Acting Principal Final Blog

Kia ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College

The end of term is here. Senior Examination week has come to an end, and students can now take some time off to rest and recharge for the final 4 weeks next term.
Week 9 ended with the Celebration of Sport, and it was an excellent evening. I was very proud of how many of our students were represented. The school teams were there to support their members receiving prizes.
Please take note of calendar dates next term because the term starts as always very busy.

Finally, I would like to thank my staff and support of the student leadership team as my time as Acting Principal comes to an end. Mr Olsen is back next term after completing his sabbatical.
I wish you all a pleasant and restful holiday break.

God bless
Ngā mihi Nui
Kerry Ryan

Chinese Language Week 2019

Did you know it's Chinese Language Week this week? Here is a short video of Miss Zeng our Mandarin teacher with a couple of basic greetings!

Aoraki Mountain Biking Champs 2019

Check out this awesome shot of Josh Bryant on his way to 2nd in the Enduro Race at the Aoraki Mountain Biking Champs on the 14th September.

Well done to Kelvin Benny, Yi Tao Sun and Carter Andrew who also competed. A big thanks to all those who organised a great event!

Kidney Kids Can Fundraiser

You may remember us posting a while back about cans being collected by the school Leo club. The money from the sale of the cans goes to help the Kidney Kids Support Group of NZ who support children with kidney disease. These cans were handed over to Trish Hinton from North Otago Lions to go for sale.

The boxes shown represent about 3 weeks of collecting at school and we will continue this as it is a great way to recycle, as well as benefiting others. Thank you to the students who have made the effort to put their cans in the pink bins, keep up the good work!

📷: Sara Plunkett

Farewell to Mr Russell Dixon

At the end of this term we farewell Mr Russell Dixon 😪. With Seniors off with school exams this week, the school performed a haka on Friday to honour and show their respect for a wonderful man who has been such a big part of College life through the years.

Mr Dixon has been associated with St Kevin’s College for 36 years in total. There were five years as a boarder and 31 years as a member of staff, Board of Trustees, and School Counsellor.

During his time at the College he crossed paths with many of the students as he coached rugby; ran the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme; organised most student charity collections locally, led the Spirit of Adventure Trust; helped Otago aspirants gain entry to the Residential Hall of their choice; coached boys and girls Softball; represented the staff on the Board of Trustees; as well as made himself available for every outdoor adventure, field trip, every retreat, and every initiative possible.

We wish Mr Dixon all the best in his future endeavors.

New Basketball Coaching Programme

Have you seen the Total Basketball Oamaru Facebook Page?

This programme has been designed to enable young players (Years 7 - 10) in the Waitaki district to access high quality and specialised coaching without having to travel out of the area.

Former Otago Nugget and Basketball Coach Mitch Mcrae is the Head Coach of the Programme.

Coaching Sessions will be held at the St Kevin's College gymnasium.

Please follow the link below to complete the following form to register for the basketball summer training programme. The programme will focus on specialist basketball training, working on developing ball handling, dribbling and passing skills.

Space is limited and you can either choose to attend all seven sessions (two hour sessions) for $175 or select which sessions you would like to attend at $25 per session. Payment needs to be made before attendance at the session(s).

Bookings are open until 1 November 2019.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc78wsFOeEsEjXg-gOFmSIOf2pDMKw1GMeC-dCv6xMDU-S3VQ/viewform?fbclid=IwAR0NBe31Z4yifcv80Ux9m9avK8UshVQd3kw9oKCzeexc21oTkQsUY8tlMPE

Home and School Fundraiser- Dads 'N Drag

Get your tickets! Tables are selling fast!

SADD Combined Fundraiser

The Students Against Dangerous Driving (SADD) groups from all three local high schools combined to run a fundraiser and information day at the Warehouse on Saturday.

The weather was ideal for a barbeque, and the group was buoyed by much support from SKC staff, students and parents. $351 profit was raised, and these funds will go towards the production costs of a banner the students are designing. This permanent banner is planned to be erected by the Oamaru police station in early 2020.

The SADD students are currently working together to produce this road safety message as a public service to the wider community.

Celebration of Sport 2019

Sporting excellence was highlighted last night with the 2019 Celebration of Sport Awards evening. We were delighted to have so many friends and families join us for the occasion. Guest speaker, NZ Blacksticks star Kelsey Smith spoke to the audience about following your dreams, about backing yourself and most importantly, enjoying the moment. She also presented the Premier Awards to our winners:

– Junior Sportsman (Boyle Cup) – Ben Kay
– Junior Sportswoman (Camellia Cup) – River Cunningham
– Senior Sportsman (Donovan Cup) – Max Yanzick
– Senior Sportswoman (Margaret Breen Cup) – Hannah Cunningham
– Outstanding Student Contribution – Annie Metcalfe
– Outstanding Sportsman (Carrickmore Cup) – Max Yanzick
– Outstanding Sportswoman (Kearney Family Cup) – Hannah Cunningham

Mr Ryan was pleased to be able to award Sporting Blues to the following students –

– Jack Andrew – Basketball
– Under 18 Girls Novice Quad – Ruby Macaulay, Jaimee Trainor, Ruby Bradley, April Linares-Fontona, Annie Metcalfe- Rowing
– Tupou Fifita – Rugby
– Emily McCoy – Hockey
– Hannah Cunningham – Rowing
– Duran Cooper – Basketball
– Max Yanzick – Athletics and Cross Country

There was a new award presented in the Rugby section- the Best Back for the 1st XV will now have a new cup, the Russell Dixon Cup. Mr Dixon is retiring from school at the end of the term. He has been an integral part of the rugby family at SKC, having played for the 1st XV during his time at school, and coached various teams for the past 32 years. We gave a special thank you for his contribution to the school and the rugby club. 

  A huge thank you to Nic Plieger who was our MC for the evening, and to Mrs Plunkett for these great photos. Thank you to Mr Smith and all the other helpers on a great night.

Sabbatical Update

Kia ora College Family

After a term of reading, research and school visits, I am currently in the final write-up phase of my sabbatical project. The focus has been to explore strategies to support the development of an authentic local curriculum promoting student-centred learning at St Kevin’s. I am pleased to be able to report that there are a number of best-practice ideas that we are looking at to help our students to become "life-ready" and fully engaged in their learning.

The Board of Trustees have given approval for two developments:

Offering specialist options to students at Year 10. These will be half-year courses that prepare students with the specialist skills needed for NCEA in Year 11. Plans are well underway between Technology, Arts and Language Faculties.

All year 12 and 13 students will do a personalised course on Fridays aimed at meeting their own pathway needs. Monday to Thursday will be normal 6 subjects for 4 periods which gives ample opportunity to gain the 60 credits required for NCEA.  Friday will focus on customised courses that can either enhance the number of credits and options for students or give students extra tuition and time to consolidate their Monday to Thursday Course. 

Some of the exciting offerings include:

-University Papers and scholarship classes for students heading to tertiary study.

-Opportunities to explore careers and build their Work Ready Passport.

-Pre-trade courses in Timaru and Oamaru for those who want to prepare to do one of the Trades.

-Special distance learning courses that prepare for other pathways.

-Duke of Education Qualifications.

-Young Enterprise Scheme.

-Languages and other exciting options.

-There are a range of other support-options to consolidate the Monday to Thursday traditional offering.

We are currently in the consultation phase and I welcome feedback as we develop these exciting offerings for 2020. It is important that we support St Kevin’s College students to keep up with the best of develops and preparing them to take their place in a challenging world.

Na mihi

Mr Olsen

Acting Principal Blog

Kia ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College

In a busy week, we covered a lot of ground. The Christian Brothers handed over the ownership of the school to the Bishop of Dunedin on Monday. The ceremony was very moving, and I think a fitting service to the vast number of students who have been educated at St Kevin's college over the last 92 years. 

Tuesday night was so much fun as the crowd were entertained and informed by the Mid Autumn Chinese festival. Best of all we all got Mooncake and wontons.

Dr John Kliesman, Head of Research and Director of The Nathaniel Centre was at the school on Wednesday, presenting and discussing Ethics with our RST classes. 

We ended the week with an excellent haka for Mr Dixon and of course the Celebration of Sport tonight.

I wish you all a pleasant and restful weekend.

God bless
Ngā mihi Nui
Kerry Ryan

Past Sporting Blue Recipient- Logan Docherty

And last but not least for our past Sporting Blue highlights is Logan Docherty! Logan received his sporting blue for Rowing last year, and he was also the Outstanding Sportsman of the College.

His achievements included; Most Improved Male Novice (2017), Training and Attitude Cup (2017), Most Improved Junior Rower (2017), South Island Secondary Schools Boys U16 Single Sculls Bronze (2017), finalist in the category of Rowing at the Aoraki Secondary Schools Sports Awards (2017). New Zealand Rowing Nationals Men’s U19 Double Sculls Bronze (2018) and Outstanding Sportsman of the College (2018).

Logan went on to be named Network Waitaki ‘Team of the Year’ for his results at the New Zealand Rowing Nationals. Following that, Logan was successful at National trials-being selected in the New Zealand U21 Rowing Team. Where he claimed Gold in the Men’s Coxless Quad Sculls and Gold in the Men’s Eight. He and his team winning the ‘Rusty Robertson’ Trophy for New Zealand for the first time in five years. Recently he has been selected into the Otago Senior Men’s squad to compete in the Interprovincial Competition in October 2019.