The Year 13 Physical Education class had an exciting trip to the Snow farm in Wanaka to complete a week long cross country ski trip.

The students especially loved the humour of their engaging cross country ski instructors. They were also very grateful to Ms Ward for her participation in the evening games, Ms McNatty for making pancakes for all the girls on Thursday morning and Ms Boomer for her endless optimism and high fives as they crossed the finish line on their final assessment.

It was an amazing back country environment and the students were able to enjoy consistent blue sky days and freshly groomed tracks. We were fortunate to have snow mounds made by other school groups to allow those who were keen to experience sleeping in the wonderful silence and warmth of a snow mound. It was also spectacular to watch the Chinese Paralympian team who were training on the tracks, over the week.

The girls developed their competence rapidly and as the days progressed, they spent more time on their feet rather than on the ground! Well done to all the students for working hard on this trip, which many found both mentally and physically challenging, and over the week they all realised that consistent practice and positive visualisation actually did enhance their performances. All the year 13 PE students on the trip achieved the practical assessment and special congratulations to Mika Cottle, Tahlia Roome, and Emily Williams-Davies for gaining excellence.