Deans' News

The DeansSeptember 19, 2018

As Term 3 draws to a close and the weather heats up, the Deans find themselves reflecting on how quickly this year has flown by.

We have calculated that as of today (Monday 17th), there are 24 more days of school for the Seniors in 2018! We wish all of our senior students the best of luck for their remaining few weeks and the external exams in November. A huge thank you also to our Senior House Captains for all of their input of ideas, effort, energy and organisation skills for House Challenges, assemblies and other activities around school this year.

This year's House Leaders have been particularly competent, and leave big shoes to fill for next year's applicants. Students wanting to apply for House Captain positions need to keep an eye on the school notices, as forms will be available in Term 4. We expect that applications will open in week 2 for seniors and week 5 for juniors. We are also watching for students who impress us through their attendance and participation at House Challenges, as well as participation in assemblies, or showing our school values around the grounds or in our new blocks.

Our new buildings have provided some neat opportunities: so far this term we have held house challenges, house assemblies, staff PD sessions, and a great PTA quiz evening! Tāwera and Karetū have been popular spots at break times and before school, and it’s lovely to see that students are making the most of the warmer weather and using the outside areas more too.

This term, the Year 13 head students have continued to run the Staff vs Students competitions, including a Kahoot and Fat Mat Splat. The score is level at 2-2 so next term’s final challenge will be the deciding competition for 2018 - exciting times!

Each year we have a Year 13 vs Staff Dress up day competition and the buy-in for 2018 has been brilliant. A recent favourite was ‘Superhero’, and we look forward to this Friday’s ‘pyjama day’, as well as next term’s ‘Around the World’ (countries) and ‘Occupations’ (the job you'd rather have / want to have in the future).

The Student Council ran Spirit Week in week 7 of this term, aptly supported by the Deans and House Captains. There were many great events planned, including a delicious bake sale and fun clue search through the blocks. The ‘Character’ or ‘National Dress’ dress-up day was a real highlight, with many excellent group entries. The judging was particularly difficult because of the great lengths some people had gone to! Top place winners for the judges included a group of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ characters, the gang from ‘Scooby Doo’, and ‘Bob the Builder’ and his team of merry machines.

The house point competition has been fierce this year! Mataī and Kauri have been battling it out for first place this term, with Kauri currently in the lead by 25 points. The overall competition is still anyone’s game though, Rimu and Tōtara only need a couple of wins under their belts to challenge the front runners. Make sure you turn up to the House Challenges as we need as many participants as possible to help the right house (Rimu!) win the House Cup!

In Term 4, after our Seniors leave, the Junior House Shield kicks off. Our juniors will battle it out with weekly challenges and even afternoon full school challenges. It is always a hotly contested shield heading into the final stages of the year. Make sure you come along, get involved, and make the most of all opportunities this wonderful school has to offer you - your years here will fly by!

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