Who are we? - - - - We are the Green team - - - - We are the meme team - - - - We are the Trophy taking better -than -we -seem team - - - - Who are we? - - - - Toroa! - - - - Who are we? - - - - Toroa!

Sure we are, but we are more than that: throughout the year the members of Toroa have shown themselves to be truly kind individuals, who, cliched as it may seem, strive to be happy in themselves, who support those around them and who value the 'I' most out of the RMI values. (Respectful, Motivated and Inclusive).

House day this year was again at our beloved Taieri Mouth, for me it was a day full of dodging gumboots, getting covered with raw egg, dunking myself in the fresh, but sparkling ocean and investigating what the vegetarian food table had to offer. For others, this was a time of building sandcastles, making new friends and feeding sausages to a rather ravenous pooch -( we never did find out the end product of the 13 sausages he ate).

Sports day saw us Toroians bravely venture out once more unto the Caledonian, our scars from past defeat still raw, we gritted our teeth and let our chant of green team identity pierce the warm, March air. Stiff hamstrings flexed, vampire skin saw the sun, muscles we never knew existed asserted themselves, but ultimately we lost. Again. But we saw it as a victory because our albatross runners had at least left the nest and ventured into the orange skies of the Caledonian ground.

The other house competitions lost no time in coming for us. We saw great heroes sacrifice themselves to the cause. Some more reluctantly than others. A team of year 9 boys perhaps the ultimate heroes, answering Silas and my cries unto the playground for ‘ 7 junior handball players in the next 2 minutes!’ materialised 5 keen, talented handballers in 2.5 seconds, who saved the day and won us the match.

Despite this, all in all, we won the battle, not the war. However, I hypothesise that the cure for the titters annually produced at prize-giving when revealed we have won house cup fewer times than the extinct Potiki would be found in the acquisition of a life-sized soft toy Albatross mascot. Aoraki has a dragon ( for no foreseen reason) - our Toroa bear is all lonesome and comraderie can only help our cause.

Thus what more is there to say than that we have loved our 5-year stint as Torians. Characterised not by our wins but by our commitment to being decent, kind human beings- that's what matters after all. Connor and I have so enjoyed getting to know you all this year, and standing at the Pearls of Wisdom assembly a few weeks ago, I saw faces staring back at me full of talent, love and respect for one another and hope of hope for the future of our world, which so desperately needs people with Toroian characteristics.

So now we stand, poised to step out off the nest and soar off into whatever life has planned for us, knowing full well who we are.

Who are we?

We are the Green team

We are the meme team

We are the Trophy taking better -than -we -seem, team,

Who are we?

Toroa!

Who are we?

Toroa!