Sheppard House News

Kaua e mate wheke, mate ururo...

… and welcome to Sheppard House for 2020. This is my first year as Head of Sheppard House, with Mr Anderson deciding to return to the Dean role, and I have felt thoroughly welcomed by our wonderful students, staff and whānau. We have also welcomed a number of new teachers, with Ms Duncan (Maths), Mr Bakker (Science) and Ms Ellen (English) all joining Ngāti Mako.

2020 has brought a range of challenges so far, but we have also seen great success for Sheppard House. We have been ably led by our Executive team who have been a great support and I would personally like to thank them for helping me settle in and teaching me the unique Sheppard values.

Here’s what the Executive team have to say about the year so far:

Holly Warming-Smith: Being one of Sheppard’s House Captains for 2020 has been an awesome experience so far. Well done to everyone with their contribution to the House competitions. At the moment we are facing uncertain and challenging times. The Sheppard family needs to stick together and look out for each other. I can’t wait to get back to school and see you all once again 🦈

Shontay Simpson: Being House Captain has definitely been challenging in light of our current events, however even though it has been difficult recently, it has still been fun. Being able to see Sheppard grow into a cool and competitive house has been amazing and I can't wait to see you all after the lockdown is over!

Genaya Taylor: Being on the Sheppard House executive this year has been a great experience so far. It has definitely put me outside my comfort zone and has allowed me to achieve goals that I have set for myself. I have been able to improve my organisation and leadership skills by working with a range of different people. I have particularly enjoyed watching Sheppard House come together on Sports' Day and in House competitions such as Senior SummerFest and I am looking forward to seeing this more throughout the year.

Jess Mitchell: Being a part of the Sheppard Executive team for 2020 has been an amazing experience, that has made me step out of my comfort zone. It’s given me the chance to give back to my House, but also be a big part of it which I have really enjoyed. I also have loved working with the best team. I cannot wait to get back into it and see what the rest of the year has in store!

Jack Sail: Being on the Sheppard Executive has been very eventful so far this year and has been a different but good experience. It's been good to develop my leadership skills over the term we've had at school so far and having added responsibilities like planning assemblies and getting SummerFest sorted. It will be exciting as the year goes on to plan more events and try to lead Sheppard to win the House Cup once we all move on from this pandemic.

Nicholas Dykes: I have thoroughly enjoyed being on the Executive team so far this year. It has instilled a sense of responsibility and pride towards the school. Being able to give back and make an active contribution towards the school, has been important in my character development. Taking up a leadership position in the school forces one to be selfless, not selfish. That is one thing I can take away from being on the Executive team. As everything is geared towards the benefit of others. I'm looking forward to continuing my role as a Sheppard Executive. I can't wait for the rest of the year ahead of us. Let's go Sheppard Sharks!

We started the year with some wonderful performances from all of Ngāti Mako at Sports Day. It was fantastic to see such huge participation from the students in black and white, with some fabulous individual and team performances on the day, as well as many wonderful displays of sportsmanship. We narrowly missed out on winning the trophy, but second place marked a great start to our year in the House competition.

The Senior SummerFest competition wound up in Week 7 and proved a great opportunity for our seniors to show House spirit and demonstrate their sporting prowess. It was great to see so many committed students giving up their lunchtimes to participate, even when the weather didn’t play ball. Our Volleyball team went from strength to strength as the tournament went on, with some wonderful diving shots and huge smashes. We also had some excellent performances in the Touch team, ending with two great wins and a draw. All the players made valuable contributions, but a special mention must go to Rebekah Morton-Jones of 13SSVA who, having never played Touch before, didn’t miss a match and was a great asset to the team. I would like to congratulate and thank all those who took part in our Senior SummerFest teams for their contribution and effort.

The unprecedented events of the COVID-19 pandemic meant that both our Year 9 camp at the Boyle River and Junior SummerFest were not able to go ahead as planned. However, we have welcomed a wonderful group of new Year 9 students to Sheppard House and they have settled in well, producing some excellent work and already displaying our Sheppard values throughout school. We are all looking forward to returning to the House competition later in the year, as we now sit only one point behind the leaders, Hillary.

We hope that all of our Sheppard whānau are keeping safe and well in your mirumiru (bubble) and we can’t wait to see you all again soon.

Kia kaha, kia māia, kia manawanui Ngāti Mako!

Mrs Dowling

Head of Sheppard House