Kia ora koutou whanau

Responsible, trustworthy, courageous, good humoured, creative, determined and considerate is just some of the positive feedback I have had from staff, parents and helpers about our students over the last two weeks of our school year. Seeing our students respond in this way to the variety of end of year activity is a reflection of the calibre of our students and the efforts that staff and friends of the school have made to embed a culture based on respect, courage and personal excellence – the core values of our Kawa. Ka nui te pai ō mahi – well done to you all on your efforts.

On Friday evening we celebrated the academic, sporting and cultural achievements of our students at our Junior Prize Giving. Taking time to congratulate those who have pursued excellence and deserved their success is always a highlight. I encourage our students to be proud of their achievements but also humble and thankful. Individual success is almost certainly a team effort - supportive family, an inspirational coach or manager, or a hard working caring teacher.

I had the pleasure observing our Year 9’s at their Aquatic Centre camp and seeing their teamwork, enjoyment, and excitement coping with skills in sailing, kayaking and windsurfing. The Year 7 groups had a lovely day for their picnic at the Lowburn Inlet and Year 8 students and staff were ‘buzzing’ after their Tautuku experience. Well done to the Cromwell contingent of 50 Squadron Air Training Corps on their achievements this year. Their graduation dinner and f inal parade last Thursday was a lovely evening. Fifty Year 10 students tramped in the South Temple, Routeburn and Matukituki areas to qualify for their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Hillary Award and enjoyed good weather, time w ith friends and developing valuable skills in the outdoors. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to these tremendous opportunities for our students.

The excitement, fun, leadership and house spirit generated by our Arts Week is now firmly part of College tradition. The theme ‘Space the Final Frontier’ fuelled the imagination and inspired aliens, robots, rocket ships, new life forms, all mixed with Jack and the Bean Stalk, Star Wars, Romeo and Juliet and the Moon Landing. It was impressive to see students excited and immersed in learning to master dance moves, story lines, keyboards or ukulele. The school spirit, energy and pure entertainment of the f inal house performances makes all the effort worth it! Congratulations to Clutha who overcame the ‘dark side’ and went to ‘inf inity and beyond’ to claim their inaugural Arts Week win.

Amy Dickey’s second child is due in January and she w ill be on maternity leave for the f irst three terms of next year. Lara Coker w ill pick up Mrs Dickey’s physical education classes and David Fitzgerald, Karen Gallagher and Astrid Geneblaza have been appointed to cover a variety of other classes. We farewell Laura Boulton who has taught science and biology while Alison Jackson has been on leave. We are very grateful to Laura for her dedication, care and professionalism. Erik Larsen returns to Australia having provided our students with quality learning in our material technology area during the year. Both Erik and Laura will be missed and we wish them well.

This has been another tremendous year for the College. We continue to grow as a school and build our reputation for providing broad education in an environment where students can excel. Thank you to everyone in our school community for your encouragement, constructive feedback and support during the year.

Merry Christmas to you all. Ka kite ano. Mason Stretch Principal

Whaia te taumata - Deserve Success

NEWSLETTER 19 12 December 2012

UPCOMING EVENTS:

31 January 2013 - Years 11—13 Course Conf irmations 4 February 2013 - First day of School 2013 (Years 7 & 13) 5 February 2013 - all students to attend 9am College Auditorium 6 February 2013 - Waitangi Day 11 - 12 February 2013 - Y13 Leadership Camp 19 February 2013 - Athletics Day (tbc) 4 - 8 March 2013 - Year 7 & Year 10 Camps (tbc) 29 March - 2 April - Easter 19 April 2013 - Last Day of Term One 6 May 2013 - First Day of Term Two

Arts Week

ATC Graduation

Alannah Smyth - Top all around Y10 student

Y10 Duke of Edinburgh Hillary Award Ram Hill, South Temple

BRONZE AWARD DUKE OF EDINBURGH HILLARY

ROUTEBURN TRAMP

18 Year 10 students headed through Queenstown and Glenorchy to the Routeburn carpark with 4 staff (Mr Streeter, Mr and Mrs Edgecombe and Ms Patton).

The group walked at a steady pace to the Flats Hut camping area despite the boys commenting that the large size of their packs was due to having over-protective mothers. We all set up tents and then set off for a brisk walk up to the Falls Hut without our bulky packs. It was cold and windy so we ventured no further toward Lake Harris but returned to our camp site to prepare dinner.

It was fascinating to see what food came out of packs to be served up for dinner, including a whole lettuce! Mr Streeter became the main taste-tester for the meals, including; burgers made with fried eggs (yes, they survived the trip in intact!), Indian lamb curry, and pasta.

A highlight was the after dinner entertainment – the eight boys decided they would do a Haka in the middle of the Flats. What a stunning back drop for a Haka, surrounded by high snow-capped mountains. It was heart-warming to see 15 year olds running around the Flats having ‘old school’ fun – no gagets to be seen!

Although there had been some rain overnight the tents were dry when they were packed up after breakfast. And the rain held off until we had reached the Routeburn carpark again and had finished lunch.

The staff were impressed by the students who were great company and lots of fun. Several students talked about things they intended to do to achieve the Silver and Gold awards too which was great to hear. Vicki Patton

YEAR 8 CAMP TAUTUKU

Year 8 students enjoyed a wonderful week at Tautuku Camp in the Catlins Forest last week. We had up to 12 adults and senior students supporting the students in a wide range of activities - some more challenging than others. There was abseiling, a confidence course, archery, campfire cookout (Mr Philip's damper was by far the best), swimming, a variety of walks, team building on an initiative course and the highlight for the teachers was the challenge, ‘Jungle Wars’.

We had a wonderful group of parents, a helpful selection of senior students and a great set of students who took part fully and made the most of their week.

A huge thank you to you all.

Kieran Philip

South Temple Duke of Edinburgh B ronze Award Tramp

CONGRATULATIONS

Swimming: Nikayla Bolch was awarded gold in 100m butterfly and qualified for the national age group championships. She also received silver in 100m backstroke and bronze in the 400m medley, 50m

butterfly and 100m breaststroke. David Beck participated in the Special Olympics Otago Regional games on 1st and 2nd December in Dunedin. He competed in 50m Butterfly, 100m Backstroke, 100m Freestyle,100m Freestyle Relay 100m Medley Relay. David won gold in each of these events. Congratulations David.

YEAR 7 CAMP 2013

Year 7 Camp will be held around Week 5. It will be a local camp and we are hoping to have one overnight stay during the camp. We will be at the Cromwell College Aquatic Centre and at the Bannockburn Inlet with Adventure Masters. It is estimated the camp will cost $85.00.

We will require parent help and would love to hear from you in the New Year if you are able.

Sandy Rose - Year 7 Dean

JUNIOR PRIZE GIVING

THEATRE SPORTS COMPETITION

The inaugural Central Otago Secondary Schools Theatre Sports competition was held in Al e xa n dr a o n S a tu r da y, November 17 as part of the Thyme Festival. The Cromwell College team of Jerry Salu, Peter Shaw, Sean Tan and Sophie

Warhurst took second place and generated many laughs. Their fan letter to Justin Beiber and slow motion commentary on a parcel wrapping competition were hilarious.

Kate Borrie - Arts Coordinator

YEAR 9 CAMP

END OF YEAR HOUSE COMPETITION RESULTS

1st Nevis 2nd Clutha

3rd Kawarau 4th Pisa

The Puzzling World Junior Challenge Wanaka is back for 2013!

It is a fun triathlon for 6-15 year olds on Sunday 13th Jan 2013. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never raced triathlon before or if you want to race as an individual or as part of a team with your friends and family. Swim through Lake Wanaka, off-road bike and run round Wanaka Station and Pembroke Parks. There are prizes for everyone from Puzzling World plus everyone’s favourite chocolate milk from CalciYum. You’ll get a finisher’s T shirt and it’s heaps of fun! Entries open next week. Check out www.challengewanaka.com or collect an entry form from the school office at the end of term.

It's My Turn To Cook Bos c h School Holiday Program - has a fun, FREE one-day on line cooking

program on 20th December. No matter where you live, as long as you have the internet, we'll inspire YOUR kids in YOUR home using YOUR food! All details at www.ItsMyTurnToCook.com

We'll have your kids whipping up a salad, firing up the barbecue and wowing you with a Christmas treat! We have great competitions, great prizes as we share foodie skills and tips to get your child food savvy.

Cromwell Christmas event - SANTALAND OPENS Friday 14 December 5-7pm, Saturday 15th 9-2pm, Sunday 16th 2 - 4pm. Enjoy Christmas displays and photo with SANTA, $10 per family . Located at Presbyterian

Church Hall 10 Elspeth Street, for more info go to our website www.cromwelltoylibrary.co.nz

COMWELL KIDS FUN CLUB HOLIDAY PROGRAMME 8am-6pm, Monday 14 January to Friday 1 February 2013. Cost: $4pp per hour. Numbers limited. Payments - Account name: Presbyterian Support Otago Account number: 06 0901 0005597 00 Please identify by using your child's name then please email the Kids Club email address to state amount and the date you paid on. This is important otherwise your payment may not be identified. Parents will be billed for the hours that they have booked for their child/ren regardless of whether they attend or not.

To Book: Email: cromwellkidsfunclub@yahoo.co.nz or TXT 02102634889.

Bookings Close: STRICTLY by Friday 14 December 2012. All (OSCAR bookings have some fine print and need to book earlier). Please ensure that you are up-to-date with your payments before making a further booking. Booking information must include children’s names, dates, times, total hours per child, parent contact details and whether you will be applying for OSCAR funding or not.

ARTS WEEK

Victorious Touch Teams - Dunedin Tournament