Year 9 Retreat Day

The first day at a new school is fraught with the unknown, but our Year 9 students for 2012 were able to enjoy the College facilities in a more relaxing atmosphere during their Retreat Day last Monday. They were joined by some of our Senior students for a range of fun games and activities. Our thanks to Mrs Austin, Mr Farrell and supporting staff for co-ordinating this great day.

National Bank Cricket

Vote for us!

The National Bank are considering grant applications from schools, groups and organisations. You can do your bit to help with repairs to our cricket nets by voting for St Kevin's College.

Go to:

https://comms.nationalbank.co.nz/nationalcricketclub/gallery/index.html?id=14942

Learn to Swim Programme

In conjunction with the Waitaki Aquatic Centre we are looking to provide a learn to swim programme aimed at High School students. This programme would look at providing basic skills as well as improving overall ability.

Any parents who are interested in their child attending learn to swim classes at the Waitaki Aquatic Centre please can they contact Denise in the Gym.

Dear Parents and Friends of St Kevin's College

With term four being only seven weeks long as a result the Rugby World Cup, secondary schools have had to be creative in their approach to the end of year planning.  Even with plenty of term three planning it was still overwhelming for many senior students, to be plunged into revision, prize giving and NCEA within a fortnight of return. Most students took advantage of the tutorial week. This allowed them to target their learning challenges and has resulted in a pleasing number gaining internal assessment credits.
The senior prize giving and graduation was a formal opportunity for the College to gather and celebrate the year's many achievements. The school magazine and the internet blog are both brimming  with articles about the many successes in academic, sporting and cultural endeavour.
The after the seniors finished for the year, the junior school hosted the next generation of Kevinians at our orientation day. Testing of our new entrants and current year 9 and 10 students shows that we have an able intake and that our current students have been making impressive progress in literacy and numeracy. My thanks go to a dedicated and hard working staff who have facilitate these results.
At our prize giving we farewelled a number of staff who will leave us at the end of this year: Mrs Powell (Head of the English Faculty) who is planning to head overseas.
Mrs James (Teachers Aid) and Mrs Durene (Laundry Manager) who after 22 and 23 years service to the College respectively,are retiring.
May the blessings and good wishes of the St Kevin’s Family be with you always.
I would also like to note the appointment of Mr Ryan Westgate (teacher of English) and Mrs Joy Garvin (Head of the English Faculty).
As the year concluded, Year 10 students have enjoyed their Retreat and Outdoor Education Camp in the Ohau region and Year 9 students have appreciated the variety of classes offered in the activities week. Thank you to the staff of helped with the many activities on offer. You dedication and the commitment that you have shown is at core of our College Special Character.

As we finish the year I ask that you continue to keep Andrew Easton and Mr Ryan in your prayers.
As we prepare for Christmas in this Advent Season I hope that you will be able to enjoy a well deserved and safe Christmas break and return next year refreshed, ready to tackle a new set of challenges.

Advent blessings to you all
Paul Olsen, Principal

Hawke Cup Representation

Congratulations to Year 12 student Tim O'Malley who has been selected to represent North Otago in The Hawke Cup. Tim is the Captain of our 1xt XI team and is noted as an excellent all-rounder. Well done.

India Immersion Trip

Five Year 12 students - pictured left to right, Johannah Kearney, Hannah Mihaere, Georgia Tangney, Loren Haggerty and Kerryn Olsen - have departed for India and have already arrived safely in New Delhi. The girls have joined students from St Thomas' of Canterbury and will spend the next few weeks travelling and working along side teams in areas such as Calcutta, Goa and New Delhi. Follow their adventures through the holidays at: www.mitashmia.blogspot.com

Information For 2012

The following links will take you to the various 2012 Year Level Stationery Lists and the Start Up Procedures For Students:

Start up 2012

Stationery List

Year 9, Year 10, Year 11, Year 12 and Year 13

North Otago Junior Rugby Player of the Year

Congratulations to Year 13 student, Johnny Rusbatch, who has been named the North Otago Junior Rugby Player of the Year. Johnny has been a prominent figure on the St Kevin's rugby field since his arrival at the College as a young Year 9 and his leadership skills saw him named Captain of the 1st XV team for 2011 as well as Magee House Sports Captain. Having played representative rugby since his U12 days Johnny was proudly presented with his trophy at an awards ceremony last week.

St Kevin's Cricket

Last Saturday December 3^rd saw a triple header of sorts with the St Kevin’s 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd XI all playing arch rivals Waitaki Boys’ High School. St Kevin’s proved victorious in both the 1^st and 2^nd XI games and these wins combined with a convincing win by the school’s Year 9 team last month over Waitaki in the National Community Shield competition are just reward for all the hard work put in by those involved in cricket at St Kevin’s this year.

1^st XI Match Report - The St.Kevin’s 1^st XI went into Saturday’s important clash with Waitaki BHS on the back of a confidence-building victory against Valley the week before, and fancied our chances against our traditional rivals, having had a close loss to them in the first round.

Captain Tim O’Malley lost the toss, and SKC were put in to bat and our approach was simple – be patient and bat out our 50 overs on a challenging pitch and slow outfield, and we backed ourselves to defend whatever total that we ended up with.

The innings got off to a rocky start with Hamish Slater and player/coach Tim McCormick removed by Inwood before the score had passed 15. Opener Jamal Vira and O’Malley set about stabilising the innings and the score had moved on to 37 when Vira (6) was dismissed. This brought Jordan Bartlett to the crease and he and O’Malley put together a crucial partnership of 40, ending when O’Malley was removed for a mature 17 and the score was a respectable 76-4 after 26 overs. A mini-collapse followed, leaving us struggling at 82-7 and in need of some resistance from the lower order where Brady Kingan (5*) and Isaac De Buyzer (8) set about surviving and spending time at the crease. The score ticked over with some wayward Waitaki bowling gifting us wides and we pushed on to be finally bowled out for 116, in the 49^th over, with the aggressive Bartlett (20) the top scorer, behind extras (41).

While a touch disappointed with our total, we were confident at the break having batted close to our 50 overs that we could defend the score, and win the game. We knew we would need to take early wickets, and remove the key man Grobler early on. McCormick provided the crucial early breakthroughs, striking with the 3^rd ball of the run chase, to bring Grobler to the crease. Off-spinner Tim O’Malley shared the new ball and the gamble very nearly paid off, with Grobler surviving a testing over from the captain. McCormick was a touch fortunate to remove prolific player/coach Grobler LBW in the next over and this proved to be a major moment in the game. Having removed the danger man, we were free to keep attacking the inexperienced Waitaki middle order and Sean Kelliher was thrown the ball early on. This proved to be an inspired decision from captain O’Malley, as Kelliher tore through them with a high-class display of leg-spin bowling, taking the last wicket with the Waitaki score at 80. The impressive Kelliher ended with 6-32 off 9.2 overs, ably supported by the testing medium pace of Jeremy Smith (2-18 off 9) and Tim McCormick (2-10 off 6) to secure a famous victory.

It was a true team performance as every player chipped in with valuable time at the crease, and good fielding pressure to allow Kelliher to dominate the Waitaki batsmen. Unfortunately after two straight wins and claiming sole ownership of 3^rd place on the ladder, the team’s momentum is forced to halt as the Borton Cup is now paused for the Christmas period, and begins again in Term 1 2012. With still plenty of improvement in the side to come, there are good signs that the 1sts can position themselves to challenge the top teams come finals time.

2^nd XI Match Report - The St Kevin’s 2^nd XI had a well-deserved 45 run victory over the Waitaki 2^nd XI on Saturday. St Kevin’s won the toss and elected to bat and they were off to a fine start, going at five runs an over for the first five overs. They then lost five quick wickets and were struggling at 44/5 after only 13 overs. Determined and disciplined batting was required to rectify the situation and Brian Driessens and Jibi Kunnetherdon did just that in adding 49 for the sixth wicket. Sensible batting was supported by some wayward bowling from Waitaki and the seconds finished by posting a competitive score of 136 all out.

The Waitaki side were rocked in the third over by an impressive display of fast bowling by Angus Booth, as he bowled both their openers. Waitaki never recovered from this and they were always struggling, finally being all out for 91. It was a disciplined bowling display by St Kevin’s with Driessens picking up three for 18 and James Armstrong two for 11, supporting Booth’s two for 10.

Representative Honours - Congratulations to 1^st XI captain and current Year 12 student Tim O’Malley for his selection in the North Otago Senior squad. Tim made his debut on Sunday, hitting the winning runs against Mid Canterbury. We also wish him well on his bid for selection in the Otago U18 team in the near future. It would be great reward for a wonderful start to the season with both bat and ball for the impressive all-rounder.

Kev's Produce

KEV'S PRODUCE!

Our Year 10 Agriculture students have had a successful growing season this year and as a result they will have a selection of produce for sale at the Junior Prizegiving, all for the bargain price of a gold coin donation. What a deal!!!

Livewire Science Success

Livewire Learning provides on line learning and support in a variety of subjects and is used very successfully by the College.

In particular this year we are delighted to congratulate our Science Department with their 1st place in Yr11 Science and also Yr11 student Katherine Hope who won the prize for the Top Scholar in Yr11 Science - a wonderful achievement with over 70 schools participating in the programme.

Yr10 Camp Preparations

Year 10 students have been fine tuning their kayaking skills in the College Pool this week and even Monday's unfortunate cold front did not deter their enthusiasm! Our thanks to all of the staff and members of the community who offer their expertise in order to give students a fulfilling time away.