Wednesday, 31 March 2010

Geography Trip

The senior Geography students visited the Curio Bay area on Wednesday. They interviewed local residents about new developments, made sketches of the Petrified Forest and then explored the physical geography of the mouth of the Waikawa Estuary. Thank you to Miss Wood and Miss Youthed who organised the trip.

Easter Art

The student work display table has a selection of Easter crosses developed by the Year 12 Visual Arts students. The symbolism of sacrifice and hope challenges us in Holy Week as we approach Easter. Thank you to Miss Lyall and the year 12 art students for presenting their work.

NZ Secondary Schools Triathlon Championship

The NZ Secondary Schools Triathlon Championship was held at Lake Karapiro, Cambridge on Thursday 25th March 2011.

Liam Cullen from Verdon won a Silver medal for year 7 boys. This triathlon included a short, cold lake swim of 150m, a 7 km bike over rolling hill country and a 2 km run. It was a hard out sprint! With nearly 800 competitors racing throughout the day it was a very exciting event to watch with Lake Karapiro being an excellent spectator venue. Four other atheletes competed from Southland, all receiving Top 10 placings.

In 2011, the event will be held in Christchurch, for any budding triathletes who may be interested.

Tuesday, 30 March 2010

House Chants

The first inter-house chant competition was held on Tuesday. Guest judges Leicester Rutledge, Matt Saunders, Father Martin and Vaughan Hook awarded Dominic House first place for their passionate display of house spirit.
Dominic House


House Points Update

Marcellin17
Dominic14
Marian13
Catherine6

Yr 7 Design - End of Term Display








Soft Material End of Term Display





Ranfurly Shield Images

Southland Stags manager Leicester Rutledge, along with winger Matt Saunders, proudly displayed the Ranfurly Shield at assembly this week. After the assembly there was time for interested students to have their photograph taken with the Log o' Wood. The assembly started with a haka of welcome and afterwards Leicester and Matt talked about the history of the Shield. After Assembly the House Chants were judged by Leicester, Matt, Father Martin and seminarian, Vaughan Hook.

Monday, 29 March 2010

Images from Year 9 Camp

Cycling Success

Verdon Cycling Team at the South Island/Southland Cycling Championship held at the velodrome last Wednesday. They are a talented and hard working team and it was pleasing to see their success with both Lauren Archer and Paigan Marshall achieving medals.

Secondary School Golf

The boys Golf team made up of Daniel O'Connor, Jessy Lee, Charles More and Paddy Stone display their medals from the Southland Competition. They were 1st Equal Nett and Runner Up Gross. Charles More was 1st equal in the Boys Individual Best Nett Score and Daniel O'Connor was 1st in the Boys Individual Best Gross Score.

Adventure Racing

23 secondary schools from around the South Island battled it out for the South Island Secondary Schools Adventure Racing Championships on Saturday 27th March on a demanding course around the high country surrounding the Central Otago town of Cromwell. The event is in its second year.

The race kicked off at 6:30am in slightly damp conditions which soon cleared as teams headed off from the Roaring Meg Power Station up into the high alpine region of Mt Pisa climbing to 1475m past check point 2 before descending into the Lowburn Valley, Race Director Bill Godsall had warned teams at the course briefing navigation choices here would be crucial and that was how it turned out.

On the next MTB orienteering leg the front teams continued battle it out. After this section teams swapped MTB for kayak to paddle across a choppy Lake Dunstan to the abseil site, the Lake got progressively choppy with every passing minute forcing the Race Director to transport the remaining teams to the abseil site by rescue boat effectively turning the event into 2 categories. 8 teams completed the kayak leg before the cancellation of kayaking and they continued their battle onto the last MTB orienteering leg, the remaining teams who had been short coursed continued to battle it out for short course honours.

The last leg had a slight reshuffle of places with most teams surprising not only themselves with their speed but the support crews and staff who gathered at the finish line in Cromwell to await there arrival.

Southern Lakes Multisport who ran the event had set a great challenge for all teams to tackle with the day going very smoothly and once more every athlete completing the course under 12 hours.

Verdon College had three teams entered and all ended up in the short course section because of the choppy lake conditions.

The Boys Results

1st Place: Verdon College 2

Micheal O'Reilly, Ben Boyle, Peter Thurlow and Dylan Coombs.

2nd Place: Verdon College 1

Shane Adcock, Patrick Stone, Gavin McLeod and Keiran Thurlow

Our younger team - Aidan O'Neill, Terry Thurlow, Robert Lindsay and Harry from SBHS - finished with style after a challenging race.

Friday, 26 March 2010

Year 9 Camp

Year 9 students have enjoyed good weather at Camp Columba near Gore for their outdoor education camp and retreat. More images will be published next week. Thanks you to Miss Lyall for the work that she has put in to the organisation and delivery of this opportunity.

Biology Field Trip

This week the Year 12 Biology classes headed from the laboratory to the river to put theory into practice. The stream study gave students the opportunity to gain credits in a practical situation. The sampling required getting into the river and staff report that the students took to the challenge with good grace on a cold day. Thanks you to Mr Le Breton and Mrs Clarke for organising this activity.

Junior Technology

Mrs Dunckley's Year 7 MO technology class have been presenting the results of their design projects this week. The brief was to design gift items to give to visitors to the College as memento of their visit. Mr Olsen was invited to view the students work and was very pleased with the depth of the concepts displayed and quality of the items produced.

Southland Secondary Schools Golf Championship

Results from the Southland Secondary Schools Golf Championship held on Tuesday at the Winton Golf Course were as follows:

The boys team made up of Daniel O'Connor, Jessy Lee, Charles More and Paddy Stone were 1st Equal Nett and Runner Up Gross.

Charles More was 1st equal in the Boys Individual Best Nett Score and Daniel O'Connor was 1st in the Boys Individual Best Gross Score.

Congratulations to all the team - well done.

Saturday, 20 March 2010

Sharks Captain Visits

Southland Sharks captain Luke Martin visited the College this week. Luke passed on a number of skills to our juniors during their PE class and challenged them to get involved with sport this year.

Friday, 19 March 2010

Panache Music Workshop

Panache choir held a workshop on Thursday evening and Friday lead by the talented vocal coach Robert Wiremu. Initially from Flaxmere, Robert is the newly appointed vocal coach at Auckland University. He was a previous member of NZ Secondary Students' Choir and is currently a member of Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir. On top of these achievements he was also a past conductor of NZSSC and currently vocal coach for NZYC.
Panache have been inspired and motivated by Robert during the workshop and the College wish to acknowledge his contribution. Thank you also to Mrs Di Lenihan for organising the event and Mr Menzies for the musical accompaniment.

A short video clip of the workshop

Talented Music Teacher Trainee

The Music department have had ex-pupil Michael Forde undertaking the last practicum of his teacher training with Mr Menzies. Michael was a student at Verdon College from 2000 - 2004. He studied composite Music at Victoria University (2005 - 2008) receiving a 1st class honours degree. Michael is currently studying secondary teaching at Canterbury with a focus on Music, Drama and German. He was a member of NZ Secondary Student's Choir in 2003/4 and is a current member of NZ Youth Choir. We hope that Michael's term is productive and rewarding.

The Marist Connection

Brother Os is pictured viewing the latest student work being display on the entrance foyer table. Brother Os visits the College weekly and along with Fr Martin, our chaplain, is a tangible link to both parish and founding orders. Brother Os is a testament to the Marist commitment to our Presence, one of our V8 founding principles. We value the support and encouragement that the Marist Brothers give to both students and staff.

Tuesday, 16 March 2010

Kayaking - Paddles Up

The team had a great weekend at Mavora Lakes with Huey making sure the weather was kind to us! The eight boys have all come a long way during the past five weeks thanks to the tuition from Miss Woods, Mr Olsen and Paula Wood.

The senior boys were very encouraging of the juniors and they looked out for each other- great team work - especially at breakfast time with Gavin McLeod in control of cooking bacon, eggs and baked beans for all the troops. Gabriel and Patrick Wilkes entertained the camp with some good songs on their guitar on the Saturday evening.


Patrick Stone received the judge’s vote for the smoothest Eskimo Roll with a very competent display!

The junior boys paddled well. The Tussock Creek Trawlers aka Gabriel and Josef Winters and Danny Boyle was placed 3rd in the Junior section. Third placing was a great achievement considering some of the other teams they were competing against had been at Paddles Up before and have access to better training facilities. They look to be in a good position to further their skills and splash out again for next year's event.

Josef was 3rd in the DR race and Danny was 3rd in the individual slalom.

Kieran Thurlow deserves an honourable mention. He was asked to compete in a composite junior team with his brother Peter and a Hargest student. Kieran was very patient, helping these two younger paddlers and in doing so, improved his own skill level.

Ben Winders

Friday, 12 March 2010

Board of Trustees Elections

Parents/Caregivers

Two nominations have been received as follows:

Fergus More - a current board member
John Prendergast - a current board member

There is 3 actual vacancies on the Board as three of the current board members are not standing again.

Please give serious consideration to becoming a trustee on the Verdon College Board. Spare nomination forms are available from the school office. If you wish to speak to one of the present members please contact the school office and leave your name and phone number and a board member will be in contact with you.

Nomination forms must be returned to the school by noon Friday 23 April 2010.

Voting Papers will be distributed by 28 April 2010.

Poll closes on 7 May 2010

Votes counted on 13 May 2010

New Board of Trustees takes office on 14 May 2010.

Thursday, 11 March 2010

Athletics Results

2010 Records
Liam Cullen Under12 Boys broke the following records.
800m 2:46 previously held by Daniel O'Connor 2.49
1500m 5.42 previously held by Daniel O'Connor 5.23

Olivia Thornbury equaled the 12 year old record held by Brianna Parks
and Margot Affleck in the high jump with a height of 1.20m


Championship Titles
Senior Girls
1 Katie Telfer
2 Joanna Telfer
3 Megan Gooding

Under 16 Girls
1 Grace Dunne
2 Teagen Goodall
3 Jessica Van Rossum

Under14 Girls
1 Kayla Young
2= Emily Grace
2= Nadesha Pipson

Year 8 Girls
1 Hannah Lieshout
2 Hannah McLean
3 Georgia Murfin
Year 7 Girls
1 Sophie Rietsma Smith
2 Kate Kissell
3 Olivia Thornbury

Senior Boys
1 Kris Leatherby
2 Bernardo Balladares
3 Ryan Jones

Under 16 Boys
1 Brandon de Garnham
2 Tauira Patterson
3 Andrew Ridden

Under14 Boys
1 JD Rowe
2 Mat O'Neill
3= Mathew Whaanga
3= Sean Goffin

Year 8 Boys
1 Connor O'Neill
2 Alasdair O'Reilly
3 Adam Ortolani

Year 7 Boys
1 Liam Cullen
2
Timothy O'Neill
3 Josh Watson

Wednesday, 10 March 2010

House Points Update

Marcellin12
Marian10
Dominic7
Catherine5










Athletics Sports Images

Friday, 5 March 2010

In Memory of Alex

The memorial plaque for Alex Nicol was formally placed at the foot of the commemorative tree by 2009 head boy, Ben Ward. Mrs Nicol and Todd joined Mr Olsen at the brief ceremony held on Friday.

Fashion and Design

Mrs Mason's Fashion and Design class are the first to display their work in the administration area. Please take the opportunity to view the student's work when you are visiting the College or picking up students.

Wednesday, 3 March 2010

New Zealand National Juniors Swimming Results

The following year 7 & 8 students competed in the New Zealand Junior Swimming Competitions held in Christchurch on 20 and 21 February. Results as follows:

Year 8
Thomas Kennelly - 50 metre butterfly, 34th national ranking

Year 7
Liam Cullen - 50 metre breaststroke, 4th national ranking; 200 metre breaststroke, 4th national ranking; 100 metre breaststroke, 6th national ranking; 50 metre freestyle, 42nd national ranking.

Olivia Thornbury - 100 metre butterfly, 14th national ranking; 50 metre freestyle, 15th national ranking; 100 metre freestyle, 17th national ranking; 50 metre backstroke, 26th national ranking; 50 metre backstroke, 29th national ranking

Peer Support Lunch

Year 7 students and their peer support leaders enjoyed a barbecue lunch on Wednesday. Mr Mackay, the College guidance counselor, organised the lunch to celebrate a successful month of activities and thanked all those involved in the program.

Tuesday, 2 March 2010

Year 11 Science

Our year 11 science students are busy setting up microbial cultures as part of their investigations of various locations around the school in an attempt to identify areas that are high in bacterial and fungal growth.


Monday, 1 March 2010

Year 11 Study Skills

Year 11 students have been working with Southland Institute of Technology tutors to improve their study skills. The course initially looks at learning styles, and then focuses on developing strategies for improving learning for each of the styles. Students are then encouraged to develop their own study programmes based on the techniques they have learned.

Draft Annual Plan

The first draft of the annual plan is published on our website in the Our Voice section. We welcome any feedback or comments about the plan. Please use the form in the Contact Us section to provide feedback.