As the saying goes, time flies when you’re having fun, and that would certainly seem to be true as we get ready to wrap up another school year.

Benny and I have had a blast this year as head prefects of Clayton, and it has genuinely been a pleasure to help welcome a fantastic bunch of new students to Clayton, alongside all of the other seniors.

Fresh from a kind of summer holiday stupor, it came as something of a shock to the Year 13s to find out that it was up to us to make House Day fun. We knew that we had Long Beach, a domain, and a sausage sizzle, but activities were our responsibility. We did our best, and although House Day got off to a rocky (literally) and late start following a minor run-in involving a bus and some narrow windy roads, we still had loads of fun getting sandy and wet.

In regard to house assemblies this year, well, they have been very few, and very far between. Less than positive memories of house assemblies from our junior years prompted us to have them only when necessary. That being said, this year each house held an assembly for Year 10 students, where they had the opportunity to ask a group of Year 13s any questions they had about NCEA next year, and Year 13s were able to share what they have learned, as well as tips and tricks from a student’s perspective to help things go smoothly. This was a Student Council initiative aimed at helping to reduce the stress of figuring out NCEA for the first time. We were very impressed with the Year 10s’ questions, and we hope that our advice comes in handy one day.

Clayton has enjoyed mixed success this year - we’ve placed second in a lot of things, like the annual inter house rowing competition, and the inter house dodgeball competition, and narrowly missing out on second at athletics day. However, where we may lack in overall skill, we certainly make up for in enthusiasm. It’s been fantastic to see people getting involved with all sorts of house competitions and having a go at things like handball, cross country, and karaoke even if it’s outside of their comfort zone. Best of luck for the coming years, and keep up the good work! (please you have to win the house cup next year, Omimi can’t reign forever)