CHS Newsletter - July 25th, 2025
Science Fair | Dance | NZQA update
Principal’s Message
This week our Science Fair highlighted the remarkable curiosity and capability of our students.
Each project began with a thoughtful hypothesis, followed by research, testing, and a willingness to engage with unexpected results. As many students discovered, variables are not always predictable. That’s what makes science both challenging and exciting.
As Albert Einstein once said: “The important thing is to never stop questioning.” This spirit of curiosity and investigation was clearly visible on every science project board. Research shows that students with a broad base of scientific understanding are more likely to think critically, design robust experiments, and interpret results accurately. Mastering core concepts gives young people the tools to ask better questions and find better answers.
Thank you to our dedicated staff, our supportive families, and, most of all, our young scientists for your efforts this week.
Have a great weekend.
Hei konā mai
John Stradwick
Principal
Principal’s Assemblies – Recognition and Reminders
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Recent Year 10 and Year 11 assemblies were an opportunity to celebrate student achievement and reinforce important messages. In the Year 11 assembly, Fergus McDonald received the prestigious COVE Award for his leadership and consistent demonstration of our school values. It was encouraging to see so many students recognised across a wide range of areas.
The Year 10 assembly focused on the impact of habits on success: Good habits will support you, while bad habits can quietly hold you back — but the great thing is, the choice is yours.
For Year 11 students, the key message was that success in the upcoming exams will come down to effective planning and consistent revision. Head Girl Millie Palmer shared her top two revision strategies:
Using flashcards for retrieval practice
Creating mind maps on a topic, then checking them for missing information and repeating the process from memory.
Both techniques harness the power of retrieval, immediate feedback, and repetition — a proven formula for long-term retention.
Science Fair 2025
Thursday night saw Cashmere’s Science Fair take over A-Block - a fantastic showcase of curiosity, creativity, and commitment. The evening began with a musical performance from our Jazz combos in the McCombs Auditorium, followed by special guest speaker Briana Stevens. Since graduating from Cashmere in 2018, Briana has been a Fulbright Scholar and completed her masters at the University of California, Berkeley, and is currently working on her PhD at the University of Canterbury. It was amazing to hear about everything Briana has accomplished since leaving Cashmere - thank you for sharing your story with us!
After the opening, audience members headed over to A-Block, which was filled with a huge range of our students’ exhibits and presentations. Every year group was well-represented, with innovative experiments and well-researched investigations across Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Technology, Earth and Space Science, and Mātauranga Māori. The projects on display were a testament to the original and inquisitive minds we have here at Cashmere, demonstrating impressive scientific thinking and perseverance. We had a number of well-earned prizes across the difference subjects and year groups, but a special acknowledgement goes to the overall winners: “A Gift from Tangaroa” came third, “Pavlov’s Rats” received second place, and “Let It Slide” was awarded first place, Best in Fair.
DanceNZMade Competition
Last weekend, some of Cashmere’s talented students took part in the DanceNZMade tournament: a regional interschool dance competition for Christchurch’s high school dancers.
Sunday evening saw the solos and duos performed right here in the McCombs Auditorium; a number of our students received placings, including Eva Loose who came first in Year 12 for her solo. Monday shifted the tournament to the James Hay Theatre, consisting of dance workshops for the students in the morning, some valuable stage-time for rehearsing, then the competition in the evening where our junior team and open year level team competed.
Both groups performed polished, striking dances, with the junior team receiving third place and the open team coming second, as well as our combined group students receiving the third-highest score across all categories! Huge congratulations on these amazing results and a special shout out to Millie Bradford-Woodland, Connie Colquhoun, Lily Dougherty, Eva Loose, and Frances Tunnicliffe, each of whom received a Golden Ticket and will get the opportunity to travel to Palmerston North for a national competition next year. This would not have been possible without the dedicated mahi of dance teacher Issy Randall, who organised rehearsals for the comp teams and choreographed the open team’s dance. Thanks also to ex-student Lucy Chen, who choreographed the junior team and spent many hours adding rhinestones to the dancer’s costumes, making them literally sparkle onstage!
Junior Team: | Open Team: |
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NCEA/NZQA
Term 3 is an important time for students as they prepare for school examinations and prepare for the NCEA external examinations in Term 4.
Y11-13 School Examinations
The school examinations will run in Week 5 and 6 (Monday 11th August - Tuesday 19th August) of term 3. The school examination timetable is available on the school website. Our normal procedures will apply to missed examinations due to illness as these exams are the main form of evidence used for derived grades if a student is unable to attend on the day of the examination. A medical certificate will be required for a student to sit the exam at a later time. Students should let their subject teachers know of their absence in the first instance.
Upcoming School Board Elections – Timeline & Important Information
Cashmere High School is preparing for the upcoming Board of Trustees elections and warmly encourages parents and caregivers to consider standing for this important governance role. We’ve already had interest from members of our community, and we welcome more enquiries. READ MORE...
Keep an eye on your emails and our website for up to date information.
Key Dates
Also see our full calendar on our website HERE
Wednesday 30th July - Best of Broadway Music nights: Wednesday-Friday
Monday 11th August - Senior Exams begin (Week 5-6)
Wednesday 20th August to Tuesday 26th August - 2026 Subject Selection Week
Monday 25th August - Winter Sport Tournament Week (selected Prem. groups only)
Thursday 4th September - NCEA Co-req Reading Examination (Yr 10s)
Friday 5th September - NCEA Co-Req Writing Examination (Yr 10s)
Friday 5th September - Senior Formal (Y12-13)
Tuesday 9th September - NCEA Co-Req Numeracy Exam (Yr 10s)
Best of Broadway
