Hopefully this year you will forgive me if I perhaps indulge in a little more reflection than is usual at this time of year, but this will be my last Yearbook comment while at Hornby High School, and there is much to reflect upon.

Every year these notes remark on what a busy year it has been for the staff of Hornby High School, and 2022 may arguably be the busiest and most demanding in recent memory.

Nidhi Prasad

Natasha Fry

Nadia Officer

It is with great sadness that I will be resigning from Hornby High School to take up a role as Curriculum Leader of English at Middleton Grange School.

I have been acting Shakespeare specifically since I was 12 years old. I grew up being told I was “too loud”, “too dramatic”, someone who should “bite their tongue” and should just stick to academics. My experience with Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand, through the Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand University of Otago, Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Regional Festivals over the past 7 years, including the National Festival held in Wellington in 2021, and 2022, the SGCNZ National Shakespeare School Production in 2021 and the SGCNZ Young Shakespeare Company in 2022 have been the largest contributing factors to my happiness. Without the kindness, patience and generosity of my fellow SGCNZ members, I don’t think I would be the person I am today.

In Classical Studies a mixed group of Year 12 &13 students along with Mrs Joanne Clark explored the influence of Greece and Rome on today’s world.

We are very lucky to have 6 exceptional musicians that teach instrumental music at Hornby High School.

Alesha (Year 12), Michaela (Year 12), Ruby (Year 12) and Tyra (Year 12) represented our school by competing in the Year 12 annual Canterbury History Quiz.

This year our learning focused on the Second World War and students looked in depth at Aotearoa New Zealand's involvement in the pacific theatre.

Earlier this year, our Year 10 and 11 students were offered the chance to work towards their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award. DOE accredited facilitator Chris Allan guided our teachers Mr Tony Palmer and Mrs Trish Hastie to become Award Leaders.

2022 has been another busy year for the Japanese department, as we slowly but surely transition back into ‘the new normal’.

“Make it happen” was the theme for Business Studies for 2022 at Hornby High School.

Learning English is challenging at the best of times: more so for ELL (English Language Learners) from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

Some people have established a mind-set that mathematics is a difficult and tedious subject.

Kia ora koutou katoa, 2022 has been another fantastic year.

After another year of running our programmes at Hornby High School, we have again had so many success stories with the students, lots of challenges and tonnes of learning.

It has been a wonderful year for theatre, especially Shakespeare’s plays.

There has been a wonderful display of Hornby High School talent this year, starting with the fundraising concert which helped Nadia to reach her goal of going to London to train and perform at the Globe Theatre.

Another successful year for the students who worked hard to prepare their scenes for the SGCNZ University of Otago Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival.

This year an argumentative group of students were encouraged by Mr Russell Cairns to sharpen their tongues, hone their fighting skills, and join the New Zealand Schools' Debating Competition.

We could call this year the wet year as many of our practical assessment journeys got rained on, the price you sometimes pay when trips are booked up to a year in advance.

Meet our Prefects for 2023

It has been another busy year in Careers. Amongst the disruptions of Covid we have still managed to give our students lots of opportunities.

Gateway has had another successful year. With twenty eight students through the Gateway programme we managed to end the year with a very successful NCEA credit pass rate. This has only been achieved with hard work and determination given by our Gateway students.

On Friday 12 August, the genres and features were released for the annual weekend of film making throughout New Zealand.

Our Year 13 History class were lucky enough to visit Akaroa for the day.

On Tuesday 10th May a small group of Level 1 Geography Students travelled around four beaches in Christchurch to collect data for their research assessment. The assessment looks at the effect of wind on waves and also the shapes of the beach.

The Year 13 History class spent time learning about the Central Otago Gold Rush, and completing a ten credit research internal.

Level 3 Geography takes an annual trip to Kaikoura to collect data for their research topic so on the 11th March they packed up their gear and headed north to Kaikoura.