Liston College

On Friday our Junior Band attended the King’s Music Festival at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Parnell. They were part of a 220-piece band of students from various schools. This was a great experience for these young musicians to make new friends and learn from the different conductors.

Tēnā koutou, nau mai haere mai Te Wiki o te Reo Māori 2024. “The theme this year is ‘Ake ake ake – A Forever Language’. It represents the resilience, adaptability and endurance of the language. It also reflects the commitment New Zealanders have to embracing and learning te reo Māori long into the future.” - for further information about the week head to www.reomaori.co.nz

Wherever you are on your reo journey it is important to keep trying and keep using it everyday.

Ko te manu e kai ana i te miro nona te ngahere. Ko te manu e kai ana i te matauranga nona te ao. The bird that consumes the miro berry owns the forest. The bird that consumes knowledge owns the world.

We are very proud of these young men - 8 games this week winning the playoff for 5th v 6th. They were up against 84 teams from around New Zealand. Thank you to all who have supported them and our other teams. Please check our school sports instagram for other details from AIMS Games.

2024 The Arts House Trust Secondary School Art Awards. Congratulations to our four young men who represented the College at the Arts House Trust Awards. Out of 350 entries, 42 were chosen as finalists - four of the finalists being from Liston. Mung Lian Zaw placed FIRST in Sculpture and Albert Siasau placed SECOND in Sculpture. Romeo Leaupepe & Cristian Roja were finalists with their outstanding photography work. The four pieces of work can be viewed at the Pah Homestead till the 13th of October. Well done these four young men and to the extremely supportive Liston Art Department.

On Tuesday this week the Year 13 Geography class visited the Muriwai Coastal Environment. This was an excellent chance to practice some physical geography in the field and to help prepare the students for their external exam looking into interacting natural processes and how they shape our New Zealand environment. Our young men really got involved with their work even amongst the less than ideal weather.

Congratulations to our very talented filmmakers! On Saturday evening Marius, Braiden & Elijah Leituala alongside Luca Hickey had a very successful Poporazzi Productions Alofa Awards Night. The Alofas celebrate Pasifika youth short films. The following awards were achieved by these young men: MINISTRY OF EDUCATION BEST SCREENPLAY - Marius Leituala of Liston College for Who stole the cookie? POPORAZZI BEST EDITOR - Braiden Leituala of Liston College for Who Stole the Cookie Pt 2. MINISTRY FOR PACIFIC PEOPLES BEST SCHOOL AKL / POPORAZZI CUP - Liston College Marius Leituala for Who stole the Cookie? Braiden Leituala for Who stole the Cookie? Pt 2 Elijah Leituala for Who stole the Cookie? Pt 3. The films can be viewed via the Poporazzi YouTube channel. 📸Mr Hickey & Leituala family.

Congratulations to our Concert & Jazz bands who received Silver awards at last weeks KBB Music Festival A great achievement by all involved, many hours of hard work acknowledged through these awards. Thank you to those who continue to support our young men in their endeavors.

Congratulations to our Jazz Band and Concert Band who performed last night and this evening at the KBB Music Festival Many hours of practice by these young men has definitely been shown these last two days. We look forward to hearing the results soon. Thank you so much to those who support these young men - especially Mr Davenport, Mr Bi and Mrs Pascariu. 📸 Dean Cohen Photography.

Congratulations to our young men who were acknowledged at the Catholic Caring Foundation Mass this morning for the dedication in serving the community. The following were acknowledged: Cory Scherrer (Vinnies/Service) Levi Smith (Vinnies/Service) Shawn Cadelis (Vinnies/Service) Lawrence Ah Ken –(Edmund Rice Camp leadership) Rafael Cabuang – Special Character) and Sariesynn Fuiava (Vinnies/Service). Well done to these men and those who support the endeavors they’re involved in.

Congratulations to ‘New Generation’ (Cory Scherrer, Tevita Faiva, Cruize Lose, Ezekiel Tuala, Sariesynn Fuiava and Gio Siasau) who won the South Auckland regionals for New Found Sound. They now head to the finals at Tuning Fork in late August. This is an amazing achievement by these young men. Head to the comments to see their performances.

Last weekend 4 of our young men (Hunter Booth, Josh Earls, Peter Perdido & Samuel Le Mamea competed at the West Auckland Regionals for New Found Sound held at Zeal. Their four piece band ‘Apollo’ won the Audience Choice Awards! They did an amazing performance of Song 2 by Blur! Well done to these young men who as Year 9 students have a big future. Their performance is in the comments below.

We wish everyone in the Liston College community a Happy Matariki. This is a time for remembrance, celebrating the present and planning for the future. Mānawa maiea te putanga o Matariki
Mānawa maiea te ariki o te rangi
Mānawa maiea te Mātahi o te tau
Celebrate the rising of Matariki
Celebrate the rising of the lord of the sky
Celebrate the rising of the New Year

This morning our young men were fortunate to hear from Jake Bailey across three sessions. Jake was able to discuss his journey since his cancer diagnosis in 2015 and how now in remission, he is teaching others how to live, to be resilient. Jake also held an evening session for our wider school community which we are grateful for.

Congratulations to old boys Levi Vaituliao and Dhon Lao who have both won in their categories at the recent Bright Awards for their work last year as Year 13 students. A fantastic effort by these young men, recognition of their skills and showcasing to our current students the possibilities available to them. For more details please click the link: https://www.mediadesignschool.com/news/bright-awards-winners-2023-announcement-0?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabiwQ9yTSG6omZItRNgnrhcY1qEKC3nwYrVRWaGcPcsycx43qd6acfpWeA_aem_6e3sY8WXUDwFF8AsWlTRog

On the 25th June we are fortunate to have Jake Bailey visiting the College to meet with our young men and our College community. Since Jake’s Senior Monitor speech at Christchurch Boys’ in 2015 he has gone on to discuss the power of resilience. He is a bestselling author, full-time public speaker and passionate educator on the power of resilience. If you would like to attend this event please click here to register: https://forms.gle/C5mkH9X3EPByX3zA6

Last night the Music Department held their annual Autumn Music Festival showcasing our school bands. Our Beginner, Junior, Concert and Jazz Bands performed a number of items with band director Chad Davenport introducing each item and explaining the nuances of each piece. Well done to all of our young men who performed. Thank you to Mr Davenport and Mr Bi for their guidance and our fantastic community who filled the school gymnasium to support them.

Today, in our 50th Jubilee year, we celebrated Liston Day with mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral followed by the annual talent show in the afternoon at the College. We were fortunate to have founding principal Br Gary Wellsmore with us alongside former Principal Mr Rooney and former Deputy Principal Mr Houghton. A number of our young men completed their Sacramental programme today with Bishop Steve Lowe. A fantastic day celebrating Liston.

This Friday we celebrate Liston Day in our 50th Jubilee year. We are honoured to be joined by our founding principal, Br Gary Wellsmore, who will be traveling from Australia to be with us. Liston Day is an opportunity to gather as a faith community and celebrate everything that makes the College special.

This afternoon we were fortunate to have Pa Tipene bless the two new science laboratories at the College. This will now give the Science Department five dedicated laboratories to work with. For our young men it means having access to greater practical opportunities to compliment the theory work they do in the various science disciplines.

Congratulations to Year 11 student Marius Leituala who has had his short film The Good Thief submitted to play at the Masima Film Festival: Pacific Islands Film Tour. The festival is presented by Salt Lake Film Society, Utah. This is a fantastic achievement and acknowledgment of Marius and his hard work. The film screens on Wednesday May 22.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums in the Liston College community. We hope you have a wonderful day.

Enjoy a relaxing evening of live jazz music and show your support for these budding jazz musicians as they prepare for a tour to Wellington. Tickets include an introductory swing dance lesson provided by Swing Out Central at 6.30pm. The dance floor is open from 7.30pm, with live music from the Liston/Rutherford Jazz Band and special guests Kylie Todd and Richard Breed.

Purchase your tickets for the evening here: https://www.liston.school.nz/etickets/liston-college-jazz-band-swing-dance-party

Food is available to purchase (cash sale).

This evening we held two events based around school academics. The first was our senior tracking, meeting with parents and students of Year 12 & 13 to assess their progress so far (we are holding a second night tomorrow). The second event was with our Year 9 & 10 parents and students to discuss changes with NCEA Literacy & Numeracy. It was great to see so many families making the time to support their son’s academic progress and future.