Saint Kentigern College December News

For anyone who has attended the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Edinburgh, Scotland, which is a marvellous event, the next best thing would have to be the upcoming event in Wellington in February next year. This will be just the fourth time in 65 years that the tattoo has left Scotland to tour overseas. The 2016 show will feature traditional Scottish favourites including the United Kingdom’s best precision drill teams, pipers, fiddlers and highland dancers. Held annually in the grounds of Edinburgh Castle, the event is a sell-out every year, with 220,000 people flocking to its pomp and ceremony, and another 100 million people in 40 countries watching on television.

The Pipes and Drums of Saint Kentigern has been presented a unique opportunity to perform alongside the world’s best marching bands and cultural groups in this, the foremost exhibition of Scottish and military culture. Saint Kentigern’s pipers and drummers will be the youngest performers to play in the Wellington event and the 20 band members and teacher in charge, Mr Andrew Lightfoot, will join a cast of more than 1200 musicians and dancers, performing to 100,000 people across four days at Westpac Stadium.

The invitation for the Saint Kentigern Pipes and Drums to take part is a fantastic recognition of Saint Kentigern’s Scottish heritage, and will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the students involved. It will make 2016 a year to remember for the band members, with the triennial pilgrimage to Scotland taking place next July.

On a totally different note, the Saint Kentigern Young Enterprise Scheme which is held each year as an extra-curricular activity for those who have an entrepreneurial drive featured a Year 11 group worked hard throughout the year to run their own business called Cases for a Cause. Their business idea was to design and produce stylish and contemporary laptop cases that would be affordable for both students and businesses alike.  Under the careful direction of managing director Alesha Lamont, Cases for a Cause had an exceptional trading year earning a very satisfactory profit and gaining a real taste of what it was like to run their own business.

At the Regional Awards evening held at Manukau Institute of Technology, Cases for a Cause was delighted to be named Start-up Company of the Year for the Auckland area. This was quite an achievement for a team at least a year younger and less experienced that every other team in the region! The students involved in the running of this company now have the chance to continue their business operations next year and build on their well-deserved success.

That winds up the year for all the pupils and staff at Saint Kentigern and they would like to wish one and all a safe and happy Christmas and New Year holidays. For more information on Saint Kentigern College, please go to http://www.saintkentigern.com .