Piper Issue 87 - Spring 2026

Piper Spring 2026 | Issue 87

Drawing on Curiosity Nutritious Mealtimes Support Preschool Learning Celebrating our Distinguished Alumni Awardees Year 12 & 13 Building in Full View

Contents

SAINT KENTIGERN TRUST BOARD Trust Board Chair: Mark Conelly Executive Trustee: Dr Kevin Morris 130 Pakuranga Road, Pakuranga 2010 Phone: 09-577 0720 Email: trustboard@saintkentigern.com SAINT KENTIGERN COLLEGE Principal: Damon Emtage 130 Pakuranga Road, Pakuranga, 2010 Phone: 09-577 0749 Email: skc_admin@saintkentigern.com SAINT KENTIGERN BOYS ’ SCHOOL Principal: Peter Cassie 82 Shore Road, Remuera 1050 Phone: 09-520 7682 Email: skb_admin@saintkentigern.com SAINT KENTIGERN GIRLS ’ SCHOOL

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Preschool

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Boys’ School

22

Girls’ School

40

College

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Alumni

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Principal: Marianne Duston 82 Shore Road, Remuera 1050 Phone: 09-520 1400 Email: skg_admin@saintkentigern.com SAINT KENTIGERN PRESCHOOL Principal: Megan Storey 82 Shore Road, Remuera 1050 Phone: 09-520 8814 Email: skp_admissions@saintkentigern.com SAINT KENTIGERN ALUMNI ASSOCIATION President: Thomas Steel Vice President: Matthew Jones Secretary: Laura Porteous Treasurer: Daniel Quigley Email: alumni@saintkentigern.com SAINT KENTIGERN COLLEGE PARENTS & FRIENDS Chair: RIk Dalton SAINT KENTIGERN BOYS ’ SCHOOL PARENTS & FRIENDS Chair: Melissa Burroughs Vice Chair: Erica Kirkham Secretary: Ally Huang Treasurer: Sarah Bruinsma SAINT KENTIGERN GIRLS ’ SCHOOL PARENTS & FRIENDS Chair: Jess Wahlstrom Vice Chair: Amanda Stretton Secretary: Brigit Winter Treasurer: Grace Zhang Published by the Marketing Department for the Saint Kentigern Trust Board and the Saint Kentigern Alumni Association.

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For all enquiries ask@saintkentigern.com

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At a Glance KEEP UP TO DATE WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING AT SAINT KENTIGERN

Yr 12 and 13 Building Revealed in Full In the first weeks of August, the final sections of scaffolding and shrink wrap came away from the new Year 12 and 13 Building on the Pakuranga Campus, revealing its brick and glass form in full for the first time. The Saint Kentigern crest has since been installed on the Tamaki Wing, with a second to follow on the Chapel Wing. With just over three months of construction remaining, the building is on schedule to open for the start of Term 1, 2027.

Read more on page 9

Service Extends Its Borders Between the Extra Miler Challenge, World Vision partnerships, and service trips abroad, students across all our schools have spent Term 2 and early Term 3 looking beyond themselves to make a difference.

Groups of Year 8s and Year 12 and 13s travelled into communities in Fiji and Vanuatu, reinforcing a shared value that runs right through our schools.

Read more on pages 13–14

Food for Thought At our Preschool, mealtime is treated as its own kind of learning.

Every morning tea, cooked lunch, and afternoon tea is prepared fresh on site by the chef and served deconstructed, so children build their own plate. Underpinned by manaakitanga and our Presbyterian values, our mealtime culture is built with as much intent as the menu itself. We are shaping confident, capable eaters at the table.

Read more on page 19

Honouring Lives of Distinction Introducing the 2026 Distinguished Alumni Awardees – Brian Marcroft, Doug Arcus, John Maasland and Steven Carden – four alumni whose achievements, leadership and service have made a lasting contribution across their professions, communities and beyond.

Read more on pages 7–8

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Legacy in the Making Mark Conelly BCom, FCA, CMInstD

Trust Board Chair

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s winter sports draws to a close, we look forward to the warmer days ahead and those end-ofyear activities that make our schools even busier places. Winter featured the annual Fieldays event in the Waikato, where we welcomed many with links to Saint Kentigern to our stand. It was great to see the pride in blue on show.

Meanwhile, the Trust Board was delighted to welcome Rev. Jeff Odhiambo to the Board as a Presbytery appointment. Jeff is the Minister at Somervell Presbyterian Church in Remuera, and his appointment to the Saint Kentigern Trust Board continues our long association with the Somervell Parish.

This edition of Piper features the achievements of our latest cohort of Distinguished Alumni, who are celebrated and honoured at a special event in early September. I was privileged to personally advise the four recipients – Brian Marcroft, Doug Arcus, John Maasland, and Steven Carden – of their award (via a Teams call, the new version

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of "in person") and to express our respect and admiration for their achievements over many years. These Alumni, joining eight previous awardees, lead busy lives, demonstrating vision, often opening new doors and frontiers, taking on leadership positions in commercial settings, and consistently embodying the values of Saint Kentigern. They were humble in their acknowledgment but also reflected on how much Saint Kentigern shaped them and meant to them as they left the school grounds.

Work continues on the next steps for our third campus at Wilson Bay. The Board has agreed to stage its development, beginning with base camp facilities and, as funding permits, establishing more substantive accommodation for our students to stay longer and experience more. Curriculum development is well underway, and together with our base camp work, will help determine how our first students experience the wonders of the Coromandel campus as early as 2027.

We continue to be humbled by the offers of help and financial support to ensure this important third campus comes to life, and welcome others who wish to be part of that journey.

An important part of our Wilson Bay establishment has been connecting

with the local Coromandel iwi. Fellow Trustees Dr Kevin Morris and Steve Evans and I recently welcomed three representatives of the local iwi group, representing some 13 iwi across the Coromandel, onto our new campus.

It was a valuable opportunity to get to know each other and to consider what's possible in partnership with them and with local communities. Our Values, and our commitment to Whānau and Stewardship, were well aligned, and we left the meeting with a feeling of mutual respect and understanding.

Conversation and connection underpin much of what we do. We have stayed true to our Values and Mission for nearly 75 years, and these conversations and connections have built a deep level of trust and confidence in being able to continue that legacy into the future. The reshaping of the Shore Road campus, the current building development at the Pakuranga Campus, and our plans for the Wilson Bay campus are key. The high standard of educational and pastoral care we hold ourselves to is just as important.

Lastly, our Faith binds it all together.

Thank you to all who continue to show up and play their part in this rich tapestry of the Saint Kentigern story.

Fides Servanda Est.

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A Curriculum Worth Watching Dr Kevin Morris EdD (Boston) Executive Trustee

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eworking a national curriculum has never been more consequential, requiring us to make big bets about the future needs of the country and what can provide the best opportunities for young people. As the world changes rapidly, we need an education system that provides flexibility and options for students that does not force them unnecessarily into career pathways that are, by necessity, designed by a generation that has not grown up in a world shaped by AI and robotics.

New Zealand's current curriculum reform and proposed changes have, on balance, earned community support.

The return to core literacies and a back-to-basics approach through to Year 11 establishes a stronger benchmark for all students, and we can expect the assessment of the new qualifications to be more demanding.

What caught my eye recently, however, was the unveiling of nine new industry-

designed subjects for senior students, intended to lift engagement and retention in schools and in time, to build better pipelines to industry. On the face of it, it sounds like an elegant solution: giving students a real taste of these industries without requiring them to sacrifice any academic qualifications or shut any doors.

It is interesting to note a spectrum of examples from around the world in how much vocational training and career priming is embedded in the curriculum.

Our approach feels like a halfway house between somewhere like Denmark, which invested heavily in vocational pathways running in parallel with school (but is now modifying that system), and Singapore, which is reshaping its narrow academic core at secondary level, with vocational training largely reserved for post-schooling. In Canada's provincebased system, Ontario embeds trades into schools through apprenticeship placements and national certification, offering an on-ramp into a tertiary institution rather than classroom subjects. This differs from Singapore's national approach, which appears to be based on competing on the depth and

long-term adaptability of its people, rather than on trying to address specific future industry needs at the school level.

The challenge with building breadth through vocational options at school (aside from the obvious capacity challenges of delivering them) is whether school subjects can adapt as quickly as the market they are serving. It's great to hear that our vocational subjects are supported and co-designed with industry, but forecasting exactly which skills the economy will need in a decade is fraught, with needs shifting faster than qualifications can be designed and taught. The forecasters themselves keep concluding that the most durable skill is adaptability.

I support where we are heading, but a few things are worth watching: whether a choice made at the age of 16 opens doors rather than quietly closing them, and, above all, whether students build the adaptability they will need. The best preparation for an economy we cannot yet see is building deep foundations and the skills for judgement.

Fides Servanda Est.

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What Goes Before Us Chaplain Cathrine coffee shop across the road from where I worked over there will always serve milk Sharman BAppTheol, DipArts

Chaplain

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am pleased to have taken up the role of chaplain at Saint Kentigern College. I have been struck by the importance placed on history and heritage, and the understanding that, whilst the School is part of something that has gone before, it is continuing to build on that past for its future.

I recently returned from living and working in Hong Kong for two years.

It was an amazing experience to be able to learn about the traditions and culture of the region, including the wider Guangdong area, where the concept of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) is particularly important. In Hong Kong, ICH covers a wide range of traditions, practices, and skills, from festivals to milk tea to crafting a qin (musical instrument) – things that are quintessentially, historically, and iconically ‘Hong Kong’.

However, for many, it is just how life is lived and will continue to be lived. The

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tea and egg tarts for as long as it runs.

But Intangible Cultural Heritage is an important concept that helps preserve and protect the heritage that might otherwise be lost through modernisation.

There is a fine balance in keeping things that should be honoured and letting ourselves grow and change and learn.

Our history is invaluable, as it grounds us and is formational in who we are today. It helps guide us into the future.

Coming back home to New Zealand, I have loved the sense of reconnecting with my heritage and history. Some of it has been as simple as taking off my shoes and walking barefoot on the beach, the land of my birth, the land of my mother’s birth and the land of my children’s birth. I am tied to New Zealand in a beautiful way.

In the same way, my history, my present and future are tied to God. I can look to the past and see how God has been with me in my own life. I also see how God has worked in the lives of others. One of the examples we have is being able

to hear how God worked in the life of Saint Kentigern. For the present, I know God as a loving parent, as a guide, as a shoulder to cry on, someone who is not afraid of my anger or hurt. Someone who laughs with me in my moments of joy.

God is with me in weal and woe. For the future, I carry bold hope. The boldness comes from both my history and others’ history with God. The stories of God’s love, grace, and mercy handed down from generation to generation show us we can have a surety in God. In that surety we can continue to grow and learn and let our futures be guided by the God who loves us.

Deuteronomy 31:8: “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

So let us all look forward to the future with great hope as we stand firmly on the knowledge and heritage of our land and our School, guided by our everloving God.

Fides Servanda Est.

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Honouring the Past, Shaping the Future Walter Chieng BSc, GradDipOR

Director of the Foundation

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very generation inherits a legacy.

Our privilege and responsibility is to leave that legacy stronger than we found it.

As we celebrate the 2026 Saint Kentigern Distinguished Alumni Awards, we are reminded that the true measure of an education is found not only in achievement, but in lives lived with purpose and in service of others. Each Awardee has followed a unique path, yet together they reflect the enduring values that have shaped Saint Kentigern for more than seven decades.

Their achievements deserve recognition not simply for what they have accomplished, but for the positive difference they continue to make in the communities they serve.

They demonstrate that true success is measured by character as much as accomplishment: by the Respect shown to others, the Integrity with which they lead, the spirit of Service they embrace, the pursuit of Excellence in all they undertake, and the Love that underpins their relationships.

To our Distinguished Alumni, and indeed to all Saint Kentigern graduates who go about enriching their professions, communities, and families, we extend our heartfelt congratulations.

Through your leadership and example, you honour the legacy of those who came before you while inspiring those who follow.

For the Foundation, these stories reaffirm why our work matters.

We are privileged to build upon a legacy entrusted to us by visionary founders, faithful benefactors, and generations of supporters who believed in the transformative power of education.

Their generosity has always been an investment in people, empowering young men and women to discover their gifts, grow in character, and become outstanding contributors to society.

That same spirit continues today through those who generously share their expertise, wisdom, encouragement and resources. We treasure those who mentor our students, advocate for Saint Kentigern, and invest in opportunities that will benefit generations yet to come.

These partnerships enrich our schools and strengthen the culture of belonging that defines our community.

Bay Farm experiential learning campus.

The enthusiasm and confidence shown by alumni, families, students and friends reflect a shared belief in the transformative opportunities this campus will provide. It represents an investment not only in innovative education, but in developing young people of character, resilience, stewardship and service.

As momentum continues to build, we look forward to the partnerships that will help bring this vision to life. Like every significant chapter in Saint Kentigern's history, it will be realised through a community united by shared purpose and a commitment to future generations.

As we honour those whose lives have exemplified the very best of Saint Kentigern, we are reminded of our responsibility to ensure today's students are equally empowered to realise their God-given potential.

Thank you to every member of our Saint Kentigern community who continues to walk alongside us. Together, we are preserving a legacy, nurturing a community and shaping a future founded on our values.

Fides Servanda Est.

We are equally encouraged by the growing endorsement of the Wilson SAINT KENTIGERN

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Distinguished Alumni Awards

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s Saint Kentigern’s highest honour for its alumni, the biennial Distinguished Alumni Awards recognise individuals whose lives exemplify the values that define a Saint Kentigern education, and whose exceptional achievements and contributions have had an enduring impact within their fields, communities or society.

The achievements and contributions of our 2026 Distinguished Alumni Awardees will be formally recognised at the Awards Dinner on 5 September at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. We extend our warmest congratulations to this year’s awardees and thank them for the enduring impact they continue to make across New Zealand and within the communities they serve.

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We are pleased to introduce the 2026 awardees.

Brian Marcroft 1955–1959

Recipient of the 2026 King’s Service Medal, Brian Marcroft has devoted six decades to advancing New Zealand's primary industries, serving rural Waikato and carrying forward the camaraderie forged in Bruce House, home to the College’s boarders. Rooted in respect for the land, he brought progressive thinking, innovation and long-standing leadership to agriculture. His pioneering role in commercial deer farming and sustained contribution to the industry earned him the Matuschka Award in 2001. Beyond farming, his civic, sporting and community service has left an enduring mark across the region he calls home. Through charitable endeavour, he has championed environmental restoration and the protection of places of cultural and historic significance. At Saint Kentigern, few names carry the same weight: for half a century, Brian has been the driving force behind the Bruce House fellowship, preserving lifelong friendships through reunions, pastoral care and unwavering advocacy.

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Doug Arcus 1955–1959

Across five decades, Doug Arcus has influenced the Waikato’s environmental, educational and philanthropic foundations through law, university leadership and public service. An environmental barrister and independent hearings commissioner, he has presided over some of the region’s most complex environmental matters, spanning geothermal management, water allocation and landmark protections for Lake Taupō’s water quality. As the youngest university Chancellor in New Zealand history, Doug built on his earlier role as founding President of the Waikato University Students’ Association to advance the institution’s development, including supporting the establishment of the Waikato Law School. During his 25 years with the D V Bryant Trust, he helped position one of the region’s most significant philanthropic institutions for a new era of social investment, extending its capacity to serve communities for generations to come.

It is a record of uncommon breadth and distinction, defined by collaborative leadership, exceptional judgement and a deep commitment to public service.

John Maasland 1955–1959

John Maasland’s governance has helped define New Zealand’s commercial, educational and civic landscape. Across business, infrastructure, health and the arts, he has stood at the helm of institutions central to the country’s growth, global connectivity and trade. Across Auckland International Airport, Infrastructure Auckland, Wilson & Horton and Carter Holt Harvey, his leadership brought measured judgement and strategic foresight to organisations of major commercial and public significance as they navigated defining periods of modernisation and historic change. As Chancellor of Auckland University of Technology, he championed AUT’s evolution and the development of its South Campus, widening access to tertiary education. His leadership extended to roles such as chairing the Royal New Zealand Ballet, while his quiet philanthropy helped strengthen organisations with enduring community impact, including what is now known as the Middlemore Foundation.

Steven Carden 1987–1991

At 24, Steven Carden founded First Foundation, pioneering an education-toemployment pathway that has helped more than a thousand young people and their families break cycles of generational disadvantage. His executive career has been equally consequential: across agribusiness and export, he has transformed some of New Zealand’s most significant organisations, driving substantial commercial growth alongside environmental stewardship and workplace wellbeing. From Pāmu, New Zealand’s largest farming enterprise, to global exporter Delegat Group, his leadership has combined business excellence with a wider responsibility to people, communities and the future. Today, he leads RHCNZ, the country’s largest private diagnostic imaging network. A Harvard MBA graduate, futurist, co-founder and chair of 26 Seasons, Steven’s reach extends well beyond the corporate sphere. As an author and entrepreneur, he contributes to national thinking on adaptability, sustainability and the role of business in society, strengthening New Zealand’s capacity to navigate change and build long-term resilience.

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Year 12 and 13 Building in Full View MA STERPL AN : PAKUR ANGA C AMPUS BUILDING UPDATE

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or months, the new Year 12 and 13 Building on the Pakuranga Campus has been seen only in parts, each section gradually emerging beneath shrink wrap and scaffolding. In the first weeks of August, the last of it came off, and for the first time, the building could be seen in full.

The brick and glass form is now clearly visible, both to those within the campus and to those driving past on Pakuranga Road. The Saint Kentigern crest has been installed on the Tamaki Wing, with a second to follow on the Chapel Wing.

With a little over three months of construction remaining, focus will be on internal finishes and the extensive hard and soft landscaping surrounding the building. The new service road is nearly finished, with only security barriers, line marking, and signage still to be installed. Procurement of all new furniture, whiteware, and classroom technology has been arranged, with installation currently anticipated to commence in early November as internal construction stages wrap up.

The project remains on track for completion ahead of the start of Term 1, 2027.

For enquiries, contact us at masterplan@saintkentigern.com.

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A Community,

By Design

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oys’ School Principal Peter Cassie chairs the national organisation Independent Schools of New Zealand (ISNZ), and this year saw staff from across our campuses attend the ISNZ Conference, with Year 7 Dean Sarah Gimblett presenting. Her session, Community Engagement: Creating Learning Opportunities for Families and Friends of our School, covered the Boys’ School’s full events calendar, including Grandparents’ Day, Guy Fawkes, and Sonday Funday, before focusing on the creative Mother’s and Father’s Day events she organises. These events do more than fill the calendar; they give boys a chance to be seen by the people who matter most, and give alumni fathers, uncles, and grandfathers a reason to return through the School gates.

For Sarah, the standouts were a workshop on highperformance learning, built around the idea that high performers are made, not born, and a session on how one school is teaching AI use across Years 4 to 13. Now in its second year, the conference has almost doubled in attendance, heading to Rangi Ruru Girls' School in Christchurch for 2027.

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Reverend Jeff Odhiambo Joins Saint Kentigern Trust Board

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he Saint Kentigern Trust Board is pleased to welcome Reverend Jeff Odhiambo, an appointee of the Northern Presbytery, as its newest member.

Reverend Odhiambo currently serves at Somervell Presbyterian Church and is recognised as a minister by the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand (PCANZ). He has worked across Kenya (2003–2006), Nepal (2007), and the United States (2008–2010), where he gained extensive experience in the faith formation of young people across diverse cultural settings. He holds a Bachelor of Theology from the University of Otago.

With a strong commitment to intercultural ministry and its connection to education, Reverend Odhiambo brings insight into how community practice and care for one another nurture faith in the next generation.

"Rev. Odhiambo brings to the Board a unique perspective shaped by ministry across cultures and a genuine commitment to the faith formation of young people," said Trust Board Chair Mark Conelly. "We warmly welcome him and look forward to his contribution."

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Beyond the Label HOW NEW BR AIN RESE ARCH COULD CHANGE THE WAY WE UNDERSTAND ADHD

Dr Sarah Watson BA, MA(Hons), DClinPsych, MNZCCP

Managing Director and Senior Clinical Psychologist at Totally Psyched

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DHD has long been recognised as a condition characterised by differences in attention, impulsivity, and activity levels. Groundbreaking new research now suggests we may have been overlooking one of its most important features: emotional regulation.

For decades, ADHD has been diagnosed through careful observation of behaviour. While some assume this means diagnosis is based largely on questionnaires, the reality is far more nuanced. Clinicians use behavioural observations because decades of neuroscience have established how specific patterns of behaviour reflect underlying brain function.

Now, one of the largest neuroimaging studies ever undertaken in children with ADHD provides biological evidence for what experienced clinicians have long observed: ADHD is not one condition expressed in different ways, but may comprise distinct neurobiological subtypes. Most importantly, the research identifies emotional dysregulation as a defining feature of one ADHD subtype, something largely absent from current diagnostic criteria.

UNDERSTANDING THE BRAIN THROUGH BEHAVIOUR

ADHD assessment combines developmental history, clinical interviews, and information from parents, teachers, 11

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and the child. Rather than simply recording behaviours, psychologists, paediatricians and psychiatrists interpret them using decades of research linking attention, executive function, motivation, behavioural inhibition and emotional regulation to specific brain networks.

In other words, clinicians have long been making evidencebased conclusions about how a child’s brain is functioning by observing its outward expression through behaviour.

Current diagnostic criteria classify ADHD into three presentations: predominantly inattentive, predominantly hyperactive-impulsive, and combined. While clinically useful, these categories cannot fully explain why children with the same diagnosis can often experience very different challenges with emotion regulation.

A LANDMARK STUDY

Researchers analysed brain scans from more than 1800 children across two international cohorts using sophisticated techniques that examined how different brain regions are organised and connected. By comparing each child’s brain against typical developmental patterns, they identified three distinct ADHD biotypes.

The first aligned with predominantly inattentive ADHD and involved brain regions responsible for sustained attention and executive function. The second reflected predominantly hyperactive-impulsive ADHD, with differences in circuits involved in behavioural control and response inhibition.

The third, and perhaps most significant, comprised children with combined ADHD accompanied by marked emotional dysregulation. These children showed distinct differences

in brain networks responsible for emotional regulation, stress responses, and decision-making. Importantly, each biotype also demonstrated distinct neurochemical and functional characteristics, and the findings were replicated in an independent cohort, providing strong evidence that the results are robust.

WHAT MAKES THIS RESEARCH DIFFERENT?

The neuroscience of ADHD is not new. Researchers have spent decades identifying differences in the brain networks involved in attention, executive function, motivation, and inhibition.

This knowledge already underpins modern assessment.

What makes this study important is that it demonstrates the central role of emotional regulation in one distinct ADHD subtype.

Although emotional dysregulation is widely recognised by clinicians, and often described by families as one of the most challenging aspects of ADHD when present, it is largely absent from current diagnostic criteria, which focus primarily on attention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.

This study suggests emotional dysregulation is not simply an associated feature for some individuals. Instead, it may represent a core neurobiological characteristic of a distinct ADHD subtype.

For experienced clinicians, these findings are validating.

Many have long recognised children whose greatest difficulties are not attention or activity levels, but managing overwhelming emotions. These are often the children who cope throughout the school day before emotionally collapsing at home, or whose emotional responses profoundly affect learning, relationships, and family life.

WHY IT MATTERS

This research does not mean brain scans will replace clinical assessment. Functional MRI remains too expensive and inaccessible for routine diagnosis.

Instead, it strengthens existing practice. Behaviour has always been used because it reflects underlying brain function.

This study demonstrates that many behavioural patterns clinicians observe correspond to distinct patterns of brain organisation, providing objective biological validation for decades of clinical experience.

More importantly, it highlights a significant gap in current diagnostic thinking. If future studies continue to confirm these findings, emotional regulation may become recognised as a core dimension of ADHD alongside attention and behavioural control.

TOWARDS MORE PERSONALISED CARE

Understanding ADHD as a group of biologically distinct subtypes could ultimately lead to more personalised assessment and treatment. Children whose primary challenges involve emotional regulation may benefit from different therapeutic approaches than those whose greatest difficulties lie in attention or behavioural inhibition.

This research does not rewrite everything we know about ADHD. Rather, it builds upon decades of neuroscience while refining our understanding of one of its most complex features.

For parents, it offers reassurance that emotional challenges reflect genuine differences in brain development rather than poor parenting or lack of effort.

For educators, it reinforces the importance of supporting emotional regulation alongside learning.

And for clinicians, it represents an important step towards more precise diagnosis and increasingly individualised care.

As neuroscience continues to evolve, studies like this move us closer to a future where ADHD is understood not simply by the behaviours we observe, but by the unique neurological profile that shapes each individual’s experience.

Dr Sarah Watson is Founder, Managing Director, and Senior Clinical Psychologist at Totally Psyched. She presented her research at a recent, well-attended College Parents & Friends information evening. We are grateful for her contribution to this edition of Piper.

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Service Roundup AN OVERVIEW OF SERVICE INITATIVES AT SAINT KENTIGERN

School Transformation in Fiji During the first week of the July holidays, Year 8 students from the Boys’ School and Girls’ School travelled to Nadi with parents and staff. Over four days, they installed a playground in Sabeto School, the same playground that once sat where the Pakuranga bypass now resides. The donated playground was stripped and recoated to look brand new by our Shore Road Service team, before being shipped to Fiji in a container thanks to Mainfreight.

College United for World Vision Forty-two years into its partnership with World Vision, the College raised $142,543 for the 40 Hour Challenge, with this year's fundraising going toward children and families in Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.

Year 7 and 8 students alone brought in $108,944, and a cheque was presented to World Vision's National Director, TJ Grant, at a full College Assembly. Students who raised $500 or more were recognised for their efforts with a World Vision badge at assemblies throughout Term 3.

The collective effort came from every part of the school. Service Council ran the Year 9 Social and set up their BBQ at Term 2 Student Conferences, trading a classic Kiwi snag for gold coin donations, while 8SJJ held a bake sale of their own. Every contribution, whether a sausage sizzle or a cake stall, mattered and made an impact.

The Extra Miler Students across the Shore Road Campus went looking for discomfort on purpose this year, choosing physical and service-based challenges in support of Family Works, Plunket, the Food Shed, and Saint Kentigern Service Trips. More than 80 percent of Boys’ School and Girls’ School students took part, raising $248,656 between them – a total built one challenge at a time rather than handed over in a single gesture.

Not every mile was metaphorical. Year 8 girls carried food on foot to May Road School’s pātaka kai, and Year 8 boys walked their own delivery to the College Shed, treating the ‘extra mile’ as a literal brief rather than a figure of speech. It’s a small habit with a bigger hope behind it, that service becomes second nature long before these students are old enough to be asked for it.

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At Vatutu School, another team of parents and students laid concrete pathways, completed repairs and maintenance, and helped transform a derelict building into an outdoor classroom. Between projects, students shared games and conversation with the local children they were working alongside, and a traditional lovo meal offered a taste, quite literally, of the culture that had taken them in. None of it would have been possible without the volunteer project managers, donors, parents and staff who made the trip happen.

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Service From the Start The Shed, Saint Kentigern’s foodbank run in partnership with Presbyterian Support Northern, supports 70 families a week. This year, the youngest members of the School community have joined in the efforts. Our Preschoolers have made several visits to drop off donations they'd been collecting themselves, proof that service doesn't wait for an age to start.

It's a fitting extension of an initiative that has grown well beyond its original brief, now touching every part of Saint Kentigern from the Preschool through to the College.

Read the story of how The Shed began: juststories.nz/stories/ theshedsaintkentigern

Collective Efforts in Vanuatu Thirty-four Year 12 and 13 students spent a week of their July holidays in Vanuatu building tables, constructing toilets and roofing a library. Alongside the build, they ran clothing drives, with students filling their suitcases with clothing and stationery to leave behind for local families.

Between the projects, there were precious moments to play games, share meals, and make friends. One moment in particular highlighted the difference in everyday experiences: a local child’s biggest dream wasn't a bike or a phone, but something many Kiwi kids never think twice about – playing for a team with an actual coach. “The Vanuatu Service Trip was both the most exciting and eye-opening experience I have had,” one Year 13 student said. “I would go every year if I could.”

Students came home with lighter suitcases and, by their own account, a deeper sense of how much they have to be grateful for.

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A Whare of Their Own

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ome of the Jack Paine Centre atrium's usual visitors stand well over six feet tall. This time, forty-one Year 12 Product Design students knelt down to the height of four-year-olds, working alongside a class of Saint Kentigern's youngest students on structures light enough for our Preschoolers to carry home in their arms. Little by little, a village of whare took shape between them, each one filled with a laser-cut figure before the last wall had even gone up, so every house had someone waiting inside before the day was done.

The visit was the result of weeks of groundwork in Kim Lamb's Te Reo Māori lessons, where the Year 0 class had begun exploring what a whare represents in te ao Māori: the meaning carried in its shape and the stories held in its patterns. The idea traces back to the College's own whare, the one the Year 13 Building and Construction class is building for the Preschool.

The older students guided the building; the younger ones settled their new figure into place and held their whare up to admire it. Big hands and small hands together, working to complete the structure. Back at Preschool, the children spent the following weeks researching traditional Māori patterns and symbols before choosing which to bring to

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life on their own whare, each one carrying a meaning they picked for themselves.

Not every whare will make the trip home.

One has already been given to the Ronald McDonald House. A small gift, built by little hands, for a family who needs somewhere to feel at home.

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Preschool

Upcoming Events 8–9 OCTOBER

Grandparents' Day 9 SEPTEMBER

Wig Wednesday 1–2 OCTOBER

Tabloid Sports 11 DECEMBER

Christmas Production

The Quiet Curriculum Megan Storey BEd (Tchg)

Preschool Principal

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he milestones we celebrate in early childhood often look like counting, recognising letters, creating artwork, exploring nature, or engaging in carefully planned learning experiences.

We’re right to celebrate them. But they aren’t the whole story, and arguably not even the most important part of it.

Some of the most powerful learning in a Preschool day is far quieter, happening in the ordinary moments: when a child serves their own lunch, puts on their shoes, carries their plate, solves a small problem with a friend, or proudly says, “I can do it myself.”

I believe independence is one of the greatest gifts we can help children develop. It is not taught in one lesson or achieved all at once. Rather, it is nurtured through repeated opportunities to make age-appropriate choices, practise judgement, take responsibility, and experience the satisfaction of doing things independently. These small, everyday moments may seem simple, but they are quietly building confidence, resilience, self-belief, and readiness for the world.

Throughout the day, our children are given many opportunities to grow in

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this independence. They choose what they would like to play with, manage their belongings, care for resources, and navigate small disagreements with friends. They are learning to think for themselves, solve problems, make decisions, and understand that their actions matter.

Mealtimes offer a rich example of this learning in action. Serving their own food, pouring a drink, clearing their plate, or deciding what and how much to eat, children are doing far more than following a routine. Each small act builds coordination and confidence alongside patience and consideration for others.

Around the table, independence and belonging come together in beautifully simple ways.

One of the questions parents often ask is, “How can I help prepare my child for school?” The answer is often simpler than expected. While early literacy and numeracy are important, children also need the confidence to manage themselves and persist when something is difficult. These skills do not suddenly appear on the first day of school. They are built gradually, through everyday opportunities to practise independence in meaningful and authentic ways.

There is a special moment that, as parents and teachers, we recognise. It’s the look of satisfaction on a child’s face when they accomplish something on their own. Be it fastening a zip, carrying a lunch plate,

helping a younger friend, or completing a task they once found difficult, these achievements build confidence.

It can be tempting for us to step in quickly. We are often busy, and it can feel easier or faster to do things for children. Yet when we pause, give them time, and allow them the opportunity to try, they implicitly hear, ‘we believe in you’. That belief, combined with patient encouragement and repeated practice, helps children develop the independence they will carry with them into school and throughout life.

We know and have seen that learning is not confined to a table, a worksheet, or a formal lesson. It is developed through conversations, routines, relationships, and responsibilities that shape each day. The child serving themselves lunch today is developing the initiative for their learning in years to come.

The child tidying away resources is learning ownership. The child making a thoughtful decision is developing judgement. The child saying, “I can do it myself,” is becoming a resilient and independent learner.

I have seen that the mighty combination of small moments has the biggest impact. In early childhood, independence grows quietly. We would do well to recognise their significance.

Fides Servanda Est.

Preschool

What the Table Teaches BUILDING HE ALTHY HABITS AND CHAR ACTER , ONE ME AL AT A TIME

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t our Preschool, mealtime starts with a simple premise: healthy food supports healthy learning. Each day begins with morning tea, moves through a cooked lunch, and closes with afternoon tea, all prepared fresh on site by our chef.

Our menus are built around fruit and vegetables, protein, grains, and dairy and non-dairy options, kept in a balanced rotation.

How the food is served matters as much as what is on the plate. Meals are often set out deconstructed: bowls of rice, roasted vegetables, protein and sauce laid across the table for children to build their own plate. A child spooning out a portion of chicken and vegetables for themselves is practising choice, judgement, and self-help in the same breath as eating – and doing

it without being singled out for what they take or don't take. Over time, that adds up to a relationship with food that children have built themselves, rather than one handed to them.

The table does as much teaching as the meal. Mealtimes bring whole preschool classes together to talk, wait their turn, help a neighbour, and say thank you – ordinary habits that carry well beyond the dining room and into how children treat each other more broadly.

Two commitments sit behind all of this: te ao Māori and our Presbyterian heritage. Manaakitanga, care, hospitality, and respect for others shape how the room feels – unhurried and welcoming rather than

rushed. Alongside it sit the Christian values of love, service, stewardship, and thankfulness, visible in how children are encouraged to look after one another and appreciate what is in front of them, rather than take it for granted.

None of this happens by accident.

It is the product of a menu planned with intent and a serving style chosen for what it teaches as much as what it feeds. Together they build a mealtime culture, one shared table at a time, that grows children who are confident, capable, and caring, at the table and well beyond it.

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Gathering for Matariki

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ne afternoon in July, families streamed onto campus to celebrate Matariki with the whole Preschool, swapping the usual pick-up rush for performances, poi, and a shared celebration of the Māori New Year.

Loch Rannoch, our youngest room, opened with songs and a poi dance, small hands swinging poi in time to the music while family members watched on.

Year 0 followed with a retelling of Māui and the fire, the room's oldest children taking on the story of how Māui won fire for the world, costumes and dramatic flair included.

Afterwards, each child made a wish and wrote it on a star of their own, now up on display in their classroom.

Foundation added their own set of songs before the afternoon opened up into activities everyone could take part in together.

The celebration was the finish line for a week of lead-up learning. Lantern making and kite flying had kept hands and imaginations busy in the days before, and families and children had spent time looking after the environment they play in every day – a small act of gratitude in the spirit of the season.

It was an afternoon built around the meaning behind the nine stars, remembering those who came before, celebrating the here and now, and looking ahead with hope, with a reminder that, at its heart, Matariki is about gathering together.

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Dressed by the Book

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utting on a costume of a beloved character, at any age, carries a touch of excitement. There’s something about wearing their clothing that invites you to embody the characteristics that you admire in them.

Our youngest students could barely contain their energy as they arrived dressed as their favourite storybook characters, each clutching the book that inspired their costume. Parents and caregivers were close behind, eager to see what creativity others had summoned for the occasion.

From their classrooms, the children set off together and paraded around the Preschool boardwalk to the applause of onlooking families. All the usual suspects were accounted for: a couple of Very Hungry Caterpillars, a Tiger Who Came to Tea, Paddington Bear, and Tinkerbell.

The costumes spoke for themselves, evidence of creative children and some very handy parents. An air vent repurposed as a caterpillar hinted strongly at a builder dad on the loose.

While Book Day is a familiar occasion for many, the joy a story brings is fresh every time the pages are opened. Nurturing a love of reading builds creativity, imagination, and vocabulary – all good things our little ones are developing.

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Preschool

Out on Campus

Frog's Eye View

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t the start of the year, Loch Ness jumped into a term-long investigation into frogs, sparked by a visit from four real frogs brought into the classroom by their teacher.

Questions followed quickly: why do frogs live in water, and what exactly do they eat? The children set out to find answers through art, discussion, and hands-on exploration, painting lily pads, sculpting playdough frogs, and mapping out frog anatomy along the way – sticky feet and long tongues included.

The food question had the biggest surprise. Frogs, the children discovered, eat far more than just insects, sometimes taking on birds or even other frogs, using their eyeballs to help push food down their throats.

To share what they had learned, the children wrote their own non-fiction frog books and read them aloud to visiting students, a first taste of confidence in front of an audience.

A visit from Sally at Zoo Ventures brought the investigation full circle, bringing a collection of reptiles, insects, and more frogs for the children to observe up close.

The term wrapped up with a nature walk, gathering materials to build frog habitats inside shoeboxes, each one a small record of everything the children had come to know about how frogs live.

“

The child has a hundred languages,” wrote educator Loris Malaguzzi, “a hundred ways of thinking, of playing, of speaking, of wondering and creating.” In Loch Lomond, that philosophy plays out most days as our children head outside on foot, dirt under fingernails, and eyes wide as they explore the wider campus.

A favourite stop is the veggie garden, where children crouch low over the beds, tracking how food grows – be it a new flower unfurling overnight, a tomato blushing red, or a carrot top tugged free to reveal what has been growing unseen underground. Watching plants change over time is teaching them that living things need care, time, water and sunlight, and that looking after a garden is a shared job, not something that happens on its own.

Walks further afield take the children past the Boys’ School and Girls’ School, sometimes timed for an assembly or ceremony, where they slip quietly into rows of much older students and take in the hum of a bigger community in motion. These visits are a chance to practise walking respectfully, listening carefully, and noticing the different ways people come together.

Campus playgrounds round out the adventures. Obstacle courses are scrambled over, balance beams wobbled along, and games invented on the spot, testing the children’s physical confidence as much as their ability to negotiate rules and cheer on a friend’s turn.

Wherever the walk leads, the children are doing far more than getting from one place to the next. They are noticing, wondering, and building a sense of belonging in the spaces around them.

SAINT KENTIGERN

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All Aboard for Auckland

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n the July holidays, our oldest and youngest Preschool children set off together on an adventure into the Auckland CBD, switching their usual playground for the train station platform.

With walking shoes laced and excitement building, the group made their way along the boardwalk to Orakei Station to catch the train into the city. For many of the littlest travellers it was their first ride, and small faces pressed against the windows as the carriage rattled toward Waitematā Station.

Stepping out into the city's hum, the first stop was The Corner Café, where Gino whipped up fluffies for the children and beverages of the caffeinated variety for the grown-ups. The group gathered around a long table, sipping and chatting before heading off to find a sunny spot for lunch. Sandwiches and Tiny Teddies disappeared quickly as the children took in the winter

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sun and the sights and sounds of the city around them.

Refuelled, the group wound their way back through the busy streets, putting growing road safety skills and listening ears to good use. The train ride home was quieter, with the children gazing as the world blurred past the windows.

Back at Ōrākei Station, one last challenge remained: the walk home. The children pushed through with barely a grumble, proud of the long journey they had taken that day.

There's a lesson in every part of a trip like this. For Year 0, it was a chance to look after their younger friends, to lead the way and show what confidence looks like. For Loch Ness, it was a glimpse of what they might grow into, watching their older peers navigate train doors, city streets, and new experiences with such ease. Tuakana-teina in action – one train ride at a time.

Boys’ School

– Upcoming Events 16 OCTOBER

Celtic Day 22 OCTOBER

Grandparents’ Morning 15 NOVEMBER

Fireworks “Ignite and Take Flight” 7 DECEMBER

Carol Service

A Game of Two Halves Peter Cassie TTC, BEd

Boys’ School Principal

What if every sporting fixture ended at half-time?

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he scoreboard would freeze, the final result would remain unknown, and players would leave wondering what might have been. There would be no comeback victories, no adjustments, no opportunity to learn from mistakes or build on early success. The story would end before its most important chapter had been written.

Thankfully, neither sport nor education works that way.

One of the great gifts of education is that growth is never determined solely by where a student starts, nor even by where he finds himself halfway through the year. What matters most is how he responds to what he has learned about himself and what he chooses to do next.

Throughout my years in education and sport, I have often been struck

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by how similar successful learners are to successful teams.

I believe there is an important lesson in this for our boys.

As we begin the second semester, I am reminded of what happens in every great team's changing room at half-time. The scoreboard tells a story. The first half has revealed strengths, exposed weaknesses, highlighted opportunities, and perhaps uncovered a few surprises.

Most importantly, it provides a chance to pause, reflect, and reset.

The first semester has provided every boy with valuable feedback.

Reports, assessments, teacher observations, friendships, sporting experiences, leadership opportunities and everyday classroom challenges have all contributed to a clearer picture of where they are succeeding and where they can continue to grow.

The recent holiday break felt very much like that for me.

Feedback is powerful when viewed through the right lens. Its purpose is not to define us. Its purpose is to guide our next steps.

At this point in the year, every team faces a choice. They can walk back onto the field and continue exactly as they have been, hoping things will somehow work out. Or they can use the break wisely, identify what needs to improve, make some adjustments, and return with renewed energy and purpose.

The most successful teams rarely rely on hope alone.

Good coaches spend half-time analysing what they have seen. They identify strengths to build upon, weaknesses that need attention, and adjustments that will give their team the best chance of success.

The second half is often won not by the team that started strongest, but by the team that learns and adapts most effectively.

The question now is simple: what will our boys do with that information? For some, the answer may be to build on excellent habits that are already producing strong results. For others, it may require greater focus, improved organisation, increased perseverance, or the confidence to seek help when needed. Regardless of where a boy currently sits, the second semester offers every student the opportunity to write a stronger ending to his story.

Parents also play an important role in this process.

Celebrate the progress your son has made and acknowledge the effort behind his achievements. At the same time, identify one or two areas

Boys’ School

The Founders Return

T where growth is needed and discuss what practical actions could make the greatest difference over the coming months.

In my experience, meaningful improvement rarely comes from dramatic breakthroughs. More often, it emerges from small, deliberate actions repeated consistently over time.

• A little more organisation.

• A little more persistence when learning becomes challenging.

• A little more courage to ask questions.

• A little more discipline when distractions appear.

he Class of 1959, the foundation class of our Boys' School, returned to campus at the beginning of Term 3 for a morning down memory lane. Malcolm Boyd, Warren Stevens, Laurence Ennor, David Grove, Chris Laird, John McMillan, Dave Adams, Roly Pattison and Warren Thomas joined staff for Friday morning tea, then took their seats for assembly, where they watched this year's boys collect leadership badges and hear the successes of various sports teams. They finished their visit with lunch in Roselle House, their old classroom building that has since been transformed into an administration hub and library.

Principal Peter Cassie introduced the group with a detail only they would remember. In 1959, every boy was known by a number, not a name. He asked them to call theirs out, including student number one, the very first boy enrolled at the School.

Nearly seventy years on, the numbers have stuck, as have their friendships. The Class of 1959 took the leap of faith that built this school, and we are honoured that they continue to return and invest in its future.

These seemingly small choices accumulate over days, weeks, and months to produce remarkable results.

This thinking aligns closely with the challenge we continue to place before our boys: CHOOSE TO BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. . . AND CHOOSE IT EVERY DAY!

Self-belief is not blind optimism. It is confidence earned through preparation, effort, and perseverance. It grows when boys take responsibility for their actions, embrace challenges, learn from setbacks, and continue moving forward when things become difficult.

The most successful learners do not see challenges as evidence that they cannot succeed. They understand that challenge is often the pathway to success.

As I visit classrooms, sports fields, music rooms and playgrounds, I am continually reminded of the extraordinary potential that exists within our boys. Yet potential alone achieves very little. It remains unrealised until it is matched by effort, discipline, and action.

The scoreboard tells us where we stand today, but it does not determine where we finish.

There is still much to learn, much to achieve, and much to celebrate in the months ahead.

The second half of the year remains unwritten.

How that story ends will be determined by the choices we make, the habits we strengthen, and the courage we show from this point forward.

Fides Servanda Est.

SAINT KENTIGERN

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Bikini Bottom Boogies all Night

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very two years, our school stages a musical. This year, the audience was transported underwater to the famed Bikini Bottom. The SpongeBob Musical Youth Edition brought the small screen’s most famous sea sponge to JC Chalmers Hall, performed entirely

by Year 7 and 8 students across five outstanding performances.

The production was six months in the making with many moving parts. A large cast, leads, ensembles, production team, crew, staff and parents came together to bring the musical to the stage. The result was loud, colourful, and full of joy.

Forbes Leighton (understudy Jay Hughes) headlined as SpongeBob, with all the relentless optimism the role demands. He was supported by his friends Patrick Star (Edward Moon) and Sandy Cheeks (Lucas Van Goch Old), as well as a standout performance

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from Solomon Myocevich as Pearl, who delivered a vocal performance that belied his years.

Audience, the production kept revealing itself. “I noticed something new each night,” he said.

This year’s production introduced a striking new LED screen with moving backdrops. Gone were the scenechange scrambles, while the props that remained felt more intentional, keeping the focus firmly on the boys.

The screen design, costumes, colour, and choreography worked seamlessly to support the characters as they navigated the storyline.

A special mention goes to the staff who steered the ship. Head of Hamilton House and teacher Sabine Bartlett took on producing, directing and choreography, while Leoni Willis handled costume creation, wigs and screen graphics. Head of Music Teresa de Vries served as musical director, and the skills of all three were passed on to the boys to great effect.

The costuming, deserving of its own mention, was characteristically bright and lifted straight from the early 2000s.

It delivered a healthy dose of nostalgia for anyone who grew up with the colourful cartoon.

By all accounts, the show went off without a hitch. And if you happen to catch a parent humming “Bikini Bottom boogie all niiiiiiiight” somewhere in the carpark over the coming weeks, well, that's just the production doing its job.

The leads were well cast across the board, and even in Principal Peter Cassie’s unofficial role as Head of the

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Boys’ School SAINT KENTIGERN

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Rise Up, Walk Forward REFLECTIONS FROM THE IBSC ANNUAL CONFERENCE , JOHANNESBURG

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t the end of Term 2, Catherine Linnell, Steve Aucamp, Emily Cooper and Sam Mackarell represented the Boys' School at the International Boys' Schools Coalition (IBSC) Annual Conference, held at St Stithians College in Johannesburg, South Africa. More than 500 educators from boys' schools around the world gathered to explore the conference theme, Sukuma, Uye Phambili: Rise Up, Walk Forward, and reflect on how schools can prepare boys to meet an increasingly complex world with courage, character, and purpose.

The conference also coincided with the 50th anniversary of the 1976 Soweto Uprisings, when South African students marched in protest against the imposition of Afrikaans as the language of instruction. This historical context provided a powerful backdrop for many of the discussions throughout the week. A recurring message was that educating boys today remains both ambitious and challenging. Speakers emphasised the importance of developing young men who are not merely bystanders, but upstanders: students who demonstrate courage, stand up for what is right, care for those less fortunate than themselves, and recognise their responsibility to make a positive contribution within their communities.

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CONNECTION AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

The African philosophy of Ubuntu featured prominently throughout the conference. Often expressed as "I am because we are", Ubuntu emphasises belonging, community, empathy, and shared responsibility. Speakers demonstrated how intentional character education helps boys develop courage, integrity, humility, gratitude, and service through lived experiences rather than simply learning values as concepts. The discussions reinforced the view that character development is fundamental to preparing boys to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives.

A conference highlight was Catherine Linnell and Steve Aucamp's workshop, Character Counts: Developing the Leader Within Every Boy. The presentation explored Saint Kentigern's commitment to being a ‘Leaderful School’, where leadership is viewed as the responsibility of every student rather than the preserve of a select few. Central to the workshop was the idea that if leadership only looks like captains and prefects, many boys opt out before they begin. Delegates were particularly interested in the Year 8 Leadership Symposium and Saint Kentigern's Character Education programme, which is formally embedded

TECHNOLOGY, PEDAGOGY, AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Technology and pedagogy featured prominently throughout the conference, particularly in discussions about artificial intelligence and its implications for learning. A recurring message was that schools must help students rise above simply consuming information and instead develop the thinking skills required to interact critically with increasingly sophisticated technologies. The quality of students' questions will increasingly determine the quality of the outputs they receive. Participants explored how AI can support learning, streamline administrative tasks, and strengthen data analysis, allowing teachers to identify patterns in student achievement and respond more effectively. The challenge moving forward is not whether schools adopt AI, but how they ensure technology enhances rather than replaces deep thinking and meaningful learning.

AGENCY AND IMPACT

The theme of agency and impact was closely aligned with the conference call to Rise Up and Walk Forward. Schools shared examples of how boys can be empowered to take ownership of their learning and recognise their capacity to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Agency was presented not as unrestricted choice but as developing the confidence, responsibility, and self-regulation needed to act purposefully. Through inquiry learning, leadership opportunities, service initiatives, and authentic learning experiences, boys are encouraged to see themselves as active contributors rather than passive participants. The conference

reinforced the idea that education should prepare young people not only for academic success but also for meaningful engagement with the challenges and opportunities they will encounter beyond school.

Boys’ School

within the academic timetable, and provides every student with opportunities to develop leadership skills, reflect on strengths, and grow in confidence and character. Sharing this work reinforced one of the strengths of IBSC: learning from others while contributing our own insights to the global conversation about boys' education.

LEADERSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Leadership and professional learning were recurring themes throughout the conference. The IBSC Action Research programme showcased how educators can investigate challenges within their own contexts and share findings with colleagues around the world. These presentations highlighted the power of evidence-informed improvement and the value of learning from both successes and failures.

The opportunity to engage with educators facing similar challenges provided valuable ideas that will help inform future practice at Saint Kentigern.

A consistent message throughout the conference was that schools cannot stand still. The invitation to Rise Up and Walk Forward challenged educators to respond thoughtfully to changing technologies, evolving student needs, and an increasingly complex society while remaining grounded in the enduring importance of relationships, character, and high-quality teaching. Through keynote presentations, workshops, action research, and professional dialogue, delegates gained both inspiration and practical strategies that will help inform future practice at Saint Kentigern.

Most importantly, the conference reinforced the value of belonging to a global community of educators committed to helping boys thrive as learners, leaders, and contributors in the world around them.

We are grateful to the Boys' School P&F, the Harmos family, and the Campbell Pearce family for their generous support of staff scholarships, enabling ongoing professional learning and development for our teachers.

Written by Core Curriculum Lead Catherine Linnell and Middle School Dean Emily Cooper

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A Place to Stand

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ur Year 3 and 4 boys were first to their speech finals, both speaking on Tūrangawaewae, ‘a place to stand’.

Each speech brought a unique interpretation, revealing the people and memories tied to our boys’ special places. Year 3 speakers supplemented their talks with a poster board, with Teddy Green (Matarangi) and Daniel Moon (Korea) taking winner and runner-up respectively.

Year 4 upgraded to slide decks, adding a digital dimension to their speeches.

Jackson Greenslade took the win with a descriptive and humorous talk on ‘Grandpa's Place’, while runner-up Landon Tang spoke on ‘My Kitchen’ and the culinary collision of cultures within it.

Eight finalists reached the Year 5 and 6 final, taking the theme ‘Our roots,

Our voices, Our future’ in their own direction. External judges Jodie Rowe and Chris Hodder from the College had the job of choosing a winner from a ranging field of topics, from family history to imagined futures.

Dylan Ormond came in first place with ‘Future Me’, and Carter Lin was runner-up with ‘Two Cultures, One Me’, a speech on holding two identities at once.

The senior final was split into three sections – formal speeches, spoken word, and flash talks – judged by Kate Laurence, co-founder of Head Held High, and Venice Qin, a singer-songwriter and College alumna. Harrison Te’o won the formal section and the competition overall with ‘Born and Raised in South Auckland’. His personal and humour-laden speech disarmed

common stereotypes of the area by simply sharing the beauty he sees.

Tom Balkett was runner-up, cleverly personifying negative self-talk in ‘The Art of the Inner Voice’.

In spoken word, Felix Silverstone won with ‘The Iron Curtain’, drawing a line from the crumbling Berlin Wall to the divisions we build in our own minds. William Wang took the flash talk category, where the slides change every fifteen seconds, with ‘150 Hertz Heartbeat’, a reminder that everyone starts with the same first heartbeat.

What stood out across every final was how clearly our boys can speak to their own identity, their culture, and the futures they imagine for themselves.

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Boys’ School SAINT KENTIGERN

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Lessons in Leading

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t's hard to picture where you might be in five, ten, or twenty years. But hearing from people who have already walked that path has a way of opening your eyes to what’s possible.

On 15 May, our Year 8 boys gathered for a Leadership Symposium that brought together an impressive lineup of guest speakers, each offering a glimpse of where leadership had taken them.

Student leaders from surrounding schools, including our own Girls’ School, joined the cohort for the day.

Keynote speaker Heather McRae, former principal of Diocesan School for Girls, addressed the group in the morning. Drawing on an international career that included leading schools in China, she spoke about the value of

cultural diversity and why seeing the world through different lenses makes for better leaders.

A memorable speaker for the boys was Olympic gold medallist Alicia Hoskin.

She used her experiences racing the four-person K4 kayak as an analogy of a successful team moving at full speed: “…not with strength alone, but in complete synchronisation”. Hoskin’s reminder that the people around you shape your direction landed with the group. “Show me your friends and I will show you your future.”

In between sessions, the boys took to the gym for a Taskmaster challenge. The fast-paced exercise put their teamwork, communication, and listening skills to the test in a way no speaker slot could.

Head Prefects from surrounding schools joined the symposium after lunch, interviewed by Head of Chaplaincy Rev. Reuben Hardie. They spoke on everything from their leadership philosophies to managing commitments, giving the students much to think about in their own school aspirations. Jude Walter from Brainfit closed the day with a different kind of lesson – that leading well starts with looking after yourself.

As Year 8 students Andrew Skilton and Christian Smidt reflected, “Every leader starts somewhere.” For this cohort, that somewhere looks promising.

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Boys’ School

Ideas Worth Presenting

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he Boys’ School Science Symposium returned in Term 3, with the top Year 7 and 8 Science Fair projects presented to an audience of peers, parents, and teachers. Projects were displayed at stations around the Macky Technology Building, with students given seven minutes to walk visitors through their hypotheses, experimental design, and results.

This year’s line-up ranged from flood management and sound engineering to food science and structural testing, but one theme stood out above the rest. A striking number of students turned their attention to artificial intelligence, building projects like an AI Monopoly opponent and a factchecking tool designed to verify online claims, testing its uses and limits with a scientist’s eye.

The symposium gave students a platform to sharpen both their thinking and their communication, presenting original ideas to a wider audience and defending their findings under questioning. It is one of the clearest windows into how our students see the world and where they think it is heading. SCAN FOR VIDEO

Going the Extra Mile

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his year, the boys were encouraged to push past their limits, go the extra mile, and make a real impact. The Extra Miler Challenge invites boys to set themselves a personal physical or service goal in support of a charity of their choosing, and this year saw a record number take part.

Our Year 8 cohort achieved its best-ever result in the Campus-to-Campus Challenge, walking 13 kilometres to deliver donated food to the Shed, with more than 80 boys completing the return journey back to school. Two Year 8 students, Lachlan Richwhite and Tom Bowkett, set themselves a further challenge, running 30 kilometres from the Viaduct to St Heliers and back before taking on the 26-kilometre Campus-to-Campus round trip just days later.

When Lachie's legs began cramping late in the run, Tom carried his bag for the final 8 kilometres, the kind of unified teamwork that carried both boys through.

Meanwhile, a group of Year 7 boys spent Mother's Day at Grace Joel Retirement Village, entertaining residents with poetry, singing, quizzes, and a line dance, and sharing roses and homemade baking. With many more unnamed acts of service, the Extra Miler campaign has made a lasting impact, benefiting both our boys and the charities they supported.

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Learning at a Glance AN OVERVIEW OF CL A SSROOM LE ARNING IN TERM 2 & 3

Junior Mathematicians Build Number Sense Last term, our Junior School mathematicians were building the foundations of number knowledge, the base children need before they can tackle more complex problems with confidence.

Across Years 0 to 2, students explore numbers through counters, cubes, tens frames, number lines, and bead strings, seeing and building numbers before recording them on paper.

Representing numbers in different ways helps boys spot patterns, make connections, and think flexibly about problems.

Classrooms are full of mathematical conversation, as boys explain their thinking, compare strategies, and solve problems together. Through practical activities, drawings, and symbols, students are developing real confidence with numbers, groundwork that will carry them into more advanced mathematics in the years ahead.

Year 3 Charts World Oceans Our Year 3 boys have been exploring the wonders of the world’s oceans as part of a Science and Social Science integrated unit of learning. This started with establishing the geography of the oceans, learning about each of the five oceans and the three layers that they are made up of – Sunlit, Twilight, and Midnight Zones. This then shifted to learning about the variety of life that lives in our oceans, before turning their focus to how humans have impacted the oceans and the life living therein.

The boys developed their collaborative skills, working in groups to create posters that described sea life, and explored both the positive and negative impacts that humans can have on the oceans.

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Boys’ School

Year 5 Uncovers World War One Our Year 5 students have been deep in the trenches of World War One, studying the outbreak of war to Gallipoli, the Māori Battalion, and the Battle of the Somme.

A visit to the Auckland War Memorial Museum let students connect their classroom learning with real artefacts, personal stories, and historical displays, sparking curiosity and a deeper appreciation for the sacrifices made by those who served.

The unit closed with a showcase of learning: detailed World War One dioramas and information posters, from recreated trench systems to key battle scenes. Boys presented their findings to classmates, building research, summarising, and presentation skills alongside their historical knowledge.

Year 7 Study – What Makes Champions?

Throughout Term 2, Year 7 boys explored Growth Mindset and positive self-talk in their Character Education sessions, unpacking the language behind a growth versus a fixed mindset and the drive to improve, succeed, and reach a goal.

Videos brought the concept to life through athletes, entrepreneurs, and musicians who had lived it. Each boy then researched a hero of his choice, examining how they used a growth mindset to overcome obstacles and achieve success, before sharing quotes and lessons connected to their own lives.

Popular picks included Michael Jordan, Lionel Messi, Michael Jackson, Stephen Curry, and Bruce McLaren, giving the boys a range of role models and lessons they can carry into their own goals.

SAINT KENTIGERN

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The Amumzing Race Across the World

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ho hasn't imagined taking part in a reality TV show?

Our community delivered as mother-son groups piled into JC Chalmers for The Amumzing Race Across the World, inspired by the BBC’s Race Across the World. Although the usual £20,000 prize was not up for grabs, bragging rights – arguably worth even more – were, so families came ready to compete.

Each House had their own night, kicking off with the mighty Cargill. Their green dress-ups were on-brand, proving their commitment to the cause well before the starting horn sounded. Teams raced

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between ‘countries’ set up around the school, completing themed challenges at each stop.

The race opened with a quiz to earn clues to each country’s location around the school. Tasks at each station tied back to their destination. Scotland called on parents’ artistic talents with a Loch Ness Monster face-painting challenge; Japan tested origami skills under pressure; and Greece, home of the Olympics, had full teams on their feet for a relay race holding the torch.

Throughout the night, teamwork, recall, problem-solving, and communication were all put to the

test. Each completed task earned one to three stamps on a passport, with groups racing to reach twenty-six before returning to the finish line.

The linked-arm finishes, wide smiles, and victory cheers from each group said everything about the night. When time was called, every unfinished team returned to the hall for dinner, spot prizes, and a photobooth to close out the evening.

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Boys’ School

Music Shared Across Schools The Greatest Quiz on Earth

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he big top rolled into the Jubilee Sports Centre on 15 August for the Parents & Friends Quiz Night. This year's theming did the heavy lifting as our guests walked into a venue transformed well beyond its usual four walls, with circus performers and entertainment from the moment they arrived.

Trivia ran alongside a live auction and a DJ set that kept the dance floor busy late into the night. The quiz itself was won by a team with a name to match the theme, the Clever Clowns, crowned champions on the night.

None of it happens without the people working behind the scenes. Suppliers, volunteers and the organising committee kept the night running smoothly from setup to last dance, and the community’s generosity translated directly into the strongest fundraising result the quiz night has seen.

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wo exchanges brought music and connection to the fore this term. More than seventy musicians from our School’s String Orchestra and Concert Band joined students from Dilworth for a day of combined rehearsals.

Working alongside Dilworth’s conductors, the four ensembles performed individually before joining together for the pieces they had rehearsed as one, closing out a valuable musical partnership.

The Hereworth School Choral Exchange brought a different kind of connection. Visiting students spent two nights billeted with our families, sharing home-cooked meals, trips around Auckland, and games between rehearsals. The visiting choir’s concert delighted the school community with favourites including Edelweiss and the audience-participation song An Austrian Went Yodelling, complete with a surprise ending. The visit closed with the Kentones joining Hereworth for a threepart performance of Wairua Tapu – a fitting close to two nights built on music and friendship.

Thank you to both Dilworth and Hereworth for two memorable exchanges.

Thank you to everyone who attended, donated, and helped pull it off. You made the night what it was.

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Instrumentalists Show Promise

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his year's Instrumental Competition came with a first as vocalists joined the usual contenders in strings, piano, and percussion. The result was a final unlike any before it, with performances ranging from Tchaikovsky to John Legend.

The Middle School final opened with Axl Yan tackling Copland's ‘Cat and Mouse’ on piano, played with such dynamism you could almost see the chase across the keys. Charles Gu brought tenderness to Arutiunian's Cello Impromptu; Ray Zheng switched things up entirely behind the drum kit with Herbie Hancock's ‘Chameleon’; and Luke Tang's account of Haydn's Cello Concerto showed real composure. George Sun navigated Tchaikovsky's wintry ‘May Nights’ with maturity beyond his years, and Carter Lin closed the section with a spirited Hora Hatikvah on violin.

The Senior final raised the bar in preparation and musicianship. Boyi Yujin's violin brought the fire that Monti's Csárdás demands; Orsen Gong played the same piece on saxophone before switching to piano for ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’; Darren Lin's ‘March of the Dwarfs’ was full of mischief; and Eason Zhu delivered a brooding, assured Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C-sharp minor.

Voice gave the competition a different texture entirely.

Jay Hughes sang ‘Alone in the Universe’ with great heart, and Lucas Van Goch-Old went acoustic with ‘All of Me’, but it was Solomon Myocevich's ‘Don't Dream It's Over’ that captured the room and earned him the inaugural Vocal Award.

George Sun took the Middle School title from Luke Tang and Axl Yan. In the Senior competition, two-time Middle School winner Boyi Yujin took first place, with Darren Lin and Eason Zhu behind him.

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Boys’ School

In it for the Long Run

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ross country is a team sport in disguise. Chalmers claimed the House title built on contributions across almost every year group. Stefan Yin and Ari Bhargava took out the top two places in Year 2; Hugo Porter and Tennyson Stein bookended the Year 5 podium; and Will Somerville added a Year 4 win. No single year group carried the House with every runner’s effort adding to the tally.

Wishart produced the standout individual performances of the day, sweeping the Year 7 podium with Zach Lovell, Elliot Timmins, and Wolfe Brunt, and nearly repeating the feat in Year 6 through Liam Cooney and Maxime Deperrois.

Hamilton’s best race came in Year 3, where Teddy Gemmell and Teddy Rhodes found themselves in a teddy derby for second.

Cargill matched their team effort with William Matthews and Harrison Or going one-two in Year 1.

The Year 1 and 2 races were run first at Martyn Wilson Fields before Years 3 to 8 took to the College course a week later.

Across both venues, the same lesson held.

Cross country rewards whoever’s in it for the long run.

HOUSE RESULTS

1st Chalmers 2nd Cargill 3rd Hamilton 4th Wishart

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS YEAR 1

1st William Matthews 2nd Harrison Or 3rd Cash Wang YEAR 2

1st Stefan Yin 2nd Ari Bhargava 3rd Alex Lambden YEAR 3

1st Ryan Omidvari 2nd Teddy Gemmell 3rd Teddy Rhodes YEAR 4

1st Will Somerville 2nd Landon Tang 3rd Ralph Dickie YEAR 5

1st Hugo Porter 2nd Conrad Bartlett 3rd Tennyson Stein YEAR 6

1st Liam Cooney 2nd Maxime Deperrois 3rd Ollie Doole YEAR 7

1st Zach Lovell 2nd Elliot Timmins 3rd Wolfe Brunt YEAR 8

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Sports Roundup AN OVERVIEW OF SPORTING EVENTS AT THE BOYS ’ SCHOOL

Karting Champions

Retaining Ski Champs Title

Joey Zhou won the VMR category at the Auckland School Karting Championship, taking out all five races in the class. Paired with Mason Harris, they went on to claim the overall School Championship trophy. With current international driver Liam Lawson among its past winners, the boys find themselves in elite company.

Eighteen boys took to the slopes at the Auckland Primary and Intermediate Snowsports Championships, joining students from schools across Auckland, several competing for the first time. Wyatt Wolfe placed third in the Year 3/4 Giant Slalom; Charlie Casey placed third in the Year 5/6 Giant Slalom and second overall in Slopestyle; and William Wang placed third in the Year 7/8 Giant Slalom, as the Year 7/8 boys retained their Auckland Intermediate Boys Ski Champs title for 2026.

International Tennis Bronze Xanthus Gao has had an impressive run of successes, representing New Zealand in the 11/u Boys team at the 2026 Australian Teams Championships on the Gold Coast, finishing third. He then travelled to Brisbane for the Rod Laver Junior Championships, winning the doubles title with fellow Boys’ School student Rafa Zhao.

Auckland Rogaine Success Sebastian Power and Felix Silverstone's team placed third in the Year 7/8 boys' category at the Auckland Secondary Schools Rogaine Championships at Muriwai, navigating sand dunes and forest to collect as many checkpoints as possible within a 90-minute window. Roy Ma and Theo Maher's team finished fifth in the same event.

It capped a busy season in orienteering for our boys. They also competed at the AKSS Long Championship in Woodhill Forest, the Year 7/8 Interzone event at Western Springs, and the Auckland Secondary School Orienteering Relay at Muirs Farm.

Winter Exchange Season The Boys' School enjoyed a busy calendar of exchange fixtures this season, giving them valuable game time against a wide range of opponents. Closer to home, the boys travelled to Hereworth and St Peter's Cambridge for hockey, football, rugby and basketball fixtures, and welcomed Southwell School for the annual Burgess Brothers' Trophy exchange, which ended in a draw after a nail-biting 14-all result in the deciding rugby match. Year 8 hockey player Matthew Evans wrote after the St Peter's Cambridge fixture that it's an experience the boys are always keen to repeat: "We look forward to playing St Peter's again in the future."

The highlight of the exchange calendar was a visit from The King's School, Parramatta, as part of their biennial rugby tour of New Zealand, a rare chance for the boys to test themselves against an overseas touring side.

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Girls’ School

Upcoming Events 17 SEPTEMBER

Musicale 23 OCTOBER

Grandparents Day 30 NOVEMBER

Carol Service 10 DECEMBER

Prize Giving

Leading with Purpose, Serving with Heart DEVELOPING COUR AGEOUS YOUNG LE ADERS WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Marianne Duston

True student leadership happens when young people are encouraged to identify problems in their community, share their BPharm, GradDip Tchg, voices, take action to solve problems, MSSL (Distinction) and make a positive difference to others.

Girls’ School This year in the Extra Miler, we adopted Principal a new focus. Instead of taking on an individual challenge, we encouraged five-year-old who notices a child our students to become a “difference standing alone and invites her maker”, finding ways of serving others in to join a game is demonstrating our community. leadership. So too is a Year 8 student Wonderful examples of leading with who leads a workshop for younger purpose and serving with heart were students from across Auckland. evident during the Extra Miler. Students Many people assume that leadership baked and delivered treats to emergency belongs only to adults, those with titles, service workers, performed concerts at or a select few with natural talent. At our retirement villages to uplift residents, and school, we believe something different. created care packs for Plunket, among We teach that leadership is expressed many other acts of service. In doing so, through action, service, and the courage students discovered that even small to make a positive difference in the lives acts of kindness and service can have a of others, grounded in character and a meaningful impact on the lives of others. genuine desire to serve. Children may A significant highlight this year has been not lead in the same way as adults, but ‘LeadHERship in Action’, a student-led they lead all the same: influencing peers, leadership symposium created and showing initiative, solving problems, delivered by every member of our Year caring for others, and contributing 8 cohort. Inspired by our 2026 theme positively to the wider community. word, ACTIVATE, the event brought Leadership like this is cultivated through together students from Saint Kentigern intentional training, meaningful and schools across Auckland to explore opportunities, and everyday experience. how leadership can create positive Traditionally, student leadership in change in schools and communities. schools was limited to elected positions The symposium not only showcased like Prefects or Student Council. student leadership but also challenged We adopt a more expansive view of participants to return to their schools leadership, recognising that it is not an equipped with practical ideas to positively innate trait reserved for a select few, but influence their own communities. a skill set that can be cultivated in every Effective leadership development in student, from an early age. schools involves opportunities that foster:

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1) student agency and voice 2) meaningful responsibilities which stretch students to reach higher and impact more 3) real-world skills.

The LeadHERship in Action symposium was an excellent example of each one of these strategies.

Ultimately, fostering student leadership prepares young people for success far beyond the classroom. When children aged 5 to 13 have genuine opportunities to lead, they build lifelong confidence. Leadership shapes them into responsible, empathetic, and active citizens who are equipped to navigate life's challenges and positively impact the world. These experiences reflect the values that underpin a Saint Kentigern education. Through opportunities to lead and serve, students learn that leadership is not about status or recognition, but about demonstrating respect, integrity, service, excellence and love in their daily actions.

By intentionally developing agency, character, and leadership from the earliest years, we are preparing girls not only to achieve academically, but to contribute meaningfully to the world around them.

We want every girl to understand that leadership is not reserved for a select few; it is an opportunity available to all who are willing to serve others with purpose and heart.

Fides Servanda Est.

Girls’ School

LeadHER in Action

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eadership means little if it stays as talk. LeadHER in Action, an entirely student-led symposium designed, planned, and hosted by our Year 8 cohort, set out to change that, welcoming young leaders from Year 7 and several surrounding schools for a day of connection, learning, and inspiration.

The Year 8 girls began planning from the start of the year, shaping every part of the programme themselves: brainstorming workshops, coordinating supplementary experiences, and managing the logistics that brought it all together. That process became a model for the day, with every session pushing students to move beyond ideas and into confident, decisive leadership.

The keynote from Alexia Hilbertidou, founder of Girl Boss New Zealand, landed like a gut punch in the best way. It was equal parts encouragement and challenge, urging the girls to hold themselves with confidence and dream bigger. A panel of senior student leaders from other Auckland schools shared their own leadership journeys and prompted thoughtful reflection on what leadership might look like in each student’s own context.

Throughout the day, students moved through a series of Action Labs and activations, testing out practical leadership skills and connecting with peers from other schools. Our Year 8s stepped confidently into leadership

roles as MCs, facilitators, workshop leaders, hosts and organisers. They welcomed guests, guided activities, managed transitions, and responded to the unexpected challenges that come with running a large-scale event. The symposium provided an authentic opportunity for student agency and to experience what leadership looks and feels like in practice.

Before the day closed, every girl was asked to name one action she would take as a result of what she had heard.

A final task for the event built on the idea that leadership only counts once it’s put into practice.

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SAINT KENTIGERN

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Causes Close to Home

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usy lives have a way of shrinking our view until our own problems feel larger than anyone else’s.

In our world, looking outward has become a skill rather than an instinct.

The Extra Miler, our school's studentled service initiative, asks our girls to identify a need in their community and do something about it – whether that means raising funds for Plunket, Familyworks, the Saint Kentigern Food Shed, or our Service Trips.

The Year 8 cohort embodied the mission literally, walking thirteen kilometres to May Road School carrying food donations for its pātaka kai. They also spent time getting to know the younger students and shared a sausage sizzle together.

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Other girls found their cause closer to home. Year 7’s Rosie Jarvis hand-painted 45 coasters for the residents of Gulf Views rest home, once home to two of her great-grandparents, delivering them door to door in gift bags. It took longer than she expected. “I wanted each one to be special,” she says. “It felt like a lot of work at the time, but a short effort made a longer contribution.” Meeting the residents left its own mark. “Some are really sick, and their days are very long on their own. I am going to keep looking for opportunities to make other people’s lives just that little bit better.”

Year 7’s Yasmine Rosen ran a termlong collection drive for a local charity supporting people experiencing housing insecurity, gathering clothing and household items from friends,

family, and her parents’ workplaces, an extension of what her own family had already been doing for years. “I was surprised that I had so many clothes I didn't need stuffed in the back of my drawer,” she says. “I love thinking about the items I don't need becoming another kid's favourite shirt." She isn't done yet. “I'm making sure to set aside clothes I don't need anymore, so I have something ready the next time we’re making a delivery.”

None of our girls set out to gain anything from the experience. That many came away changed says something about what service actually does.

Girls’ School

Let’s Glow Crazy

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was taken seriously – one Middle School student arriving in glowing butterfly wings that were visible from every corner of the room.

the decorations, the DJ, the Glow Station, the glow sticks in every ticket, and the clean-up long after the last song.

Every ticket came with glow sticks, and the Glow Station took care of the rest. Face decals and glow paint were available through the night, and by the time the DJ had the floor moving, the hall was a shifting field of neon.

Years 0 to 4 had the space first. They took the floor from the opening song and did not give much of it back. The photo booths did steady business between dances, enjoyed by staff and students alike. At seven, the Years 5 to 8 session took over and the room changed character. A little cooler, but just as loud.

By the end of the night, the glow paint had migrated well beyond the faces it started on – a sure sign the disco was a success.

Some girls had planned well ahead.

Brightest neon was the brief, and it

Credit goes to our Parents & Friends committee, who handled

hen the lights in JC Chalmers were put out, they stayed out. Under UV, white shoelaces, socks and shirts turned electric, and Let's Glow Crazy was underway.

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SAINT KENTIGERN

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Heritage Made Personal GIRL S CELEBR ATE SCHOOL' S SCOT TISH ROOTS AT FLOR A MCDONALD DAY

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he excitement that rolls around each year with Flora MacDonald Day is difficult to match. Wellacquainted veterans of the school know it as a day filled with Scottish heritage celebrated in a variety of ways – a little different every year, but no less eagerly anticipated. For new students, the stories passed on by peers build it into a highlight of the year before they experience it themselves.

The day always opens the same way: a parade around Shore Road, led by the College Pipe Band and a mix of the Girls' School's own instrumentalists. Students walk alongside their buddies draped in tartan the colour of their school House.

The formal assembly follows, this year opening with an address from Principal

Marianne Duston, and closing with a characteristically enigmatic blessing from Chaplain Rev. Reuben Hardie, delivered in his best Scottish accent. Year 8 student Mila Henison took the podium to present on a recent trip to her family's home in Scotland, and a dramatised retelling of Bonnie Prince Charlie and Flora MacDonald reminded the girls of the courage that gives the day its name.

Released from the assembly with their Houses, the girls took on a full programme of activities across the school: Highland games and inflatable obstacle courses on the field, Highland dancing in the gymnasium, a tug-ofwar on the turf, and a steady supply of shortbread carried the girls through to the end of the day.

It is this kind of excitement that matters when the day in question is rooted in the school's heritage. Like a birthday, it comes round each year and invites a moment to take stock – of where the school has come from, and what it continues to carry forward. Through the passingdown of stories, parading with pride, and the infusion of culture into music, games, dance, and food, Flora MacDonald Day lifts the past out of a history book and turns it into something the girls can carry with them.

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Girls’ School SAINT KENTIGERN

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Our Roots, Our Voices, Our Future

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his year’s Rehu Tai Festival of Oral Language encouraged our girls to reflect on where they come from, what matters to them now, and what kind of future they want to build. The prompt inspired a range of talks from deeply personal to boldly political.

Year 4 were the first to speak, with posterboard talks on personal experiences.

Caitlin Chan spoke of her trip to Barcelona, Hazel Huang instructed the audience step-by-step through making her favourite pizza, and Chloe Liang shared the exciting undersea creatures she saw at Chimelong Ocean Kingdom.

Sophie Fernandez took the win with Jeju Island, an account of a unique family holiday destination.

The Year 5 Flashtalks leaned into the festival’s theme directly. Annie Li spoke on the dangers that seabirds face, Erin Campbell tackled fossil fuels, and Samar Alavi vulnerably opened up about her

homeland, Iran. Julia Jamieson took first place with a tribute to her grandmother, a verbal trip down memory lane.

Many of the Year 6 speeches turned toward the future. Alice Swan admonished the audience for purchasing fast fashion, Adeline Scott made the case against smartphones for children, and winner Harriet Yeoman spoke on electric cars, warning of the climate effects of petrol-fuelled vehicles.

Across the Senior School, students could choose from two categories – Speech, and Spoken Word. In Year 7, the speech winner was Yasmine Rosen with By the Click of a Keyboard, a sharp look at how technology shapes identity. In Spoken Word, Jayda-Belle Gonzalez-Smith took first with My Words Were a Whisper That Became a Roar. Her perspective was littered with personal experience, inviting the audience to join her in boldly speaking up.

Year 8 tackled pressing issues headon. Irene Wendt-Latu won the Speech category with Until She Is Heard, part of a strong line-up that included themes like Women Are Worthy, fast fashion, and climate change. In Spoken Word, Tyana Maka's Our Voice Is an Echo took the win over Mei Hyatt-Smith's Diamonds Are Made Under Pressure and Noor Kaur's Tangled.

Across every year group, our girls spoke about the people and places that shaped them, the causes they are ready to fight for, and the future they intend to have a say in. Adjudicators Stephanie Caisley, a Speech NZ examiner, and Jodie Rowe, Saint Kentigern College’s Head of Year 12 and 13 English, judged the Year 5 and 6 and Year 7 and 8 finals respectively.

The winners are now preparing to represent the school at upcoming zone competitions.

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Girls’ School SAINT KENTIGERN

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Learning at a Glance AN OVERVIEW OF CL A SSROOM LE ARNING IN TERM 2 & 3

Winter Warmers A group of Year 0 and Year 1 girls spent a morning at Saint Andrew's Village, swapping the classroom for a rest home lounge and a lesson in service.

Members of the Saint Andrew's Craft Group had knitted a stack of scarves in advance, and the girls finished them off with the help of the residents, creating colourful pom-poms for the tops.

Conversations over pom-poms drifted to everyday life, and the girls shared some of their own learning in return. Newly acquired maths skills, a story read aloud, and a song to close the morning.

It was the first of a regular exchange. The girls returned to help present the finished scarves to Presbyterian Support Northern for children and families in need. They also stopped by their newfound friends for some more stories and learning together.

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Character in Action

Girls’ School

Saint Kentigern Girls’ School

SPIRITUAL

The Epic Dance Off A longer tutor time now runs through our school, built around wellbeing, service, and leadership. The Character in Action wheel sits at the centre of it, naming dispositions like resilience and courage, which students learn in class and then look for chances to practise.

One such chance came when Emma Miller and Emma Barker watched senior girls start clubs of their own and decided to do the same. The result was a lunchtime dance-off for the Middle School, built from a poster sign-up sheet into a schoolwide invitation, with the pair going classroom to classroom to spread the word.

It put ‘I am Resilient’ into practice when the first posters came down and had to be redone. Asking a teacher for support took courage, and none of it showed on the social stairs, filled well past capacity, where all anyone could see was a room full of Middle Schoolers dancing.

Fieldwork in Hazards and Conservation Understanding the natural world sometimes means going out and standing in it. In Term 2, our Senior students visited two Auckland islands to pair practical knowledge with their social studies lessons.

Year 8 spent a day on Rangitoto, Auckland's youngest volcano, as part of their Hazards, Risk and Resilience unit. They observed volcanic features first-hand, examining how scientists monitor risk and communities plan around it.

Year 7 visited the Marine Discovery Centre on Goat Island as part of their Ocean Defenders unit, getting hands-on with marine species and the adaptations that let them survive there, with staff singling out the quality of students' questions.

Hazard planning and conservation, it turns out, rest on the same principle: you can't protect what you don't understand.

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Juniors Find Their Voice

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t takes nerve to stand in front of a packed hall and read something you wrote yourself. At five years old, it takes considerably more. This year’s Junior School Poetry Showcase opened with exactly that, hosted by two confident student MCs, Matilda Johnson and Eliza Campbell.

This afternoon’s showcase marked the culmination of a term of poetry learning across the school. Students developed and refined their poems through literacy lessons with their classroom teachers, while Speech and Drama lessons supported them in exploring how poetry can be communicated effectively through performance.

The result was a wonderful celebration of both poetry writing and oral language.

Each class brought something different to the stage. Years 0 to 2 classes shared original works that painted word pictures of the four seasons rolling into one another. Individual students read poems built around whichever season meant the most to them. Winter came up again and again, complete

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with the requisite mug of hot chocolate, proof that these poets were writing straight from the week’s chilly mornings.

The comic highlights came from Year 3. Class 3JS performed Judi Billcliff's “Help! Mum is a Hen!”, in which a mother turns into a clucking hen and a father into a cat, chaos that ends with scrambled egg on toast. Class 3MM brought the same energy to Kenn Nesbitt's “Good Morning, Mrs Hamster”, about a science experiment gone wrong that swaps a teacher’s brain with her class pet’s.

To close the showcase, Gus Simonovic, who delivered several writing workshops throughout the term, performed one of his own poems. The original piece reflected on his own migration to New Zealand, told through the story of an unfamiliar constellation. The prose was a fitting reminder that poetry can hold both the very large and the very personal.

For a room full of five-, six-, and sevenyear-olds, it was a confident, funny, and insightful afternoon of poetry.

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Girls’ School

Student Successes Two Bronze Medals at International Maths Challenge Congratulations to Melody Pan, who represented New Zealand at the Singapore International Math Olympiad Challenge in Singapore. Following a Silver Award at the Singapore and Asian Schools Math Olympiad earlier this year, Melody took Bronze in the Individual Mathematics Olympiad and Bronze again in the Math Warriors team competition, competing against 2,283 students from 40 countries.

Podium Finishes at National Poetry Final Congratulations to Zoe Wong, Runner-Up, and Lia Hendrickson, third place, both in the Year 0 to 3 category of the GreatTalk 2026 Poetry Recitation Competition. The girls delivered their recitations in the Grand Final against students from across New Zealand. On Grand Final night, Mia Hendrickson did a superb job MCing the event.

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A Treasured Afternoon Together

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n a Sunday afternoon in mid-May, mothers and daughters of the Girls' School gathered in the ballroom of the Grand Millennium for the biennial Mother and Daughter High Tea, an afternoon set aside every two years to honour the mothers and mother figures in our girls’ lives.

Mothers in their high tea finest and daughters in formal uniform arrived to a string ensemble and friendly greeters, mingling over a glass of bubbles or juice in the lounge before the main event began.

When the doors to the Grand Ballroom opened, they were welcomed into a room set with tiered stands of macarons, finger sandwiches, scones and pastries. It quickly hummed with conversation as plates were filled and refilled, tea poured, and stories swapped across tables. Just outside, alumna Tammy Hall photographed every mother and daughter pairing, the kind of keepsake the rush of ordinary life so rarely allows.

A highlight was the silent art auction. Each year level had worked collaboratively on a piece made especially for the event: fingerprints, painted hearts, butterflies, seaglass figures, miniature watercolours, and handmade pompoms, each one shaped by many hands. Guests bid throughout the afternoon, with proceeds supporting upcoming Parents and Friends projects, including line marking for an additional netball court.

The afternoon owed much to the Parents and Friends committee, led by Chair Jess Wahlstrom, whose planning made an event that felt as effortless as it was considered.

An afternoon of food and finery is easy to remember. What makes this one matter is who it was shared with.

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Girls’ School

A Clean Sweep for Wishart

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lue sky, a dry course, and four houses raring to go was the perfect recipe to kick off the Years 3–8 Cross Country at the College. Runners could not have asked for better conditions, pushing through the field with grit and determination, cheered on by parents and classmates who had already crossed the line.

Wishart topped the overall standings, propelled by a clean sweep of the Year 8 podium by Mila Henison, Willa Gilchrist, and Christine Cooney.

These same three names filled the Year 7 places twelve months ago, now reshuffled at the top.

Back at Shore Road, our youngest runners in Years 0–2 ran their own course at Martyn Wilson Fields.

They too enjoyed clear skies for their race, making it easy for the hordes of parents to support with a coffee in hand.

Cross country tests endurance and quiet nerve in equal measure. Here, the girls answered with effort, and with plenty of smiles at the finish line.

HOUSE RESULTS

YEAR 4

1st Wishart 2nd Chalmers 3rd Cargill 4th Hamilton

1st Rebecca Situ 2nd Evelyn Zhu 3rd Abhiruvee Gunasekera

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

1st Lola Seton 2nd Victoria Kirwan 3rd Stella Ouwerkerk

YEAR 0

1st Emily Lambden 2nd Ava Gray 3rd Evie Hutchison

YEAR 5

YEAR 6

1st Olivia York YEAR 1

1st Ayla Comrie 2nd Charlotte Lim 3rd Tilly Gage-Brown

2nd Harriet Perry 3rd Elly Chiu YEAR 7

1st Evie Reynolds YEAR 2

1st Willow Swan 2nd Amelia Goodfellow 3rd Lena Luo YEAR 3

1st Eliza Campbell 2nd Isabelle Or 3rd Emily Gao

2nd Charlotte Xu 3rd Olivia Ouwerkerk YEAR 8

1st Mila Henison 2nd Willa Gilchrist 3rd Christine Cooney

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54

Sports Roundup A CONCISE OVERVIEW OF SPORTING EVENTS AT OUR GIRL S ' SCHOOL

Fourth at Oceania Champs Top 15 at BMX Worlds Bessie Li was selected to represent New Zealand at the Oceania table tennis training camp and competition week over the winter holidays, training for five days before competing against athletes from across the Pacific, Australia, New Caledonia and Tahiti. She finished fourth overall in the girls’ division, closing out a week that gave her valuable international experience against some of the region's strongest junior players.

Following her gold medal at nationals, Evelyn Zhu represented New Zealand at the 2026 UCI BMX Racing World Championships in Brisbane, finishing 15th against the world’s best riders.

Bronze in Queensland Year 8 student Olivia Wang competed at the 2026 Rhythmic Gymnastics Queensland Cup in Australia, winning bronze in clubs and finishing 6th overall in her individual age group.

World Top 10 for Junior Golfer Anna Zhao finished tenth overall in the 9/10 age division at the 2026 World Junior Golf Championship in San Diego, an invitation-only event drawing around 1200 elite golfers from over 60 countries. Competing against 79 of the world’s best in her age group, Anna carded +3 over three rounds, making her only the second New Zealand girl since 1968 to finish in the division’s world top 10, after Lydia Ko's runnerup finish in 2007.

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Water Polo Goes Undefeated at Winterfest Our Year 7/8 A Water Polo Team claimed the B Grade title at the Winterfest Tournament, winning every match across four days of competition including a tense 4–3 final victory over Northcross. The girls showed real composure and teamwork under pressure, a credit to coaches Eva Macaulay and Louise Beaumont’s work developing the squad this season.

College

Upcoming Events 9 SEPTEMBER

NZ Choral Federation Gala Concert 26 OCTOBER – 13 NOVEMBER

IB External Examinations 3 NOVEMBER

Sports Dinner Awards 16 NOVEMBER – 4 DECEMBER

NCEA External Examinations 27 NOVEMBER

Year 13 Graduation

Purposeful Participation Damon Emtage BEd, M Ed

College Principal

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ducation is at its most powerful when young people recognise that their learning equips them to participate fully in the life of their community. At the College, this means developing the knowledge, character, and courage to step forward, contribute thoughtfully, and respond to the needs of others. Achievement remains important, but its deepest value is realised when it becomes a source of service, creativity, and positive influence.

Purposeful participation can take many forms. It may be seen in a student offering an idea during a class discussion, committing to a team, preparing for a performance, welcoming someone new, or persevering with a challenge that initially feels beyond reach. These moments may appear ordinary, yet they build the habits that enable young people to become dependable, compassionate, and resourceful. They also remind students that contribution is not reserved for those holding formal leadership positions; every person can strengthen the environment around them.

Our refreshed approach to physical, cultural, and creative learning provides an important setting for this growth.

Movement, performance, artistic expression and cultural engagement

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invite students to discover different capabilities and ways of communicating.

They learn to practise with discipline, respond constructively to feedback, collaborate across differences, and recognise the contributions of others.

These experiences complement classroom learning while opening pathways through which students can express identity, develop confidence, and form lasting connections.

Importantly, participation should carry both opportunity and responsibility.

We want students to have access to experiences that challenge them, while understanding that their involvement influences the quality of the experience for everyone. Turning up prepared, listening carefully, supporting a peer and completing a commitment are practical expressions of respect, integrity, service, excellence and love. Through such actions, our values become visible rather than remaining words on a page.

This understanding is closely connected to character. Confidence enables a young person to contribute even when success is uncertain. Gratitude encourages them to notice the support and effort surrounding their own achievements. Self-belief helps them persist, while passion gives energy to worthwhile endeavour. Over time, these qualities shape students who are willing not only to pursue personal goals, but also to use their strengths for a purpose beyond themselves.

Adults play an essential part in making this possible. Staff and families create the conditions in which students feel

safe to attempt, reflect, and try again.

Clear expectations provide direction; encouragement builds confidence; and honest, specific feedback helps young people understand how their actions affect others. When we recognise effort, reliability, kindness and improvement alongside visible success, we broaden students’ understanding of what meaningful achievement looks like.

As we continue developing a more connected educational experience, our focus is not simply on increasing the number of activities available; it is on ensuring that experiences are coherent, inclusive, and purposeful. We want every student to find places where they can grow, take responsibility and make a worthwhile contribution. This requires thoughtful pathways, collaboration among staff, and a willingness to listen to student voice as programmes evolve.

A Saint Kentigern education prepares young people not merely for what they may achieve, but for what they may give. When students understand that their abilities carry the potential to benefit others, learning gains direction and community gains strength. In classrooms, chapels, cultural spaces, and on fields and courts, our hope is that each student will discover both the confidence to participate and the wisdom to contribute well.

In doing so, they will be prepared to lead with humility, serve with conviction, and approach the future with a clear sense of purpose

Fides Servanda Est.

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Ninety-Nine Years

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he College farewelled four longserving staff in mid-2026, and between them they account for ninety-nine years of service. A good deal of this was given outside school hours.

Christine Kendrick and Anne Rowe both arrived as Bruce House matrons and school nurses, and both stayed: Anne for thirty-two years, Christine for over twenty-one. They moved to the Health Centre in the MacFarlan Building in 2013, and treated generations of students. Their care, compassion, and commitment to the health and wellbeing of our students and staff have been deeply valued.

department, where his connection with students and his enthusiasm for the subject have done what a curriculum document cannot. He also led the College Rowing programme and spent several years in the Bruce House boarding community, which between them account for a great many early mornings.

Ninety-nine years is easy to count.

What those years amounted to, for the students on the receiving end, is harder to quantify. These staff members leave a lasting legacy of service, care, faith, and commitment that has enriched our community.

Two other staff members also leave behind decades of service. Stuart Saunders' association with the College began as a student. For twenty-one years he has taught in the Christian Education department, and for two decades the community has heard him at the keyboard in the Chapel of Saint Kentigern, at Sunday evening services, midweek Chapels, and at countless milestone moments for College families.

Geoff Perry has spent twenty-five years with the History and Social Studies SAINT KENTIGERN

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Student Success AN OVERVIEW OF STUDENT SUCCESS IN TERM 2 AND 3

New Zealand Selection for International Astronomy Olympiad Year 12 student Liam Zhao has been selected to represent New Zealand at the 2026 International Olympiad of Astronomy and Astrophysics in Hanoi, Vietnam. Selection followed a national process run by the New Zealand Olympiad of Astronomy and Astrophysics, with Liam performing strongly in both the observational and theory examinations. Much of his preparation was self-directed, spent researching and studying across the holidays. The IOAA is among the premier global science competitions for secondary students, setting theoretical, observational, and data-analysis tasks for young scientists from around the world.

Second National Selection for Year 11 Mathematician Bella Chen represented New Zealand at the 67th International Mathematical Olympiad in Shanghai in July, her second national selection this year after the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad in Bordeaux in April. The IMO is the highest-level international mathematics competition for secondary students, drawing teams from more than 100 countries with each nation nominating up to six. Following intensive training camps and several rounds of competition, Bella was selected among the top six performers nationally, and was the only girl on the team.

Runner-Up at National Debating Championships Bella Chen finished her debating season as a national runner-up, competing in Wellington for the Auckland Blue regional team at the National Debating Championships. Selected for the regional side after reaching the quarterfinals at the Auckland regionals, Bella was named Most Promising Speaker at the national event.

All Teams Through to World Scholar's Cup Global Round Every one of our nine College teams qualified for the Global Round of the World Scholar's Cup, after taking first and second place overall in both the Junior and Senior divisions at the Auckland Regional competition. Top performers from the Global Round earn a place at the Tournament of Tournaments at Yale University in December. Students compete across four events: Team Debate, the Scholar's Challenge, the Scholar's Bowl, and Collaborative Writing. This year's theme, "Are We There Yet?", ranged from progress bars and the end of the world to liminal spaces and unfinished monuments.

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College

First Prize at Auckland Chinese Bridge Competition Year 13 student Quentin Lemusu-Vuletich took first prize at the Auckland regional Chinese Bridge Competition, the 19th Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students, hosted by the Confucius Institute Auckland. Competing against 189 students from schools across Auckland, Quentin delivered a three-minute oral presentation in Chinese followed by a performance of the traditional song 一剪梅 (Yi Jian Mei). As first-prize winner he is the only student from the Auckland region to qualify for the international round, held in China later this year.

Actors at Shakespeare National Final

Five Golds at Robot Olympiad

Year 11 students Ruby Mapson, Henry Cannon, and Oliver Bennett, with Year 12 student Athena Liu, represented the College at the Shakespeare Global Centre National Final in Wellington. Their scene from The Tempest used music to explore themes of control and transformation, and the group took home the award for Most Cooperative Group.

Year 9 student Jisoo Yoon won five gold medals at the New Zealand Robot Olympiad in July, competing in the Senior Low Division across Battle Soccer Double, Line Tracer Relay, Mission Challenge Double, Creative Idea and Physical Computing. The competition tests robot design, programming and problem-solving, challenging students to pair technical skill with creative thinking.

First Outing at National Spanish Debating Competition Our students represented the College for the first time at the National Spanish Debating Competition, run by STANZA, the Spanish Teachers Association New Zealand Aotearoa. Held at Kristin School on 3 June, the competition brings together advanced Spanish learners from Years 11 to 13 to debate entirely in Spanish on topics including whether public transport should be free. Eight students took part, testing not only their language but their ability to build and defend an argument under pressure.

Year 11 student Ava Crawshaw was named Best Speaker.

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Three-Peat for Wishart

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n 26 May, the College enjoyed another outstanding evening of student-led choirs and bands.

The annual House Music competition remains a highlight of the year, with more than 2,500 students and family members attending the event, and there is something about this night that defies easy explanation.

Cargill sang Green Light by Lorde, a memorable blackout moment revealing a sea of green lights from their mobile phones. Hamilton House, choir category runners-up, brought soul to the evening with Six60’s Don't Forget Your Roots, and Stark House rounded out the choirs with the Exponents’ Why Does Love Do This to Me.

Following weeks of band rehearsals, full House choir practices, choreography drilled into muscle memory, and lyrics burned into brains, showtime arrived all too quickly. Packed into Due Drop Events Centre, the Houses sized each other up for the first time. Reassured nods within ranks suggested everyone believed this was their year.

The House bands followed, each met with resounding applause. The strongest performances combined tight cohesion between instrumentalists and vocalists, genuine entertainment value, and a crowd that was fully engaged. The standout moment of the night came when Wishart broke out the Bang Bang rap and drew everyone to their feet.

Wishart opened the choir category with Brooke Fraser’s There’s Something in the Water. All songs this year drew from New Zealand artists, a fitting celebration of the talent developed on home soil.

Wilson followed in Hawaiian shirts and raincoats with Crowded House’s Weather With You, and third to perform were the small but formidable Bruce House with Avalanche City’s Love, Love, Love.

While judges Oliver Gilmour, Hinekoia Tomlinson, and recent alumnus Arden Matheson deliberated, the staff band kept the arena warm with a few songs of their own.

Crowded House proved a popular choice. Classics earn that status for good reason. Choir category winners Chalmers chose Don’t Dream It’s Over, complete with sleeping masks and sharp choreographic cohesion.

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When the results came, the anticipation was palpable. Associate Principal Duncan McQueen took the mic to deliver what the Houses had been waiting for. With the band win and third place in the choir category, Wishart claimed the three-peat, cementing their name as House Music champions.

A three-way tie on points between Chalmers, Hamilton, and Wilson was broken by choir rankings, pushing

Chalmers into second place, and Hamilton into third, rounding out a very talented top three for 2026.

OVERALL RANKING :

1st Wishart 2nd Chalmers 3rd Hamilton 4th Wilson 5th Cargill 6th Stark HOUSE CHOIR:

1st Chalmers 2nd Hamilton 3rd Wishart 4th Wilson 5th Stark 6th Cargill 7th Bruce House HOUSE BAND:

1st Wishart 2nd Wilson 3rd Cargill 4th Hamilton 5th Chalmers 6th Stark

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Bruce House Turns Up the Heat

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ruce House kicked off its annual MasterChef competition in Term 2 with boarders going headto-head over a single, deceptively simple brief: produce the perfect savoury muffin. Judging fell to original MasterChef winner Brett McGregor, who also put the teams through their paces in the lead-up, and by all accounts the competition was fierce. Honor McKenzie and Emily Searle took the top spot, with Isaac O'Donnell and Alex Walsh in second, and Tian Yi Wang and Serena Shang rounding out the podium in third.

Part two of the competition took place at the beginning of Term 3 and saw boarders swap savoury for sweet with a cupcake decorating challenge, judged again by McGregor.

This time, Tayla Bellingham and Sophie Macky were awarded first place for their technical and creative piping technique; Bernard Yau and Serena Shang took second place for their impressive duck creation; and Kaelin Bignell and Ava Fredericks took third for their imaginative designs.

Two rounds down, and Bruce House's kitchen is still bringing the heat.

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Learning From Champions

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erm 2 gave our student athletes the chance to sit with people who have lived what they are working towards.

Sir Gordon Tietjens and Sam Dakin each led mindset training sessions on lessons learned and mentalities they have noticed set elite athletes apart.

Sir Gordon Tietjens, who spent twenty-two years coaching the All Blacks Sevens to twelve World Series titles, spoke about character as the foundation of everything else. He also shared the traffic light system he used to read effort – green, yellow, red. He talked candidly about losing well, pointing to Roger Federer's Wimbledon defeat as proof that pain and failure are not the same thing.

Sam Dakin, a College alumnus turned two-time Olympic cyclist, understood the room uniquely. He spoke about missed selections and the audacious goals he set to answer them, about believing you are owed opportunity, never a result, and about turning broken collarbones and seasonending injuries into fuel rather than excuses.

What both men left behind wasn’t a silver bullet for sporting success, but some encouragement that the inevitable setbacks are survivable – a lesson students will carry well beyond their SCAN FOR MORE years at Saint Kentigern.

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Motutapu Challenges Year 8s

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ear 8 camp began with a ferry across to Rangitoto, followed by a three-hour hike to Motutapu Outdoor Education Centre, setting the tone for four days of challenge and connection. Students tackled rock climbing, abseiling, a scavenger hunt, and the Historic Walk and Burma Trail, each asking something different of them, whether that was courage, problem-solving, or perseverance.

Nothing tested the group quite like the Motutapu Challenge, where students worked through a memorised list of instructions with only three questions allowed to the instructor. Wrong answers earned punishments, like singing Happy Birthday to a tree. For Year 8 Iyra Chaudhary, the frustration at times was worth it. “The memories made were priceless."

Evenings brought quiz nights and a talent show, where Zoen Gibbons took on the challenge of solving Rubik's cubes in front of the whole cohort despite having barely practised. “It was quite literally the quietest moment during camp.”

Students returned with stronger friendships and R.I.S.E. with Love put firmly into practice.

Quiz Night Meets Hollywood

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his year’s Parents & Friends Midwinter Social & Quiz Night went full Hollywood, rolling out the carpet for a ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ themed evening.

Reimagined this year as much a social as a quiz, the evening was designed to give our parent community more opportunities to connect, catch up, and have fun together, and our guests certainly embraced the occasion.

Over 200 parents and friends arrived as Hollywood icons and movie characters, with some brilliantly creative interpretations of the theme. Between quiz rounds, there were challenges, plenty of laughter plus a spectacular aerial performance.

The dance-off was meant to be the evening's set piece, though a few of the gentlemen in attendance couldn't wait for the official start, breaking into their own battle before the challenge had even been announced. What followed was enthusiastic enough to split trousers on the dance floor, literally, though neither the dancing nor the party missed a beat.

More than anything, it was wonderful to see people out of their seats, moving around the room, meeting other parents and enjoying being together.

Thank you to everyone who attended, volunteered, and showed up befitting of Hollywood glamour. Nights like this are what turn a school into a community.

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Casino Royale Glamour

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et in the bustling heart of the city, the annual school ball was held at the Viaduct Events Centre with a Casino Royale theme. Featuring impressive decorations, lively music, photo booths, and a wide variety of food, the evening was memorable for both students and staff, with many describing it as one of the best school balls in Saint Kentigern’s history.

The Casino Royale theme, chosen by the students, was reflected throughout the venue, particularly in the grand entrance, which featured sparkling backdrops, oversized playing cards, and an elegant red carpet.

The rolling buffet offered students a constant selection of food throughout the night, including sushi, noodles, and ice cream, ensuring everyone remained energised on the dance floor. The playlist combined classic favourites with modern pop hits, keeping the dance floor full for the entire evening as students and teachers alike enjoyed the music.

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A highlight of the evening was the presentation of awards to students and teachers, recognising categories such as Best Dressed, Cutest Couple, and King and Queen of the Ball. This year also saw the introduction of the Best Student Dancer and Best Teacher Dancer awards, with the latter featuring a memorable performance by Jonathan Batchelar.

The variety of photo booths provided by White Door Photography gave friends, couples, and tutor groups the opportunity to capture lasting memories.

The 2026 Year 13 Ball was a fitting celebration of the cohort’s final year at Saint Kentigern and an evening that will be remembered for years to come.

Written by Year 13 students Amie Hilliam and Isobel Jacobs

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Island Fiesta for a Good Cause

Aloha, Winter

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n Week 4 of Term 2, the long-awaited Year 7 and 8 social finally arrived, with students turning out in force. There was plenty to keep everyone entertained, particularly thanks to alumnus Harry Connel who had everyone up and dancing to the music. A run of games from the Year 10 Middle School leaders, including a lolly jar, beanbag toss, and even limbo offered a reprieve from the mosh. Around 100 Year 8 students from the Girls' School and Boys' School joined as special guests, bringing the total for the night to about 350.

This year's theme was Hawaiian, and the outfits did not disappoint. Best dressed were a pair of twin bananas, among the multitude of tropical shirts, grass skirts, and leis.

For anyone needing a breather from the dance floor, there was a relaxation room and a digital photo booth. Many of our tutor groups arranged a time to get their whole class in for a photo. There were also plenty of drinks and snacks on hand to refuel.

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n early June, over two hundred Year 9 students filled Elliot Hall for the annual Year 9 social. The evening doubled as a fundraiser for the World Vision 40 Hour Challenge, organised and run by the Service Council and Prefects. The event saw a fantastic turnout of excited Year 9 students.

Fitting the tropical theme, Elliot Hall was transformed into an island fiesta with a photo booth, beach games, and alumni Harry Connell providing the tunes.

The event was a huge success, raising $4600 going towards our school-wide World Vision campaign. This year’s funds will support families in the Solomon Islands, where rising sea levels are destroying gardens and crops, leaving one in six children facing serious food shortages. The money raised will make a real difference to these communities.

Images by Yr 11 Daniel Zhang

Staff on duty said they were impressed by how well everyone behaved on the night, proof that a Hawaiian theme can survive even the depths of an Auckland winter.

Written by Year 8 Ellen Dimech, images by Yr 11 Daniel Zhang

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Clubs at a Glance AN OVERVIEW OF CLUBS AND ACTIVITIES AT THE COLLEGE

History's Biggest Fan Club The Antiquities Guild brings together students from all year levels with a shared interest in the ancient world, exploring Greek, Roman, and Egyptian cultures, mythology, and historical figures.

This year, members took part in creative writing, art, and essay competitions on ancient world themes, and introduced a student presentation programme, researching and presenting topics they were genuinely passionate about. Currently, the Guild is painting shields inspired by ancient cultures, many drawing on mythological figures such as the Greek gods.

Term 4 brings the annual Ancient Cake Competition, where students bake and share cakes inspired by ancient civilisations.

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STEM Racing Club at Fieldays While Fieldays usually brings tractors and livestock to mind, for the STEM Racing Club it was a chance to showcase the College's STEM racing programme to thousands of attendees. Four club members and Saint Kentigern's admissions staff spent a week at the Hamilton event, running a booth featuring racing models, 3D-printed components, and design portfolios.

Aside from promoting the opportunities at our College, Fieldays gave the team a valuable platform to meet leaders in a variety of vocational fields. Among them, agricultural engineers using drone technology, and software developers automating cattle management, offered real insight into how the club's engineering skills can translate into future careers.

The team returned with a deeper appreciation for technology’s role in New Zealand's industries, along with an open invitation to the STEM Racing Club, which is always looking for new members to take to the track.

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Learning on Site C AMPUS BUILDING SITE BECOMES THE CL A SSROOM

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rading their usual lunchtime at Saints Quad for hi-vis and hard hats, a group of Year 13s became the largest student group ever to get an exclusive preview at the Year 12 and 13 building site at our Pakuranga Campus.

Over two visits, students toured the site where the Goodfellow Centre and Wingate Block once stood. In their place, three storeys of brick and glass, on track to open in 2027 as the future home of the Senior School and the Mathematics, English, and Christian Education faculties. With more than 140 workers on site at any time, the site had no shortage of lessons within its walls.

David Featonby and Dave Van Emmerick, Aspec Construction's Project Manager and Senior Site Manager, led students through each floor. They covered the design decisions behind

the building’s form, the engineering trade-offs required to balance structural load with open interior space, and the logistics of coordinating multiple subcontractors on a live site.

Venturing through the site, students saw the building’s raw electrical infrastructure that will vanish behind walls the moment the site is finished.

They also heard how structural pillars had to be placed just so, holding up three storeys without boxing in the open-plan spaces the design called for.

From the top floor balcony, still enclosed by scaffolding, the group took in a view that few students get to see: windows framing sprawling school grounds and the estuary in the distance.

Before the site visits, students interested in construction and engineering careers were briefed by Jeff Robertson, Aspec’s

Construction Manager and Director, and Melissa Booth, Lead Engineer at Holmes Consulting. They covered the demands, the pathways, and what it actually means to build something meant to last. Aspec capped off the session by announcing a $5,000 scholarship for a student heading into the construction industry.

The visit is part of a broader push by Student Futures to connect students with real industry experience. Over the past two years, several Year 12 and 13 students have interned with Aspec on this very site. Trading textbooks for tool belts, they've been part of the team bringing the building to completion.

It turns out the best classroom on campus this year came with a hi-vis dress code.

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Tale as Old as Time MIDDLE SCHOOL BRINGS BE AUT Y AND THE BE A ST TO LIFE

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isney’s Beauty and the Beast JR ran from 6 to 9 May as the second production in our College’s 2026 season. Few stories carry more audience expectations, but our Middle School cast delivered – right down to the final petal.

The tale needs little introduction. Belle, a Beast with a curse running out of time, and an enchanted household caught between hope and eternal inanimation.

For director Ben Egan, the familiar story carried personal weight. “I have watched it since I was a child,” he said, “so as a return to directing, bringing it to life with our students has been a privilege.”

Leading the cast, Dia Patel-Kumar brought warmth and newfound confidence to Belle. She reflected, “I grew to be comfortable with the character and the people I was surrounded with.” Leading opposite her was Ayden Singh-Ali, who gave the Beast real weight in what he called his final and most unforgettable Middle School production. Rounding out the love

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triangle was Kenneth Faatau Mantell, who leaned fully into Gaston’s oversized ego. “Bringing his cocky, villainous, and over-the-top personality to life has been an incredible experience.”

Manisi Menon was a standout Lumiere, delivering every line with a committed French accent. Pippa Ensor threw herself into the role from first audition to final curtain, giving Cogsworth real presence on stage. Ruby Roach described playing Mrs Potts as “joyful and heartwarming”, a role quite unlike anything she had taken on before. She concluded each night with a rendition of the title song that left the audience hanging on her every word.

Musical director Dr Matthew Leese steered students through early Monday morning rehearsals and what he described as, at times, a genuinely complex score. Producer Sara Standring noted that the cast’s “enthusiasm, commitment, and joy made this experience as special as the story itself”.

At its heart, Beauty and the Beast is about what lies beneath the surface. This cast held that sentiment close, and the audience felt it.

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Dance Showcase Illuminates

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he Senior Jazz Academy gave nobody time to settle.

Opening this year’s Dance Showcase, Illuminate, ‘Where is my Husband?’, choreographed by alumna Amelie Carter, hooked a packed Elliot Hall immediately with precise synchronisation and a running gag about a diamond ring.

Over thirty items followed. As Head of Dance Hana Tipa noted, the evening was the culmination of months of work across a wide range of styles. Much of that work was student-led. Kents Mega Crew, who bring the high energy year after year, was built by four of its own dancers. Senior students assembled the Jazz Troupe's ‘Smooth Criminal’, helped by a soundtrack nobody in the audience needed introducing. ‘Switch Up’ and ‘Starstruck’ were choreographed for

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the Junior academies by Senior students as well.

Alumna Erin Meek returned to choreograph ‘Somebody to Love’ for the Senior Contemporary Academy, technically demanding work with inventive movement and formations.

Eleven boys took the stage for ‘Drop’, with the crowd cheering right through the performance rather than waiting for the end.

Following intermission, the evening changed register. The nine Year 13 NCEA works sat in the second half, and together circled the same territory.

The pieces explored pressure, control, and what the mind does under both.

Tamsin Low used fabric as the weight of daily pressure in ‘Steady Under Strain’.

Ashton Campbell staged sleep paralysis in ‘Until I Wake’, using one dancer and

four shadows. Ava Hadley and Loretta Reid drew a white square on the floor for ‘Inside the Box’, with one as the mind and the other trying to escape it. Courtney Martin, Sophie McIndoe, Elise Wall, and Mae Lonergan turned outward for ‘Everybody Supports Women’, on the expectations women meet from peers, from strangers, and from themselves.

The Year 13s closed with a piece they choreographed themselves, swinging the night back to where it started.

Dance teacher Ichiro Harada reflected that the evening’s success owed much to supportive families and to the professionalism of the dancers. It was a celebration for dancers who have given five to seven years to this stage. SCAN FOR MORE

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The Season of Range

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his year’s Play Series rarely asked its performers to be just one thing. Across four productions staged over two weeks, students found themselves playing multiple characters, running lighting between scenes, or doing both in the same night.

Take The Hope and Heartache Diner, Year 12’s ensemble comedy set in a family diner four generations in the running, a refuge made up of misfits and stray regulars alike. Felix, the diner owner’s granddaughter, takes on a full open-toclose shift before leaving for university.

Hunter Constantopoulos alone played six separate characters across the show, and was one of several cast members juggling more than one name tag.

Down the corridor, Pressure asked its own Year 12 cast for a different kind of range – not multiple characters, but the many pressures bearing down on one.

Over the course of a single unravelling

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week before the formal, the ensemble worked through the perfectionist, the newbie, and the imposter, each of them wondering, in their own way, whether things might still turn out alright, whether Kyle’s parents would ease up, whether Penny’s assessment would get remarked, and whether Tera would make it to the formal at all.

For the Year 12 IB class, range extended past the stage altogether. Their production of Medea, Euripides’ 431 BC tragedy of a mother abandoned by her husband Jason for a royal marriage, and the devastation that follows, was lit, scored, and costumed almost entirely by its own cast. Actors moved between the stage and the production desk across rehearsals and performances alike, learning the play from both sides of the curtain.

Closing the season, two entirely different Year 13 casts staged Twelfth Night, an

80s Musical a week apart, each finding their own version of Shakespeare’s shipwrecked twins and mistaken identities. Two songs, I Want to Know What Love Is and Love Is in the Air, ran as musical interludes throughout, voicing what the characters couldn’t quite say out loud. Between Orsino’s hopeless devotion, Olivia’s misdirected affection, and Viola’s disguised heart, there was hardly a character on stage who wasn’t thinking one or the other at some point.

For the Year 13s taking their final bow this season, amidst the comedy of it all, was one last chance to be someone else entirely, together.

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Ceilidh in full swing

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he Ceilidh returned on 13 June with tradition, live music, dancing, and hearty fare. The Pipes and Drums opened with a commanding set before the Second Pipe Band joined them, filling Elliott Hall with the kind of sound that makes the walls feel smaller.

Deputy Principal Duncan McQueen steered the evening and shared the news behind it.

The Swiss Armed Forces invited our Pipes and Drums to return for the 20th anniversary of the Basel Tattoo, where our students joined nine other international bands in the Massed Pipes and Drums alongside the Scots Guards, the Irish Guards, and the Royal Air Force in July.

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William Lindsey delivered the Ode to the Haggis, soloist Greg Ruxton led a rendition of Loch Lomond that had the room singing by the final verse, and Grace Broun performed three Highland dances.

Proceeds went toward the band's travel to Switzerland.

As Principal Damon Emtage put it, the night reflected the community's gratitude for the students in the Pipes and Drums, and for the recent leavers in the Alumni Band who have returned to join them.

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Blue and White in Basel

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ur Pipes and Drums returned to Switzerland this year for a third invitation to perform at the Basel Tattoo, an international military music festival. They joined the massed pipes and drums of the Scots Guards, the Irish Guards, the Royal Air Force, and the Royal Victoria Regiment for the event's 20th anniversary. Over nine days, more than 200,000 spectators packed the historic Kaserne barracks courtyard to watch world champions, royal guards, and touring corps, including the Blue Devils, the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, and the Top Secret Drum Corps.

To mark two decades, the tattoo brought together the Band of the Irish Guards and the Band of the Scots Guards for the first time in the arena, alongside dancers from Canada and the USA, precision drill from Norway's King's Guard, and five world champions across drum major, dance, drumming and piping.

Preparing for the Tattoo's demanding performance requirements meant collaborating once again with the College's Alumni Pipe Band. Head of Pipes and Drums Andrew Lightfoot called the return "something very special", pointing to the standing ovations and the atmosphere of the city as what made the trip unforgettable.

Kentoris Tours Singapore

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ur premier mixed-voice choir, Kentoris, recently returned from a tour to Singapore, centred around the Singapore International Choral Festival.

Seventy-three choirs from across the globe converged on the tropical city for a week, engaging in workshops, collaborations, outreach performances, and the competition itself, all housed in spectacular venues.

Led by Director of Choral Music Matthew Leese, our students competed in the Under-20s age group, as well as the open category for Sacred Music, returning with gold and silver awards, respectively.

Students represented our College superbly in all musical activities, as well as experiencing Singapore's inspiring culinary offerings and shopping, tours of the waterfront and iconic Merlion, Gardens by the Bay, as well as a river cruise through the historic district and inner harbour.

This tour was a significant performing and team-building experience for our singers, and we are grateful to all who made it possible.

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Aside from the performances, students explored Basel's Roman ruins and museums, took a boat trip on Lake Lucerne, and rode the 140-year-old cogwheel railway to Schynige Platte, where the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau SCAN FOR MORE came into view.

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Music Highlights AN OVERVIEW OF MUSIC AL EVENTS AT THE COLLEGE

National Honours for Simple Solutions Our saxophone quartet Simple Solutions won the National KBB Music Award at the CMNZ NZCT Chamber Music Contest National Final in Christchurch on 1 August, performing Paul Stanhope's Ockham's Razor. The quartet comprises Lawrence Liu on soprano, Lara Diprose on alto, Jaden Lee on tenor, and Wilson Li on baritone. Of the hundreds of ensembles that enter the district rounds each June, only twelve reach the National Final. Simple Solutions earned their place through the Auckland District Contest, where thirty-four of our students competed across a field of 114 groups, and where three of the five major awards went to groups with College students in them. Trio Vitesse, featuring Isaac Chang on piano, took Best Group Overall. Credit is due to chamber coaches Richard Liu, Miranda Hutton, and Mark Hobson, and chamber manager Bridget Larsen.

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Gold for Concert Band at Nationals The Concert Band attended the NZCBA National Concert Band Festival in Cambridge for the first time in several years, returning with one of only five Gold Awards – one of just two school bands to earn one. They also took the inaugural award for Most Outstanding Performance by a School Band, and Year 13 student Lawrence Liu added a silver in the solo competition. Conductor Matt Baker has been working deliberately to lift the level of musicianship in the group, and the trip gave students performance opportunities across workshops, the competition, and the gala concert. That gala was headlined by the Aotearoa Wind Ensemble, formed and directed by our own Tom Chester, featuring music staff Matt Baker, Albert Lee, and Anita MacDonald alongside ten of our students, who took the rare chance to play alongside professional musicians.

A Regional Title and Sixteen Bands on Stage The College was represented in both the Auckland and Manukau Regional Finals of Smokefree Rockquest. Crying Ivy, a multi-school band featuring our own Sean Folley on drums, won the Auckland Regional Final and finished in the top thirty-five bands nationally. Fully Saint Kentigern bands gnp and Rock Ninjaz came through the heats into the Manukau final, their stage presence noticeably sharper than at the start of the year. The season closed with our Rock Showcase, where sixteen bands played in a relaxed and supportive setting, many of the later acts performing original songs alongside classic hits. Thanks to Rock Band tutors Geordie McCallum, Chelsea Prastiti, Arden Matheson, and Bret Vogel, who took these bands from first rehearsal to being performance-ready.

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Jazz Club returned to the Music Centre, strung with festoon lights and offering a warm reprieve from the winter outside. Guests were treated to smooth jazz and antipasto, while parents and students lined the balcony above for a bird's-eye view. Three big bands and three combos performed, showing a year of progress in a single evening.

Alumnus Arden Matheson returned as special guest, joining staff for a collaborative set in celebration of his full scholarship to Berklee College of Music. Big Band and Village Vanguard Combo have since advanced to the Auckland Jazz and Blues final.

In August, the Big Band and Village Vanguard Combo advanced to the Auckland Jazz and Blues final where they won Most Outstanding Big Band and Combo, respectively. Jaden Lee also picked up one of four Most Outstanding Soloist awards.

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Solo Music Winner Back for an Encore

College

Jazz Club Takes Up Permanent Residency

Senior soloist Peter Hu retained his Solo Music Competition title in Elliot Hall on 30 July, following last year’s Middle School win with a Senior School win of his own. His rendition of Volodos’ Concert Paraphrase on the Turkish Rondo set the standard for the night.

Adjudicators Vincent Hardaker and Sarah McDowall worked through a strong field across both school divisions, with Senior Strings splitting into Upper and Lower categories for the first time.

Scan for the full set of results. SCAN FOR MORE

Music Gala Shows College Music Range The College’s ensembles took over the stage for two nights of Music Gala performances. Night one brought Servanda Strings’ glowing lightsaber-style bows and the Big Band’s live Mario Kart showdown, while night two saw Sinfonia and the Symphonic Band trade in instruments for rubber chickens.

The gala doubled as a warm-up SCAN FOR MORE for the KBB Music Festival.

Kentoris Completes Choir Season with Silver Our three senior choirs performed at Auckland Town Hall for the Big Sing Auckland Regionals on 17 June, among more than eighty-five choirs regionwide. Menasing opened with Matariki, Salaam and Resilience under Dr Matthew Leese and alumnus Ivan Zhang. Musettes, directed

by Rachel Young, won Best Choral Art Music Performance and a Cadenza reserve spot. Kentoris, conducted by Dr Matthew Leese, was runner-up for the Adjudicator's Award and finished the choir season with a Silver Award at the SCAN FOR MORE National Big Sing Finale.

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Sports Highlights AN OVERVIEW OF SPORTING EVENTS AT THE COLLEGE

Cycling AUCKLAND SCHOOLS POINTS RACE

A foggy, cold start at Pukekohe Race Track gave way to strong racing conditions, with Saint Kentigern reaching the podium across nine age groups at the Auckland Schools points race.

1st – Carter Jones – U13 Boys 1st – Honor McKenzie – U14 Girls 2nd – Dylan Dalton – U15 Boys 3rd – Ryan Davies – U15 Boys 2nd – Tom Underdown – U16 Boys 1st – Sophie Archer – U17 Girls 3rd – Angus Dickinson – U17 Boys 1st – Remi Dalton – U19 Boys 3rd – Neve McKenzie – U19 Girls 3rd – Alex Bishop – U19 Boys

NORTH ISLAND SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIPS

The College carried its Auckland form into the North Island School Championships at Cambridge, backing up Team Time Trial wins with podiums in the Road Race and Criterium before Jack Allan swept the Track Omnium, winning the scratch race, keirin and points race outright.

1st – Senior A Boys – Team Time Trial 3rd – Junior A Boys – Team Time Trial 1st – Honor McKenzie – U14 Girls Road Race 2nd – Honor McKenzie – U14 Girls Criterium 3rd – Ryan Davies – U15 Boys Road Race 3rd – Ryan Davies – U15 A Grade Criterium 2nd – Tom Underdown – U16 Boys Road Race 2nd – Will Aitken – U16 B Grade Criterium 1st – Sophie Archer – U17 Girls Road Race 3rd – Dylan Davies – U17 Boys Road Race 2nd – Harley Bell – U20 A Grade Criterium 1st – Jack Allan – U20 Boys Omnium (scratch, keirin, points) 3rd – Jack Allan, Angus Dickinson, Ethan Pepper – U20 Boys Sprint

NORTH ISLAND CYCLO CROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Harley Bell added a Cyclo Cross title to his season, winning the U20 Boys race at the North Island Championships at Pukete MTB Park.

1st – Harley Bell – U20 Boys 79

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College

Duathlon Saint Kentigern had a big day at the Auckland Schools Duathlon at Pukekohe, with podiums across six individual age groups and three team events.

1st – Honor McKenzie – U14 Girls 1st – Ryan Davies – U14 Boys 1st – Sophie Archer – U16 Girls 1st – Alex Bishop – Senior Boys 2nd – Mila Laarakkers – Senior Girls 3rd – Louis Harland – Senior Boys 1st – Dylan Dalton, Elijah Lee – Junior Boys Team 1st – Holly Bishop, Madeleine du Toit – Senior Girls Team 3rd – Aanya Abeysekera, Ava Van Rij – Senior Girls Team

Cross Country Honor McKenzie placed third in the Junior Girls individual race at the Auckland Cross Country at Lloyd Elsmore Park, then led her six-person team to third overall. The Junior Boys six-person team also finished third.

3rd – Honor McKenzie – Junior Girls 3rd – Honor McKenzie, Saraya Daley, Ava Fredericks, Amy Zhang, Zoe Baker, Indi Wilton – Junior Girls Team 3rd – Alby Richards, Koby Arlidge, Wills Reeves, Alex Daniels, Elijah Lee, Andre He – Junior Boys Team

Fencing The College entered three teams at the Auckland Secondary Schools Epee and Sabre Teams competition in Henderson, with final placings coming down to a countback of points.

The Men's Sabre A team placed second, earning selection for the National Teams event in Auckland later this year, while the second Sabre team placed third in their division. For the first time in years, Saint Kentigern fielded an Epee team, with the composite trio also finishing second.

2nd – Emily Yan, Steven Wang, Gavin Chen – Epee Composite 2nd – Dean Yu, Emmanuel Zhang, Terry Fan, Wesley Zhang – Men's Sabre A 3rd – Men's Sabre B

Football YEAR 8 GIRLS, AUCKLAND CHAMPIONS

Our Year 8 Girls’ Football team went through an entire tournament unbeaten to be crowned Auckland Champions. Four straight wins in pool play were followed by a 2-0 semi-final win over Glen Eden, then a tense 1-0 final victory over Baradene.

1st – Year 8 Girls' Football Team – Auckland Champions SAINT KENTIGERN

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Motorsport Nathan Grammer teamed up with Hannah Joyce to fight through a 24-kart field and win the Auckland Area Schools Karting Championship, the College’s first senior title since 2019. The Boys’ School claimed the junior classes trophy at the same event.

1st – Nathan Grammer, Hannah Joyce – Senior Class

Orienteering NZ SECONDARY SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Junior Boys backed up a strong Auckland season with a big showing at the NZ Secondary Schools Orienteering Championships, a four-day carnival in Christchurch. Kayden Wang, James Bekesi and Wills Reeves opened with a nail-biting relay win over St Peter’s, then all three finished inside the top 10 in the Sprint – Wills second, Kayden fourth after missing third by a hundredth of a second, and James seventh. Wills added a bronze in the Long event.

1st – Kayden Wang, James Bekesi, Wills Reeves – Junior Boys Relay 2nd – Wills Reeves – Junior Boys Sprint 3rd – Wills Reeves – Junior Boys Long 4th – Kayden Wang – Junior Boys Sprint 6th – James Bekesi – Junior Boys Long 7th – James Bekesi – Junior Boys Sprint 17th – Kayden Wang – Junior Boys Long AUCKLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS

The same trio won the Auckland Relay Championships at Muirs Farm, Waiuku, before Wills placed second individually at Rimmer Road, Woodhill, and the Junior Boys team was pipped for first in the Rogaine at Muriwai by a points penalty.

1st – Kayden Wang, James Bekesi, Wills Reeves – Junior Boys Relay 2nd – Wills Reeves – Junior Boys Individual 2nd – Junior Boys Team – Rogaine

Swimming Our swimmers picked up five medals across four age groups at the Auckland Schools Championships at Westwave, with Yi Fan Zhang the standout performer with three individual medals.

3rd – Jimmy Ward – 13&U 50m Backstroke 2nd – Michael Chen – 14-15 50m Butterfly 3rd – Yi Fan Zhang – 14-15 50m Butterfly 2nd – Yi Fan Zhang – 14-15 50m Backstroke 2nd – Yi Fan Zhang – 14-15 50m Freestyle 2nd – Lachlan Schnauer – 16-18 50m Freestyle

Equestrian Sophia Fulford was Saint Kentigern's sole rider at the North Island Secondary Schools Show Hunter Cup at St Peter's, Cambridge. Riding Kingston, she placed second overall in the 80cm equitation class, a discipline judged on the horse and rider's style and horsemanship rather than jump height alone.

2nd – Sophia Fulford – 80cm Equitation

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Alumni

Upcoming Events 24 SEPTEMBER

College Prem team v Alumni Netball Event 1 OCTOBER

London Reunion 16 OCTOBER

Sydney Reunion 6 NOVEMBER

College Class of 2001, 25-year Reunion 16 NOVEMBER

Alumni Golf Day

Our Shared Values Thomas Steel Dip Bus

Alumni Association President

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ver the past few months, I've had the privilege of hearing many alumni stories. Some have come through the Distinguished Alumni Awards process, while others have come from catching up at reunions and events, or simply through conversations with alumni from different generations.

One thing has stood out to me. Every story is different, but the values we came to know at Saint Kentigern remain a common thread. They are reflected in the way our alumni lead, serve, and contribute. It's something we can all be proud of.

That’s what makes the Distinguished Alumni Awards a celebration for our whole alumni community. Through the stories of our awardees, we celebrate individual achievement while

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also recognising the wider alumni community they represent. Every one of us has taken a different path since leaving Saint Kentigern, but we all share the same foundations.

I've also been reminded that there is no single way to stay connected. Some alumni have remained closely involved with Saint Kentigern, in some cases for decades. Others return after a long time away and quickly discover that the friendships and sense of belonging are still there. It's always encouraging to see those connections renewed.

Whether you've been involved for years or are thinking about reconnecting for the first time, you'll always be welcome.

Staying connected might mean coming to a reunion, bringing along a classmate, sharing your story, or simply keeping up with what's happening across our alumni community. Every person who stays connected helps strengthen it.

I'm continually encouraged by the many alumni who, through their work, networks, and relationships, invest in opportunities for current students,

support the wider Saint Kentigern community, and open doors for others.

Thank you for the generosity of so many who continue to give back. Behind the scenes, our Committee also remains committed to ensuring the Association continues to evolve and serve our alumni well, both now and into the future.

On behalf of the Alumni community, I'd like to congratulate this year's Distinguished Alumni Award recipients: Brian Marcroft, Doug Arcus, John Maasland, and Steven Carden. Your outstanding life's work is an inspiration to us all.

Looking ahead, I hope we'll continue to hear more alumni stories, renew more friendships, and welcome more people back into the life of our community.

Every generation has something to add, and together we will continue to build on the strong foundations that make Saint Kentigern such a special place to belong.

I look forward to seeing many of you in the months ahead.

Fides Servanda Est.

Alumni

Making Up for Lost Time

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or the Class of 1996, the recent reunion was more than a 30-year gathering; it was a chance to reconnect and finally mark a 25-year milestone that COVID had put on hold.

The Class of 1996 is a well-travelled group, with many having lived or worked overseas and others still calling different parts of the world home. Classmates travelled from across New Zealand, as well as Singapore, Perth, Melbourne, and the Gold Coast. Many remain closely connected to Saint Kentigern today as parents, supporters, and staff, while others were back on campus for the first time in decades.

Following an informal catch-up on Friday evening, the group returned Saturday for a formal welcome in the Chapel from Alumni President Thomas Steel and Principal Damon Emtage. A campus tour then took the group through familiar parts of the College, where old stories quickly resurfaced and memories long tucked away came rushing back, while showing how much the school has changed over three decades.

Over lunch at Bruce House, one highlight was reconnecting with former teachers and staff who shared those formative years: Steve Wackrow, Kevin Taylor, Nick Sheppard, David Wadams, Bary Williams, and Jo Shotter, along with former chaplain Rev. David Williams and Alumni Patron Mr Toy, who saw this cohort through their entire Saint Kentigern journey.

Their presence was a reminder of the role teachers and the College had played in shaping the group.

With a familiar rivalry as backdrop, the reunion extended to the Saint Kentigern v Auckland Grammar 1st XV fixture, then continued at the alumni hosted after match function, where the Class of 1996 joined alumni, parents, and friends from both communities.

Credit goes to 1996 Head Boy Sam Walter, who has remained a steady point of connection for his peers and whose efforts brought this reunion together.

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Sixty Years On, Still Blue and White

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ixty years after pulling on the blue and white, members of the Saint Kentigern 1965 and 1966 1st XV teams gathered during the recent Saint Kentigern v King's College fixture for a reunion marked by laughter and camaraderie that had stood the test of time. What began as teammates staying in touch after school has become a tradition, with the group reuniting nearly every decade since.

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tries, drop-goals, tours, and sideline moments resurfaced almost effortlessly, and the old yearbooks proved just as entertaining, with coaches' honest comments about players quoted back to plenty of laughter. William Akel, captain of the 1966 1st XV, put it best: "There's no way to sugar-coat the 1st XV experience because the friends we made and shared experiences we had were unforgettable."

Dennis Johns, William Akel, Mike Daniel, Don Turner and John Sarah brought the reunion together, reconnecting thirteen former teammates.

A few teammates arrived wearing old rugby caps and blazers. Others had kept their original jerseys for six decades. Holding his up for the group, John Sarah drew laughs, explaining it had simply "shrunk in the wash".

Those schoolboy years are still vividly remembered. Big games, winning

Several King's College counterparts also attended. While the rivalry on

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the field was once fierce, six decades later it was the friendship and mutual respect between both schools that stood out most.

Memories turned toward the wider Saint Kentigern rugby community too, including reflections on the late Jack Paine and the role he and his family played in the 1st XV during those years.

A special welcome was extended to his son, Mike Paine, and to Frank Bull, assistant coach of the 1966 side. Their attendance meant a great deal to the '65 and '66 teams, who continue to reminisce on their footballing days with fondness.

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Alumni

Dr John Hughes SOLID GROUND TO L A STING LEGACY

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r John Hughes has dedicated his career to understanding what lies beneath the surface – quite literally. As an internationally recognised geotechnical engineer, his pioneering work revolutionised the way engineers measure and assess the strength and behaviour of the ground beneath major infrastructure.

As one of 92 founding students who walked through the gates of Saint Kentigern College, he graduated with the Class of 1958 and set out on a path that would take him from young engineer to Cambridge PhD scholar and eventually to global innovator and philanthropist.

Curiously, it was a moment of failure that set his career in motion. This pivotal moment came early in his career in Canada when a railway embankment collapsed, despite the project meeting contemporary engineering standards of its time. Driven by the question "Why did it collapse?", he pursued the answer at Wolfson College, Cambridge, through research on the pressuremeter,

a device used to measure the strength and stiffness of soil and rock. Later, combining advanced mathematics with modern electronics, he went on to develop what is now widely known as the Hughes Pressuremeter. Commercialised worldwide by Cambridge Insitu, it became the global industry standard, used today on onshore and offshore wind foundations, high-speed rail and highway infrastructure, and deepsea port developments, with John's entrepreneurial ventures applying the technology to infrastructure projects across the globe.

While his professional achievements have had worldwide impact, John's commitment to education is equally significant. That enduring commitment is best reflected in his support for the next generation of researchers at Wolfson College, Cambridge. Believing that talent should never be limited by circumstance, he established the John Hughes PhD Scholarship in 2023. Delivered in partnership with

Reach Out and Reconnect There are many ways to stay connected with the Saint Kentigern alumni community.

Join us at an event, reconnect with your classmates, or tell us your story.

Scan the QRs to visit our upcoming events page or update your details. Alternately, email us at alumni@saintkentigern.com – we’d love to hear from you.

the Cambridge Trust, the scholarship opens doors for exceptional PhD students facing significant barriers to higher education, ensuring brilliance is not limited by financial or social circumstance, extending the contribution of his life's work well beyond his professional successes.

Reflecting on his life's work, John once remarked, "I was most interested in fixing the problem and handing it on." It's a quietly humble line for an extraordinary life's work, one that took a real-world problem, solved it at the highest level, and ensured others would have the resources to do the same.

His journey embodies the values Saint Kentigern strives to instil in every student. His is a living example of service to others, rippling outward through his enduring impact on his field, the opportunities he has created for students, and the generations of thinkers who will follow.

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Brian Rensford THE FAITH MUST BE KEPT

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hen founding headmaster Adam MacFarlan chose the motto Fides Servanda Est – The Faith Must Be Kept – it gave expression to the founding vision on which Saint Kentigern was established. Through his leadership, he modelled that conviction in a way that would shape countless students, including one young man who would never forget it.

Brian Rensford arrived at Saint Kentigern in 1959 from a family with little connection to church. By his own admission, he was more likely to test rules than follow them. Summoned to Headmaster MacFarlan's office during his senior years, Brian expected to be expelled. Instead, MacFarlan appointed him an Upper Sixth Prefect – an extraordinary act of trust that Brian still describes as the defining turning point in his young life.

After later committing his life to Christ, he completed a Bachelor of Commerce before enrolling at a theological college in Melbourne, preparing for a lifetime of Christian ministry and service. Together with his wife Elizabeth, he has spent more than six decades of ministry across North America, Europe, and, most significantly, throughout Africa.

Zimbabwe has become a second home, where he continues to mentor leaders, support ministry development, and care for vulnerable communities.

Looking back, Brian sees a clear line from his years at Saint Kentigern to the life God called him to live. The faith Brian first encountered through the example of Adam MacFarlan became one he would carry throughout his own life and ministry, touching lives across the world for the glory of God and the service of others.

Brian kept the faith.

College Prefects, 1963.

Brian Rensford, middle row, first left.

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Ben Forrest THE RIPPLE EFFECT

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sk Ben Forrest (1994) about the humble beginnings of TESTntel and how he built it into an award-winning nationwide business that pioneered data-driven compliance systems and helped transform New Zealand’s workplace compliance industry, and he’ll soon start talking about the people—watching them grow, seeing leaders emerge and the opportunities created along the way.

Mention rowing, and he quickly moves from medals to meaning. A multiple national champion and New Zealand representative through every age grade to the 2000 Olympic training squad. As he pursued competition at the highest level, it was Principal Nigel Toy who challenged him to see that our decisions ripple far beyond ourselves, while rowing taught him that failure is often the greater teacher – two truths that remain foundational to how he approaches life.

When Ben reflects on Saint Kentigern’s motto, Fides Servanda Est, he asks, “What does it mean to you?” He believes its meaning is something each person must discover for themselves. For Ben, that has become a belief in himself and the confidence to live by the values and convictions he has made his own.

Another motto Ben lives by is Remember to Live: never let a single pursuit or achievement define your life; keep growing, embracing change and choosing to contribute.

That commitment to contribute is also evident in Ben's involvement with the Alumni Association. In recent years, he has played a key role in one of the Association's most significant periods of renewal, helping modernise its governance, guide the review of its Constitution and champion a more inclusive vision of the alumni community, positioning the Association to serve future generations while remaining true to the values that define it.

A proud husband and father, Ben finds his greatest joy in seeing others realise their potential. His message is simple: lasting change rarely comes from the sidelines. If you want to create change, you have to be involved.

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Alumni

Glasgow Gold and Glory

Nicole Mapp LE ADING THROUGH SERVICE

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t its best, policing is measured not only by its response to harm, but by how effectively it prevents it. For 17 years, Nicole Mapp (2008) has built her career on that principle, championing a prevention-led approach founded on trust, education, and early intervention.

Beginning her career in neighbourhood policing, vulnerable children, and family harm in Counties Manukau, Nicole developed a deep understanding of the complex challenges facing vulnerable communities. These frontline experiences reinforced her belief that lasting community safety depends not only on enforcement, but on relationships that foster trust, resilience, and positive choices.

That philosophy found its fullest expression as a school community officer. Working alongside students, schools, and whānau, Nicole became a trusted presence in young people's lives, using education, mentorship and early intervention to foster safer school communities and encourage positive life choices.

Today, as National Youth Advisor at Police National Headquarters, Nicole supports frontline staff, delivers national training, and helps shape how police engage with young people and school communities across New Zealand.

Her dedication has been recognised through the New Zealand Police Long Service and Good Conduct Award, while her leadership in improving staff wellbeing as Health and Safety Representative at Manurewa Police Station earned a finalist award at the 2019 Health and Safety Representative of the Year Awards, spanning the public sector.

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here could scarcely have been a better introduction to the Commonwealth Games for Silver Fern Carys Stythe (2021). The Saint Kentigern alumna was part of New Zealand’s Commonwealth gold medal-winning netball team in Glasgow, reclaiming the title for the first time since 2010.

The young defender contributed throughout the campaign, claiming four intercepts against Trinidad and Tobago before stepping into extended court time when teammate Catherine Hall was injured. The medal was a well-deserved milestone in Stythe's rapidly rising career.

Fellow alumna Tui-Alofa Patolo (2008) also impressed on debut, narrowly missing the podium in the women’s +86kg weightlifting. She finished fourth with a combined 245kg, setting a new Oceania snatch record with a personal-best 115kg lift.

As Carys and Tui-Alofa look ahead to what comes next, Sam Dakin (2014) was bringing his own illustrious career to a close. The two-time Olympian and Commonwealth Games medallist had announced Glasgow would be his last competition, bringing to a close a career spanning more than a decade at Olympic, Commonwealth and World Championship levels, defined by commitment, consistency, and excellence.

While Sam’s remarkable career rolls to a close, Carys and Tui-Alofa’s are only just warming up.

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Whether serving in uniform, coaching secondary school sport, or supporting couples as a registered wedding celebrant, Nicole brings the same compassion, integrity, and purpose to each role, demonstrating the difference one life can make through excellence in service of others.

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Alumni Highlights Back-to-Back at Henley

Making a Home on Stage

Ethan Blight (2017) made history at Henley Royal Regatta in early July, rowing in the seventh seat of Leander’s men’s eight as it won the Ladies’ Challenge Plate for a second consecutive year. After defeating Oxford Brookes in 2025, Leander returned as defending champions and beat a Cambridge– Harvard composite in the final, securing their first back-to-back Ladies’ Challenge Plate victories in the club’s history. A former University of Washington captain, Ethan led Washington to a clean sweep of the 2024 IRA National Championships, represented New Zealand at U19 and U23 levels, with his next challenge taking him to Oxford to pursue SCAN FOR MORE an MBA.

Tom Webster (2019) trained at Unitec Drama School before co-founding Humble Cowboy Productions and joining Massive Theatre Company, home to fellow alumnus Theo David. His most recent production, HOME MADE, is the show he has long dreamed of making, performed alongside an ensemble he calls his own. Returning to the College this year, Tom ran a Q&A session for aspiring drama students, offering advice as they begin the journey he is already walking. Crediting the Enhanced Learning support, he says that without it he “wouldn't be able to dream as freely,” a freedom he now brings to the stage every day.

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Passing on the Belief Arts Prefect Arden Matheson (2025) returned to the College this year to invest in our musicians, teaching guitar and bass, supporting rock bands, and performing at our Jazz Club fundraiser. Now part of the department that backed his ambition to play professionally, he hopes his teaching passes on that same belief. Recently, Arden was awarded a full tuition scholarship to study bass at Berklee College of Music in Boston, a school that has been a dream since he first picked up a bass. We follow his career with SCAN FOR MORE much anticipation.

Under the Lens Amelia Eaton (2021) has been accepted into the University of Oxford to study a Master of Clinical Embryology, marking an exciting next step in her career in reproductive science. After graduating from Otago with First Class Honours in Biomedical Science, she will begin Oxford’s intensive oneyear programme in October, combining advanced study with specialist laboratory training. Her work has also recently received national scientific recognition, winning first place in a category of the 2025 Microscopy New Zealand competition.

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In Memoriam t is with sadness that we record the passing of the following members of the Saint Kentigern community. We express our condolences to their families. If you know of the passing of any of our alumni, please let us know at alumni@saintkentigern.com

SMITH, Alan

SKC#1241 27/01/2026

GILMOUR, Robert

SKBS#133, SKC#2337

29/07/2025

ROSCOE, John

SKC#629 06/05/2026

CHALMERS, Robert

SKC#450

12/07/2026

ANDREWS, Lyndsay

SKC#873 13/05/2026

BUTTLE, James

SKBS#269, SKC#2157

30/07/2026

JOLLY, Scott

SKC#418 23/05/2026

PEARCE, Robert (Bob)

SKC#470

11/08/2026

MADDOCK, Graeme

SKC#931 27/05/2026

HUNTER, John

SKC#67

11/08/2026

SMALLEY, Bill

SKC#279

PIPER MAGAZINE | SPRING 2026

05/05/2026

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