AFS Host Families

Following the successful stay of AFS students Cecilie Muller and Facundo Briones, both of whom showed their skill on the rugby field, we are delighted to be hosting two more senior boys for the 2012 rugby season.

Lucas is 17years old and hails from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Julio is 16years old and lives in the XV Region in Chile. Both of the boys are friendly, outgoing and have good English. They are good students and are very keen sportsmen, looking to our Rugby World Cup win to gain some first hand experience on the field in New Zealand. Whilst they come from different countries they both share the same goal of coming to St Kevin's College and involving themselves in the culture of our College.

If any of our College families are interested in hosting one of the boys during their stay their full profiles are available at the School Office or you may email Mr Olsen directly at the College:

polsen@stkevins.school.nz

Duke of Edinburgh Explorations

It was a fantastic weekend for exploring outdoors and two groups of students were fortunate to be able to appreciate the rugged wilderness of Mt Cone during the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh tramping expedition to Chinamans Hut. Our thanks to Mr Dixon for co-ordinating the trips and Mr Brand and Mr Farrell also.

Operation Sparrowhawk

Good luck to Year 9 student Jessica Galbraith who has been selected as one of ten team members from the 26 Squadron of the Air Training Corps, Oamaru to take part in Operation Sparrowhawk.

This competition involves all of the Cadet Force Corps from around the South Island competing in a range of activities and will be held over the coming weekend.

Video Conference Study

An exciting opportunity is on offer for students to study particular subjects with DunedinNet, a video conferencing network. Numbers are strictly limited and so any students wishing to secure a place are encouraged to do so before the end of the term. Please contact the appropriate Year Level Dean.

Subjects on offer for 2012 are:

Level 1 - Te Reo Maori

Level 2 - Media Studies, Classics, Digital Tech & Electronics

Level 3 - Digital Tech, Photography, Design

Year10 Agriculture Trip

As part of their Year 10 course Mrs McLennan and her agriculture class took a field trip to a local farming business where they saw aspects of pork and dairy production systems in action.

As always the College is grateful to the many local business who take time out of their busy schedules to speak with students.

Special Character - Orientation Day

Orientation Day for the Year 9 students of 2012 was held on Monday and began with a liturgy. Students, parents and caregivers gathered in the Chapel and were welcomed by Mr Olsen. We looked at the importance of unwrapping our individual gifts and talents. Green candles were lit as a symbol of growth within our College of Special Character.

World Champion Triathlon Team

The St Kevin's College Community has another world class athlete in its midst! Congratulations to Mr Andy Collins who qualified for the New Zealand World Championship Triathlon Team after competing in Sunday's Auckland ITU World Cup Triathlon event. Mr Collins stormed home in 2h 10m 38s, just two minutes behind former Olympic champion Hamish Carter. An impressive performance on any stage! The ITU World Championship Triathlon Series will be held in Auckland during October next year.

Sporting Equipment Donation

The College is grateful for the generous donation from MCM Contracting of $1000 worth of lunchtime sports equipment. A wide range of items have been ordered and we are eagerly awaiting delivery.

Basketballs, rugby balls, netball, soccer balls, tennis racquets and a table tennis table and equipment will be made available for students to use and enjoy during lunchtime breaks.

White Ribbon Day

White Ribbon Day is on Friday 25 November and last week a group of junior student joined the riders and their bikes during a cup-of-tea stop off in Oamaru. White Ribbon Day is the international day when people wear a white ribbon to show that they do not condone violence towards women. It celebrates the many men willing to show leadership and commitment to promoting safe and healthy relationships within families (photo courtesy of the Oamaru Mail)

Australian Rugby Tour Meeting

AUSTRALIAN RUGBY TOUR MEETING...

A meeting is to be held for all parents and boys, who are involved with travelling to Australia in April 2012 on the Rugby Tour. This will be on Friday 9th Dec in the Auditorium at the conclusion of Junior Prize-Giving. It is important that if you or your son is travelling to Australia that you attend this meeting.

All tour info can be found on skcrugby2012.blogspot.com - please check this for all recent information. If you have any questions please contact Paddy Brand pbrand@stkevins.school.nz

Orari River Trip

Last weekend several new kayakers had their first adventure on white water. On Saturday, Kazeer Reriti-Lanauze joined the Central Otago Club on their annual "Shotty Weekend" spending a full day on the middle and Upper shotover canyons. By the end of the day his eyes were bigger than the river's many waves! On Sunday a group of students ventured down the Orari River near Geraldine. They all came away with huge grins and a desire to do it all again next weekend. Thanks to the instructors and helpers that came along to make both trips so successful - Mr and Mrs Haig, Mr Brand, Mr Olsen, Courtney Kerin and Anna Eade.

Firewood For Sale

FIREWOOD FOR SALE!

Blue Gum, split and ready to be seasoned for next winter

$200 for a generous caged trailer load

delivered within Oamaru town boundary

Phone Justin Fowler - 027 426 5370

for orders and enquiries

Signs of Summer

Filling the College swimming pool is a sure sign that Summer is on the way and today was the day many have been waiting for. Caretaker, Mr Alan Grant, was more than happy to oblige!

Tekapo Throw Down

A bit of light relief in between the study! A forecast of brilliant sunshine was on order when a group of students headed away for a day of kayaking at the Tekapo Throw Down, under the watchful eye of Mr and Mrs Haig.

NCEA Art Folios

With the start of NCEA exams already here, our senior Art students have spent time in the last few weeks compiling their Art Folios which are a major component of the assessed units and have been carefully packed and sent away. We are excited to share images of some of the Yr13 panels with you.

Eftpos Facilities

Eftpos Facilities are now available at the School Office

(credit cards excluded)

This also includes the College Uniform Shop

open each Thursday 12.30-1.30pm

Returning English Books

LIBRARY BOOKS - Is your book overdue? Do you wanna avoid a fine? If you answered YES to both of these questions, then please return your books to the library immediately!

ENGLISH TEXT BOOKS - Could all SENIOR STUDENTS return their novels and plays to the library immediately after their NCEA English examinations

The St Kevin's Family

As our Senior Students head into the end of year exams we take this opportunity to thank the many parents and caregivers who have been such an active part of the St Kevin's Family. As a College we have a long standing history of generations of families coming through St Kevin's and some of our Yr13's are the last of many siblings to be educated here. We mention the Waters, Lill, Whitham, Meehan, Rapson, Sturkenboom and Daly families as they come to the end of their direct association with St Kevin's College for a time. Thank you for entrusting us with the education of your young people.

Junior Performance Unit Perfection

Weeks of practicing ended on Friday with the Junior Performance Unit in the College Gymnasium. It was a great afternoon and all of the classes worked very hard, turning out some polished performances. Thank you to the senior student mentors, our judges for the day (Head Students Rachel Blakely and William Plunkett, Mel Lewis and Kilifi Fangapo) and all of the friends and family who came to support the students.

Congratulations to our Year Level Winners:

Y9 Aerobics - 9C

Y9 Haka - 9K

Y10 Aerobics - 10S

Y10 Haka - 10C

First Rowing Regatta

The first regatta for the season was held at Twizel and St Kevin's College was well represented in the Oamaru Rowing Club squad with some old and new combinations taking to the water. During the Saturday heats the senior girls rowed well throughout the day with all of the crews placing in their various events. Commitments to Graduation and Senior Prizegiving saw them return to Oamaru before rowing in any of the finals, but congratulations to Eilee Robinson, Johannah Kearney, Caitlin Kearney, Loren Haggerty on all of the heat placings.

Our Junior Rowers had excellent weekend. Hamish Nimmo place 1st in the U17 Single and then paired up with Kieran Ryan to come 3rd in the U16 Double. Christopher Kearney, Hamish Moynihan and Sophie Moynihan joined them to come 4th in the U16 Quad.

A great start to the season - Well done!

Committe for Melbourne Cup

The College would like to say a big thank-you to this hardworking committee that organised the fundraiser on Melbourne Cup Day. Right to Left
Mandy Farrell, Bronwyn Hannigan, Judy Robertson, Leanne Kingan, Sally-Ann Donnelly, Anne Marie Forgie, Michelle Sintmaartensdyk also majors sponsors Fat Sally's, Portside, Karyn Reid Hair Design and Network Waitaki. Their innovative ideas made for a wonderful event that was enjoyed by all who attended.

Melbourne Cup

It was a day for bringing out the hats, fascinators and high heels to celebrate Oamaru's version of Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day. The SKC Home & School in conjunction with Sally-Ann Donnelly from Portside Restaurant, held a fun-filled fundraiser to raise money for sporting codes at St Kevin's College. The excitement of the race was followed by an auction of tremendous prizes including luxury 5-star accommodation in Queenstown, wine signed by John Key, jewelery and a hunting trip with Kees Meuws. A fantastic day was had by all who attended. Don't forget to mark this date in your diary for next year. Approximately $6,000 was raised.

Graduation and Senior Prizegiving

The highlight of Graduation Weekend is of course the Graduation and Senior Prizegiving Ceremony and this year proved no exception with the Auditorium packed full of friends, family and invited guests.

Congratulations to all of our Yr13 Graduating students and our Senior Sporting, Cultural and Academic winners for 2011. In particular, Mr Olsen was delighted to award Kezia Prestidge Dux of St Kevin's College and Rachel Blakely Proxime Accessit to the Dux.

Special acknowledgement is also made of the wonderful contribution given to the College this year by Head Students William Plunkett and Rachel Blakely. Well done.

A full list of all Senior Prizegiving winners is available through the College website.

Graduation Mass

Our Graduation and Senior Prizegiving day started with the 2011 Graduation Mass where we celebrated the St Kevin's journey of our Yr13 Graduating students. Our thanks to Father Wayne who was our celebrant for the morning and also to Mrs Leanne Brookes and the St Joseph Dominican Choir who joined us for this very special day.

Graduation Dinner Celebrations

The Annual Graduation Dinner was held at the Kingsgate Hotel and it was wonderful to see so many friends and family gathering to celebrate with our Yr13 Graduating students ahead of the Graduation and Prizegiving Ceremony the following day. Our sincere thanks to guest speaker for the evening Miss Fabia Fox - a past pupil and former Head Girl of the College. Students were inspired by her presentation about the reality of life after school.

Hostel High Tea Celebrations

Last week the Hostel gathered together with staff and guests and celebrated the Hostel High Tea and Prize Giving. This was a formal tea to mark the end of the year and to farewell the Year 13 students. It was also an opportunity to recognise the achievements of some of our senior students.

Rachel Blakely was awarded the academic prize, Megan Mason was named sportsperson of the year, Sean Hand won the cultural award and William Plunkett was awarded the service award.

Recent Sports Celebrations

Both the Boys Rugby 1st XV and the Snr A & B Netball Team have had their yearly celebratory dinners recently. 1st XV Boys were presented with caps for their seasons efforts and Netball Girls with Scarves. Both codes have set criteria to achieve these accolades.

Well Done to those students who have received caps and scarves.

Aoraki Sports Awards

A fantastic night was had by all at the Aoraki Sports Awards in Timaru on Tuesday Evening. The event hosted 400 students and supporters and our 14 finalists accompanied by Parents & Staff were treated to a night of Excellence in the Sporting Field. The calibre of finalists was awesome and the winners achievements were amazing to say the least.

Our St Kevin's Winners were:

Albert Hailes - Tennis

Stacey Kerin - Trampoline

Micayla Brenssell - Rodeo

Holly Edmonston - Cycling

Zayne Agate - Motorcycle Road Racing

As well as the accolades given to our winners St Kevin's College proudly acknowledge our 13 students who gained a New Zealand Honours Award: Holly Edmondston, Lucy Fauth, Loren Haggerty, Katherine Hope, Caitlin Kearney, Johannah Kearney, Stacey Kerin, Sophie Moynihan, Bethany Robertson, Eilee Robinson, Isobel Ryan and Georgia Tangney.

Well Done to you all, St Kevin's College is very proud of your achievements.