Faculties Reports

SENIOR SCHOOL Commerce

Young Enterprise 2020

You & ï

You and ï Eyewear manufactured stylish and affordable blue light glasses which work to reduce the harmful effects of blue light on eyes, from screen use. At the Central Auckland Regional Awards they won the ‘Paying it Forward’ Award and as winners of the Central Auckland Young Enterprise Scheme Regional Competition, they competed at the National Awards in Wellington.

Koa & Co

Koa & Co was established in 2019 and strove to educate, specifically the youth of today, about the importance of iron for our body, whilst creating vitamin supplement gummies that support healthy iron and immunity levels and stress management. At the Central Auckland Regional Awards, they won the ‘Excellence in Promotion’ Award and came 2nd in the Central Auckland Young Enterprise Scheme Regional Competition.

TALSH Hoodies

TALSH Hoodies raised awareness for the prevalent issue of mental health for 13 – 18-year-old teenagers in Aotearoa through the sales of their original and uniquely designed hoodies. The hoodie design was visually appealing and signifies a deeper understanding of mental health. At the Central Auckland Regional Awards, they won the ‘Excellence in Communication’ Award.

LOST + FOUND

In the midst of the pandemic ravaging the world and many experiencing hardships, LOST + FOUND, a non-profit business, was dedicated in collecting toys and books for less fortunate children. Through both lockdowns, they managed to amass many boxfuls of toys and books for many deserving children with Women’s Refuge.

ECOCUP

ECOCUP designed and sold St Cuthbert's first ever reusable cup. Sourced from Keepcup, the cup features double walled glass with a black silicone band around the outside with the St Cuthbert's logo printed on. They wanted to help with the College's aim of becoming more environmentally friendly and reducing waste.

Year 10 and 11 Business Market Day

Despite multiple date changes, interruptions due to COVID-19 and reduced time to produce, market and sell their products, the Year 10 and 11 Business students held a successful Market Day with 20% of profits being donated to charities of their choice.

Auckland Accounting Case competition

Noor Randhawa, Sarah White and Stella Stiven won the Auckland Accounting Case Competition at the end of June. For the preliminary round of the Competition, teams were required to write their responses in the format of a report and, based on their performance in the reports, finalists were selected to present a pitch to the panel of judges through a video recording, with a live Q & A session that followed.

Hands-on at Otago

Jemima Hawkesby was selected to take part in the Hands-On at Otago Programme which took place in January 2021. She experienced a week of Otago student life – living in a residential college, undertaking detailed studies in her chosen major of Marketing and learning from some of the foremost researchers in the country. She participated fully in research projects as well as a range of other university studies and there was also opportunities for her to explore career options and to consider new and unfamiliar possibilities for study.

Future of Auckland challenge

Yolanda Lin, Felcia Fong and Spring Zhang came 3rd in the Future Of Auckland Challenge 2020 at the University of Auckland in July. Felcia Fong said, “It was a lot of fun and such a great experience. It was a crossover between Geography and Economics, with the Case Competition about making Auckland a more sustainable city and improving things such as the public transport system or the water system. We worked really hard on our case until 1.00am on Saturday and then kept working the next morning, and I'm super happy that our hard work paid off and we placed 3rd ”.

SENIOR SCHOOL English

Pop-Up Globe

In February of this year, all of Year 10 were fortunate enough to be able undertake a trip to the Pop-Up Globe in Ellerslie, to watch a live performance of the play 'Romeo and Juliet' by William Shakespeare. We had been studying 'Romeo and Juliet' in class for a few weeks prior. We had also watched Baz Luhrmann’s screen adaptation of the famed play, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, which we all thought would be hard to top, even in a stage play. As we entered the theatre, we were all struck by its beauty, and gazed admiringly around at our surroundings. The Pop-Up Globe is a full scale replica of the Second Globe, which was Shakespeare’s own theatre in London. Historians spent a decade researching it, in order to create an accurate idea of what it was really like. They explained to us that the structure was constructed from over 100 tonnes of scaffolding, with a huge domed roof placed on top. The stage was intricately decorated with paintings and carvings, and the roof was royal blue, with a golden sun painted over the top. I was lucky enough to score a seated spot in a box, which was right on the wings, so close that we could make eye contact with the actors. The fight scenes were epic, and startlingly real and the actors wore authentic Italian costumes that looked as if they were straight out of the thirteenth century. I loved one of Juliet’s outfits in particular, which involved a full-length crimson dress, with puffed sleeves and matching ribbons. The story was beautifully told, with serious scenes surrounding love and violence, mixed in with hilarious jokes that had the audience clapping and howling with laughter. The show ended with an explosion of confetti, and deafening applause. Overall, we all really enjoyed the trip, and felt very lucky to see one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies in such authentic surroundings. —Imogen Weenink

Year 10 Spoken Word Poetry

The spoken word poetry unit, as a whole, taught me to channel my emotions and desires into a creative outlet. This unit also aided me in the discovery of one of my new favourite hobbies — writing poetry! In our first lesson that we had a workshop with Ramon from Action Education, who specialised in spoken word poetry, and he taught my class how to write down what we felt, saw, heard, tasted and smelled to describe our emotions. Essentially, he taught us how to put into words what we already knew. Ramon asked us to write a poem personal to us, one that we wouldn’t share with anybody else. In that activity, I got my first glimpse of the art that is spoken word - and I realised that I loved it. In the days that came after that lesson, my teacher, Ms Young, helped us identify key language features, which would later go on to shape the way we presented our pieces. Gradually we learnt how to express ourselves effectively through the medium of poetry – when the time came to present our poems to our class, I could see that every single student tried their best. I was fortunate enough to represent my class in the spoken word poetry competition, held between eight students from different classes across the year level. It was an amazing event; each girl expressed themselves from the bottom of their hearts on potent issues, including those of climate change, the misunderstood youth, feminism, and sea life. It was an emotionally moving experience, and every single poem was amazing. I managed to land first place, tied with Faith Chadha.

I am extremely grateful for the chance to have learnt about spoken word poetry, and the opportunity to perform my poem for my year. I thoroughly enjoyed and learnt so much from this unit.

—Kenisha Sarda

Year 9 Spelling Bee

Congratulations to Teresa Yu who won the Spelling Bee with the winning word ‘abstemious’. Ena Yin secured second place.

Please enjoy this selection of writing from our 2020 prize-winning writers:

Year 11 Writing Award and Prose Prize by Meagan Tupuola Fa’alogo

When I went home, There was a rift where a pese was. When I wanted to fill it with card games in the kitchen and weeping on Ingram Street, Our lives were torn by deciles And Power Stations. When did Samoa begin to feel so far? Because, I feel this sorrow. But my grief is in English. And I feel I cannot talk And I don’t know how to breathe And I don’t know when to speak And I want to feel Alofa. Love. I want to feel entrapped and sure In the gifts, Mum has given me. So, I can say I want to go back But I know It’s much deeper than that. As deep as the graves that brought us here As deep as the oceans we conquered As deep as the feelings that carried me here, Oh, I wish my feelings were as deep. I’m entrapped and afraid In feelings of guilt With stolen emotions I shouldn’t be a part of. There’s a rift where a pese should be, And going home would be useless. What’s home anyway?

Joan Holland Poetry Prize and Award for Writing Excellence by Rebecca Greenwood Collection

Only Words Are Light

An ekphrastic poem inspired by In the Matter of Knowledge by L.Budd et al A tiled wall of grey, navy slates; They reflect light like river stones. Dust trickles through the crevices of books and all the things that books hold. Their souls are painted over so they shine and speak together: “Light has yellowed like a tulip.” Like the pages of an old book, a tulip opens for the sun and is turned golden with knowledge, ‘til the knowing is worn away. The knowing is worn away like river stones. —Rebecca Greenwood, Year 13

Science Writing 2020. Science Writing Topic “Logic will take you from A to B… Imagination will take you everywhere.” - Albert Einstein

Abstraction and Facts

Minds are unruly creatures. They don’t like to stay caged in your head So, they go wandering in Calculus when the numbers are blurring and x’s and y’s wait to be written and you already have the formulas stored in your knuckles and fingertips but you still can’t answer the question Because your mind escaped long ago. It broke its leash. And left you behind. —Rebecca Greenwood, Year 13

Joan Holland Poetry Award

Rebecca Greenwood Year 13

Senior Prose Prize

Maxie de Man Year 13: Cucumber Sandwiches

Senior Science Writing

Emma Akeroyd Year 12: A tribute to Albert Einstein’s first wife

Year 11 Science Writing

Faenza Hiroti: Kaitiakitanga is the key to saving our planet

Year 9 and 10 Science Writing

Hershel Rhandawa Year 9: One idea

Year 7 and 8 Science Writing

Bonnie Wang

Year 6 Science Writing

Olivia Lindon

Year 11 Writing Awards

First place: Meagan Tupuola Fa’alogo Runners-up: Zoe Fisher, Rebecca Ross

Year 10 Writing Awards

First place: Faith Chadha Runner-up: Kelly Zheng

Year 9 Writing Awards

First Place: Dilani Dinesh Runner-up: Maya Ng + Ella King

Year 7 and 8 Writing Award

First place: Eassin Wang and Shanaiya Singh-Ali

SENIOR SCHOOL Languages

Classics

The year began with dreams, planning and excitement for the European trip to Italy and Greece. However, it quickly became clear that we would not be heading away and that visiting the wonderful places we learn about will have to wait for the future. Lockdown life suited Classics surprisingly well. In Year 12 from each individual home, we acted out the ‘Antigone' via video, and the Year 13s achieved outstanding results for their lockdown internal assessment on Roman art and architecture.

Both classes were filled with bright, funny and curious students who have learned much about the society, history, art and literature of the Classical world. They have been able to see the ways our own culture has been shaped from millennia ago. Year 12 has been intrigued by the sculptures of the Golden Age of Athens and Year 13 has become real experts on Augustus’ rise to power as Rome’s first Emperor. There have been a lot of laughs, quizzes and jokes, many memes and even a couple of ice-cream days! A highlight for Year 13 was the enthusiastic participation in the nationwide NZACT Classics Week competitions, including the task to recreate an ancient artwork which led to full class participation and the masterworks that follow.

The Gemma Augustea from the early 1st century CE

Latin MMXX

In 2020, we celebrated the inaugural year of the teaching Latin at Year 7 level, designing a course to introduce our newest students to the language and mythology of ancient Rome. Our Year 9 students had their annual toga-tying competition and despite being held during lockdown, our girls still managed to create a virtual catwalk to display their impressive toga-tying technique! The annual ‘Class Sacrifice’ undertaken by our Year 10 Latin students is always a memorable highlight of the year. Students learnt about the Roman religion and the ritual process of sacrifice in ancient Rome before recreating it themselves…albeit on a stuffed toy. Year 10 students also created a real estate ad for the Palace of Cogidubnus, a King in Roman Britain. A group of enthusiastic students recreated the story of Pandora’s Box for which they received a ‘Commended Award’ in the Classical Languages Teachers Association competition. Our Year 11 Latin students enjoyed a dress-up day online through lockdown with students creating distinctly Roman costumes whilst our Year 12 and 13 students enjoyed their study of Latin Literature including famous Roman ‘love poetry’ and relationship advice from 2000 years ago!

LEFT: Annual toga-tying competition MIDDLE: Class Sacrifice RIGHT: Recreation of the story of Pandora’s Box

Chinese

LEFT: 12IB students try out traditional Chinese clothes in preparation for Languages Week MIDDLE: Year 8 Dragon Boat racing RIGHT: Year 8 lockdown exercise: making Chinese shuttlecocks and then playing with family at home

French Exchanges

At the start of 2020, seven St Cuthbert’s students travelled to Paris for between six to eight weeks where they stayed with their host families. Our students attended two different local schools in Paris: Ecole Alsacienne and Lycée Lakanal. Our students enjoyed the opportunity to experience the Parisian lifestyle as well as the chance to travel around France and see more of the country.

French Competitions

Three of our Year 8 French students participated in the annual French Speech competition which took place at Auckland Normal Intermediate on, 4 November 2020. Ciara Wynn gave a beautiful speech and came 1st in the Year 8 group whilst Hana Rachakarakij came 3rd in the talent show with an impressive Thai song sung in French. Well done girls! Various competitions took place throughout 2020, including an online Year 9 contest among all the Year 9 classes and a French baking competition for the Year 10 during lockdown. Some students from Year 9 to 11 completed the Australian Assessment of Language Competence test in French and they all performed very well. All students achieved Credit, Distinction or High Distinction, fantastic results!

Speech competition French Exchange Te reo Māori students created a scavenger hunt in the library for ‘Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori’, where participants had to find all of the ‘atua wahine’ (female deities) hidden all over the library.

Sapphire Tutini and Luci Hollister find a creative way to demonstrate the words ‘runga’ (above) and ‘raro’ (below). Zara Ford and Olivia Gillingham show their classmates the difference between ‘tere’ (fast) and ‘pōturi’ (slow).

Te reo Māori students learn words for mauī (left), matau (right), huri (turn), roto (inside), waho (outside). Kai during lockdown!

Spanish

There were fewer opportunities for the many cultural activities we like to run in our classes in 2020, but we still made the most of every learning opportunity. Spanish students from all years benefitted from working in small groups with our 2020 Spanish assistant, Olaia Perez Imirizaldu, to whom we are grateful, for her help in building their confidence in spoken Spanish. Our Year 9 and 10 girls enjoyed some Mexican-themed activities based on the ‘Día de los Muertos’ festival, including the making of piñatas. Year 10 Spanish students completed a food unit in between the two lockdowns and enjoyed creating their own ‘Pintxos’.

Spanish Competitions

We’d like to recognise Year 11 student, Julie Li, who won the national Spanish Speech Competition which had the theme of ‘Fiesta’. Julie presented a beautiful speech on her favourite event, the Chinese Autumn Festival. Our congratulations to the Year 10 and 11 girls who took part in the Australian Language Certificate examinations in 2020 and, in particular to the following girls who achieved Distinction and High Distinction Awards! • Ella Alfaro Campbell • Ava Alpe • Molly Cardwell-Dray • Sasha Gabriel • Zoe Guan • Grace McCarthy • Amy Seymour • Cate Tipler • Mia Vanderkolk • Florence Cook • Romy Lee • Safia Moore • Poppy Paterson-Boock

TOP: Escape Room based on movie, Coco BOTTOM: Pintxos photos

SENIOR SCHOOL Mathematics

Mathematics Highlights of 2020

2020 involved the Year 7 and 8 students coming under the Mathematics faculty umbrella for their courses. Much discussion and development work was done to ensure the courses flow well into Senior school and are engaging, enjoyable and challenging. This included fun construction and geometry activities in Year 7 and a competition involving graphing and Origami leap frogs, in Year 8.

In the Senior school, this is the first year IB students have had a choice between two mathematics pathways. IB introduced two separate Mathematics courses in 2021: Analysis and Approaches (AA) and Application and Interpretation (AI) both courses running at HL and SL.

There are several Mathematics Competitions in which students participate, these encourage problem solving skills and lateral thinking. We are very proud of our girls' achievements. St Cuthbert's took out top of NZ honours at both Year 9 and Year 10 in the Otago Junior Mathematics Competition – an outstanding result. Additionally, in the Australian Mathematics Competition, our students were awarded top prize winners for Year 9 and for Year 10.

We are delighted to have had a record six students selected into the second round of the NZ Olympiad, three of these being prize winners who were selected for the January 2021 Olympiad Camp held at Auckland University.

NZ Maths Olympiad

A record six students were selected into the second round of the NZ Mathematics Olympiad, with Brena Merz being selected for the 2021 NZ Maths Olympiad Squad. NZMO select 25 students to participate in NZMOC training camp at Auckland University in January 2021; this is whittled down to a team of six students who compete at the 2021 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). We have three medal winners – these girls have been selected in the top 25 for the NZ Olympiad training camp in January. • Silver Award and in the top 12 students in NZ: Brena Merz • Silver Award: Ena Yin – we believe Ena is the first Year 9 student, again, among the top 12 students in NZ. • Bronze Award: Belle Yin – again impressive, for a Year 9 student • Round two Qualifiers: Grace Wu, Dawn Chen and Jifei Shao

University of Otago Junior Mathematics Competition 2020

This annual Year 9 to 11 mathematics competition, was held while in lockdown on 13 May 2020, involving 1944 students from, 73 different schools. The competition has an emphasis on problem-solving skills. We are very proud of our girls’ achievements. St Cuthbert’s took out top of NZ honours at both Year 9 and Year 10, an outstanding result. • 1st in NZ in Year 9 with 98%: Ena Yin • 1st in NZ in Year 10 with 98%: Grace Wu • 2nd equal in NZ with 91%: Belle Yin Students in the top 30 candidates in NZ for their year group. • Year 9: Sophie Robb 90%, Priyanka Gai, Jifei Shao, Jennifer Liu,

Dawn Chen Yicky Zhou and Ella Cham • Year 10: Sophia Zhou and Leonore Li • Year 11: Maria Gong 91%, who was in the top five of all Year 11 candidates, Brena

Merz and Charlotte Wen

Australian Maths Competition (Years 9-13)

The Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC) involves students in more than 30 countries attempting the same problems which are designed to test mathematical thinking. They become progressively more difficult through the competition, so that at the end, they are challenging to even the most gifted students. School-based maths competitions don’t get much bigger than this one! • Best of School with the highest score in St Cuthbert’s and in the top 0.3%

Grace Wum Year 10. • Two Prize Winners, both in the top 0.3%

Belle Yin of Year 9 and Grace Wu of Year 10 • High Distinction

Vanessa Bu, Ena Yin, Jifei Shao, Lily (Mohan) Hu, Lingshi Chen and Charlotte Wen

Computational and Algorithmic Thinking ( CAT)

A problem-solving competition which seeks to identify computer programming potential from students in both Australia and New Zealand.

High Distinction was awarded to Kelly Zeng, who gained 100%!

Year 7 and 8 – Mathematics

Year 7 and 8 integrated well into the Senior school, enjoying some fun activities as well as in their new courses.

APSMO Competition – Year 7 and 8

This competition develops flexibility for problem-solving, fosters creativity and ingenuity, and strengthens intuition. Schools participate from around Australia and New Zealand. Year 8: 1st: Julia Sung, 2nd Ella Zhang Year 7: 1st =: Emily Cheng and Ellie Siu 2nd Regina Cao

Otago Problem Solving – Year 7 and 8

Problem Challenge is a Mathematics problemsolving competition aimed at children in Years 7 and 8, which is run by the University of Otago. 2020 Prize winners, who gained a $25 book voucher were, April Li, Eassin Wang, Evee Tan, Emily Chen and Ellie Su

Australian Mathematics Competition – Year 8

1st: Mabel Zhao 2nd: Olivia Wei

Mathex

The St Cuthbert’s team won the trophy at Mathex in 2019, so naturally the girls were very keen to compete to retain the cup. The 2020 teams competed later in the year due to a COVID-19 reschedule.

The Year 9 Mathex Winners holding their cup: Sophie Robb, Belle Yin, Ena Yin and Jifei Shao

Mathex Year 10 Team: Georgie Huxford, Grace Merrilees, Alexandra Bow, Grace Wu

The 2020 Mathex competition was held on 27 and 28 October. The atmosphere in the stadium was suspenseful as the competitors waited their turn to begin. The competition is held annually, and teams of four must correctly answer 20 questions within a 30-minute timeframe to win. An added challenge is that you must run your answers to the marker awaiting you at the end of the row, and run the rest of the loop back to your team. The competition was intense, with runners barrelling down the lanes, colliding, sprinting and sweating. There were some 90 teams entered per year group, and St Cuthbert's was proud to have pulled off the top four to ten results for Years 9 and 10. It was a fun night, and our mathematicians look forward to bringing a new fire to next year’s event to steal the win.

—Grace Merrilees, Year 10

SENIOR SCHOOL Performing Arts

The St Cuthbert’s Performing Arts Centre, affectionately referred to as ‘the PAC’ has increasingly become a hub for lively activity in the College. We are very accustomed to dancers running to class in exercise pants, actors rounding the corridors in flowing skirts and masks, and hearing wonderful background soundtracks of everything from Bach to Blue Note. As teachers, we have learned to mark papers to Jazz, learned that screaming is probably safe, and crying is all about how many tears you can produce! But it was far from all ‘fun and games’ in 2020. COVID-19 shut the doors of the PAC and sent us home to teach scripted performance, dance steps, theatre history, puppetry, clowning, song composition from the comfort of our living rooms and home offices. Through this, we saw our students continue to stay engaged and focused on their performing arts subjects and produce some very exciting works. Out of a time of adversity and uncertainty we all learned to adapt and ‘go with the flow’ and from this shift in emphasis, students’ imaginations extended, and we had time to perhaps go deeper into the practice. Without the demands of public performances, we looked for other ways to produce work that could be viewed and experienced differently. We recorded everything and chose various platforms to get the performances to our community. Out of lockdown, we have been able to produce the Junior Musical and other smaller events to complete the year. My warmest thanks to the entire Performing Arts Team, who are wonderfully skilled and committed, and who successfully managed to navigate this unprecedented year, and nurture each one of their students along the way.

—Judy McIntosh, Head of Faculty, Performing Arts

Dance

Year 7 Dance

Year 7 Dance was so enjoyable in 2020. We started off every lesson with a warm-up to the beat of the latest hits. This year we worked on three major dance pieces: ‘Matilda’, hip-hop and ‘Hairspray’. ‘Matilda’ was a lot of fun as you used your whole body in the movement. It was also the most challenging piece because, at times, everyone was doing something different and it was long, but that’s what made it so enjoyable! Our hip-hop piece was my personal favourite because I got to see my class’s sassy moves and expressions. Lastly, we did the ‘Hairspray’ piece, which was full of catchy moves and group section. Online dance was difficult, but we tried our best and did exciting dance activities/pieces at home. Overall, I absolutely LOVED dance this year, it was tons of fun and I can’t wait for 2021! —Zara Toes, Year 7

Year 8 Dance

Year 8 Dance this year has been really fun. The good thing about Year 8 Dance is that even people who have never danced before, or don’t know much about dance can still participate and do well. I personally really enjoyed learning the Oompah Loompah dance from ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ because it was a very up-beat dance. It was challenging at times to get everyone to dance in unison and get all the moves right, but, when we had finished the dance and had to perform it, I think it looked amazing and we were all really proud of what we achieved together as a class. —Rebekah Breed, Year 8

Year 9 Dance

As a new student, coming from a small country school I had never had the opportunity to study Dance as a subject until this year. Although I participate in weekly dance jazz classes outside of school, I was excited about finding out what sort of new styles I would learn in this class. So far we have learnt a musical theatre routine, hip hop, ballet technique, dance history and we still have the choreography section to come. I really enjoyed learning the musical theatre number from the movie ‘Hairspray’. It was upbeat and slightly challenging but I think all the best dances are. Sadly, lockdown meant we couldn't perform that dance but our classes continued online. During the August lockdown, we started the hip hop section learning from videos in groups and we were assessed when we returned to school. The most challenging aspect in class this year was the ballet section. I have never taken ballet classes, and learning techniques that I hadn’t ever done was fun. Overall I have really enjoyed taking dance in year nine; it has been a great way to learn a lot more about this art and keep active and I am looking forward to taking dance again next year. —Lucy Gilmour, Year 9

Year 10 Dance

The Year 10 Dance semester has proved that anyone can dance regardless of previous knowledge or experience. It has lead me into a new world for performing because you realise that emotions are delivered through the use of your body, not the voice. You put on different personalities for a few minutes and share the stage with others who enjoy it as much as you do. From dancing ‘Greased Lightning’ to contemporary pieces, there was something for everyone. Whilst staying in lockdown, it forced us out of our laziness and delivered creativity in our own rooms. As challenging as it was to not knock something over, we still got on our feet and were able to follow along to some hip hop. Learning the routines can prove difficulty, but left me feeling accomplished. Giving everything a go, especially whilst having fun is what kept us going! —Jojo Houben, Year 10

Dance (Continued)

Year 11 Dance

In Year 11 Dance in 2020, we managed to fit a year of laughter and positivity in the time we had together in and out of the classroom. Attempting to dance during lockdown was a lot more difficult than I anticipated. Initially, we worked on our solo pieces to ease the stress of needing a class of peers to work with, but as that came and went, we moved on to our group hip hop piece which was being taught to us by a guest choreographer over zoom. As lockdown wasn’t my most favourite thing, Dance definitely kept me going and it was full of jokes and laughter and was definitely a positive output for me. It was also really fascinating to see how the piece came together as we were learning a group piece at home alone, so you could see how we each interpreted what we were being indirectly taught. The showcase this year was a bit of a struggle as we were still under COVID-19 restrictions, but it was so rewarding to see how far we had come, not only through our dances but our relationships too, leaving Dance this year, one of the most memorable subjects. —Zjana Marsh-Richards, Year 11

Year 12 Dance

Dance has been an eye opening experience for me this year. 2020 was my first time taking Dance as a subject and it has been a class full of personal growth, technical development and friendship. One of the best things about Dance is the exploration as we cover a range of differently styled dances that have allowed me to explore not only my own ability but the capability to bring a choreographer's intention to life. Dancing a Bob Fosse piece and selected works from Alvin Ailey’s Revelations, I have been able to expand my knowledge of the world of movement and storytelling. This knowledge extended into creating our own choreography where we explored a typical day in lockdown through gestural movements and repetition to communicate a sense of monotony. It has been a welcoming class, the inclusive environment makes it easy to work cohesively as an ensemble, allowing me the ability to get to know my fellow dancers well. Overall, Dance has been an engaging and exciting experience this year. —Helena Haldane, Year 12

Year 13 Dance

I loved being a part of Level 3 Dance in 2020. As a combined class with Level 2, our year was full of fun and laughter while also being challenged and working hard. We started the year learning a number of contemporary pieces from Alvin Ailey’s ‘Revelations’ which we later studied for our written external exam. We also learnt other pieces such as a Bob Fosse inspired number. The annual Dance Showcase in September was again a highlight of the year. We had a great audience turnout comprising of Boarders, staff, other students, and parents, and we loved showing what we had learnt throughout the year in full costume and staging. Another personal highlight for me was working on our own choreography internal, which we created on a small group of Year 12 students. We were not able to complete this internal, but it was very rewarding seeing my vision come to life and working with the girls in my group. —Eva Matheson, Year 13

The Company

Being part of The Company, although our time was limited, was an amazing experience in 2020. We started off the year learning a minimalistic, yet powerful chair routine choreographed by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. We were challenged by having to come up with our own choreography to mix into the dance; it was so rewarding being involved in the creative process of such an empowering routine and I was so proud to watch the piece come together. My highlight of dance this year was performing at Cultural Honours. It is always exciting to share the pieces we have so passionately worked on throughout the year; however, after many disappointments including the cancellation of Showquest, I was especially grateful to be able to perform the routine ‘Rosas Danst Rosas’ for the first time in front of an audience of our friends and family. The Company has always been full of equally enthusiastic dancers who create such a supportive environment. I was so grateful for what we were able to accomplish this year as a team due to the circumstances and it was a great way to finish off my school dance career. The Company this year, as Ms Mahon would say, is “one for the archives”. —Giulliana Winter

K-pop Crew

Cancellation of rehearsals and performance opportunities throughout the year made it challenging, especially for our first time leading the group. However, we were lucky enough to have an amazing group of dancers who are talented and hard working. Seeing encouragement and support within the group and the final performance at assembly, have been gratifying. We are very proud of the piece that we created with the girls within such a short amount of time and, it was also a great opportunity for us to get to know girls from other year groups. This has been an experience in our dance journey that we are truly grateful for and we look forward to coming back next year to the new studio and seeing the new K-pop group perform! —Brijana Shao and Abbie Xi (Crew Choreographers and Leaders) Annyeonghaseyo. This year has been quite hectic and challenging. I have loved being a part of this group. I was able to learn different dances but also, make new friends and share interests. As one of the non-Mandarin speaking members it wasn’t too hard to keep up with the group. I am very proud of the hard work and dedication of our leaders, Abbie and Brijana. I will never forget our performance during assembly – such a positive and supportive response from the College community. Whilst performing the crowds roared, cheering and clapping and made our hard work worth it. —Maataua Tanielu-Seve (Crew Member)

Hip Hop Crew

Choreographing the St Cuthbert’s first ever hip hop team was a really rewarding experience for me. Watching the girls grow from auditions to our last performance was such a privilege! Many of our performance opportunities were unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19, but the girls worked extremely hard and always gave 100% to everything I threw at them. We did everything from hip hop basics to a full twominute routine which the girls finally performed in front of assembly. This was so amazing to finally show off what they have been working so hard on. For me working with the girls was such an amazing creative outlet to not only improve my choreographing skills but my teaching skills and these girls were so supportive and willing to give everything a go. I’m so proud of them! —Brianna Dixon (Crew Choreographer and Leader) In 2020, St Cuthbert’s introduced the new Hip Hop crew. This was a long-awaited group which allowed the hip hop dancers in the school to unite together. It was a challenging year as we saw restrictions from COVID-19, meaning we had to social distance to keep safe which was very challenging for our crew. Dancers in the group ranged from Years 7-13; it was a nice way of branching out making friends who weren’t in our year groups. Everyone had different dance experience. It is always great to learn from each other. Our amazing choreographer, Brianna Dixon, worked so hard in shaping the dance to make the performance worthy. Everyone had so much fun performing to a cheering crowd in assembly. Our group was a big hit and hopefully, in the future, hip hop will continue to grow at St Cuthbert’s. —Charlotte Ng-Waishing (Crew Member)

Drama

Year 7 Drama

This year we only did drama for two terms but I loved every minute of it. We had the best teacher possible and the most exciting lessons. I always looked forward to them. If we felt self-conscious or nervous, she helped us get through it and we learnt so much. From melodrama to mini playwriting, we always had a plan and the lessons were well thought out! We learnt so many techniques that I can use over my lifetime in drama like levels, melodrama and play writing. It was such a great experience, and I wouldn't change it for the world. I can’t wait for 2021. I honestly think it could be my highlight of the year. When we were working in a team or by ourselves our teacher always encouraged us to do our best. If anything was different, I am sure it would be even better! —Amy Brockley

Year 8 Drama

Drama this year has been extremely enjoyable. From virtual plays to re-creating myths and legends, I really enjoyed it. Even the written work was “a blast”! I’m glad we didn't let lockdown get in the way of our learning otherwise I’m sure quarantine would have been a lot more boring. One of my favourite activities was when we got put in groups and had to write and perform a play ourselves. This was supposed to explain a myth or legend about a different culture, and it forced us to work together as a team, to include everyone's ideas and to get to know each other a bit better. I recommend taking drama (I know I will be), because it’s enjoyable and gives you a chance to break out of your comfort zone and try something new. Plus, it’s a great way to build collaboration skills. Is that alright? I really like it! —Shanaiya Singh-Ali

Shakespeare on Trial - The Year 7 and 8 Musical

JUDGE: William Shakespeare, four hundred and four years after your death your work is accused of being boring and out of date. How do you plead? Awoken on the 404th anniversary of his death, William Shakespeare was put on trial before the Celestial Court to face the charge that his plays were boring and out of date! So, with the aid of many of his characters, and quite a few that aren't, Shakie defends himself with the assistance of his trusted lawyer. We met his parents and his wife before we bowed down to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I. Fortunately we all kept our heads intact from the Public Executioner. However, sadly, there were those who met their untimely demise due to the plague. We were introduced to authors who no one had ever heard of and saw characters play pranks on others. Meanwhile, Shakie was convinced his plays and sonnets were still relevant for all time. The Celestial Court definitely had something to say about that!

Year 9 Drama

This year in Drama we looked at a variety of different activities, including Greek theatre, improvisation and Greek chorus group work. At the start of the year, we did a lot of improvisation in groups and by ourselves. We also participated in theatresports and games to help us adapt to the new class and get to know each other really well. But lockdown suddenly struck the whole College and we had to come up with different ways through which we could still have fun and learn about Drama. During the lockdown, we devised a drama based on ‘The Doll’s House’ by Katherine Mansfield, created a script within our group and edited together a video of ourselves doing it at home. Near the end of lockdown, we started researching Greek theatre and chose a task to do at home, which we then presented to our classmates, once we were back. —Alyssa Rollinson, Year 9

Year 10 Drama, Level 2

Drama has boosted my confidence to act in front of others and break free of my personality. We have done modern scripts such as ‘Dags’, which emphasises teenage struggles. When doing clowning, we acted goofily with objects as if we had never seen them before, playing with imagination. Our culture and identity got to shine through when performing a written monologue. Some people described themselves as materials or fonts for ‘The Ian Sharp Poem’, and others did ‘Rhyming the Past’, encouraging individual speaking.

One reason I love Drama is that we get to see everyone in the class playing completely different roles we might not choose to do, and it’s always funny when parts of the play don’t go quite as planned. Towards the end of the year, our class worked on an exciting piece for the One Act Play Festival at St Cuthbert’s which we performed to our loved ones. —Jojo Houben, Year 10

Year 11 Drama

Drama was an interesting, fun and engaging class to be involved in this year, where we as a class, learnt about the different aspects of drama, and how to apply them to our acting. We focused on Elizabethan Theatre, the performance style used during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, around 400 years ago. We all worked with each other as we studied the features and trademarks of Shakespeare, and then got into costume and performed scenes from Twelfth Night, using what we had learnt, to make it as close to traditional Shakespeare as possible. We also produced a public performance of the play ‘Flesh’ by Rob Drummond. This was my personal favourite unit, and we all supported each other to create a drama that we could be proud to show to our parents on the performance evenings. We faced some struggles during this unit, as we went into lockdown halfway through, so couldn’t practise as much as we would have liked to, but we managed to work together to get it ready to perform once lockdown ended. The script left us to create our own characters, to interpret their traits and characteristics however we liked, which was scary and exciting at the same time, as we had full creative freedom.

Drama this year has taught us all a lot about working as a team, embracing other styles of acting, and overcoming challenges, and I cannot wait to do Level 2 next year. —Jessica Went

Year 12 Drama

Drama is an extremely important part of my school life. 2020 has been a strange year for Drama from finishing internals in lockdown to putting on our play at short notice but this has not taken away from the enjoyment and the fulfilment that I find in this class. We have made our way through the various internals in which we have devised our own dramas, worked on a piece of Brechtian theatre from the anti-war play ‘Mother Courage and her Children’ and improved upon our drama techniques voice, body, movement and space. Through our performance of ‘Away’ written by Australian playwright Michel Gow, I have learned the importance of telling a character's story and working effectively with an ensemble. My fellow classmates and I work exceptionally well together with respect for each other as performers and friends. It is through this class that I have learned a lot about myself, my love for this subject and my ability to perform with others to produce a quality piece of theatre. —Helena Haldane

Year 13 Drama

Year 13 Drama is a very involved course. Throughout the year we complete five internals ranging from performing scenes to creating our own devised performances. All these standards are elevated by the supportive atmosphere of the class. We also study a theatre form as part of our course. This year it was Caryl Churchill’s play ‘Top Girls’, as part of the Political Theatre form. A highlight of the course is the Play. This year we performed Jemma Kennedy’s ‘Second Person Narrative’, a play that explores how we are shaped as individuals throughout life. We were more than fortunate to have been in Alert Level 1, allowing us to have a great performance opportunity, in a year that has seen so many cancellations for the Performing Arts faculty. It was a highly collaborative and rewarding effort. As a class we are grateful for the effort and knowledge of Ms Waalkens who throughout the year, taught us valuable skills which enhanced our dramatic performances. —Sophie Henwood

Drama (Continued)

Level 1 – 3 Drama

Drama continues to flourish at St Cuthbert’s throughout what has been an otherwise tumultuous year. Two new teachers joined the department; Rita Stone for our Years 9-11 and Rachel Walsh teaching our Year 7 and 8s. The 2020 year began with our annual Shakespeare Soiree. Over 100 students rehearsed and presented a range of scenes at two dress rehearsals before the COVID-19 national lockdown cancelled the final presentation and adjudication. Three scenes were, however, selected to be filmed and submitted to the speedily reimagined, online version of the University of Otago Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival, and this year St Cuthbert’s won a range of awards for those submissions. The Shakespeare Soiree and Sheilah Winn Festival is a great way for all students to participate even if they haven’t enrolled in NCEA drama.

The Theatre Club is a wonderful opportunity for students studying Drama at Years 9-13 to see live performance and gain experience in critically analysing effective performance skills. This year our Theatre Club attended ‘UPU’ by Silo Theatre at the Auckland Arts Festival – a powerful theatrical exploration of Pacific literature.

Drama productions within the school curriculum continue to excite and challenge the school audience. The Year 11 production, Rob Drummond’s “Flesh” was an examination of tribal animal (human) instincts under extreme pressure. Our Year 12 students explored relationship dynamics in Michael Gow’s “Away” and the Year 13 class performed “Second Person narrative” by Jemma Kennedy, a play about selfhood and the decisions we make, or have imposed upon us, in constructing a life. Drama is an amazing way to gain confidence, learn how to express yourself and allow your creativity to develop. The many young students who step through our PAC doors join a family of like-minded individuals who share their passion. Drama has a special place in the heart of St Cuthbert’s life. —Rita Stone, Drama Teacher

Shakespeare Soiree

Shakespeare Soiree at St Cuthbert’s is an amazing way for girls to express their talent and creativity, from tragedies that break our heart to comedies that make us laugh out loud. Students are given the opportunity to direct, act and self-direct, in small groups of girls in a 5- or 15-minute Shakespeare scene. It is the most anticipated and exciting event of the year. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 many groups only managed to perform at the dress rehearsal, but for most, this did not matter because Shakespeare Soiree provides much more than the opportunity to perform on a stage. The girls enjoy learning about the amazing language and possibilities of Shakespeare, not to mention the strong friendships formed between senior directors and Year 9 and 10s!

The two teacher directed groups and one Year 13 self-directed group, fortunately were able to get their groups videoed and submitted. ‘Measure for Measure’ directed by Rita Stone won Best Adult Director. Our other teacher directed group ‘Twelfth Night’ directed by Debbie Waalkens won Best Set Design, Best Communication with the Audience and we were very proud of actor Helena Haldane who came runner up for NSSP in her role as Olivia. ‘Comedy of Errors’ directed by Amelia Barrett, Hannah Went, Hannah Fan, Nellie McKegg, Arabella Cryer, Sarah White and I won best Ensemble. As well as this, Hannah Fan and I won best Comedy Duo. In addition to acting successes, Genevan Ryan won 1st prize in the SGCNZ Shakespeare Poster and Connie Wing came 2nd in the SGCNZ static Image competition. Renee Yi Zhang also came 1st in SGCNZ Shakespeare Video Title Card Competition. One very gifted student, Grace Mora, won the Music composition inspired by a Shakespeare play in both sections. She has been chosen to represent New Zealand at the Globe Theatre next year.

We are immensely proud of every girl and cannot thank Mrs Waalkens and the Drama department enough for yet another successful year of Shakespeare Soiree. —Maddy Lamb

Theatresports

Despite the disrupted year of going in and out of lock downs, Theatresports 2020 was both fun and an amazing learning experience. With majority of the group being new Year 9s it was great for the older and younger girls to mix together and learn from each other.

This year, a main focus was accepting and expanding on offers which is ultimately the foundation of a good Theatresports game. We attended only one player night due to COVID-19, at Epsom Girls’ Grammar School. We had compiled a team of two Year 11s and two Year 9s giving the team a wide variation of experience levels.

As captain this year I found it both challenging and rewarding. I was able to make friends with the new players as-well as strengthen relationships with older players. Ultimately, it was “a ride of a year” and we are all grateful for our wonderful tutor and Ms Stone for helping us along the way. —Rebecca Ross

Music

Year 7 Music

Music 2020 was lots of fun and I learnt so much, for example, what solfa is and how to write out stick notation. Also, we looked at the famous composer Mozart and his compositions. Then we completed fun activities based on his life, career and childhood. A highlight of music this year was watching ‘The Magic Flute’ in class, where we could relax and listen to the complex music, variety of instruments, and laugh at the ‘entertaining’ characters. My favourite part was taking a sneak peek at ukulele, piano and percussion instruments which we focused on in small groups, as well as building our confidence in singing. I loved playing all the quirky music games, and there were a lot of laughs involved! Music this year was a great insight into Year 8 Music and I can’t wait for more music in 2021! —Zara Toes, Year7

Year 8 Music

Music in 2020 was fun, even though part of it was cut short by lockdown. In Term 3, we learnt about the elements of music by listening to children’s songs. Our favourite part was when we got to use these skills by creating our own children’s songs, making the lyrics and melodies in groups then performing them to the class on the ukulele. We enjoyed this because we got to try out the skills we’d learnt and use them to create entertaining songs. In Term 4, we created posters about New Zealand singers and songwriters and learnt the guitar. Overall, Music in 2020 has been really fun; we’ve enjoyed learning about singers and songwriters, as well as using new skills. —Helena Wong and Ava Wedlock, Year 8

Year 10 Music

In 2020, our learning was targeted more towards gaining musical skills through song and instrumental writing, theory, listening and aural skills. Due to the COVID-19 lockdowns, we were unable to delve into solo and group performances and hip hop music. However, we explored music history and learnt about the different types of music in different time periods. We focussed our learning mostly on Cuban, jazz, rap and impressionist music. For rap music we all wrote a rap about first world problems so we both decided to do a rap battle against each other which was quite entertaining. We then went into songwriting and learnt about the history of impressionist music and then delved further by writing an impressionist piece for our preferred instrument. During both lockdowns, we worked mostly on our theory, listening and aural skills which are essential for all musicians. We enjoyed the learning in our jazz unit and participated in many quizzes which helped make our brains work in a different way and it was a unique and enjoyable way to learn. ‘Full year Music’ is the class that we both look forward to during the day and always ends with many laughs and a smile on our faces. We highly recommend fellow musicians and students to take this course as each lesson is always a different learning experience. —Hana Ehsankya and Ellen Lucas

Year 11 Music

Year 11 Music is a class with multiple talented musicians, with a variety of instrumentalists ranging from clarinettists, to violinists, to drummers. We have different music experiences, knowledge, and taste; and therefore learn from one another. In Level One music, we wrote our own songs and compositions, as well as studying two pieces of music. In 2020, these were ‘Fortunate Son’, written by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and ‘Hebrides Overture’, by Felix Mendelssohn. We learnt about the different elements in music, and how composers have used these to express emotion through their compositions. We have also done two solo performances and a group performance, with our chosen instrument, and this helped us to display our abilities and improve our skills. Overall, my class has really benefited from this course, as it enhanced our knowledge of music theory, history, and we have all certainly enjoyed the curriculum. —Heidi Erhard

Year 12 Music

Level Two Music in 2020 was incredible, especially with trying to learn Modes over Microsoft Teams for our Contrasting Music Works External in which we studied U2’s ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday,’ and Lilburn’s ‘Overture Aotearoa!’. In conjunction with this external, a few of the class members also studied score reading as one of the externals. Throughout the year, we worked on our several different internals which included composition, performance and studying certain New Zealand Composers and groups, supporting each other throughout the process. With the occasional tea breaks and constant music playing in the background, our Level Two Music journey, both online and in real life has been the most incredible experience, full of learning opportunities and musical knowledge! —Demira Singh

Co-curricular Music

Concert Band

Our Concert Band members begin their journey in the Year 5 and 6 Classroom Band Programme. The Honours Band is for Years 7-10 students who play brass, woodwind and percussion instruments, and is directed by Oliver Gilmour. Girls were able to rehearse on Zoom during the first lockdown, and together learnt pieces such as ‘Korobushka’, and ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’. Year 9 student, Estelle Lee, said “I know I speak for all of us in the Honours Band when I say we’ve all had fun having our individual voices come together to make a whole.” The Concert Band is made up of Years 9-13 students and is directed Andrew Stewart. Girls were able to rehearse through lockdown and took part in the Instrumental Showcase, playing an arrangement of ‘Africa’ by Toto and ‘Appalachian Tapestry’. Year 12 student, Hayley Minturn, reflected “As Concert Band leader, I would like to thank all the wonderful musicians who have demonstrated commitment, resilience and enthusiasm. Most importantly, I would like to thank Mr Stewart whose dedication, energy and talent has enabled Concert Band to be so successful and enjoyable for all the girls. We are all looking forward to the opportunity of performing again in 2021.”

Rock Band

Rock Band is great as there aren’t many other opportunities to play Rock Music at school. We met since the beginning of 2020, and we’re all glad that we joined this programme as we have become great friends. All of us have improved our instrumental and vocal skills. We practise as a band twice a week at school, as well as individual practise at home. Felipe Simonetti, our tutor, has helped us polish our songs so that we can perform to the best of our abilities. He always encourages us to try our best and I’m very grateful to have been part of the 2020 Rock Band. —Ellen Lucas, Year10

Flute Choir

Flute Choir is an all-comers Year 9-13 ensemble directed by Ms Brawn-Douglas. During lockdown they rehearsed over Microsoft Teams and added ‘virtual rehearsing’ to their skill set. Tishani Vanniasingham of Year 12 said, “Personally, I love how Flute Choir is not about competing, winning or reforming music as we know it. It is about creating a community of enthusiastic flautists, enjoying the experience of making music together and looking good doing it! The memories that I have formed while being in the Flute Choir this year, will last for a lifetime.”

Jazz Group

The Jazz Groups at St Cuthbert’s had a great year playing and learning together despite the restrictions of COVID-19. Throughout lockdown, Stage Band, Milestones, B Band and the Sax Quartet all continued rehearsing. We learnt about recording music individually, and B Band produced a ‘virtual band’ performance of one of their pieces, ‘Kiss the Girl’. After returning to school, we performed in the Instrumental Showcase. Once we were back at school we recorded video submissions for the online KBB Music Festival showcase. We have loved being part of the jazz programme this year and are proud of everything we have been able to achieve. Without the pressure of external competition, we have been able to grow closer as a group and develop as jazz musicians in different ways than usual. We are all looking forward to next year and are excited about what the future holds.” —Keying Huo-Smith, Year 13

Orchestras

Many of our string players begin the development of their skills in the Suzuki Violin Group Lesson. We eat lunch together, then we take a bow and play our pieces. If you haven't learnt the song being played, hearing it at Group Lesson helps you to learn it later. I like playing violin games at Group. My favourite is hide the bow. I think it is good to come to violin group lesson as it helps you to learn the violin. —Ariel Su

Junior Black Watch Orchestra (JBWO) is an auditioned orchestra for students in Years 4-6. JBWO performed in the Instrumental Showcase, and enjoyed the opportunity to observe the other orchestras and bands in performance. Mei Peacock from Year 6 said ‘A huge thank you to Mr Stewart for putting so much effort into the orchestra’s rehearsals and performances. I have thoroughly enjoyed being part of the JBWO for this year.” Black Watch Strings is an all-comers chamber orchestra directed by Ms Dragana Yelavich. Whilst the group was impacted by lockdowns, they were able to continue rehearsing and making music together. “Black Watch Strings was filled to the brim with excitement, and I look forward to next year.” —Meagan Luo Black Watch Orchestra is St Cuthbert’s symphony orchestra. They rehearsed over Zoom through lockdowns and were able to perform at the Instrumental Showcase and submit entries to 2020 virtual KBB festival. Concert master, Stephanie Lu, said, “Thank you to Mrs Tibbles for her continual determination to enable us to achieve the highest level of excellence we possibly can. She is supported by the section leaders who do wonderful work in leading sectional rehearsals. We particularly enjoyed performing Vaughan Williams ‘Fantasia on Greensleeves’, and the 2nd Movement from Beethoven’s 7th Symphony. We hope that next year will provide us with more opportunities to perform and share our hard work.”

Sebastian Squad is St Cuthbert’s auditioned Year 9-13 chamber orchestra directed by Mr Mark Bennett. While previous years have had full performing schedules, 2020 was comparatively quiet. Sebastian Squad collaborated with the choirs to create an audio track of ‘He Himene’ for the online May Music Month celebrations. A highlight was a commissioned work by NZ composer David Hamilton for string orchestra and two Guzheng soloists (Sophie Li and Grace Pui). Stephanie Lu said, “2020 was difficult for all of us, and the commitment shown by all members of the Sebastian Squad has been admirable. Thank you to Mr Bennett for his wonderful choice of repertoire for us - we are always excited by the variety of music we explore. We hope that next year will present us with more opportunities, and we are looking forward to being able to share our hard work more publicly in 2020.”

SENIOR SCHOOL Physical Education

2020 was a year full of challenges, new skill development and an unexpected remote learning experience within our Physical Education and Health lessons. 2020 was very different due to COVID-19, but nonetheless, students experienced a wide range of differentiated learning opportunities from their own homes. Our courses were modified, with everyone involved highly adaptive and receptive to new learning. This experience pushed students and teachers out of their comfort zones, physical and social limits and resulted in some exceptional new learning experiences. Year 7 started the year with Adventure Based Learning (ABL) and team sports such as Touch, warm-up games and two types of Gymnastics, both Rhythmic and Olympic. Many Orienteering and Fitness for Life units were completed at home as part of the online learning experience. Most classes had an Aquatics module of Stroke development, Snorkeling and Water Safety concepts. In Health Lessons, we covered Friendships and Relationships and had a special focus on Mental Health while working from home. We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to enjoy lessons with the Life Education Trust in Term 1.

Year 8s had an interesting year. In 2020, we introduced more Game Sense and Orienteering based lessons due to the lockdowns. The team sports in which Year 8s participated were Soccer, Waterpolo and Basketball. These large ball sports are important for the students to develop understanding of the importance of the teamwork and skill development, that can be transferable to other areas of sport and life. The Mini-Olympics unit gave the girls the opportunity to collaborate, design and implement a unique warm-up game in which they could teach their peers. Health units included Mental Health, Sexuality and Anatomy. Two overarching themes were the focus for Year 9 students in Physical Education. “TEAM” (together everyone achieves more) gave students the chance to take on a range of roles within a team while experiencing Volleyball, Netball, Ultimate Frisbee and Touch. The Challenge unit pushed girls out of their comfort zones. Completing an Aquathon and Gymnastics performances gave the opportunity for students to develop and showcase their focus and persistence. Year 10 students spent time preparing for their Kahunui experience by developing their interpersonal, teamwork and aquatic skills. Opportunities to experiment with leadership and demonstrate persistence, gave them a strong foundation for their challenging month away. Compassion and tolerance were the focus of the Disabilities unit, while skill acquisition was at the forefront of the Badminton, Lacrosse and Invasion Games units.

Year 11 Health and Wellbeing students had the opportunity to experience a range of games, sports and leisure activities to build a foundation for an active, healthy lifelong approach to Wellbeing. Contrasting favourites were the Yoga and Boxfit sessions, highlighting the range of ways to keep moving in an enjoyable way.

NCEA Level 1 PE

The broad theme for 2020 was ‘Experiential Learning’. Students had opportunities to engage in learning through both practical and theoretical mediums.

Over the course of the year, students participated in a wide range of physical experiences. For NCEA standard 1.1, students explored the different factors that influenced their participation. Futsal, Turbo Touch, Kickboxing and Yoga are just some of the practical experiences that the class enjoyed. For NCEA standard 1.3, students' practical performance was tested in Badminton and they were able to enhance their skills through specialist coaching, rehearsal and feedback. Tchoukball was provided as an additional opportunity to demonstrate expertise and development of skills. We were fortunate enough to be minimally impacted by the lockdowns and we were still able to engage our planned range of outdoor experiences. The focus of the 1.7 NCEA standard allowed our students to address and implement responsible behaviours to enhance safety. Highlights for this included paddle boarding in Okahu Bay and rock climbing at ‘Clip and Climb’. The theoretical learning continued over the remote learning period where students developed their understanding of anatomical, biomechanical and exercise physiological principles. They were then able to apply their theoretical knowledge to a skill or sport of their choice. To wrap up the year, students took on a leadership role within the St Cuthbert’s community. The 1.5 NCEA standard gave the students an opportunity to develop their personal leadership characteristics and interpersonal skills through coaching a group of Year 6 students in Football.

NCEA Level 2 PE

2020, what a year! The Level 2 Physical Education class showed incredible resilience and persistence in a year of ever-changing plans. “Third time” was the charm for our camp, finally completing three daytrips in June instead of our original plan for a Rotorua camp in March. Students used their experiences of Mountain Biking, Kayaking and Rogaine to effectively demonstrate leadership and risk management. Understanding and experimenting with biomechanical principles was the focus for year 12 remote learning. Students worked hard to maintain focus and progress while working from home and achieved pleasing grades as a result of their efforts.

We were lucky enough to complete our offsite Trampoline trips to Tri Star Gymnastics, in Term 3. Students showed persistence and bravery as they pushed themselves outside of the comfort zones to improve their performances.

NCEA Level 3 PE

Year 13 Physical Education this year has had a large focus on learning through movement. The students have had a variety of opportunities to develop a range of skills and to try new sports and activities. The students undertook these activities both in school time and at home throughout lockdown. In Term 1, we focused on developing safety around water activities. Unfortunately this year our students weren’t able to make it out to Wero White Water rafting due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, they did have the opportunity to experience their amazing race around Auckland. During this they completed an escape room, biking around Devonport and traveling around Auckland City and Mission Bay to complete their challenges. In Term 2, the students had an amazing experience at trying a variety of activities for NCEA standard 3.1, including golf, trampolining at “Jump!”, Mountain Biking, Dodgeball, Waterpolo, Boxing, Pilates and more! Our final trip for the year was spent during a two-day camp at AUT Millennium, to further their understanding of how to effectively train for their sport. The students got to see how New Zealand's top athletes train and used equipment and instructors helped further their knowledge of how to become better athletes themselves.

SENIOR SCHOOL Science

Years 5-10 Science

While the year was disrupted by COVID-19, the girls still had the chance to complete plenty of practical work. During both lockdowns, teachers were creative with delivering the curriculum and the students worked hard to produce some amazing projects. This ranged from cooking classes, catapult building, bird watching and counts. The Year 5 girls have planted and harvested vegetables throughout the year. For many students, this was the first opportunity to care for a garden bed. The students and teachers harvested a large amount of vegetables and made large pots of soup for everyone to enjoy. Next year we hope to look at different ways through which we can share the produce with more people.

We were lucky enough to have the Sir Peter Blake Trust visit us at school. All Year 7 students were given the opportunity to use the virtual reality headsets and view the underwater life of Marine reserves. This incorporated well with the Biodiversity topic we were studying in class.

Science Fair changed from its usual format to online due to the COVID-19 restrictions. Some Year 8 students completed Science Fair projects and had great success this year.

1st - Year 8 Living World category

Grace Meredith

2nd - Year 8 Physical world category

Samantha Bradley

Special Prize

Libby Jackson A large number of Year 5-10 students have assisted with Trees for Survival. Students have been involved in either potting, maintenance or planting. Mrs Nourish’s Year 10 class planted 570 native plants, alongside a stream running through a farm in Hunua. Students were able to see the planting results of the previous year and observe how it prevents soil erosion.

Biology

Biology had a bountiful year of activities and successes, even with two lockdowns!

Zoe Robinson gained a silver certificate for her efforts in the Biology Olympiad and without lockdown would have attended the week-long live-in Auckland training camp. Year 12 enjoyed their trip to Long Bay to study the Rocky Shore for their Zonation internal at the start of the year. Year 13 went back in time to create stone (soap/potato) tools and recreated cave art using natural pigments in the ‘Rhodes building’ cave for their Human Evolution topic. Our Brainbee students were able to complete Round 1 of the national competition. Charlotte Wen was placed 1st equal with 2 other students in the North Island and Emma Qiu was 3rd equal (with 2 others). Silei Wang was 4th equal (with 6 others), Julie Li and Grace Pui, 5th equal (with 8 others) and Ella Liang, 6th equal with 9 others out of 349 students. We are very proud of their performance and it was unfortunate that the Round 2 competition was cancelled.

Two of our IB Biology senior students entered the Auckland Science Fair this year with their fascinating projects. Dawn Zhang’s ‘Mussels, Watch Out For Acid!’ gained highly commended and received the NIWA platinum award for best exhibit in Atmospheric and Water Science.

Rosie Wang’s ‘Saving Our Moth-erland’ gained highly commended and received a special prize from the Department of Conservation.

Chemistry

Chemistry Olympiad

Twelve of our Year 12 NCEA and IB Chemistry students sat a Chemistry Olympiad selection exam in the final week of Term 3, 2020. Congratulations to Brena Merz, Jessica Gong, Ashley Ganda and Jenny Yuan for gaining Silver certificates and Amy Huxford, Aaliya Ramanathan and Georgia Gao for gaining Bronze certificates. All seven students have been offered places into the National training group for the NZ Chemistry Olympiad Team and will continue weekly tutorials with Mr Torrie until the end of Term 1, 2021. They will also undertake extension assignment work on-line in preparation for another exam at the end of Term 1 to select a final group for a week long live in training camp.

Chemistry Science Fair results

A number of Year 13 IB Chemistry students used their individual investigations carried out earlier this year to enter the Auckland Science Fair. Belinda Hu came first overall in the Senior Science Category, received the NIWA premier platinum award for Best Overall Exhibit in the Fair and she has also been nominated for the Prime Minister’s National Science award. Her investigation that she carried out as part of her IB program used a sophisticated analytical technique to compare the anti-oxidant potential of red and white wines.

Physics

The New Zealand Young Physicists' Tournament is a competition that offers a challenge for teams of students interested in physics and debating. The tournament comprises of rounds called “Physics Fights” were one team is challenged to present its pre-prepared solution to one of the physics problems by another team. A jury panel then questions both the presenter and opponent before individually grading their performance. This year our teams placed 10th and 5th, at the Auckland regionals. Our team which placed 5th was invited to compete at the National Final held in Auckland. Sadly, the final was unable to go ahead due to COVID-19 restrictions. Another event that took place this year was the University of Auckland’s Engineering Science competition. This competition is a problemsolving event for small teams of Year 12 or 13 students. Teams met at school on a Saturday and were sent the competition question via email. The question this year was “How many satellites can be launched into orbit before astronomers on Earth can no longer observe the night's sky without interruption?” Each team interprets the meaning of the question and writes a report detailing their solution. I’ve really enjoyed Physics because I love how it explains the world around us using Mathematics. What we learn in Physics ranges from light/ waves, mechanics and electricity, to modern physics where we learn amount nuclear fission, fusion and even special relativity. Everything we learn about is so interesting and it is awesome to see how it relates to our everyday life.

SENIOR SCHOOL Social Sciences

Geography

In most years, Geography students get out and about, exploring our city and beyond, but with field trips being restricted in 2020 our students adapted to exploration through their “at home” learning. Level one students did manage to explore the different types of restaurants in selected suburbs of Auckland. Students investigated the different restaurants and matched this up with the ethnicities of different suburbs. The students enjoyed this ‘eating-based’ field trip especially! Level two students also enjoyed a field trip across the city to look at how the housing styles had changed depending on location. It was a hot day and the girls enjoyed an ice cream and drinks to celebrate their hard work in what was a busy day of data collecting. Other topics investigated in Level one included an examination of whether or not Auckland needs a new stadium, how people in Puerto Rico responded to Hurricane Maria and how the population of India is constantly changing. The classes reported that they loved the guest speaker on the proposed waterfront stadium, making tropical cyclones out of cotton wool and coat hangers, learning to use ARCGisOnline (a very sophisticated software program) and finding out about places across the globe that they may one day put on their ‘bucket list’.

Level Two students describe Geography as a “fun course to do with a range of fascinating topics”. During 2020, students enjoyed investigating different conflicts that arise over various proposals for new marine reserves in the Bay of Islands and finding out why different places across the globe are “rich” or “poor”. Vanessa Chen reported that “Although studying for externals requires hard work, the knowledge we learnt during this course has taught us important knowledge about our world and society which we tend to ignore in daily life. The quality and interesting dimensions of the course makes Geography one of the most valuable courses to study.” Millie Caughey reported that like every aspect of our lives, our learning in Geography had to radically shift with COVID-19 lockdowns. While the virus provided the evidence for a very interesting internal about disease transmission, it also cancelled all the class trips we were waiting for and, in particular, the camp in Roturua was missed. But with every challenge the Department was able to adapt, and, in 2020, we studied geographic skills, disease transmission, migration and climate change refugees. In particular, the study of climate refugees opened our eyes to the scale of harm that will come if we do not take urgent action to protect our planet and the most vulnerable. No matter the topic, Geography provided us a way to look at some of our planet’s biggest problems from a multiplicity of perspectives. Whether we have studied Geography for one year or three, it is clear that this understanding has made us more caring, understanding people.

History

2020 has been a year that History students in the future will definitely be learning about. The History courses have been of immense relevance to what has happened around the world and provided context for it. The ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement really linked to our Level 1 topic of ‘Black Civil Rights’ to provide background as to why people were protesting. We had also learnt about how the Spanish Flu spread due to the returning of soldiers from World War One and saw parallels with the COVID-19 pandemic. In Level 2 History, we examined protests that have helped shaped New Zealand and we also looked at ‘Herstory’ and how New Zealand became the first country in the world to give women the right to vote. We also learnt about Russia, the Romanovs, Revolution and, of course, Rasputin. Level 3 History had a good focus on New Zealand history with examining the Early Contact period and the Treaty of Waitangi. It was interesting to examine how the impact of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement in New Zealand with the examination of our own past and the use of statutes to commemorate the New Zealand Wars, as well as James Cook. We were seeing revisionist history in action. We also looked at the Holocaust and some inspiring stories of survivors as well as how democracy was manipulated to create a dictatorship for Adolf Hitler. We finished the course by examining the 1948 War – the War of Independence for Israelis, the War of Catastrophe for Palestinians. It was interesting to examine at this war through the lenses of different historians and how they interpreted the same event so differently. 2020 will be a year we will definitely remember. Some History students have created vlogs about their time in lockdown, knowing how important primary source evidence is. Others felt sorry for future History students having to learn about all the things that happened this year with a question of ‘has there ever been such an eventful year in history before this one?’.

Social Studies

Despite learning online for a large part of 2020, students from Years 7-10 have had a lot of fun learning new skills and accumulating knowledge about our city, Aotearoa, the Pacific and the World.

The Year 7 students have investigated our volcanic environment, how our city was established by early Māori and latterly by other different groups. They have also looked back in the past to life in Ancient Egypt. The highlights for the girls and staff alike, included creating Māori artifacts and making a Museum of these; producing posters that compared use of our volcanic cones in Auckland now and in the past and speed dating at the start of the year – where the students met important staff across the school.

The Year 8 students expanded their horizons by looking at endangered environments in New Zealand, different ways people have responded to NZ disasters such as the Napier earthquake and the issues surrounding farming and food waste. A highlight topic for many has been the ‘Food for Thought’ unit, in which we focussed on helping a fictitious family wishing to buy a farm to consider the many issues they faced. The students evaluated the climate, topography, animal and crop choices and considered the new possibilities that regenerative farming offered. The girls have loved writing diary entries, learning about how different migrant cultures keep their traditions, creating board games, writing short books for younger students and watching movies that examine how we can make the world more sustainable. The last unit included an examination of life in Ancient Greece.

In Year 9, we studied many important topics that brought light to the world we live in today. 2020 was an extremely eventful year with a global pandemic and notable social movements. This year has given us a deeper understanding of the world and more confidence in our knowledge during times of confusion and ignorance. What we learnt was so relevant because we were able to study about the Black Death and the Spanish Flu whilst living in the middle of a pandemic. We could follow live elections results and watch as politicians campaigned in both New Zealand and the United States. The girls voted in mock elections, wrote letters to Jacinda Ardern urging her to reduce the voting age, made pomanders to protect themselves from disease (as they did in the time of the Plague), and enjoyed a visit to the school from David Seymour who spoke to them about the ‘End of Life’ Bill.

The Year 10 programme focussed on current global issues and forecasting the future. Students found out about “Fake News”, looked at issues around trade and inequality, climate change and the threat of war. The start of the year saw students looking at how New Zealand emerged as a nation with an emphasis on Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The students across all classes all enjoyed the annual Tea Party, where they represented women who were considering migrating to New Zealand in the early 1800s – there was much fun to be had!

SENIOR SCHOOL Technology

Down in the basement of the Information Centre building lurk some creative minds and talented hands. And while 2020 had its challenges, the year was no different when it came to the fantastic things being created and churned out by St Cuthbert’s Technology students across the year levels. Not all ambitious plans came to fruition but regardless of the outcome, students pushed their ideas, challenged their thinking and learned lots of skills along the way.

Looking to the future

The Technology programme always aims to be future-focussed, from the resources and equipment we offer, to the themes we explore with our students. We were excited about playing with some new toys in 2020 such as a digital sublimation printer and we have added to our family of laser cutters with our new Glowforge cutter. Of course, we can’t think about the future without considering Sustainability. In 2020 students explored food waste, fabric upcycling, zero-waste furniture, and communicating sustainable lifestyles via apps and websites. Year 10 Food Technology students developed some fascinating concoctions using some of the ‘most commonly wasted foods’, lots of yummy muffins, and a couple of ‘interesting’ lettuce smoothies.

With the introduction of the new Senior Academy uniform, upcycling of the previous school uniform items became a popular and topical context for many Textiles students. Year 13 student, India Swney, created a patchwork dress for Ms Mahon to don at more casual School events, while Brookelyn Muir from Year 10, used five of the previous blue shirts to make her shirred puff-sleeve top.

Life in lockdown

Trying to check construction or correct a sketching technique via distance learning was a real challenge. And yet, the uniqueness of 2020 and its lockdowns also brought to light the importance of Technology subjects and the skills and outcomes they can provide. As the pace of many families' lives were forced to slow down, many began to see the value in forgotten pastimes. We relied on skills in the kitchen as shops ran out of our favourite foods and our local takeaways were closed; and we turned to sewing when we scrambled to source a face covering for our commute back to school. Year 10 Textiles students tested and reviewed different face mask tutorials and examined how our perceptions change with time and context. Throughout the world we saw 3D printing enthusiasts using their printers to make parts for ventilators, a skill our students learn in the classroom also. Fortunately, our Digital Technology students had everything they needed at home to continue with their learning and were able to put their independence and initiative to the test as they worked in isolation. It goes without saying that our digital devices became a crucial part of daily life during lockdowns, and our tech-savvy students adapted to the changes with ease.

Students under the spotlight

A Technology Exhibition evening to showcase the successes of our Senior students perfectly culminated at the end of the year and provided a wonderful opportunity for the St Cuthbert’s community to see what the girls had been working on. From the minute displays went up, there was a buzz in the Atrium as younger girls looked in awe at what our Senior students had been able to produce. Some standouts were the epic model made by Year 12 DVC student, Emma Akeroyd, and the stunning ball gown by fellow Year 12 student, Fiona Wu. Parents loved engaging with student-made apps on the iPads, and were impressed by 3D sketches of perfume bottles, and architectural spaces.

The night, and indeed the year, was a huge success and Technology students should be very proud of all that they achieved. We look forward to something even bigger and better for 2021.