Year 7 Wrap up!

It has been a fantastic finish to our year. Over the last few weeks we have had numerous activities and events in our Year 7 programme.

The students have been planning, practicing and performing for our parents night and local school celebrations. Thank you for coming along and supporting all we do. Check out a few of our photos from our performances with this article. It always amazes us the confidence, talents and abilities of our students across the ARTS and even those who are less confident or who prefer to be behind the scenes or screen.

In Week 8 we also had our Sasa celebrations. Each class performed the original sasa together before, as a class, choosing a topic and making up some actions and chants. We had a range of Sasas performed from disco moves to cultural themes, movies to musical instruments.

Another highlight of our term was our ballet dance sessions with Nieve, the educator from the Royal New Zealand Ballet. This was a fantastic session where she guided students through a dance that was modelled on one from the current Nutcracker ballet and it was a lot of fun for all.

We had a fantastic night at our Year 7 Disco also. This was the first disco since COVID for our year 7 students and it was a huge hit. They ate their way through the sausage sizzle and lollies and danced their way through the rest of the night. A big thank you also to the House Leaders who helped plan and run the night.

We were very lucky to have a special guest speaker recently with former student Rosie Falcous presenting to us. Rosie is the recipient of the Tania Dalton scholarship to support her endeavours in surf lifesaving and developing her sport. Rosie shared her passion for sport, her drive, the trials and tribulations and her vision for the future. She was an inspiration and role model for our students and also donated 50 new sports balls to the school thanks to Rebel sport who support her in her journey.

Our Year 7 trips to Long Beach have also been underway throughout the whole term with the last trip completed this week. This is a great class day out and it was epic to see those students who challenged themselves on the climbs, supported others and showed our school value of perseverance to reach their personal goal on the rock face. Thank you to all of the parents who helped out on this trip - we know it is a busy time of the year to do so!

Finally as we near the end of the year we wish all our Year 7 students all the best as they transition into Year 8. We have had a fabulous year and the amount of growth in our classes with leadership, self control, independence and self management has been unbelievably. When I think back to the first day they walked into our classes, to the young people who are now set up ready for year 8- it makes me proud.

Thank you also to the Year 7 teaching team who have nurtured, guided and supported our students throughout this year and the time and energy they give each day. I wish you all a safe and happy holiday!

Lisa Dixon

Year 7 Dean.