Twenty-five year 12 and 13 students embarked on the journey of a lifetime across Europe, accompanied by four very enthusiastic teachers.

Kia ora koutou and warm greetings to whānau and friends of Burnside High School.

Click on the link below for award winners for 2023

Click on the link below for award winners for 2023

Click on the link below for award winners for 2023

There have been lots of great things happening across the Science Faculty this year, with students succeeding well, both in school and out of school. Some highlights are:

Tālofa lava, Mālō e lelei, Kia orana, Tālofa, Ni Sa Bula Vinaka, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Mālō ni and warm Tagata o le Moana greetings

The NZ Secondary Schools Athletics Competition was held for the first time at Nga Puna Wai Otautahi Christchurch in December 2023.

Final year projects impress the judges again in Burnside's Annual Tech Fair.

Across the span of 2023, both our senior and junior Deutsch students have been involved in plenty of exciting events and competitions.

On November 30 we celebrated our Māori students achievements and farewelled our Year 13 leavers.

With 217 members and devoted staff the Environment Group has made amazing progress this year.

Burnside High School had the opportunity to host Year 5 to 7 students from our Kahui Ako for a day in early December.

This year the Burnside High School Powerlifting team has grown to include twenty students from Years 9 -13, including many new junior lifters.

After a disrupted Term 1 of Volleyball in 2022, due to Covid, the Senior Girls team set their sights on heading to the Australian Schools' Cup in the Gold Coast (the equivalent of our National Secondary Schools' Champs in Australia), in December 2022.

In Term 4, it's the Junior teams' time to shine, and this term our teams competed in the CSS and SISS Championships, in Christchurch and Dunedin respectively.

The Senior Girls Basketball team persevered through a year full of challenges.

An afternoon celebrating Dance's 2023 successes!

The Inaugural Drama Awards happened in Term 4

Drama Club's production in Term 4

The results have come in for Evolocity NZ wide Nationals.

This year the Senior Girls Water Polo team had a group of experienced players, and a few new strong juniors.

The team had a great season in Term 1, with a good mix of experience and newcomers to the team, which bodes well for the future.

The Senior A Girls Volleyball team, coached by Sam Ryburn, had a successful season in Term 1, 2023.

We kicked 2023 off with Mainland Champs (South Islands) which was the first of our three tournaments of the year.

This has been my first year as Teacher in Charge of Tennis and the teams and I have had fantastic support from the Burnside High Sports Coordinators and Mr Andy McIntosh.

This year the Mixed A team came 1st in the Canterbury Secondary Schools' Wednesday competition, during Terms 2 and 3.

In the 2023 McMillan Cup (National Secondary Schools' Pistol Shooting competition), we again had some amazing results.

This year we had five finalists chosen over two categories for the 2023 Zonta Sports Awards.

The SMP jazz program is an invitational program open to those with an interest in jazz, which students are part of in addition to their primary SMP program.

At the beginning of Term 1, we were shown all aspects of Bowls, such as how to hold the bowl, how to deliver the bowl and the basic rules of the game.

This year was a pivotal year for Burnside Korfball, and it was a great year overall.

Basketball continues to prove one of the most popular sports at Burnside High School.

The Burnside Ice Hockey team had a successful season in 2023, playing in the High School League on Saturdays at the Alpine Ice Arena.

This season our team competed in the Wednesday night SSL grade in the Canterbury Hockey Association competition. Although we had mixed results in these weekly games, our team, as a whole, consistently improved each game.

We had a great season with many ups and downs, changes and challenges, which we were able to overcome as a team.

This 3-man team qualified to attend the NZSS Teams Final event at the Pleasant Point Golf Club, after a 2nd team placing at the Canterbury Secondary Schools' Championships in March.

The Girls' 1st XI Football team kicked off an exhilarating season with a blend of fresh energy and renewed determination.

This year fencing at Burnside has been an amazing experience for all, opening up various opportunities for all our fencers from social bouting, to national competitions.

The Boys 1st XI Football team of 2023 embarked on a new journey, with a roster boasting 11 fresh faces out of the 16 players.

This is the first time any Boys pairings have travelled up to Mount Maunganui for the NZ Secondary Schools' Beach Volleyball Championships.

As an Award Leader at this school for the past 8 years, I would count 2023 as being one of the most successful years we have had over that time.

The Year Year 9 & 10 Crusaders Rugby 7's Festival took place at Hoon Hay Park on Monday 20th November.

It feels like things are returning to normal. This year student enrolments surged with applications arriving from all over the world!

2023 marked the return to a more “normal” way of life for the Music Department after three covid-disrupted years.

Junior Jazz band is a selected band of year 9 & 10 students that performs an array of tunes from jazz, to latin, to funk.

Chamber music is an intensive programme involving members of the Specialist Music Programme who are arranged into purposeful groups to compete in the National Chamber Music Contest.

The Burnside High School Funk Band is an invitational senior ensemble that performs a wide repertoire of rock, funk, and contemporary styles.

Junior Performance Choir is a junior non-audition ensemble with students from years nine and ten.

Symphonic Band is the non-auditioned band including players at any year and any skill level. This year the band included around 88 members with Mr Petch directing.

Burnside High School's Senior Contemporary Band is a group of eight talented musicians showcasing their instrumental skills, specifically in guitar, bass, drums, percussion, keys, and vocals.

The Burnside Big Band is an auditioned 21 piece band made up of a variety of talented musicians from years 9 to 13 who enjoy playing a mix of traditional jazz tunes as well as popular music arranged for Big Band.

Burnside High’s Junior Concert Band is a non-auditioned group of Year 9 and 10s, ranging from the complete beginner to the advanced, who all took Music as an option subject.

2023 has been a success for the Burnside High School Orchestra, which has had multiple opportunities to perform throughout the year.

Magna Voce is Burnside High School’s mixed un-auditioned choir, consisting of over 30 singers of various ages and expertise and directed by Miss Charlotte Ensor.

Junior Strings is a non-auditioned ensemble for Year 9 and 10 music students at Burnside High School which involves over 50 talented students playing the violin, viola, cello, and double bass.

Bel Canto is the Burnside Senior Auditioned Choir, made up of over 40 treble voiced singers and under the expert direction of Sue Densem.

Aurora Voices (AV) is the junior auditioned choir we have at school which consists of twenty five year nine and ten students directed by Sue Densem, with the help of our student conductor Elle Ilkiw, our student accompanist Kate Ramsay, and Lois Johnston who takes care of the SMP (specialist music program) voice section.

What's been happing in the Library this year?

With a variety of interschools competitions over the year, there were many opportunities for our BHS Equestrians to shine, whatever their chosen disciplines in 2023.

Year 13PED had its first practical assessment opportunity in the middle of term one this year.

Week four of term three saw the three Year 12 Physical Education classes putting their intensive Risk Management planning into practise at Mt Lyford.

This year, our team navigated the unique dynamic of integrating a blend of experienced seniors and enthusiastic rookies.

All Year nine and ten Burnside students had the opportunity for Career Pathway exploration at our school's Junior Careers Expo Wednesday 14th November held on site.

Celebrating the achievements and dedication of our multi-talented music students

A glorious showcase of our choral talent

Burnside High School Mathematics teacher is awarded the Jim Campbell Award for Teaching Excellence.

In August, over 100 hundred students from schools across Ōtautahi Christchurch and one from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland came together to creatively communicate the challenges young Pacific people face growing up – demonstrated through song, dance, and an expressive narrative.

The South Island Secondary Schools' Rugby Sevens Championships took place in Fairlie on Saturday 28 October.

Today we said goodbye and good luck to our Year 13 Class of 2023.

Held at the Christchurch Town Hall 26th October

If we can’t go to Paris, we will go to Akaroa !

Evolocity is the Electric Vehicle Engineering and Electronics competition.

Year 13 student Gray Dawson has been chosen to be a member of the 2024 New Zealand Young Shakespeare Company.

2023 has been an outstanding season for Burnside Netball especially with the depth that is coming through.

Over two weeks in the school holidays 23 Dance students had a chance to take classes at some of the best dance studios in LA.

Burnside High School Big Band has won the Essential NZ Jazz Band Competition, the top award at the Young Jazz Band-it school jazz competitions held at the New Zealand School of Music - Te Kōkī, Victoria University of Wellington on Saturday, 23 September.

Burnside High School music students Anastasia Bell and Phyllis Turner have been accepted into intensive summer programmes held by prestigious music institutions overseas.

So good to see a rugby team team back in green for the 2023 season.

Burnside High school had a large team compete in the Christchurch Round of the World Scholars Cup.

Burnside High School is very proud of the students who excel in Mathematics.

This weekend was the Science and Technology Fair held at Canterbury University.

He tangata takahi manuhiri, he marae puehu. (A person who mistreats their guest has a dusty Marae). Someone who disregards their visitors will soon find they have no visitors at all. This accentuates the importance of Manaakitanga, or hospitality with Maori society and culture.

Boys had a great time at the Johnston Cup which was held in sunny Nelson this year.

The New Zealand Secondary Schools (NZSS) Winter Tournament Week took place from Monday 28 August - Friday 01 September in various locations throughout New Zealand.

Twenty-One of Our Students Triumph with Eight Impressive Awards, Taking Home Prizes Worth $1,350 by Showcasing a Variety of Science and Technology Projects.

Read on for all the Sports Awards from 2023...

Hamish Giddens is one of ten swimmers throughout the country to be added to the 2023-2024 National Age Programme (NAP). This team consists of swimmers selected from performances at the 2023 Youth Commonwealth Games and the 2023 Apollo Projects NZ Short Course Swimming Championships. Hamish Giddens attained 4 golds at NZ Short Course Championships in the 400 800 1500 freestyle and the 200backstroke. He was also the youngest male to medal in the open category attaining (bronze) in NZ Nationals. He is invited to compete at the Queensland Championships in December and is one of three swimmers invited to attend the October Distance camp taking place in Hawke's Bay. This programme will assist Hamish in his development in distance swimming and will also help him to be one of the best distance swimmers in the country.

The Canterbury Game Jam Next recently concluded with resounding success, bringing together 40 talented high school students for an immersive experience in game development.

The much-anticipated end-of-course Game Jam for our Game Design Courses has come to an exhilarating close, leaving us all in awe of the incredible talents displayed by our budding game developers.

Bel Canto achieved great success at The Big Sing Finale in Auckland, winning a Gold award.

Twenty students competed on Saturday 19th of August for Burnside High School in the New Zealand Programming Contest.

Dance Showcase and NZCAF Hip Hop Champs

Our Senior Boys A team won the South Island Secondary Schools' Boys Team Championships the weekend of 24-25 June 2023, held at the Burnside Squash Club, Christchurch.

The representation of Pasifika traditional dance, music and customs known as Canterbury Polyfest showcases Pasifika culture in secondary schools around the South Island. It began in 2000 and is now the most recognised Pasifika festival in the South Island.

Term 2 is the term for Cross Country and Road Race. It is good to wait for that cooler Wintry weather.

A Totara tree, donated by the Christchurch City Council, was planted by the Heads of School, Ameya Raut, Gabrielle Hampton and Max Wallace, at interval on Monday, 8 May, to commemorate the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday, 6 May.

Wednesday 10 May, Grand Hall, Parliament Buildings, Wellington

Christ’s College has hosted New Zealand’s first da Vinci Decathlon, an academic challenge for Years 9–11 students.

We had an amazing day out at Hagley Park for the Canterbury Secondary Schools Road Race on Monday, 08 May.

Burnside High School Pasifika Students Receive Recognition at the SPACPAC Pasifika Supreme Awards Night

This article was written by Sam Allan 11WZHY

On Friday the 3rd of March the year 12 and 13 tourism classes got to go on a Akaroa trip.

The Maadi Cup is the largest secondary school sporting event in New Zealand, and this year Burnside High School made a splash with their impressive performance.

Burnside High School competed in the South Island Athletics Championships in Invercargill March 31 to April 2.

A much-anticipated event on the Year 12 Geography calendar; two classes of intrepid students and three staff set off on our annual three-day alpine experience. The field research mission was to explore how this unique natural environment has evolved over time and to gain insight on how humans have interacted with the landscape - past, present and future.

Since the start of 2022 Canterbury Robotics has used the Burnside High School library as the location for their bi-monthly gatherings.

On the 18th of February, four of our robotics teams flew to Auckland to represent our school in the VEX Robotics National Championships.

2023 has proved to be a challenging year

Back again after a Covid enforced hiatus, Burnside High School was able to host the second Disability Sports Extravaganza on Saturday 25th of March.

The English Teachers have been identifying our talented Year 9 writers and encouraging them to develop their talents.

After a couple of years' Covid cancellations it was great to have a large team of 70 students competing at the Canterbury Secondary Schools Athletics Championships at Nga Puna Wai.

Jellie Pool Thursday 23rd March

School Pool Tuesday 18th February

Burnside students competed against Shirley Boys' High School in powerlifting over the weekend.

Year 12 Sports Leadership class support Pītau Allenvale students to have a great time at swim sports.

Max Campbell and Josh Carson won the first New Zealand High School Game Jam. Where students had 3 weeks to build a video game from scratch with the theme "Aroha".

NCEA – overall pass rates