Thursday, February 28, 2019

Caritas Justice Leadership Day

Yesterday, 11 of our students went to Dunedin with the Caritas NZ team, for the Caritas Justice Leadership day. They learnt all about social justice and the focus of this year's Caritas Challenge: South Sudan.



They were joined by the other Catholic high schools of Southland and Otago, and it was wonderful to see the Bishop make an appearance too. He is keen to attend our 2019 Caritas challenge next term and planning is underway for this event right now.

Ugali for lunch; traditional Sudanese food.

Keep up to date with College news by visiting our News Blog >>

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Follow the Farmers

St Kevin's was very well represented by our students, across all year levels, at the Aorangi region Junior Young Farmer of the Year competition (formally the Teen Ag contest). They were tested on their tractor driving and water trough repairing skills, as well as knowledge of animal digestive systems and produce growing conditions. 


We didn't make the finals but everyone had fun and really enjoyed the experience!


The club meets every Tuesday lunch time in the Ag room and are keen to hear from anyone who can offer activity ideas, advice, resources or sponsorship. Please contact Bridget Hunter or Mrs Eatherley via school email. 

Keep up to date with College news by visiting our News Blog >>

The not so Easy, Big Easy

Five of our students and one of our teachers competed in the Whitehorse Big Easy Mountain Bike Challenge on Sunday. The race was held on the White Horse hills in Waimate in very challenging, wet conditions.

Kelvin Benny came 1st, Adam Devon came 3rd, and Yitao Sun came 13th in the U19 20km race. Stephen Laemmle came 6th in the 27km Open race. Mr Aidan Haig came 11th in the 27km Masters race.

Pictured above is Adam Devon (left) and Kelvin Benny (middle).

Well done gentlemen! 

Keep up to date with College news by visiting our News Blog >>

Monday, February 25, 2019

Neigh for New Netting!

Mr Walshe is pictured here attaching new horse netting to the upgraded paddocks. The upgrade has seen 10 paddocks kitted out with solar electricity and horse-friendly fencing. Surely that's worth a whinny?!


Thanks to the College Foundation for their financial support with this venture. 

Keep up to date with College news by visiting our News Blog >>

Athletics Day Video

Check out this incredible GoPro video Mrs Buckham took on our recent Athletics Day... guaranteed to get you dancing! Follow this link https://vimeo.com/319126932 and use the password 'SKC2019' to view it. Enjoy!!


Keep up to date with College news by visiting our News Blog >>

Friday, February 22, 2019

Hostel Happenings

Year Level Dinners
This weekend we have the Year 10 parent/student dinner tonight and the Year 9 parent/student dinner tomorrow night in the Castle. This is a great opportunity for our hostel whanau to come together.

A big thank you to Lou, Raelene and Laney in the kitchen for all of the hard work preparing for these dinners.

The dates for the Year 11, 12 and 13 dinners will be sent out at a later date.

Activities
With the fine weather we have been having there has been plenty of opportunities for students to get out and be involved in a number of activities. These have included mountain biking, equestrian, trip to the beach, boating on the lake, hostel run, water slide and plenty of swims in the school pool.






Principal's Comment

Kia ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College

The cries of the haka roared across our school today as our interhouse haka competition took place. Congratulations to Treacy House, our overall winners and to Whyte House who came a very close second. Thank you to all houses for your incredible efforts. Thanks also go to our staff for organising and judging this excellent event.

















Congratulations to those students who received service awards and Duke of Edinburgh awards in this week's Excellence Assembly. It was a pleasure to present these certificates and there are plenty of opportunities for others to achieve them as well.

Special guests Ms Anja Lauterbach, German education agent from GLS Sprachenzentrum, and her daughter Lena visited our school this week. Anja is responsible for some of our international students from Germany and it was an honor to show her around our wonderful school.

They are pictured enjoying an ice cream from Deja Moo in the historic precinct. 

We also look forward to meeting our Year 9 and 10 boarding community at our special dinners this weekend.

Finally, please keep the Raj family in your thoughts and prayers as Anish recovers from his injuries. Anish is currently in hospital in Dunedin, following successful surgery on his leg. We pray for your speedy recovery Anish.

May God bless you all
Paul Olsen, Principal

Thursday, February 21, 2019

En Garde!

As part of their commedia dell'arte topic, our Year 11 and 12 drama students took part in sword fighting training! Thank you to Iain Clark, Oamaru's well known fencing teacher, for coming down and running the session.

*No real swords were used in the making of this drama class*

Keep up to date with College news by visiting our News Blog >>

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Stronger Together!

Yesterday, Mr Mawson, Mr Haig and Mr Bristow headed to Dunedin for a Change Management Hui, for our Community of Learning (CoL). St Kevin's are members of the Whitestone CoL, along with its partner schools St Joseph's, Papakaio, and Weston. The Col aims to improve student achievement by working together, improving transitions from primary to secondary education, and sharing educational practices between schools.

The Hui provided professional development around managing change in the College, and improving teaching and learning for our ākonga. It was a valuable opportunity to network with educators from the Whitestone and other CoLs, and we thank our tremendous teachers for attending!



Keep up to date with College news by visiting our News Blog >>

Keep up with the Cricket

The 1st XI is currently playing an interschool 50 over match against Roncalli on Murray Field. Roncalli batting first are currently 205/6 off 43 overs.







































The Junior XI had a six wicket win in their game against Roncalli. Well done boys!

Keep up to date with College news by visiting our News Blog >>

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Girls Cricket

Well done to the girls cricket side for their win over Waitaki Girls today in a T20 game. The girls took out a 17 run win. Jayde Read topped scored for SKC and Jocelyn Fellowes claimed three wickets and Olivia Mavor picked up two wickets. Well done Girls.

Sir, Yes, Sir!

Today we had Jasmine Brent, from the New Zealand Defence Force, here to talk to our Year 11-13 students about possible career paths for their futures. Thank you for giving those interested an insight into different opportunities available, and for the helpful advice on how to access those opportunities.



















A special thank you to Mrs Burton, our careers advisor, for organising this. If you didn't get chance to come down, you can find information on their Facebook page 'Defence Careers', or pick up an information pack from Mrs Burton.

Keep up to date with College news by visiting our News Blog >>

The Trip of a Lifetime

One of our lucky Year 13 students, Tyla Bishop, has been selected for the trip of a lifetime to Montana, USA. During this amazing agricultural trip, organised by Young Farmers, she will learn all about different styles of farming, whilst living with a host family on their ranch!

Tyler has been working hard on a dairy farm over summer to help pay for the trip, and now she needs OUR HELP! Tyler will be holding a raffle on Monday 25th (see photo below for all the exciting prizes!) to raise some money for the trip. Tickets are just $2, which can be bought from the school office.























Let's support our whānau and help get Tyla to Montana!

Keep up to date with College news by visiting our News Blog >>


Monday, February 18, 2019

Meet our Marvelous Matrons

Raelene and Lou, our Matrons for the girl's and boy's hostels, have been busy away planning something very exciting for our boarders! Starting this weekend the boarders will have a special dinner with their year group and family...a wonderful chance for everyone to get to know each other better, whilst enjoying some tasty food!


This weekend we look forward to hosting Year 9 and 10 whānau. Thank you marvelous Matrons!

Keep up to date with College news by visiting our News Blog >>

Friday, February 15, 2019

Principal's Comment

Kia ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College

Last evenings showers followed by today's sunny weather have left our fields in excellent condition for our annual Athletic Sports. The view from the Magee Lawn is a patchwork of house colours at each of the various track and field events dotted around the grounds. It was good to see a number of caregivers joining us for the day and enjoying a picnic on the grounds.



House Prefects are showing their leadership skills by motivating and supporting students to actively participate in the day. The inter-house 100m event is always a highlight of the day and as usual, were fiercely contested. 

   

   


   

   

Congratulations to Whyte House, who were the overall winners on the day. Thank you to Mr Smith for organising the event and thanks also to our staff and student leaders who have ensured that the event has run so smoothly.


Congratulations to those students who received awards at Wednesday's Excellence Assembly. There are more details in the linked blog post>>

Congratulations also to those students who had such strong games in the Aoraki Secondary Schools Tennis Championships this week. Thank you to Dr Maret for your organisation and support of students and caregivers.


Next week we look forward to the Roncalli College summer exchange.

Finally, caregivers should have received an email from The Christian Brother's Leadership Team, detailing the transfer of proprietorship to the Dunedin Diocese. After several years of planning, this is scheduled to take place at midyear. I am happy to answer any questions you may have about the process, which will place us in a stronger and more sustainable governance position going into the future.

Keep up to date with College news by visiting our News Blog >>

May God bless you all
Paul Olsen, Principal

Thursday, February 14, 2019

Excellence Assembly

On Wednesday, we celebrated the academic success of our students in the 2018 NCEA and Cambridge Examinations. We had 17 Year 13 students receiving academic blues for gaining an Excellence Endorsement in NCEA Level 2 and 27 for Level 1. It is pleasing to see so many students achieving a merit or excellence endorsement. It is a credit to both our students and your whanau.


Thank you to the parents and extended family who attended to support our young achievers as they were acknowledged. We are all very proud of their achievements.

Debbie's Equestrian Clinic

We are very excited to have Debbie Nelson, New Zealand's well-known Dressage Coach, at our school today. Debbie has been giving our Equestrian Programme girls some incredible one to one riding coaching!



The clinic was an excellent opportunity for us to utilise our facilities and support other local riders. Thank you, Debbie, for taking the time to share your knowledge and skills. Special thanks must go to Janelle Gibson, our very own Equestrian Coach, for organising this incredible day! 


Wednesday, February 13, 2019

On Your Mark...Get Set...Go!

Yesterday kicked off our SKC Athletics Sports for 2019 with the 3000m run. Thanks to all students who took part, staff who helped things RUN smoothly and to Mrs Plunkett for taking the photos.

We will be having a full athletics day on Friday where SKC Home + School will be selling food and drinks, so don't forget to bring some cash and help us raise some money!

See our 'St Kevin's Sport' Facebook page for more photos of the run!  

Keep up to date with College news by visiting our News Blog >>

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Safety First!

A group of Year 12 and 13 students are completing a 2 day First Aid, Health and Safety Course with Pro+Med NZ Ltd, as an essential part of their Gateway courses. During these vocational courses the students will be doing training and work experience out in the community, in various fields like Building, Electrical, Farming and Early Childhood Care.


Throughout the First Aid, Health and Safety course students have gained vital knowledge and skills which will ensure the safety of themselves and others when out on the worksite, knowing how to help if an accident does occur.

Our school will certainly be a safer place now with these young men around and we thank Pro+Med NZ Ltd for their valuable input.

Keep up to date with College news by visiting our News Blog >>

Friday, February 8, 2019

Waitangi Day at the Lakes

Thank you to Mr Fowler and the Hostel Team for organising a stunning Waitangi Day at the lakes for the boarding community. A barbeque followed by relaxing on the beach, swimming or boating meant there was something for everyone.


The annual trip was a great opportunity for building friendships and meeting parents. Thanks to those who provided boats. We appreciate your help and support.