DEAR PAST AND PRESENT FAMILIES, OLD COLLEGIANS, FELLOWS AND FRIENDS OF ST PAUL’S
CONTRIBUTORS
Karen Simpson, Kate Gibson, Monica Holt, Michelle Smith, Oliver Park, Sam Goodey PHOTOGRAPHERS
Mark Hamilton, Andrew Constable
OLD COLLEGIANS’ ASSOCIATION
Deborah McRae 07 957 8805
MARKETING AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE
Michelle Smith 07 957 8818
Karen Simpson 07 957 8898
Kate Gibson 07 957 8873
ADDRESS
St Paul’s Collegiate School
Private Bag 3069
Waikato Mail Centre
Hamilton 3240
New Zealand
PRODUCTION
Spacific 09 309 6945
ADVERTISING
If you wish to advertise in Network, please contact Kate Gibson on 07 957 8873 for a rate card.
COVER PHOTO
Evan McCulloch
23 September 1931 –29 March 2016.
FROM THE HEADMASTER’S PEN
Most of us will be aware that at different points of our life, emotional intelligence (EI) will often be more important than our intellectual intelligence. Some students fare better in the social world than others and there is growing evidence that continuing development in social and emotional development can also have a substantial impact on academic achievement. As parents, we want our teenagers to have the capacity to recognise their own feelings and the feelings of others.
Daniel Goleman, a well-respected researcher and writer in this area, states: “If your emotional abilities aren’t in hand, if you don’t have self-awareness, if you are not able to manage your distressing emotions, if you can’t have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far”.
Too many of our young people, at key points in their lives, lack grit and determination and so buckle in the face of disappointment and adversity. At St Paul’s, we want to help develop resilience, an ability to manage one’s emotions and provide a toolbox that will enable the younger generation to bounce back from the tough periods we all experience in adulthood.
To this end, in 2015, we established a partnership with Swinburne University of Technology in Victoria, Australia, which saw St Paul’s recognised as an international foundation school in the Aristotle Emotional Intelligence programme. Last year, we were the first school in the world to trial the Swinburne Emotional Development programme, within our health programme, through which all of our Year 9 students had their EI assessed and gained a rudimentary insight into emotional intelligence. In 2016, with the support of Swinburne, we are in the process of developing an ’EI Booster’ programme for our Year 10 students at Tihoi Venture School and next year we will look to introduce a ’Stress Management/ Resilience Emotional Development’ programme focused on the challenges faced by students in managing their NCEA and Cambridge assessment commitments.
At each of the year levels, students will complete a Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Test (SUEIT), which we will use to assess the students level of EI, which in turn helps us to identify individual strengths and weaknesses, track development over the course of the programme and help us in providing targeted support and interventions.
Through intensive testing and training of our pastoral care, we hope to effectively support our students where their EI needs are greatest. So far, 12 of our staff have received this training in order to gain a better understanding of EI. We believe that through this programme, we will begin to develop and equip members of the St Paul’s community with the skills that will see them develop as successful, effective and fulfilled young people. This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for our school, its students and staff, and will help us to make a real difference to the lives of those who pass through St Paul’s.
Jessica Lahey in her book The Gift of Failure: How the best parents learn to let go so their children can succeed stated: “Every time we rescue, hover or otherwise save our children from a challenge, we send a very clear message: that we believe that they are incompetent, incapable and unworthy of our trust. Further, we teach them to be dependent on us and thereby deny them the very education in competence we are put there on this earth to hand down”.
The EI initiative, when combined with the Tihoi Venture School experience, aim to develop independent and resourceful young adults who – based on our school’s growing success in academic, cultural and sporting pursuits – have the confidence to challenge themselves against the best in their chosen area.
Hopefully, like me, you are proud of the direction the school is taking, the experiences it offers its students and the collective achievements of its pupils – both past and present, outlined in this issue of Network
With kind regards
G W LANDER, HEADMASTER
ST PAUL’S DOMINATE ATHLETICS COMPETITIONS
St Paul’s had another impressive athletics season, dominating both the secondary school and national open age competitions.
At the Athletics New Zealand national track and field competition, shot putter Ryan Ballantyne placed third in the senior men’s 7.26kg shot put against Olympic qualifiers Tom Walsh (first) and Jacko Gill (second). Runners Jess Hood and Jade Henley-Smith won gold and silver in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays respectively. In their individual women’s under-18 events, Jade placed first in the 100m and 200m while Jess placed third in the 400m event.
At the New Zealand secondary schools competition Ryan and Jess continued their success with national secondary school titles in the shot put and 400m events. St Paul’s senior girls’ 4x100m relay team also took out the national secondary schools title.
To finish off the season with a bang, commendable performances at the Waikato BOP secondary schools competition qualified fourteen athletes for the North Island secondary school competition where they secured 11 podium finishes including three North Island titles.
BACK-TO-BACK SENIOR MEN’S CRICKET TITLE
St Paul’s 1st XI cricket team won the Waikato Valley senior men’s Champions Trophy for the second consecutive year against Kaipaki in a two-day final held at St Paul’s in March.
A solid batting display and a superb century from Sean Dykes (Year 11) set St Paul’s up for the win. Sean was in on the 16th over and didn’t leave until the 74th after making 103 off 151 balls. St Paul’s batted into day two and racked up 340 before bowling Kaipaki out for 249 halfway through the second day.
“It was a great effort for all the boys to make the final [of a senior men’s competition], let alone win it too,” Coach Mark Bailey said.
The first XI team has been competing in the senior men’s competition rather than the secondary schools competition since the 2013/14 season.
The win caps off a superb season for the team who also took out the Twenty20 title earlier in the year and were runners-up in the one-day competition.
NZ SELECTION FOR STUDENTS
Footballer Zac Newdick (Year 13) has been selected for the New Zealand secondary schools football team that will face the Australian schools and A-League teams while on tour in Sydney in July.
The midfielder, who will represent New Zealand’s under-19 side, says it is the first time he has been selected for the team and that the opportunity to represent his country is a huge honour. Becoming a New Zealand representative is another firm step towards his long term goal of becoming an international footballer. In the short term, he hopes to pick up a US football scholarship.
Other New Zealand representatives to be named recently were hockey players Rueben Andrews (Year 13) and Jonathan Bloor (Hamilton 2011-15) who were named as members of the NZ Junior Blacksticks. Madeline Gordon (Year 11) was selected for the New Zealand under-23 lacrosse team.
STUDENT LEADERS APPOINTED
St Paul’s welcomes four very strong student leaders for the 2016 school year - Head Boy Tom Yarrall, Head Girl Teri Wathen-Smith, Deputy Head Boy Rudi Grace and Deputy Head Girl Felicity Whale.
Tom is both a talented sportsman and academic who one day plans to be a top investment banker. He completed NCEA Levels 1 and 2 endorsed with excellence and is now taking NCEA Level 3 Calculus, Sport Science, Accounting, Economics and Statistics. He is a member of the 1st XV rugby team, 1st XI cricket team and athletics team.
Teri is a strong academic, sportswoman and leader. She is a passionate leader of Hall House and member of the Hamilton under-17 B representative netball team. Her goal as Head Girl is to foster kindness and school spirit. She will be completing NCEA Level 3 in Statistics and Chemistry and New Zealand Scholarship Biology, PE and History. She plans to study biochemical engineering at the University of Waikato.
Rudi Grace is on a mission to get more students involved in school events than ever before. In his final year at St Paul’s he is taking NCEA Statistics, Accounting, Economics, English and Te Reo Māori. He is passionate about Te Reo Māori and was the second top student in this subject at St Paul’s last year. He believes it is an important part of New Zealand’s heritage and culture.
Felicity is St Paul’s top academic. She has a GPA of 100%, won the John Oehley Cup for Top Year 12 Academic Student in 2015 and passed NCEA Scholarship in Earth and Space Science, Physical Education, Spanish, and English (with an outstanding endorsement). She plans to study biomedical science at Auckland University and as Deputy Head Girl would like to bring as many new and constructive ideas to the School as possible.
OLIVER PARK
BACK ROW (L-R): TOM YARRELL, RUDI GRACE, FRONT ROW: FELICITY WHALE AND TERI WATHEN-SMITH
"EVAN HAD AN INCREDIBLE TALENT FOR ENGAGING YOUNG MEN IN CLASSICAL MUSIC. HE WAS THE MOST GIFTED TEACHER I KNEW." – PAT PLANT
EVAN MCCULLOCH
23 SEPTEMBER 1931 –29 MARCH 2016.
Evan McCulloch (staff 1961-2007) spent 46 years of his life involved in St Paul’s Collegiate School as a housemaster, teacher, director of music and, as the executive officer of the Old Collegians’ Association. During Evan’s long association with St Paul’s he was considered by many of the School’s students and staff to be more than a staff member. He was a mentor, friend, confidant and father figure.
Sadly, on Tuesday 29 March 2016, after a courageous battle with cancer, Evan passed away at his Hamilton home. One week later, his friends, family and the St Paul’s community bid him farewell at a service held at St Paul’s Chapel of Christ the King.
This is his story.
William Evan McCulloch was born on 23 September 1931 in Mt Albert, Auckland.
Before most children could even read or write, Evan was tirelessly trying to teach himself the piano while visiting his grandmother in Te Awamutu. After much persuasion, he was given 10-minute piano lessons each week, something that Evan said was rare and in those days “considered to be far too young.”
Nonetheless, his parents saw a talent in Evan and so his long love affair with music began. Little did they know at the time, their encouragement of his musical talent would shape the rest of his life.
In his teenage years, Evan attended King’s College in Auckland. He was by no means a great scholar and was a very limited sportsman. He did however flourish in the arts, with music director Lin Charles Mansell Saunders teaching him both piano and organ.
He made a significant impression at the School as a talented musician, so much so that the headmaster of King’s College at the time Mr Geoffrey Greenback, who had become Evan’s mentor and friend, invited him to take up a part-time music teacher’s position.
This marked the beginning of his longlived and long-loved teaching career.
Evan completed his teaching degree while working part-time at King’s College. He then taught music and English in England and, when he returned to New Zealand, at Hauraki Plains College he introduced mass singing to the whole school, which was uplifting and had “moral building power.”
Word of his talent to engage students in music spread far and wide, before his second year of teaching at Hauraki Plains College. He received a telegram from the headmaster of St Paul’s, Mr Reginald Hornsby, inviting him to join the staff as the School’s first director of music.
Evan declined the offer without a second thought. His loyalty was with King’s College.
What followed was not success at securing a position at King’s College but instead advice from his friend and mentor Mr Geoffrey Greenback. He told Evan to take the job at St Paul’s. This advice along with pressure from the chaplain at St Paul’s, who had been the chaplain at King’s
and knew Evan well, resulted in Evan reluctantly taking the job.
Evan started at St Paul’s in 1961 in a multi-faceted role as director of music, English teacher and assistant housemaster of School House.
His reluctance to work at St Paul’s soon subsided as he began his 46 year journey.
For the first nine of his 46 years he called 77 Hukanui Road his home. First as the assistant housemaster of School House, then in mid-1962 as the housemaster of School House and, last, from January 1963 as the housemaster of the newly built boarding house, Williams House, where he stayed for seven years.
While most housemasters had the help of their wives, Evan rode solo. Well, almost. He had the help of his corgi Ricky, a normally well-behaved dog that had a considerable dislike for headmaster Hornsby biting at his ankles and tearing a trouser leg or two.
Not having a wife by his side didn’t waver Evan’s ability as a housemaster. In fact, he is one of the most legendary housemasters of St Paul’s who became a mentor, father figure and friend to many of his students who remained in contact with him long after they graduated.
The boys regarded him with great affection and respect. They knew he was capable of astringent comments and that he could wield a cane powerfully when deserved.
He helped establish new routines and strong, longstanding traditions at Williams House before resigning as housemaster in 1969, much to the boys’ dismay, so he could focus on music in the School.
Under Evan’s direction, St Paul’s music progressed in leaps and bounds.
He took the whole school on his own for 35 minutes of singing practice every Friday morning during the staff meeting.
EVAN WITH OLD COLLEGIANS LEX DE JONG, TONY HAYCOCK AND KERRY KIRK
Pat Plant (staff 1961-1998) said Evan had an incredible talent for engaging young men in classical music and that he was the “most gifted teacher” he had ever known.
“I struggled to teach 20-odd boys in class, Evan took the whole school by himself and taught them to sing psalms and hymns,” explained Pat.
“To get 200 boys to sing psalms and enjoy it is unbelievable, but he did it.”
The whole school choir and Evan’s music appreciation classes opened the boys’ eyes to classical music, a gift that many carried with them into adult life. He gave the gift of music to many people who crossed his path, including his brother Alec.
“Evan drew me into the world of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert and many other composers by regularly giving me CDs and discussing the merits of such works,” Alec said. “In many ways, and to this day, listening to classical music has
become part of my life and a permanent reminder of my dear brother.”
Another way of drawing students into music was through the House Music competition, which still runs to this very day. Evan’s philosophy was to involve as many students as possible in school music and this was a way for him to do so.
While he had the gift of drawing people into his world of classical music, his role as the School’s director of music didn’t come without its challenges.
As an all boys’ school, Evan faced the difficulty of finding treble voices for his choir. So, he combined with local girls’ schools Waikato Diocesan and Sacred Heart for some memorable performances and musicals such as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Salad Days, Oliver and Grease.
Two other monumental events in the school’s music history was the construction of the Mary Hornsby Music
School in 1976 – which Evan fought long and hard for many years to have constructed – and the introduction of a new chapel organ in 1991.
Outside of St Paul’s, Evan produced annual music festivals which were performed to audiences of 1000 people or more in Hamilton’s Founders Theatre. He was also responsible for the formation of the Waikato Secondary Schools’ Music Teachers’ Association of which he was president for many years.
After 30 years at St Paul’s, Evan hung up his baton and turned his attention to the Old Collegians’ Association.
From 1991 to 2007 Evan served the Old Collegians’ Association as the secretary and then executive officer, always ready to organise reunions and recognise Old Collegians by name. Having spent 30 years at St Paul’s he had the great advantage of knowing almost all of the Old Collegians when he took the job.
EVAN ENJOYED CATCHING UP WITH OLD COLLEGIANS. HE IS PICTURED HERE WITH BILL MEIKLEJOHN AT HIS HOME IN SYDNEY
EVAN’S WELL RECOGNISED NUMBER PLATE ADORNED HIS COFFIN
EVAN WITH BRENDON WALSH
Many Old Collegians and their parents became some of Evan’s closest friends. He attended a great number of 21st birthdays and weddings where he would often play the organ.
In 2001, Evan was appointed a ’Fellow’ of St Paul’s, a guardian that steps in to assist with the direction of the School if the Board ever has difficulty functioning. His final honour was being made the first ’Patron’ of the Old Collegians’ Association which he had served for sixteen-and-ahalf years.
He retired from the Association in 2007, after 46 years of dedicated service to St Paul’s.
With him he took many memories and valuable friendships that he had established from day one. Former staff members Pat Plant and Graham Campbell (staff 1982-2006) both formed special bonds with Evan during their time at St Paul’s.
Pat says Evan had an incredible ability to inspire friendship in a huge variety of people. He and Graham both proof of this.
“We had very little in common,” said Pat, who was a Science and PE teacher. The complete opposite from Evan who revelled in all things English and Music.
“Evan was urbane, incredibly talented musically, had excellent sartorial and artistic taste, was a superb cook and always had the most desirable motor vehicle in the school.”
It was true. Most Old Collegians will remember Evan’s three MGs, two Alfa Romeos and a blue Volkswagon Beetle
with its number plate Oui Mac.
Despite Pat and Evan’s unlikely pairing, they remained friends for 55 years. The same goes for Graham, he shared a special friendship with Evan for 46 years after the pair met at Graham’s very first staff meeting as a “new and raw recruit.”
Since then, hardly a week has gone by where the pair haven’t seen each other. Evan was often at Graham’s house for dinner or a family celebration. They shared significant milestones including Graham’s wedding, where Evan played the organ.
“He became my advisor, mentor and sounding board,” Graham said.
They shared a strong belief in the ethos of St Paul’s, the pursuits of excellence and motivating young people to succeed. They were also two “grumpy old men” who shared a love of the English language.
“We delighted in misplaced apostrophes, spelling mistakes and grammatical atrocities.”
Although St Paul’s was his world and a place where he formed many unwavering friendships, the St Paul’s community and Evan’s family are not the only people who will miss him.
Evan has family all over the world, he was a philanthropist who unofficially adopted a Fijian boy and five Indonesians. He would provide funds when he could afford it and resources like generators for electricity and motorbikes for transport.
Evan is survived by his dearly loved brother Alec; sister-in-law Jenny; nephews Andrew and David; Andrew’s wife Deidre and his two great-nephews Jeremy and Dylan.
A memorial fund has been set up in Evan’s name, with donations being allocated towards music at St Paul’s. If you would like to make a donation please contact the Foundation on 07 957 8818 or foundation@stpauls.school.nz
EVAN CELEBRATED HIS 80TH BIRTHDAY AT ST PAUL’S IN 2001 AMONGST FRIENDS, FAMILY AND OLD COLLEGIANS
STUDENTS AND STAFF GIVE EVAN A GUARD OF HONOUR AS HE LEAVES ST PAUL’S FOR THE FINAL TIME
PETER HARRIS IS A MODEST, SOFT SPOKEN FAMILY MAN. NOT AT ALL WHAT YOU’D EXPECTED FROM A HIGH PROFILE BUSINESS MAN WHOSE COMPANY RAISED $125 MILLION WHEN LISTED ON THE AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND STOCK EXCHANGES LAST YEAR.
Photo courtesy of Dean Purcell, New Zealand Herald
KIWI BUSINESS GOES GLOBAL
During his phone interview for Network , Peter fondly mentions that he is watching his seven-yearold granddaughter compete in her first triathlon. Apparently she has leapt out of the pool with great gusto but is lagging with the transition as she dries off and ties her shoe laces.
He is big on family, but also big on business. Peter spends 130 days a year travelling as the managing director of public listed company, CBL Insurance (CBL).
He flies from one meeting to the next and rarely has the chance to unpack his suitcase while he visits CBL offices located in Australasia, Mexico, South East Asia, Europe and Africa.
Peter and his business partners bought CBL from the Dick family in Wellington in 1996. At the time it was a small company writing niche credit and financial risk insurance that generated about $2 million a year.
The company now has 150 employees, eight offices, three insurance companies and two underwriting agencies working worldwide and is valued at about $350m.
This figure has grown significantly over the past 15 years thanks to organic growth, strategic acquisition and a successful dual listing on the Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges late last year.
“We spent the first few years putting in a couple of new products but decided to focus on credit and financial risk. We saw a market for that,” Peter said.
The domestic market in New Zealand was too small for a specialist insurance company. So, CBL made the decision to expand internationally.
“We had two choices. We could grow CBL by taking on more traditional forms of insurance –property, casualty and natural disaster insurance – or stick to
what we knew and understood and grow internationally.”
CBL decided that the best direction for the company wasn’t to grow exponentially by introducing high volume commodity type products like house, car and content insurance.
“We could substantially grow our revenue by doing that but our profits would only grow by a fraction of that revenue.”
So, in 2000, Peter and his partners started the overseas expansion of CBL.
“I was in charge of overseas sales and spent a number of years building up an international network of distributors and intermediaries who now sell our product deriving risk from various countries.”
As the company’s international growth took flight, CBL set up offices in Australasia, South East Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa to support the intermediaries that placed insurance risk with CBL in New Zealand.
“With distributors and intermediaries working as part of the CBL team we get the benefit of local market knowledge. We can’t do everything here from NZ.”
Peter says a lot of the company’s growth has been organic through existing business and through the strategic acquisition of insurance intermediaries along the way.
“All acquisitions have been successful and profitable and stay within the group. All the intermediaries that we work with have been with us for 10 or more years. We have very loyal distribution lines.”
Early last year CBL decided to increase the company’s capital by becoming a public listed company on the Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges.
“We have been fortunate over the years to be very profitable and to add those profits to our capital base as we go. We have never had to put in further capital
but we saw some real opportunity and thought we would look to the market for additional capital.”
The market’s volatility towards the end of 2015 didn’t deter the team from listing.
“Our view was that we had made a plan and that we would stick with it and execute it. We were looking for long term investors who would see through the volatility.”
Through a series of roadshows in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong, CBL raised $198 million.
“We got a firm commitment from investors for $198 million. We were able to scale down the offers to get high quality spread of investors.”
CBL debuted at a premium, in an IPO that raised $125m.
Peter and his partners have no plans for slowing down anytime soon, $90m of this is earmarked for growth.
“We are focused on our underwriting profiles and there are good opportunities to do that. There are growing markets, there are growing economies and there is a lack of competition in our market.”
His driven, hard-working attitude comes from his modest upbringing on the family farm. Peter’s parents are Waikato dairy farmers and his first ever job was washing wool for a Waikato based company. He then went on to study a Bachelor of Accounting at the Waikato Institute of Technology.
Peter has also been heavily involved in youth programmes like Project K, an initiative that pairs mentors with on-theedge teenagers. He is a big believer in youth endeavour which is reflected in his work as a founding member of the Spirit of Adventure Foundation.
KAREN SIMPSON
SERVICE, SPIRITUALITY AND SPORT
SCHOOL CHAPLAIN REVEREND JAMES STEPHENSON (CURRENT STAFF 2015 – PRESENT) HAS BEEN AT ST PAUL’S JUST NINE MONTHS, BUT IS ALREADY HAVING A BIG IMPACT.
Rev James was on the other side of the world when he got the call.
“We as a family were working in Africa on the Zambia-Congo border. We were setting up schools there,” James recalls. “I had a phone call from Grant [Headmaster Grant Lander] saying they were looking for a Chaplain at St Paul’s and they would like me to apply.”
The call came out of the blue.
“We were going to stay in Africa, so we couldn’t come in the short term, but then Africa got to the stage where we
needed to leave, so we headed back to England for a short time, had a formal interview with Grant, then accepted and came out.”
James, his wife Abbie and their children Theo (8) and Maisie (6) arrived at the School in July 2015.
James, 39, had been recommended for the role by Bishop Helen-Ann Hartley of the Anglican Diocese of Waikato, who had taught him Theology in the UK.
As well as being devoted to religious teaching and education, James is an accomplished sportsman, representing
Great Britain in both rowing and triathlon. He attended Harrow School in England as a sports scholar, then Oxford University. He had the perfect credentials for the job as someone who would “become involved in all areas of school life and who could connect with the students.”
The experience so far has been “fantastic,” he says. “It is going really well. I have been heavily involved in all aspects of the school since the moment I arrived.”
He spoke to me just before leaving with the St Paul’s rowing team to Maadi Cup in Twizel.
One of his first initiatives as the School’s new chaplain has been introducing a three-tiered service programme. The idea came about after he reflected on what the students had to offer the community.
“Our expertise within this school is schooling. There are 700-odd students who know schooling better than anyone else. So why not utilise that massive resource in our local area?"
“Students have contacted primary schools and asked ’how can we help you?’”
“Fairfield Primary School, and Bankwood School have accepted the offer. We’ve termed it ’over the fence ministry’ so the idea of literally stepping over the fence and serving the community around us.”
In Term 2, students will visit the schools during either breakfast or lunch time.
“They may just play football with them, they may just eat lunch with the students and if asked they may read with the students or they may set up a Kapa Haka group or a drama group.”
The second tier will require Year 11 students to contact Hamilton charities and dedicate a week or two as a volunteer. The ’pinnacle’ of the scheme would be an international trip.
“We would raise money in order to send a group of students abroad to make a meaningful contribution wherever that may be.”
Rev James explains service needs to be a “transformational experience, not just a transactional experience,” for students to get the most out of it.
He has a unique style in chapel service as his way of connecting and engaging with students.
“Students, by the time they are teens, can build up a pretty negative response to having to sit in a building like that and attend to religious matters. So I try to liven up the mood as much as possible.”
“We have had some screaming and shouting, we have had those crazy clips on TV, and people hammering nails into wood, people acting things out on stage, and people running around reenacting refugee situations.”
“ONCE WE HAVE THAT BUY-IN, ONCE THEY THINK ‘THIS IS SOMETHING THAT RELATES TO ME’, THEN THEY SUDDENLY THINK, ‘YES I CAN LISTEN TO THIS’ AND SOME OF IT IS QUITE FUN.”
“The school chapel is a Christian place, and I am an Anglican priest. But, in terms of engaging with the students we must be clear that we are nurturing their spiritual journey.”
James can also draw on the experience of high level sport, having represented Great Britain in rowing and triathlon. It is a remarkable story of triumph, heartbreak, and hard work. He was showing promise as a top rower in the late 1990s but a serious back injury saw him require multiple surgeries which left him lying on his back for the most part of a year.
After years of rehabilitation he decided to give rowing another go.
“I borrowed a friend’s boat and I went rowing in that boat on my own for about 18 months, every day.”
He made it into the Great Britain lightweight rowing team and raced from 2004-2007 in World Championship and World Cup events until another very bad injury saw his back “split in two” requiring multiple surgeries again.
He swam to regain strength which led to him taking up triathlon, for which he represented Great Britain in 2008.
A return to study to become a priest saw him take up rowing briefly and he made Oxford University’s rowing crew. He retired from rowing when the family moved to Africa to help establish schools.
James and his family are making the most of what New Zealand has to offer.
“We love exploring the outdoors. We have already walked the Abel Tasman track with the children, canoed down the Whanganui River and been up to the Coromandel and Bay of Islands and camped around New Zealand. “
MONICA HOLT
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION GIVES GREEN LIGHT TO AGRIBUSINESS IN SCHOOLS
THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION HAVE COMMITTED TO DEVELOPING AGRIBUSINESS ACHIEVEMENT STANDARDS FOR SENIOR STUDENTS IN NEW ZEALAND SECONDARY SCHOOLS.
An official announcement of the Ministry’s involvement took place on Thursday 7 April while Prime Minister
John Key visited St Paul’s to open the $1.8m state-of-the-art learning space that was purpose built for Agribusiness at the School.
St Paul’s, DairyNZ, Beef + LambNZ and other primary industries experts have been working together since 2013 to develop the innovative Agribusiness teaching and learning programme that the Ministry is now finalising.
Peter Hampton, Deputy Headmaster of St Paul’s, said the Ministry’s involvement is the next step towards Agribusiness being available to all New Zealand secondary schools in 2018.
Before the programme is available nationwide, a trial will take place in select schools across New Zealand in 2017, including Southland Boys, Southland Girls, John McGlashan College, Christchurch Boys, Fielding High School, Lindisfarne College and Mt Albert Grammar School.
DEPUTY HEAD BOY RUDI GRACE AND HEAD GIRL TERI WATHEN-SMITH WELCOME
St Paul’s felt they could respond to the need of developing courses for secondary schools which focuses on the primary industries, when DairyNZ released alarming figures about the sector’s skills shortage.
“Three years ago DairyNZ identified a major skills shortage in the agricultural sector with research showing that the industry needed 1250 tertiary qualified workers entering the sector each year,” Peter said. “The Government’s target of doubling New Zealand’s primary sector exports by 2025 in itself will require around 25,000 more graduates, according to MPI figures.”
“BY INTRODUCING ACADEMICALLY RIGOROUS AGRIBUSINESS COURSES TO SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS, MORE OF NEW ZEALAND’S BRIGHTEST YOUNG MINDS WILL BECOME INSPIRED BY THE OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE IN THE SECTOR AND REALISE THAT CAREER PROSPECTS GO BEYOND THE FARM GATE.”
Less than 200 students graduated from university agribusiness related courses in 2013, ringing alarm bells for St Paul’s and industry experts.
“When universities are struggling to attract students into agricultural related courses it reflects the careers advice and education that students are receiving at the secondary school level,” Peter said.
“They can become food scientists, marketers, business professionals, economists, technicians or the CEO of one of New Zealand’s major agricultural companies – the possibilities are endless.”
St Paul’s students have been trialling the proposed Agribusiness course since 2014, with an increasing number of students taking up the subject each year and then going on to study agrirelated degrees at university upon their graduation.
The year before the trial started, only two St Paul’s graduates went on to study agri-related courses. Now, more than 10 percent of the School’s graduates are
opting to study towards careers in the primary industries.
The Agribusiness achievement standards will be a New Zealand first.
KAREN
SIMPSON
A FULL SCHOOL HAKA WAS PERFORMED TO PAY TRIBUTE TO THE PRIME MINISTER AND TO THANK THE BUSINESS PARTNERS, THE GALLAGHER GROUP AND THE FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS WHO GENEROUSLY DONATED TO MAKE THIS FACILITY AVAILABLE TO THEM
DR JOHN GALLAGHER AND PRIME MINISTER JOHN KEY CUT THE RIBBON
SNIPPETS
JOHN FORD
John Ford (Clark 1973–76) and wife Catherine were winners of the 2015 Ballance Farm Environmental Awards, both Supreme Winners for the BOP region and nationwide winners. The Rotorua sheep and beef farmers will act as ambassadors for the primary industry in a role that will take them around the country and beyond as they promote the importance of sustainable farming. John went on to study at Lincoln after St Paul’s where he completed a Bachelor of Commerce (Agriculture) before going farming. Catherine and John who were married in 1985 have three children, Andrew, Daniel and Louise who all attended St Paul’s.
NICK WOOLFIELD
Nick Woolfield (Sargood 1968–72) along with his wife Fay are doctors who work voluntarily in Kyrgyzstan. The pair have recently been successful in getting a grant from the Australian Embassy in Moscow for AU$35k to put broadband internet into the Sanatorium where Nick works. Here they set up telemedicine for consultation and for teaching. The local health service and UNICEF are delighted about the internet connection. This should happen over the three months that Nick and Fay are away in Australia.
VERITY JOHNS
Verity Johns (Harington 2007–08) celebrates her engagement to Christopher Connolly (Sargood 2003–07) in Perth, Western Australia. Congratulations Verity and Christopher.
JUNG-HAK (KEVIN) YUN
Jung-Hak (Kevin) Yun (Clark 2003–07) is working for an Australian mining company, Orica, where he has completed the company’s graduate programme and now works as a procurement analyst in Melbourne. Jung-Hak works on various initiatives and sourcing strategies in the engineering consumables category for Orica to maximise savings while not lowering the quality and standards of goods purchased. Jung-Hak has also completed a Certificate Level 3 and 4 in Fitness to become a personal trainer. Jung-Hak is currently working as a coach at Crossfit Collingwood as a second job.
DAVID RICHARDSON
David Richardson (Hall 2000–02) married Emma Woods (Harington 2001–02) in March 2016 with Dan Udy (Hall 1998–2001) as best man. Congratulations David and Emma.
JESSICA CHANWAI
Jessica Chanwai (Harington 2013–14) (Head Girl 2014) has been selected as a Mentor for the University of Auckland Scholars Mentor Programme in 2016. Jess was awarded the University of Auckland Scholarship at the end of 2014 which included academic mentoring during her first year of university study. Jess valued this support and wanted to be a mentor herself to give back to the university and to help others accomplish their dream of becoming a doctor. This year Jess is enjoying her second year studying towards her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery Degree (MBChB).
DAVID BEARD
David Beard (Hall 1985–89) and husband Nick welcomed triplings Blake David Beard, Lachlan Nicholas Beard and Kelly Elizabeth Beard in March. Congratulations!
ALASTAIR CARMICHAEL
Alastair Carmichael (Fitchett 2008–2012) performed in the University of Auckland’s Medical and Health Sciences Student Symphony Orchestra on 30 September 2015. The annual charity concert raised $1537, with proceeds going to Autism New Zealand.
DANIEL JOHNSON
Daniel Johnson (Hall 2010–14) sat his Trinity College of London ATCL in Public Speaking last October which he passed with distinction. He is now an Associate of Trinity College which enables Daniel to teach. Daniel will use this to enhance his presentations as he moves into the field of architectural design.
BRAD MARKHAM
Brad Markham (Sargood 1993–97) and partner Matthew Herbert are the first same-sex couple to win the regional Share Farmers of the Year title. The former political advisor and journalist moved from Australia two years ago to swap the urban professional life for dairy farming. The couple are now in their second season contract milking on a farm owned by Brad’s younger brother Lee at Pepepe, west of Huntly.
RICHARD PAGE
Richard Page (Clark 1982–85) a New Zealand based sculptor held an exhibition in New York from 1-22 December 2015 showcasing his latest work. Whether sculpting abstract, geometric pieces or more impressionistic works, Richard’s work shows a clear aquatic influence in both composition and texture.
TALENT SPOTTED
Rodney Hamel (former staff 19632000), well known in the Waikato for his landscape paintings, was contacted last year by Auckland based property tycoon Sir Bob Jones to commission a large scale oil painting from the Dunedinbased artist.
After seeing Rodney’s Sandymount painting in Moray Gallery in Dunedin, Sir Bob asked the painter to produce
TIHOI FAREWELLS CHEF – GERARD PASCOE
After ten years service Gerard Pascoe (Gee) leaves Tihoi to pursue his career as a catering manager in Hamilton. Gee started at Tihoi at the start of 2006, moving from the Melbourne restaurant scene to the remote village of Tihoi Venture School. With enthusiasm, good humour and a passion for a challenge Gee took on the role of catering manager at Tihoi. He has served over
another similar, but three times the size.
Rodney submitted a preliminary coloured drawing to Sir Bob so he knew what to expect. This was approved and the painting of Sandymount – a prominent hill on the Otago Peninsulanow hangs proudly at 111 The Terrace in Wellington.
More than 70 Rodney Hamel paintings can be found across the Waikato, two of which are at St Paul’s – a portrait of former headmaster Reginald Hornsby (1963-69) and a large scale landscape oil painting in the school’s reception area.
Rodney started painting when he was 13 years old, firstly using watercolour
1200 students fantastic food during his tenure here and is known for great food, ample quantity for growing teen boys and a fun and positive work environment in the Tihoi kitchen.
DANIEL VETTORI
Former Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori (Hall 1992–96) has been awarded The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) Honorary Life Membership. Daniel is New Zealand’s most capped test cricketer and second on the list of alltime Black Caps wicket takers in tests with 362 victims. Daniel became the 24th New Zealander to be given MCC Honorary Life Membership, following in the footsteps of Sir Richard Hadlee, Ian Smith and former captain Stephen Fleming. Daniel also appears on the famous Lord’s Honours Board after his test match against England in 2008.
before learning to paint in oils after encouragement from famous artists like William Reed, one of New Zealand’s only surrealist painters. His success is not something that happened overnight. He has spent years perfecting his art and said that learning to paint in oils was a lengthy apprenticeship of several years working deep into the night.
The school was fortunate to have Rodney on staff in 1976 to introduce Art History when the subject was available at Bursary level. He was also a teacher of English, Classical Studies, Geography and the head of History during his time at St Paul’s.
SCOTT HILLIAR
Full back Scott Hilliar (Clark 2011-12) capped a fine 2015/16 ASB Premiership season for Loaded WaiBOP United by winning the franchise’s Player of the Year award. Scott, previously a national age group 800m track champion, was formerly a midfielder before being moved to right back at the start of the 2015/16 season. Scott’s natural athletic abilities and willingness to work hard has made him a fixture on the right of United’s back four, defending strongly and getting forward at every opportunity.
GARY SCHOFIELD
Gary Schofield (Hall 1970-74) was commissioned to complete a new painting, The Quartermaster Corps, to represent the invaluable service of the Quartermaster Corps for the military and also the general public. Established in 1775 the Quartermaster Corps has played an essential and sometimes unsung role in shaping the course of military achievements and history of
the United States. Countless men and women have risked their lives in this service since George Washington chose Thomas Mifflin as the first Quartermaster General. Gary took everyone’s vision and ideas and included them all in the one work, creating a Quartermaster foundation upon which the past and future rests.
JOHN PENYAS
At the start of 2016, John Penyas (Hamilton 2010-2014) was awarded a full scholarship to Kenyan College in the United States where he will complete a four year degree. The scholarship covers John’s fees which are approximately US$60,000 per year. The scholarship was offered to John as his one year football scholarship (US$75k) to Berkshire Preparatory School in the US came to an end.
ROBERT ORR
Robert Orr (Williams 1963-67), an Auckland poet, was awarded the Lauris Edmond Memorial Award for poetry in March 2016 at the New Zealand Festival Writers Week. This prize is given biennially in recognition of a distinguished contribution to New Zealand poetry. Bob has published seven books of poetry, most recently Odysseus in Woolloomooloo (Steele Roberts). Bob has spent most of his adult life in Auckland where he works as a boatman on the Waitemata Harbour and the Hauraki Gulf.
JASON TROWER
Jason Trower (Sargood 1985-89) managing director of CodeBlue an IT services company was announced Leader of the Year at the Westpac Waikato Business Excellence Awards in 2015.
THE PATERSONS
Gavin Paterson (Sargood 1993-97) has been living in Karratha, Western Australia since 2011 working in environment services. Gavin was one of five siblings to attend St Paul’s. Chris Paterson (Sargood 1996-2000) is living and working in Hamilton and is married to Amy Johnson (Harington 2003-04). Ryan Paterson (Sargood 1998-2002) is working in Western Australia in the mining industry commuting back to NZ when on break. Sam Paterson (Sargood 2002-04) is living and working in Christchurch and Hannah Paterson (Harington 2005-06) is now based in New Plymouth with her husband Renny. Gavin popped into the school about 12 months ago where he was given a tour of the new facilities by former school friend Ryan McCarthy.
1ST XI CRICKET TEAM VS OLD COLLEGIANS
The Old Collegians sports day was held on Sunday 31 January. The St Paul’s 1st XI battled against the Old Collegians in a thrilling cricket match. Congratulations to the 1st XI who finished on 250 for 9 in 50 overs.
SHEILA GIBBS
Sheila Gibbs (staff) who passed away in 2015 was a very important person in the early days of St Paul’s. Sheila was born in London and after schooling became a secretary and then a private secretary. She was an outstanding swimmer and represented Great Britain as a diver in the 1946 Olympic Games. Sheila married Frank Gibbs who was a cabinet maker and with their family they emigrated to New Zealand. Sheila took a job as second cook at St Paul’s in 1967 and soon took over as the catering manager. She was very influential in the design of the kitchen for the dining hall in 1966 and moved in to the staff quarters which were built along with the dining hall. Sheila was also influential in converting the School to cafeteria style meals. Frank, became the cook and they were a formidable team together. Sheila was also responsible for setting up the catering arrangements at Tihoi.
She designed the kitchen, worked out the menus and trained the cooks. Sheila and Frank retired to Raglan in 1982. Three of her sons, Alan, Terry and Mark are Old Collegians and her daughter Karen often helped in the kitchen. Sheila
Gibbs played a very large part in the growth of the school from 1967-1982 and we acknowledge the contribution she made to St Paul’s.
Rest in peace.
TUI PARR
Tui Parr, wife of the late Rev Pat Parr, Chaplain at St Paul’s between 1962-78, passed away on 22 March 2016. Tui is survived by Chris (Hamilton 1968-72), David (Hall 1969-73), Deirdre (1976-78) and Brigid.
FRANCES JOHNS
Frances Johns passed away on 30 January 2016. Frances had three sons through Sargood (Peter, David and Andrew). Both David and Andrew were heads of Sargood. She has had three grandchildren also attend St Paul’s, Hayden Johns (Hamilton), Annalise Johns (Fitchett) and Verity Johns (Harington). Frances and her late husband Morrison were part of St Paul’s when it was founded. She was related to the late Dr Marcus Fitchett. She will be sadly missed.
GRAHAM TOCKER
Graham Tocker, former cricket coach at St Paul’s, passed away on 9 February 2016.
ROBERT LYONS
Robert (Rob) Lyons (Clark 1981-84) passed away unexpectedly on 20 January 2016 aged 47. Rob was farming on the family farm at Mangatawhiri, South East of Auckland. He was a loving husband to Louise and beloved father to Isaac, Abby and Ben. Rest in peace.
PETER HAMMOND
Peter Hammond (School 1962-65) passed away peacefully at Te Omanga Hospice on 12 February 2016. Peter played for both the 1st XI and 1st XV. Rest in peace.
BOB POLLOCK
Robert (Bob) Pollock (QSM), previous Board member (1977–1982) and Chairman of Waikato Anglican College Trust (1979–1982) passed away on Monday 11 January 2016. Bob was a proud Hamiltonian. He was born to Sally and Jack Pollock on 20 June 1937 in Hamilton and was schooled at Whitiora Primary and King’s College, Auckland. In his early 20s, Bob met Marlene Blackler at Peachgrove Tennis Club. They were married in 1961 at the Cathedral Church of St Peter and together they raised their children, Annie and Craig, and welcomed six grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren to the family.
Bob made a major contribution to St Paul’s, raising a huge amount of money to enable the construction of the current management block and working hard to raise and improve the School’s profile in the wider community, working alongside headmasters Tony Hart and Michael Lawrence. Bob was a real gentleman who took an active interest in St Paul’s and made a big effort to attend key events well after he stepped down as a Board member. For his outstanding services to the School, Bob was made a Fellow in March 2000. He was a gentleman with a warm smile, excellent manners, big heart and was always nattily dressed with a distinctive bowtie which became a Bob Pollock trademark. He will be dearly missed.
STUDENT JOINS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Hamilton teenager Victoria Chanwai is something of an old hand on the violin.
After all, the 15-year-old has been playing the instrument since she was three.
From the tender age she practised the notes arranged by famous composers and although she said it was difficult to learn, her hard work has paid off.
Victoria has recently been selected as one of the 40 violinists for the 2016 NZ Secondary Schools Symphony Orchestra (NZSSSO).
Course organiser Nicky Fogden-Smith said the NZSSSO was an opportunity for some of New Zealand’s top secondary school orchestral musicians to represent their school and to learn what it is to play in a full symphony orchestra. It is regarded as a significant training ground for young players aspiring to be a part of the New
Zealand Youth Orchestra.
Victoria said there are around 40 violinists and approximately 110 musicians from New Zealand in the orchestra. The orchestra will gather in April in Christchurch for a week long workshop that will conclude with two public performances.
As part of the audition process, she was required to submit a recording of an excerpt from The Planets by Holst and a solo piece of her own choice. She chose Preludium and Allegro by Kriesler which was also a part of the recital programme for her Trinity College Violin Advanced Certificate examination, which she passed last year with a 98 per cent grade.
Victoria has a musical family – her mum used to play the violin and the flute, her dad and brother play the cello and her sister plays the violin and piano. Victoria also plays the piano and the organ.
She said she practises the violin for forty minutes a day – a figure she believes is "not enough", but the Year 11 St Paul’s Collegiate School pupil has a lot on her plate. She is currently preparing for her Trinity College Violin ATCL Diploma exam and is hoping to sit a Trinity College Organ exam sometime this year.
“IF YOU HAVE THE SELF-MOTIVATION AND DETERMINATION YOU CAN GO FAR WITH IT,” VICTORIA SAID. “IT JUST DOESN’T COME TO YOU, YOU HAVE TO WORK FOR IT.”
KELLEY TANTAU – FAIRFAX MEDIA
ODDS ON FAVOURITE FOR RACE CALLING CAREER
Alifelong love of horse racing helped Tom Wood (Hamilton, 2004 – 07) land his dream job.
Aged just 25, Tom is the youngest of the New Zealand Racing Board’s eight fulltime race callers. He broadcasts from race courses all over the lower-central North Island on racing channel Trackside as well as the TAB’s radio channels. The son of thoroughbred horse trainer Chris Wood, Tom grew up at race courses.
“When I was younger my parents would always know where to come and find me. I would be down annoying the guys in the broadcasting truck asking them ’what does this do, and what does this do,’” Tom said.
As a teenager, Tom had a photography business taking images of race finishes. He also had a part- time office job at Matamata race course. But it was a career in broadcasting Tom wanted and he got his foot in the door by submitting a tape of himself calling horse trials. He was offered one of two broadcasting
cadetships awarded by the New Zealand Racing Board.
He moved to Christchurch in 2008 to undergo training in all aspects of broadcasting, including camera work, sound and commentary. His work was critiqued by retired racing legend, Reon Murtha. While based in Lower Hutt, Tom is constantly on the road attending two and sometimes three race meetings per week.
He says while the job is exciting it can be quite lonely. “You are ’it.’ There is no one else there who can do what you do.”
Research is a big part of the job and Tom puts in four or five hours the day before a race meeting.
“I don’t have to put as much research into the Saturday races because they are a better quality of horse and you know them. But for the midweek races it is tougher. So generally the day before I will go through what they have done recently and especially work on pronunciation. You get quite a few tricky
names, and I am not an expert when it comes to French.”
Tom also has an interest in the technical side of the job and reckons he is probably the only race caller in New Zealand who can fix his own equipment. He says he is an avid sports watcher and even turns on Trackside on his days off.
Working at Trentham and Riccarton were career highlights: “They are not easy places to call as they are such big tracks.
” While he says he hasn’t been “let loose” on too many of the big races he is clearly keen to get the opportunity, and would eventually like to move back to the Waikato.
He spent two years in Christchurch, then three in Dunedin calling at “pretty much every race course in the South Island.” He would call harness racing, gallops and greyhounds.
For the past three years Tom has been part of the TAB’s Melbourne Cup team broadcasting from Australia.
MONICA HOLT
UNIVERSITY GRADUATES
Congratulations to St Paul’s Old Collegians whose degrees were conferred in the second half of 2015.
Please note that not all universities provide results and we do our best to source as much information as possible.
UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO
Timir Cursons
Bachelor of Science and Graduate Diploma in Engineering
William Cawkwell
Graduate Diploma of Teaching (Secondary)
Benjamin Tanner
Bachelor of Business Analysis
Simon Andrews
Postgraduate Certificate in Chemistry
Allen (Yen-Pin) Lin
Bachelor of Science
Kathleen Rattray
Bachelor of Engineering with Honours
Jack Roberts
Bachelor of Communication Studies
Ze Wang
Bachelor of Business Analysis
Sam Domett
Bachelor of Arts
Cecile Elsing
Certificate of University Preparation
UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND
Ian Gilmour
Master of Commerce
Charles Heald
Postgraduate Diploma in Science
Michael Hodge
Bachelor of Property
David Hoskins
Bachelor of Nursing and Bachelor of Science
Victoria Oliver
Postgraduate Certificate in Health Sciences
James Turner
Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)
MASSEY UNIVERSITY
Benjamin Munro
Master of Science
Ian Rollerson
Graduate Diploma in Business Studies
Suzanne Beuker
Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY
Luc Rodwell
Bachelor of Agricultural Science
Nathan Darling
Bachelor of Agriculture
Edwin Haycock
Bachelor of Viticulture and Oenology
Stuart Marr
Bachelor of Commerce (Agriculture)
Geoffrey Beaumont Bachelor of Commerce (Valuation and Property Management)
UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO
Anjena Singh Bachelor of Science
Brenton Thompson Bachelor of Science
Benjamin Knowles Bachelor of Science
Lucy Travis Bachelor of Arts
Andrew Wee
Bachelor of Commerce
Megan Cowley Bachelor of Radiation Therapy
TWO OF NZ’S BRIGHTEST STUDENTS
Two students – Hugo Brown (2015 graduate) and Felicity Whale (2016 Deputy Head Girl) – managed to pass 14 New Zealand Scholarship exams between them, four of which were endorsed ’outstanding’.
To put this into perspective, only 3% of students who sit the exams pass and .3% manage to achieve an outstanding endorsement. For the duo to accumulate 14 passes and four outstanding endorsements between them is a rare and impressive feat.
They are two of New Zealand’s brightest students.
2015 ACADEMIC RESULTS
• NCEA Level 1 – St Paul’s 96%, NZ pass rate 74%
• NCEA Level 2 – St Paul’s 96%, NZ pass rate 76%
NCEA Level 3 – St Paul’s 93%, NZ pass rate 63%
• University Entrance – St Paul’s 81%, NZ pass rate 49%
• Cambridge International – IGCSE (Year 11) 97% and AS (Year 12) 100%
• New Zealand Scholarship – 47 scholarships, 8 outstanding. Top school in Waikato/BOP.
Hugo finished NCEA Level 2 and 3 along with three other NZ Scholarships the year prior while in Year 12 – he could have finished school a year early but instead decided to pick up eight more scholarship exams in 2015.
After 30 gruelling hours of exams, Hugo passed all eight exams, was awarded three outstanding endorsements and placed second in New Zealand in Earth and Space Science. This placed him among the top nine students in New Zealand for which he received a Premier Scholarship Award from Prime Education Minister John Key and Minister Hekia Parata.
Felicity also sat 30 hours of exams across
both NCEA and NZ Scholarship. She passed four scholarship exams and was awarded one outstanding endorsement. She was also awarded NCEA Level 2 endorsed with excellence, achieving more than double the required credits needed.
The 17-year-old’s achievements place her as one of the top Year 12 students in New Zealand 2015 and the one to watch as she approaches the end of her secondary school career in 2016.
St Paul’s students achieved a total of 47 New Zealand Scholarship passes and nine outstanding endorsements in 2015.
KAREN SIMPSON
TERTIARY SCHOLARSHIPS RECEIVED
• University of Auckland $50k – Hugo Brown, Josie Butcher, Bethany Langton
• Russell McVeagh Scholarship $15k – Josie Butcher
• University of Waikato Sir Edmund Hillary $50k – Zoe Lapwood, Jonathan Mayer
• University of Otago Academic Excellence $45k – Bethany Langton, Josie Butcher, Jack Davies, Lara Wilon, Nonthiwat Seehamart
• Lincoln University Rugby full fee –Gordon Fullerton
• Lincoln University Hockey full fee –Declan Keaney
• University Agricultural Leadership $15k – Aubrey Fish Massey
Lincoln University Global Challenge $6k – McKenzie Lunt
• University of Otago Leaders of Tomorrow $6k - Brianna O’Donoghue, Simon Morbey
University of Waikato ViceChancellor’s Academic Excellence $5k – Christopher Swanson
• University of Waikato Engineering Admission Fees $5k – Reed Fisher, Natasha Peiris, Michael Torrance
• Victoria University Academic Excellence $5k – Jack Schicker, Amy Tombleson
• University of Canterbury EnGenius $3k – Robert Simmons
Photo courtesy of Rebekah Parsons-King, Fairfax Media
NEW ZEALAND NETBALL SELECTION
Grace Watson (Year 11) has been selected for the 2016 New Zealand secondary schools netball team as one of 12 players who will be coached by former Silver Fern, Julie Seymour.
For selection, Grace attended a three day camp consisting of fitness testing, high performance seminars by Netball New Zealand and game play.
“The process was intimidating to start with, however the girls were all really nice,” Grace said. “I felt that getting a trial was a big enough feat and anything else that came with it was a bonus.”
In May she will compete in the International Schoolgirls Netball Challenge in Auckland against the Aotearoa Maori secondary schools netball team that fellow St Paul’s student Kate Littlejohn (Year 12) is a member of.
Grace is looking forward to working with new coaches and team members, a challenge that will improve her skills on the courts.
MINISTOCK RACER WINS MULTIPLE TITLES
Aaron Humble (Year 12) has only been racing for the past three seasons but he has already made his mark on the ministock racetrack. Recently he won the Waikato, Christchurch, Wellington and Whanganui championships. He also placed second in Gisborne and at the Future of Speedway event in Huntly.
One of the best parts about racing for Aaron is the bonds he forms with other drivers. He says there is rivalry on the track but afterwards they all have a laugh about it.
His family are all stockcar enthusiasts: “Dad used to race in the mini sprint class, he was third in New Zealand for that. I guess it’s just in the blood.”
This is his last year competing in the ministock class. Aaron will take a couple of years off before moving on to the higher classes.
ROWERS REAP REWARDS AT MAADI CUP
St Paul’s rowers secured an outstanding eight A-finals and two B-finals at the Aon Maadi Cup in Twizzle, finishing the competition with one gold medal, two silver medals and a 14th place ranking of the 120 schools that competed.
Tom Seuren (Year 11) and Max Dobbe (Year 11) won silver in the U15 double sculls and gold in the boys’ novice U18 double sculls just an hour later.
The novice girls’ U18 coxed four – Georgia Dobbe (Year 12), Olivia Warlow (Year 12), Grace Watson (Year 11), Alice Emeny (Year 11) and cox Victoria Chanwai (Year 11) – won silver in a down-to-thewire race.
St Paul’s Head Coach of Rowing Andy Hadcroft said the crew had a slow start and were fourth at the 1000m but they produced a trademark barnstorming finish to overhaul Howick in the last few strokes and take out the silver.
Following the regatta, Josh Balme (Year 13) was selected to trial for New Zealand junior rowing.
OLIVER PARK
AOTEAROA MAORI NETBALL SELECTION
Kate Littlejohn (Year 12) has been selected for the Aotearoa Maori secondary schools netball team that will compete in the 2016 International Schoolgirls Netball Challenge in May.
Kate, who has been playing netball since she was eight years old, was selected for the team after a two-day trial consisting of skill sessions and trial games. She says the whole process was intense to go through but at the same time very enjoyable.
“It was a real learning curve in terms of how to trial well and I was able to take away some new skills,” Kate said. “It’s a huge privilege to be selected. I am really looking forward to tournament and playing with new team mates.”
The team will have one training camp before competing in the upcoming Auckland-based tournament that will feature teams from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, South Africa and the Pacific nations.
CHORAL TALENT SING TO SUCCESS
Katie Trigg (Year 13), Aidan Phillips (Year 12) and Geordie Migo (Year 13), competed at New Zealand ARIA, a classical singing competition for secondary and tertiary students, at the end of 2015.
All three performers walked away with notable placings including a first place win for Katie and Aidan’s duet; second in the Mike Stiner Interior Design Junior Award and two over16 and under-21 classes for Katie; three highly commended placings in the under-18 age group for Geordie; and an overall first and third place for Aidan in the under-18 and under-21 age groups respectively.
The competition formed part of a busy year for both Katie and Aidan who are members of the New Zealand Secondary Schools Choir. The choir has been holding a series of workshops over the past year in preparation for an international tour to Canada, in July, where the choir will perform at the International Choral Kathaumixw.
ST PAUL’S SWIMMERS NAMED WAIKATO CHAMPIONS
St Paul’s swimmers dominated the Waikato secondary schools swimming championships. The team were named ’overall points champions’ of the regional event, beating 28 other schools.
The boys’ squad achieved 670 points placing them second in the boys’ division while the girls’ squad achieved 233 points which placed them sixth in the girls’ division. The combined squad scores secured first place for St Paul’s with 903 points; 107 points ahead of second place.
“It was an exhausting day of heats, finals and timed finals but the squad held its nerve and composure right to the end,” said St Paul’s Head of Swimming, Roger Bell.
St Paul’s won an exceptional seven gold, seven silver and thirteen bronze.
Thomas Griffin (Year 10) broke his own junior boys’ 200m individual medley record and the junior boys’ 200m freestyle while Ben Littlejohn (Year 9) broke the junior boys’ 50m butterfly.
OLIVER PARK
CHAMPIONING GIRLS AT ST PAUL’S
This is the first in a series of stories where past staff and students reflect on their time at St Paul’s as we start preparing for the school’s 60th anniversary celebration in 2019.
Dr Kay Etheredge (past staff 1988-2002) made a significant contribution to St Paul’s Collegiate School during her 15 year tenure, through her engaging teaching style and in her work to increase the number of girls who attended St Paul’s.
Kay says that during her 15 years at St Paul’s there was an incredible amount of change and she was in a fortunate position to be able to contribute.
One area of change was the rapid increase in girls at the school. In 1990 Kay was appointed housemaster of the ’Girls’ House’ which took Year 12 and 13 day students, and was later named Harington House, after the late Pamela Harington.
Two years later, Kay was influential in the establishment of girls’ boarding and contributed to the design of the new boarding house for girls. She fondly recalls a lot of “heated debate” around the layout of the accommodation. “I pushed really hard for single rooms. I was adamant girls of years 12 and 13 needed their own room.”
In 1992, Kay moved on site with husband Paul to become housemaster of Harington boarding and day house where they lived for 5 years. The boarding house started with 10 boarders and the following year this increased to 19. Another wing was built to accommodate the girls and each year as the numbers continued to increase Kay pushed to get more space.
As head of Biology Kay was involved in the development of the new science block which opened in 1999.
“That was a fabulous opportunity because we had input into the architecture of that building and I was able to draw on my
experience in other labs. The glasshouse was an invaluable resource for Year 13 work.”
Kay had a way about teaching that made her adored and a favourite with her students. One was US-based plastic surgeon and Old Collegian, Simon Talbot (Hamilton 1990-1994).
“My fondest memories of Kay are the evenings when she would stay late in her classroom surrounded by plants, microscopes, and various field cricket dissection specimens,” Simon recalls.
“She was always bursting to impart more knowledge, and would speak fast so as not to waste a minute of time that could be spent usefully in this endeavour. Her handwriting would often tail off into a line as there was no need for unnecessary neatness when trying to convey as much information as possible.”
“Kay would teach more than just knowledge. She focused on systems and method, ways to think, and minutiae that I still use – and now teach – 20 years later.”
Kay’s teaching philosophy was based around respect for the individual and never underestimating the intellectual ability of each and every student.
“A student can sit there for 2-3 months and not make much progress then suddenly you can get them to switch and they can start to shine and develop wonderful skills.”
Raised in the South Island, Kay attended Canterbury University and taught at Rangi Ruru Girls’ School in Christchurch and Hamilton’s Fairfield College. She also taught part-time for 12 years at the Waikato Technical Institute (now Wintec). She did her PHD at Waikato University in the early 1980s. Today, she is enjoying retirement with husband Paul at their home in Te Pahu on the slopes of Mt Pirongia.
MONICA HOLT AND MICHELLE SMITH
OPENING OF HARINGTON BOARDING HOUSE 1992 - (L-R) MRS SHIRLEY WILLIAMS (HOUSE TUTOR), THE LATE MRS PAMELA HARINGTON, DR KAY ETHEREDGE (HOUSEMASTER), MR JERRY RICKMAN (BOARD CHAIRPERSON), THE REVEREND DON SMITH (CHAPLAIN), MR STEVE COLE (HEADMASTER)
NAMING OF HARINGTON HOUSE 1991 – (L-R)
THE LATE MRS PAMELA HARINGTON, DR KAY ETHEREDGE AND CHERIE URLICH (HEAD OF HOUSE) WITH PLAQUE OF HARINGTON FAMILY CREST
KURT SET TO KICK GOALS AT PREMIERSHIP LEVEL
On the rise as a New Zealand basketball player, Kurt Heatherley (Sargood 2008 – 10) certainly didn’t think he would end up playing Aussie rules football for the Hawthorn Football Club (the Hawkes).
He was “shooting hoops” in the St Paul’s gym when the School’s Director of Extracurricular Activities Peter Gilbert approached him to say the club was interested in having him on board.
“When I first got picked I didn’t even know what AFL was,” Kurt admits. “I was playing basketball for the New Zealand under-17 team and was fortunate enough that they saw me play in Tasmania against Australia. A few months later they got hold of St Paul’s and Mr Gilbert passed on the message.”
He thought it was a prank and that one of the boys in his boarding house, Sargood House, was pulling his leg. It wasn’t a prank, the Hawkes were serious. Kurt’s parents – Julie and Laurie –received a phone call that resulted in the president of the club flying over to speak with Kurt face-to-face.
“He asked me if I wanted to come over and give it a crack. I was tossing up between basketball and rugby at the time
but thought it was a great opportunity and one I couldn’t pass up.”
So he jetted off to Melbourne and “has loved every moment of it and hasn’t looked back.”
Kurt has moved up the ranks quickly for someone who only started playing the game five years ago when arriving on Aussie soil. He started off as an international rookie but last year “got upgraded to the senior list” meaning he can now play for the club’s top team.
Kurt has been playing VFL for the past three years which is “sort of like NPC Rugby in New Zealand” but he is now ready to step up to the big league.
“I’ve been going through my vision every week after I play and trying to learn as much as I can. I’ve just been training hard and trying to get up into the top team.”
“It’s a superstar team so it is pretty hard to break into. Hopefully this year I can crack it.”
If he does, he will be launching his career with one of Australia’s most successful AFL teams, the Hawkes, who have won the past three Premierships.
“It’s pretty hard winning one Premiership let alone three in a row. I think only a couple of teams have ever done that before.”
KAREN
SIMPSON
$54K RAISED FOR DANIEL VETTORI SCHOLARSHIP FUND
On Friday 26 February, we welcomed two very familiar and successful Old Collegians – Daniel Vettori and Jeremy Wells – back to St Paul’s for a fundraising event hosted by St Paul’s Foundation.
While the event was to honour and celebrate Daniel’s very successful cricketing career, we were so grateful that Jeremy, an accomplished broadcaster agreed to play an important role in this celebration as MC and interviewer. Jeremy and Daniel were at St Paul’s together and have remained very good friends since.
The first part of the evening was to recognise the contribution Dan had made to St Paul’s through his cricketing success. The viewing platform overlooking St Paul’s cricket oval has been named the Vettori Gallery in his honour and this space was unveiled by Dan in front of guests attending the event.
Following the unveiling, close to 150 people filled St Paul’s dining room, which had been transformed into an elegant cricket commentary box at Seddon Park. Expertly interviewed by Jeremy, guests were treated to honest and private thoughts of
the highs and lows of one of New Zealand’s greatest cricketers.
The second purpose of the evening was to fundraise for a very special cause – to provide scholarships for worthy teenagers. A new scholarship fund was announced on the night, the Daniel Vettori Scholarship Fund. This fund will ensure that a family’s household income does not stop a worthy and talented young teenager from having the opportunity to learn at St Paul’s. The scholarship is designed to make a real difference to the lives of a number of young men and women.
The event was undoubtedly a success, raising $54,000 towards the scholarship fund through an auction of game shirts worn by and kindly donated by Dan and through the generosity of guests who pledged donations on the night. We are so grateful for the contribution made by supporters of this wonderful evening.
If you wish to make a contribution towards the Daniel Vettori Scholarship Fund, please contact the Foundation by phone on 07 957 8818 or by email foundation@stpauls.school.nz
JOHN JACKSON ST PAUL’S FOUNDATION CHAIR
WHESBY SCHOLARSHIP BRINGS GOOD FORTUNE
With a father committed to the church, dedicating his life to helping others, David Kidd (House 1972 – 1976) grew up in a household that was rich with love but not so rich with money.
Even today, chaplains sacrifice their earning potential to provide emotional and spiritual support to their local community.
A scholarship fund – the Whesby Fund – was established in 1969 by headmaster at the time, Mr Reginald Hornsby, to provide members of the clergy with the financial support needed for their child to receive an education at St Paul’s Collegiate School. It was first awarded in 1971.
Thanks to this Whesby Fund, David attended St Paul’s for the duration of his secondary school education, after which he moved on to Auckland University to study a conjoint law and commerce degree.
He now works as a senior partner for Linklaters in Hong Kong, an international finance and corporate law firm of 450 partners located in 17 counties.
“I HAVE A VERY STRONG VIEW THAT MY GOOD FORTUNE HAS IN PART BEEN ATTRIBUTABLE TO ST PAUL’S. I HAVE MANY VERY HAPPY MEMORIES OF WHAT I DID AT ST PAUL’S. I WAS VERY LUCKY TO LEAD A VERY FULL AND HAPPY LIFE,” DAVID SAID.
While at St Paul’s David was a strong debater, involved in cricket and rugby and says he learnt a great appreciation for music from music director of the time Mr Evan McCulloch.
Sadly, the scholarship fund at St Paul’s depleted considerably in 2013. The St Paul’s Board chair at the time, Phillip Morgan, sent out a desperate call for help.
We would love to find out more about St Paul’s Foundation’s Scholarship programme and how we could sponsor a student’s education through St Paul’s.
There was no question or doubt in David’s mind that he would donate: “I was in a position where I was able to give back to the school, so it was a no brainer.”
“It was a reflection of my gratitude that the school had got me to where I am today. I gave an amount that I estimated as the amount paid out to me while I was at St Paul’s.”
“I wanted to replenish the fund.”
Forty four students have attended St Paul’s under the Whesby Scholarship Fund since it was established in 1969.
GIFTING TO ST PAUL’S FOUNDATION
A donation made to St Paul’s Foundation towards the school’s scholarship fund is tax deductible. Below are examples of how tax effective giving over a period of 3 years can be managed, making full use of the 33.3% tax credit.
St Paul’s encourages all donors and supporters to seek independent professional advice on all matters relating to charitable taxation.
TOTAL DONATION TOTAL AFTER 33% TAX REBATE $30,000 $20,001 $20,000 $13,334 $10,000 $6,667 $5,000 $3,334
We will send you some information or make contact with you to discuss further.
DAVID KIDD (CENTRE) ENJOYS A CHAT WITH ROD CARR (LEFT) WHEN THEY WERE BOTH BACK TO VISIT THE SCHOOL AT A REUNION IN 2013
EVENTS CALENDAR 2016 EVENTS
JUNE
WEDNESDAY 15 –
SATURDAY 18
FIELDAYS
Visit us in the Main Pavilion (sites PD3 and PD5) and the Learning Hub, at Mystery Creek
JUNE
SATURDAY 11
50 YEARS OF RUGBY CELEBRATION
Join us to celebrate 50 years of rugby at St Paul’s by watching the school’s first XV vs Wesley College at 2.30pm followed by afternoon tea in the dining room. This game will broadcast on SkyTV.
RUGBY DRAW
1ST XV RUGBY TEAM HOME GAMES AT ST PAUL’S – 12PM (TBC)
Saturday 4 June St Paul’s vs Wanganui
Saturday 11 June St Paul’s vs Wesley
Saturday 9 July St Paul’s vs Francis Douglas
Saturday 13 August St Paul’s vs Lindisfarne Final game to be confirmed. All welcome.
JULY
FRIDAY 1
OPEN DAY AND SCHOOL TOURS
Come along and see the school in action. Register your interest online at www.stpauls.school.nz
AUGUST
FRIDAY 12
CELEBRATION OF MUSIC
Be prepared to be amazed by the depth of musical talent of St Paul’s students at this musical concert held in the Chapel.
JULY
FRIDAY 22 –SUNDAY 24
1ST XI HOCKEY - SOUTH ISLAND TOURNAMENT
JULY
SATURDAY 2 AND SUNDAY 3, TUESDAY 5 AND WEDNESDAY 6 JULY
OKLAHOMA MUSICAL PRODUCTION
Southwell School, Performing Arts Centre, Hamilton Tickets on sale June 1 stpauls.school.nz/tickets
JULY
TUESDAY 26
TERM 3 STARTS
SEPTEMBER
THURSDAY 1
CHRISTCHURCH
OLD COLLEGIANS’ MIX N MINGLE
Save the date. Time and location will be advised.
SEPTEMBER
FRIDAY 2
WELLINGTON
OLD COLLEGIANS’ MIX N MINGLE
Save the date. Time and location will be advised.
AUGUST
MONDAY 29
WINTER TOURNAMENT WEEK
JULY
SUNDAY 17
A documentary about Tihoi Venture School will feature on the Sunday programme, TV One at 7pm
SEPTEMBER
SATURDAY 3
OPEN DAY
Please meet at the Chapel by 1.45pm for registration. At 2pm, a welcome from the head boy and girl is followed by a short address from the Headmaster. Tours of the school begin at 2.30pm followed by afternoon tea in the dining room. All welcome.
SEPTEMBER
SATURDAY 11
TIHOI VENTURE SCHOOL OPEN DAY
A bus will leave St Paul’s at 8am travel to Tihoi and return to Hamilton by 4pm. Morning tea and lunch are provided. Bookings essential. Please RSVP to Kate Gibson
k.gibson@stpauls.school.nz or 07 957 8873
OCTOBER
TUESDAY 11
TERM 4 STARTS
OCTOBER FRIDAY 14 AND SATURDAY 15
GISBORNE A&P SHOW AND INFORMATION EVENING
UN D ER STAN DTH E
TIH O I EX P ERIENC E
S T ORIES A N D VIDE O S AT knowtihoi .co.nz
E X C L U S IVE T O ST PA U L’ S C OLLEGI AT E
SCHOOL, H A M I LT O N and located near Lake Taupo, this 18-week, back-to-basics programme, teaches 14 year- old boys life skills through living and working together. With four days spent in the classroom and three days in the outdoors involved in activities from kayaking, caving and rock climbing, the Tihoi experience is often described as ‘the making of my boy ’ .
Visit know tihoi.co.nz and learn about this unique time in our boys’ lives.
www.stpauls.school.nz
know tihoi co.nz
Introducing Fieldays Careers and Education Hub ®
Visit this exciting new space as it brings young people face to face with established agribusiness and education programmes in the rural sector.
Supported by NZ Young Farmers. Located on E Street, the Hub is dedicated to showcasing clear pathways for young people to create rewarding and successful careers within the industry. Visitors will be able to speak with career champions, take part in daily seminars from industry leaders and chill out and relax with friends. Visit fieldays.co.nz for more info.
