As some of you may know, Youth Parliament 2022 was held last week on Tuesday and Wednesday, and I was lucky enough to be one of the 120 Youth MPs involved.

Wednesday's Open Day saw sunshine and crowds of keen visitors at the College

Last weekend, the first stages of the annual TheatreFest competition were held in Dunedin.

This past Tuesday evening saw the return of the annual Otago University Senior Classical Studies Quiz. Six Columba College teams were in attendance, battling for supremacy against the likes of Logan Park, Kings and Otago Boys’ in a contest more fraught than the Siege of Tyre (332 BC).

Year 13 student Jo O'Halloran took the opportunity to further her leadership skills in Fiji during the last school holidays.

As the winter sports season draws to a close, the hottest spot in town has been Ōtepoti’s Ice Stadium, playing host to the 2022 Dunedin Schools’ Curling Championship. With Columba College teams taking part in both the Novice and Experienced grades, their ice-capades have entertained and enthralled over the course of the past 10 weeks.

Congratulations to Shela Luckhurst and Sophie Bowmar (Y13) who won the final against Kings High, and also to Zoe McElrea and Sophie Davis (Y12) who took out third place in the Bronze final for the competition.

For many years, it has been a tradition that the International Ski Camp is held at the start of term three. It is an opportunity for Columba College international students and school friends to enjoy three days of skiing and snowboarding at Coronet Peak.

On Wednesday, 10th August, a group of Years 4 - 6 Columba students headed off to Bishopscourt to participate in the annual inter-school Hills Cluster Cross Country Championships. Their selection to attend the champs was determined by results from our own school cross country held earlier this year and, despite freezing conditions, the Junior students outshone all expectations!

Voting papers have been mailed out.

For this year’s Open Day, the English department relished the opportunity to make use of our wonderful library, while also celebrating Aotearoa NZ School Library Week (August 8th -12th) and looking ahead to National Poetry Day (August 26th).

Welcome to Vox Populi, where Columba College ākonga cast a critical eye over pop culture happenings. This week, we welcome Nanni Ge (Year 10) to review Jack London’s chilling cautionary tale To Build a Fire.

Steeped in 62 years of tradition and history, the much anticipated winter Quad Tournament with St. Margaret's College (ChCh), Craighead College (Timaru), St. Hilda's Collegiate and Columba College was held across Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th August in Dunedin.

Our Senior A Netball team will be running a Sports Programme for students during the upcoming Teachers Only Day on Friday 26 August.

The Columba rowers are getting ready for the new season and would like to invite you to come and have a go!