With the sudden notice of closure of school due to lock-downs all over the country, it might be apropos to take a brief look at what has happened the last few months in school.
In July we received notice that one of our pupils had received 2nd place in the Creative section of the Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand (SGCNZ) Ida Gaskin Shakespeare Essay Competition with English at Otago – our congratulations to Angelica Hickman of Form 4, who also received a cash prize of $150 for her short story.
Academic excellence is encouraged at St Dominic’s, and the hard work of pupils who receive an average of 80% across all subjects in the examinations is recognised by the award of an academic tie. The mid-year examinations yielded a large crop: 15 students!
What are Bernadette and friend looking for? Earthworms, apparently! These little jars filled with earth, worms and some green things have been gracing the corridor of the school the last few weeks: mini eco-systems created by the Science class.
Our local firemen came to give the junior girls a presentation on their work – and how to put out a kitchen fire. The Form 1 and Form 2 girls had a chance to climb into the fire truck and explore the fire-fighting equipment at close range.
The feast of St Mary Magdalen saw the three houses competing in a netball competition, with both the junior and senior girls having a chance to face off in a highly exciting game.
August was certainly the busiest, not just with the celebrations of the 8th centennial of the death of our Holy Father St Dominic, but also with various activities happening around the school.
On Wednesday, 11th August, a contingent of girls representing the College went to Wellington to take part in the National Spelling Bee. These girls had made it through to the regionals, and had to bravely compete in front of a live audience to spell words out – orally, without pen and paper! – many of which they might not have heard of before. It actually is rather challenging to spell out loud without writing the letters down – try it yourself! And that with the additional jitters of a strange place and in front of strange people, in a tense competitive environment – so our girls certainly did very well.
The Form 6 girls also had Much Ado About Nothing – a lunchtime performance specially for their peers one rainy Tuesday.
School can be quite fun – even while one is picking up useful skills like learning how to use the sewing machine:
And there is plenty of scope to get creative, even with unlikely subject like History!
Since the holidays have started “early” – may we all take the time to re-charge for the last leg of the school year!
