Annual Christ's College vs CBHS rugby game

This year, the annual Christ’s College vs Christchurch Boys’ High School rugby game will be held on Wednesday 31 May at Christchurch Boys’ High School, with kick-off at 12pm.

Routine for the day

• 8.15am House Assembly
• 8.30–9.10am Period 1
• 9.15–9.55am Period 2
• 10–10.40am Period 3
• 10.40–11.10am Break
• 11.10am Students attending the game meet in the Assembly Hall
• 2.30pm Students are back at school following the game, ready to complete after-school co-curricular commitments (including training and games)

Options for boys on the day

• Attend the game (boys travel to and from the game by buses – no private transport).
• Remain at College in supervised study (from 11am).
• Go home at 11am.

Please note:

• Students have been sent a Google form via email to complete regarding their options for the day. Please discuss this with your son. This form must be completed by 9am Thursday 18 May.
• ALL normal after-school co-curricular commitments are expected to be fulfilled by students, including training and games.

Christ’s College Blood Drive

The Christ’s College Blood Drive will be held on Tuesday 23 May in the Chapman Room. Enoka De Jacolyn from the New Zealand Blood Service has spoken to the boys at Assembly about the huge difference donating blood can make to many people around New Zealand. To donate blood, students need to be 16 years or older. Students have been sent an email providing information and including a link so that they can sign up to donate blood. Please discuss this with your son.

Rolleston Avenue roadworks update

Fulton Hogan has advised that while Park Terrace and Rolleston Avenue have reverted to two lanes, the temporary signal controls for the Rolleston Avenue and Gloucester Street intersection will remain for up to four more weeks. This is the result of complications regarding the permanent signal controls for the intersection. This will restrict vehicle access to College. The diagram here shows travel paths. Vehicles entering College can only approach from the southern end of Rolleston Ave and turn left into the campus. Vehicles cannot turn right into College or approach from Gloucester Street. The alternative access paths are Durham Street > Hereford Street > Rolleston Avenue from the north, or Montreal Street > Hereford Street > Rolleston Avenue from the south. When leaving the College campus, it will be left-hand turn only.

King’s Birthday weekend

A reminder that the King’s Birthday weekend is an exeat weekend. The three boarding Houses will close on Saturday 3 June at 3pm and reopen on Monday 5 June at 3pm. The boys will need to be back in their Houses by 8pm on Monday.

Diploma Q&A for Boarding Parents

We are hosting a Diploma Q&A with afternoon tea for our boarding families on Monday 5 June from 3–4pm in the Chapman Room. We hope you can join us for the Diploma Q&A when you drop off your sons at College following the exeat weekend.

Please register here.

Boarding activities

Our boarders have set sail – on land – and kicked into sporting action during a fun-filled weekend of activities. The boys have been kept busy while racing along in Blokarts, a wind-powered, land-sailing craft, and Driftkarts, as well as playing 'tabletop foosball' with real people.

What's for dinner?

View the Dining Hall menu produced by the talented team at Spotless.

Parent Education Evening with Jazz Thornton – Understanding youth mental health

In a rapidly changing world, teenagers can often struggle. Mental health advocate Jazz Thornton shares the warning signs and explains how to help, along with what to do and things to avoid, while detailing the best approach to supporting your child’s mental wellbeing. Join us on Thursday 1 June at 7pm for an insightful night. Book here.

This event will not be live-streamed or recorded.

Measles

You may have read recently that there have been two confirmed cases of measles in Auckland. A highly contagious disease, measles is spread by coughing and sneezing, and close personal or direct contact with infected nasal or throat secretions.

Symptoms develop between seven and 13 days after exposure, including fever, cough, runny nose, sore and watery ‘pink’ eyes, and a blotchy rash.

As per the New Zealand immunisation schedule, children are immunised for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) at the ages of 12 and 15 months. If there is an outbreak at College, we will be directed to carry out contact tracing.

It is important that your son’s immunisation records are up to date. Please inform College of any immunisation changes or updates via the parent portal.

If your son is a boarder and has not had the MMR vaccination schedule and you want him to do so, the medical practice aligned to College – The Christchurch Doctors in Hereford Street – can help. Dayboys will need to contact their family GP.

One for the books – House Reading returns

The school library is always a busy place but Term 2 is especially so with House Reading encouraging more boys to read and compete. With House Reading, the boys come to the library to tell staff about a book they have just finished and then answer a few questions about it. The House with the most books read during Term 2 wins, with points contributing to the overall House Cup. Book vouchers will be awarded to individual winners in each House.

This year, I hope our day Houses step up to the challenge, with our boarding Houses taking out the top three spots last year. The success of the boarding Houses reflects the significant affect of encouraging boys to read, even for short periods, each evening.

By holding our House Reading competition, we want to motivate our students to take the time to enjoy a good book. While our students lead busy lives, the importance of regular reading cannot be overstated, with the educational, social, and wellbeing benefits of reading during teenage years well-documented.

To support House Reading, I have been visiting boarding Houses in the evening to help students find a book they will enjoy and highlight the importance of reading for pleasure. Dayboys are, of course, also encouraged to see me in the library for assistance with finding a story that is a good fit. Any book they finish can be added to the House points total, as long as it is appropriate for their reading ability. It can even be an audiobook downloaded from the College library. I look forward to hearing from our students about all the books they have enjoyed as they take up the challenge of the competition.

In giving service, we show love

Tēnā koutou katoa.

Christ is risen. Alleluia. He is risen indeed. Alleluia.

On Saturday 6 May, many readers will have tuned in, and others truly out, to the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III. Constitutional questions raised here in Aotearoa New Zealand about our future and Head of State, I leave to better minds, but I do think the sermon of The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, is worth reflecting on, regardless of where one stands on the monarchy.

The full text of his short and incisive sermon can be found here.

Two parts of the sermon illustrate a Christ-centred approach to leadership – one each of us can adopt within our circle of influence, and one we impress on the boys as they develop their leadership skills.

“The King of Kings, Jesus Christ, was anointed not to be served but to serve. He creates the unchangeable law of good authority that with privilege of power comes the duty to serve.”

Duty, an unfashionable word to modern ears, is the price we each pay for the relative prosperity we enjoy. Although not heads of state (yet), each member of our community has power to wield for good in our broken world.

The second quotation from The Most Rev’d Welby gives us the means for performing our duty.

“Service is love in action. We see active love in our care for the most vulnerable, the way we nurture and encourage the young, in the conservation of the natural world.”

Justin Welby restates the words of scripture where James writes: “Faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” (James 2:17).

We do not spread the love of God by osmosis. Rather, we love, because God first loved us, and that love is found in action. Though the boys attend Chapel and sing the psalms, without love – in active service – they become altogether a clanging gong.

May God bless not only King Charles, but each and every one of us as we strive in faith to outdo one another in doing good. Alleluia, alleluia.

Yours in Christ,

The Rev'd Cameron Pickering

CHRIST'S COLLEGE & CCOBA EVENTS

SAVE THE DATE

Upcoming careers dates

Christ's College CareerWise

The Christ’s College careers website, CareerWise, is a rich source of information about all things related to career information. Check it out and sign up for weekly alerts by subscribing here.

Below are recent postings on the College careers website:

• Ara Open Day
• Lincoln University Information Evening
• UC Virtual Information Evening
• Victoria University News
• Open Days – tertiary providers
• Massey University – Creative Arts Experience Day
• UC Information Evening (repeat of May 9)
• Victoria University Open Day

UC Year 12 Discovery Day – 8 June

An informative Discovery Day for Year 12 students, with those attending required to register. When they register, they will need to choose the lectures they wish to attend. Registration closes on Friday 26 May. Register early to get the lectures of choice. Boys need to inform me when they have registered.

University of Canterbury – useful links

• Year 13 University of Canterbury Presentation
• UC Stay in Touch form – for students wanting to sign up for the latest information regarding applications, scholarships, and programmes
• Register for the Hui Tairanga | Info Evenings

School subjects and career opportunities

Discover where your school subjects can take you. Careers NZ has put together posters featuring career opportunities. Boys can learn more about career options based on the subjects they enjoy.

University of Melbourne – 101 Webinars

The University of Melbourne regularly runs webinars for interstate and New Zealand students interested in knowing more about the university and the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) application process. Click here to read more.

University scholarships for Year 13 students

MoneyHub has published a guide to hundreds of scholarships for any student planning to start university in 2024. It includes:

• A comprehensive list of scholarships offered by every university, as well as those specifically available to local students
  
• A list of privately funded, Māori, Pacific, and international university scholarships.

MoneyHub has also published tips for scholarship success.

Victoria University of Wellington – admission and enrolment from 2024

Admission applications and course enrolments are now a two-step process at Victoria University of Wellington. Students first choose a degree and apply for admission, and then – after accepting an offer – they can enrol for their courses. The university encourages students to start their application process once they have decided on their degree. Students will have to register for a Pūaha account to apply for admission, scholarships, and accommodation.

For the first time, all these applications are in the same place. Read the steps to enrol.

Victoria University of Wellington school leaver scholarships

Applications for the Te Herenga Waka ─ Victoria University of Wellington school-leaver scholarships open in June. There are seven different scholarships available, including three new scholarships.

• Tangiwai Scholarship – celebrating excellence, both academic and outside the classroom
• Totoweka Scholarship – focussing on equity and support. For Māori, Pasifika, students living with a disability, facing financial hardship, or from a refugee background
• Raukaraka Scholarship – for leadership outside and inside the classroom
• Kahotea Scholarship – for outstanding achievement

New scholarships

• Pakohe Scholarship – for sustainability
• Kahurangi Scholarship – for exceptional Māori students
• Mana Pasifika Scholarship – for exceptional Pasifika students

Full details are available on the university website.

Otago Reach Scholarship

A scholarship for Year 13 Māori secondary students interested in a career in health, it covers flights, accommodation, food, and activities over three days. All applicants must have an aspiration for a career in health. Studying science subjects at NCEA Levels 2 and 3, and involvement or interest in Te Ao Māori will strengthen their application. You can find further information and must apply by 15 June 2023.

Thinking about university?

With school-leaver decision making in full swing, Universities New Zealand — Te Pōkai Tara’s 2024 Thinking about university? resources are now live at www.thinkingaboutuni.nz.

In Black & White – Careers

I share a range of relevant information with parents and boys via In Black & White. However, I am aware that not all boys read the school newsletter, so I hope parents will use the information provided as a springboard for investigation, discussion, and inspiration to support their sons as they consider their futures. Please contact me with any suggestions regarding careers, or if you require any career-related advice for your son.

Crockery

I have written from time to time that being sidetracked is all part of an archivist accumulating knowledge that proves useful in other context. This In Black & White article is the result of just such a sidetrack.

The Kitchen Superintendent, Miss Young, had obviously been getting low on stocks because the Finance Committee on 26 March 1920 approved the “importing from Messrs Gibbons Paterson Ltd [sic] of Wanganui crockery from the Grindley Works at a total cost of £228.0.0”.ⁱ

Gibsons & Paterson was founded in 1908 by John Gibson, who employed and then formed a partnership with Leonard Paterson.ⁱⁱ Its advertisements showed that it stocked everything, from arms and ammunition to wine and spirits, corrugated iron, and spices. It was the advertisement in the Wanganui Chronicle of 29 April 1911 that caught my eye. It stated the firm was: “Direct importers from the Potteries. Retail Crockery at Wholesale Prices.” So that explained the reference to the Grindley Worksⁱⁱⁱ in the Minutes, for it was about 1908 that the Grindley Hotel Ware Co was set up as a sister company.

Christ’s College obviously decided that this was the crockery sturdy enough for it at this time, and, as the dated examples below show, was purchased for many years. This firm conveniently printed the clues to the date of manufacture alongside the other details. The Duraline name was first used by Grindley in the 1930s.

This cup can be dated to November 1937.

The mustard pot is dated November 1938.

This mug can be dated to February 1957.

This plate has the date of May 1968.

Locally, Grafton China was first advertised by Louis Vangioni, a general merchant in Akaroa^iv.

Manufactured by AB Jones & Sons, the College plate and cup from Gibsons & Paterson are earlier than the Grindley examples, perhaps as early as 1900–1913 based on the maker’s mark. College turned to this firm again in 1950, in association with JB Ballantyne and Co Ltd, when cup, saucer, and plate sets were produced, as well as a small vase and large bowl.

Australian Fine China^v appeared in the Dining Hall in 1992. The B in the centre of the map suggested that it was produced about the time the ownership changed from Bristile Ltd to Futuris Ltd.

Today, Dining Hall crockery is plain and unadorned.

ⁱ See Finance Committee Minutes 5 February 1920 when the matter was first raised and the correct firm name was supplied. By the time GAU Tapper reported on 26 March 1920 the incorrect name was recorded.
ⁱⁱ https://zeusindustriesdionelipivacenterprises.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/ceramco-history.pdf
ⁱⁱⁱ http://www.thepotteries.org/allpotters/472.htm, https://potteries.staffspasttrack.org.uk/, http://www.thepotteries.org/allpotters/471.htm

The firm was established in 1880 at the Newfield Pottery and moved to the Woodland Pottery in 1891. The firm manufactured earthenware and ironstone china.
^iv Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser 20 February 1914
^v https://landezine.com/australian-fine-china-by-hassell/