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Photo by Brendan Biggs

RIMG 2021 Magazine

Maureen Gaffaney —

This has been another challenging year for all of us in RIMG, most especially for Tyler Cogle who has fought through the last 21 months trying to overcome some severe medical hurdles. It has been really great to hear recently that he has managed to complete Maths assessments and is planning to be back with us at STC in 2022.

Our only Year 13 student, Matthew Peoples, this year successfully completed his Queen’s Scout Award which will be presented to him next year in Wellington by the Governor General. This is the highest award in scouting and is the culmination of his commitment since the age of five to the Rolleston Scout Group. He has also had a successful year academically in preparation for going to Otago University in 2022 and he is hoping for an Excellence endorsement this year. He was a valuable player in the 3rd XV Rugby team.

Our Year 12 students have also been busy. Lachlan Reid found that lockdown gave him some extra time to focus on school work and meet deadlines. Tayler Mutton claimed that he had been very nice to his teachers. He is delighted to have got a part-time job. They are both well on the way to completing Level Two requirements. Jake Hayward has been working at completing a CTC course and has also found time to have a part-time job and play rugby.

At Year 11 Angus O’Connell has had a busy year and is on track for a successful Level One Certificate. Noah Parsons has really enjoyed Tech this year (and the holidays) and he is looking forward to completing a CTC course next year.

Nick Harris has enjoyed catching up with mates this year and doing a lot of swimming, while Fernando Mosa has liked playing games and selling cars. Lachlan Larsen has shown good progress in Graphics while Lochlan McManus has enjoyed all his subjects and made some more friends in his second year at STC.

In Year 9, Tito Ripley has improved in his STEM class and he has been getting on well with his teachers. He’s found the work quite challenging this year but has enjoyed Elite Sport and Music. Caleb Dyson joined us this year and enjoyed the Digital Selected course. Towards the end of Term Three Caleb’s family moved to Ashburton where he will initially be home schooled.

James Jacques regretted that lockdown delayed and cancelled important events but he enjoyed being able to hang out with his family and do some work with no distractions. Finn Matheson also enjoyed spending time with his family and having the opportunity to relax. He also found it easier to work without distractions. They would like to have more options in the Selected subjects and regretted they missed out on ABL.

Jackson Hanson and Harry Gallagher have both enjoyed their first year at St Thomas’ and have taken advantage of the sporting opportunities that they weren’t offered at their previous schools. They thought the Connected subjects are a good idea. They both thought the Sacramental Programme was worthwhile and they learned things they couldn’t have found out by themselves. Harry enjoyed it because he was able to make his First Communion and be confirmed as well as being baptised. They both said “The Tuckshop is great”!

The whole class got really involved with the activities in Special Character Week and one highlight was the Fair where RIMG teamed up with RIMA again to provide and sell baked goods. Together we raised over $340 and thanks to the inspired salesmanship of Finn towards the end we sold everything.