After completing our Aroha Swimming Sports we moved onto South Cluster.  St Mary’s had twenty two students competing against the five other schools in our cluster.  Not only did we win all three relays,  but from the twenty two students who competed, seventeen have qualified for the Western Bay of Plenty Swimming Championships.  Giving St Mary’s by far the largest contribution to the South Cluster Team.

The student lead mini-triathlon was great fun.  It was fantastic to see so many students giving it a go.  A massive thank you to Chris Willett and his team who helped organise the morning.  Chris’ teams encouragement of the students to enjoy themselves on the day, went a long way towards making the day a great experience for everyone.  I am looking forward to expanding the event next year to incorporate more year groups.

I am very excited to announce Courtney Smith will be helping me for the remainder of the year.  Courtney is in the third year of her Bachelor of Sport and Recreation at Toi-Ohomai Institute of Technology (formerly Bay of Plenty Polytechnic).  In order to gain her degree Courtney will be undertaking a research project.  This will be to establish an evidence based (scientific research) best practice fundamental skills programme with our year 3 and 4 students, focussing on catching, throwing and passing.