Lydiard House News

Wow, it is April already.

We have had a wonderful bunch of 60 students join our Lydiard Whānau and already they are making their mark. We welcome new staff to our House as well; Mr Jervis (Technology ), Mr Cairns (English) and Mrs Middleton (Science) join our House as Form Teachers and we look forward to their contribution to our young people over the year.

With no access to our school field, Sports' Day  was a largely new event based at the Rangiora Showgrounds with different events and an emphasis more on team work, rather than straight out sport and athletics events. The House responded positively to these changes and everyone did pretty well on what was a very hot and tiring day. I am proud of all the students who tried their personal best and vied for those valuable house points.

Year 9 Camp was held at the end of February at the Boyle Lodge, rather than postponed because of a cyclone as it was last year! This was three days of new challenges, both physical and social, where students learned new skills and got to try a lot of new and different activities. A big thanks to those teachers and senior leaders who made this camp possible. Your contribution is truly appreciated.

I would also like to thank and congratulate the peer support leaders who have made the transition for our Year 9’s to High School that much more enjoyable and easier to cope with. We know this has for some made a journey that was initially quite daunting, into an enjoyable one, thanks.

Our 2019 Student Executive of House Captains Caitlin Constable & Jacob Patchett and Executive team members Bronte Daniels, Natasha Drummy, Jack Grundy and Nikayla Cameron are working hard behind the scenes to make sure that the year is a success for the House.

Our first inter-house competitions have taken place for both senior and juniors with variable levels of results for our house. Personally, I am disappointed with the overall results, but our student leaders and I are investigating ways to improve this for the rest of the year.

This term has been difficult especially because of the events of March 15. This has affected everyone differently with many of us experiencing a real feeling of emotional overload. We encourage everyone to talk about how they are feeling if they feel they need it. Our goal for Lydiard House is to strive for our personal best in all we do. We encourage all Lydiard House members to remember our House motto of “take the Long view and work towards it”. If we keep making the effort, the results will come. Come on Tigers!

Ian Johnson

Head of Lydiard House