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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Audiences last week were wowed by this year’s College production, The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy (Libby Murphy) and her three companions, the Scarecrow (Oliver Winter), the Tinman (Flynn Fromont) and the Lion (Christian Whyte) gave stand-out performances and provided lots of laughs as they took us on their journey along the yellow brick road to Oz. With colourful costumes (thanks Mrs Fromont), magical melodies (directed by Mrs Revell-Knighton)and realistic backdrops (Mrs Llewellyn) it was very easy to imagine that we were creeping fearfully along with them through the land of the Wicked Witch of the West. The loud applause at the end of each show was a true indication of the audience’s appreciation and the strength of the performances, but perhaps the biggest applause should go to Mrs Stafford-Bush for her dedication and effort in bringing such a tremendous show together.

Photo credit: Nigel King

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Club of the week – Production

The Production Club are hard at work conducting rehearsals after rehearsals in their preparation to perform the Wizard of Oz. It is an energetic and fun environment where people can get to know one another and make friends while being able to partake in performances in a variety of roles. They have the opportunity to sing, dance and act in the production club (all of which they are amazing at!) and no matter your skill level or year group, they invite new comers with open arms. Even if you don’t particularly like being on stage, there are other important roles such as backstage crew, music and lighting. It is a great way to escape the realities of life and a way of having a break from school for these students.

“I like it because we can learn to work together and help each other out as a team while still having lots of fun” – Tyler Greer, Year 13

“I really enjoy the atmosphere of doing it with friends and other people. We all have similar interests and get on well and by performing on stage, it can be as if you are a different person and I find that fun” – Flynn Fromont, Year 12

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Kim Fowler selected to represent New Zealand in Chemistry Olympiad

Kim Fowler is a passionate year 13 student who is currently studying A level Physics and Chemistry along with AS Art (Painting) and Biology. The Chemistry Olympiad is an international competition where students represent their countries in a Chemistry competition. Every year, New Zealand selects four lucky people to make up a New Zealand team, Kim was chosen to be one of two reserves for this year. Kim explains how she got there:

“In October last year, I sat a test and 120 students were selected to go into a training group. We studied a range of topics and sat another test in March where 30 students were selected for a competition which took place at St Cuthberts and the University of Auckland. It was really intense, starting at 8 o’clock in the morning and finishing late in the night with evening problem questions. We attended lectures and went to labs and covered about a semester of first year university Chemistry in a week! It was really challenging but I enjoyed the opportunity to meet many new people and hopefully all of this will aid me in my future studies beyond school.”

We wish Kim all the best for the next stage and look forward to hearing how she gets on.

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Our time at the college

When we arrived at school we took the roll and headed straight to the college. I felt bombarded by huge giants when we marched up to the college. We firstly met in the theatre and had an introduction to the college and had two year eight buddies. Each class had year eight buddies to show them around if we got lost. Our first lesson was Design with Mrs. Le Vesconte. We had to build a tower that could hold a ball for ten seconds out of paper and straw. My team won and we got some chocolates as a prize.

During break we had the Senior Common Room all to ourselves. We all had a ten minute break before we returned to class. Our next class was Drama with Mr. Kirkham in the theatre. We did cool warm-ups including expressing emotions without a word and greetings. Then we got into groups of three and put on a short skit. We all really enjoyed that!

Then we had our morning tea and all of the year sixes met up again in the common room. Our next lesson was in the Gymnasium with Mr. Armstrong. The girls completely thrashed the boys in all the activities including Javelin throw and Master. It was astounding.

We all had ordered lunch from the college cafeteria and had a lovely feast! Our last and best lesson was Science with Dr. Greenley. She let us light a Bunsen burner and mix chemicals in testubes. We burnt Copper Carbon. It was so much fun.

We had a blast and learnt a lot. I hope we will go again.

By: Rasleen