in Remuera followed by a reception at Coatesville Settlers Hall.

Laura was a Foundation Girl at the College, one of the brave group of girls who formed the first intake when the College opened its doors to girls in 2003. Laura graduated in 2007 and currently works in marketing for Ford Motors, while her husband, Will is a Product Owner at Movio Media, a company that aggregates demographic and behavioural film audience data for film studios and distributors. We wish the couple all the best for a happy life together.

In Memoriam It is with sadness that we record the passing of the following students and staff. We express our condolences to their families.

David Russell Sarah

1968-1970

26/08/2016

Liam John Stewart

2011-2014

17/10/2016

Peter Hal Wilson McCowan

1954-1959

16/01/2017

Timothy Patrick Hutchens

1994-1996

10/03/2017

Terence Douglas Blewett

1963-1969

26/03/2017

John McCristell Webber

1953-1956

3/04/2017

Tony Beckett 1961-1965

6/04/2017

Alastair Robert Thomson

21/4/2017

1960-1962

Teacher at Saint Kentigern College 1964 – 1978 Old Collegians of the 1960s and 1970s will be saddened to learn of the death of Mr Michael (Mike) Harris who passed away at his home in Dannevirke in March 2017. Mike had been unwell for many years.

Mike is remembered as a vibrant teacher, Bruce House master, sports coach and innovator who made a very significant contribution to the teaching and co-curricular activities of Saint Kentigern College at an important foundational time in its early decades. Not only was he master-in-charge of Swimming and Basketball, with many teams

involved, but for five years Mike coached the 1st XI Cricket and also coached 3A Rugby, training many who went on to play at 1st XV level. He made a significant contribution to Volleyball leading boys under his coaching to be national champions five times. Many Old Collegians will also remember Mike’s long contribution to outdoor education – organising two of the Cashmore Valley camps and as a leader in the Fourth Form Field Centre; ski trips to Ruapehu, and tramping expeditions to Taranaki (Mt Egmont) and the South Island in school holiday time. Mike later taught at Dannevirke High School. He is survived by his wife, Jean.

old collegi a ns

OBITUARY – MR MICHAEL HARRIS

89

90

old collegi a ns

91

old collegi a ns