Issue 84, 24 March 2015
From the
Headmaster
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The College was touched by great sadness last
week with the Wanaka private plane crash. The
Macdonald family, and their relatives within the
current and past College community, have been in
our thoughts.
Last week our Open Day went well. The late start and finish to the day would
have been domestically inconvenient for many, and we are very grateful for
how easily it seemed to work. It would have helped if Park Terrace had not
been unexpectedly shut off that afternoon, and if the weather had been
kinder, but nevertheless a very good attendance. As always, the vast majority
of immediate feedback was about how impressed our visitors were with their
guides, and with the general atmosphere and sense of purpose around the
school. Today we have our final main information evening, at which we will
share a lot more detail; most of our visitors last week are attending then too.
We have made some changes, including short presentations by a parent of a
recent leaver, and also an alumnus who left five years ago. Both will reflect on
what the College experience meant to them. As always, some of our current
parents from the Parents’ Association will be on hand to mingle later with our
visitors - it is always appreciated.
We held the Parents’ Association AGM last week in the College Board Room; we
had considered hiring the Horncastle Arena, but fortunately the venue proved
(more than) adequate. In fact this is seldom an A list priority for most, but those
>>
Assembly Notes
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Calendar Events
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Everyone’s welcome.
Information Evening 7pm, Tuesday 24 March
Each boy at his best.
Click here to register
who do attend as always offer tremendous encouragement to
our Association officers. The range of contributions made to
the life of the school is wide; their own events (notably the
Midwinter Drinks and Pink Lunch), refreshments on Sports Day,
the Parents’ Association Bursary awards, help with admissions
events - they all add a lot to the community. But our Parents’
Association is primarily about involvement and enjoyment,
rather than onerous commitment, and I do encourage parents
to get involved. There are many new friends to be made, and it
is one group which spans all the houses, something which our
strong House communities tends to inhibit at times. Whilst on
the subject of their service, the delicious free food and drinks
provided for parents at the athletics sports was enjoyed by a
family of tourists who wandered in from the Botanic Gardens,
had a good feed, and left again. Thank you very much.
We have certainly struggled to get through everything in this
shorter than usual first term, but notwithstanding the cold and
wet interlude recently, the weather has been reasonably kind
to us. As you read this, our rowers are established at Karapiro
for the National Secondary Schools’ (Maadi) Regatta, and our
year 9s are away at camp. I will have had the pleasure of a
couple of days at the camp, with a small group - I told them
at a preliminary briefing they had to bring with them two
additional items - being two jokes they could tell to the group
with no notice, whenever called upon to do so. This is not as
frivolous as it sounds. Andrew St George, a senior fellow at
Aberystwyth University’s School of Management and Business
in the UK, has looked at the underlying principles of leadership
in the British Navy. Under the heading ‘cheerfulness counts’
he examines the functional benefits in stressful situations of
spontaneous humour, and how the Royal Navy ‘takes every
informal opportunity to demonstrate its usefulness’. The Navy
also espouses the positive impact of ‘banter’ - but links it clearly
to underlying respect. I hope there is plenty of ‘banter’, and a
few decent jokes, in my group at camp.
At last week’s al-fresco assembly, the boys were addressed by
a senior student about our support systems in the College.
He made the point that the seniors took the quality of
interpersonal behaviour in school very seriously, but were not
the ‘anti-banter’ committee. Learning to laugh at oneself, and
with others, we should actively encourage. Having ‘fun’ at the
expense of others is the clearest demonstration of personal
weakness. Some boys take longer to recognise that than
others, and we will hasten that understanding with a robust
response to any ‘banter’ which is not enjoyed by all parties.
Simon Leese, Headmaster
From the Chaplain
Sabbatical
I am looking forward to being on
sabbatical in Term 2, and grateful
to the school for granting me this
opportunity for more focused
reflection and refreshment. I will be
looking at the delivery of religious
education in our digital world, and
best practice in worship, spirituality,
and values formation. The desert,
journey, and pilgrimage will also form a large backdrop to
what I am doing and reflecting on.
I am delighted that Bishop David Coles will be looking after
our chapel life during the period, and that Mr Nick Sutcliffe will
teach my religious education classes. I know that this leaves
things in excellent hands; both are well known to many of you.
Synod
The school has appointed Angus Dysart-Paul as our lay
synod rep, and Rowan Taylor as our youth rep at synod.
Congratulations to both. The synod is the governing body of
the Anglican Church, and it is important that interested young
people are involved in the decision-making that will impact
the future. Synod meets later in the year.
Palm Sunday
Sunday 29 March is Palm Sunday. The evening service is a
Choral Eucharist (as always all are very welcome). We will bless
and distribute palm crosses made in Africa, and our collection
(added to other recent collections) will be sent to the village
that made the crosses for us. We have also sent $2,000 from
recent collections (and previously un-assigned collections) to
help with the devastation in Vanuatu.
Baptism and Confirmation
We look forward to the baptism service on Friday 27 March
(6:45pm with the choir). Eight intend to be baptised at the
service. Anticipated congratulations to them. Confirmation
preparation (for Years 12 & 13 with St Margaret’s students),
on Wednesday evenings, is going well. We understand that
the students who are part of this group are ones who have a
multiplicity of other commitments meaning the group takes
into account when people have not been able to come.
May you and your family have refreshing holidays, a blessed
conclusion to Lent, and a re-energising Easter Season.
Bosco Peters, Chaplain
In Black & White
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Latest News & Events
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House Music
Regional Debating Championships
All grandparents, family and friends are warmly invited to
attend this year’s House Music Festival at the Horncastle Arena
at 7pm Tuesday 1 March....
At the annual marathon for Canterbury’s top senior debaters
which took place this weekend at the University of Canterbury,
Matthew Moore (Y12)...
Thank You to our Rowing Sponsors
Life at Christ's College
Marcel Gray from Wainoni Pak'nSave, Tony Fahey and Reece
Johns from AON and Eric Swinbourne from Archibalds, as
College's valued sponsors of rowing...
Click on the photo above to view the latest Christ's College
Youtube video about life at Christ's College...
Everyone’s welcome.
Each boy at his best.
Information Evening 7pm, Tuesday 24 March
In Black & White
Click here to register
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Curriculum News
Last week I briefed the senior
school (and Year 10 boys sitting
Level 1 NCEA standards, mostly in
mathematics) on NCEA assessment
rules. These rules are an essential
part of NZQA’s systematic approach
to ensuring that NCEA is a credible
qualification (every qualifications
system does similar things in this
regard). Included in my address
was the distribution of an information pamphlet provided by
NZQA. Despite the fact that NCEA is now 13 years old, myths
abound about how the system works, so each year we try to
get good information out to the boys.
You can access this information, and much more, on the NZQA
website at this address:
http://w w w.nzqa.govt.nz/qualifications-standards/
qualifications/ncea/
Of particular interest is a section titled “NCEA: the facts” which
I strongly recommend. It can be found here:
http://w w w.nzqa.govt.nz/qualifications-standards/
qualifications/ncea/understanding-ncea/the-facts/
In my briefing on internal assessment I made several important
points to the boys.
The work they submit must be ‘authentic’, that is it must be
their own work. College has now signed up to the service
called ‘Turnitin’ which is an online tool designed to check
for plagiarism. Boys can submit their work themselves to
see how it rates. The system is commonly used, especially at
tertiary level.
Staff routinely set deadlines for the completion of internally
assessed work. Deadlines are deadlines, not rough guidelines
that a boy may take or leave. However as we all know,
sometimes things happen that make meeting deadlines
difficult if not impossible. Boys need to communicate with
their teachers when this happens.
The College Assessment Planner is now up-to-date, with most
assessments entered, and accessible via the College web site
(‘Current Parents/Assessment Planner’). Hopefully you will
find this useful in considering when your son has any internal
assessment tasks coming up.
It is also important, even at this early stage in the year, to
mention the issue of Derived Grades. These are grades that
a school may be called upon to submit in the event that
a candidate is unable to sit the final end of year external
In Black & White
examination in November. Derived grades are not available for
internally assessed standards. Schools are also not allowed to
simply ’invent’ or ‘estimate’ a grade. The data that we send to
NZQA must be based upon assessment evidence that we have
collected using standards based assessment that accurately
assesses each standard.
Every year we have anything between five and twenty boys
who find themselves in the position where they have to apply
for derived grades. Of course at this stage in the year no-one
knows who it will be. It is essential that boys give every test
and assessment along the way their best shot, as this is the
only data that we can use to give derived grades. This is a habit
that boys need to develop right from Year 9.
Derived grades are not available when the inability to sit an
examination is the result of a longer term problem (such as a
prolonged illness). They are generally given only for events that
occur immediately prior to or during the examination season.
Robin Sutton, Senior Master Academic
Meet the Parents
Evening
Year 9 and 13 parents have the opportunity to attend
parent interviews from 4 -6 pm on Thursday 2 April, the
last day of term. Other year groups will have parent
interviews towards the end of Term two. Parents
are encouraged to communicate directly with their
respective Housemaster if there are any concerns over
academic progress.
In 2014 we introduced an online booking facility for
parent interviews. This has been highly effective for
both parents and staff and allows parents to manage
their own bookings. Online booking procedures will be
directly emailed to all Year 9 and 13 parents outlining
when the bookings will be turned on. There will be
some staff who will be unavailable due to Thursday
coaching commitments and their names will not
be included.
In the event you want to meet staff who are unavailable,
or meet staff whose appointment schedules are full,
please don’t hesitate to contact them and arrange a
convenient time to discuss your son’s progress.
Robert Aburn, Senior Master (Internal)
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Careers
UC Possibilities ‘Taster
Programme’ Bachelor Arts
degree
applied when working with elite athletes. This is limited to 20
students. Register online through the CPIT website.
CPIT Musical Arts for a Day
The University of Canterbury is again
offering this programme in the April
holidays, 14-16 April. It explains the
opportunities in the Bachelor of Arts,
as well as an experience of university
life and transition to university. What
is involved? You go to the University
of Canterbury for three days, attend lectures and talks about
Arts subjects you will study, explore the campus, find out
about clubs and student life, learn about scholarships and
money, get helpful career advice, meet other students. There
is no cost. Full details on the UC Possibilities webpage. To
register, email [email protected]
CPIT is looking to host students who may seriously be thinking
of pursuing a musical career and to give them a taste of what
it would be like to train in a music school for the BMusArts
degree. Contact Sharon Moynihan ph (03) 9408063. Dates:
7,21 May, 4,18 June, 23 July, 6,20 August, 3,17 September
Communication to Students
500 Excellence and 120 Achiever Scholarships were awarded
to students starting at Victoria in 2015. They are based on
student’s results until the end of Year 12 and are valued at
$5,000 each. Twenty-five Vice Chancellor’s Scholarships, worth
$20,000 over three years, were also awarded to top-performing
applicants.
Year 12 and 13 students continue to receive text messages
from me for career appointments, as has been done over the
last two years. From now on they will also receive relevant
information from me for the year group through emails. This
replaces the previous way of forwarding documents through
the “student notices” system.
SAT’s - American Universities
A school in Auckland that is trained to help students with
preparation for sitting the SAT tests will be in Christchurch on
10-16 April. They are coming to St Andrews College and it is 6
hours of intensive training, 5 hours a day. The aim is to get a
high SAT score for academic or sports scholarships. The cost
would be $1500 instead of the normal $1900.There are only
12 places. if interested phone Nadia Matson, 021 303 263,
[email protected]
University of Auckland - changes to entry
requirements
Engineering - School leavers applying for admission to the
BE(Hons), based on NCEA qualifications will require a rank
score of 260 for guaranteed entry in 2016. For BE(Hons)
conjoint programmes, a rank score of 275 will be required.
These requirements are in addition to meeting the UE standard
and specific subject requirements,(17 external Level 3 credits
in Calculus and 16 external Level 3 credits in Physics). Science
- Sport & Exercise Science major - Students no longer have to
take Biological Sciences / Human Biology at NCEA Level 3 or
equivalent for guaranteed entry. A rank score of 200 is required.
CPIT Free SportSmart Holiday Workshop
Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology - 14 &15 April.
For Year 12 and 13 students considering a career in sports
science and health and wellness. They will study the science
behind nutrition and peak sports performance, and how it is
In Black & White
Yoobee ACG School of Design
Christchurch April Holiday Programmes: Film Production
Workshop, 3D Modelling & Animation using Maya 3D, Web
Design Kickstart, Digital Graphic Design.Two day courses are
$130, Four day course $260. ph (03) 3632139, yoobee.ac.nz
Victoria University - School Leavers scholarships
Chris Sellars, Careers Advisor
Events since the last In Black & White:
University of Auckland Liaison visit
Defence Forces - Year 12
ICT Entrepreneur - Claudia Batten, at Burnside High School
Upcoming careers dates:
27 Mar - University of Otago Liaison visit
14 Apr - UC (University of Canterbury) ‘taster’
programme, April 14-16,
23 Apr - London School Economics visit, 12.45pm, Q6
27 Apr - University of Otago - Campus experience,
students of Maori and Pacific descent
28 Apr - Otago Tertiary Open Day, Dunedin
1 May - Defence Forces - Year 13
7 May - Careers Expo in Christchurch, Year 12 to attend
15 May - Victoria University liaison visit
22 May - CPIT Liaison visit, Year 12
22 May - University of Waikato Open Day
25 May - Law Seminar - University of Otago
5 Jun - CPIT - Have a Go day
15 Jun - International College of Hotel Management (ICHM), Adelaide, visit
18 Jun - CPIT Open Day
25 Jun - Victoria University Information evening
9 Jul - Yoobee, ACG School of Design Open Day
28 Aug - Study @ Victoria University Day
29 Aug - University of Auckland Open Day
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From the Archives
Promoting the College
119 years ago, in 1896, College didn’t have all the technological
advantages it has today to advertise itself as a place where
“Everyone’s welcome”. Instead, College turned to a former
Headmaster, an anonymous writer, a photographic firm and
an Auckland newspaper company to present the school to the
public.
The booklet that became College’s first detailed prospectus
was writen by Henry Jacobs, the first Headmaster and was
orginally printed in the Auckland based New Zealand Graphic
of 4 January 1896. This newspaper was begun by Henry Brett
in 1890 and had a very short life span until 1908, when it was
continued by the Weekly Graphic and New Zealand Mail.
The fourteen pages provide a background to the Canterbury
Association and the settlement of Canterbury, the
development of the College site and buildings until the time
the second Headmaster, William Chambers Harris left in 1872.
The supplement, written anonymously appears on the final
four pages and takes the story up to 1895.
The most interesting illustration in the publication is of the
1895 Somes Scholars. Standish and Preece had been in
existence for ten years when they took the photograph and our
association with the firm continues to the present. Although
the owners of the firm have changed over the years, it still
retains the names of those first owners - Frank Berry Standish
and Alfred Ernest Lyttelton Preece.
In a College of 136 boys, 46 of them were scholars, that is
33.8%. Conditions and examinations were attached to each of
the scholarships and they were tenable for a variety of years
and a range of tuition fee deductions. It is possible to name the
scholarship holders from the Form Lists of this date although
not to actually identify them within the photograph.
In the centre are four young men wearing mortar boards and
academic gowns. They are Student Somes Scholars studying
at Canterbury University College. AE Flower is on the left of
this group and two of the others are known to be GT Weston
and CWI Maclaverty.
Somes Scholars 1895
Somes Junior and Senior Music Scholars:
WL Archbold, IM Batham, GSM Batham, EE Gill, BM Izard,
JLCMerton, F W Parson, LF Tribe
CS Booth, A Bunz, LM Bunz, NSC Cole, WM Everist, JG Foster, CL
Hawkins, HS Hobbs, AW Joll, RE Lake, EC Little,TE Moorhouse,
JR Thomas, RD Vincent, El or IC Watkins, RH Webb
Somes Junior Scholars
AC Grant, LHG Greenwood, WL Scott, CH Weston, NC Staveley
Somes Entrance Scholars: No 1 and 2
HWMcG Farrow, EG Foster , F Haworth, FW Hooke,
Hopkins, BA McKeown, CE Scott,
HAP
CHC Bowen, AHBridge, EA Cocks, CFD Cook, H D Cook, GO
Klingenstein,FWKlingenstein, AGH AGH Merton, W Wilson
Jane Teal, Archivist
Everyone’s welcome.
Information Evening 7pm, Tuesday 24 March
In Black & White
Each boy at his best.
Click here to register
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