Kia ora Tolcarne whānau. It feels as if we are back into regular routine now, with the newbies having adjusted to daily life and sports/extra curricular activities in full swing!

On Monday we had our first Tribe Dinner, which was a new experience for some of our students! Everyone was dressed head to toe in their colours, meeting new people from their Tribe and sharing dinner together. We also heard from the Year 13s and voted for our new Tribe Leaders!

Tuesday afternoon rolled around and the Year 9s were able to have a go at clay jewellery making. With all sorts of coloured clay, came all sorts of creations! From rings and bracelets, to charms and animal ornaments, we saw it all. Next week we will bake and glaze the final designs!

On Tuesday it was also Valentine's Day 💕 With the hostel decorated in the morning by the seniors, along with the school Archway, everyone was feeling the love! To finish our day the Year 13s organised cupcake decorating with the Year 9s. This was a special way for the seniors to spend time with the juniors, while decorating cupcakes in all things pink and sweet!

Year 9 Koru this week had a focus on our Tolcarne Values. We were lucky enough to have some of the Year 12 Boarding Leaders join us, who knew first hand what these were all about! After discussing what each value meant and represented, the students were put into small groups to create a short skit. Each performance showed how we would use a certain value in daily Tolcarne life positively, and what it would look like if we weren't using our values. As always the skits were highly entertaining and all of the groups did extremely well! Ka pai 👏

This weekend the juniors have the option to head surfing with Bex. This is always a highlight on the activities calendar, so fingers crossed for sunshine and perfect surfing conditions! We hope the rest of you have a fabulous weekend, ma tē wā 👋

Otago Secondary Schools' Tennis Teams Tournament