Tēnā koutou kātoa! We are now nearing the end of Term 2, with Years 9 – 13 students having completed their Mid-Year Exams. This is always the time of year when anxiety and stress levels among students start to rise.

It is timely that Ms Kate Lindsay has collated the results of the Wellbeing Survey conducted last year and is now working on implementing some of the strategies that have come out of this survey.  She is running a Wellbeing Workshop for students on Wednesday mornings, and has established Student and Staff Wellbeing committees. She has also engaged Robert Pereira to deliver his “Empowering the Bystander” Programme in the Junior, Intermediate and Secondary Schools early next term. 

This will complement our approach to encouraging students, who are being bullied, to come forward to senior students, deans or me, so we can get the bully to reflect on her or his behaviour and its effects on others. We are grateful to the Parents’ Association for their willingness to fund this programme.

There have been many highlights and successes since the previous newsletter, and I would like to especially mention our Saint Columba Day Services, firstly at school and then in First Church. It’s always a pleasure to see the whole school gathered in the Assembly Hall and to see the oldest and the newest student cutting the cake. This year it was Amelia Willis and Gizelle Fa’atoese. 

However, the real highlight was Dr Macleod’s first Columba Day address in her new role as our Chaplain, followed on Sunday by an equally inspiring address in First Church, wearing the Columba Scarf. This was made by Eileen Bolitho, mother-in-law of Rev. Dr Geoff King in 1998, when he was our College Chaplain. Geoff donated it to Columba to be worn by future Chaplains when he left to take up the position of Minister of Knox Church in Christchurch.

Mrs Graves and Mrs Riepl have a group of forty Years 12 and 13 students who are enrolled for Scholarship tutorials at the University of Otago. They meet before school on Thursdays to discuss how to prepare for Scholarship, with every fourth meeting being a Scholars’ Breakfast. We are grateful to the anonymous parent who has offered to sponsor these breakfasts. 

I was also very impressed at the suggestion made by our Year 13 students that we create a new Prefect role – that of Academic Prefect, and that they went one step further by suggesting that Kate Truman would be the perfect choice. Lydia Joseph presented her with her badge in Assembly last Monday, accompanied by rousing applause from her peers.

Congratulations to our Number One Debating Team of Lydia Christensen, Lydia Joseph and Bridget Scott, who have won all the cups in the Regional Debating Competition. Lydia Joseph and Bridget Scott, together with Sabrina Swerdloff from Otago Girls’, represented Otago-Southland in the National Schools Debating Championships and went right through to the final round in the Grand Hall of Parliament, narrowly losing to the Auckland Team. Bridget received a Highly Commended Award and Lydia Joseph has been named Captain of the New Zealand Team that will travel to Prague and Croatia to compete in the World Schools Debating Championships.

Congratulations also go to our Year 7 students, Clara Ballentyne, Grace Hill, Natalie McDonald and Tessa Smith, on coming second in the National Kids’ Lit Quiz in Wellington.

Winter sports are well under way with all teams performing well. The Football and Hockey 1st XI teams are both top of the table, and our top Curling Team has been moved from the Novice to Experienced Grade. The STAC Winter Tournament was a great experience for both sides, with Columba winning the Hockey, drawing the Basketball, while St Andrews won the Football, Netball and Debating. The Quad Tournament will be hosted by St Hilda’s in early August, a week before the Year 9 Ski Camp, so no clash this year.

Since this will be the last newsletter for this term I wish you all a relaxing, enjoyable holiday break and hope that our students all have the chance to recharge their energy levels and determination in preparation for a busy Term 3.

Ngā mihi nui

Ms Jenness Riethmaier