Hastings Intermediate was once again the host school for the 2012 Hawke’s Bay Gymnastic Association Dance Festival. The Intermediate section competition took place on Tuesday 8th May and three  H.I.S. teams were entered. All teams had organised their own practises, choreographed their own dances and organised costumes in order to be ready for the big day - and ready they were, demonstrating courage and commitment at an exemplary level. ‘Hastings 2 ‘were rewarded with 2nd place out of 18 Intermediate teams from schools around Hawke’s Bay  - congratulations to Reanna Browning, Portia Sutherland, Danielle Whitehead, Jaime Treweek, Emily Coppell and Samantha Richardson who pulled off an impressive costume change that caught the eye of the judges.

Hastings Intermediate was privileged to welcome NZ and International Baritone Phillip Rhodes to school earlier this term. The visit began with a whole school powhiri and was followed by a performance from Mr Rhodes during which he sang parts from well known Operas, including a famous segment from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. Mr Rhodes shared some of his inspiring life story and took questions from the Leadership Academy. We wish him all the best for his forthcoming role in NZ Opera Hohepa.

Click here to view a video of the event

Click here to view video.

 
The boys played with great team work and cohesion. They won every game by considerable margins with the closest game being by twenty points. The girls worked hard on getting their serves in the right area and then returning serves to win some crucial points. The girls won three out of five games to help clinch the Super 6 Trophy.

On Tuesday 13th March we welcomed Bay City Cheerleaders into school to run a workshop with 50 very keen students. Catherine, Kat and Alicia shared their skills in dance, lifts and stunts, encouraging students to take risks within a safe learning environment. The hall rang with laughter, applause and the sounds of young people pushing the boundaries of their comfort zone! A big thank you goes out to our guests and we look forward to working with them again in the future.

The first day of 2012 started with a powhiri for over two hundred and eighty Year 7 students, their families and ten new staff. Over seven hundred people were packed into the hall. Xaarndan Barnett (year 8 student) welcomed the visitors with a karanga before the Year 8’s bellowed out the school haka. Our Head Boy, Ruia Waite welcomed everyone in his speech while Mr Foster (new staff member) spoke on behalf of the new students, staff and family members. Once the formalities of the powhiri were complete, Mr Shortcliffe addressed everyone and welcomed them into the Hastings Intermediate school community before the students were sent to their classes.

Click here to view video.

On Tuesday 14th February this year our school had the pleasure to host Professor Roger Boshier, head of education at British Columbia University.  Professor Boshier is an old boy of the school and attended Hastings Intermediate in 1954 and was here on its opening day. Professor Boshier was welcomed with a full school haka then after touring classrooms and having morning tea with the staff he held a workshop with our leadership academy students. He discussed his life experiences, how he progressed to university and offered the students some insight and advice on seizing opportunities in life.

“I was particularly impressed with the way pakeha enthusiastically participated in the powhiri, the sophistication of questions poised by the children and the sense of solidarity and purpose in the atmosphere of the school.  The fact children are being given opportunities to learn in out-of-school settings puts Hastings Intermediate at the forefront of theory about lifelong learning”.
Professor Roger Boshier – Head of Education – British Columbia University

We picked a beautiful day for the Swimming Sports, held at Frimley Aquatic Centre on Friday 24th February. The day saw the whole school make a grand effort, dressing up to support the houses at Swimming Sports. The sun shone, the chants rang out across Frimley and there were welcome dips into the pool for championship swimmers and whole house events. Students from each house were given prizes for effort and excellence in costume design – congratulations to Mr Foster for winning the staff prize – he looked stunning in polka dots and lipstick!

The weather mercifully held long enough to cook the sausages for the ‘Meet the Teacher’ BBQ on Wednesday 15th February. Classrooms were full of students, parents and caregivers wanting to catch up on how we do things at Hastings Intermediate. This was a great opportunity to make connections with classroom and specialist staff and find out about the learning programmes, the Academies and the myriad sports and arts clubs on offer.

The Arts Department’s production for 2011 was ‘King Raam’ involving well over 100 students and a combined audience of over 1000 to the three scheduled shows. Drama, Harmony H.Q., Cheerleading, Academy Dance, Pacifica, Kapahaka, H.I.S. Sound System, Girls’ Hip Hop, Boys’ Hip Hop, Highland Dance, Orchestra and Ukulele Orchestra performed an entertaining show to sell out audiences. King Raam searched the world for stories of love, courage, strength and kindness with which to strengthen the spirit of mankind,  finding these stories in England, Scotland, Mexico, the U.S.A, Rarotonga and of course, in New Zealand. There was much entertainment and laughter along the way as well as a wonderful learning opportunity for students involved in the Performing Arts.

Click here to view video.

On Tuesday 4 October Hastings Intermediate School held our annual Kapa Haka Festival.

The performances, the cheers of support, the atmosphere…what an AWESOME day!

Our festival was a great success and what a fantastic arena to share, encourage and support each other at all levels of learning and performance. 

It was clear to see that all participants, both teachers and students, had worked extremely hard to attain the high level of performance that was enjoyed and appreciated by everyone in attendance. 

We look forward to seeing you all back next year!

Click here to view a compilation of all the performances.

Click here to view our entire performance.