Year 10 Arts Week 2024!

And the boys took to it all like ducks to water - perhaps not quite literally as they carved theirs out of macrocarpa. A huge thank you to Mr Jones and Mr Clark for organising the materials and leading the workshop - the duck of the day quickly became the most coveted prize at our morning assemblies.

Over in the music room, Sam from Cue Go gave the boys a sample of beat production, and I was pleased to hear a few students playing their beats back to each other in the hallway! One student even got particularly creative with a Nintendo DS, which I hadn't realised were still a thing...

Up in the Drama Department, Josh and Milla from Cue Go gave an informative one-day course in all types of lighting and sound for film and stage - including things like smoke machines and foley!

And up at the Māori Hill Hall it was a great day of team building with the boys challenged to learn both a Samoan Sasa Dance in the morning with Isaac Tili:

And attempting to put together some lines from 'Jingle Bells' as a Pipe Band (an extremely difficult thing to do in one afternoon!) with the City of Dunedin Pipe Band.

I was thoroughly impressed by how all the boys got stuck in and gave everything a proper go. A big take home message from the week was that all of these things take time, skill, teamwork and a positive attitude towards doing them to succeed.

On the Friday, we ended the week with a field trip to Ōkia Reserve (otherwise known as the pyramids):

The boys rotated through three talks - one about conservation and the local geography, another about the Māori history and oral accounts that come from the area, and one about the European History and the HMS Victory which sank on the beach nearby.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable day, and as the boys had worked so hard throughout the week, we were all happy to round out the week with a pit-stop (with a packed lunch!) at Te Raoune Beach on the way home.

What a great way to round out the year for our year 10 boys as they get to thinking about how what they want to do in their senior years. Here's hoping we've inspired some new interests this year.

A huge thank you to the John McGlashan Parents and Friends Association for their generous support of our Y10 Arts Week.