E ngā mātāwaka tēnā koutou. I hope you all had a fantastic Easter break with your friends and whanau. It was a great opportunity for us to catch up, take a breath and re-focus on the great start to the term we have made.

Students serving our community

Over the last couple of weeks, the Student Council has collectively made the decision to introduce acts of service as part of the House Competition. Service in the community could include coaching a sports team, raising money for charity, planting trees in our community or anytime students help our community without being paid. It was heart warming to hear of this student led initiative as it aligns with our vision of empowering our communities.

https://www.facebook.com/cashmerehigh/videos/2908591272751676

Relay for Life

Over the weekend 33 students took part in the Relay for Life, an event to raise awareness and money for the Cancer Society.

The Cashmere teams raised just over $3000, with the event raising a total of more than $100,000!

Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge

We had almost 100 students opt in to complete the recent Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge. The challenge is to solve a series of logic puzzles under the pressure of limited time. These puzzles relate to key concepts that are the basis of organising instructions for computers to complete tasks.

Although this is an International challenge, the places below are based on performance in NZ. Generally, a distinction is the top 10% in NZ, a Merit is top 20%. 

South Island Athletics Championships

Congratulations to all athletes who represented Cashmere at the South Island School Athletics Champs over the weekend.  There were so many outstanding results!

Brynne Gordan 1st - U14 800m and 1500mLeah Pratten 3rd - U14 Long Jump and 3rd 300m U16 HurdlesLilla Faivre 3rd  - U15 Long JumpBrooke Goldsmith 2nd - U16 100mU16 girls relay 3rdEsther Pratten 2nd - U16 Triple JumpMorgan Flanagan 3rd - U19 1500mAngus Sevier 1st - U15 800m and 1500mBen Waldron 3rd - U15 Hammer Throw and 1st JavelinMatthew Winter 3rd - U16 High JumpThompson Hamilton 1st - U16 Hammer ThrowCharlie Hazlett 1st - U19 1500m and 3000m

Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival 

Once again, Cashmere competed in the regional University of Otago Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival, which took place at Christchurch Boys High School. Two pieces were presented, a five minute performance, taken from 'The Merry Wives of Windsor', directed by Year 13 student Emily O'Hagan, and featuring Emily, and Aodhan Jones in the main roles. The second performance was a fifteen minute long piece, taken from 'Twelfth Night', and directed by Drama teacher John Ussher. Both performances showcased the calibre of acting talent that we have at Cashmere High School, and Isaac MacDonald was awarded best Actor, while John Ussher was again awarded best Teacher Director.

Celebrating Success

Over the last two weeks we have acknowledged a range of student achievements in our Principal’s Assembly. We were also fortunate enough to have our Pasifika Group perform a couple of their pieces from Polyfest at the Year 13 Assembly as well as our Dance group perform at the Year 12 Assembly. A big congratulations to our COVE Award recipients, Lily Kelly, Evie Boyd and Myles Duggan. Our COVE Award is our most prestigious Award and is awarded to the person who most exemplifies our school values of Citizenship, Opportunity, Vibrancy and Excellence.

Canterbury Secondary Schools Swimming Champs

Cashmere students recently competed at the Canterbury Secondary Schools Swimming Championships 2021 - with some very pleasing results.

Education Outside the Classroom

Year 13 Tourism trip to Little River.

Whos who at Cashmere

My name is Lylian Carrasco Gaete and I am from Santiago, Chile. I live with my husband and two children and I am one of the Spanish teachers at Cashmere High. I moved to New Zealand in 2003 with my husband and my son Sebastian, who was two at the time.

I grew up in a small suburb in Santiago and I went to a catholic school from Year 1 to Year 13. When I finished school, I decided to study English as a second language because I always wanted to communicate with people from other countries, and since I was little, I had the dream of travelling around the world. I went to University (the equivalent to Teachers college) for five years and I became an English teacher. From there my interest in other cultures and languages grew and I started travelling. I was very lucky to share that same interest with the person who became my husband, so we made the most of our travelling together. Later on, the opportunity presented itself to come to New Zealand to teach Spanish at Cashmere High. Even though it was very scary to leave our country with our two year old son, we decided to embark on this adventure and very bravely left our family and friends to move to NZ for one year. We fell in love with NZ, its culture and its people, and what meant to be a one year adventure became the rest of our lives, and here we are 18 years later.

My daughter Catalina was born in NZ, and as a family we have tried to visit our home country as often as we can, so that our children keep connected to their roots and culture, that’s why our children are bilingual and encouraged to learn other languages as well.

My journey at Cashmere has been fantastic. I have learnt a lot and I have made true deep connections and friendships. I love teaching Languages and showing our students what is out there, because learning another language is not only learning different words, but learning another way to think about things.

Fortnight Ahead