Photos taken of Benedict Morrissey with the Governor General Lt Gen Rt Hon Sir Jerry Mateparae and the Minister of Education Hon. Hekia Parata (left) and his parents and Mr John Boyce (right), when he was presented with a scholarship for gaining four outstanding Scholarships in Chemistry, Mathematics with Calculus, Physics and Statistics with Modelling.
On Monday 30th April, 2012, The Peasants performed at Parliament for the official start of this year’s SmokeFree Rockquest! And our very own Mr Proffit delivered a speech sharing his insights and support for the event. Mr Proffit’s speech is attached to this newsletter for those who may be interested. The Peasants did themselves proud with yet another excellent performance demonstrating that they truly are outstanding role models and advocates for the positive power of music. This year Garin will be entering four bands in the event and we wish them all the best!
In March 2012, Garin’s Kapa Haka group, comprising of 26 students, participated in their very first performance in front of a crowd at the Kete Taonga event hosted by Waimea College. Despite having had only six practices, the students really stepped it up to pull off a truly awesome performance (which they get NCEA credits for!). Tutor Matua Tom welcomed them to the stage and introduced the newcomers who were given a rousing reception by the crowd. The students were outstanding ambassadors for Garin in every aspect of their performance and behaviour on the day and I felt very proud to be associated with the group. To the team…ngā mihi nui ki a koutou, nā Mrs Aronsten.
Garin takes centre stage at Kete Taonga!
Peasants Single – Letting Go Listen to the Peasant’s latest single – Letting Go
Garin College is an holistic school where each student is encouraged to develop all of their gifts and talents – but we are particularly proud of our academic successes.
The table below shows some of the highlights of the school’s most recent results: very good results compared to other New Zealand schools and decile 8 schools. It is also good to see that our boys and girls do well when compared to single sex schools around the rest of the country.
Well done to our students who did the work, our teachers who provided the focus and support and to our families who encouraged, cajoled and demanded that students reach for their potential.
Congratulations to the triathlon team who performed superbly at the recent regional event at Rabbit Island on Monday. Of the six race categories for individual competitors, Garin athletes won three-(Joel MacManus-U16, Liam Mintrom-U14 and Phoebe Harris-U14), and placed second in two-(Maria Schryvers-U16 and Cameron Eggers-U19).
On top of this, the seniors boys’ team of Jonathan Page, Tom Ashley and Marc Knalmann-Jary predictably thrashed the other teams with a winning margin of 12 minutes! Predictably Garin also won the trophy for overall best school. The secret to the success was the hard work put in by the athletes and coaches starting last October.
Josh Lis, Maryann Cant, Matt and Patrick Hassan also all had strong races.
Congratulations to three of our Stock Market teams who, we have just learned, achieved stunning results.
During the 2009 school year, the Year 9 and Year 10 gifted and talented students competed in the International Stock Market Game and WON! The game has been in existence since 1977 and is used by thousands of schools worldwide as an educational tool. Students who participate in the game learn more than investing, they learn how to research and evaluate stock, decision making, cooperation and communication.
Garin College, the only team in New Zealand competing, had six teams in last year’s game in the International Division of 83 total teams. The Year 9 team consisting of Sjaan Hungerford, Abbie Phillips, Veronica Mitchell and Louie Armstrong placed first in the Junior High division, while Hamish McIntosh, Matt Butchart, Erin Wilks and Lauren Faulkner placed third in the same division. Our Year 10 team consisting of Nick Allison and Callum Turner placed first in the High School division.
In order to win, students had to invest a hypothetical $100,000 in the US market and create a diversified portfolio through a live trading simulation. Our students outwitted the other teams by choosing and sticking with companies that they researched. The next game starts on March 22 and we hope to do even better!
Our Opening Mass is always the first gathering for the year ofthe school and the Garin community as we gather to ask fro a good year and to appoint and bless our school leavers.
Father Maurice Carmody was joined by Fr Raymond Soriano to lead our celebration. We were also joined by our local primary school principals, Mike Burton from St Joseph’s and Jo McKay from St Paul’s and their Year 8 Christian Leaders, along with some of our loyal supporters Win Strawbridge, Lesley and John Mallon, members of our Board and Hostel Trust and, of course, parents from our school community.
The Mass focused on our school motto: Faith and Wisdom. We heard that wisdom is “as good as receiving an inheritance and will give you as much security as money can. Wisdom keeps you safe”. And as for Faith: in one of the Bible’s few reference to success John told us: “If you have reverence for God, you will be successful anyway”.
At the end of Mass our student leaders for this year were named and blessed: Rianna Farr and Jared van de Geest, who are Captains of Christian Service and Head Students this term, handed out badges to Sarah Quinney and Claudio Cannata who are our Captains of Learning, Oscar Damerham and Alice Gray who are our Arts leaders, and Sam Ellis and Rebekah Kingsbury who are our Sports Captains.
Our House Captains are Brodie Bell (Aubert) and his deputies are Charlotte Watkins (Christian Service), Emily Chapple (Learning), Caleb Nott (Arts), and Lydia Wadsworth (Sports deputy);
Lucy van Zoelen (Barbier) with deputies Mark Coghlan, Marc Knalmann-Jary, Alex Menzies, and Marcus Parker;
Tom Ashley (McAuley) and deputies Amy Moffat, Zane Barker, Tony Sardella and Declan Cahill;
Rebecca Sims (MacKillop) and her deputies Gemma Doorman, Rosa Kim, Natalie Hardiman and Craig Vaile.
Our Head Librarian is Rosa Kim and her deputies are Matthew Ruffell and Tomica Saunders. Craig Vaile and Lauren Murphy are the Heads of Garin Hostel.
Although the Ministry of Education has caught up with us and decided to recognise students who gain the top academic results, we have decided to continue with a higher level of achievement by limiting our Colours awards to the students who gain all 80 credits in their NCEA with Merit and Excellence passes.
Those who achieved all 80 credits Merit and Excellence in Level 1 last year were Lulu Shanaher 84; Annabelle Nichols 85; Katy Sinnott 85; Michael Shannaher 85; Jeanie Winter 88; Emily Graham 91; Brook Powick 93; Eilish O’Connor 102; Matthew Ruffell 102; Chris Phillips 104; Kelsi Ashley 115; Tomica Saunders 115; Benedict Morrissey 120; Hannah Gibson 128; and Hazel Wilks 136.
Students are allowed to carry 20 of their level 1 credits with them for their level 2 National Certificate-and those who achieved the remaining 60 with Merit and Excellence in Level 2 last year were Natalie Hardiman 63; John Harrison 63; Sam Ellis 64; Jared Van de Geest 67; Alex Menzies 72; Gemma Doorman 78; Nadine Hahn 80; Charlotte Watkins 81; Oscar Damerham 86; Rebecca Sims 88; Tom Ashley 95; Sarah Quinney 95; Amy Moffat 101; Claudio Cannata 108; Nick Pittar 114; and Emily Chapple 121.
