Kia ora Tolcarne whanau. What a week! It has been a big few days, with various sporting finals taking place, Tribe singing, making homemade pizzas and our Junior Day Girl Breakfast!

Last Friday the juniors headed off to the indoor lawn bowls club with John McGlashan. They had a tournament of lawn bowls, mini golf, darts and pool - finishing the evening with a supper. This was the perfect way to spend a Friday night 😀

On Monday evening the Tribes got together after dinner, planning a song to present to the hostel and judges. We were so impressed with the level of commitment each Tribe put into their singing, with a range of High School Musical, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars and Miley Cyrus songs echoing down the halls.

Pizza making was our activity on Tuesday after school 🍕 We learnt to make dough from scratch, before covering each base with a range of our favourite toppings! These were the perfect lunch snack to take to school on Wednesday.

On Tuesday evening our First XI Hockey team had a fantastic win. It was an awesome game to watch, with such great support from the sideline and a fabulous Columba side to take on 💙💚 Well done to all of the players involved.

Wednesday signaled the Dunedin Metro Rugby Finals. We had a large group of boarders playing in the team and a bus load of supporters who headed down to watch. The 1st XV played a fantastic game, with Otago Girls winning by only 2 points. The girls showed incredible teamwork and skill, so bring on the First XV Highlanders Final against Southland Girls on Monday!

It has been awesome to see our students backing their friends and other year levels in sport this week. We have loved seeing this support - such a positive feel good vibe!

Year 9 Koru this week continued with our focus on 'fear'. Moving on from singing last session, we took on a 'taste test challenge'. This involved trying different foods blindfolded - some a lot nicer than others! It was highly entertaining for all, but also pushed us to our limits with the fear and uncertainty about what was on the end of the spoon! Well done to all of the Year 9 students for giving it a go 👏

This morning we held our 'Year 9 and 10 Day Girl Breakfast'. It was a great opportunity for the day girls to visit Tolcarne, able to eat breakfast with the boarders, make lunch and hang out before heading down the bush track to school. We loved welcoming these students and hope they enjoyed seeing what a normal morning looks like for a junior boarder!

This weekend there is lots of sport on again. We are hoping for sunny weather and warmer temperatures! Have a fabulous few days off and see you back on Sunday evening. Ma tē wā 👋

The Big Sing Cadenza