Tēnā koutou katoa

This week has been very much dominated by Mid-Year examinations, which ran from Monday to Thursday for the Senior School, with students at school for supervised study or tutorials when they didn’t have an exam. Highlight for the Junior School was the Parents’ Afternoon Tea on Wednesday, which I unfortunately missed but watched parents streaming in as I sat in a meeting in my office. As with the Middle School Family Conferences last Friday, it’s always a pleasure to welcome family members into our classrooms and to have students sharing their work with them, and I gather from feedback that it was very much enjoyed by all. I apologise for not including our Rock Groups’ success in last week’s list of highlights. We had three bands entered in the Otago Regional Heats of the Smokefree Rockquest, and congratulate Aoife, Emily, Uma and Zoe on their band, Eris, being selected for the Otago Finals to be held on 16 June. At the other end of the musical spectrum, we are pleased to announce that Miss Skyla Murray, immediate past pupil and member of the National Youth Orchestra, has been engaged to conduct and train our school orchestra. They rehearse on Wednesday after school from 3.30 to 4.15, and would be very keen to have more instrumentalists join them. Please just come to the Music Room on Wednesday after school or let me or Mrs Casbolt know if you are interested.

We are currently trying to revive some practices that seem to have lapsed with all the disruption caused by Covid. One is the weekly Hamper donation to Presbyterian Support, which used to occur every Friday, rotating around the year levels. With the increased need that Presbyterian Support are noting, we thought we could increase our generosity by having each of our three schools bring in a can of baked beans or such like every third Friday. I was quite disappointed when senior students told me this was too often, given that a can of beans costs the equivalent of a third of a cup of coffee. However, in response we have added the Staff to donate to the Hamper every fourth Friday. We also have the annual Octacan Appeal coming up on 22 June and urge all our students to get behind this as we try to fill the outline of our school crest with cans. It will be drawn on the tar sealed area near the Junior School entrance. We will collect them in the week leading up to the 16th by House Groups, with special prizes for the House that donates the most. Another feature of our school year that appears to have gone into hibernation, is the Library Day Assembly, which always gives a boost to the selection of books in our library. Students may have noticed book plates at the front of some books, saying which class donated them and when. Different year levels have various ways of raising money for these donations, from a Pyjama Day in the Junior School to a simple donation further up the school. Students can choose the books that their form will donate Books will present them at a full school assembly in the Sports Centre on Monday 12 June. I’m also pleased that we can return to our usual St Columba Day Celebrations with a Chapel Service and cake at school on 9 June, followed by a 10am family service at First Church on 11 June.

Sickness levels are slowly on the rise among staff and students and I think we are ready for the long weekend. I wish you all a happy holiday before we brace ourselves for the winter temperatures that so far have been slow in arriving.

Ngā mihi nui, Jenness Riethmaier