During week 5 of this final term, our Year 10 students embarked on a week of extracurricular experiences in the arts.
This is an annual event for the college and one that the students get fully involved in and gain a great deal of knowledge from.
As in previous years, the rotation of activities for four of the five days are derived from the four arts disciplines.
- Visual art this year took the form of Oamaru stone carving and leather stitching
- Dance at the Maori Hill hall where the students were taught the traditional Samoan SASA dance
- Music with Brad Martin in the school music room
- Drama at Toitū Early Setters Museum where the students dressed in period costumes and acted out historical Otākou events
On the fifth day, while one-half of the Year 10 students headed away on camp, the other half ventured to the Pyramids on the Otago Peninsula with several staff, including Nick Price.
After a reasonably quick trek in light rain on the track to the Pyramids, Nick told the boys a story about a pre-European Maori event that had happened on that site; this story continued as we travelled over to the other side and onto Te Rauone beach at Otakou. After a sausage sizzle in now driving rain, we finished the day with a trip to the Otākou Marae cemetery where Nick paid respect to the graves of early Maori.
All of the staff involved in arts week this year have commented on the very positive and engaging way the boys have got involved in every activity, they have been a credit to the college, and I know they thoroughly enjoyed their arts week. A huge thank you must go to the Parents' and Friends' Association for funding this valuable week.
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