Friday, March 31, 2017

Principal's Comment

Kia ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College

On Wednesday we celebrated the one year anniversary of the opening of the Confucius Classroom at St Kevin's College. To mark the occasion, Regina and Cynthia held a special dumpling cooking lesson with our Year 10 Mandarin students.
It was a pleasure to be able to attend and share the experience with the students. It is not often that the results of our learning are so tangible and tasty! Thank you Cynthia and Regina and Year 10 for sharing your learning with me.
As we are the season of Lent, it is timely to consider our personal response to this time of preparation for Easter. During Lent, Christians traditionally collect donations for those who are less privileged. 
This year the students are working with Catholic aid agency Caritas to support projects around the world and locally. I would encourage you to consider contributing if you are able.

May God bless you
Paul Olsen, Principal

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

U16 Rugby Tour

Today our U16 Rugby team had the chance to test the waters in a pre-season game against the touring U16 side from St Edmunds College in Canberra.  Congratulations to coaches Craig Smith and Jason McCoy, and the boys for taking the win 19-5.

Thank you to Noelle Brew for taking some action shots out on the field.  CLICK HERE

Confucius Classroom Dumplings

 
It's been just over a year since we opened our Confucius Classroom and to celebrate a wonderful first year 10T rolled up their sleeves today and made Chinese dumplings!   The Mandarin Y10 class has been looking at culture and food this month and so it seemed the perfect opportunity to join Mr Olsen and take on a dumpling making challenge!   With fillings such as pork or prawn, plus a vegetarian chocolate option, the final results mark a very successful field trip to the Food Technology Room!  A big thank you to Ms Sun and Ms Yuan for organsing such a yummy activity!


Want to make Chinese dumplings?  CLICK HERE to watch a video on how you can make them at home and experiment with different fillings.



Top Art And Top Artists

What a week of creative achievement! We were super pleased to read that GypsyMae Harihona-Harrison's Level 3 Art folio has been selected for the annual NZQA Top Art Exhibition!  Her folio called 'The Creation' explores the abstract visualisation of the Maori creation story.  GypsyMae is one of only 5 students from Otago to have their work chosen and it will be shown as part of the Southern Tour, which will be exhibited in schools and galleries from Whanganui to Invercargill. The exhibition will be in Oamaru at Waitaki Girls from the 1-5 May
Read the full ODT story here: https://www.odt.co.nz/…/five-otago-pupils-deemed-top-artists

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Netball Fundraiser Keeping Us Warm

NETBALL FUNDRAISER

The St Kevin's Netball Club is selling polar fleece blankets as a fundraiser this year. They are blue, have St Kevin's College printed in red writing in the middle of the blanket and the seams are over locked. The blankets cost $49 each and are great to take away on trips, wrapping around you on a cold day etc.

We are fundraising for new balls and other netball equipment which will benefit all netball teams.

The blankets will be on sale in the office from Wednesday 29 March and you can pay for them by either cash or eftpos.

We thank you very much for supporting our fundraiser this year.

Fashion Design To Watch Out For

Some exciting news from one of our past pupils!  Textile Design & Manufacturing (Fabric Design) has been a well established course at the College for a number of years and Mrs Mellor's classes have a number of students who have gone on to study and success in this creative career path.  Thank you Di for sharing this with us and congratulations Kimberly on your beautiful designs.

"Kimberly (Ramsey) was a student who studied Fashion at SKC graduating 2012 and was awarded the Otago Polytechnic Scholarship to continue her studies. She now has her own website kimberlyolivia.com but has just graduated with first class honours in fashion design . This weekend gone she showed her honours collection on the runway at the ID Fashion Show at the railway platform in Dunedin and ended up with this photo of one of her garments in the ODT. SKC should be acknowledged for setting her on this pathway which has been a wonderful journey!" - Di Ramsey



Monday, March 27, 2017

Otago Wildlife Photography Exhibition

 
Congratulations to Y10 student Isaac Steel who brought home three prizes from the 2017 Otago Wildlife Photography Competition.  He received two Highly Commendeds in the Animal 14yrs and Under Section and was the category winner of the Plant 14yrs and Under Section with a piece he called 'End of Life'.  Isaac's photos are in the Otago Wildlife Photography Exhibition which runs until Sunday 23 July in the Special Exhibitions Gallery at the Otago Museum.




Mixed Touch Challenge

Our Mixed Touch team traveled to Christchurch over the weekend to vie for the South Island Secondary Schools Championship!  Horrendous conditions turned the playing field into a minefield of mud yet the team stayed determined and placed 8th overall.  Thank you to Richie Wilson who traveled with the team and also to supporters Nicole Dowling, and Barry and Jane McCone.  A special mention to Levi Emery who came along on both days of the competition to coach the players.

NZ Age Group Swimming Champs

There were some big swims at last weeks NZ Age Group Swimming Champs in Wellington.  Five students from the College traveled as members of the Oamaru Swim Club team and all had a great week in the pool.  Competing in the 12-13Yr Girls, Iessha Mansfield brought home 2 Bronze medals (100m and 50m Freestyle) and also came 4th in the 200m Freestyle and 5th in the 400m.  Penny Keeling competed in the same age bracket and place 6th in the 400m Individual Medley.  Tiana Mansfield competed in the 15Yr Girls and came 4th in the 100m Backstroke, as well as 5th in the 200m and 7th in the 50m Backstroke events.  In the 14Yr Boys 1500m Charlie Gilbert swam a personal best and Tandia Gooch has some strong swims in the tough 16-18Yrs group.  Well done everyone!

Friday, March 24, 2017

Principal's Comment

Kia ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College

Academic achievement was the Special Topic for last Wednesday's Board of Trustees meeting. I am pleased to report to our community that once again the College 2016 NCEA overall results have been outstanding. Both our boys and girls are achieving above the national average for our decile, which is very pleasing.

As we are a coeducational College, it is worth noting that girls achievement in NCEA is on average 10% better than boys nationally. It is important to understand this bias when looking at results as it is tempting to jump to the conclusion that boys are underachieving when in fact our boys are leading the region's boys especially in Level 3 attainment.

Our Heads of Faculties have undertaken detailed analysis of individual achievement and are developing action plans to continue to improve these already excellent results.
Last weekend representatives of our Leo Club supported local Lions with the 202J District Convention which was held at the College. It was my pleasure to be able to pipe the official party into the Auditorium and formally welcome them to the College.

May God bless you
Paul Olsen, Principal

Transition Map


Thursday, March 23, 2017

SKC SADD

The first SADD meeting for 2017 was held today.  Yvonne Gregory-Hunt is the SKC branch president and there is a large group of senior students alongside her!  SADD (Students Against Dangerous Driving) empowers young people to make safer and better choices on the road.

Vic Tamati's Message For Young Men

Today our Y11, 12 and 13 boys had the opportunity to listen to an important message from Vic Tamati, a long time champion of the 'It's Not OK' campaign. His journey out from the grips of a life-cycle of violence is honest and raw, but importantly gives the message that change is possible and that it's OK to ask for help.

Vic's visit to the College is one of the many programmes that are brought into SKC, so that we can impart on students the life skills they need as they grow into adulthood.

For more information please go to areyouok.org.nz

Cricket Delivery

There have been a couple of surprise visits to the College over the last couple of weeks....  Year 9 students Lachlan Brookes and Jack Cameron have both been recipients of an ANZ sponsored 'Dream Delivery' (Cricket) award.  They were nominated by family members and it was their commitment to hard work and training that saw them stand out as worthy of a surprise visit by representatives of the scheme who presented them each with a bag of cricket gear!  Lachlan and Jack are both part of the High Performance Sports programme at the College.  Well done boys!

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Results From Aoraki Athletics



A summary of the results from the Aoraki Athletics last week:
Dan Quennell 4th Javelin
Peleki Tangifolau 3rd Discus
Paea Fifita 2nd Shot Put
Harriet Heaphy 5th 800m
Gemma Dowling 1st High Jump
Grace Tohill 2nd Long Jump and 4th High jump and 4th Triple Jump
Ovini Saro 3rd Shot Put
Esafe Tokai 6th Shot Put
Jacob Taukamo 3rd Shot Put AWD
Jaimee Trainor 2nd Shot Put
Katarina Green 6th Long Jump
Rebecca Kinney 5th 800m
Max Yanzick 1st 3000m and 1st 1500m
Ben Mccarthy 4th 200m
Olive Coco Verkerk 2nd 3000m
Isaac Clunie 3rd Long Jump
Breidy Johnston 1st 200m and 1st 100m
Jasmine Emery 3rd 200m and 4th 100m
Adam Sew Hoy 3rd 400m
Laura Preston 1st 400m
Rebecca Whittet 3rd 400m
Roger Neri 3rd 400m
Ben McCarthy 4th 100m
Elisha Carter 1st Javelin
Dominic Flannery 2nd High Jump
Forrest Beer 3rd 800m

This brings the College total to .......
Seven 1st placings
Five 2nd placings
Ten 3rd placings (includes U15 Girls and U14 Boys)
Eleven 4th placings
The top 3 qualify for South Islands which means we have 18 students qualified. An amazing effort team! A big thank you to Mr Nyika, Mrs Sutton for traveling with the students and to all of the parents and families who came along to support.

Netball Grading Day And Uniforms

We are looking for any unused NETBALL DRESSES AND NETBALL UNIFORMS ... even really old ones!!

This year the Senior A and B teams are wearing the dresses, all other teams are in the blue top and skirt with the piping. We have a large number of girls playing who we need to get uniforms for. If you are not using yours we would appreciate handing them to someone else to be used OR if you have one of the current uniforms from the last couple of years that you would like to sell at a reasonable cost, please bring it to the Uniform Shop (open each Thursday at lunchtime).

Any old uniforms that are not currently being used we are boxing up and donating to schools or countries who will find them useful. Please drop them in to the school office.

OPEN DAY/GRADING DAY will be on Saturday 8th April and we are on duty! The first PLAYING day will be Sunday 30th April. We are also still on the hunt for TWO COACHES so if you are able to help then please get in touch.

ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT UNIFORMS, DUTY ON THE 8TH OR COACHING ... PLEASE CONTACT MRS FOWLER - rfowler@stkevins.school.nz



Friday, March 17, 2017

Principal's Comment

Kia ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College

Our message of Justice and Solidarity was reinforced twice this week from different but complementary perspectives. The first was at assembly and looked at issues around bullying and how we could create a culture that was intolerant of bullying. We worked from a commonly accepted definition that recognises four elements: bullying is deliberate, harmful, involves a power imbalance, and has an element of repetition. Both students and staff are committed to creating a safe environment for learning, knowing that it is OK to ask for help if anyone within our community is feeling they are being bullied.

Our second challenge was presented by two American  Dominican Sisters, Sr Margaret and Sr Sharon. They have been touring parishes the length of the country raising awareness of global issues including the rich country - poor country gap, equity issues and consequences of global warming. Their workshop focused students on local initiatives that would make a positive difference in the lives of others. I was pleased at the level of engagement and interaction shown by the students.

As we break for Anniversary Weekend, safe travel and happy St Patrick's Day. Also, please keep Nicola Ryan - Mr Ryan's wife - in your prayers as she recovers from surgery and the Wallis family as they mourn the passing of Ami's dad, Wal.

May God bless you
Paul Olsen, Principal

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Turning Towards Life

The recent Chapter Call of the Dominican Sisters Aotearoa, says ' We choose to be part of the turning towards life, a future we will not see but for which we sow seeds'

Today we were pleased to welcome Dominican Sisters Margaret Giliardi (from Amityville, New York) and Sharon Zayac (from Springfield, Illinois) who have been invited to New Zealand to facilitate a number of workshops and retreats around the country on human and eco justice.  Following a presentation on this globally concerning subject students broke off into small groups to talk about what they would want to say to our world leaders and how they expect to be represented on the world stage regarding this issue.  

CLICK HERE to view Anna Taylor's photos from today's workshop


Philosophy Club University Visit

Every Friday after school a group of students get together with Ms Walshe to discuss philosophical topics and think outside the box on a variety of subjects.  Today the Philosophy Club have traveled to Dunedin to attend a philosophy lecture at Otago University.  They will join the department professor for lunch before being given a guided tour around the university.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Chinese Porcelain

Yr10 Mandarin class took a creative step today as students took part in a cultural activity about Chinese porcelain.  They had a go at creating their own porcelain designs and I think you'd agree they did a great job!

Portobello Biology Trip

Level 3 Biology have just been down to Portobello to carry out their Investigation into the response of crabs to their environment. They spent 3 days hard at work counting, timing, recording, observing and much more. Staying 'overseas' on Quarantine Island is always a great part of the trip and it has its own challenges like relying on rain water for showers etc. We owe a big thanks to the parents who helped out by donating their time and vehicles (plus fuel) to our trip which helped to keep costs down. Also thanks to Matthew Harris who gave up his weekend to come along with a great group of students who worked really hard.

Matthew captured the scientific investigations - CLICK HERE

Medal Winning Swims

Y10 student Mannix Fraser has rested after some medal winning performances at the National Division II Age Group Champs, which were held in Rotorua recently.  Competing in the Boys 12/13yr age group Mannix picked up Gold in the 400m Freestyle, 200m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke and 200m Backstroke.  What a great result!

Tackling The Tekapo10

On Saturday a team of four Y10 students claimed second prize in the Tekapo10, a mountain bike race where teams (or individuals) have 10 hours to complete as many laps of the 7km course as possible. The circuit at the Lake Tekapo Regional Park had a range of track types and surfaces, making for an exciting ride. Congratulations to Joel Kunnethedan, Tim Jorgensen, Josh Bryant and Angus Reid and thanks to Mr Jorgensen for travelling with them. 




South Island Secondary School Rowing

 
Some great rowing results from the South Island Secondary Schools Rowing Regatta.  Well done to all of our athletes, but in particular congratulations to Logan Docherty for his Bronze medal in the U16 single!

A great weekend rowing, although a little damp, saw some good results with Hannah Cunningham getting 4th in the a final of the Girls U16 single. Max Smith made the B final of the hotly contested U17 Boys single. Then teaming up with Logan Docherty to win the B final in the U17 double, Logan then went on to win Bronze in the U16 single. The U17 Girls managed an improved 4th in the B final of the U17 quad - Georgia Oakes, Rylee Bell, Laura Preston, Sophie Brien and coxed by Molly Kay. Sophie and Georgia made the B final of the U16 double. Then the girls made the A final of the U17 eight.     Athol Smith


SKC Netball Club Meeting

St Kevin's Netball Club

There will be a netball meeting on Monday 20th March (Otago Anniversary Day) at 5.30 pm in the school staffroom. All parents of netball girls welcome to attend. 

 Apologies to Paula Brien at paula.brien@xtra.co.nz

Science Under Investigation

How many drops of water can fit on a coin?  9C have been using the scientific method to investigate and communicate ideas in Mrs Sutton's class.

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Blackboard Tuesday

Blackboard Tuesday came inside today and the Music Suite became a great place to enjoy the musical talents of our students.  Thanks Mrs Foster for opening this space and encouraging music and performing within our school!

(Thanks too to Clark Ewing for these great photos - check out the Facebook page for more)