It is hard to believe that Term One is nearly finished! This term has been a whirlwind of excitement as we moved into the new buildings and established ourselves as Rimu House in Karetū.

I could not have achieved as much as we have if it were not for Rimu’s House Leader, Pirika Sinclair-Phillips. Together we chose our excellent Senior House Captain team and in turn they interviewed the Junior applicants. What an amazing pool of students we have who are keen to represent their house and share their House Spirit amongst their peers.

We are very pleased to have these five juniors working with us in our goal of winning the House Shield this year: Renee Hunter, Chloe Schroeder, Holly Reuben, Ty Oldroyd and Manaia Gray.

We are also pleased to unveil our brand new House Mascots and Logo designs. Rimu’s mascot is the mighty Raptor, fiercely fighting off foes with its braun and small arms! Our amazing new logos were designed by the very talented Christchurch designer Lauren Taylor, who worked with the Deans and staff in creating colourful and stylish logos and mascot designs for each house. A huge thank you to Lauren for her hard work and patience - the end results are amazing!

This week the Rimu House Captain team ran the first House Challenge for the year - an Easter themed ‘Blindfold Three-legged race easter egg hunt’. This used the Karetū atrium central space and engaged a huge number of interested students. Unfortunately, Rimu ended up in last place (in their own challenge!) but everyone was a winner on the day as there was plenty of chocolate to go around. Congratulations to Totara for not only having the fastest track time, but also taking out first place for the House Challenge. Let’s hope next term is Rimu’s chance to make a come back from behind - go the underdogs!!

Celia Breen - Rimu Dean