What a year it has been for these GREAT men of MALE. Through ups and downs, trials, and tribulations they have come out on top and had a successful year where boys have turned into young men. Most importantly we bid farewell to several year 13 students who will leave their boats behind and march on into the real world. They include AJ Abdelaal, Jack Smith, Kevin McKie and Jamie Queliste. A massive, good luck to these young gentleman as they start to make their impact on the world and go on to work or study opportunities.

Some highlights for this mentor class have been – the shared breakfast at the start of the year, the shared lunches and activities we have had, the bonding and relationships that were made during mentor time and also the work that the boy’s put into for Special Character Week. This week was huge with the Fair on the Wednesday. This year the boys raised over $200 to go to the charity through creating a dart board game – this was very popular with the students in the school.

Quick overview of our mentor class….

Tanielu Leo’o the glue of the mentor class, Bailey Streeter the quiet achiever, Gabe Kennedy the reliable and music creator, Flyn McKendry the cricketing mentor, Connor Bennett the sensible leader of the computer game/handball club, Darby Renata – Johvaans bro , Josh Rea the quiet achiever x2, Connor Stanley who loves to chat about softball, rugby and what teachers get up too, Seth Hill the gutsy little rugby player, Jack Brophy the polite and responsible man, Kevin Mckie the OG , Charlie Dixon the Rower, Jack Smith the weekend story teller, professional eater and prop, Aj Abdelaal the injury prone 1st xv hooker, Jamie Queliste the artist, Franke Mc Ardle the apple product influencer and Maretino Kaloudau the flying Fijian express. These are just some of the features of these men but above all they have true heart and show plenty of Manawa in each endeavour they take on.

As the mentor teacher I have been massively proud of this group. Especially going through the lockdown period where regularly we would meet to check inn with one another and make sure we were all doing ok. This was a tough period but these regular meetings and seeing each other face to face via team’s video calls were a important part of getting through this period.

Best wishes for the Christmas and New Year Holiday period – MALE will be back in 2021!