Piper Issue 65 October 2018

Email: trust@saintkentigern.com

Contents

Preschool

Phone:

Email:

Saint

Boys’ School

Remuera, Auckland 1541

Phone: 09-520 1400 Fax: 09-524 7657

Email: skg_admin@saintkentigern.com

Saint Kentigern Preschool

Director: Mrs Sue Nash

514 Remuera Road, Remuera 1050

PO Box 28 399, Remuera, Auckland 1541

Email: skp_admissions@saintkentigern.com

Saint Kentigern OCA

President: Hayden Butler

Secretary: James Bennett

College

Old Collegians

From the Chairman of the Trust Board

Afew weeks back, I was delighted to be asked to address the College Parents and Friends organisation. I spoke on what the Trust Board considered to be key elements of a ‘Presbyterian Education.’ The response from some in the audience suggested that others in our community might also appreciate such comments.

Education has been in the Presbyterian Church’s DNA since the founder of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, John Knox, established schools in somewhat stormy times, around the middle of the 16th century. Knox and colleagues insisted in his Book of Discipline (Church Manual if you like) that ‘for every congregation in every notable town... there be erected a College (school) in which the Arts and Sciences and at least Logic and Rhetoric and Tongues (Greek and Hebrew)... be read by sufficient Masters for whom honest stipends must be appointed: as also provision for those that be poor (especially such as come from rural areas).’

This notes that teachers must be highly qualified and regarded, and establishes student boarding for the rural ‘needy’ which I think fits Saint Kentigern practice. Hard work was the key phrase which described the Presbyterian work ethic initiated in our schools of the time and we inherit that ethic too.

Attendance was for all children; there was no class system in the Presbyterian schools where ‘Sons of Dukes and cobbler’s children are to learn side by side.’ Furthermore, teaching was to be ‘in the vernacular’ (not Latin) and classes were taught in English well before schools in England followed.

Neither the Presbyterian Church nor its schools, or its other notable work – assistance for the poor, disabled and sick in the community - was conducted in a hierarchical way. Presbyterians are not elitist; all youngsters and their families are to be treated equally and with respect. We recognise each student’s particular skills and contribution at school and to society.

While that early curriculum might sound somewhat restrictive, for the times it was visionary. That is why at Saint Kentigern we encourage our students to have a go at a wide range of subjects and activities and, while we encourage and celebrate success of all sorts enthusiastically, without being elitist - for the purpose of education, in the words of John Knox, was so ‘that everyone could actively

participate in society and make a contribution to the community, not leaving (running the community) to experts.’

This is reflected in our own Trust Deed which specifies that the purpose of our Saint Kentigern education is ‘for the Glory of God and for the service of others.’ Rather than being centred on self, this urges us, to the very best of our ability, to use all our efforts and talents to become educated for the wider good of the community.

The Presbyterian Church has always held within it, a wide spectrum of theological belief advised by sound scholarship and wide debate among everyone. It has been written about John Knox that he established the first democratically-run organisation and while we must be sensible in running an effective Saint Kentigern school system, we try to value input from all and respect others with diverging views. That leads us to the importance of relationships with and between our students, parents, our staff and management, our Trust Board and our wider community. Concepts that are as important today as they were for a 16th Century theologian and vehement religious campaigner!

And of course, along with other church streams, we share Christian roots from which come our core values of respect, integrity, service, excellence and love.

For over 300 years, the Scots had arguably the best education system and the best welfare system in all of Europe. The Scottish education system still maintains its differences from the systems in England, Wales and Ireland, although the church no longer runs it. And we can see a bit of the same in New Zealand, where the Presbyterians settling Dunedin established New Zealand’s first University in 1848 and a school system which went on to become models for university colleges and schools in other centres of our country. The first Education Act in New Zealand was strongly influenced by the Otago models. In many ways, State schools in New Zealand still reflect these Presbyterian origins and values, compared with State schools in Australia and other countries. That is our heritage as a Presbyterian-based school system along with eleven other Presbyterian schools throughout the country.

As you can see, it’s not all bagpipes, haggis and Ceilidhs, although these symbols of community are important as well, reminding us of our Scottish roots. There are, along with them, important principles of education, organisation and relationship going back nearly 500 years. These underlie what we do as a school system; they define our identity and the values which the Trust Board is principally charged with faithfully maintaining.

Fides Servanda Est

Dr John Kernohan

Chairman of the Trust Board

In Memoriam – The Reverend Jim Milne

It is with sadness that we note the passing of The Reverend Jim Milne, a former loyal servant of Saint Kentigern. Reverend Milne was a member of the Trust Board from 19792000 and was on the College Board from 1988-1996, a period of major growth for the College. He is remembered with great fondness and respect for his significant contribution to Saint Kentigern.

From the Head of Saint Kentigern

NCEA Level 1 Review - Statement to the Community of Saint Kentigern

The Minister of Education is currently reviewing the NCEA qualification at Level 1. The Trust Board has made a submission to the Review.

As an independent school, Saint Kentigern will not be bound by any changes made to Level 1 by the Ministry of Education and will continue to offer a programme which is best suited to our students. In this regard, we thought it would be helpful to publish a Saint Kentigern Trust Board Statement of fundamental principles of learning and assessment that it believes should underpin what occurs in the future at Level 1 in the Senior College.

The Trust Board

• Is committed to a high quality, broad general education that meets the needs of our students.

• Believes that Year 11 is an important stage of a student’s development towards independence in, and acceptance of, responsibility for their further academic achievement.

• Has supported the NCEA since its introduction. We gave full and careful consideration to alternative school qualifications and subsequently introduced the International Baccalaureate (IB) 2-year Diploma as a parallel qualification. We will continue to offer these two internationally recognised qualification pathways.

• Believes students, by the end of Year 11, require a high level of literacy that allows them to fully participate in society. Students also require a level of mathematical knowledge and skill that ensures they can carry out a wide range of number problems and calculations relating to finance, measurement, quantity and statistics. A course in Christian Education aligning with Saint Kentigern’s Presbyterian values will be compulsory. We will strongly encourage students to undertake a course of study in Science and Social Science. A wide range of other courses will be offered to meet student academic needs and interests.

• Will ensure that courses at Year 11 are designed to prepare students for successful study at Years 12, 13 and beyond, with the expectation that every student will reach their full academic potential.

• Fully supports the five Key Competencies set out in the New Zealand Curriculum - Thinking, Using Language, Symbols and Texts, Managing Self, Relating to Others and Participating and Contributing. These will be part of the underlying content of all schemes of work.

• Believes that students should be encouraged and supported to apply knowledge to real life situations and to think critically and creatively.

• Believes assessment is an important part of all learning and should be determined by, and appropriate to, the course content. It should be rigorous, fair, transparent and fit for purpose. Assessment must also provide both students and their parents and caregivers with clarity as to the student’s progress and level of achievement.

• Believes that course design and content, teaching and assessment methodology must be well communicated to students, parents and caregivers to allow all to fully participate in the learning process.

• Believes that the role of the teacher is critical to student success. Teaching should be explicit. Lessons should have a coherent purpose. Formal presentation, guided practice, feedback and independent learning should all be included.

• Is open to the use of innovative teaching and learning practices that demonstrate clear improved outcomes for students.

The Trust Board will consider carefully the submissions and final outcomes of the Ministerial Review. However, programmes of study and assessment at Saint Kentigern will be determined by the Trust Board, in consultation with the teaching staff, in terms of what best serves the needs of our students.

Any proposed changes to NCEA Level 1 will have a considerable lead-in time. We will be engaging with our community well before there is any alteration to the present programmes at Saint Kentigern.

We would welcome the opportunity to hear your thoughts and ideas regarding NCEA Level 1. If you have any comments or queries, please email hosk@saintkentigern.com.

Information about the Ministry of Education’s review can be found at http://www.conversation.education.govt. nz/conversations/ncea-have-your-say/

Fides Servanda Est

David Hodge

Head of Saint Kentigern

Saint Kentigern Masterplan Update on Building

In the May issue of Piper, the Trust Board was pleased to confirm the Master Plan for our two Primary schools and the Preschool, while advising that ongoing planning at the Pakuranga Campus was underway. The Trust Board is now very pleased to confirm the Master Plan for the Pakuranga Campus has also been completed, and that our Building Saint Kentigern programme of work will now enter an important and exciting new phase.

Once again, the Trust Board would like to thank everyone in the Saint Kentigern

SHORE ROAD CAMPUS

As announced in May, the Master Plan for the Shore Road campus provides for investment of some $70 million in new and specialist facilities. As first priorities on that campus, we will be advancing the construction of the brand-new Girls’ School, a new shared specialist facility building and a new building for Senior Boys’ classrooms. Following that work, we will undertake the construction of a new purposebuilt Preschool, along with the extension of the Boys’ Junior School building, and the refurbishment of the Senior Boys’ classrooms for the Boys’ Middle School

community who has contributed input and feedback to this master planning process, and in particular the Parent Reference Groups who have given generously of their time and knowledge. As previously noted, there has been a wide variety of views expressed, but also there has been a pleasing consensus on the importance of Saint Kentigern values and the special qualities Saint Kentigern offers our current students.

This same commitment to Saint Kentigern has been at the centre of the Trust Board’s decision

PAKURANGA CAMPUS

on the Master Plans, which will see significant investment in state-of-the–art facilities to support a world-class learning experience.

We are also pleased that we can undertake this work without any fee increase being required specifically for these projects. The overall Building Saint Kentigern programme will be delivered through debt funding with a contribution from fundraising activities. The Trust Board intends to divest itself of the current Remuera Road campus and re-invest the proceeds in the Shore Road campus developments.

Work is still being done on determining the timing for the programme of work on both campuses, but we want to have all significant construction completed within the shortest time-frame possible.

We will continue to keep you informed and to seek your input as this work advances. This is an exciting time for Saint Kentigern, and a key step forward in building a strong future for all our students.

John Kernohan Chairman of the Trust Board

VICTORIA AVE

The Pakuranga Campus Concept Master Plan encompasses a long-term programme of work, which will enable further growth in the two Colleges, replace older classrooms with purpose built new facilities and provide new specialist learning facilities. The Trust Board has prioritised the initial development of a building to house more Science laboratories, Technology and general classrooms and a new Performing Arts Centre, both of which will ensure students have access to specialist facilities in key educational areas.

The Science / Classroom Centre will be located next to the existing science block and technology buildings. We envisage it as housing up to 15 new classrooms. A new Middle College Café and Learning Commons linked to the Science Centre are anticipated in the future.

Located on the land between the Sports Centre and carpark, the new Performing Arts Centre will feature specialist classrooms and replace Elliott Hall as the campus’ performance venue with a new auditorium.

PAKURANGA ROAD

Extra Curricular Opportunities

Our Preschool has a reputation for undertaking a huge amount of extra-curricular activities – and we constantly get comments from parents about how appreciative they are. The importance of children having opportunities to gain experiences in areas both inside and outside of the Preschool environment means our extra-curricular options are full and varied.

With an emergent programme where each day is different, and our educational learnings reflecting the children’s interest and needs, parental requests, staff pedagogy and National Interests – the children at Saint Kentigern have ‘a world of opportunity’ at their feet.

LANGUAGES - Each week the children learn two languages – Te Reo and French. As our Preschool children have uncluttered brains that are highly active with an innate ability to learn, the chance to experience unfamiliar languages is met with fun and excitement. Their natural curiosity and lack of fear of failure as they experiment with new sounds and ideas makes the learning of other languages easier at this young age.

All staff have knowledge and appreciation of Te Reo and it is used throughout the day in greetings, commands, colours, songs, numbers, and once a week the children enjoy a full ‘Maori mat time’. This supports our future generation of children to ensure Te Reo and our National language and culture continue to be strong.

French is taught by a past parent who is fluent in 6 languages and has been taking our French lessons for 6 years. Each lesson starts with greetings, numbers from 1-20, colours, days of the week and is followed by a small number of new words that relate to our current topic of interest. The children have a strong base knowledge of French as they leave Preschool to continue on to our schools.

FITNESS - With the focus at Preschool being to create healthy bodies and healthy minds, a daily fitness programme supports this.

Action songs to music help develop a ‘midline’ – crucial to help with learning to read and write. Set actions for songs reinforces repetition, extends skills to learn and participate in a

supportive environment as well as having fun as they exercise. In addition, more active sports are also introduced through the Little Champs – Sports Programme where children learn about resilience, turn taking, working together, more advanced hand eye coordination with balls, competition and participation.

SWIMMING - Our swimming programme takes place during Terms 1 and 4. Our staff have undertaken the Swimming NZ programme and take the children’s lessons. This is a highly successful part of our programme and is the only ‘extra cost’ for parents. Up to 75% of our children choose to take lessons that are structured around each child’s ability with the ratio a maximum of 1:2 with initial lessons being 1:1. The children LOVE these lessons as they feel confident already with the trust they have in their Preschool staff.

YOGA AND MINDFULNESS – Our staff regularly attend PD courses, and these are updated to bring in new ideas. Each child has their own yoga mat and can lead their own yoga sessions, as well as follow our weekly session with staff. Our Interactive TV is regularly used with ‘Cosmic Yoga’ where popular children’s stories like ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ are acted out through yoga poses. Our mindfulness programme has been instilled throughout Preschool since we opened. Calm sessions of mindfulness are hugely beneficial to children throughout their day.

TRIPS OUTSIDE OF PRESCHOOL – Although many ECE centres do not undertake trips. we feel that the benefits for the children through educational, social and learning experiences outweigh the risks. Clear RAMS are done before any trip and all parents sign a separate permission slip per trip. MOE regulations are 1:4 however the majority of Preschool trips see our ratios at 1:2 due to the interest and support from parents. Trips this year have seen the children go to Stardome, Pumphouse Music show, Matariki Puppet show, Treasure Island musical at Boys’ School, Mt Albert Grammar School farm, Celtic Day, Flora MacDonald Day, Wearable Arts Show at the College, Auckland Zoo – Bug Lab, Kelly Tarlton’s, Trips to Auckland airport and plane spotting, Kumeu farm to drop off chicks, pet shop, fruit shops and Remuera Library!

All of this ensures that a well-rounded, comprehensive and engaging learning environment is available for our children. As staff we are fully focused on the children while going beyond best practice is the norm for our children to make sure they have every opportunity to have a great start in their educational journey at Saint Kentigern. I appreciate the support my staff give to making this such an integral part of our identity and to everyone supporting us to make sure this Extra Curricular Programme is possible. Fides

Making Maths Concepts Fun

Observations by our staff saw a gap in some of the children’s understanding of maths concepts and numbers. A focus on all things to do with maths, especially numbers, saw a much higher level of understanding by the children over a short period of time. Being able to rote count is a learnt behaviour but the ability to recognise the numbers in written form and identify objects to match the quantity is quite another skill and we were pleased with their ability to pick up and retain these concepts.

Counting in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s and being able to know what numbers come before and after numbers up to at least 10 were also a focus. It was a very positive outcome to see the improvement when an area of focused immersion is undertaken. Making Maths fun was the key!

The Positive Effect of ICT

Recent research about ICT in Preschool environments has shown how it can have a positive effect on children’s learning when used wisely and grounded in a clear understanding of the purpose, practice and context.

At Preschool we ensure aspects of ICT use are incorporated throughout our Preschool programme. The use of any form of technology is used to complement and enhance the children’s learning.

The nine Preschool iPads have educational apps that support our pre-literacy and pre-numeracy focus and are used frequently in the programme. The software is carefully selected by staff to engage exploration, weave together knowledge and skills, extend language development and learn skills of sharing and turn taking. The focus of ICT integration into our teaching programme is planned, structured and monitored. These devices are used alongside staff with small groups of children. Each child is shown how to turn an iPad on and off, navigate their way through the games, enhance their fine motor and eye hand co-ordination skills, and show respect for the resource.

Flying High

Staff also use laptops with small groups of children to research and navigate around Google or with large groups connected to our interactive screen. During these teaching and learning sessions, the children gain investigation skills and build learning experiences into topics that we are focussing on.

Digital, iPad and mobile phone cameras are another enjoyable, interactive learning tool. Taking photos of themselves and their friends – before working alongside staff to attach them to the laptop to print off are always a highlight in the day. The children love to see photos of themselves and these are visibly displayed around the Preschool environment with captions and stories to match.

Recent Ministry of Education research stated that ‘the value that ICT can add to young children’s learning environments depends on the choices the practitioners make about the tools to select, when and how to use it to support children’s learning, development and play.’ Our staff ensure all ICT use is clearly and positively discussed, and actively and deliberately implemented within the programme – ICT complements and supports our learning environment for the children.

The children’s fascination with all planes that fly over Preschool, making paper planes, parents who work for Air NZ and have collections of planes, and staff member, Olivia having a plane radar app on her iPad, saw the focus turn to planes and flight. Impromptu trips with two groups of children to Auckland airport and the plane viewing area were met with great excitement. Visits from two Air New Zealand air stewardesses in their uniform to talk to us about what they do led to some amazing conversations – and some of our children looked great in the Air New Zealand beret and scarf – as well as a surprise visit from a drone. Fly high! preschool

Snow Drop

This is the 8th consecutive year that it has ‘snowed’ in Remuera, albeit it in a very targeted area in the locality – our Preschool playground! A drop of 4 tonnes of snow was met with blue skies, and 58 very, very excited Preschool children! A large crowd of parents and extended family members came for the morning to see the children at play. There were snow balls to throw, snowmen to make, snow to taste and snow to roll in – all in all a great morning of wintery fun!

Dinosaur Roar

Aspecial visit from ‘Dinosaur Dig’ saw all the children learn so much about dinosaurs and fossils. The facilitator was most impressed on how knowledgeable the children were - especially a 4-year-old boy who knew the name of every dinosaur! She said she has been to 100’s of schools and Preschools and never before has she not been able to stump a child on a dinosaur! The children each had a chance to make dinosaur fossils with shark teeth.

The arrival of Sue’s brother’s 4-metre-long Tyrannosaurus Rex on the deck at Preschool was met with looks of disbelief from the children! This proved to be a great learning adventure for them, and the new knowledge these young children can absorb is quite phenomenal. Over the following weeks there were impromptu visits to the museum with some children to see the dinosaur display and an amazing array of artwork produced by the children – their interpretations of each dinosaur through the medium of art amazed us all! Dinosaur discovery didn’t just stay inside – there were fossils in the sandpit, walking like a dinosaur synchronised fitness songs, dinosaurs in the water trough inside ice cubes amongst other activities – every day was like living back in Jurassic Park!

Mindfulness

The inclusion of mindfulness in our programme when Preschool first opened 8 years ago was viewed cautiously by some. However, over the years the importance of people young and old including this in their lifestyle has become evident. Our Preschool children can lead their own sessions – through CD’s, books and through their play. Each day staff ensure there are spaces set up throughout the environment where children can have quiet time as well as role model and scaffold mindful play with the children and each other. Research has shown that mindfulness increases connectivity in the frontal lobe of the brain – improving attention, memory processing and decision making. We have found it supports the children in increasing their ability to self regulate their emotions – fear or anger, over-excitement or sadness – all through being able to talk to their teachers and friends – and show care and empathy for how others are feeling and helps build resilience in children. It closely links with our Saint Kentigern Values and we regularly have comments from people about how well behaved, self controlled, caring and compassionate our children are.

We Love Our Mums and Dads!

With well over 50 children on the roll, Saint Kentigern Preschool is always a busy place, but for two special mornings a year, coinciding with Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day, it’s particularly busy as we welcome a large influx of Mums and Dads and other special family members!

The Mothers were first to be treated to a morning at Preschool. Time was spent working and playing with the children inside the centre and outside in the fresh air before watching how well the children have learnt to tidy up, wash their hands and sit at tables to wait quietly for their morning tea. Children and adults alike enjoyed some special fare while Director of the Preschool, Mrs Sue Nash spoke about the privilege of being able to be make a difference in the lives of these young children. She explained the importance of the Saint Kentigern Values that our children learn from a very age; Christian values that are a daily part of life as they move on through our amazing Saint Kentigern family of schools.

To finish the Mothers’ Morning, the children and their visitors spent some final time together, making each other a personalised wooden bead bracelet to remember a very special morning for some very special visitors to Preschool.

Following on, the arrival of 100 plus Dads, Grandads, Uncles was equally special! It was fantastic to see the key male role models spending time to interact in the Preschool environment including men in suits in the sandpit and lying on the floor doing puzzles!

The children shared their favourite fitness songs earning lots of smiles from the visitors. A BBQ lunch of ‘bacon butties’ and sausages in bread was consumed with gusto by the adults and children alike – who could resist that smell! Each child had made a puzzle for their gift – a picture hand drawn by them of their Dad, broken into pieces and put in a bag for them to make up at home – although the children were unanimous in the fact they didn’t think their Dads would be clever enough to do them!

What Makes the Difference?

It is important we teach our boys life skills that will provide them with confidence and a positive mindset when preparing to face challenges both now and in the future.

It’s okay to feel nervous, anxious or excited when you’re about to sit an examination, address an audience, or enter a court, field or pool for that all important match or race. Those nerves can provide you with the edge needed …. as long as you remain in control, believe in yourself and don’t allow those nerves to become all-consuming and cloud the mind.

Progress, achievement and success is achievable for everyone as long as you are prepared to put in the hard yards, effort and time. Our boys need to understand that this is the recipe needed and that there are no shortcuts. As teachers, coaches and parents, we must be careful that we don’t become too PC in our approach to competition or success. If we applaud mediocrity, then that is what we will get. It is also important that we do acknowledge those who have given their all, played to the best of their ability, grown as the season has progressed and those who achieve at the highest level, as this can provide inspiration for others in the future. How often do we see end of year team events where everyone gets a medal. Is that giving boys the right message? Is it more important to give words of encouragement or acknowledgement of the part they have played in their team?

Over the years I have coached a number of teams in many different sports and academic challenges. Many hours of practice fine tuning: understanding, skills and patterns, along with encouraging a sense of belief that if they can pull everything together by combining their individual knowledge, talents and skills to work as a team then they will achieve all that I could ask. If we are beaten by a better person, player or team on the day, that then becomes a valuable learning experience that will make us even better next time.

Over the course of the last two terms, we have achieved amazing

results for individuals and teams in every aspect of school life. Success and achievements in Mathematics, Science, Literature, Music, Cross Country, Rugby, Hockey, Football, Water Polo, Futsal, Tennis and Sailing at zone and regional level have been outstanding.

In all cases I can identify the following traits in those who have represented the school:

1. Passion and commitment

2. Real effort

3. Preparedness

4. Grit and determination (particularly when the going gets tough)

5. Knowledge, skill and growing expertise

6. Self-Belief and Calmness

7. Belief and confidence in each other when in a team

Being a spectator at the many events our boys are involved in is a wonderful experience (not for the faint-hearted at times). You feel the energy and excitement and while you would love to provide ongoing advice and support, you know that they are in control and that this is their moment. How satisfying is it to see potential and goals being realised.

In all of our successes this year, the most important aspect for me is how our boys approach their challenges. It is not about the win; it is about their performance matching their ability with the right attitude. Watching our teams respond when the going gets tough tells me a lot about character. Remaining focused, maintaining composure and adjusting the game plan as needed must come from that self-belief and trust in each other. I witnessed fantastic examples of exactly this on the side-lines of our sports teams and in the Mathex Challenges.

Our job is to continue to provide opportunities for our boys to be challenged, opportunities to compete and opportunities to enjoy competition. Too often we see poor examples of bad sportsmanship, with a win at all costs attitude, whether on the Saturday side-line or at international level. Let’s keep it real and remind our boys that it’s how you play the game, approach the competition or live your life that makes the real difference and the better person! Fides

International Boys' Schools Coalition Action Research

At Saint Kentigern Boys’ School, our key focus continues to be providing best quality teaching and learning for our boys. We recognise that in order for this to happen, our teachers need opportunities to collaboratively learn from peers, both nationally and internationally, and to have opportunities to engage in research to improve effectiveness in our classrooms.

‘Continuous professional learning among staff is not limited to the physical boundaries of the school. Teachers and school leaders need to engage in collaborative work and learning with their peers in other schools by establishing networks or school-to-school collaborations.’

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

One way that Saint Kentigern Boys’ School collaborates with other global boys’ schools, is through membership to the International Boys’ Schools Coalition (IBSC). The IBSC promotes the collaboration of boys' educators worldwide to undertake research projects to improve effectiveness in the classroom and beyond. Teaming with educators with similar interests, these researchers discuss, reflect, generate and evaluate innovative ideas about best practices for educating boys.

In 2016, Kellie Carpenter and Kurt Dorset, embarked on a two year Action Research Learning Project with the IBSC. This project began in Vancouver, Canada with the pair joining a global action research team. They explored the concept of action research and the IBSC 2016/2017 research theme of ‘Collaboration and the Power of Learning Groups.’ Through these learning sessions and working with their research team and advisors, they were supported to develop a research question, ‘How might working in collaborative learning communities develop Year 7 Social Studies students' ability to create deep inquiry questions?’

Over the next year, Kellie and Kurt embarked on a systematic inquiry, exploring and gathering information about how Year 7 boys create deep inquiry questions and how peer collaboration can support this learning process. The research literature supported their action research data that explicit teaching of the inquiry cycle is essential, that boys are able to provide each other with feedback to help develop and improve deep inquiry questions and that the majority of the boys preferred face-to-face collaboration rather than online collaboration.

As action researchers, they were particularly interested in the boys’ reflections around working collaboratively in learning communities. It was statements like, ‘We can help each other be successful’ and ‘I didn’t realise how valuable a learning community would be, others can guide you’ that were very satisfying outcomes for them. Other statements like, ‘You do it together rather than just trying things by yourself’ showed that collaboration and working in learning communities can be extremely effective. Kellie and Kurt commented that, ‘Through this process, not only did the boys recognise the importance of working together to gain the desired outcome, but also that this was a faster, more effective method than they had previously been exposed to.’

This action research project has impacted the way that Social Science Inquiry is delivered and managed at the Year 7 level. Kellie and Kurt have commented that this whole process has been inspiring and invigorating for them as educators. Working together on this action research, they have enjoyed the reflective nature of the discussions and bouncing ideas off their international team and their team advisor. When they started out on this journey, they primarily wanted to improve their students' outcomes in Social Science. They also commented that, ‘Our global team was extremely supportive of our endeavors, offering us the time we needed, and the opportunity to talk and collaborate with others in our group helped broaden our own teaching practice.’

The Boys’ School is very excited that two more teachers, Jarred Wilson and Julian Procaccini, have been selected for the 2018/2019 IBSC Action Research Programme – the research theme ‘Boys and Stories: Pathways to Learning.’ The action research question that they developed at the 2018 IBSC Gold Coast conference with the support of their global research team and advisor is, ‘How might engaging with bicultural narratives strengthen Year 5 boys’ understanding of national identity?’ Jarred and Julian have now begun their action research journey and will be presenting their research and findings at the 2019 IBSC Conference in Montreal, Canada.

International Service Trip to Vanuatu

With thanks to Chaplain, Reverend Reuben Hardie and student reporters, Jamie Mora and Sammy Hart

At the end of Term 2, a combined group of 20 Year 8 students from the Boys’ School and Girls’ School, accompanied by twenty parents and four staff travelled to Vanuatu for the first time. The schools have visited Fiji on a number of occasions to offer service, and will do so again at the end of Term 3, but this was their first service venture to Vanuatu.

In the build up to the trip, the call went out to the families of our schools for donations of goods ahead of time. A container of 30 school desks and chairs, playground equipment, two tonnes of cement, as well as huge number of shoes, clothes, sport equipment, 400 hygiene packs and several thousand undergarments were shipped to Port Vila from Saint Kentigern with grateful assistance from Farmers Group.

Over the course of seven days, the students and their parents undertook projects at Etas and Macses Schools; two newly opened Presbyterian Schools in Port Vila, that serve two of the more underresourced communities in Vanuatu. The groups also worked at Grace Kindergarten and the Container Café run by the Association of Presbyterian Woman in Vanuatu.

The projects included the installation of three sets of playground equipment and the building of two incinerators. The groups also built preschool tables and assembled teachers' desks. Two new sets of football posts were installed at both schools – which coincided

nicely with the Football World Cup! The Container Café was painted and new pre-constructed outdoor furniture was cemented into place outside the café.

It was an incredibly rewarding experience. Our students and parents worked tirelessly to complete the projects and a very strong bond was made with the students, staff and parents associated with Etas and Macses Schools. Prior to our departure, the team experienced two colourful and emotional farewells from the communities that we served. There was also time to enjoy the beautiful waters of Vanuatu on our rest day and snorkel, and to witness the legendary Vanuatu Fire Show. We hope that this is the beginning of a strong relationship between Saint Kentigern and these Presbyterian Schools in Vanuatu.

Two of our Boys’ School students, Jamie Mora and Sammy Hart reflected on the trip:

At the start of July, a group of 20 students from both the Boys’ School and the Girls’ School went on the first ever service trip to Vanuatu. This was an amazing experience for everyone as we learnt a lot about other kids, their culture and how they live in a different part of the world. Our team was split up across three sites to get the jobs done.

The work sites were at Etas School, Macses School and the Container Cafe. Etas was one of the larger sites that we worked at, but only being founded a year ago, it was extremely run down. There were around 180 kids at this school. Macses was one of the smaller sites and was even less fortunate that Etas. Macses had only 50 kids in the entire school and three classrooms with an additional two being built. The Container Cafe was a different experience to the other schools and was a very labour-intensive project.

With the help of our very generous school and wider community, we were able to ship a jam-packed 40 foot container over to Vanuatu carrying various supplies from school stationery to playgrounds and nappies.

Every night we were able to reflect on the day with all the staff. At the end of the trip we were asked to say what made us go ‘wow’ or made us feel amazing. One ‘wow’ moment had to be looking at the kids huge grins even when we hadn't done anything yet. This taught me how lucky we are and that these kids were super grateful.

Another ‘wow’ moment was when we were handing out the clothing packages to each child, they all came up to us and gave the happiest hi-5 you ever got and then came back to school 15 minutes later wearing their brand new clothes that we had donated. That was when we walked away knowing that we had made a difference and impacted children's lives.

We want to thank you so much for everything that you donated and you are now able to go away knowing that you made a difference to a child’s life whether you donated one thing or you were actually on the service trip yourself.

We also want to thank everybody who was involved on making this service trip happen. Especially to all the teachers, staff and parents.

$44,000 RAISED FOR WORLD VISION

With thanks to Mrs Marei Chaney

With a team of staff and a group of four ‘Student Ambassadors,’ the Boys’ School held events and promoted the World Vision fundraising cause to its community during Chapel, assemblies and House meetings. Each year, our boys get actively involved in raising funds right across the age range. A traditional event is the Coin Trail and this, along with the opportunity to guess the number of lollies in a jar, raised over $500 in just one morning!

Older boys who took on the Famine were remarkable in their efforts and the School’s contribution was widely recognised. We were pleased to welcome World Vision CEO, Mr Grant Bayldon to a special assembly. A former Boys’ School student, he enjoyed the opportunity to see the new teaching facilities and reminisce about his younger days. He expressed gratitude on behalf of World Vision, explaining how funds raised this year are targeted for life saving essentials for families fleeing South Sudan.

Science Symposium

A focus on Innovation and Creativity

The focus for this year’s Symposium was placed firmly on Innovation and Creativity, two key elements that drive successful learning in this age of disruption and a future unknown.

Student MCs for the evening, Baxter Hilson and Josh King invited our guest speakers to the stage. We were privileged to welcome, Martin McElwee and Elise Beavis, two members of Emirates Team New Zealand (ETNZ) who have been involved in designing and building the new boat for the next America’s Cup. The pair gave great insight into the design thinking behind the last America’s Cup boat with its revolutionary ‘cyclors’ that took the sailing world by surprise and went on to reveal plans for the forthcoming boat for 2021.

Our second invited guest was Mr Simon Ward, Managing Director of A-Ward, a company that supplies shipping container loading and

The Body – Inside Out!

Alarge group of Year 8 students were fortunate to extend their Sports Science studies with a biology science trip to the Body Vitals exhibition on display in Auckland.

This unique exhibition has toured the world, at times causing controversy about the nature of the display. Intended to the inform the visitor about anatomy, physiology and health, it uses real human bodies that have been preserved through a technique called Plastination, invented by physician and anatomist Dr Gunther von Hagens. Since opening in Japan in 1995, more than 45 million visitors in over 121 cities across the world have seen the display. Our boys have now upped that total and came away in awe of what they had seen and learnt!

The exhibition presents a special collection of specimens designed to show visitors the basics of human health and wellness. It includes whole-body ‘plastinates,’ a large arrangement of individual organs, arterial and organ configurations and translucent slices that gave a complete picture of how the body works. Starting with a view of the skeletal structure of a human, the boys were able to see first-hand the joints they have been studying in Sports Science. The exhibit then took the boys to a section on the brain and nervous system, where they could view the nerves of a corpse that had been preserved, detailing their extensive network throughout the body.

Learning about the body from inside a classroom certainly does not have the same impact as an exhibition as detailed as this. The boys thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Whilst it was slightly ‘unusual,’ it gave them detailed insight only usually afforded to medical students and professionals.

unloading products into 58 different countries around the world. A self-confessed ‘inventor,’ he gave an engaging presentation, revealing a gift for seeing a gap or need in the market and the ability to find solutions. From ‘container tippers’ to ‘whale lifters’ his work has been inspiring. He told the boys ‘if you can Google it, it already exists!’

Our guests weren’t the only ones to present their work. Four sets of boys - Sammy Hart and Ethan Hall, Jashil Rana and Leo Fan, Joe Berman and James Ford, and Lachlan Nicholls – also came forward to share their Science Fair findings. As a cross section of the projects on display, the boys gave fantastic insight into the detailed nature of their investigations.

Eighteen Awards at Science Fair!

Following on from the Boys’ School Science Symposium, a select group of young scientists from our Senior School presented their science projects for judging at the Auckland Regional Science and Technology Fair hosted at the Auckland Museum. The boys’ projects were put on display alongside the top 125 projects from 25 schools within the central Auckland area. We were delighted that 12 of our boys were recognised with 18 awards. Five of the projects were singled out for six special awards!

The projects were varied, interesting and, in some cases, very imaginative! Jamie Hilliam and Ferguson Muthu’s project, ‘The Best Bond Breaker’ came first in the Physical World category, as well as being awarded two prestigious prizes - The Bob Briggs Memorial Award for the Best Material World Application as well as a membership to the Auckland Museum Institute. Their project aimed to see which electrolytes could produce the most hydrogen, hoping to solve some of the world’s energy problems.

Coming second in the Human Behaviour category, was Isaac Lindroos’ project titled ‘Tool or Toy’. He was also acknowledged with the Science Award Trust Prize. This project looked at whether or not the infamous ‘fidget spinner’ does in fact help children concentrate as the marketers have been punting!

Two of our Year 7 boys, Hugo MacKenzie and Alexander Dunn, both came third in their project’s respective categories; namely Physical World and Material World. Hugo looked at whether scrum caps really offer protection in a collision, while Alexander was figuring out which sun screen offered the most protection. Hugo also walked away with The University of Auckland Faculty of Science Award for his project.

Another two of our projects drew the attention of the judges and both Lachlan Nicholls and Thomas Hunter were awarded Highly Commended certificates as well as special prizes for their projects on ‘Soil Symptoms’ and ‘Nails for Breakfast?’ Lachlan received the Geoscience Society of New Zealand Prize while Thomas was also the winner of the Science Ward Trust Prize. A further six projects were recognised with a Highly Commended for their impressive standard.

TOP PLACED PRIZE WINNERS:

Ferguson Muthu & Jamie Hilliam

The Best Bond Breakers 1st + Special Prize

Isaac Lindroos

Tool or Toy 2nd + Special Prize

Hugo MacKenzie

Headgear Fact or Fiction? 3rd

Alexander Dunn

Burn Baby Burn 3rd

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

Thomas Hunter

Nails for Breakfast Special Prize

Lachlan Nicholls

Solid Foundation Special Prize

Luca Roberton

Eating the Odds

Roshan Ter Wal and Ben James

Running with Formula

Jules Webb

Making Power from my Pencil Case

Baxter Hilson

Soil Symptoms

Oscar Aitken

Productivity Patches

J oshua Gordon-Glassford

Hot Drink Not Hot?

Once Dinosaurs Roamed the Earth

Once dinosaurs roamed the earth, woolly mammoths co-existed with early mankind, giant moas strode across New Zealand, the dodo inhabited Mauritius, the western black rhino crossed subSaharan Africa, the Steller’s sea cow swam the Northern Pacific and Pinta Island tortoises made their own slow way in the Galapagos.

They are all extinct. With the exception of the dinosaurs, human beings had a hand in their demise. Whether killed for food, killed for a trophy or killed because their habitat has been cleared or made otherwise inhabitable, many other animals the world over are facing an equally uncertain future as they make the list of ‘endangered species.’

With this as their focus, our Year 3 boys made their way to the Auckland War Memorial Museum with three ‘big questions’ at hand: What impact have humans had on endangered animals? How has the change in the environment affected animals? What can we do in the future to help protect the world?

Having learnt the true meaning of extinction, the visit was in support of their classrooms studies about the issue of endangered animals and what mankind can do to protect their future - and, indeed, the planet. The boys set off in groups to make the most of the vast array of detailed information available to them.

From mammoths and dinosaur bones, to endangered orangutans and whales, the plight of animals was laid bare. The boys went on to look particularly closely at the unique nature of New Zealand fauna, in particular the demise of the moa and the danger that faces our flightless New Zealand icon, the kiwi, and ground-nesting albatross.

Boys of this age are our future. The future of the world may one day fall on them, and understanding the place of animals in our ecosystem and the impact that we as humans have on their future is a valuable learning opportunity.

Our Place in the Universe

‘Wherever we live in the world, the movement of the Earth affects us.’

As part of their Science learning enquiry based on the solar system and galaxies, our boys in Year contemplated the universe and their place within it. Earth, our home planet, is the only known planet to support life for millions of people as well as millions of species of animal and plant life. Under a thin layer of atmosphere, that separates us from the void of space beyond, everything we need to survive is provided – air, inhabitable land, food sources, water, warmth and fellow human beings – and animals - for company.

To back up their enquiry, the boys paid a visit to the Star Dome at Auckland Observatory in Cornwall Park, firstly spending time with Star Dome’s educator in the Observatory classroom. It soon became apparent that that this was an area of learning that had engaged the boys! The educator was most impressed as they reeled off the names of the planets in order of their distance from the sun, and articulated the difference between the ‘rocky midgets’ (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars), ‘gassy giants (Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus) and the ‘dwarf planet,’ Pluto.

The Observatory has some fantastic displays related to space travel and with an iPad supplied to each small group, the boys toured the exhibits to answer a number of questions within an allocated time frame. The session finished in the immersive 360-degree Planetarium, reclined back on seats to view a presentation. The show concluded with a close look at the night sky over Auckland to locate each of the planets and the Matariki cluster.

Our sincere thanks to the parents who joined the visit to help supervise the children. Your time was greatly appreciated.

Up a Mountain, Down a Cave!

Each year, the boys in Year 5 at the Boys’ School study the landforms of the Auckland region with a focus on the extensive volcanic network in and under our city. As you drive around Auckland, its geological past is clear to see as the city straddles a volcanic field that has produced over 50 volcanoes that dot the landscape.

Our boys had a chance to bring their classroom learning into focus with a visit to Mangere Mountain and Ambury Regional Park.

Estimated to be 70,000 years old, Mangere Mountain is one of the peaks that makes up the Auckland Volcanic Field. It is one of the largest and best-preserved scoria cones in the area. It has a wide crater with a lava dome near its centre, a feature shared by no other volcano in Auckland. Now a peaceful and scenic spot, its rich past offered plenty of learning opportunities for our boys.

With two rangers at hand to guide their learning, the boys’ understanding of the geological features of tectonic plates and their impact on volcanic activity was reinforced. They were given a sense of scale, learning that when New Zealand’s biggest volcano, Lake Taupo, erupted, it produced 72 cubic km of lava. By comparison, Rangitoto produced a ‘mere’ 2 cubic km!

To demonstrate the difference between explosive eruptions and ‘gentler’ lava flows, the boys undertook two experiments on the mountain; the exploding Coca Cola and baking soda mix producing the most spectacular results!

The boys moved on to Ambury Regional Park where they learnt more about volcanoes in the centre classroom before donning hard hats and heading out to the lava field. A ladder protruding out of a small fissure in the ground beckoned. With torches at the ready, the boys descended one by one to discover a large cave below completing their ‘Up a Mountain, Down a Cave’ volcanic learning experience.

The trip to two interconnected geological sites was a most valuable experience for the boys. Our sincere thanks to the parents who gave their time to help supervise. We truly appreciate your support!

Strong Mathex Finish!

At both the Casio Mathex Auckland Regional Competition (Year 7-8) and the Remuera Zone Mathex Competition (Years 5-6), our boys put in a great performance to finish on the podium! At the Auckland Regional event, more than 200 teams of the best Year 7-10 mathematical brains from schools around Auckland lined up to compete, with our Year 8A team, comprising Roshan ter Wal, Marco Lazzaro, Thomas Harnett and Harry Lamont, placing third in their event.

Congratulations are also due to our Year 6 team who won the Remuera event. Yi Nan Chen, Taran Ludher-Chandra, Luca Evans and Jack Carter took on the whirlwind evening of students in teams of four racing to solve mathematical problems, before racing the answers one by one to the judges for checking – their win came down to the very last question!

Treasure Island

Based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel, 'Treasure Island,' there could hardly be a better choice of musical for an all-boys’ school than this rollicking, action-packed adventure, ripe with pirates, buried treasure, ships and distant shores, and a cast of lively characters! Bring on the boys!

The plot is familiar. Young Jim Hawkins is entrusted with a stolen treasure map, discovered in the sea chest of bitter ex-pirate, Billy Bones, and in this moment his life changes forever. 'X' marks the spot of the coveted buried treasure!

With the help of his guardian, Dr Livesey (Matthew Keyte) and Squire Trelawney (Fionn Steele-Smith), a grand adventure unfolds as they begin to search for the mysterious ‘Treasure Island.’ As land lubbers, if they are to sail to find the treasure, they need to hire a ship and crew but unwittingly they hire the very band of pirates from whom the map was stolen – and thus, the adventure begins!

George Wilby plays the young Jim Hawkins with charming innocence, but he is also brave to the core, showing plenty of ingenuity as he navigates the twists and turns in the story. When he becomes cabin boy on the ship bound for Treasure Island, he encounters the beguiling one-legged ship's cook, Long John Silver, but should he trust this cunning man? George was a fantastic selection for this role with strong acting and singing skills, winning us over with his solo performance of, ‘I’ve tried to make them listen.’

The most coveted role in the show surely had to be that of the wily pirate, Long John Silver, whose scheming, devious ways were central to the plot. Josh King played this role superbly! With a parrot perched on his shoulder and a walking stick to assist his ‘peg leg,’ Josh was villainous to a tee in his portrayal of Stevenson’s central character,

but also showed a softer side in his support of the young cabin boy, Jim. Josh brought strong vocals to the musical numbers, especially in the duet, ‘Good Mates’ with Jim. He is to be commended for a convincingly strong character performance!

Second in command to Long John Silver, Robson Reidy took on the role of pirate, George Merry, bringing an equally strong presence to the stage. From the moment the curtains opened, George and his fellow pirates commanded much of the action throughout the show, delivering a wide range of songs accompanied by some exuberant, well-choreographed dance and fight scenes. Each boy added his own nuance to his pirate character, with the whingeing pirate, Roger, played by Freddie Gardner, a standout performance. Together, they were an excellent cast of villains, and they clearly enjoyed every moment on stage!

Comic relief was delivered by eccentric marooned sailor, Ben Gunn, played by Thomas Bowden. Alone on an island for far too long, he’s losing his marbles but there is one thing he knows he longs for. Having survived on a diet of fish, in a superb vocal number, accompanied by scurrying mice, he pleads for ‘Just a little cheese on toast’ when Jim discovers him! Congratulations to Thomas for a role well played!

After mutiny breaks out, with the help of Ben Gunn, Jim bravely helps Squire Trelawney and his men to win through. They defeat the

The many and varied musical numbers were backed by a wellrehearsed student orchestra who also provided musical continuity through set changes. Whilst not in the limelight, they are richly deserving of accolades as are the student backstage crew who also had key roles to play out of sight.

This was a musical filled with humour, suspense, action, adventure, loads of heart and loads of boys! Each and every one of the boys deserved their place on the set and they clearly relished every moment they spent there. Well done boys!

Thank you

Our sincere thanks to Mrs Pip Block as Director of the show, along with Producer, Mr Grayson Aspinall; Musical Director, Mrs Janet Grierson; Assistant Musical Director, Mrs Georgina Jarvis; Lighting Directors, Mr David Hessey and Mr Andrew Vicars; Back Stage Managers, Mrs Dilys Braithwaite and Mrs Betsie Warner; Costume and Makeup supervisors, Ms Marei Chaney and Mrs Angela Blackhall; Set Designer, Mr Tom Barter; Technical Adviser, Mr Bruce Tanner and the host of parents whose kind assistance enabled us to stage a show of this calibre. In particular we would like to thank Mrs Rachel Pulman, Mrs Naomi Hageman, Mrs Sarah Wilby and Mrs Sharon Acland for their help.

pirates, locate the treasure and sail home triumphant under the command of the imperious Captain Smollett (Oscar Horton) to split the spoils of the treasure chest!

Music Extravaganza

‘Music does a lot of things for a lot of people. It’s transporting. It can take you right back to the very moment certain things happened in your life. It’s uplifting, it’s encouraging, it’s strengthening. It is a gift. It is a gift from God to be enjoyed.’

Aretha Franklin

The many and varied music groups are part of the life of the Boys’ School. Whether it’s the Pipe Band at ceremonial occasions, our choirs performing at Chapel or our music ensembles and soloists sharing their talent at assemblies, shows or evenings such as this, or simply the rehearsals that go on in the music rooms – wherever and however it’s performed, musical talent abounds at the Boys’ School, and our school is richer for it!

Hosted by students, Austin Alcock and George Wilby, the evening opened with the largest ensemble, the Symphonic Orchestra, playing a rousing ‘See the Conquering Hero.’ This group has experienced instrumentalists playing alongside those who are just beginning, to give the new players support and experience.

The evening was filled with some fantastic solo performances from our more accomplished young musicians, showing a depth and breadth of talent on a range of instruments, as well as small group ensembles. From piano to violin, trumpet and guitar, and performances from the flute group, recorder consort, jazz ensembles, guitar group and the chamber orchestra, there was much to enjoy –and a surprise or two! In an evening of skilful performance, diminutive Year 2

student, Oliver Mar’s performance of ‘La Tarantella’ on the piano was both a surprise and a delight!

Our choral programme has always been strong, producing many fine singers as witnessed during this year’s performance of Treasure Island. We once again enjoyed one of the items from the show before hearing from our choirs. First to the stage were the Saint Kentigern Singers; a choir for those who simply love to sing! Soloist, Charles Adams sang ‘Danny Boy’ and we learnt that he is currently on stage in the season of ‘La Boheme.’ Our Performers’ Choir followed on with a polished performance showing why they earned Silver at this year’s Aucklandwide choral competition, Kids Sing. Both choirs also joined as one to deliver a powerful rendition of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah.’

The evening closed with the Jazz Band who set toes tapping and hums humming as the audience left! What a fantastic evening!

Deputy Principal, Mr Grayson Aspinall rounded out the evening speaking about passion and the need to find something in life we are passionate about. There’s no question these boys are passionate about their music making!

Silver at Kids Sing

For the first time in a number of years, the Boys’ School entered a choir in this year’s annual Auckland Regional Kid Sing competition.

The Performers’ Choir opened with Gaudeamus Hodie (Mary Lynn Lightfoot), singing with confidence and energy and the judge commented that it was ‘a wonderful way to begin the recital’. This was followed by Firefly (Andy Beck) which was the required test piece sung by all the choirs. The judge credited the boys with creating dynamic contrasts and atmosphere in their delivery. The recital ended with our New Zealand song of choice by David Hamilton, ‘Boys will be Boys’, a long time Saint Kentigern Boys’ School favourite.

The Performers’ Choir showed focus and energy and were rewarded with a Silver Award for their excellent efforts. Later that same day, they performed ‘Boys will be Boys’ for a full Town Hall audience at the Gala concert, finishing with an allschools combined rendition of Firefly, conducted by the judge, Virginia Le Cren.

Performers' Choir Visits Southwell

Just as our sports teams enjoy the opportunity to meet teams from other schools, so do our choirs. The Boys’ School Performers’ Choir has both hosted and travelled this year, most recently making the journey south to Southwell School in Hamilton, to join with the Southwell Choir for a shared concert.

On arrival, Southwell Headmaster, Mr Jason Speedy took the boys on a tour around the school, which included learning about the first students of Southwell and touching the 'lucky' brick in the Chapel.

Both choirs then joined for a shared choral workshop which culminated in a combined schools’ concert. The choirs performed three pieces together, ‘Firefly,’ ‘Moon’ and ‘Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho’ as well as performing their own pieces. The Saint Kentigern boys thoroughly enjoyed sharing their singing with another boys' choir and being able to finish their trip with a shared lunch. It was a successful day enjoyed by all!

Speaking from the Heart

This year, the Senior School finalists had the privilege of welcoming awardwinning broadcaster, Mr Rawdon Christie to adjudicate their speech finals whilst the Middle School welcomed actress and registered Speech and Drama tutor, Mrs Catherine Maunsell. Each were looking for those that spoke clearly and with confidence, speaking from the heart to connect with the audience and leave them with a strong message.

The Senior School top spot was given to Kyan McKeown-Green who spoke with great feeling about his young brother Luca, who has struggled daily since the day he was born with a heart defect. Now three years old, his determination has been a source of inspiration for Kyan. Second place went to Austin Alcock for his speech on ‘Grit.’ Mr Christie commented that Austin has all the makings of a motivational speaker having delivered his message to ‘stick with it’ in a most engaging way!

Having struggled to choose between the top three contenders, Mr Christie created his own ‘Highly Commended’ category for Jamie Mora who also spoke about his brother, Ryan who has Downs Syndrome. Jamie’s pride and love were clear to see and he left us with a better understanding of the syndrome and the struggles some families face.

Middle School winner, Year 5 student, Johnny Ormond, delivered an original speech about taking action, with reference to world leaders as well as on a more personal level. He opened with, ‘Do you want to know WHO you are? Don’t ask. ACT. Your actions will define you.’ Runner up was Year 6 student, Seth MellisGlynn who gave a snap shot of the rivalry between Australia and New Zealand. From food to local fauna and sport, the differences were there, yet regardless of who laid claim to the pavlova, above it all was the Anzac way, the friendship and co-operation in times of need.

MIDDLE SCHOOL SPEECH WINNERS

1st Johnny Ormond 5AL Taking Action—Why is it Important?

2nd Seth Mellis-Glynn 6AW New Zealand/Australia: The Big Rivals

MIDDLE SCHOOL SPEECH FINALISTS

Oliver Davies, Scott Nel, William McLeod, Michael Higgins, George Lindsay Smail, Toby Wigglesworth, James Hiddleston

SENIOR SCHOOL SPEECH WINNERS

1st Kyan McKeown-Green 8HK Inspirational People

2nd Austin Alcock 8CC Grit

HC Jamie Mora 8HB My Brother Ryan

SENIOR SCHOOL SPEECH FINALISTS: Fionn Steele Smith, Zac Nathan, Josh King, Sam McLeod, William Ormond, Austin McKegg, Robson Reid

Cargill Wins Cross Country

In a week when cross country made the national news – creating a great deal of debate on the airwaves when a South Island school made the run optional – our Saint Kentigern boys, in Years 4-8, turned out in force to give it their best shot. Whether running came naturally, took some effort or proved a hard slog, our boys dug deep and gave it their best shot. It was encouraging to see the first home double back to support the slowest runners. Held on the College campus, the course was firm but muddy in places – a few shoes left part way in more than one race!

A week later, it was the turn of the Junior School on a day that started misty but evolved to brilliant sunshine. The Junior boys were full of beans waiting for the start of their race. With the starting clapper struck, they took off like lightning!

Well done to all the boys for a great effort and especially to those who took podium spots.

Year 0 Clive Bevans CA Austin Cui CA Jeffrey Chen CA

Year 1 Bruno Dickinson CH George Lyus CA Austin Watson CH

Year 2 Hugo Gordon CH Eden Reynolds CH Marco Manson CH

Year 3 Benjamin Durose CH Campbell Hunter H Zacharia Dalzell CA

Year 4 Miki Cronin W Ethan Mora CA

Year 5 Ben Worrall CA

Year 6 Monty Simpson W

Dylan Harding W

Tom Butler CA

Year 7 Lev Gorb W James Crosbie CA

Year 8 Brodey Warren H

Jonathan Godfrey W

Leon Hardie W

Oliver Hardie W

Ethan Knox CA

James Ford W Baxter Hilson H

CROSS COUNTRY HOUSE RESULTS

1ST CARGILL

2ND WISHART

3RD HAMILTON

4TH CHALMERS

WINS AT ZONE COMPETITIONS!

Eastern Zone

With points for places combined the Eastern Zone Cross Country run at Churchill Park both the Year 7 and Year 8 boys’ teams stormed home to 1st place in the teams section beating King’s and Sacred Heart. Individually, Lev Gorb and Brodey Warren both placed 3rd in their event. They then went on to compete at the Inter-Zone Competition in Muriwai with the Year 8 team coming in 1st place and Year 7 in 2nd place. Brodey Warren ran an excellent individual race coming 2nd in the Year 8 category.

Year 7: Lev Gorb, James Crosbie, Ethan Knox, Hugo Wigglesworth, Luke Gibson, Charles Christie, Luc Quesnel, Ashan Weerasinghe

Year 8: Brodey Warren, James Ford, Jamie Mora, Joshua Gordon-Glassford, Baxter Hilson, Thomas Stokes, Robson Reidy, Thomas Kippenberger

Remuera Zone

The boys in Years 5 and 6 were also successful at their Remuera Zone Cross Country competition. With the points for the first five places combined, Year 6 came in third place but our Year 5 boys stormed home in first place with the first five boys taking 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th spot to create a new record at this competition!

1st Year 5 Top 5: Ben Worrall, Max Trankels, Dylan Harding, Leon Hardie, Johnny Ormond

3rd Year 6 Top 5: Oliver Hardie, Monty Simpson, Tom Butler, Jack Carter , Luca Souloglou

30 AIMS Games Medals!

What a fantastic week of sporting competition for our Year 7 and 8 boys at the AIMS Games in Tauranga. Attending one of the biggest sporting events in the southern hemisphere, with a record 10,851 athletes representing over 300 schools from around New Zealand and the Pacific, this was a non-stop week of sporting competition!

This year, the Boys’ School sent two teams from the school, basketball and waterpolo, with further students entered in futsal, sailing, cross country, tennis, swimming and gymnastics, representing the Boys’ School but under the supervision of their parents.

Year 8 sailor, Tim Howse was the first to medal. Sailing as part of a team of 4, he finished in 2nd place for the Year 8 Boys, and 3rd overall in a mixed fleet of 78 sailors, earning a silver and a bronze. Tauranga Harbour is a notoriously tricky place to sail, with tricky tides, cold temperatures and variable winds all challenging the sailors. Tim displayed exceptional maturity on the water to earn his place on the podium.

Success continued for the Boys’ School on the tennis courts. From a field of 64 individual competitors, Lev Gorb placed 3rd in the singles and, along with Dawson Parekowhai, placed 2nd in the doubles. Their combined points placed them as the 1st school overall! Another three medals, one bronze and two silver and the Cup!

The biggest haul came from our swimmers, Year 7 student, Mark Galloway collecting a swag in the pool with a total of four medals. He made six individual finals, gaining a podium place in three of them with personal bests as well as a relay medal to complete his collection. He earned silver in the 50m, 100m and 200m Back with further silver in the IM Relay. Thomas Hunter (BS) and James Cosbie (BS) joined with Alexandra Campion (GS) and Sunny Sun (MC) to gain silver in the Free Relay while Jackson Kennard and James Cosbie joined both Alex and Mark to gain silver in the IM Relay.

The last day of the games saw the final showdown in the team sports with the Waterpolo and Futsal teams both through to the finals. With 26 teams in the competition, the Waterpolo team took to the water ten times during the course of the week, beating every school they came up against – some by significant margins! They faced Rosmini in the semi-finals winning 8-1 and then took on Mount Maunganui in the final bringing their gold winning performance to win 4-2.

At the same time, the Boys’ School Futsal team were facing their final game. There were a whopping 44 teams in this competition! The boys beat five of the six teams in their pool play, drawing one game against Fairfield, and went on to beat Marion Catholic School 3-1 in the semi-final. The final against John Paul College was a nail-biter that the boys squeaked in one goal to win 1-0 for their gold medals!

As play came to a close on Friday, our young men can be proud to have delivered a combined total of 30 medals for the Boys’ School. Well done to all the students taking part, especially our medallists! Whilst coming home with medals is fantastic, the AIMS Games, for these younger students, is as much about taking part and experiencing a taste of competition away from home, which was a first for many. It has been reported back that our students were exemplary in their behaviour and it didn’t go unnoticed. Well done for sporting our blue and white with pride!

Our sincere thanks to the staff and parents who accompanied the students for their time away.

Waterpolo – Boys’ School

Team: John Cassey, Nicolas Forgie, Thomas Harnet, Louis Robinson, Brodey Warren, Matthew Vincent, Oliver Schnauer, Marco Lazzaro, Jackson Kennard, Henry Jackson Gold x 10

Futsal – Boys’ School

Team: Leon Cooke, Ralph Rutherford, Luke Costello, Alistair McManus, Tom Klippenberger, Freddie Kyriak, Charlie Beagley Gold x 7

Tennis – Boys’ School

Lev Gorb - Singles Bronze

Lev Gorb and Dawson ParekowhaiDoubles Silver x 2

Lev Gorb and Dawson Parekowhai Combined points

Overall Cup for Top School

Aims Swimming – Boys’ School, Girls’ School, Middle College

Mark Galloway (BS) Silver 200m Back PB

Silver 50m Back PB

Silver 100m Back PB

Free Relay Team (Combined)

Thomas Hunter (BS), James Crosbie (BS) with Alexandra Campion (GS), Sunny Sun (MC),

Individual Medley Relay (Combined)

Mark Galloway (BS), Jackson Kennard (BS), James Crosbie (BS) with Alexandra Campion (GS),

Sailing – Boys’ School

Tim Howse – Optimist

BS Silver x 2

BS Silver x 3

Silver Year 8

Bronze Overall

South Island Winter Tour

With thanks to Boys’ School Deputy Principal, Mr Grayson Aspinall

The South Island Winter Sports Tour was a resounding success for the Boys’ School three premier winter sports teams. The 1st XV Rugby, 1st XI Hockey and 1st XI Football teams represented our school with pride and distinction and performed admirably both on and off the field.

Over the course of the week, our boys were hosted by three schools: Medbury, Saint Andrew’s and Waihi. Whilst the week’s focus was on competitive sport away from home, an equally important experience for our boys was being hosted by the respective billeting families in these schools in Christchurch and in South Canterbury. The boys and staff made many new connections and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the hosts who so generously accommodated them. The final leg of the tour was at Waihi School in South Canterbury where the boys were mainly billeted on farms which was a real highlight for our city boys!

The boys had a stellar week out on the field and turf, winning 8 of the 9 matches – the single loss to the hockey team, 2-5, in their final game against a deserving Waihi team. Our sincere thanks to Medbury, Saint Andrew’s and Waihi for their warm welcome. Our boys loved the experience and are very grateful to their host families at each stop.

Matches vs Medbury: Rugby won 81-12, Football won 2-1, Hockey won 3-2

Matches vs Saint Andrew’s: Rugby won 36-17, Football won 16-1, Hockey won 2-0 Matches vs Waihi: Rugby won 65-0, Football won 11-1, Hockey lost 2-5

Winter Sports Round Up

With thanks to Director of Sport, Mr Duncan Grant

Our Football 1st XI had another great season under the guidance of Mr Hessey. Unfortunately they lost the Academy Shield to King’s School at the very beginning of the season, however, as the season progresses they gelled together nicely as a team and were a formidable opponent by the end of play. The final game of the season was for a chance to regain the Shield off King’s School but after a dominant performance, the game ended in a draw and they were unable to put the shield back in the cabinet. The team played 11 games winning 7, drawing 2 and losing 2, with 57 goals for and 11 against.

The Hockey 1st XI played a large number of games over the season under the guidance of Mrs Warner - 19 in total, this included both the tournaments they played in. They were blessed with talent, having a

number of Auckland Hatch Cup players in the side. They held onto the Hockey Challenge Cup for the year and it goes back into the trophy cabinet until 2019. They won Eastern Zones and headed to InterZones where they didn’t quite reach their full potential. They played 19 games winning 16, drawing 2 and losing just 1, amassing 129 goals for and 17 against.

The Rugby 1st XV had one of its best seasons in many years under the guidance of Mr Dorset and Reverend Hardie. They played some superb rugby and were so close to having an unbeaten season winning 9 games and only losing 1. However, the highlight of the season was taking back the Tutor Shield off Dilworth and holding onto it when beating King’s School. It now also goes into the trophy cabinet until the next season in 2019!

Father and Son Breakfast

‘Knowledge must come from the source.’

Riley Elliott’s Dad

Over two consecutive mornings, the alarm clock went off at 4am for a hardy group of mothers who had volunteered to put breakfast on the table by 7am. This was no ordinary family breakfast though. When the extended Saint Kentigern family comes together, there are a fair few logistics involved, especially where the food is concerned!

A sell-out crowd again this year saw 400 sons and dads arrive early on each of the mornings for a hearty start to the day. Across the two days, that was breakfast for 800! Our grateful thanks to Cath Costello and her team for getting each of the mornings underway. Cath and her organising committee were supported by two teams of 30 mums who came in each morning to assist in the serving, clearing up and resetting of the breakfast feast. A huge thanks to over 40 mums who baked the now traditional ‘Father and Son Bacon and Egg Pie!’

Each year we welcome a speaker to our breakfasts and generally leave with a very strong message of inspiration. Parents and Friends Chairperson, Vanessa Playle was pleased to introduce Riley Elliott, also known as ‘The Shark Man,’ a sure-fire winner for boys and dads alike!

As a surfer, spear-fisherman, free-diver and scuba-diver, Riley’s great passion has always been communing with nature. With his own father’s words ringing in his ears – to always ‘find knowledge at the source’ – he set out to combine his studies with his passion.

Riley has a BSc Honours in Zoology and a Masters in Marine Science with Distinction in New Zealand. It was while studying for his Masters that he experienced his first shark encounter in Fiordland; an encounter that was to change the course of his working life. At the time, the one-metre school shark sent him panicking to the surface! To learn more, he went to South Africa to literally swim with the great whites, the most feared of the species, developing a rapport that became his true passion. By applying academic principles from university, with real-world field experience, Riley excelled in the shark research environment and has many eye-opening, adrenaline filled stories to tell, with some great photos and footage to back them up.

Riley finished by encouraging the boys to try as broad a range of experiences as possible to find the one that really resonates. ‘Work hard and success will follow.’

Our thanks to the following sponsors: Real Estate agent, Nick Lyus, Collective Hospitality, Jacks Coffee, Pacific Linen, Charlies Juice and The Gift Loft.

And above all, thank you to Cath Costello, Vanessa Playle and all the mothers who stepped up to cook, set out the hall, serve the food – and clean up afterwards! We truly appreciate your efforts!

Breakfast Team: Sarah Wilby, Kirsty Cowie, Tessa Larsen, Rebecca McLeod, Charlotte Smith, Sam Priddy, Kate Watson, Annette Swann, Rosemarie Paravicini, Dee Nel, Cath Costello

Capturing Ideas for a New School!

It’s a rare opportunity for a Principal to lead the planning of a new school, it is really happening, it is very exciting, and we are all part of it! As planning for the future gets underway, I welcome ideas from students, staff and our community alike, as we ensure that the final design of our new school meets the needs of a future-focussed girls’ education.

Following on from the Trust Board’s announcement earlier this year, that as part of the masterplan for Saint Kentigern’s two primary schools and the Preschool, the Girls’ School would be relocated to the Shore Road campus, an interested group of Girls’ School parents gathered recently to hear and begin to share ideas about how the new school could look. When we consulted with the parents, I stressed that every idea was valuable and that it was an important part of the on-going dialogue which would help shape the future.

The Trust Board has made a real commitment to the future of singlegender primary education and is investing heavily in the development of the Shore Road Campus. A new purpose-built 19 classroom Girls’ School is planned adjacent to the Gate 5 entrance off Shore Road, with a new learning commons/ library, recreational spaces and distinct road frontage.

At the same time, the Boys’ School will be further developed with 10 new classrooms, new recreational spaces and the current Senior School refurbished for the Middle School boys in Years 4-6. A fantastic new Arts, Science and Technology block will also be built and made available to both schools for specialist teaching and learning. Our Preschool families will also benefit from the plan, with an exciting, new Preschool planned for the Shore Road campus.

At the parent meeting, there were several boards around the room with images and ideas of what the future build could look like, and those gathered were invited to add their ideas and ask questions. Questions were posed about learning areas, shared facilities, environmental issues, play areas, and technology and its place in the future.

Looking at how the school would be sited on the Shore Road campus

brought forward questions of the physical look of the building with parents saying that it was a wonderful opportunity to make a statement through innovative design, lighting, and landscaping. Parents also really value the nature of the current school and wanted to know how that ‘small school feeling would be maintained.’

As part of the design planning phase, we have also talked extensively with staff. This has included conversations about the requirements of the Girls’ School and collaborative talks amongst the specialist staff at the Girls’ and Boys’ Schools. Teachers are now exploring examples of best practice through visits to other schools both in New Zealand and Australia. They are talking to the teachers in these schools to find out what is working, what they like and just as importantly, what they would do differently with a design in the future to meet the needs of learners.

In all our conversations, we emphasise that the requirements for the girls’ learning will ultimately determine the design of the building. How we would like to teach in our new school ultimately informs how the teaching spaces and environment will look. The design will reflect our teaching philosophy; the school environment will be designed to support teaching and learning.

We have also consulted with all the girls and asked them for input. The extensive feedback included descriptions, drawings and 3-D models of their wish lists! Parents have expressed their delight that the girls have had the opportunity to ‘have their say’ about the new build; the girls are every bit as passionate about the future of their school as are their teachers and parents!

The girls’ ideas, teacher input and parent feedback were all collated and shared with our architects. This input is immensely valuable as we all have a strong sense of ownership about the future building.

Concept briefs and planning for the new school are currently underway, with construction anticipated to take place through 2020-2021, with all new facilities completed and ready for occupation in 2022.

These are exciting times and I couldn’t wish for a better community to share this with! Fides

Caring for Creation

The theme for this year’s ‘Kids Friendly, Love Reaches Out’ competition, was ‘Caring for Our World.’ During Christian Education, the girls explored the theme through writing, prayer, poetry and art.

Year 4 created a group entry entitled ‘Caring for Creation: Psalm 24.’ Using only recycled materials, they created and decorated a cross to symbolise creation. The girls hunted through the rubbish and recycling at home, and at school, to find egg cartons, bubble wrap, tissue paper, ribbons and other items which they could turn into illustrations of plants and animals.

The Christian Education room turned into a storage mountain of reusable treasures! Even the cross was made from wood recycled from props from our last show and painted using leftover paint from the school fences!

After working collaboratively, Year 4 were very pleased with their finished art work, especially as it also gave them a chance to reflect on how we can make a difference by thinking of new ways to use old things. Chloe said, ‘We can make almost anything out of recycling’ and Jeanna reflected that, ‘We can use things we don’t need any more to make something really big and wonderful.’ Well done girls, your finished piece is beautiful!

Getting Behind World Vision

Some of the world’s most vulnerable children live in Africa, facing hunger, illness, violence, discrimination or displacement. The Christian relief charity, World Vision has been working in South Sudan since it gained independence in 2011, to provide relief to those suffering the effects of conflict and build communities where children can thrive.

World Vision’s 40 (or 20) Hour Famine, encourages school children in New Zealand to get behind the chosen cause to raise sponsorship money over the course of a weekend. This year, the annual fundraising event for World Vision took a slightly different course for our girls. Three Year 8 students, Danielle Levy, Amy Skidmore and Sacha Earnest, took on the leadership, managing the organisation of this key event.

Along with staff members, Mrs Vanita Chandra and Mrs Helen Fleming, the girls attended a special leadership day which provided them with the tools to run an effective 40 (or 20) Hour Famine at school. The leadership programme included a simulation activity, global education content, presentations from young leaders and interactive activities and workshops which inspired these girls to return to school with ideas galore to help our students get behind this major fund raiser.

Girls from Years 3-8 took part and did without food or other precious commodities to raise money and the School was proud to forward $9,262.59 to World Vision for their work with South Sudanese refugees. Through presentations at Chapel, the girls

understand that the funds will go towards work in South Sudan to reduce the malnutrition rate through health clinics support and a supplementary feeding programme. Families are also being taught how to grow crops that can be harvested more than once a year to reduce dependence on one harvest and provide food all year round.

We would like to thank our Saint Kentigern community for getting behind our girls’ efforts.

Service: The Key to Happiness

During the July holidays, 20 Year 8 students from both the Boys’ School and Girls’ School, twenty parents and four staff headed to Vanuatu to give service at Macses and Etas Presbyterian Schools. Both schools are severely under-resourced with little furniture in class, no toilets, electricity or running water. Ahead of the trip, our schools collated and dispatched a container full of school furniture, playground equipment, clothes, shoes, medical equipment, stationery, outdoor furniture, water tanks and two tonnes of cement! Their first job was to unpack and distribute the contents.

Year 8 student, Kate Thibaud reports on the trip:

The Vanuatu service trip was an incredible, once in a life time experience and a memory I will treasure forever. I will never forget the looks on the children’s faces when we gave them a bag of clothes each, they clung to them as if they’d never let go, some of them sprinting home straight away to go show their families what they’d been given.

One of the highlights of the trip for me was resourcing the Preschool at Etas. I remember walking in on the first day and being stunned by an empty room with only a few chairs and a table. This room was their preschool. I couldn’t believe my eyes, 49 young students, only one teacher, and absolutely no resources to teach them with. The difference between that preschool and our one back in New Zealand

was massive, but after leaving that day, the room was unrecognisable, there were shelves stacked full of books and stationery, tables full of toys for the kids to play with and even though the children didn’t have school that day, they came running in with the biggest smiles imaginable and screaming with laughter as we tried out all the new toys with them. Another one of the highlights was handing out the hygiene packs to the children of the schools. It was a heart-warming experience to see the difference simple things such as a bar of soap could make in their lives. Every gift we gave them, all the things we take for granted, meant so much to them.

One of the things that took me completely by surprise was how incredibly happy everyone was over in Vanuatu, even with so little they were so grateful for what they did have. I remember complete strangers waving and smiling at us, or coming up to introduce themselves, everyone was so friendly and content with their lives.

A scene that will stay with me forever is when a little barefooted boy named Amos didn’t want to choose a pair of shoes for himself from those we were handing out, he chose a pair for his dad instead.

Overall the service trip was a life changing experience I will never forget, and it was an amazing opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others. Service really is the key to happiness.

Colour for a Cause

Ona grey, drizzly day, the Girls’ School cut a bright swathe of colour as they walked along Remuera Road to Chapel at Somervell Church. Neat and tidy in their formal uniforms, they were a sea of blue from shoulders down, but their usual navy blue winter berets had been set aside for a parade of wild and funky hair dos blowing in the wind!

Wigs of every shade and style entered the church in support of Wig Wednesday, the nationwide appeal for the Child Cancer Foundation, to raise funds to provide practical, financial and emotional support to Kiwi children with cancer and their families.

Principal, Ms Small made her mark in a ‘Tina Turner-esque’ shocking pink wig, living up to the image when she picked up her guitar to accompany the waiata!

Reverend Reuben Hardie, resplendent this year with blonde dreadlocks, tailored his sermon to a sea of multi-coloured heads in the congregation, speaking about ‘being true to yourself’ and not hiding behind a mask.

The girls definitely got everyone’s attention as they made the repeat journey back to school waiting at the traffic lights to cross the road as rush hour traffic whizzed by!

Whilst there was fun to be had in admiring each other’s chosen locks, the fundraising was for a serious, heart-felt cause. Sadly there are many children throughout New Zealand who are or have been affected by cancer and one of the devastating side effects of treatment can be the loss of hair.

The Child Cancer Foundation provides strength and comfort to families, parents and children impacted by child cancer; they provide strength in times of doubt, comfort in times of sadness and celebration in times of joy. Every family’s experience is different and so is the support they receive - that support is powered by the funds raised by people like us.

Well done to the Girls’ School community for getting behind this cause and helping to raise both money and awareness for the Child Cancer Foundation.

Eco-Champions!

It’s now six years since the worm farms were first established at the Girls’ School in two specially adapted wheelie bins that provide the perfect environment for composting. Over the years, each successive intake of girls has become very proficient at understanding what makes suitable scraps for the tiger worms inhabiting the bins. Buckets are strategically placed around the campus, along with posters to remind students and staff alike what ‘leftovers’ can be added to the bins from lunchboxes. The girls have learnt that worms like variety in their diet and if fed correctly and moisture is added, ‘worm tea’ and ‘worm castings’ can be drawn from the bottom of the bin at regular intervals to make a rich fertiliser.

The initial colonies were in the vicinity of 8000 worms per bin, but the girls back in 2012 were told that these would multiply to self-regulating colonies of around 30,000 worms!

Primary Science Week this year had a focus on ecological practice, so it was timely to check the bins to make sure they were in good order and pour off some ‘tea.’ The worm tea collected was left uncovered to ‘air’ and be further diluted by the rain ready for bottling. Once bottled the Enviro Team worked on a drive to sell the tea in exchange for charity donations.

The girls have used the fertiliser in our small school vegetable and herb garden. Produce from the garden has been used in food technology lessons, used as part of science teaching or even to feed the guinea pigs! It’s a full cycle of life in our own school grounds.

Pledge Fence

Many thanks to the Enviro Team: Abby Heazlewood, Olivia Lin, Jaime Chandler and Charlie Gundy and Mrs Hopkins for their support during Primary Science Week.

With this year’s national Primary Science week focused on the environment and long-term sustainability, our girls put on their thinking hats to decide what actions or changes they could make personally to protect our planet for future generations.

Science teacher, Mrs Jess Francis encouraged the girls to think deeply about issues facing the world, whilst sharing ideas amongst themselves to broaden their thinking on a wide range of topics.

Then it was time for a personal commitment! It’s one thing to voice and idea but quite another to ‘make a pledge!’ The girls were asked to commit to one idea and put it in writing for all to see. In this instance, their pledges were written on plastic strapping tape (recycled!) and woven into the garden fence for all to see - and check whether the pledges are being upheld! Ideas pledged include, ‘I will walk or bike rather than travel in a car. I will grow my own food. I will take a shorter shower. I will use a lunch box instead of a plastic bag.’

These girls are our future; small changes made now could make a significant difference for future generations.

Ten Awards for at Science Fair!

Detailed scientific investigations saw seven of our Year 8 girls receive ten awards between them after being selected to represent the School at the NIWA Auckland City Science and Technology Fair. This followed on from their in-school competition where eleven students were selected to go to the Auckland finals. The annual event celebrates excellence in scientific and technological investigations carried out by students in Years 7-12 across Auckland City.

Two girls placed 1st in their category and were also recognised with special prizes! Kate Thibaud placed 1st in the Human Behaviour category with her investigation, ‘Bet You Will Remember This.’ Kate investigatd how we retain written information and established a thorough yet simple memory test to recall words. She received a special prize, a Gold Sponsor’s Award: Presentation of projects to the Auckland Museum Institute and Membership.

Olivia McIndoe also placed 1st in Technology/Living World. Stemming from people hunching their back to use their phone, her project, ‘Tech Neck’ looked at the impact of the current use of ‘devices’ when bending the spine. She was also awarded a Gold Sponsor’s Award: The University of Auckland Faculty of Science Award for Experimental Design in Physical Investigation.

TOP PLACED PRIZE WINNERS:

Sacha Earnest was Highly Commended also receiving a Silver Sponsor’s Award in the Physical World category for her investigation ‘Does the Wheel Size Determine Bike Speed?’ As a champion BMX cyclist, this was a topic of great importance to her! Her award from Transport Auckland Council offers her the opportunity to spend a ‘A Day in the life of Auckland Transport.’

Arya Blackler, Annabelle Mar, Millie Paris and Charlotte Scoones were all also highly commended for their investigations. Arya investigated the percentage of juice available for extraction from oranges; Anabelle produced a thorough analysis on reaction times of individuals using a standard reaction test; Millie designed a recognition test to identify faces showing a range of emotions; and Charlotte created a test to detect particles of pollution.

The design of the Science Fair is always hard to choose and prepare for. Students have many ideas but pulling their ideas together, organising their variables and creating a reasonable experiment with a testable and measurable hypothesis is no easy task – especially when you want to be creative and do something no one else is doing! These girls achieved just that, well done!

Katherine Thibaud Bet You Will Remember This! 1st + Special Prize

Olivia McIndoe Tech Neck 1st + Special Prize

HIGHLY COMMENDED:

Sacha Earnest Does wheel size determine speed? HC + Special Prize

Arya Blackler ProdJuice

Annabelle Mar Crash React

Millie Paris Interpreting Basic Universal Emotions

Charlotte Scoones A Breath of Fresh Air

HC

HC

HC

HC

The Power of the Spoken Word

Communication is the backbone of society. It allows us to form connections, influence decisions, and motivate change. Having the confidence and ability to communicate effectively is a vital skill in today’s world.

The four language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing are well integrated across the curriculum, but proficiency in each skill is necessary to become a well-rounded communicator. Our Girls’ School students are proving to be great communicators and gain enormous benefit from their involvement in speechmaking and the dramatic arts.

From their very first year at school, Speech and Drama is an integral part of the girls’ core curriculum, with all classes from Year 1 - 8 enjoying a weekly speech and drama lesson to develop their communication skills in a variety of ways. Through guidance, discussion and action, the girls learn to express their ideas with confidence, connect with others, discuss, debate and justify their opinions, while learning to collaborate and negotiate. As a result, they are developing key communication skills and an ability to articulate their ideas with clarity, confidence and courtesy in school, social, and public settings.

Drama permeates our everyday lives and is very much a medium for social, personal and emotional development. Through process drama in class, the girls build belief in roles and situations, exploring them together, negotiating, interpreting, and reflecting on the role and its meaning, developing their knowledge and understanding of their place in the world and the people around them.

In addition to these lessons, many of the girls also attend Private Speech lessons at school, in a similar manner to those who take itinerant music classes. These lessons provide a further outlet to develop confidence, and to refine and polish their dramatic and creative skills. A large number of students also sit external Speech and Drama examinations, offering the opportunity to be extended and challenged.

With these opportunities available to the girls, it’s little wonder that when the annual poetry and speech competitions come around, the girls who make the finals are all of an exceptional calibre, further witnessed at the Speech Concert for those who take private lessons, and when girls right across the school get their chance on stage in the annual whole school productions, which are always enjoyed enormously by the Saint Kentigern community!

Poetry Competition

When the girls’ confidence to speak with passion and great articulation is added to another great academic strength, their ability to write creatively and with conviction, it makes a winning formula for the annual Poetry Competition! Written in class to ensure authenticity, all students from Year 0 to Year 8 focussed on writing original poems as part of their English programme. These were initially presented as in-class performances from which the top poets from each Year level were selected to progress to a final competition, judged by author, Elena De Roo.

POETRY COMPETITION FINALISTS

YEAR 4:

Winner: Sascha Newland Ice Cream Sundae

Jeanna Ho, Amelia Paterson

YEAR 5

Winner: Emily Cornaga The Storm

Catherine Fowler, Isabel Gilbert, Poppy Healzewood, Lily Hu

YEAR 6:

Winner: Zambezi Butler A Summer Swim

Isabella Hayes, Sophie Yan

YEAR 7

Winner: Tiana Gray Who is listening?

Keeley Berkovits, Xarya Knox, Sophia Mercer, Anamia Rangihaeata

YEAR 8

Winner: Jade Nomani I look upon the World

Arya Blackler, Danielle Levy, Millie Paris, Katherine Thibaud

Private Speech Concert

Once a year, our girls who take private speech lessons have the opportunity to share their love of speech and drama at an evening concert, giving them a chance to perform their prepared examination pieces to an audience. With a hugely varied programme, the audience delighted in the humour, characterisation, the clear and expressive diction, and marvelled at the memory students had in order to present their work without scripts, except where book excerpts were read. This was another fabulous evening of entertainment by our girls.

New Zealand Speech and Drama Examinations:

Initial: Honours Plus, Year 4: Gemma Berkovits, Amelia Paterson, Jeanna Ho, Laura Koeman, Sascha Newland, Alexi Bower, Sienna Robertshaw, Suri Zhong, Charlotte Albrecht and Chloe Ira

Grade 1: Honours Plus, Year 5 and Year 6: Emily Cornaga, Louise Beaumont, Charlotte Lee, Phoebe Hirst and Scarlett Basset

Grade 2: Honours Plus, Year 6: Isabella Hayes

Grade 3: Honours Plus, Year 7: Isabella Hughes and Audrey Lee

Grade 4: Honours Plus, Year 8 : Katherine Thibaud

Trinity College Speech Examinations:

Distinction:

Grade 1: London Leighton, Year 4.

Grade 2: Sienna Hirst and Charlotte Massey, Year 6.

Grade 3: Xarya Knox, Year 7, and Arya Blackler, Year 8. Grade 4: Zoe Nel, Year 8.

NON- COMPETITIVE POEMS

Year 1 Poems: Lulu Lang, Emily Albrecht, Elsa Taylor and Monica Qian

Year 2 Poems: Kasey Wray, Bella Guthrie, Elise Andrew and Ninsi Finn

Year 3 Poems: Holly Carnegie, Channelle Huang, Lillian Tang

Speech Competition

We welcomed accredited Speech NZ examiner, Del Costello as the adjudicator for this year’s speech competition. Each year group had an assigned topic to ensure variety across the age groups, with the Year 4-8 competitive speeches interspersed with talks from selected students in Years 1-3. Regardless of the age group, the confidence was astonishing!

Winners:

Music Mania

Music is the language of the soul; uplifting, joyful and at times toe-tapping and funny. This was certainly evident as the Saint Kentigern girls played, sang, moved and rapped their way through a wide variety of musical offerings over three evening performances during the last week of term. Music Mania gave every girl in the school a chance on stage.

The Kapa Haka group opened with a karakia, led by Alisa Iosua and supported by Tiana Gray and Anamia Rangihaeata. The whole group presented a poi dance and a song of unity and were proudly led by Xarya Knox.

The orchestra had two offerings; ‘When you wish upon a Star’ and ‘Walking in the Air.’ The harmonies between the different sections of the orchestra blended beautifully, and once again, the girls invited Principal, Ms Juliet Small to join with them on the violin.

The Junior School offered a variety of items from the counting Muppet Song, where a range of headgear caused as much amusement as the song itself, to a rap about rats and a song about kindness.

Reflecting our diversity and languages taught in the school, the Umbrella Dance, presented by the Chinese Dance Group, was spectacular. The beauty and serenity of the movement was choreographed by Wendy Xia, who works closely with students learning Chinese.

Middle School students also presented a variety from their Harry Potter Rap to a mixed dance, song

and action rendition of Stand by Me, and two choir items.

Year 7&8 students used the catchy ‘Dancing Queen’ to bring out brooms and buckets to introduce an element of ‘stomp’ to their version of this very popular number. The pleasure shown on the faces of the girls showed what fun they had as they executed dance, song and rhythmic clapping.

As always, our school choir, ‘Highland Belles’ sang from the heart, allowing all to appreciate their award-winning performance from Kids Sing. Opening with the competition required piece, ’Firefly,’ they went on to sing the lyrical ‘I am a small part of the World,’ beautifully accompanied by Year 8 student, Arya Blackler on the flute.

One of the trademarks of musical performance at the Girls’ School is the big closing number, where all girls gather on stage to bring the show to an end. They did not disappoint when they belted out in unison, the rousing, ‘We’re Saint Kentigern Girls!’

Special thanks to music teachers

Mrs Nicola Brown and Mrs Anji Toy, show director, Mrs Janine Bennett and accompanist, Dr Michael Jenkins who, alongside staff, helped to guide the girls through the preparation, rehearsals and final performances of this biannual spectacular.

Show Quest

Our girls in Year 7&8 had a wonderful opportunity to perform at Showquest in the huge venue of the Spark Arena. Showquest is a new performing arts platform for schools, taking up the gap left when the former Stage Challenge (High School) and JRock (Primary and Intermediate) folded two years ago. Under the same umbrella as the very successful Rock Quest for rock bands, Show Quest brings large group dance performances to the stage with an emphasis on participation. Show Quest calls for each participating school to gather a team of students to create, produce and perform an original stage production to a chosen theme.

Our girls focused on bullies as their theme and choreographed a story of pain and redemption. Choreography was led by Year 8 students, Zoe Nel, Tiffany Thompson and Kiana Watt. The girls had a fantastic day at Spark Arena with the chance to rehearse on stage while show lighting was selected for them. The evening performance was brilliant and the girls came away with the Best Sound Track Award. Our thanks to staff member, Ms Vanessa Shen for the support and inspiration she has instilled into the students and to parent, Mrs Maddie Thibaud for taking the time to attend to take some stunning photos.

Bronze at Kids Sing

There were some outstanding performances at this years’ Kids’ Sing and our choir of 25 students sang their hearts out to achieve a bronze award. The set New Zealand piece was ‘Friends’ by David Hamilton. The girls certainly saved the very best for last with their performance of ‘I am a Small part of the World’ by Albrecht/Althouse. The girls first performed for judges in the morning before returning to be part of the evening showcase performance. Well done girls!

Hamilton Wins Cross Country

The Girls’ School Cross Country was split into three separate events, with the Year 7&8 races taking place earlier in the year along with the Middle College runners, followed by the Middle School and Junior School races during Term 3.

Held on the College campus, bright, crisp sunshine and a firm, yet muddy, course made great running conditions for the Middle School races as the girls dug in, with those in the lead keeping up a cracking pace! The Junior School event took place the following week at the Boys’ School on a day that started shrouded in mist until the sun shone through to make ideal conditions for running.

Cross country running takes a bit of resilience and at both the Year 0-3 and Year 4-6 events, it was great to see the slower runners keep at it, with support from the House leaders to encourage them to the finish line.

Year 0 Champions

1st Alyssa Wray H

2nd Isla Ryan CA

3rd Noor Kaur W

Year 1 Champions

1st Lydia Tang H

2nd Lulu Lang CA

3rd Lola Leport-Symonds W

Year 2 Champions

1st Kasey Wray H

2nd Ninsi Finn W

3rd Bella Guthrie H

Year 3 Champions

1st Amelia Hardie W

2nd Violet Lindsay Smail CH

3rd Channelle Huang W

Year 4 Champions

1st Brooke Rowntree CA

2nd Sienna Robertshaw CH

3rd Alexi Bower W

Year 5 Champions

1st Amie Hilliam H

2nd Emily Cornaga H

3rd Charlotte Lee CA

Year 6 Champions

1st Sahara Knottenbelt W

2nd Lucy Hawes CH

3rd Sienna Hirst CH

Year 7 Champions - run earlier in the year

1st Alex Campion CH

2nd Edith Li W

3rd Isabella Hughes CH

Year 8 Champions - run earlier in the year

1st Olivia Rooney H

2nd Alya Blackler H

3rd Jade Nomani W

OVERALL CROSS COUNTRY HOUSE RESULTS

1ST HAMILTON

2ND WISHART

3RD CHALMERS

4TH CARGILL

Fantastic Wins at Zone Events

The combined Middle College and Girls’ School Year 7 and 8 teams competed at the South Eastern Zone event and proved to be winners, much to the joy of the spectators!

Alex Campion and Isabella Hughes were part of the Year 7 winning team, with Olivia Rooney and Arya Blackler as part of the Year 8 winning team.

In the Year 8 race, Olivia placed 1st, over minute ahead of second place, with Arya following through in 3rd place. With all points combined, Saint Kentigern was placed as the top school team!

13 Medals at the AIMS Games!

What a fantastic week of sporting competition for our Year 7 and 8 girls at the AIMS Games in Tauranga. Attending one of the biggest sporting events in the southern hemisphere, with a record 10,851 athletes representing over 300 schools from around New Zealand and the Pacific, this was a non-stop week of sporting competition!

Our girls were entered as part of the netball, hockey and football teams, combined with the Middle College, as well as competing individually in swimming, tennis, gymnastics, cross country and BMX. All girls gave their absolute best across a week of stiff competition. The first and biggest haul of medals came from Year 7 swimmer, Alexandra Campion who made seven individual finals and placed in five of them. Including success in the relay races, she gained a whopping seven medals and broke three personal bests – bronze in the 100m IM, 50m Breast and 100m Breast and silver in 100m Back and Free Relay and IM Relay where she was joined by swimmers from the Boys’ School and Middle College.

Year 8 student, Sacha Earnest has been burning up the track as a BMX racer for a number of years with success at home and internationally, so it was fantastic when she added two gold medals to the haul at the AIMS Games! Sasha stormed into 1st place in the Time Trial and the Individual Race.

The last day of the games saw the final showdown in the team sports that had worked through pool play to the finals. Our combined Girls’ School and Middle College Football girls earned the right to contest the final. Arya Blackler, Danielle Levy, Cilla Fa’afua, Isabella Hughes and Libby Yee represented the Girls’ School in a game that that went right to the wire. After 11 matches with 9 wins and two losses, their final game against Murray’s Bay was lost on penalty points, 5 to 4, at the end, having put up a brilliant fight throughout the tournament!

Well done to all the girls taking part, especially our medallists! Whilst coming home with medals is fantastic, the AIMS Games, for these younger students, is as much about taking part and experiencing a taste of competition away from home, which was a first for many. It has been reported back that our students were exemplary in their behaviour and it didn’t go unnoticed. Well done for sporting our blue and white with pride!

Our sincere thanks to the staff and parents who accompanied the students for their time away.

FOOTBALL GIRLS – MIDDLE COLLEGE/GIRLS’ SCHOOL COMBINED

Team: Arya Blackler (GS), Danielle Levy (GS), Cilla Fa’afua (GS), Isabella Hughes (GS), Libby Yee (GS) with Ruby Spring (MC), Olivia Steele (MC) Charlotte Richardson (MC), Emily Clark (MC), Bridie Boyd (MC), Charlotte Snookes (MC), Rebecca Anderson (MC), Aimee Cavanagh (MC), Briar Richards (MC)

BMX – GIRLS’ SCHOOL

Four Girls’s School girls were in this combined team: 4 x Silver

Sasha Earnest Gold Time Trial

Gold Individual

AIMS SWIMMING – GIRLS’ SCHOOL, BOYS’ SCHOOL, COLLEGE

Alex Campion (GS)

Free Relay Team (Combined)

Alexandra Campion (GS) with Sunny Sun (MC), Thomas Hunter (BS), James Crosbie (BS)

Individual Medley Relay (Combined)

Alexandra Campion (GS) with Mark Galloway (BS), Jackson Kennard (BS), James Crosbie (BS)

Bronze 100m IM

Bronze 50m Breast PB

Bronze 50m Back PB

Silver 100m Back PB

Bronze 100m Breast

GS Silver x 1

GS Silver x 1

Gymnastics Bronze at Champ of Champs

While their older ‘school sporting sisters’ are away in Tauranga competing at the AIMS Games, a group of girls from Years 3-6 competed at the Auckland Primary Schools Champion of Champions Artistic Gymnastics Competition, having earlier qualified at zones. Held at Tri-Star – the Auckland Regional Gymnastics Sports Centre, out girls were put through their paces on the beam, floor and vault under the watchful eye of the judges. Congratulations to the Year 3 team of Violet Lindsay Smail, Amelia Hardie, Isabelle Qu and Lulu Fairbairn whose combined points saw them placed third overall in Auckland. Well done girls!

Girls who qualified to compete: Year 3: Violet Lindsay Smail, Amelia Hardie, Isabelle Qu and Lulu Fairbairn. Year 5: Emma Scholtz. Year 6: Priscilla Zhong

High Tea 2018

‘I put to you all this afternoon that the motherdaughter relationship is of critical importance. We all gain strength from this special love. It is the gift that you give your own girls. You can never underestimate the value of simply spending time with your daughter.’

Ms Juliet Small, Principal

Inthe tradition of an old fashioned, formal high tea, Saint Kentigern Girls’ School held their annual Mother-Daughter High Tea in the Guineas Ballroom at the Ellerslie Event Centre during Term 2. Such is the popularity of this event, tickets sold at lightning speed! Mothers, grandmothers, friends and sisters joined the students for an afternoon of fine company and fine refreshments.

Principal, Ms Juliet Small welcomed the guests before sharing her own personal story of growing up in Invercargill and the sense of gratitude she still holds for her mother. The older women assembled could conjure up a clear image when Ms Small related the story of her mother ironing to Nana Mouskouri, ABBA and Neil Diamond!

Guest speaker was Georgina Higgins from Auckland SPCA who brought one of the biggest drawcards of the afternoon, small rescue dog, Ella, who now lives with a loving owner after an early life of

distress. Ms Higgins told of the plight of animals of all shapes and sizes, not just dogs and cats, who come into their care and told families to think wisely about the commitment owning an animal entails.

There are many who influence the lives of our girls from close and extended family members to teachers, coaches and friends, but it could be argued that none are as influential as the bond between a mother and her daughter. Like all relationships, this can prove ‘trying’ at times and constantly needs work, especially as our girls approach their teenage years but above it all, the relationship is one for life and the bonds forged run deep. High Tea was a moment for all to step back from the busyness of daily life and simply enjoy one another’s company.

We offer our grateful thanks to the many parents who worked so hard to make it such a special event, in particular, the organising committee led by Mrs Rebecca Scoones and assisted by Mrs Slavka Yildiz. You did a wonderful job!

Our thanks to the following sponsors and donors who supported the event: The Bay Tree of Remuera, Maddie About You, My Studio Girl, Clip’n Climb North Shore, Giraffe, Saint Kentigern Old Collegians’ Association, Reti + Rose Natural Skincare, Illumina New Zealand.

Workshop with Artist

It’s not every day you get to show your work to an internationally renowned artist! New Zealand expressive oil portrait artist, Mark Olsen stopped by the Girls’ School to meet with Year 4 art students to share his steps to becoming an artist.

Mark was 38 when he became an artist himself. He explained that ‘anybody can learn to paint; they just need to practise.’ To help with inspiration, Mark encouraged the girls to combine other fields like mathematics into their work to add personality or expression to any painting through a process called ‘cross learning’. He explained how Leonardo Da Vinci was an advocate of cross learning. Although the Renaissance artist produced less than 30 complete paintings, his pieces have incredible value because he incorporated other disciplines like maths and science into his masterpieces.

During his visit, Mark also checked each student’s progress with their current assignment, a mixed media portrait of the most unique hat possible. Mark was able to critique each student’s piece and offer helpful advice to improve their work.

Photo Booth Sponsors: Paul Whitford – Sky Services, Sommers family, Haynes family, Tan family, Ellis family, Yildiz family.

Father Daughter Breakfast

An early morning downpour didn’t dampen the spirits of our girls as they proudly brought their Dads to the annual shared breakfast! With the support of the Parents and Friends, the Girls’ School hosted their annual event at the Ellerslie Events Centre. More than 200 girls and their Dads enjoyed a delicious breakfast and some special talk time.

Dads, daughters and special guests were welcomed by Principal, Ms Juliet Small as she spoke of the absolute commitment that fathers give to their daughters. She thanked them for supporting the girls’ learning, for driving them to practices, for helping them with homework and for being their greatest supporters and advocates. The guest speaker, John Cowan, is well known in parenting circles through his long association with the Parenting Place, as well as featuring on radio programmes. His life’s work has been varied from scientist to social worker to media producer, but most importantly, he is a dad who loves to inspire those with whom he has worked, and he had some special advice for daughters and dads. In an amusing way, he spoke of how to cope with boring lessons! On a more serious note, he assured the girls that their dads loved them, that dads worry about their daughters and when they say no it is because they want to keep them safe from the perils of the world. He encouraged dads to do things with their daughters; perhaps go camping or involve her in special projects. John said that it was important to ‘let them know when they are getting things right and not so much when they get things wrong.’

Our thanks to the Parents and Friends and the Old Collegians Association, with special thanks to organisers, Denise Nel and Rebecca Scoones. And our grateful thanks to sponsors: Megan Dempsey – The Clinic, Remuera Golf Club, Sabato, and The Oral Care Company Ltd.

Visual Arts Academy Exhibition

‘Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life’

- Pablo Picasso

Every two years, the Visual Arts Academy, based at the Girls’ School, mounts an exhibition of student work. Girls who attended the after school or holiday programmes completed a number of pieces across a range of media and proudly selected items of their work for the exhibition.

This year, 42 student artists from Years 1-8 presented 78 art works which had been created over a two-year period. These included clay, painting, mixed media, sculpture, drawing and fabric art.

As always, there was an opportunity for attendees to vote for the ‘Peoples’ Choice Award’ but added to that, viewers were also invited to write a comment about the art work for the artist to read. Art teacher, Diana Roband, spoke of the positive benefits of Art citing that research showed it relieved stress, encouraged positive thinking, boosted self esteem and provided a sense of accomplishment.

This year, the winner of the ‘People’s Choice’ was Sophie Yan (Year 6) for her ceramic work of two swans (Sophie is pictured with another of her art pieces). Two students were second equal, Victoria Tiong (Year 8) for ‘Lucy the Minion’ and Lulu Lang (Year 1) for ‘The Jaguar.’

Home, Heart, Head and Horizons

I have probably lost count of the number of times a student tells me (or their parents), ‘I didn’t understand x, because I didn’t understand (or like) teacher y…’

There is often a grain of truth in the statement, for we all know a meaningful and effective student-teacher relationship is one of the keys to success. Professor John Hattie, previously of The University of Auckland, and his meta-analysis literature review would support that, however, I firmly believe academic success starts in the home and in the heart, rather than just in the head or in the classroom.

All the best intentions, study programmes, revision sessions and practice exam papers are important, but I suggest academic success begins from a young age, within a positive home environment, where learning is valued and encouraged, where curiosity and commitment are promoted and where, especially in the early teenage years, boundaries and guidance are put in place and put in practice. ‘Do your homework at the table where I can see you’ is perhaps old fashioned, but a good starting point, at least until positive clear work patterns have been embedded.

The tradition of an around the dinner table conversation‘what did you learn…enjoy at school today?’ - worked in my generation, as I believe a little self-reflection, restating and processing of ideas is a good thing. Indeed, there is clear scientific evidence that repetition of learnings reinforces the neural connections, storage and recall within the brain. The attitude and importance placed on learning at home impacts the likely level of success at school.

A student’s commitment to learning and improving, especially in situations of difficulty and challenge, is equally a matter of attitude of ‘heart’ rather than simply just a cognitive ‘head’ decision. The ability to show resilience in the face of failure, confusion, distraction or overload (four common classroom conditions) is evidence of determination, a character strength we would all encourage and value.

Academic success is as much about intrinsic motivation as it is about external reward or

pressure. What sets many of our top scholars apart for others, is their ability to put that extra 10% into their studies, to do that extra hour, try that problem again and maybe even again, to ensure they not only master it, but understand why they have succeeded.

Ultimately, it is true that academic success (and we need to know how best we measure that) does require full engagement. For some it might be an ‘Excellence’ grade, however, equally valid for others might be gaining an ‘Achieved’ in an area where they have always struggled. Regardless of the level of achievement, success is success when it is a personal best. Students, like adults (and parents) all too often measure their success relative to others, when we all know however hard it is to accept, that success should be measured against one’s own ability and potential.

Success cannot be achieved without commitment (the heart of the matter) and concentration and curiosity (the head). In addition, when supported in the home I believe this provides the opportunity for students to achieve academic success. I continue to hope that I will hear less and less the words ‘I don’t understand..’ and more and more ‘Can you help me to understand…’ It’s an attitude as much as an aspiration for all our students.

Finally, for students to appreciate and develop a positive mindset towards their learning and success, they need to be looking beyond themselves to new horizons. If they see meaning and purpose in what they do in the classroom as they strive for academic success, understanding where it will get them and their future, it will enable them to find that ‘difficult lesson’ a little bit easier to master.

In my view academic success is all about these four key factors; ‘home, heart, head and horizons’.

Mr Duncan McQueen Principal, Middle College

Inspiring Excellence

At Saint Kentigern Senior College, we enjoy and deliberately celebrate the academic success of individuals as well as groups of students.

One of the individual successes we have enjoyed celebrating over his time at Saint Kentigern College is that of our Academic Prefect, Andrew Chen. In this issue of Piper, you will read of the wonderful experience Andrew had, being one of only six students selected to represent New Zealand at the International Youth Science Forum in London. This year, Andrew has also represented New Zealand at the International Olympiad for Mathematics. It is important for our young men and women to have such an outstanding academic role model who they respect and admire.

As Academic Prefect, Andrew leads a team of student volunteers who do peer-to-peer tutoring which is available to any student to book in a tutoring session via the OLE. This is not only an opportunity for ‘Service to Others’ within our community, but also a chance to build relationships with a range of students they might not otherwise meet.

Another example of individual academic excellence is Year 13 student, Ryan King, who was selected to compete in a New Zealand team of four at the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) in Japan. This is one of the most prestigious computer science competitions in the world and the students who attend are some of the brightest young computer scientists from across the globe.

We celebrate with the groups of students who gain Academic Colours and Honours for both NCEA and the IB Diploma, and this year we have celebrated with the team who went to Melbourne for the World Scholars Cup and, as a result, qualified to compete at Yale University.

In the Saint Kentigern Statement of Intent, we state ‘Saint Kentigern will employ only high quality, well qualified teaching and non-teaching staff’. As a Principal, the importance of employing the very best teachers to ensure best student outcomes is an absolute top priority. Here are two examples of teachers employed in recent years:

Dr Hugh Kemp teaches both Christian Education and the Theory of Knowledge, which is a compulsory subject for students studying for the IB Diploma. Dr Kemp’s qualifications include BTh (Honours) from the Australian College of Theology, BSc in Biology from the University of Auckland, MTh in Asian Church and Mission History and PhD in Religious Studies from Victoria University, Wellington. Our IB students, in particular, find Dr Kemp’s classes stimulating and extending.

Dr Edward Coad teaches Mathematics and Physics. Dr Coad came to us this year from Glendowie College. His qualifications include: BSc (Honours) in Applied Physics from the University of Portsmouth, UK and a PhD in Philosophy – Applied Physics and Material Science from the University of Cambridge, UK. Dr Coad is currently teaching Mathematics to Year 9, Year 10, Year 12 and Year 13 students and is assisting with the Physics Scholarship Tutorials.

As academic role models, it is important that our teachers continue to develop pedagogies and practices that move with the times to meet the needs of our students in this rapidly changing world. Creating a culture where ongoing learning is embedded in our daily teaching practice has been a key strategic focus for our staff, and so we are pleased that quite a number of our teachers have taken advantage of the opportunity to continue to work on post graduate qualifications. Their studies are supported by our Staff Professional Development programme, recognising that developing a culture of continuous learning will pay dividends for our students.

Staff movement is inevitable, especially as we encourage and mentor our teachers to strive for excellence. We want to see top teachers have the opportunity to fulfil their goals for advancement. However, as these teachers gain promotion, we can assure our community that we will continue to appoint teachers of the highest calibre to replace them.

Despite much in the media about a teaching shortage, Saint Kentigern is well placed to continue to attract well qualified and passionate teachers at all stages of their teaching careers. My belief is that teachers who bring knowledge, passion and inspiration to the role ensure the best teaching and learning for our students in their chosen path of

In my last Piper article, I wrote of the importance of offering a choice of qualifications to our students. Whether it be the IB Diploma or NCEA, our teachers will inspire students to ‘strive for excellence’ and to continue to improve on their last personal best. Alongside our choice of qualification offering, we also give students the opportunity of accelerated classes to ensure those who do so benefit by being stretched and extended.

Fides Servanda Est

Mrs Suzanne Winthrop Senior College Principal

A Return to Malawi

With thanks to student reporters, Christie Martel and Holly Simmons For the last four years, through our close association with World Vision, Saint Kentigern College has had a partnership with Chigodi Day Secondary School (CDSS) in Malawi; helping to develop the school and their community.

As students, we’ve always heard about the changes that ‘Saint Kents’ has implemented within the communities. We’ve learned about the impact of a goat, the value of a cow and the necessity of clean water in everyday life - but although we tried to empathise, we never truly understood the hardships that people in Malawi face daily. Even though we knew that there was great poverty, there was nothing that could have prepared us, from our privileged lifestyle in New Zealand, for the extreme desperation of the people half a world away in Malawi.

This was the second time that Saint Kentigern students have travelled to Malawi, following on from the 2015 trip. The team this trip consisted of 18 Year 11 and 12 students and three Saint Kentigern staff and two World Vision Staff.

From the very moment we arrived at the tiny airport in Blantyre, we were pushed into an environment that was drastically different from our own. Dirty houses the size of our bedrooms, little to no meals and unsanitary living conditions are the reality for nearly every person that we met throughout the trip. But, despite this, we were constantly welcomed with the biggest smiles we had ever seen.

After each visit to each community, kids would run after our bus waving frantically and laughing. But it wasn’t until one girl, who was so desperate for some spare change, burst into tears while running

after our bus, that we realised that what help from World Vision meant to them. World Vision was hope. Whenever a van with the World Vision logo appeared, it symbolised change for the people –but we, the students of Saint Kentigern, were only there to observe. Walking away without us physically doing anything was confusing for the children and heart-breaking for us. But truly seeing desperation amongst children so young, motivated all of us to come back to New Zealand and spread their stories and continue to strive for change to improve the lives of our friends in Malawi.

The partnership established has had a massive impact on the wellbeing of communities, villages and individuals alike. Through hearing Chigodi students talk about their new bathrooms with pride and the measures they have taken for sanitation, we learnt, in particular, the necessity of clean water and how we just can’t take it for granted in our own lives.

We discovered that the new friends we made, although living completely contrasting lives to our own, are not so different from ourselves. They are students who take the same subjects as us in school, work hard, have big dreams and have the same, silly sense of humour that all teenagers have. The bonds that we made with our new friends have carried us home and have inspired us to use the education that we are privileged with, to its fullest extent.

All the aspiring teachers and doctors at that school may never get the opportunity to pursue their dreams – so it is our responsibility to work hard on behalf of them, purely out of respect. We owe so much to the people of Chigodi Day Secondary School and every community

that we visited on this trip. The relationships and connections we’ve created have inspired us to return to our own community and push for more involvement in programmes such as the 40 Hour Famine, that provides help globally, and Food Bank, that serves the needs of communities closer to home.

We now understand how important it is to remember that there are people just like us who deserve to live so much better than they are currently living – that we should not forget how privileged we are, and that we must continue to use our privilege to discover more ways to get involved in communities who need our help. As students, we’ve learnt that it doesn’t matter how old you are to be able to make a difference. There were several student committees who were speaking up against child marriages and looking out for the general well-being of fellow students in their own schools. As students, we are able to learn from their leadership and apply it to our own lives – to bring about change within our own communities back in New Zealand.

Malawi was an amazing trip with so many highlights. We sang, we danced, we laughed, we cried and the villages we stayed in were so rich with happiness, love and with generosity. From this trip we’ve learnt so much about our place in the world and the many opportunities to give service that lie ahead for us.

Our sincere thanks to Service Co-ordinator, Mr Mark Robinson and fellow staff members, Mr Hugh Kemp, Miss Justine O’Dwyer and the team from World Vision who made this possible for us. For those that had the privilege to visit Malawi, the impact will be lasting.

College Raises $115,552 for World Vision!

Efforts during the 40 Hour Famine from the Middle College and Senior College combined saw a whopping $115,552 raised for World Vision this year.

Our Year 7 & 8 students deserve a special mention for raising $65,222, with 65 of these students raising over $500 each. A further 47 Senior College students also raised over $500. We commend all these students for their commitment to a very worthy cause. The top fund-raising House was Cargill, raising a huge $25,089 between them – well done!

We welcomed special guest, World Vision’s CEO, Mr Grant Bayldon to a special full College assembly to receive a cheque presented by Senior College top fundraisers, Lulu Denholm ($6305) and Aria Bhej ($6133). Mr Bayldon is a former Saint Kentigern Boys’ School student who remembered his own fundraising efforts whilst at school. This left such a big impression that he ended up leaving his law firm job 15 years ago to work on issues of international poverty and injustice.

Once again, the funds raised by the Middle and Senior Colleges will go towards our continued support of Chigodi Village in Malawi.

Youth Conference

With thanks to student reporters, Izzy Bayley and Gemma Fuller

Earlier in the year, a group of Senior College students attended the World Vision Youth Conference. The day opened with a voting game based on leadership and taking action, with the students encouraged to think deeply about what is fair and right. The thought-provoking game could be related to the current refugee crisis in South Sudan, which was a great introduction to the following speakers, Abe Nouk and Golriz Ghahraman, both refugees who had fled their home countries in search of a better and safer life. Having real refugees share their life stories made a massive emotional impact on everybody. This really made the students understand the importance of World Vision and the difference they can make.

The final speaker was New Zealander, Chris Judd whose compassion sparked something within every student in the room, making us think, ‘if he can do this, maybe I can’.

Through more group sharing and discussion, we were really able to see all the hard work that goes into the 40 Hour Famine, and how a small group of like-minded people can really make a huge difference.

Year 13 Build Houses in Vanuatu

With thanks to student reporters, Grace Jordan and Kirsten Swindell

Many of us may have been fortunate enough to visit a tropical island on holiday, but this visit to the tropics was truly a different experience for us all. We knew of the devastation that Cyclone Pam had caused, but the reality of it all was awaiting on the other side of our flight. Equipped with mosquito nets, tools, gifts and a whole bunch more; we began our journey, very much unaware of the incredible experiences that lay ahead.

Arriving in Vanuatu in the early hours of the morning, we eventually arrived in the village of Emua to settle in for an hour or so of sleep before the real adventure began. Monday started with a welcoming sea of smiles from the local villagers who were to be our family for the next five days, and a welcome by Chief Johnny.

Our group was to be split in half between two building sites to work with a local Vanuatuan building company, who introduced us to the term ‘Island Time’. Through the humidity and lots of laughter, we started making the frames and shovelling our foundation holes through the coral. This was a hard day’s work on very little sleep and adapting to the change in climate. We ended our day with a swim in the clear waters and enjoying a shared dinner provided by the families.

Come Tuesday, we started putting up and assembling all the walls and we began to mix the cement with shells and sand collected in wheelbarrows from the beach. Using spades and a wheelbarrow, giving our arms quite the workout, we filled in the foundation holes so that the frames were standing. Here, the nail gun saved us a little of the hard labour. We spent the rest of the day focussed on nailing up the walls and up on ladders putting on the roof.

By Wednesday we were all eager to finish the houses and hand them over. Our finishing touches consisted of filling countless amounts of bags of soil to level the interior floor, pouring concrete inside as well as painting the exterior. It was a wonderful feeling to see what our hard work had accomplished within the few days we’d been on the island while we handed it to such welcoming, kind and deserving people.

Our final night at the village was one of the best as we celebrated finishing the houses by having a delicious feast followed by games and dancing. The bonds we made with these villagers will surely be never forgotten.

Our last day at Emua village, we gave away one of the houses we had built at a special ceremony. We could all see how much this home meant to this community and how grateful they were. For us, this was the most emotional part of the trip, we felt so proud and honoured that we had been given this chance to be of service to this community. They were nothing but kind, welcoming and grateful to us from the moment we arrived as they accepted us so graciously into their community. It was truly life changing to meet a group of people who, despite having so little, had such happiness and a sense of pride and love for one another.

Our trip to Vanuatu was nothing short of unforgettable. We learnt how to build (some of us had a more natural knack), we formed new friendships and we even ate new and strange things. Most importantly, we got the rare and privileged chance to fully immerse ourselves in such a happy and welcoming culture that is filled with amazing people and we found out what it truly meant to be of service to others. Our special thanks to Mr Swart, Miss Aitken and Mr Lidstone for taking the time to accompany us.

Year 12 Vanuatu Service Trip

With thanks to student reporter, Gemma Moore and Kate Lemon

The 2018 Year 12 Vanuatu service trip was a genuine trip of a life time. Every minute of every day presented us with new, beautiful moments that will be remembered and appreciated forever. Fourteen Year 12 students made the journey and all were nervous about what to expect, but eager to face some challenges, different daily routines and to be able to step outside of our comfort zones within a new environment.

The main purpose of the trip was to contribute to Manua Centre School, through teaching and interaction with the children there. We spent all day at Manua, undertaking a range of activities including teaching classes, playing sport, painting and a lot of singing and dancing. We left our mark on the school by repainting the run-down basketball courts, painting the walls of a new-build house (that was built after several structures were destroyed by Hurricane Pam), designing and painting our own beautiful mural, as well as providing some resources to benefit the school.

We met so many new faces that will always be remembered in our hearts. To be able to assist the children (locally known as pikininis) and create a small difference in their lives, even for a short time, was extremely rewarding and seeing the improvement within each one of them was heart-warming.

Not only were we able to share our knowledge with the students of Manua, but we were able to widen our own knowledge, by gaining insight into their everyday life and culture. Their warmth, huge smiles, determination and unconditional love in the classroom is something that we will always remember and something that has inspired us to shine as bright as they did. Even though we were only there for a short while, we all grew close to many children and created a genuine connection with them. I hope that

we were able to impact their lives as much as they impacted ours.

From Sunday to Friday we stayed at Emua Village, a small and simple village directly on the beach front. We stayed in the heart of the village and were fortunate enough to experience and be involved with the beauty of the village’s culture and life. The villagers didn’t have much, but what they did have was pure love for everyone. Nights at the village will always be a favourite memory of the trip. If we weren’t running around on the beach with the children, we would be sitting under the stars singing some of our group’s favourite songs. These simple moments made us all so content and appreciative of the simpler things in life.

We gave gifts of resources and supplies to the villagers, to help them with their everyday lives. Being able to physically hand someone supplies that will significantly help them was a heart-warming feeling. Even though we are often told to be grateful for what we have, being able to experience it first-hand had a profound affect. Basic items we take for granted are often a huge help to others, and the gratitude shown by the villagers had a deep effect on us all.

The trip was most rewarding in being able to experience first-hand why you don’t need a lot to have long lasting happiness. Balloons, tennis balls, bubbles and our hair were a few of the many things that produced a smile from ear to ear across the children’s faces, which was then reflected onto our faces.

We would all like to personally thank Mr Corrigan, Mrs O’Toole, Mr Robinson and Saint Kentigern College for presenting us with this opportunity that we will forever remain appreciative of. We are so grateful to have had amazing teachers assisting with the trip. It was an experience filled with many laughs, smiles and emotional tears that have created beautiful memories lasting a lifetime.

Middle College Tour to Cambodia

With thanks to Middle College Head of Wilson House, Mr Al Ronberg

Over the duration of the July school holidays, 28 Year 10 students and 4 staff, in two different teams, made a journey to the Kingdom of Cambodia, travelling with World Challenge, an organisation who operate a programme specialising in holistic travel opportunities for school groups.

The aim was to expose students to different cultures and experiences, whilst engaging with local communities through a service project and an expedition. Students were expected to take on different roles during the trip with responsibility for transportation, accommodation, food, passports, budget, leadership and overall group well-being. The personal growth in our students has been clearly evident in the way that they have developed confidence and learned from their frustrations and successes in these roles.

Cambodia is a fascinating destination that has engaging learning opportunities with every stop. A particular highlight was the World Heritage temple sites of Angkor Wat, rising majestically through the surrounding jungle. The scale of this space and the intricate detail in the architectural features was simply indescribable.

Both teams spent some time working near the Vietnamese Border with an NGO called the Elephant Valley Project. The local Banong tribe have spent millennia working the land around the project and have been slowly working towards gaining back land that has been stolen over the course of recent history. Elephants have formed a large part of their culture, and the jungle around is slowly being repopulated with elephants that have been largely mistreated or neglected. Deforestation is also a real threat to these elephants. Each

group worked hard on tasks that enable the project to provide expert care to their animals and the local villages. It was hot and difficult work which our students handled admirably.

It is very hard to visit Cambodia without appreciating the comforts of home! Team members endured long distance travel on roads that are experiencing a bumper wet season. The lack of any discernable system of road-rules made travel more exciting than anything Rainbow’s End can conjure up! Tramping was in dense jungle and involved sleeping in hammocks, hoisted in hastily constructed shelters, or under people’s stilt-houses. These spaces also housed the family’s large collection of assorted farm animals.

In addition to all of this, each had to come to terms with the overwhelming presence of things creepy and crawly! Some of our students (and teachers) developed a pro-active approach to coping with the presence of ants, spiders, crickets, frogs and snakes. They decided that sending a message that Kiwis might not be able to fly but they are very good at eating small creatures, communicated our intent nicely! Yes, they tried the crickets and rather large spiders, nicely deep fried!

Cambodia is not just about temples, elephants and jungles. It is truly humbling to experience the sobering stories and places that have been left in the wake of the Khmer Rouge atrocities of the late 1970s. Our time in and around Phnom Penh took in the Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre (The Killing Fields) and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21 Prison). Our students were confronted with the worst parts of Cambodia’s story and whilst this was an unsettling space to

be in, the learning was deep and life-altering. We met a survivor of the prison who was only able to live because he could fix the regime’s typewriters. Students and teachers left grateful for the world that we occupy and determined to stand up for the injustices that surround us. We did not have to travel far to engage with people who had been affected by the presence of landmines and cluster bombs left over from times of intense conflict. The streets are filled with victims willing to share their stories. Tuk-tuk drivers, boat skippers and guesthouse operators, all with missing limbs, provide sobering reminders that this country still has a lot of work to do before it is safe for all. We visited an organisation in Siem Reap that trains dogs to detect the presence of TNT in the unexploded ordinance left in the soil. The work they do to clear Cambodia so that families and farmers can be safe is truly outstanding.

After three very exciting weeks, the real work of this World Challenge then began. How will these students live in light of what they have experienced? How do they seek to bring about change in their world? This journey provides the true benefit of a Middle College trip to Cambodia, three and half more years of globallyaware and motivated students contributing to the life of the College and their wider community.

The students would like to express their sincere thanks to the staff who made this trip possible. Mr Al Ronberg, Mrs Rhonda Raynes, Mr Chris Duncan and Miss Chloe Baillie, along with two World Challenge staff, took on the task of organising and leading this first international trip for our Middle College students. It was a challenging, yet ultimately incredibly rewarding opportunity for two groups of our younger students.

Seedlings for Service

With thanks to Year 12 student reporter, Ben Shepherd Agroup of Enviro Club members, who take a keen interest in the Seedlings for Service programme, visited East Tamaki and Riverhills Primary Schools to see the impact of their weekly commitment to a programme that results in seedlings grown at College being transplanted to local primary schools. The College students were able to see first-hand how the seedlings they helped nurture from the beginning of Term 1 are used to provide organic lunches to the students from these two primary schools.

Our College students spent several hours in the East Tamaki school’s community garden, experiencing the diverse range of fruits and vegetables that were being grown as part of the ‘Garden to Table’ initiative. About 50 different crops are now grown in the school’s garden, cared for by local volunteers and the students themselves. After spending several hours working in the garden alongside the primary children, our students and teachers were treated to a karakia and lunch of kumara and pumpkin soup prepared from ingredients harvested from the garden! College students also helped prepare beds and plant more seedlings at Riverhills School. In a growing number of Auckland schools, gardens being are used to provide healthy and organic lunches for their students.

The day was extremely rewarding for the Enviro Club students, as they were able to experience the beneficial impact that their service has on the local community. Students were informed of the benefit of these gardens to schools and enjoyed being able to contribute to such great initiatives!

Bright Young Minds

Saint Kentigern prides itself on the very strong academic programmes offered to our students, especially the choices in their senior years.

Senior College years are a time for keeping options open and exploring all avenues of interest as students begin to give thought to future study and career options.

Whether studying for NCEA qualifications or undertaking the International Baccalaureate Diploma programme, course work is academically rigorous and prepares our students well for tertiary education and life beyond the College gates.

We have many talented students in the Senior College who shine across all fields of endeavour. Year 13 students, Andrew Chen and Ryan King are two such students whose determination and hard work have seen them reap academic accolades. Both boys were selected this year to represent New Zealand on the world academic stage

International Olympiad In Informatics, Japan 2018

with Andrew attending the International Maths Olympiad in Romania, where he gained an honourable mention, and Ryan attending the International Computer Programming Olympiad in Japan. Both these Olympiads are amongst the most prestigious academic competitions in the world, and the students who attend are some of the brightest young minds from across the globe!

Following on from the Maths Olympiad, Andrew then went on to be selected to attend the London International Youth Science Forum. Both boys returned invigorated from their experiences with a greater understanding of where their passions and academic drive could take them. Here, they report on their experiences.

With thanks to Year 13 student, Ryan King NCEA Student

Earlier in the year, I was fortunate to be selected to be part of the four-student team to represent New Zealand at the 2018 International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) in September. This year, the Olympiad was held in Tsukuba, Ibaraki in Japan. The IOI is the foremost secondary school Computer Science Programming competition in the world, with each participating country selecting four students to represent their country. With 87 participating countries this year, this was the biggest IOI to date!

The selection process for the New Zealand team required students to firstly compete in the NZIC (NZ Informatics Competition) and/ or NZPC (NZ Programming Contest) from which 30 students were invited to a training camp at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch in January. I was selected for the camp where the students were put through further rounds of competition as well as attending lectures on algorithms, data structures and other computer science concepts. The top students were then invited to compete in two Australian competitions: The AIIO (Australian Invitational Informatics Olympiad) and the FARIO (French-Australian Regional Informatics Olympiad), from which the

New Zealand team was picked. In April, I travelled with the team to Sydney for further training with the Australian Informatics team at their second training camp at Macquarie University.

The Tsukuba International Congress Centre was where the opening and closing ceremonies were held. The opening ceremony consisted of many dazzling cultural performances as well as a warm welcome from the host country. All 87 teams seated around the hall were then introduced, each group standing and waving to camera excitedly when their country was called, with every team’s unique personality apparent on the huge video screen. The lobby itself was filled with booths from various sponsors, and on the final day we were lucky enough to hear some of the inspirational guest speakers from these tech companies.

The contest was held at the Tsukuba Capio Centre, where the hall was filled by a large matrix of desks, laptops, pens, paper, and contestants. Contestants aim to gain as many points as they can by solving a set of algorithmic/computer science problems by writing programs to solve them.

London International Youth Science Forum 2018

With thanks to Year 13 student, Andrew Chen International Baccalaureate (IB) Student

Towards the end of the July holidays, I was very fortunate to be one of six students selected by the Royal Society of New Zealand to attend the 60th London International Youth Science Forum (LIYSF).

This was an extraordinary event that brought together five hundred young people passionate about science from around the world to discuss modern-day problems and their solutions, better understand each others’ cultures through interaction, and learn more about both the various fields within science and present-day advancements. This was supported by a programme with principal lectures and demonstrations, specialist lectures, visits to research and scientific institutions, and social events.

A definite highlight was the Science Forum Bazaar, a sciencefair like evening where over one hundred students presented their research and practical work. I was taken aback by both the quality, which was highly professional, and wide range of topics, including several new methods of water purification, thought-controlled prosthetics, and a way of characterising asteroids using amateur equipment. It was inspiring to see the incredible potential of people using science to better understand issues in the world today and develop novel solutions.

what it would be like to live in such a global city of close to ten million people. It did not take long to make new friends, be it from Australia, the UK, or even Rwanda. It was fascinating to learn more about each other’s backgrounds, home countries, interests, and hopes for the future. There was great discussion over education systems, and a pleasant surprise to find that many were taking IB!

Central to the programme were many engaging scientific lectures and visits which were excellent in providing an overview and some understanding of many different branches of science. I learnt that stem cell research has progressed so far that serious ethical questions have been raised; that standardising measurements such as time, distance, and mass is an extremely complicated but crucial task; that there have been tremendous advancements made in artificial intelligence for specific tasks, but general AI is much more difficult to develop; that the study of emotion is a thing, and so are earth sciences; that fuel cell technology could soon provide an alternative to fossil fuels; and that there really is an amazing diversity of scientific fields which people can study and use to better the world.

Outside of lectures and visits, there was the opportunity to socialise with other students and explore London – giving us an appreciation of

The spectator stands were filled with cameras and onlooking event organisers. Both contest days were five hours long, consisting of three algorithmic problems each day. Outside, leaders and coaches nervously watched the live scoreboard of every contestant’s performance.

After each contest day, we were taken on various excursions around Tsukuba. With the city being home to Japan’s largest centre for scientific research and development, Japan’s space programme, and numerous research institutions, we were fortunate enough to be taken around some of the fascinating science/technology museums and institutions. Some of the highlights were the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, and the Tsukuba Space Centre. Seeing the vast applications of science and technology, specifically the projects involving robotics and AI, for me was particularly inspiring. We also got to visit Warp Station Edo, a life-size recreation of a traditional Japanese town from the golden age known as Edo (1603 ~ 1868).

On a separate day, the four Kiwi students and our leaders took the express train that runs directly from Tsukuba to Akihabara, Tokyo.

Following the main programme, I was privileged enough to be part of a smaller group which went on to visit France and the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN). Here, we came face to face with the technology that allows the Large Hadron Collider to accelerate protons up to 99.9999991% the speed of light for collision, an engineering miracle made possible through international and transdisciplinary co-operation. Another ‘wow’ moment occurred when visiting ‘The Antimatter Factory’ – we were able to stand on top of a circuit while antimatter passed through, and scientists conducted cutting-edge experiments on the anti-proton. Needless to say, this made the tiny particles we studied in physics so much more real to me. I left CERN in awe that I was living in a day and age where people are uncovering the most fundamental structures of the universe using modern science.

Overall, attending the 60th London International Youth Science Forum is undoubtedly an experience that will remain with me for the rest of my life. It was an extraordinary opportunity to better understand and appreciate a plethora of scientific disciplines and also the lives of young people worldwide. Thus, I want to give a tremendous thanks to my family, the Royal Society of New Zealand, and Saint Kentigern for their support in making this trip possible.

Tokyo was an awesome city to visit and a large contrast compared to the quieter and more humble atmosphere of Tsukuba. We were also able to visit the Asakusa district in Taito, Tokyo. There we visited the Sensoji Temple as well as the Nakamise shopping street: a stunning array of markets, shops, and the usual tourist souvenirs. To end the day, we visited the sky deck of the Asahi tower where we were presented with an amazing view of the city.

After the closing ceremony and sayonara party, all the contestants from all the countries exchanged their farewells and contact details before saying one last goodbye to Tsukuba and heading back on the bus. One of my favourite aspects of the whole experience was how much fun it was meeting so many like-minded new people from different countries. Besides having a mutual passion for Computer Science and Programming, it was fascinating to learn about each other’s home countries, backgrounds, as well as aspirations for the future. Overall, I am incredibly grateful to have been able to travel and compete at the IOI this year in Japan; it was an extraordinary experience that I will never forget.

Year 8 Take on EPRO8 Challenge

Learning opportunities for our students take many different forms!

Over two days, the Goodfellow Centre was transformed to a fast-paced hub of engineering teamwork as all our Year 8 students, working in small groups, pooled their problem-solving skills to compete in the EPro8 Challenge.

EPRO8 pits teams of students against one another to complete a variety of tasks in a set amount of time. Each team was located at a workstation that contained an impressive assortment of equipment, including gears, wheels, pulleys, weights, tools, aluminium framing, motors and electronics. Working quickly and collaboratively, the teams were required to plan/design and build a range of solutions to novel problems, all within certain specifications and under time pressure. The heat was on!

The tasks were not simple and had many dimensions to them, such as creating a solar powered alarm with a light that would tip the occupant out of bed while bringing bring breakfast to them! No easy feat to solve! Practical problems were solved, machines invented to complete tasks, electronic circuits were constructed, and mathematical workings employed.

In addition, there was a need for some strategic thinking. The harder the challenge, the greater the possible score –but there was not enough time for the teams to complete all the challenges – the strategy required working out which

best to choose for maximum points in the allocated time! Throughout the challenge, a live leader board kept track of the score, increasing the sense of urgency and competition.

With three full on sessions over two days, it was a group of girls who came out overall winners! Rosie Smith, Emma Straka, Jacqueline Cao and Mia Wakerly worked collaboratively and effectively to complete their task, gaining the most points overall. With a nationwide focus on encouraging more girls into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) focussed careers, the girls are on the right path to succeed. Well done girls!

This was a fantastic learning opportunity for our Middle College students to work collaboratively on tasks that were mentally challenging, requiring them to draw on scientific, technological and mathematical principles, while learning to listen and value each other’s opinions – all valuable skills for future learning.

EPRO8 Team Joint Winners of Grand Final

Ateam of Year 10 boys put on their problem-solving hats to win a local, then Auckland round of competition, to secure a place in the Upper North Island EPRo8 Challenge Grand Final – which they won jointly with a team from St Peter’s!

After initial success in the local round of this practical engineering competition, Luka Borland-Lye, Akshay Vegesna, Angus Thompson and Alex Facer qualified for the Auckland semi-final at St Peter’s College. Working as a team to pool their ideas and make the best use of the resources available, the boys were in second place until the dying seconds when they managed to get their electronic drum kit completed and ticked off at the buzzer, overtaking St Peter’s College at the final hurdle to finish in first place!

The boys went on to compete in the EPRO8 Grand Final against the finalists from other challenges around the Upper North Island –and won the title with St Peter’s having completed a range of tasks which included: creating a bowling alley whereby different lights are activated depending on how many pins are knocked over. Creating a snail race circuit that keeps a wheeled item in front of the snail, using a range of gears and pulleys in the correct ratios. Creating a limbo stick that will light up or not depending on the polarity of an electromagnet that is moved under it.

Well done boys on your ability to think fast and apply your knowledge to new situations!`

Computer Science Collaboration

Over the course of two terms this year, our Year 12 and 13 Computer Science classes collaborated with advertising agency, ColensoBBDO* on one of their current creative projects, a financial literacy app for The Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) ‘Closed for Good’ programme. Each year BNZ closes its doors for one day and their staff go out into the community to help others become financially aware.

As part of this year’s campaign, ColensoBBDO designed and built a mobile app to support teenagers to become financially savvy. The app was created to present teenagers with their own ‘Moni’ character and offer up a number of financial challenges and choices that our teens need to navigate in order to reach a selected financial goal.

During the development phase, our Computer Science students were offered the opportunity to provide input and feedback on a number of aspects of the app, firstly in its conceptual design phase, and then again in a second session during its prototyping phase. In the process, they have had the fantastic opportunity to discuss their own

project management, design and testing processes with industry professionals.

The Computer Science course at Senior College level calls on our Year 12 Computer Science students to work on their own web app, while Year 13 students have to manage and prototype individual projects, many of them which happen to be apps.

The teams from ColensoBBDO joined our students on two separate occasions and were very impressed with our students’ engagement, professionalism and insight in terms of the feedback they provided towards the development of their app. As a result, they are keen to continue a collaboration with Saint Kentigern in future projects.

Our students certainly appreciated the opportunity to engage at this level. Hearing from, and then being able to ask questions to professionals who are engaged daily in this specialist area, greatly enhanced their learning and opened dialogue for possible future pathways. The Senior College is very grateful to ColensoBBDO for affording this valuable opportunity to our students.

(Note: This App is now available to download.)

*ColensoBBDO is currently famous for making the ‘Get the Skinny’ broadband commercial which has been running on TV recently featuring amongst others, Ben Affleck….from Dunedin!

Computer programming is the process of writing instructions to be executed by computers . The instructions, also known as code, are written in a programming language which the computer can understand and use, to perform a task or solve a problem.

Computer Science at Saint Kentigern

Computer Science is offered at Year 12 and Year 13 at Saint Kentigern and is designed to foster creative and critical practice in a project-based environment. The primary focus of this specialist area is on the design of authentic and contemporary products within the context of digital outcomes.

Building on from Year 11 Level 1 Digital Technology, the specialist Level 2 Computer Science course takes on more advanced areas of programming and UX design at in Year 12. Projects may develop skills such as the integration of graphic design into digital interfaces, interactive website development, responsive application design, digital modelling using industry standard software, database design, and the research and development of experimental digital technologies.

Level 3 is a demanding and independent course that allows students to pursue authentic needs and opportunities in the fields of complex programming and UX development. Projects could include skills such as agile project management to drive the research and development of self-selected projects, critique practices to develop fluent presentation and idea defence during development, and the application of creative and logical reasoning to develop relevant and innovative digital products suitable for contemporary industry.

Future Pathways

Our Computer Science course has been developed with leading tertiary providers to ensure students are well prepared for future study and the industry. Level 3 is an approved University Entrance (UE) course and leads to multiple tertiary pathways including Digital Design, Game Design and Development, Communication Design and Industrial Design.

World Scholars Cup Teams Qualify for Yale

With thanks to Year 11 Student, Amelie Murphy

Four College teams have qualified for the Tournament of Champions at Yale University after competing at the recent World Scholars Cup Global Round in Melbourne! The boys’ Junior team, consisting of Lucas van den Brink, Matt Chandler and Daniel Huang came 11th overall out of over 330 teams present which is a huge achievement.

The World Scholars Cup is a competition which takes place around the world with top scholars at Regional rounds invited to one of three Global rounds for a chance to compete in the final round at Yale University. Saint Kentigern College teams performed well at the Auckland Regional round in May, qualifying for the Global Round in Melbourne.

From August 16 -21, three teams of Middle College students and one team of Senior College students accompanied by Mrs Catherine Watts and Dr Hugh Kemp travelled to Melbourne to compete against 1600 students from 27 countries. The World Scholars Cup encourages academic students to celebrate learning within an exciting, fast-paced yet fun environment.

At the opening ceremony, delegations from as far away as the Bahamas, Nigeria, Qatar and Cambodia were introduced. Students were welcomed by an Aboriginal dance troupe and then heard from the keynote, Gary Turk - who created the viral YouTube spoken word film, ‘Look Up’ - speak about the impacts of social media.

Over the following days, the teams had a mix of competition and free time to explore Melbourne’s culture. During down time, students had the chance to visit Queen Victoria Markets, the National Library of Victoria and the National Art Gallery. There they explored the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) exhibition from New York seeing famous artworks from Picasso, Van Gogh, Salvador Dali and Frida Kahlo just to name a few.

But the real focus was the Academic competitions which included Collaborative writing, debating, and the Scholars’ Challenge and Scholars’ Bowl events. These events involved questions from the six assigned topics that they had been studying in relation to the overarching theme of ‘An Entangled World.’ These subjects included the Science of Memory, Black Markets, History of Diplomacy, Human Relationships and Voices of the Inseparable.

The motions for the team debates were unique ranging from; ‘That diplomats are more important now than they were a 100 years ago’, ‘That things should cost more for richer people,’ to ‘The ability to read minds would make friendships stronger.’

Upon our return, we learned that all four teams have achieved medals for successes in individual and team events and qualified for the Tournament of Champions at Yale – sadly not to be as the event takes place at the same time as NCEA exams!

Great Results At Mathex!

Saint Kentigern had a strong presence at this year’s Casio Mathex Auckland Regional Competition, held at the ASB Stadium. Organised by the Auckland Mathematical Association, more than 200 teams of the best Year 7-10 mathematical brains from schools around Auckland lined up to compete.

Mathex is an exciting, fast-paced night with teams of four students posed 20 tricky mathematical questions in an attempt to gain a full score of 100 points. There is a twist in the competition! This is not is not a traditional sit down and write a test. Nor is it an online ‘choose the correct answer.’ Mathex not only requires quick team thinking and accurate calculations, it needs a team member who can run – fast!

The Middle College teams didn’t disappoint with the Year 8A team winning their event, Year 10B and Year 10A placing 2nd and 3rd respectively. The Year 7A team just missed a spot coming in at 4th place! There were smiles all round at prizegiving!

Of particular note, the Middle College Year 8A Team finished in 14 minutes, that’s’ under half the time allocated for the round, with the 2nd placed team trailing in over 6 minutes behind!

Well done to these budding young mathematicians and to the student coaches: Ben Fraser, Margaret Li, Richard Lu, Arul Gaunder, Andrew Chen, Grace Chang, Daniel Mar, Will Feng, Luce Nie and Eric Li.

MIDDLE COLLEGE

1st Year 8A Emma Ying, Eric Lee, Liam Marks, Matthew Shih

2nd Year 10B Daniel Huang, Kevin He, Esther Oh, Ethan Po

3rd Year 10A Nathan Bailey, Matt Chandler, Michelle Guan, Sam Gunn

Year 7 Science Fair

It was a clean sweep for our girls in the top three placings at this year’s Middle College Year 7 Science Fair!

During Term 2, a diverse range of imaginative projects with a strong scientific focus were put up for scrutiny by a panel of judges. There were plenty of original ideas for our judges to ponder, with the winning projects selected on the basis of their rigour to carry out repeated scientific measurements, fair testing, analysis of the results, returning to reflect on the hypothesis and taking into account any experimental error.

Winner, Sienna Willams, rolled up her sleeves in the garden to declare war on pests eating cabbage plants, comparing the effectiveness of natural and chemical pesticides on the control of pests, and the growth of the plant.

New to the area and looking for a place to swim, Charlotte Muir wondered why people could be seen swimming at Bucklands Beach but not at the Panmure Basin and set about testing water quality, earning second place.

Frances Revell-Devlin also tested beach quality but turned her attention to the degree of plastic particles in the sand, proving her hypothesis, that South Auckland beaches, which are closest to manufacturing areas, had the largest amount of plastic waste. Frances was awarded third place.

Highly Commended awards went to Imogen Perry for her project testing the strength of recycled paper, Daniel Lowe for testing the which material is best suited for absorbing oil spills and Julia Koeman who tested the variables of living conditions for mosquitoes in the hope she could eliminate them from her garden.

In the Middle College Years 7-10, girls and boys are in single gender classrooms and taught separately in all their core subjects, including science but the final Year 7 Science Fair projects were pooled for judging. The Year 7 science projects were judged initially within each class before the final winners were selected from all Year 7 classes.

The six selected went on to the regional NIWA Science Fair where Frances scooped the Environmental Special Award and Charlotte and Imogen were both Highly Commended. Well done girls!

MIDDLE COLLEGE SCIENCE FAIR WINNERS

1st Sienna Williams Pest Armageddon

2nd Charlotte Muir Clean or Contaminated

3rd Frances Revell-Devlin Plastic Tsunami

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Imogen Perry Who’s the Strongest

Daniel Lowe Oil Be Gone

Julia Koeman Mosquito Magnets

NIWA SCIENCE FAIR AWARDS

Special Environmental Award Frances Revell-Devlin

Highly Commended Charlotte Muir and Imogen Perry

Year 13 Study Human Evolution

With thanks to Head of Biology, Mr Bernard Potter

Our story to becoming human is a long and fascinating one. The study of palaeoanthropology and human evolution helps our students understand that we are only one of the many different ‘human’ forms that have lived on this planet, some of whom became extinct while others became ‘us.’

Each year, senior biology students visit Auckland Zoo to support their studies in Human Evolution. This year, we had an engaging lecture on the skeletal, the cranial and the sub-cranial features of modern humans. We considered how specific anatomical developments have contributed to humans having an unprecedented ability to manipulate the world around them.

The skeleton of our closest living relative (the chimpanzee) was used as a comparative species, as both we and they share a direct common ancestor some six million years ago. We were also able to have a ‘hands-on’ session with the replica skulls of other hominin (proto-human) species and their associated stone tools. Students also observed other primates in the zoo to reflect on what makes us a primate of such significant difference.

This experience allowed students to consider the series of biological and cultural events that shaped us into our current form and will contribute to their better understanding of this topic.

Business for the Future

The rigorous discussion which ensued amongst the teachers from this exercise, opened possibilities for practical use back in the classroom. A similar approach would encourage NCEA Business and IB Business Management students to consider, more fully, the impact and ethics of their decision-making in the business world.

Selected secondary school students were also invited to the first day of the workshop where both teachers and students were posed the challenge to create an innovative admissions policy for Ad Astra School, given their popular demand nationally and internationally, while keeping to their commitment of enrolling Space X employee’s children.

Recently two College Commerce staff, Tina Ramakers and Vaishally Patel, were selected to attend a two-day workshop run by Joshua Dahn at AUT University and hosted by the Young Enterprise Trust.

Joshua Dahn is the Principal and Co-Founder of Ad Astra School in Los Angeles, working closely with Elon Musk to support their vision of providing education which prepares students with analytical, evaluative and problem-solving skills so that they are equipped to succeed in a future which they will help shape. Ad Astra School is located in the same physical location as Space X, Elon Musk’s venture to design and launch passenger rocket ships to Mars, and 45% of their current roll hosts Space X’s employees’ children. Ad Astra educates gifted children from the ages of 8-13 years old.

Our teachers were encouraged to critique and design interactive learning projects which encourage self-directed student learning and challenges them to question their own beliefs. These are offered at Ad Astra School as part of their Ethics class. One such activity provided ‘ethic cards’ which required each group to come to a decision about which investors to consider for donations for their assigned business. The issue to consider was that each investor had their own conditions for donation.

Year 13 student, Jayden Lal was one of the fifteen students invited to attend, chosen for his commitment to the Young Enterprise Scheme. Jayden joined students from other schools and his team came up with the winning idea, suggesting that interested applicants could undergo a virtual reality admissions game, where their ethical decisions within the game would be analysed to show their current level of problem-solving and evaluative skills.

Jayden commends the opportunities that the Young Enterprise Scheme has given him. As well as offering him experimental learning through running his own corsage business for college balls and attending this workshop, he visited Singapore earlier in the year through the Young Enterprise Trust’s partnership with the South East Asia Centres of Asia-Pacific Excellence.

The Young Enterprise Scheme is offered as a co-curricular activity in the Senior College to students in Years 12 and 13, who set up an run their own business ventures between Terms 1 and 3. In 2018, there were 40 student participants in the Scheme with wide-ranging products from organic dog treats to an employment website connecting students to businesses and a host of others.

STUDYING BUSINESS AT SAINT KENTIGERN

NCEA Level 1 Business was introduced to the College at the start of 2018 and dovetails into each of the College’s qualification pathways – NCEA and the International Baccalaureate Diploma.

NCEA Level 2 Business will be introduced to the College in 2019 and progress into NCEA Level 3 Business in 2020 and IB Business Management is offered as a Group 3 subject in the International Baccalaureate Diploma.

Each of these courses exposes students to enterprising culture both nationally and globally, encouraging them to develop their business knowledge and decision-making skills in order to be active participants in New Zealand’s economic future.

Ninth Annual Win for Accounting Team!

The Accounting team from the College has won the annual CETA (Commerce and Economics Teachers Association) Pursuits Competition for a record eighth consecutive year; an outstanding result! In the past fourteen years, Saint Kentigern has won the cup nine times!

Representing Saint Kentigern, Daniel Mar, Callum Walsh, Ebba Olsen, Zachary Chan and Theo Thomson joined other secondary schools from across the Auckland region to participate in the seven rounds of rigorous questions to find the supreme champions. While the team faced some tough competition from ACG Parnell and Lynfield College, our students’ exceptional application of their decision-making skills led them to victory – like many Saint Kentigern teams before them!

With the additional challenge of the competition taking place in the lead up to the Senior College Practice Examination week, these students, along with their teacher, Mrs Karen Naude, can be congratulated for stepping up to the challenge and using the competition as a revision tool for their upcoming examinations. Well done team!

The Annual Speakeasy Speech Competion

With thanks to Head of English, Ms JoAnn Wordsworth

From fibs children are told in childhood, to Star Wars and being courageous, through to political correctness and the issue of consent, the range of speech topics at the annual Saint Kentigern Speakeasy Speech Competition was broad and engaging. Students from Years 7-13, including students from the Girls’ School and Boys’ School stepped up to share their speaking talent with a supportive audience in the Goodfellow Centre at the College.

The speakers for the evening were selected from a range of keen participants from each of the Saint Kentigern campuses; the premise being that students wanted to share their ideas and thoughts, rather than feeling it was compulsory task. This, once again, produced high quality speeches on a range of topics. While Middle College students still write speeches as part of their respective English courses, the Senior Students wrote them specifically for this competition.

Senior College winner, Natalya Trombitas spoke to us about ‘why do we feel the need to conform to society’s idea of the ‘perfect’ life?’ - sharing that she feels it is due to ‘Atelophobia - a fear of being imperfect.’ Middle College winner, Danielle Mayer’s spoken word explored the power and importance of the word ‘sorry.’ A new prize

for 2018 celebrates young talent and went to Austin Alcock from the Boys’ School who reminded us of the importance of grit.

Judge for the evening was Old Collegian, Dr James Wenley who described the evening as ‘an amazing celebration of speech.’ An expert in the field of presenting, Dr Wenley was generous in his praise of the speakers. Since leaving the College, Dr Wenley has completed his Doctoral Thesis at the University of Auckland. He discussed how challenging it is to hold an audience’s attention!

Congratulations to all those who stepped up to speak, especially our winners.

Middle College Finalists

Ruby Monk, Year 10; Kyan McKeown-Green, Year 8; Gabrielle Sayer, Year 7; Oliver Evans, Year 8; Danielle Mayer, Year 10; Austin Alcock, Year 8 (BS); Alissa Huang, Year 9 ; Jade Nomani, Year 8 (GS); Cameron Adams, Year 10; Cara-Jane Rewcastle, Year 7.

Senior School Finalists

Wendy Ni, Year 11; Hayden Joyce, Year 11, Christie Martel, Year 11; David Liu, Year 11; Natalya Trombitas Year 13.

Hangi – A First for the College

During Maori language week, staff were encouraged to present a Maori ‘word of the week’ (kupu o te wiki). Head of Food Technology, Mr Jeff Thomas presented the word, ‘hangi’ and an idea was born! It tied in perfectly with the year-long work of Year 12 and Year 13 Food Technology students, who had worked on assignments that featured native New Zealand ingredients and considered the cooking techniques of indigenous Maori and European settlers.

Valance Yates (Year 12) willingly lent his experience and that of his visiting, koro, Tim Hemi and his mother, Michelle Hemi to ensuring the project was authentic and successful. Students prepared the kai in the days prior and on the morning, were all there before 6am to get the fire underway and finish food preparation. Valance and fellow students, Kalani Parkinson and Gareth Lacey put their backs into the hard work of preparing the pit ready for the food, laying the baskets on the hot stones, under the guidance of Mr Hemi, before covering with wet sacking and then by a mound of earth to trap the heat. This was hot, physical work for the boys! Then it was back to class for three hours!

At lunchtime, the covers were peeled back and the food plated up ready for over 60 diners. The result of this long process was tender, off-the-bone meat and delicious vegetables, all infused with a smoky, earthy fragrance.

Classics Tour to Europe

The Classics Tour during the July holidays saw 22 students from Years 11- 13 explore amazing places at the heart of the classical world; a world that has had such a lasting impact on Western civilisation. The trip was an unqualified success! A rich tapestry of art, architecture, stories, history, language and legacy combined to complete the experience.

Landing in Athens, the tour began with a climb to the Parthenon, the surrounding theatres and Roman agora. The day’s exploring concluded with walking to the boundary of the ancient city and exploring the ‘kerameikos,’ the ancient cemetery.

From there, site visits included a journey to remote Epidaurus; home to the healing sanctuary of Asclepios and the site’s beautiful 14,000 seat theatre. The students then explored the ancient citadel of Mycenae, reputedly home of King Agamemon; who led the Greek expedition to Troy.

Surprisingly, the journey to ancient Olympia began with a physical challenge: to climb the 900+ stairs to Palamidi Castle! The trial was accepted as the students took to the wending stairs with gusto! The reward at the climb’s end was worth it! Views, vast and commanding greeted everyone from the battlements at the top. The theme of physical challenges set the scene for our next visit, the site of ancient Olympia – birthplace of the Olympic Games.

Located in the mountains, the village was welcoming and set the scene for the impressive ruins we were to explore. Highlights of the visit included a race on the original Olympic race track, where Isaac Woodd was awarded the laurel wreath for his victory! From Olympia, our intrepid crew journeyed north to the remote site of Delphi, home to the legendary Oracle of Apollo.

Delphi was a place of great significance to the ancient world. We walked through the ancient ruins with the Temple of Apollo at its heart. Here pilgrims would petition the Oracle to divine the will of the gods.

Following an early flight to Italy, the students began their Italian adventure by exploring the stunning town of Sorrento and the Amalfi coast. Fuelled on pizza and lemon soda, the students explored the vast ruins of Pompeii, making their way through the homes, shops and streets of the town before finishing their time entering the amphitheatre – once the preserve of gladiators.

Bidding farewell to Pompeii, we journeyed to Rome – the Eternal City. Our accommodation lay within easy reach of St Peter’s Square and a visit began the afternoon’s exploration. The Square is truly vast and together with the gigantic statues of the apostles looking down on us from St Peter’s itself, it was a reminder of our place in the world.

Wending our way through the maze of Rome’s back streets, we finally arrived at our next destination, The Pantheon. The vast size of the building gave scale to the sites we only saw as ruins in Greece. Upon entry, the enormous dome inside left jaws dropped! The following day saw more exploration, visiting both the legendary Colosseum and the Roman forum, the social and economic centre of the once vast Roman empire.

Our time in Rome was rounded off with a visit to Vatican Museum and the majestic basilica of St Peter’s. The tour saw but a part of the museum’s vast collection and ended with the fabled Sistine Chapel. Long-suffering security guards did their utmost to maintain the sanctity of this remarkable place. This room - vast, contemplative, awe-inspiring – was a juxtaposition to the jumble of humanity moving

With thanks to Senior College Head of Cargill, Mr Steve Broun

slowly through the space. The scale of the paintings contained in this space was incredible.

After a suitable time of contemplation, the challenge was issued by the staff to climb to the top of the dome of St Peter’s. The tribe voted: we were to take the many stairs! The view: outstanding! From this vantage point, the ancient heart of Rome lay before us, with the landmarks we had visited in the previous two days visible in the distance. Satisfied smiles abounded and more than a few pictures were taken!

In addition to the Roman world, the legacy of the empire was also explored in visits to Florence and Venice, where the impact of the ancient world was ever-present in the art, sculpture and architecture of these famous cities. The Uffizi Gallery in Florence provided a veritable cornucopia of art experiences. Highlights, apart from the amazing display of Roman sculpture, were many. The great masters – Botticelli, Caravaggio, Da Vinci - all had works to admire up close. The day ended with a pleasant walk over the Ponte Vecchio to watch the sun set over the River Arno. From there, we climbed the hill to Piazza Michelangelo to admire Florence by night. Many, many photos were taken!

Our final stop was Venice, City of Canals. Exploring the maze of the city’s streets and alleyways, all the essentials of Venice were brought together: canals, gondolas, ancient buildings and bridges.

Firm friendships and a multitude of experiences were brought home to New Zealand – in addition to one or two souvenirs!

Ciao Italia!

The Red Shoes

For six shows over three nights, the new dance studios at the College were transformed into a universal landscape, in which work created by the 31 strong ensemble of students who took part in the Senior College Production of ‘The Red Shoes’ was staged.

The original well-known Hans Christian Andersen story is of a girl who is tempted by a pair of red shoes, which she puts on, but then cannot stop dancing. She dances everywhere and eventually becomes so tired she decides the only way out it to cut off her feet and find salvation. Our own production took its own twists and turns as our senior students devised their own script and original score, with most taking on a multitude of roles.

The formidable Molly Griffiths (Year 13), as ‘Temptation’, commanded the audience, leading them on a physical journey between the two dance rooms, in promenade theatre style, as we were immersed into the story of ‘The Girl,’ played by Isabelle Fox (Year 11), navigating her way through life, as she was presented with a number of seemingly limited options of how her future could look.

Playwright: Devised by the company based on the original story by Hans Christian Andersen

Venue: The new Dance Studios

Staging: Promenade Style: Immersive Storytelling. Ensemble/Devised Theatre. Music original music composed, written and performed by: Jack Horsnell and Venice Qin

Choreography: Molly Griffiths, Isabelle Fox, Ben Shieff.

The lyrical ‘Storytellers,’ Jack Hornell (Year 12) and Venice Qin (Year 12) moved the audience to tears of laughter and sadness with original music which ranged from the quirky and comical to emotional ballads. These often accompanied dances which showed the incredible talent of both dancing and choreography by Ben Shieff (Year 11) playing ‘Clara,’ Molly Griffiths and Isabelle Fox.

With thanks to Drama Teacher, Ms Naomi Wilson

Each time the audience returned to a room, it had been transformed to somewhere ‘The Girl’ travelled to, switching times, and places fluidly, adding a dream-like, or fairy-tale nature to the play. The strong ensemble of actors, who ranged from seasoned actors to newcomers, were outstanding, creating a rich and fantastical world where this fantasy could take place.

Students delved into the devising process and each scene was developed through the use of improvisation. Rehearsals involved students playing and experimenting with ideas that were fed to them about the essence of each scene. Year 13 student, Thomas Webster worked alongside staff, as their Assistant Director and did a wonderful job of building ideas, working with his peers to develop scenes and playing a professional role in the whole process.

This was truly an ensemble piece of theatre and the students learnt much from the demands of the style, forcing them to problem-solve and create. It was a collaborative, creative and imaginative journey.

In typical fairy-tale style, the piece, if at times macabre, was also full of comedy. Supported by bright and vibrant costumes, and a palpable energy from the strong cast, this piece was anything but grim – there were many occasions when the audience laughed out loud at times. This style of immersive theatre can be confronting for an audience who are never quite sure if they may become part of the action but this eclectic blend of drama, movement and voice was bold and challenged our actors and audience with powerful storytelling.

The students would like to sincerely thank Head of Performing Arts, Ms Jane Horder and drama teacher, Ms Naomi Wilson for this incredible learning opportunity that afforded them the chance and the courage to devise and perform their own work.

Dance Showcase

Back in 2001, when the College was still all boys, the original Old Boys’ Sports Centre was opened ‘up on the hill.’ At the time, great thought was given to ‘future-proofing’ the facilities by including a dance studio, and both male and female changing rooms, in anticipation of girls joining the College in 2003. By 2004, both boys and girls were opting for dance as an academic subject.

Over the intervening years, the increasing popularity of dance as an examinable subject has meant that the original dance studio, along with a second ‘temporary’ studio that had been created in the area of the former squash courts, was no longer sufficient to meet demand and so it was, with great anticipation, that our dance students, now numbering 369 in 2018, awaited the opening of the Sports Centre extension early this year!

A state-of-the-art dance studio has been included, which has the capacity to host small performances, as well as be divided into two acoustically separate teaching spaces. This is achieved by having an electrically operated, sound proof dividing wall, which retracts into the ceiling space to give greater flexibility of teaching space. The existing dance studio has been revitalised and another multi-purpose dance/activity room has been created downstairs. These studios have suitably cushioned floors, fit for purpose, to reduce the impact on students’ bodies – and our dancers are just loving the new facilities!

The Showcase is a mix of co-curricular and curriculum dance, with items choreographed by students, guest choreographers and Head of Dance, Mr Geordan Wilcox, along with fellow dance teacher, Mr Ichiro Harada. This year over 130 dancers were involved, performing 32 varied and entertaining pieces from contemporary dance to jazz, hip hop and classical ballet.

As well as small group performances, each year level presented a full class piece. For the first time this year, there has been a full Year 9 boys’ dance class; they presented a piece by guest choreographer, Richie Cesan. The Year 8 girls were also involved for the first time with a piece from guest choreographer, Justine de Kock.

For our Year 12 and 13 dance students, the pressure was on both the choreographers and the performers to get every last detail correct as their work was being assessed for NCEA.

Our Year 12 and 13 dance students held auditions early in the year for students in Years 9-13 who wished to be involved. This included all students, not just those studying dance. The senior students developed many different skills through the process of

choreographing for the Showcase; they managed auditions and dancers, organised rehearsals and costumes, and managed timelines while working collaboratively with others and developing their leadership skills. They were also involved in the technical aspects of the production.

The Academy/Extension Programme was set up during the course of 2016, catering for different levels and styles of dance, including classical ballet, contemporary, jazz and hip-hop. Students audition for a place, attending extra Period 0 (before school) and Period 7 (after school) classes, as well as Saturday classes. These extra classes include coaching, pilates, yoga and conditioning as well as learning dance works for performance, both at College and beyond. The classes are taught by College dance staff, Mr Geordan Wilcox and Mr Ichiro Harada, as well as a range of itinerant dance specialists who expose the students to a wide range of teaching and performance styles.

To produce a show of this calibre is an enormous amount of work and it’s quite incredible that the rehearsals and performances for many of the items were largely student-led. The Showcase fosters creativity as students develop themes and concepts for their dance works and explore dance as a medium for expression. Their themes explored difficult, emotional issues that had a real impact on the audience.

Well done to all involved! The performances were incredible!

Our sincere thanks to guest choreographers: Richie Cesan, Livi Obern, Greer Ritchie, Ben CJ, Andrew Cesan and Brooke Moody

International Success

We’re delighted to learn that talented Year 11 ballet dancer, Monet Hewitt was one of only two dancers to be recognised with a gold award at the Genée International Ballet Competition in Hong Kong, one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world. The 2018 Genée brought 51 of the world’s finest young dancers from 13 nationalities, aged between 15 and 19 years old to perform three solos. After a week of intensive coaching from world-renowned teachers and choreographers, the competitive final saw Monet awarded gold, along with Joshua Green, aged 17 from Australia, from the 51 dancers entered. Monet now leaves Saint Kentigern to take up a full-time scholarship at the English National Ballet School (ENBS). We wish her well as she travels abroad to take up this amazing opportunity.

Monet was not alone with recent international success. Year 9 student, Ruby Ryburn, also competed in Hong Kong at the Asian Grand Prix Ballet Competition and went through to the finals where she was awarded ‘Outstanding Dancer’ for her age group, a full scholarship to return in 2019 and one of the three ‘Capezio Awards’ for showing most potential and promise over the whole Asian Grand Prix Competition. Well done Ruby!

In another dance genre, Raychel Tapsel and Ethan Doughty have both recently returned from the Hip Hop Internationals in Phoenix Arizona where Raychel went through to the finals finishing in 3rd place. She also danced in ‘Yung ID’ with Ethan, also going through to the finals, placing fifth overall in their division. Well done to these four talented students!

YEAR 7 AND 8 SUPREME WINNER

Chloe Miller and Zoe Taylor

I Crashed my UFO

YEAR 9 AND 10

SUPREME WINNER

Tayla Craigen

A New Tune

E-TEXTILE STARTER PACK WINNER

Awarded by AUT for outstanding effort in textile class

Holly Gardner

The Longest Drink in Town

Middle College Wearable Art Show

At the start of New Zealand Fashion Week, Saint Kentigern’s own ‘fashionistas’ stepped out on the catwalk for a spectacular show, as students in Years 7-10 confidently ‘strutted their stuff’ in in a range of ‘wearable art’ garments they had designed and constructed themselves. With almost 90 costumes on show and each section introduced by a dance group, there were close to 200 Middle College students involved! With prizes up for grabs across five categories, excitement was high, ticket sales were brisk and there wasn’t a spare seat in the house as an audience of almost 700 family members turned up in support!

For the seventh year we are truly grateful to two remarkable women who have given freely of their time since the very first show.

Professional ‘people mover,’ Kiri Whitford-Joynt from ID with Style and Red Studio has been a stalwart since the outset, spending many patient hours working with the models to give them confidence out on the catwalk. Media personality, Wendy Meyer, returned once again as the continuity announcer, setting a relaxed yet professional tone for the performers and keeping the audience involved. Over the years, she has become the ‘voice and face’ of the show.

The three judges this year were Belinda Watt, HOD Fashion Design at Whitecliffe College, Victoria M.Azaro, also from Whitecliffe and mixed media artist, Jenny Foster and their task was not an enviable one!

After much discussion, Chloe Miller and Zoe Taylor’s zany, silvery UFO (I Crashed my UFO) won the Supreme Award for Years 7-8 and a music inspired piece won Tayla Craigen the Supreme Award for Years 9-10.

The combination of fashion and dance made this a fantastic show case of studentinspired creativity and it was greatly enjoyed by the huge audience!

KIWIANA AND PASIFIKA

Year 7 and 8:

Rebecca Anderson

Evil Sea Princess

Year 9 and 10:

Kelly McKinnon

Mother Nature’s Bird

PRE-LOVED AVANT

Year 7 and 8: Sophie Ziegler

Pom Pom Prom

HIGHLY COMMENDED DESIGNERS

Year 9 and 10: Paris

Year 7-10: Neve

Year

IN THE DARK

Year 7 and 8: Sienna Williams Spot the Chameleon

Year 9 and 10: Danielle Eccles Kaleidoscope

Holly Hughes and Lulu Sinclair Tying NZ Together Samiya Patel Pom Pom My World Grace Evans She’ll be Right

Campbell Wright Number 8 Wire Mentality

Letitia Liang Popsicle Fairy

Hayley Adams, Emma Jorgensen, Hannah Riley In a Dancer’s Shoes

Nika Martinez Azaro Little Red Basket

Bella Franicevic Secret Life of Butterflies

Jacob Johnson, Joshua Evangelidakis and Oliver Evans An Open Book

Bella Moyes Let the Bees Be

AVANT GARDE

Wong Eggcentric Geometric SCIENCE FICTION

Webster Futuristic Bride

7-10: Sarah Harper and Anna Liu Free as a Bird GLOW

Silver at Big Sing

With thanks to Choral Director, Mr Lachlan Craig

The College’s choral programme has been very successful once again this year, with our Premier Choir, Kentoris selected to compete at the 2018 New Zealand Choral Federation’s ‘The Big Sing Finale’ held in the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington. The choir gained a Silver award after two very impressive performances in the competition.

Selection into the National Finale puts our students in the ‘Top 24’ choirs nationally, from the original 270 choirs that competed across the country. Their result places them as one of the top five mixed voice choirs in the country and is a wonderful reflection of the students’ hard work.

Kentoris performed five pieces for the competition which varied in style, composition, language and vocal skills. Their performances also drew on some exceptional solo and instrumental work from our students. A string quartet, drawn from members who are in both Kentoris and the Gold Award winning Chamber Orchestra, accompanied the performance of Ola Gjeilo’s ‘The Ground.’

Choir Leader, Desmond Yong has been performing as part of the NZ Secondary Students Choir – a choir that runs for a two-year cycle. Saint Kentigern has had a representative in this choir for the last fifteen years and Desmond was able to share his impressive bassbaritone voice with a solo in Eric Whitacre’s ‘Cloudburst.’

New Outfit for Kentoris

Year 13 students, Jacob Borland-Lye and Harrison Griffiths, known for their excellent performances of Raoul and Phantom in the Senior College Musical earlier in the year, teamed up again to stand out as soloists in a traditional Venezuelan piece, ‘Mata Del Anima Sola’. Year 11 student, Catherine Chang, also featured as an pianist at the Big Sing for the first time, performing ‘Neither The Moon By Night – a piece which was commissioned for the Saint Kentigern Choirs this year and has been performed jointly by Kentoris and the choirs from the Boys’ School and Girls’ School. The composer Thomas LaVoy was able to watch the competition on livestream from Marquette and commented, ‘One of the great joys of my career as a composer, to watch these wonderful singers bring my music to life. Congratulations to Kentoris, and all the other choirs and performers. Beautiful work!’

When the choir took to the stage in Wellington, the girls were wearing a new costume designed by Year 13 student, Staryo Warren –they looked stunning!

Our thanks to Mr Craig, Ms Francis, Ms Horder and Mr Gilmour for their effort in supporting the students at the Big Sing this year.

Earlier in the year, the Uniform Committee suggested that it was timely for the girls in Kentoris to have a costume they could be proud to wear at the National Big Sing. Senior Fashion and Textile Design students were given a design brief to come up with a classical costume suitable for the choir, that would be unique to Saint Kentigern. They were given the design elements (which they were able to manipulate) and brand guideline colours as a guide. Senior College Principal, Mrs Suzanne Winthrop gave feedback throughout the process and two designers from Argyle Schoolwear were also involved from the start to guide the students. The clear winner was Year 13 student Staryo Warren who used a shimmery fabric for the body contrasted with chiffon fabric for the split sleeves, which gave the outfit a point of difference. The Celtic design was screen printed with an ombre effect on the front which makes it unique to Saint Kentigern. Congratulations Staryo, the effect on stage was stunning.

Senior Solo Music Competition

In a fantastic night of entertainment, eleven of our leading 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: Voice, Piano, Wind or Strings.

Unlike the many other ensemble musical performance opportunities during the course of the year, this event put each individual player into the spotlight under the watchful scrutiny of our two adjudicators for the evening - Warwick Robinson, Head of

Music at Westlake Boys’ High and Timothy Carpenter, Director of Choral Music at St Paul’s Collegiate. These students were all exceptional musicians!

In his opening address, Head of Music, Mr Ross Gerritsen said, ‘Whilst performing solo is not for every musician, the process for preparing, delivering and reflecting on competitive performance, unquestionably strengthens musical fortitude and enhances the quality of a musician.’

Whilst selecting winners in each section proved difficult, the judges were unanimous in their decision to select Double Bass player, John Moon as the winner of the strings section and overall winner. John also won the strings section last year. Playing Koussevitsky’s Double Bass Concerto, John’s skill and poise in front of an audience was clear for all to see.

OVERALL SOLO MUSIC CHAMPION

John Moon, Double Bass

Solo Music Competition Finalists

Voice Section

Jacob Borland-Lye – Section Winner

Venice Qin

Desmond Yong

Wind Section

Adam Perry, Piano Accordion – Section Winner

Jesse Niu, Oboe

Eric Zheng, Clarinet

Piano Section

Catherine Chang - Section Winner

Selena Chen

String Section

John Moon, Double Bass - Section Winner

Ericia Chang, Violin

James Wu, Guitar

Gold for Music Ensembles!

With thanks to Acting Head of Music, Mr Oliver Gilmour

The College Music programme hit all the right notes with a pleasing collection of awards at the 2018 KBB Music Festival. Held at Holy Trinity Cathedral and St Mary’s Church in Parnell over the course of a week, the annual festival showcased the very best in secondary school music from schools across Auckland in four categories: Symphony Orchestra, Concert Band, Jazz Band and Chamber Orchestra.

We were delighted with the performance of our groups, in particular the Concert Band and Chamber Orchestra who were both awarded Gold – a fit reward for two groups of hard-working musicians!

Following a strong performance, the Concert Band was selected as one of the Top 4 Concert Bands in Auckland to go on and participate in the Gala Concert. The band presented their performance of ‘Arabesque’ by Samuel Hazo and were very fortunate to have Mr David Chaulk conduct his own piece, ‘Meditation on St Clement’. Mr Chaulk worked alongside the band to develop their skills in performing his work. In addition to being presented with a Gold Award, the

band also received the ‘Best Performance of a New Zealand Work’ for Mr Chaulk’s piece.

A second Gold Award was presented to the Chamber Orchestra for their performance of Stravinsky’s ‘Pulcinella Overture’, ‘October’ by the celebrated composer Eric Whitacre and ‘The Banks of Green Willow’ by George Butterworth. A New Zealand piece was included in their programme; Andrew Baldwin’s ‘I Lift Up My Eyes to the Mountains’. It was fantastic to see this group recognised for their exceptional string playing.

In addition to Gold, three further groups received Bronze Awards. The first went to the Symphony Orchestra’s for their performances of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Romeo and Juliet Overture’, ‘Morning from Peer Gynt Suite’ by Grieg and Mozart’s ‘Flute Concerto in G.’ Special mention must be made of flautist, Catherine Chang, for her solo performance during the flute concerto.

The Saint Kentigern Big Band was also awarded a Bronze, playing Ted Snyder’s ‘Who’s Sorry Now’, ‘Secret Love’ by Sammy Fain, ‘Desafinado’ by Jobim, Irving Berlin’s ‘Cheek to Cheek’, and ‘Take The A Train’ by Billy Strayhorn.

The String Ensemble was the third group to be awarded Bronze. This is a new ensemble to cater for our younger string players and the judges enjoyed their performance of ‘Three Bach Chorales’ by JS Bach, ‘Finlandia’ by Sibelius, ‘Finale from Serenade for Strings’ by Tchaikovsky and Gary Fagan’s ‘Appalachian Celebration’.

In addition, another development group, the Wind Band, and the Stage Band were entered in the non-competitive category and enjoyed the opportunity to play in a professional venue to a public audience.

The Music Department is particularly proud of these results. These ensembles highlight the growing depth of instrumental music at the College ensuring a strong flow of musicians for the future.

HOUSE MUSIC BAND WINNER

1ST HAMILTON

2ND CHALMERS

3RD STARK

4TH CARGILL

5TH WISHART

6TH WILSON

Chalmers Rocks the House!

Whether held in Elliot Hall, at the Auckland Town Hall, the Aotea Centre or Manukau’s Vodafone Events Centre, the annual House Music competition has become a veritable gladiatorial occasion! It exemplifies the highly competitive nature of our Year 13 student leaders, the choirs they muster and the talented musicians they call on to form bands to battle for rock supremacy – and, of course, for the allimportant House points! Alongside the six College House Choirs, our boarders from Bruce House also compete.

Instigated back in the 1980’s, House Music has evolved over the years. Originally, it was a formal event where each choir was required to sing the School Song, along with a song of choice. All dressed the same, in formal school uniform, there was a certain ‘uniformity’ and ‘formality’ to the event.

HOUSE MUSIC

OVERALL WINNER

1ST CHALMERS

2ND STARK

3RD HAMILTON

4TH WISHART

5TH CARGILL

6TH WILSON

That has long flown out the window! With the change to House shirts, adding colour to the occasion; the choirs growing from four to six (with the addition of two new Houses in 2017); and the choirs themselves swelling in number to be in excess of 200 students, along with the addition of a rock band section, this has become a true

spectacle! This year, there were more students on stage than the entire school roll in the 80’s!

The 2018 edition of House Music was more spectacular than ever, with increased involvement, especially from the Middle College.

Chosen by Head of Music, Mr Ross Gerritsen, the theme for the choirs this year was ‘Winning Songs from previous House Music Competitions;’ a move which hoped to guarantee a great song choice and an almost ‘Champion of Champions’ feel!

The 2018 choices were:

Cargill Man in the Mirror (2008 win)

Chalmers Don’t Stop Believing (2012 win)

Hamilton Why Does Love Do This To Me? (2013 win)

Wishart Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (2010 win)

Stark Bohemian Rhapsody (2006 win)

Wilson Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (2009 win)

Bruce House Don’t Stop (2011 win)

After many lunchtimes trying to coach their choirs to tunefulness, the prefects led their choirs to the stage. In a riot of colour, movement and song, each House gave it their best, followed by the House Bands – the latter half of the evening truly showcasing some spectacular musical talent and stage presence amongst our students!

The judges for the evening were the ‘Grandfather of New Zealand Music,’ Mike Chunn and Old Collegian, Alex Ferrier. Together, they had the difficult task of picking the winners according to set criteria which marked tone, tunefulness, diction, presentation, originality of ideas and overall effectiveness for each choral contribution, with similar criteria for the bands.

As the judges retired to deliberate, the evening ended with performances of ‘Living on a Prayer’ and ‘We are the Champions’ by the staff rock band, led once again by Mr Gerritsen - bringing the student audience to their feet in loud appreciation!

Judging is never an easy task and the first moment of silence all evening came when Middle College and Senior College Principals, Mr Duncan McQueen and Mrs Suzanne Winthrop came forward to announce the winners and award the cups.

Excited cheers from Chalmers at winning the House Choir section became absolutely thunderous when they discovered they had placed second in the Band section giving them an unassailable lead to win this year’s House Cup! Hamilton took top honours for the Bands. As one of the smaller, new Houses, Stark deserves a mention for their overall second placing, a well-deserved outcome.

HOUSE MUSIC CHOIR WINNER

1ST CHALMERS

2ND STARK

3RD WISHART

4TH WILSON

5TH CARGILL

6TH HAMILTON

7TH BRUCE HOUSE

Grecian Garden Inspired Ball

With thanks to Senior College Head of Stark, Miss Alice Hamilton Arriving in varying style from limousines to party buses, 880 of our Year 12 and 13 students and their guests made their way to the Viaduct Events Centre on Wynyard Quarter for an unforgettable night of socialising dining and dancing at this year’s College Ball.

Surrounded by Grecian pillars with tumbling ivy and fairy lights, the Grecian Garden inspired ball room was beautifully decorated in white, green and gold hues creating a magical setting for the evening. As always, our girls looked absolutely stunning in their evening wear and our boys were transformed into smart young men in their formal suits.

Year after year, our College Ball is a well organised event. Our students always rise to the occasion and enjoy one of the best nights of the year - a night they will long-remember. For the Student Council, whose task it is to bring the evening together, it’s an exciting time as they work as a team to ensure that their ball is, by some small detail, better than the year before. It’s quite a challenge and yet every year the bar is raised another notch as the students check their task lists and issue the tickets knowing they have done all they can to make sure it’s an evening all can enjoy.

With the decibels turned up, the dance floor was soon pumping as the students set about having a great night out with their friends. This year, the students were able to request songs, adding to the fun. The official photographers were kept busy at each station, as were the ‘do-it-yourself’ photo booths, as students lined up to capture the evening. The Council went ‘all out’ this year with a 360° photobooth - just like they have on the red carpet at the Oscars!

As the evening wore on, the ‘walk and fork’ style menu of sliders, Greekinspired food, mini pizzas, pies and noodle boxes filled with salads were a welcome break to take a rest from dancing and ‘refuel’.

The students were able to vote for the ‘titles’ given out on the night and after much deliberation by the Student Council, the students and staff who stood out for all the right reasons were awarded sashes, to their great delight!

King and Queen of the Ball

Prince and Princess of the Ball

Cutest Couple

Best Dressed Male

Best Dressed Female

Best Dressed Male Teacher

Hannah Williams and Rivez Reihana

Sam Ashton and Alex Hynds

Courtney Griffiths and Max Shorter

George Shirtcliffe

Milly Heimsath

Keith Taylor

Best Dressed Female Teacher Gemma Halford

We constantly delight in our College students and the Ball is a chance for staff to see them in a totally new light. Their politeness, positive pride and enthusiasm for the occasion were a pleasure to share.

Our sincere thanks to the Student Council for the dedicated and detailed work they undertook alongside Miss Alice Hamilton in planning the Ball. This is an enormous undertaking and one they can be proud of!

Student Council: Grace Payn, Rafe MacDonald, Bianca Connell, Abby Fowler, Brian Lee, Staryo Warren, Mackensie Cooper and Bella Thornton.

The Ceilidh

The Saint Kentigern ‘clan’ once again raised their knees and voices in celebration of our Scottish heritage at the annual Ceilidh. The traditional Gaelic gathering included plenty of music, singing, dancing, haggis, banter and, of course, good cheer!

On a crisp and clear night, the guests were welcomed to Elliot Hall by our younger 2nd Pipe Band, who were also joined by the pipers and drummers from the Boys’ School, before The Pipes and Drums of Saint Kentigern led the ‘Grand March’ into the hall.

It took very little convincing from caller, Bev Young to entice our guests onto the floor for the first round of dance. The Ceilidh regulars were easy to spot, as were those new to the dances but somehow the twinkled toed and two left feet melded into one! Gauging by the huge smiles and laughter, everyone was having an equally good time, regardless of dancing ability!

The evening was interspersed with entertainment, beginning with the Drum Fanfare. With lightning dexterity, the drummers’ sticks moved in rhythm, not only playing their own drums but the ones next to them too! The star of the night –the haggis – was then piped into the hall and addressed by Year 13 Drum Major, Fraser McEwen. This is the second year that Fraser has taken on the task and his performance of Robbie Burns’ ‘Ode to the Haggis’ was animated and passionate, attracting deserved applause.

Entertainment continued when we welcomed diminutive Grace Broun to the floor. She may have only been seven years old but she was nimble on her feet as she demonstrated the sword dance to an audience of almost 200! Songsters followed on, with a solo by Year 12 student, Venice Qin before the evening concluded with all taking to the floor to and sing dance to ‘Auld Land Syne’ with the final moment given to the Pipers to finish with ‘Amazing Grace.’

The Pipes and Drums would like to express heartfelt thanks and appreciation to our sponsors who generously donated goods for auction to assist in their next venture abroad –hopefully a return trip to the Basel Tattoo in Switzerland within the next two years!

Medal Haul for Cyclists!

With thanks to Cycling Coach, Mr Rick Faulding

For our 75 College cyclists, the season started with a challenging three-day camp in Taupo in April. Racing began two weeks later with the 17km Auckland Secondary Schools Team Time Trial Series based at Pukekohe. Over Terms 3 & 4 the Series was contested over 6 races. The Junior Girls A team won both the Series and Finals Day, while our Senior Boys placed 2nd both in the Series and on Finals Day.

NORTH ISLAND YEAR 7&8 CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Held during the last week of August, the day’s racing delivered a silver medal for our Year 7&8 Girls and bronze for our Year 7&8 Boys. The highlight of the day for Saint Kentigern College was a gold medal in the Road Race for Ruby Spring who rode impressively to cross the finish line in a dominant first place.

NORTH ISLAND CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The North Island Cycling Championships were held in Cambridge at the beginning of July, where our team performed exceptionally well with a great number of podium places.

Emma Hannan 1st - Team Time Trial - Junior Girls A

Sacha McLeod 1st - Team Time Trial - Junior Girls A, 3rd - U16 Girls Road Race

Callum Walsh 2nd - Team Time Trial Senior Boys A, 2nd - U20 Boys Team Pursuit, 3rd - U20 Boys Team Sprint

Ryan Church 2nd - Team Time Trial Senior Boys A

Zachary Cantell-Roberts 2nd - Team Time Trial Senior Boys A, 2nd - U20 Boys Team Pursuit 3rd - U20 Boys Team Sprint

Jacob Hannan 2nd - Team Time Trial Senior Boys A

Cameron Manley 2nd - U20 Boys Team Pursuit, 2nd - U20 Boys Keirin Race 3rd - U20 Boys Team Sprint

Jensen Foster 1st - U17 Boys Criterium, 2nd - Team Time Trial Senior Boys A, 2nd - U20 Boys Team Pursuit, 3rd - U20 Boys Team Sprint, 3rd - U17 Boys Keirin Race, 3rd - U17 Boys Scratch Race

THE SOUTHERN TOUR

The Southern Tour is the South Island’s equivalent of the Northern Tour. This year it was held the weekend before the Northern Tour in the Blenheim area. Two of our cyclists made the journey to compete.

U14 Ruby Spring U14 Girls - 1st , ITT - 1st, Criterium - 1st, Hill Climb - 1st, Road Race - 1st

U16 Emma Hannan U16 girls - 2nd, Criterium - 2nd, Hill climb - 2nd, Road race - 2nd

THE NORTHERN TOUR

The Northern Tour is widely respected as being a worthy test of a cyclist. It features a 4km (U16) and 8km (U17 & U19) Individual Time Trial at Point England, a challenging hill climb up Mt Wellington and a multi-lap Criterium at Highbrook.

NORTHERN TOUR TOP 5 RESULTS

U14 Ruby Spring ITT GOLD, Hill Climb 2nd, Crit GOLD, Overall GOLD

U17 Jensen Foster ITT GOLD, Crit 2nd, Overall 2nd U20 Jacob Hannan Crit GOLD, Overall 3rd

U16 Emma Hannan ITT 3rd, Hill Climb 3rd, Overall 3rd U16 Sacha McLeod ITT 2nd, Overall 4th

U15 Sophie Spencer ITT 2nd, Overall 4th

U15 Sophie de Vries ITT 3rd, Crit 3rd, Overall 5th

Hockey Boys National Champions!

With thanks to Director of Sport, Mr Martin Piaggi

This year, the boy’s Hockey 1st XI started the season with high expectations. A mature side, many of the players had been together for five years under the watchful eye of Ramesh Patel, their coach. Chris Dowdle, who has since moved on as a teacher, was also heavily involved with this team prior to this year.

The team had a good pre-season, drawing only one game in the ANZAC tournament and winning all the other games. They headed into the season taking one game at a time but it was evident from early on that it was going to take a very good side to beat them.

The team trusted implicitly the systems that their coach had put in place and they trusted the work that each of the players had done both in the gym and developing their skills. The team trained and played as a team. They were a very tight group.

Each time they were challenged, and they were challenged, they never panicked, they dug in and they came through with a win. They were miserly in the goals they conceded, and they often left it until literally the last minute to score their winner. They went through the Auckland competition unbeaten, then went through the Super City competition unbeaten. They won their semi-final and then the final to be crowned Auckland Super City Champions for the first time.

Winter Tournament Week hockey play was for the Rankin Cup - this is the equivalent of the Maadi Cup (rowing) or the Gillett Cup (cricket) for hockey. For years, Saint Kentigern strived to make it into

the tournament. We had never made the Top 4 before this year and so we were delighted when the team went through the tournament unbeatenthe only side to do so!

They met Christ College, the defending champions, in the final – a game that was a ‘typical’ final. With so much at stake, both sides were very respectful of each other and were reluctant to push forward. Saint Kentigern scored after 20 minutes and although both sides had multiple penalty corners, neither were able to convert and the final score remained 1-0. Saint Kentigern won the Rankin Cup for the first time in the history of the College! The trophy itself has been played for since 1923.

The co-captains of the team, Adam Alovili and Malcolm Curley led with their own individual performances. Adam Alovili, the lethal and devastating striker and Malcolm Curley, the calm and skilful midfielder. Adam Alovili scored 5 goals, 4 from deadly accurate drag flicks, but his general field play was worthy of his selection as a nationally recognised athlete in the Pathway to Podium Black Sticks squad. Malcolm Curley, an extremely talented and skilful midfielder scored 4 field goals and the crucial winners in the quarter-final and final. Adam was named the MVP of the team, voted by opposition teams.

The team scored a total of 20 goals and conceded 4. It was fitting that in presenting the cup, the president of Hockey New Zealand mentioned how inspirational it was to have Ramesh Patel, Olympic Gold Medallist in 1976, give up his time to coach a secondary school hockey team. This win was the culmination of 8 years work. Firstly, securing the services of Ramesh as coach, and then working with the strength and conditioning coaches and bringing a squad of boys together young and mature to eventually challenge at the highest level. This was a monumental achievement!

RUGBY

Winter Sports Round Up

With thanks to Head of Sport, Mr Martin Piaggi

The Sports Centre at the College is host to hive of activity during the winter months as our teams prepare for and then represent Saint Kentigern on the field, track, court and turf. From early in the morning until late into the evening throughout the winter months, our young sportspeople train hard to represent Saint Kentigern to the very best of their ability.

There is always a huge amount of pride when our young men and women pull on the blue and white. Sometimes the outcomes are everything they hoped for, sometimes they are beaten by a better side but the most important thing is to know that they went out there giving it everything they had.

There is much to learn from being a sportsperson; whether as part of a team or competing individually, it takes drive, hard work and a true passion for their sport to succeed. With this comes resilience to ride the knockbacks and determination to make every performance better than the last. Whether a win or a loss, pride comes with knowing you gave your personal best.

The 1st XV season under new Head Coach, Tasesa Lavea started with winning the Quadrangular Trophy. We hosted the tournament here in Auckland and played Scots and St Andrew’s winning both matches comfortably and securing the Trophy. The team then went through the entire 11 games of the regular season without losing a game and securing a 4 try bonus point in every game but 1. Unfortunately, in the semi-final they came up against a side that was as determined as they were. The resulting loss meant our season was over, but it gave the opposition the chance to go onto the New Zealand Top 4 competition which they eventually won.

The rugby season saw good competitive games across all grades. The U15 restricted and the 2nd XV both made it through to the finals. The U15 restricted improved dramatically over the season and won an epic semi-final 3-0 to progress to the final. They were well beaten in the final, but it was an extremely satisfying season. The 2nd XV also won an extremely tight semifinal. In the final they came from behind and finished the stronger of the 2 teams but had to settle for a draw and a shared title.

Congratulations to the five boys named in the New Zealand Schools’ Rugby team: Matt Graham, Isiah Punivai, Rive Reihana, Tiaan Tauakipulu and Tamaiti Williams. A further three boys were named in the New Zealand Schools’ Barbarians team: Peni Lasaqa, Mahonri Ngakuru an Robert Rush. Congratulations also go to Mahina Paul for her selection to the Rugby Sevens team for the Youth Olympics.

FOOTBALL BOYS

The boys’ 1st XI Football team played a real team game all year not relying on superstars but believing in their structures and each other. They went through the 14-game season - 7 home and 7 away games - unbeaten. This was an amazing accomplishment winning a trophy that dates back to 1927. Saint Kentigern last won this trophy in 1988! The team worked hard on and off the pitch this year, well captained by Jared Sinkinson. The team travelled to Christchurch for the Nationals where, by their own standards, they finished a creditable but disappointing 3rd place.

Boys 15A won their grade, beating King’s to take their title. Boys 15A1 were a close 2nd to Sacred Heart in their 15A1 East grade with SKC 15B White behind them in 3rd.

Boys 14A1 won their grade for the season in the 14B East grade. Senior Gold 3rd XI finished 4th in their grade.

NETBALL

FOOTBALL GIRLS

The girls’ 1st XI Football team were once again crowned Auckland Champions and Knock Out Cup Champions. The girls beat a determined Baradene in the final. Scores were level at full time and level after extra time, with the girls winning the penalty shoot-out and Brooke Willie, our goalie saving a penalty. They then travelled to Taupo for the Nationals. Without Hannah Blake (stress fracture to the back), our New Zealand representative player, it was always going to be a tough week. The girls played well and battled to finish 9th.

Our Junior A Girls just missed out on a podium position finishing 4th in Junior A grade. The Senior A Girls finished top of Senior A2 Plate.

The Premier Netball team have not yet finished their season. They will head off to the Nationals in Timaru during the October holidays but here in the Auckland competition, they made it through to the final against Epsom Girls Grammar. The scores were tied at full time and still tied after 10 minutes of extra time. The game then went to golden point either side, needing to gain a two goal advantage. Unfortunately, we were unable to convert our goals and the team placed 2nd.

The girls then headed to the Upper North Island competition, where they had to place in the top 6 to progress to the Nationals. The girls managed to place 4th after losing to Epsom Girls and Howick on the last day. Tayla Earle and Cecile Velghe were named in the Tournament Team with Tayla named Player of the Tournament.

The Senior A Netball team had a successful season improving throughout and winning their final comfortably. The Senior Stars, the Senior Dragons, the Senior Comets all won their grades while the top Year 9 side were runners up.

TABLE TENNIS

Nathan Xu continued his dominance in table tennis winning the U15 NZSS title.

Nathan will attend the upcoming Junior Olympics to represent New Zealand.

After placing 2nd in the Auckland Competition, the Premier Golf Team travelled to Palmerston North for two rounds of golf in the NZSS Championships. Conditions proved tough for both rounds but the boys managed 4th in New Zealand overall.

BADMINTON

The Premier Badminton team placed 2nd in the Auckland Competition and in the NZSS tournament at North Harbour lost to Rangitoto on countback to miss out on a semi-final spot but placed a very creditable 5th in New Zealand.

BASKETBALL BOYS

The boy’s Premier Basketball team has had a fantastic season making it through to the semi-final of the greater Auckland competition. This is a 7 home 7 away competition, similar to boy’s football, only with semifinals and finals. With catch up games being played late in the season, the boys ended up playing 5 games in 10 days at the back end of the season but battled hard and won the last round-robin game to secure a semi-final. Up by 16 points going into the final quarter, the boys just ran out of puff. They then went onto Zone 1 premiership where they made it through to the final. This is an exceptional result gaining them 2nd qualifying spot for Nationals which should give them a favourable draw.

GOLF

20 Medals at AIMS Games

What a fantastic week of sporting competition for our Year 7 and 8 students at the AIMS Games in Tauranga!

Attending one of the biggest sporting events in the southern hemisphere, with a record 10,851 athletes representing over 300 schools from around New Zealand and the Pacific, this was a nonstop week of sporting competition!

The Middle College entered teams in boys basketball, mixed waterpolo and girls’ hip hop with the girls’ football, girls’ hockey and netball teams combined with the Girls’ School, and the boys’ football combined with the Boys’ School. Students were also entered in individual codes such as swimming, tennis, yachting, gymnastics, cross country and rock climbing and BMX.

The first medal of the games came from the Middle College Hip Hop team with the girls collecting silver. Dressed in eye-catching orange, the girls gave an energetic, well-executed performance to catch the eye of the judges. Many will have seen the girls perform their polished routine at the Middle College Wearable Arts Show. Well done to this group of Year 7&8 dancers.

In the pool, Sunny Sun joined with Thomas Hunter and James Cosbie from the Boys’ School and Alexandra Campion from the Girls’ School to gain silver in the Free Relay. This was a strong team of individual swimmers who each made a fantastic effort to come together as one to gain a medal for Saint Kentigern.

Year 7 Middle College students, Connor Eccles and Darcy McDonald both achieved gymnastic success amongst a large field of competitors. Connor placed 3rd Overall in the Twisters Boys’ Competition and Darcy 3rd in the Open Junior Advanced Rhythmic Gymnastics, adding two more bronzes to the overall tally.

The last day of the games saw the final showdown in the team sports. The combined Middle College/Girls’ School Football team

Football Girls – Middle College/Girls’ School Combined

Team: Ruby Spring (Mc), Olivia Steele (Mc) Charlotte Richardson (Mc), Emily Clark (Mc), Bridie Boyd (Mc), Charlotte Snookes (Mc), Rebecca Anderson (Mc), Aimee Cavanagh (Mc), Briar Richards (Mc) With Cilla Fa’afua (Gs), Isabella Hughes (Gs), Libby Yee (Gs) Arya Blackler (Gs), Danielle Levy (Gs)

Hip Hop – Middle College

Team: Georgia Doughty, Ayaana Patel, Millie Symons, Amelie Carter, Leticia Liang, Sienna Smith, Yvonne Bulcraig, Madison Naden.

Swimming – Middle College/Boys’ School/Girls’ School Free Relay Team (Combined)

Sunny Sun (Mc) With Alexandra Campion (Gs), Thomas Hunter (Bs), James Crosbie (Bs)

Gymnastics – Middle College

Connor Eccles – Twisters Bronze

Darcy Mcdonald – Open Junior Advanced Rhythmic Gymnastics Bronze

had all made it through to the finals! Their game went right to the wire. After 11 matches with 9 wins and two losses, their final game against Murray’s Bay was lost on penalty points, 5 to 4, having put up a brilliant fight throughout the tournament!

Well done to all the students taking part, especially our medallists! Whilst coming home with medals is fantastic, the AIMS Games, for these younger students, is as much about taking part and experiencing a taste of competition away from home, which was a first for many. It has been reported back that our students were exemplary in their behaviour and it didn’t go unnoticed. Well done for sporting our blue and white with pride!

Our sincere thanks to the staff and parents who accompanied the students for their time away.

Mc Silver X 9

Silver X 8

Mc Silver X 1

From the President of the Old Collegians

Its with great sadness that I advise of the passing of one of our Past Presidents, George Grove Snr. George was a foundation Boys’ School student from 1959 and attended the College for five years. He was also President of SKOCA for two three-year terms, which was notable service to the Saint Kentigern Community. His son, and grandchildren attend/ed Saint Kentigern and this ensures the Grove legacy will continue for many years to come. Rest in peace George, Fides Servanda Est.

The Australian Reunion was held in Sydney on 18 August to coincide with the first Bledisloe Rugby match, with Sydney again turning on a great blue-sky weekend, albeit another cold game night out at ANZ Olympic Stadium. A good number of OC’s made the trip to Sydney from NZ to join a broad spectrum of Australian based OC’s from a wide range of age groups. On the Friday night we held a reunion dinner, again at Kingsleys Steakhouse private room, where Principal of the Middle College, Mr Duncan McQueen, was our special guest. He gave a great overview of ‘all things’ Saint Kentigern and spoke of the many achievements of our academic, sporting and cultural groups. My thanks go to Regan van Berlo, Rodney Steel and Andrew Clarke as the organising committee for the Australian Old Collegians

A major event in the spring calendar is the Old Collegians’ Golf Day held annually at Remuera Golf Course, later in the year. It’s always a great event and this year I am pleased to announce that Bayleys has come onboard as our major sponsor. What this means, is this year’s event promises to be the best we’ve ever had with great prizes, a full field, and some competitive fun action. My thanks go to John Howard and his organising committee for putting together such a well-run, smooth operation year in year out. If you’re a regular player or a newbie, please register your interest soon as places tend to fill rather quickly.

The Australian Reunion

The winter terms have seen a multitude of activities for Saint Kentigern students at each of our campuses from debating to music to stage productions and sport. There have been some outstanding achievements by our winter sports teams and cultural groups at all four schools. I would like to encourage you all, as Old Collegians, to stay connected and go along to watch. The standard of events, whether cultural or sporting, is always exceptional and it’s fantastic to see this next generation engage in their activities of choice with such enthusiasm. Whilst much may have changed since we were at school, one thing hasn’t – students love our support! Whether it’s in an audience or on the side-lines, take every opportunity to reconnect; you’ll enjoy it!

As Term 4 comes around, the number of events SKOCA is involved in increases, as we sponsor events like the Year 8 Leavers’ Dinners at the Boys’ School and Girls’ School, and the Senior and Middle College Sports Awards. It’s a special time for students who are leaving their respective campuses to either continue their education at secondary or tertiary level or indeed move into a different phase in their lives be it to travel or go straight into the workforce.

Please check the SKOCA calendar for the events yet to occur in 2018. We have the Premier Senior A Netball team versus the Old Collegian Girls being held in October and both the SKOCA College Golf Day at Remuera Club, and ROC events in Christchurch and Auckland. Our final event of the 2018 Calendar is the Boys’ School 2010 Leaver’s BBQ in December. I encourage you all to become more involved in your respective alumni events.

The committee welcomes feedback from members so please keep in touch via the website: skoca@saintkentigern.com

Fides Servanda Est

Mr Hayden Butler, President of the Old Collegians

SKOCA 2018 Calendar

COLLEGESKOCA GOLF DAY

Monday 12th November

Time: Assemble at 11.00am

Venue: Remuera Golf Club

Ticket: $100.00 per head.

Refreshments provided.

BOYS’ SCHOOLSKOCA GOLF DAY

Friday 8 February 2019

Time: 12.00pm (1 pm Teeoff)

Venue: Auckland Golf Club

Refreshments provided

RSVP: sue.bowskill@saintkentigern.com

RSVP: skoca@saintkentigern.com

In Memoriam

It is with sadness that we record the passing of the following members of the Saint Kentigern community. We express our condolences to their families.

Former Students:

John BARAGWANATH #94

Andrew John Martin BRAY #1928

George Frederick GROVE #818

Chris MASON #3779

Donald MCKENZIE #1164

Chris MCMURRAY #1907

Shani Nola ROUGH #10836

John Dennis SHERLOCK #818

Derek Vernon TIMBS #821

Former Staff:

Arthur James ANGUS

BOYS’ SCHOOL 2013 LEAVERS - BBQ

Sunday 8th December

Time: 3.30pm

Venue: SKBS Sports Centre

RSVP: skoca@saintkentigern.com

sue.bowskill@saintkentigern.com

Sophia Noble –Cancer Research

Asa student at Saint Kentigern, my favourite subject was biology and throughout high school and then onto university, my passion for biology intensified.

On graduating from College, I received a Saint Kentigern Scholarship and a Victoria Excellence Scholarship and moved to Wellington to study at Victoria University of Wellington. I undertook a Bachelor of Science, double major in Biology and Psychology. While studying, I also worked as a tutor. During my first year at university, I tutored high school students and in the later years of my degree, I tutored younger university students.

Over the course of my degree, I learned about the biology of cancer and became aware of the critical need to better understand cancer biology in order to develop improved therapies. As a consequence, I went on to do a Bachelor of Science with Honours, majoring in Cell and Molecular Bioscience. For my research project, I conducted laboratory research on breast cancer metastasis. I carried out experiments to test the effectiveness of novel drugs to inhibit the migration and invasion of breast cancer cells. I graduated with a First Class Honours degree.

On completing my studies, I was offered a job as a Research Assistant at Victoria University of Wellington to continue doing breast cancer research, a position I currently hold. In addition to working at Victoria University, I am also working at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research. At the Malaghan Institute I work as a Research Officer in the Cancer Immunotherapy Group, conducting research to develop and improve vaccines for cancer. My next step will be to undertake a PhD, with the long-term aim being to focus my career doing cancer research.

My parents and Saint Kentigern ingrained in me a dedication to the service of others, so outside of work I like to spend time engaged in volunteer activities. I currently volunteer for the Department of Conservation, Sustainability Trust, and Boomerang Bags Wellington. I am driven to contribute to conservation efforts and promote sustainable living, and I am a strong supporter of animal welfare.

Kimberly Wong - Prime Minister’s Scholarship

After my time at Saint Kentigern, I went on to study at the University of Otago and completed a Bachelor of Law and Commerce. Soon after, I was lucky enough to receive a Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Asia and was a given the opportunity to intern in an international law firm in Zhuhai, China.

In the first two weeks of my stay, I attended Chinese language classes and was placed with a homestay family which really immersed me in the Chinese culture. During this time, I tried pork liver, pig blood curd, raw crab soaked in wine, and the famous ‘salted duck egg’. We even had a box of live crabs delivered to our doorstep from Taobao (Amazon/ Aliexpress for China)! It was a very different, but great experience living with a local Chinese family and was an awesome way to settle into Zhuhai.

Working at Dentons Zhuhai was an amazing learning experience. I observed proceedings in the Criminal and Civil Courts, translated foreign documents, drafted legal opinions, and proofread contracts written in English. In addition to this, I learned about several differences between starting

a company in China compared to in New Zealand, and about the Chinese Legal System and how it compares to the New Zealand Legal System respectively.

In terms of the workplace culture, I was warmly welcomed into the Denton’s family. My colleagues were very friendly, hard-working and extremely hospitable. I believe the internship helped deepen my competencies in law while also broadening my knowledge of the business environment in China generally.

The advice and guidance I received at Denton’s was invaluable and was a great introduction and insight into what is expected at top tier law firms. It has affirmed my passion to pursue a career in law and has opened my mind to potentially working in China in the future.

I believe that Saint Kentigern really helped prepare me for my internship and scholarship opportunities in a multitude of ways. Being able to participate in a wide range of cultural and sporting activities improved my work ethic, leadership, public speaking and my desire to succeed.

James Tremlett - Ocean Conservationist

Tēnākoutou katoa. Many thanks for inviting me to write here; I’ve followed a meandering path since leaving the College in 2005 and it’s a pleasure to be able to share part of my journey.

My life and work centre around caring for the oceans, and the people that depend on them. I feel strongly about the oceanic history and cultures of Aotearoa, and our responsibility as a Pacific archipelago to take part in the collective global response to the crises in our oceans.

My formal training was initially in Auckland, studying human geography, biology, marine science and politics. My first job was working at sea on industrial fishing trawlers around Taranaki and the Auckland Islands; as a fisheries observer I audited the catch, took scientific samples and recorded interactions with protected species. This is rough work, but it gave me a highly visceral understanding of the reality of extractive marine industries and their impact on our oceans. Since then, I have worked as a researcher on ocean governance in New Zealand, and for central government on our national marine protected areas policy. In between this, I have spent a lot of time contributing to local marine conservation projects, here in Aotearoa and in Papua New Guinea, Hawai’i and São Tomé e Príncipe.

I have been blessed with the opportunity to receive incredible education and mentorship in this work. In 2015, Duke University awarded me a Global Fellowship in Marine Conservation to undertake training at their marine lab. In 2016 I received a grant to undertake a Masters in Conservation Leadership at the University of Cambridge, where I spent a year studying the ways that environmental organisations make decisions about where, when and how to deploy their resources. Since returning to Aotearoa I have been on the road or at sea, working on community education programmes in Tauranga, Tairāwhiti, and Rēkohu, mostly to do with ocean plastics.

For the past three years I’ve had the privilege of being a crew member on the voyaging waka hourua Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti, and a student in Te Kura o Ngā Kuri a Tarawhata school of traditional celestial navigation. This school was founded to honour the legacy of Micronesian navigator Mau Piailug, a key figure in the renaissance of indigenous voyaging practices in Oceania. Our waka is preparing for a two-year voyage through the Pacific, with the eventual destination being Mau’s home island of Satawal; this will be navigated entirely by the students of our kura using traditional non-instrument wayfinding. Throughout this voyage we will be holding wānanga with local communities about practical, meaningful ways to address challenges in their marine environments. We will also be speaking with governments and decision-makers about pathways towards collective Pacific action that protects and honours the ocean that we all share.

I am currently based in Wellington, where I live with my partner Lorena. I would be delighted to speak with anyone interested in supporting this work in any way, or in learning more about it! I’m contactable on tremlett.james@gmail. com. Ngā mihi nunui ki a koutou.

Laura Myers - Mechanical Engineer

After graduating from Saint Kentigern, I lived in Christchurch studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Canterbury (UC) for four years. Near the end of my third year, I joined the UC students’ chapter of ‘Engineers Without Borders New Zealand,’ taking on a role as a ‘Working With Communities Representative’. Around the same time, I started a new programme UC was offering, a Diploma in Global Humanitarian Engineering. I aimed to supplement my Mechanical Engineering degree with knowledge of people, culture and development. This programme contributed to a significant workload in my final year, but it added so much breadth - gaining hands-on skills from a humanitarian field course, complemented by knowledge of development theories, history, and engineering using a human centred design process.

I particularly enjoyed one of the papers I took for the Diploma – ‘The social and cultural history of India.’ So for the field component of my Diploma I decided to attend an Engineers Without Borders Australia Design Summit in India.

Beginning in Mumbai, there were workshops on Indian culture to accustom ourselves to our new surroundings and this involved learning the local language, Marathi, and a brief development studies. With this preparation, we travelled to Narur, a small rural community in Maharashtra, where we lived with local families for a week. During this week we spent time interviewing a variety of individuals from the village, hoping to get a clearer understanding of the village as a whole so we could take a strength-based approach in the design process. We were learning and practising Human Centred Design, which is all about building a deep

empathy with the people; generating lots of ideas, building and presenting prototypes for community feedback.

Something I was impressed by in the village in India is their sustainable lifestyle. A local government scheme assist farmers to install biogas domes, the farmers collect the cow and buffalo manure and other organic waste to be used in their biogas units to produce methane gas for cooking.

I am now back in New Zealand working as a Graduate Engineer at Milmeq Ltd in Auckland. For now I am happy to be gaining valuable work experience but at a future date, I may do postgraduate studies with a focus on sustainable energy.

Andrew Thomson – International Hotelier

Born in Fiji, Andrew was a Bruce House Boarder from 1961 to 1965, where he was joined by his two brothers, Peter and John. Andrew’s son John and nephew, James Thomson were also Saint Kentigern students during the mid ‘80s, along with his adopted son, Joe Sukuna, who was Head Prefect of Bruce House.

With 50 years’ experience as an international hotelier, Andrew has been Project Director for Real Holdings International, developing resorts and residences in north eastern Brazil, including a planned Aman Resort at Duas Barras in Alagoas State. As director of Pacific Nexus, consultants to many tourism related ventures, he has vast experience in the development of hotel and tourism projects.

Recently Andrew was the General Manager of the prestigious 25 villa Laucala Island Resort in the Fiji Islands and prior to this, he was based in Singapore where he was Managing Director and Director of Operations with Aman from 1998 to 2013.

During his 15 years as a Director of Aman, the luxury group grew to 27 hotels worldwide.

Since 1966, Andrew has held directorships and management positions in the South Pacific, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Europe, North Africa, Central Asia and South East Asia.

As General Manager of the renowned Regent International Hotels group (later known as Four Seasons Hotels), Andrew was responsible for project management and the openings of The Regent of Sydney (now Four Seasons), Hawaii’s famous Halekulani Hotel, the Regent of Auckland, the Regent of Fiji, and was the founding CEO for the development and management of Fiji’s benchmark, 8-hotel Denarau Island Resort, Golf Course and Port-Marina.

Prior to the Regent, Andrew was General Manager of the Shangri-la Fijian Resort and held senior positions with Rockresorts in the US and British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii.

Andrew has held numerous tourism and airline industry positions, including serving on the Boards of Air Pacific (later Fiji Airways), the Fiji Trade and Investment Board, 54 Aman-related companies, and various tourism and hotel associations in New Zealand, Hawaii, Fiji, and Australia.

A rugby player, he was President and a player with Fiji’s champion Nadroga Rugby Union from 1976 to 1982, a National Selector and Manager of Fiji Rugby teams from 1989 to 1997, and was Chairman of Fiji Sevens from 1993 to 1997, when Fiji won the Rugby Sevens World Cup.

Andrew is married to Claireabell and although they maintain their home in Nadi, they currently reside in Portugal.

For his services to the Tourism Industry and Fiji Rugby, Andrew was recently awarded the prestigious Order of Fiji.

Four Qualify for World Cup

2017 College graduates, Jordan Spain, Max Mata, Charles Spragg and Dane Schnell were all selected to represent NZ in an 18 man squad that travelled to Tahiti to play in the Oceania Football Championship, with the finalists earning world cup spots in Poland in 2019.

As defending champions, the squad had the pressure of knowing they were targets, and their opening game against hosts Tahiti was a close encounter, with NZ prevailing 2-1.

The second game against Tonga was close until the 35th minute, and a goal from Schnell opened the floodgates to a 14-0 win, with Mata and Spragg getting hat tricks and Schnell a brace.

Game 3 was a 4-0 win against Papua New Guinea, and one in which Spain also got on the score sheet, setting up a must win semi- final against a tough New Caledonia. Played in intense heat at midday, NZ went behind early and were trailing at the break. A well taken header from Mata from a set piece equalised, and then the winner was found late in the game, which meant NZ had achieved their primary objective by qualifying for World Cup in Poland 2019.

In the repeat of game 1, they faced a determined host nation in the final, and an evenly contested match saw NZ prevail with a

1-0 win, ensuring they retained the Oceania championship trophy. Interestingly this win broke the pattern of Tahiti twice having won it when played at their home. Mata ended the championship with the Golden boot, on 5 goals.

Lulu Tuilotolava – Black Stick

Lulu graduated from College in 2014. She was a stalwart of the girls’ Hockey 1st XI during her four years at the College, going on to become captain of the team in her final senior year.

Lulu is currently studying for a Bachelor of Communications at Massey University, but hockey has also continued to be a major part of her life, progressing through the ranks until earlier this year when she made her debut for the New Zealand Black Sticks in her first test game against Japan in May. She has since gone on to play eleven test games as a striker and was selected for the Hockey World Cup in July in London.

Lulu gives great credit to the role that Saint Kentigern Hockey coach, Ramesh Patel played in her development as a player. She said, ‘How could it not be. I was pushed to be the best player I could possibly be and take other hockey opportunities and pathways alongside College representation and four years later I was selected for the New Zealand team. Being a part of Saint Kentigern grounded me and gave me the chance to grow as a person. I loved being part of the teams I was in and having the chance to be captain of the 1st XI. I am truly grateful for my time at Saint Kentigern and all it had to offer during my high school years.’

WHERE ARE YOU?

WHAT DO YOU DO?

EVER WONDERED WHAT YOUR OLD CLASSMATES ARE UP TO?

EVER THOUGHT THEY MAY BE INTERESTED IN WHAT YOU DO?

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

• An all-new midsize SUV from Alfa Romeo

• Petrol and diesel options available

• 2300kgs tow rating (braked)

• Combined cycle fuel use from a low 4.8L/100kms (Diesel)

• Highest ever occupant safety rating

• 50/50 weight distribution

• Stunning Italian styling and engineering

• 3 year free scheduled servicing / 3 year 150000km warranty

FROM $79,990 PLUS ON ROAD COSTS

THE SUV , THAT IS ALSO AN ALFA ROMEO

PicturedAlfaRomeoStelvioTi