PASTORAL CARE Harper House
great way to get back to a proper athletics meet for the first time in three years. There were outstanding performances by Tom Matthews, Alex Lascelles, Sebastian Wynn Thomas, Henry Botherway, Paddy Laidlaw, Zakk Counsell, and PJ Palamo, who took home individual prizes across the day. Term 2 again put the spotlight on House Music preparations. Given the success over the past few years, the House was keen to replicate those efforts. The theme for this was to ‘be bold’ with its choice rather than play it safe, and so the House set on preparing a rendition of Rasputin by Boney M. This was a particularly challenging song to put together, but Darcy Laidlaw did a fantastic job adapting the original song to the instrumental skills of our band, who, in the evening, was one of the standout musical acts. Unfortunately from our vocal side, we were unable to replicate a similar success, perhaps due to some of the more high-pitched notes required in the song which did not suit our vocal range. Although we missed out on a top-three finish, we were in no way embarrassed by our performance. It was also great to see the Harper small group return to competition. Although it was not selected as one
of the four finalists, the experience was valuable. I am sure the boys will take this momentum into 2025. After several 2nd-place finishes earlier in the year, Term 3 finally brought our first outright wins in the House competitions thanks to our junior and senior futsal teams. Some particular highlights included Billy Meates’ spectacular goalkeeping in a junior penalty shootout to make the final, Flynn Holdem scoring within six seconds of kick-off during the semi-final, and full crowds for each game as we marched towards the finals. Both our junior and senior teams came up against innovative tactics from the opposition, which, at times, consisted of having the entire team on defence in order to stop a goal, or an entire team on attack in order to stop the ball from getting out of our half. It was pleasing to see the Harper boys ignore this, and simply continue to grind away until they got the result that they deserved. A significant part of Term 3 was also dedicated to House Plays production competition. Similar to the past two years, a huge number of boys put their names forward to be involved, either on or off the stage. Darcy Laidlaw and Oscar Olsson were tasked with pulling together a stage version of Rinse
the Blood Off My Toga , and they did a phenomenal job considering that a significant number of students in key roles were unavailable leading up to the performance due to sporting commitments. Two standout performances by Daniel Wilson and James Melhuish were the highlight of the evening, as well as Baxter Lamberg delivering a memorable dramatic death scene in the finale. While we placed outside the top three, the boys could be proud of their efforts. As usual, Term 4 leaves little time for interhouse competitions, with just the one taking place. This year’s instalment of the House tug of war competition produced some varied results. Our Years 11–13 teams opted for a short and sharp appearance in their respective events, coming up against strong Houses in the first round to be immediately knocked out. Both our Year 9 and Year 10 teams, on the other hand, had fantastic runs, leading to 1st place for both teams. While neither team could claim to be the biggest in their year groups, they showed the most heart and passion, and were able to pull back wins after being centimetres from defeat. It was particularly pleasing to see the House surrounding the
this was not a year where we won a significant number of interhouse sports competitions or similar events. We did represent ourselves well in several events before falling short at the final hurdles. However, these results are not the memories that stick out from a Housemaster’s perspective. Boys trying out new sports for the first time, the packed seats in the gymnasium, the entire House turning out to support the Year 9s in their first interhouse competition, and the inevitable humour involved in pulling together the House song – these are the things that stay with us for much longer than any on-field result. Term 1 began with some very competitive showings in volleyball from both our juniors and seniors. The juniors unfortunately went down in an extremely competitive game with Richards House, during which the lead changed every few serves. After taking the first set 25–23 and losing the second by the same margin, the final set was similarly close and was only decided on time, with Richards ahead at 1.45pm when everybody needed to get back to class. The standout performers were Sebastian Wynn Thomas, Alex Lascelles, and Henry Botherway. Our seniors, on the other hand, fell in the semi-final against a formidable Somes, but not before putting in dominant displays in the early rounds against Condell’s and Corfe. Spearheaded by Flynn Holdem and Isaac Field, the senior boys showed passion, teamwork, and tenacity to take out those sets. This year's edition of swimming sports again featured Harper House in the later relays after school. Nonetheless, a group of intrepid swimmers of a wide range of abilities set out to represent the House.
Standout performances came from our U14 swimmers, who finished 2nd in the medley relay and 3rd in the freestyle, while our junior relay team came 3rd in its freestyle event. A special mention needs to be made of standout performer Joe Langley Shields. Joe claimed two golds, a handful of silvers, and walked away with an overall 2nd place in his age group. The big event in Term 1 was Athletics Day, with Harper looking to again defend its title after 10 years of dominance in this field. Our first venture as a school out to Ngaˉ Puna Wai, and the day gave us so many special moments. All day, both Harper and Flower’s fought neck and neck, trading places after each event with no House being in the lead by more than 10 points at a time. In an exciting end to the day, Harper House was ahead by one point leading into the last race, the senior 4x400m relay. Freddie Coates, Bede Hamilton, Darcy Laidlaw, and Max McNulty stepped up to the plate at the last minute after some confusion with our initial entries in the event. Flower’s and Harper were close during the first three laps, with baton changes within seconds of each other. However, on the final lap, Max ran the fastest 400m of his life to open up a lead against his competitors, taking 2nd place while Flower's took 3rd. With the race over, a large chunk of the House stormed the track to celebrate with the race winners. An amazing end to a great day of competition between the two Houses. In an unfortunate twist of fate for Harper, an error in the previous results of the day reversed the final result over the coming days, resulting in an overall two-point loss in the championship. Nonetheless, a special event and a
Housemaster: Dr Neil de Joux Deputy Housemaster/Mentor: Neil Nicholson Mentors: Graeme Christey, Katie Southworth (Terms 1 and 2), Maude Turgeon-Leblanc, Aldine Vorbeck (Terms 3 and 4), Craig Walker Head of House: Freddie Coates Deputy Head of House: Frankie Meates Led by Freddie Coates and Frankie Meates, the Head and Deputy Head of House, 2024 was yet another successful year for Harper House, brimming with productivity, growth, and a deepened sense of community. As the College roll continued to grow, Harper House welcomed its largest-ever Year 9 intake, adding another spirited group of students who quickly injected their energy and enthusiasm into the life of the junior common room. With more students than ever, the opportunities to forge meaningful, lasting relationships grow for all students within the House. Harper House continues to strive to be a home away from home for the boys, and is often filled with laughter, loud conversations, and the occasional spontaneous game of indoor cricket. A big theme for Harper in 2024 was identifying the small wins among the bigger successes. Truth be told,
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