Notes from Assembly Monday 19 May 2025

Associate Headmaster and Head Prefect

Welcome and nod to stand

Karakia/Whakamoemiti - Zane Bradley

Reading - Fred Oppenhuis

Nick Cave, an Aussie songwriter, wrote in a letter to a young fan.
He knows the power of this secret knowledge of self-belief.

"This secret knowledge you have is a strength that lives inside you. It is a strength that will inspire you to do wondrous things - like write stories, or draw pictures, or build rockets that fly to Mars. It will give you the courage to take on anything that the world might put in front of you. It’s a wild power that can be of untold value to the world. A boy full of inspiration - the world is waiting for you."

Headmaster's Address - Mr Glen Denham

Waiata

Tama Tū

Speakers

Arts and Culture - Patrick Jones

Junior Drama

On Thursday and Friday night last week, the Junior Drama students took to the stage with Bitter About the Boat — a sharp and witty comedy written by our very own Year 12 students, Gus Duffy and Tom Simpson.

Entirely student-directed and produced, the show was the result of months of hard work, creativity, and collaboration.

The performances were met with enthusiastic applause from staff and family members alike.

The committed student’s dedication to performance and theatre technology is a shining example of the talent and passion within our Creative Arts community — they are a true credit to the program.

Musical Item:

Back Seat

Composed and performed by Max Horn

Sports Report - Lorenz Rere

Sports Results

Badminton saw the Senior A win for the second week in a row 6-0 this time against Upper Hutt the big game will be against HIBS in this group. The Senior C team which comprises our top juniors playing up at Senior level currently lead Division 2.

At Basketball the Senior As went down to Stream but all the other senior teams came away with good wins in their grading round. Likewise at Junior level all 4 teams won with the As beating HIBS

The 1st XI footballers went down 2-0 to Paraparaumu but there were good wins for the 2nds and 3rds. Competitive games across all the grades with the top scorer on the day being Abdullah Abu Assi (yr 10)  who scored 5 for TBrown against Paraparaumu.

The 1st XI hockey continue their dominant run beating Onslow 4-0 and there were also  good wins for the 2nds and P3Gold who beat the 1st XI teams from Kapiti and Wellington High.

The 1st XV rugby team travelled to Hamilton to take on Hamilton Boys High for the Moascar cup and came up against a semi professional unit that unfortunately showed no mercy winning 59-17. A great experience though and the boys will undoubtedly benefit from playing against the best.

The 2nd XV were dominant in their game versus Scots 2nd XV to winn 65-0 and the Colts, U16 gold, U 15 Black and U55 Gold all came away with a  W. Again great to see everyone out there playing and enjoying their sport.

Finally Well done to our WC Rugby boys who volunteered their time to help Life Flight with its Westpac Chopper Appeal at the Hurricanes match on Friday . They did a great job and represented us well!  Thanks lads.

Cross Country

The CSW Relay Champs took place at Wakefield Park on Wednesday with a large contingent of WC boys taking part.

There is considerable depth in the seniors this year .The Senior A team of Joe Martin, Logan Hopfler, James Ellwood and Alex Macbeth were `1st with the Bs (Xavier James, Harrison Wills, Archie Tulloch and Tom Pescini coming 3rd and the Senior Cs (Noah Baguely, Sam Coster, George Gray and Robert Naulls) came 4th.

Alex Macbeth posted the fastest time of the day in 5.53 to pip the St Pats Town runner who ran the second fastest, Joe Martin was 3rd fastest in 6.02. The winning team margin was a mere 0.02 second.

The U 16 A team of Henry Ellwood, Isaac Thompson, Toby Brook and Henry Robinson placed 3rd in their category and 9th overall.

 The Year 9A team (Oliver Healy, Wilder Campbell, Jasper Christie and Archie Macphee) finished 2nd only a second behind winners Rongotai. Oliver Healy was 3rd fastest in the age grade. 

Next up will be the Regional Championships in Upper Hutt. 

 Archery

Earlier this year, Leo Schollum competed in the North Island Youth Archery Championships, where he placed 2nd overall in the U16 Recurve Division. Just a few weeks later, at the Randwick Archery Short Burton Shoot on March 30, 2025, Leo put himself into the record books.

With a total score of 653, he officially set a New Zealand Record in the Short Burton Round (U16 Men’s Recurve Division). The Short Burton is a precision-focused round recognized nationally, and Leo’s performance reflects months of disciplined training and unwavering focus. 

I would like to bring Leo up on stage to receive the congratulations of the school.

St Pats Traditional

On Wednesday we play the first of our winter multi sport traditionals. This being away to St Pats Town. All the best to the 1st XV rugby, 1st XI football and Senior A Basketball teams.

Community Report - Jesse Rumball-Smith

Duke Of Edinburgh: Hilary Awards - Dominic Shepherd and Phil Kendon

The Duke of Edinburgh Hillary Award is the New Zealand version of the internationally recognised Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. This award was originally established in the 1950s by the Duke of Edinburgh to encourage teenagers to be actively involved in sports, cultural activities, outdoor pursuits and service to the community. It has grown exponentially and now operates in many countries around the world. Completing the award is no mean feat, with considerable commitment required over several months.

Bronze Awards:

Sam Bayot

Callum Carnegie

Cooper Dickson

Daniel Gestro

Hugo Jones

Torsten Jones

Rohan Naik

George Penney

Benjamin Sobell

Thomas Wakeman

Cameron Wild

Jacob Doolan

Silver Awards:

Max Delahunty

Logan Dickson

Luke Elliot

Noah Talbot

Hudson Todd

Tuakana Talks - Patrick Jones

I just wanted to take a minute to introduce a new and exciting leadership initiative we’re launching next Monday, the 26th—exactly one week from today.

The program is called Tuakana Talks.

Some of you might recognise the word tuakana from the Tuakana-Teina mentoring program we run here at WC.

A tuakana is an older sibling or mentor—someone who shares wisdom and guidance with those who are younger.

Tuakana Talks builds on that idea. It’s a leadership series where we invite Old Boys—leaders in their fields—back to Wellington College to share stories about their time here, what they’ve gone on to do, and most importantly, the lessons they've learned about leadership. The aim is to help all you boys grow as leaders through real, relatable experiences.

Our first session kicks off next Monday with Paul Ward, a conservationist who’s founded some really cool initiatives like Predator Free Wellington and the Capital Kiwi Project.

These talks will be informal, sit-down interviews followed by a chance for you to ask questions and get involved in the discussion. The session kicks off at 12.45 in the library and finishes at the end of lunch.

Later today you will all receive a registration form. We have a maximum number of people that we can hold so although it's not required to register, if you don’t want to miss out, I suggest you do.  If we have a relatively large amount of interest, it will be moved to the AGC at the same time so keep an eye out on the daily notices and emails. 

If you're serious about wanting to develop your leadership skills and want to have future leadership positions within our school or local community, Tuakana talks will definitely be beneficial.

On another note, if you're yet to put your hand up or a little bit nervous about saying yes and taking that next step, this is a really great opportunity to get involved. Leadership does not have an age limit so don’t let that stop you from getting involved.

The goal is to create a really tight knit group between the future leaders of our school and communities, supporting each other as we grow in our leadership journeys. 

We're really looking forward to seeing you there and hope you’ll make the most of this opportunity to learn from those who’ve walked down the same corridors and have gone on to do great things.

House Report - Archie Sims

First up, a quick congratulations to Te Ranga A Hiwi, who won last week’s Winter Drive. Hauwai came in second, followed by Waitangi, Te Aketarewa, and Kaipapa. A huge thank you to everyone who contributed — it was an awesome show of generosity and house pride.

Now, looking forward,  a quick reminder that House Songwriting submissions close next Wednesday. We’ve already received a number of entries from each house, but we want more. Remember, it can be any genre, on any theme, with or without lyrics — just keep it under three minutes. Upload your track using the form from your emails if you haven’t already.

Once again, House Family Feud forms will be popping up in your inbox each week and your responses have been, not incredibly helpful so far, but also hilarious, so keep them coming to make the game even better.

Now as I’m sure you noticed, House Badminton didn’t happen on Friday, for those of you keen to take part there’s no need to worry, it’s been rescheduled to this Wednesday. You should have received a form at the end of last week so be sure to get that in if you’re interested.

And now, what you’ve all been waiting for, the updated leaderboard:

In 5th place...

Waitangi with 1,823 points. A strong contribution to the Winter Drive — keep the momentum going and you’re sure to catch up.

In 4th place...

Hauwai with 2,052 points. Back-to-back second-place finishes — stay consistent and you’ll keep climbing.

In 3rd place...

Te Ranga A Hiwi with 2,302 points. Leading the Winter Drive has given you a solid boost — you’re almost there now.

In 2nd place...

Te Aketarewa with 2,345 points. Steady as always — keep pushing to reclaim that top spot.

Which means in 1st place...

Kaipapa with 2,401 points. Still ahead, but the gap is narrowing — time to lock in.

Karakia - Zane Bradley

Associate Headmaster - Mr Phil Bergin

Closing messages for students.