It was exciting to begin the year knowing that we had two Young Enterprise teams. To do that we had Mr Doran take on this challenge for the first time with a first-time mentor (but was a Columba Young Enterpriser) Amy Columb.

They worked with Ōtepoti Beans to produce caramel infused coffee. The other team, Hive9, mentored by Rachel Bird and Mrs Bishop produced dehydrated honey. There were many enterprise experiences along the way – there is learning in every situation positive or negative!!

A new development this year for Year 12 Economics was having John McGlashan students in the class. It is interesting for the girls to hear different points of view on economic situations. Year 12 Accounting has expanded its use of Xero, using their new learning platform.

Some Year 11 students took the opportunity to participate in the National Skill Case Study Competition run by the University of Auckland. It was quite challenging, and we were very pleased when a team consisting of Charlotte Barker, Emma Davis and Phoebe Ozanne got through to the National Semi Finals. It was quite demanding in terms of time and having to present by Skype. We were grateful to Mr Seamus Gray, a student teacher with us at that time, for his input to guide the team.

Enterprise Market Day is the highlight of the Year 10 course. The weeks leading up to the actual day are stressful as each team tries to find a produce to sell. At the beginning of the term the students say ‘everything has already been done’, but by the end of the term they have found something that everyone would love to buy. It is an exciting time for the Y10 students and their young customers.

In the course of their Financial Literacy programme in Year 9 Economics the students earn an income in Term 3 to spend at an auction at the end of term. They work hard to earn as much as they can to get first choice at the auction items. Learning takes place in lots of different forms.

Our third year of Agribusiness brought more developments to the course. Year 12 continues on with their internals aided with case study details from the field trip to Central Otago. This year we visited a Saffron farm at Ettrick, Cardrona Whiskey Distillery, Wrights Honey, a high-country sheep station, Ettrick Apple packing shed and heard a talk from the Mt Difficulty marketing manager as well as a fascinating talk from Andy Ramsden about his new sheep breed – Headwater. We also had several speakers through the year. In Year 13 the students continued the mentoring programme and we are very grateful to people in many roles in our business community for agreeing to help with this. A trip to Scott Technology to learn about their recent capital development proved to be very interesting. The highlight of the year was the visit to the Bay of Plenty to learn more about the Kiwifruit industry. Starting in Auckland with a visit to a Dung Beetle farm - this was an inspiration - then on to Te Puke. At Te Puke the students stayed on a Marae and that was a first for most. The ‘Aunties’ and ‘Uncles’ were very keen to show the students some tikanga. We went to Zespri Headquarters, an orchard where we pruned and grafted vines, to Food and Plant Scientific Research where we met a scientist involved in developing new strains and protecting old ones. We also did an academic interchange with St Paul’s Collegiate – the Centre of Agribusiness.

The staff are grateful to everyone who has helped us over the year.

Mrs S. Bishop

HOD Commerce