Figure 1.--
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Figure 1.-- |
Many New Zealand private and public secondary schools follow the English system of organizing the students by houses. Various inter-school competitions are then
based on these houses which may be named after colors, places, famous people, or other devices. The system is based on the boarding house system of the English
public (private) school. Each house is composed of comparable numbers of stydebts from each form or year level. Part of the idea is that the older stydents will mentor the youngervones, but this system works best in a boarding environment. The current system focuses mostly on inter-school competitions.
The activities of the houses at represebtative schools provide some insights into the house system in New Zealand. At most schools the primary focus is sports, but many other activities asre involved as well.
Three houses at Whataki Boys' High School provide detailed reports on their actiboties during 1997.
Forrester House: As the 1997 Scrano competition comes to another end, Forrester house has
again been a big force in the inter-house competition. The participation and
will of the whole house has made it a pleasure to be chosen to lead the house
this year. Other prefects chosen from our house, who have made my job a lot easier,
were Craig Ross, Nick Webster, Jeff Wright, Matthew Hutton and Dallas
Gillies. Congratulations to Craig and Nick who have been chosen as Head
Boy and Deputy Head Boy respectively. As seen with previous years, the swimming sports is always first on the list for
the Scrano. This was viewed positively, although the potential for more
participation would ensure a better result. However, those who did partake
enjoyed the event with some excellent results. Coming second overall was a
valiant effort behind the always dominant swimmers of Don House.
After a good warm up, the athletics soon took centre stage. This is part of the
Scrano event where the size of Forrester always dominates these two days.
Everybody seems to enjoy the athletics and this showed in the results. A
number of Forrester boys featured in the finals and gained generous points for
the house. Individuals who did particularly well include Hamish Garland who
won the senior 100m, hurdles (new record of 15.75 sec) , triple jump, long
jump and was classed as the senior champion. Dean Paterson also did
extremely well in the 200m and 400m, was named the senior sprint champion
and overall runner - up champion. Ben King did well in the juniors being
placed 3rd overall. In the minors, Philip Melton‘s effort in running placed him
2nd for the grade. Well done to all those who participated and made the day
such a success. This year the cross country was moved forward to the first term after the
athletics. Most competed and performed well. Forrester managed to come
first in the senior, junior and minor, and second in the intermediate. Particular
efforts include R. Jamieson 3rd, C. Ross 4th (senior) A Palmer 4th, L.
Isbister 5th (junior) W Patterson 2nd, A Knight 4th (minor). This saw the
end of the sporting section of the Scrano with a narrow lead over Don by 5
points. Next up was the cultural section where Forrester always performs well but -
shall we say - gets pipped at the post. This year our plans were different. The
use of the auditorium saw an even bigger improvement in the quality of the
sound, lighting and performances of the choirs and dramas.
We decided to go for a more "dramatic" drama. After much debate and
procrastination, an exerpt from William Shakespeare‘s "Julius Caesar" was
edited to create "Caesar is Dead". A small talented and dedicated cast put a
lot of their own time and effort into performing, perfecting and polishing a
class act which used all the facilities the auditorium had to offer to great effect.
The drama went off perfectly (apart from a small lighting mishap) and the
results confirmed a narrow win, with 2 points separating first with the third
equal. Many thanks go out to Hayden Mackley who edited, performed and
produced the play with very little teacher influence. The choir was also held the same night for another great success. Those who performed did the house proud, winning the choir section as well, singing the set piece "Can‘t Help Falling in Love" and our chosen piece "Four Seasons in One Day". It was a rare achievement winning both the choir and drama,
proving this to be a valuable part of the Scrano. I would like to thank Mr
Hinds who helped organise the choir and gave as some sound advice. There
were some trying times with very few turning up to practise at times, but it
came right on the night. To date, the only other section of the cultural finished is the form 4 speeches. Keeping up the trend this year, Forrester managed to come first equal. Still to come are the 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th form speeches, which are sure to bring
interesting results. The last event completed to date is the quizzes. Again Forrester managed to do well in this event. Form 3 triumphed first, Form 4 were placed 3rd, and
the most recent senior quiz teams were placed first. Another great effort to
the regaining of the shield. As results are still coming in the Scrano competition is not yet over. However, with a good healthy lead, if we keep up the trend of rest of the
year.
Lee House: 1997, the year I get to lead the house in our bid for glory at the top of the scrano. Well, maybe I was a bit optimistic but it could have been done. Since
I have been at this school Lee House has striven for perfection but has only
reached that goal in the glory year of 1993. Even though, we have been
successful in gaining the number three spot for every other year except one.
This year I believed we could gain the number two spot but that was not to
be. Again it looks like we will come through in third but I believe this years
effort was better than most. Unlike the report of last year I believe it is necessary to take account of what happened in each scrano event for the house to show the effort a large
proportion of the house did this year. It began with the swimming sports - the dreaded swimming sports. My first chance to try my persuasion skills was a reasonable success with a surprising number of people putting their names down for more than just the one length
freestyle non-championship. Although we had the participation this year in all
grades we did not have the skill, leading to two fourth places and a third
place in the minor, senior and intermediate grades respectively. But it was the
swimming sports which would show glimpses of the highlight of the year, the
junior grade. A big effort was put in by all in the junior grade who pulled out
an outstanding win in the junior relay and the junior grade overall. Then to the athletics which showed much resemblance to the swimming sports. The positions were third in minor, first in junior, fourth in intermediate and fourth in senior. The cross country showed a lot more promise than the first two events of the year with both junior and intermediate gaining second places. Minor again were placed fourth and the seniors were also in a similar position. At the time of writing, only the fourth form speeches had been completed, placing Lee House third. Also the forms three and four quizzes had been
finished with a good effort put in by both groups, both gaining second places. This year a reasonable effort was put in by all people taking part in the events described above but the biggest effort was put in by those taking part in the choir and drama. These two events took a lot of preparation by all those people involved. I would like to take this
moment to thank Philip Martin, for his brilliant work in organising drama, and
the talented group of fifth and sixth formers whose help was greatly
appreciated in the preparation for the drama and choir night. Again this year it
was decided to use a humorous theme in the drama. The drama script was prepared by Dean Hall and Dean Martin and it was obvious, when the curtains opened, that their talent was a big bonus to the house‘s success. I believe again this year that although the judges did not
mark our drama highly it was the most enjoyable event of the year. The choir this year began from a small select group and grew into a group of good singers who simply wanted to enjoy themselves. This enjoyment shone on the night and the group was rewarded with a very good third placing. Finally I must thank those staff members who helped me throughout the year especially Mr Kitchin who was a good help in correcting my grammatical mistakes which appeared in my speeches to the house. I would also like to thank the group of prefects which did a good job this year and were always there to help me organise events. Although this year did not go to my plan I feel the house accomplished a great deal more than in past years. I believe Lee House is disadvantaged with the small number of boys in the house but this could be made up for if everyone participated. If everyone participates then half the job is done already. Good luck to those seventh formers who are going to be taking on the
responsibilities of leading the house next year. You are all very talented and I hope the rest of the house looks to you for the leadership they need. In years to come I will look back at the opportunities I was given this year and remember how well the house did under the preassures of school life. Good luck for next year and I hope it is as much a success as this year has been. Gareth Mitchell
Sutherland House: Although Sutherland House has dominated the last place in the Scrano competition for a number of years, the competitive side is not what we are all
about. It would be untrue to say that there is no competitve spirit in the house as
there is; however, a lot of the boys find that this is their outlet - a way in
which they can get away from the competitive side of life and just have some
fun. In the community I have seen a lot of ex- Sutherland boys and we all seem to
agree that not only does Sutherland have the best sounding name of all houses
but it is where better people and legends are made. As usual we were welcomed back to school by the very boring Swimming Sports, an event which does not and never has really interested us. With the banning of banners and body paint this year it became apparent that
the enthusiasm for the boys of the house to swim was almost non-existent and
this was reflected in the poor place in each grade. Sutherland looks for the fun side of things before the competitive side of things intervenes. The Athletic Sports, another drawn out event, saw the House do better. Special congratulations must go to Jeremy Jones of Form 5 who followed his Junior Championship win last year with the Intermediate title this year. Well done! The cross country is usually a very much disliked event because it requires a
lot of effort without much fun or reward. However, a good performance by
the Minors saw them get second. The Seniors were placed third but special
mention must go to David Sinclair and "JC" for getting first and second
respectively. With most of the individual events over, the focus was now on team events
such as the Choir and Drama evening and the Quizes. Although I am a person who believes in the individual, I also believe that when that individual is put in a team environment they have to learn to become part of that team. That is exactly what the young men from Sutherland did on the Choir and Drama Evening. The Choir, with the aid of Mr Ward, Hamish Elliot and myself were able to round up a sizable and reasonably dedicated group and achieved a well deserved second place, much improved over last year. The Drama group aided by almost every teacher in the House and with the exceptional help of Mr. McHugh, were able to put together another original script with a talented cast to fit. But two years in a row the judges, lacking an eye for quality and scared of seeing something different, placed Sutherland poorly. But on the whole a very enjoyable evening was had by all and overall the
House was placed second. As the year is drawing to a close I find with great sadness that I must leave my chums of Sutherland House for a different life, but not before I thank those who have taken some of the weight off my shoulders as Head Prefect of the house. First to my Deputy-Head, Matt Bokser, and to Campbell Mackenzie before his departure earlier in the year, for their support and humour. To all the teachers in the house who asssisted me in various ways, a big thank you. To my fellow seventh formers for their dedication and to the
boys of the various forms who helped me get more participation from their mates, thanks to all concerned. Good luck for next year and I hope for Sutherland‘s sake the School changes
its House Scrano structure with the introduction of more team events because that‘s what the House system should be all about. All the best, hopefully see you in years to come.
Jason Little
