Week 4, Term 4, 2019

Kia Ora, Talofa Lava and warm greetings,

A night of nostalgia for many families on Tuesday night as the Christchurch Schools' Music Festival returned to the Town Hall to mark the 80th Music Festival.  The performance to celebrate the return to the Town Hall for the first time in 9 years was fitting and it was wonderful that we were included. So many highlights for me, the first being the message from Doug Kelly, one of the founders of the Festival, the acoustics of the Town Hall and the share numbers of students and families. Just a wonderful occasion.

As always, the 120 strong Cobham contingent was well turned out and they continued Cobham's proud musical history, a history of excellence, a history of significant numbers and a history of enjoyment. Again a big thank you to Philippa Chilvers for her hard work and more specifically for her attention to detail.

I would also like to congratulate the students who have been part of the Music Festival for the week representing numerous groups. I know these students have spent significant time rehearsing both individually and with their respective groups, so well done to you all.  In all, we had 16 students in the Representative Senior Choir, 8 students in the Representative Orchestra and 3 students in the Representative Concert.

Last week we kicked off the first of our Year 8 camps with Room 21 heading out to Waipara.  In the coming weeks, we have camps in Hanmer, Mt Cook, Stewart Island, Abel Tasman National Park and Arthur’s Pass.  I would like to thank our teachers for their preparatory work as considerable planning goes into a camp to ensure students have both a safe and memorable camp experience.  Looking back on my schooling I can remember all of my school camps in a favourable manner and I do hope that in time, our current Cobham students look back at their camps with similar views.

I know that Cobham is one of the few schools to offer camping experiences in both Year 7 and Year 8 and this is something we are proud of and will endeavour to maintain in the future.

Our Year 7 cohort also started their sailing days this week out at Lake Rua.  Again the weather has been good to date and those classes that have attended have thoroughly enjoyed the day.  Thanks to those parents who have offered their time as parent helpers.

Congratulations to Hugh Ryan and Maya Rodnyanskiy who represented Cobham at the National Future Problem Solving Championships held in Auckland last weekend. The pair excelled, both finishing second in New Zealand for their writing endeavours. Well done team and a big thank you to Mr John and Mrs Rankin who escorted the team north and who have skillfully guided and supported our Future Problem Solving students throughout the year.

Congratulations to our Jump Jam team that competed on Saturday night at the South Island Jump Jam competition. Our team, guided and supported by Miss Crawford, Miss McKinney and Miss Smitheram were wonderful ambassadors for Cobham.  A big thank you to the aforementioned teachers for their guidance, support and time. Always pleasing when staff members can share passions and skills with students.

Well done to our A water polo team who won the South Island title for the second year running. A big thank you to the parents who made this weekend possible.

Thank you for your support with the sunhats and sunscreen. Obviously, with the hot weather in recent days, the field trips and time students have spent outside, hats and sunscreen have been important for protecting our students.  Hats can be purchased from the school office if your child is unable to locate a suitable sunhat. Students who don’t wear sun hats at lunchtimes will be supervised indoors.

The PTA will be holding their AGM on Tuesday 19 November, upstairs in the staffroom. We would love to have you part of this group.

Just some dates for the diary - Year 8 Prizegiving is being held on Monday 16 December at Christchurch Boys’ High School Hall at 7 pm. This is the last day of school for Year 8 students. The Year 7 prizegiving will be held in the Cobham Hall at 11 am on Tuesday 17 December. School closes for Year 7 students at 12.20 pm this day.

The Year 8 Formal will be held on the evening of Thursday 12 December.  Big Day Out for Year 7 students is on Thursday 12 December and for Year 8 students is Friday 13 December.

Thank you to those parents who have settled accounts to date. We appreciate accounts being settled before the end of year events like the formal and Big Day Outs. If you have any questions regarding school accounts please contact Jo McGregor at jo.mcgregor@cobham.school.nz

Ngā mihi nui,