Principal's Comment

Kia ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College

Congratulations to our rowers for a successful Maadi campaign and to all of those who participated in and supported the Southern Catholic Secondary Schools Sports Exchange held in Gore last weekend end. Together these sporting events mark the transition from the summer sports into the first trials for the winter codes. These events have been mammoth undertakings. I would like to acknowledge the efforts of Sandra Kitto, our dedicated sports coordinator, for managing this event. The College came a very close second on a countback, after initially being announced as the winner.

Thank you to those who were inconvenienced by the traffic detours in place this week as the fencing of the main field and rear paddocks have been completed. Thank you to the project construction team, the finished product enhances the area and increases the level of safety for both our sports people and equestrian riders.

Finally, we have a mailout being posted today with a number of key documents that require caregiver attention. They include:

1. A summary of the term's Attitude to Learning for each student. 
2. The Term 1 edition of the Redcastle Roundup and the Redcastle Reminders for next term. 
3. Nomination forms for the Board of Trustees election. 

Can I also ask caregivers to check their school accounts to ensure that bill payments are up to date.

May God bless you
Paul Olsen, Principal

Upcycling

Sometimes an old idea is still a good one!  In a bit of Art Room upcycling some of the old curtains have been made into effective storage systems for students' art in the Senior Art Room.  A big thank you to Art Technician Rose Watt for making these for us!

Ag In Action

The Ag/Hort department has had a busy term that has included a number of EOTC experiences. Theses have included V Path courses, the Get Ahead careers day, a Year 13 Ag trip to St Kevin's family farms, a Teen Ag skills day at WBHS and volunteering at the Totara Estate Victorian farm day. We thank the parents and wider community members for the time and expertise they shared. Our students are lucky to have rich contexts to learn from. 

Home & School Quiz Night

HOME & SCHOOL QUIZ NIGHT

Heaps of fun with lots of great raffles up for grabs!

MONDAY 2 MAY - 7.00PM START

Northstar Restaurant

$30.00 per team (up to 6)

Register your team by 28 April

with Dianne - 027 303 2067

or Mandy - 027 381 4436

(if you would like to donate a raffle prize you can drop it into the school office or get in touch with Dianne)

LA Bound

Riley Chandler has been a busy wee dancer!  She has been taking dance tuition with Dean McKeras (Dance New Zealand Made) which has resulted in an opportunity to travel with a group of students from the North Island to Los Angeles in July 2017.  The two week tour will see her perform in front of an international audience on stage at a Disneyland Resort Park and on the infamous Hollywood Boulevard.  She will attend workshops, classes and seminars with industry experts at the International Dance Academy and the Edge Performing Arts Centre, renowned as the finest professional training facility for commercial dance.   This is an amazing opportunity for the young Kevinian dancer and will surly facilitate her drive to forge a career in this challenging and competitive field.  Congratulations Riley!

Visiting Celebrant

At our weekly College Mass on Friday we were delighted to be joined by Father Gerard Aynsley.  He is an Old Boy of St Kevin's and is the Vicar General of Catholic Education in the Dunedin Diocese.

How Many Art Forms In One Project

 

Art should have feeling and Mrs Plunkett's Y9 Art Class put plenty of feeling into these great sculptures. They were given the challenge of making a Maori cloak for a model of someone in their family for whom they held mana. As a class they made flax paper before creating their designs and using a wooden printing block to leave the final impression. What a great way to use so many art forms in one project!

South Island Secondary Schools Sunburst Sailing

Samuel Patterson (Y9), Josh Bryant (Y9) and Ryan Woods (Y10) spent last week sailing on the Otago Harbour at the South Island Secondary Schools Sunburst Sailing Competition.  They train with the North Otago Powerboat and Sailing Club but took up the challenge to compete against 20 other yachts in this exciting competition.  The weather kept them on their toes with Tuesday being called off after only one race due to lack of wind and Wednesday throwing 30 knot gusts at them.  However, a great week!  Josh and his partner from WBHS came 7th overall and Sam and Ryan came 11th overall and 4th in the non-spinnaker class.  Much appreciation and thanks to their coach Kevin Murdoch and manager Linda Wilson.

Principal's Comment

Kia ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College

As we move into the final weeks of term, staff have been finishing of the Year 9 and 10 Technology, Arts and Language rotations. Our objective with this these courses is to engage students in meaningful learning. I am pleased to see the positive student feedback being generated from these courses.

During the week the College has been eagerly following the progress of our students at the Maadi Cup being held at Lake Ruataniwha. The races are able to be live streamed from this website. All the best to those who have won had earned places in the finals.

The final Attitude to Learning report for the term is available today. Feel free to talk to Deans or email them if there are any issues that you are concerned about.

Finally this weekend, students head down to St Peter's College in Gore for the annual Catholic Secondary School Sports gathering. If you are attending, please make sure that the permission forms are filled out on-line or handed in to staff before you leave. This fixture is an opportunity for the winter sports codes to have a preseason trial with the usual healthy sense of competition that this fixture brings. If you are able to join us at this event, your support would be appreciated.

May God bless you
Paul Olsen, Principal

Y9 And Y10 Rotation Change

Year 9 and Year 10 students have their rotation change on Monday 11 April:
9T will change to Art, Computers and Mandarin
9K will change to Art, Graphics and Maori
9C will change to Drama, Material Technology and Communications
9S will change to Music, Food Technology and Information Literacy
10T will change to Art and Computers
10K will change to Media and Graphics
10C will change to Drama and Material Technology
10S will change to Music and Food Technology

A Volley Good Time

Four teams took to the courts, only one could be victorious!  The Gym was full to bursting yesterday with a fierce inter-house volleyball competition on the go, and bragging rights up for grabs.  Clancy and Treacy went up against each other in the final, with the green team from Clancy taking the win 20-8.  Magee and Whyte battled it out in a 3 v 4 playoff, Magee winning the game 30-20.  Well done and thanks to all of the students who took part and/or supported their Houses.  Final placings are:

1st - Clancy

2nd - Treacy

3rd - Magee

4th - Whyte

Fundraising Thursday

 

Today's mufti day was in support of St John's annual appeal with Georgia Vickers and Caleb Jopson leading the charge handing out green balloons.  They were joined at lunchtime by our local ambulance staff to help raise awareness of the important service they provide to our community.  

Outside the Food Technology room SADD students ran a sausage sizzle to fundraise for the upcoming South Island SADD Conference which will be held at St Bede's in Christchurch.  Sean O'Brien, Yvonne Gregory-Hunt, Hayley Freeman, Carena Hughes and Rachel Richardson will travel up at the end of the month with over $215 being raised today towards the trip.

Straight As An Arrow

Our College archery equipment will have it's first competition outing tomorrow with a friendly interschool against Mountain View in Timaru. Competing for SKC will be Carena Hughes, William Sinha, Sean O'Brien and Michell Lowen, joined by Serena O'Brien for a fifth team member. Thank you once again to the Lions Foundation for their generous grant which allowed the purchase of the equipment, as well as netballs and hockey gear.

All Rosie In West Ham

 

Rosie Pope has hit the international football stage this week having traveled to London for the West Ham International Training Academy.  Camp started last Friday and along with some intensive training sessions she has played her first game against the West Ham English Academy.  The International Squad were beaten by the locals but there was some great football on the field and with a bit more time up their sleeves they're looking for a better outcome for their second game today.  As part of her trip Rosie has had a tour of Upton Park (Home of West Ham United) and also attended their game against Crystal Palace, which finished 2-2 with Payet scoring a very impressive free kick for West Ham.

Thank you to Alan Pope for sending through the update.

Rugby World Cup Comes To SKC

Interval got a bit exciting today with a visit from the Webb Ellis Cup!  New Zealand Rugby has sent the cup on a 75 school nation wide tour to promote school rugby and encourage young players.  Kelepi Funaki was given the honour of holding the prized Webb Ellis Cup (albeit with gloves) and was given an All Blacks jersey to remember the moment.  With lots of prizes and giveaways there was a steady stream of students (and a certain DP and Director of Boarding) who took the chance to have their photo taken with the cup before it continued on it's tour.  Thank you to Jason Forrest for arranging this amazing opportunity.

CLICK HERE to see more photos

Defence Careers Visit

There was a bus of a different kind in the school parking lot today with a visit by the Defence Careers Bus.  Students were given a overview of what a career in the Defence Force can offer and given an idea of what they would need to bring to the table, should they choose that path.

CLICK HERE to go to the Defence Careers website.

BOT Parent Rep Nominations

Calling for Nominations to the Board of Trustees

If you think you have all the qualities to be a Parent Representative on the St Kevin's College Board of Trustees this is your chance to put your name forward for nomination. Nominations close at noon on Friday the 20th of May. Voting takes place on Friday 3 June 2016.

"A Parents Guide to the role of the Board of Trustees" is a helpful resource in providing information to parents and caregivers in the lead up to the 2016 BOT Election. An electronic version of the guide can be found at  http://ww.nzsta.org.nz/about/parent-place.

Please contact Sue McErlane, Returning Officer, by phone on 4371665 Ext 703 or via email: smcerlane@stkevins.school.nz for a nomination form or follow the link below to the Parent Rep Nomination Election Form.

The College is closed for the school holidays on Friday 15th April and restarts back on Monday 2 May.  Interested parents/caregivers please ensure you contact the school office before the holidays to pick up a form or download the form online during the holiday period.

Click here to download the Parent Rep Nomination Election form
(To complete the form electronically please download onto your desktop or laptop before filling in your information)

College Robotics

Robotics at SKC has had a great Term 1 with an abundance of enthusiastic creators! At the end of last year an industrious group of Y9 and Y10 students were fortunate to have a day with Sandy Garner from the Otago University Computer Science Dept and it's great to see this kind of forward thinking in action!

Freestyling

The New Zealand Secondary Schools Slalom & Freestyle Kayaking Champs were held from the 21-24 March at Hawea and Chris Olsen (Y12) took up the challenge to follow the legacies of past pupil and international kayaker Courtney Kerin, and the infamous Mr Haig.  Showing great form and technique Chris placed 3= in the U16 Freestyle section.  Congratulations!

South Island Athletics

The SKC Athletics team traveled to Timaru at the weekend to compete in the South Island Secondary Schools Meet.  We had some amazing results, the best being the Snr Boys Relay team of Ben McCarthy, Levi Emery, Adam Sew Hoy and Simon Lilicama who took 3rd place!  Congratulations to all of those who gained top 10 placings in their age groups:
Levi Emery - 10th 100m, 8th 200m
Ben Cullimore - 10th 400m
Amber Cunningham - 9th Discus, 10th Shotput
Teufolau Tokai - 9th Javlin
Jaimee Trainor - 8th Shotput
Flyriver Taumafai - 8th Shotput
Gemma Dowling - 6th Highjump
Ellen McAtamney - 6th Discus
Thomas Pickles - 6th Discus
Max Yanzick - 4th 3000m
Dominic Flannery - 4th Highjump

Congratulations must also be given to those who only just missed a top 10 finish - Jose Bucane (11th 400m), Simon Lilicama (12th 100m), Brylee More (11th 100m, 12th 200m), Adam Sew Hoy (11th 400m), Emma Slater (12th 400m) and Max Yanzick who placed 12th in the 1500m.

Principal's Comment

Kia ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College

I hope that your and your family enjoyed a relaxing and hope-filled Easter. With the holidays falling in such a disruptive manner with the three day weeks, it has been a challenge for students to keep in the study rhythm. At assembly, my message focused on the importance of getting back into the study habit for the final two and a half weeks. Caregivers can help by enquiring about homework and assignments and making sure they have checked the Attitude to Learning (ATL) feedback on the caregiver portal. If you need help with accessing this information, please call the school office.

This morning it was my pleasure to attend the annual Maadi Breakfast to farewell the squad heading to Lake Ruataniwha this weekend. We wish everyone safe travel and hope the days are fine and the lake calm. Thank you to the coaches and supporters who have dedicated their time and recourses over the term to make this week possible. I am looking forward to supporting the teams on the water next week.

May God bless you
Paul Olsen, Principal

National Theatre Award

Unbeknownst to her, Head Girl GypsyMae Harihona-Harrison was nominated earlier this year by Musical Theatre Oamaru for the nationally awarded Nola Spier/Music Theatre International (Australasia) Patron's NextGen Encouragement Award for 2016.  This prestigious awarded is presented to one recipient each year at the the Musical Theatre NZ National Conference and Dan Lewis from MTO was extremely proud to accept this award on GypsyMae behalf at the Rotorua conference last month.  It was kept tightly under wraps and presented to her by SKC Arts Co-ordinator and MTO Committee member, Cathy Keep at the Annual General Meeting this week.  Congratulations GypsyMae!

Year 12 Art Explorations

The weather was bright and Year 12 Art students were immersed in art yesterday afternoon during their trip to the Forrester Gallery and Grainstore Gallery.  At the Forrester Gallery Liz King spoke about works from the Kermadec Exhibition (which runs till 8 May) pointing out particular pieces that used a variety of techniques in their composition (including a thought provoking sculpture from John Reynolds).  The Grainstore Gallery features a large amount of work by local artist Donna Demente, but also includes pieces by Watt Davis and Fenella Barry to name but a few!  Students had the opportunity to meet photographer Derek Goulding who was in the Gallery working on a project.  With the weather playing it's part, the day was perfect for some photography and sketching around the harbour to finish the day.  Thank you to Liz and Derek for giving your time to speak to students and to Mrs Plunkett for organising the day. 

Maadi Cup Breakfast

With Maadi Cup beginning on Monday, all of the athletes travelling from Oamaru gathered at the Northstar Restaurant for the traditional Maadi Cup Breakfast.  With over 2500 athletes competing Maadi Cup is the largest Secondary Schools sporting event in the Southern Hemisphere with the Twizel township expanding by approx 12000 people for the ten day period!  This year the College has 20 students competing in 17 events and we wish them well in their campaign for success.

Promising Performances Set The Stage For Maadi Cup

SKC have rolled out some promising performances at the recent South Island Secondary Schools Regatta.

Fran Yanzick lead out with an impressive 5th place in the A final of the hotly contested Girls U18 single also combining with Kate Nally to take 7th place in the A final of the Girls U18 double event. Reuben Mihaere and Kalas Taukamo found their form in the B final of the Boys U17 double winning that event and recording the 5th fastest South Island time. Doubles combinations of Kate Nally/Hannah Cunningham and Max Smith/Jack Andrew showed continued improvements in their respective Novice events with both crews finishing 2nd in their B finals.  Our U16 Girls Eight is also finding their form leading into MAADI and we are very grateful to the ongoing coaching support from Neville Hill, John Cheesman and Roger Norman. 

We wish the SKC screws all the best leading into the national event - MAADI Cup 2016.