Assembly Notes: 22 May 2026 | Lindisfarne College Hastings

Kia, ora, School. Please be seated.

I'd like to invite Leo Marcroft forward to deliver today's reading.

Philippians 3:13–14: "...Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize..."

This is the word of the Lord (Thanks be to God)

Rectors Comments: Thank you, Leo

Rectors Address

Today we will shortly have some cultural and sports reports. We will then celebrate Sports Colours. I ask that we acknowledge those who have worked hard in an appropriate way with our applause. I feel that this quote certainly captures today's assembly and is relevant to week 5 term 2. "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Many of you will be familiar with the words from Theodore Roosevelt's 'The Man in the Arena.' He reminds us that it is not the critic who counts, nor the person who stands on the sidelines pointing out mistakes.

Instead, he says the credit belongs to 'the man who is actually in the arena… who strives valiantly… who errs… who comes short again and again… who does actually strive to do the deeds.'

As we look ahead to Sports Colours Assembly at Lindisfarne College, this quote could not be more relevant.

Sports Colours are about honouring those who step into the arena and who perform at a high level. Those who commit to early trainings, who push through discomfort, who respond to setbacks, and who represent the College with pride. Those who show sportsmanship and service in their sport. They meet a clear criteria that is required for these colours

Where are you sitting in the arena? In your SPORT...? Are you standing on the field? Are you an analyst looking to applying innovation and creating an edge? Have you faked an injury? Or have you emptied the tank on the field and are sitting down supporting your team after being subbed off? In your ACADEMICS? Are you the referee, are you the water boy, are you the coach? Are you lost on your way to the stadium, and you haven't arrived yet. The Man in the arena is a powerful quote that can be applied to many areas of life.

To be "in the arena" at Lindisfarne means more than wearing a jersey. It means showing character when things are tough and when things are good.

It means we are caring and connected, by lifting those around you.

It means being resilient and managing ourselves when things don't go your way and we don't get the result we are after.

It means we are honest and respectful in all we do. You are playing for something bigger than yourself—your team, your school, and your community.

Finally it means that we are striving and achieving to be better than before. Today, we will be acknowledging those who have strived, achieved and excelled in their chosen sporting arena's.

For some of you, Sports Colours will be a visible recognition of your efforts. But for all of you involved in sport, the real value lies in having the courage to step forward, to put yourself on the line, and to give your very best. Because at the end of the day, it is always those in the arena who grow, who learn, and who truly make a difference.

So, as we approach the Sports Colours aspect of the assembly, I encourage you to reflect—not just on what you have achieved, but on how you have competed, how you have contributed, and how you have represented Lindisfarne College.

Be in the arena and strive to be the best you can be.

Before we move on to the next part, hopefully on the screen we have some photos from this day which you truly embraced.

Bronwyn from the Refuge has chosen the winning houses for the pink competition.

Well done to – Oswald for being the pinkest house on the day.

Well done to this house who brought the most supplies in on the Day – Durham House. Well done again on a great day.

Shortly we will have cultural reports, presented by Dr Kristensen, we will then have sports reports presented by Mr Gaffney along with Sports Colours, also presented by Mr Gaffney.

Cultural Report

West Side Story

Today I would like to acknowledge the lead cast members from this year's production of West Side Story. It takes a lot of bravery and courage to accept a role in a musical production, and all of these boys did excellently in making the show a success. At the same time, we acknowledge and thank all of the other cast members, tech team, backstage crew, our director Mrs Kathy Atkin and staff that were involved

Could the following lead cast members forward:

Thomas King – Tony Josh Vossen-Chong – Riff Orlando Norman – Action Leo Marcroft – Snowboy Beau Reid – Diesel Cody Caton – Baby John Nate Solmon – A-Rab Harry McNamara – Big Deal Beck Allen – Bernado Te Awarangi Puketapu-Pene – Chin George Mossman – Indio Fergus Denton – Doc Frank Gilligan – Officer Krupke Will Worthington-Thin – Detective Shrank

Congratulations everyone!

Impromptu Speech Competition

Congratulations to the place getters of last week's Impromptu speech competition. Could the following boys please come forward to accept their certificates.

JUNIORS

Sam Allen
Felix McFarlane
Fred Beech

SENIORS

Dominic Goodenough
Beck Allen
Arlie du Plessis

Congratulations to these boys for their courage and dedication to public speaking.

Hawke's Bay Festival of Bands

Last weekend Lindisfarne College hosted the Hawke's Bay festival of Bands that saw 17 jazz and symphonic bands come to Lindisfarne College from Hamilton, Palmerston North and Hawke's Bay. Both our jazz band, concord symphonic band performed excellently gaining a Gold award each. Our junior windband joined with Hereworth School and performed well gaining a Bronze. In the solo section Ethan Lys, Harry McNamara, and Max Han gained Gold awards, while James McDougal, Darcy Jamieson, and Lin Kokuryo gained Silvers. Max Han was also announced Best Soloist of the day. Could Tait, Harry and Max please come forward to accept their awards.

Concord Symphonic Band – Gold – Tait Humphreys Jazz Band Gold – Gold – Harry McNamara Best Soloist – Max Han (handshake – no certificate)

Rockquest – Hawke's Bay Regional Finals

Congratulations to Lindisfarne rock band Miscellania for making it through to the Hawke's Bay regional finals of Rockquest. Miscellania is made up of Tait Humphreys, Liam King, Dominic Goodenough and Johnson Blakely. The band now prepares for the final on Saturday 13th of June at which they will perform two original songs and will compete against 11 other rock bands from around Hawke's Bay.

Sports Report:

In Cricket

The cricket season is well behind and as such, we can recognize the following boys who achieved outstanding performances with the bat and ball. Recipients of the Lindisfarne College 100 run bat include Cooper Witheford (103 not out), Sam Cranswick (111 not out), Andrew Wakefield (112), Leo Dixon 127. Recipients of the Lindisfarne College 6-wicket ball include Leo Dixon (6/101), Andrew Wakefield (7/16) and Sam Cranswick (6/7 including a hatrick). The recipient of the Lindisfarne College 5-wicket ball is Jack Maloney who took 5/30.

The Hawkes Bay Cricket Association held their annual prize-giving, and the following boys received trophies:

Andrew Wakefield was named the Best Batsman Year 11/12, and Cooper Witheford was named Best Batsman Year 10 Boy. Oliver Cranswick also picked up an award for his bowling figures against Marlborough.

Can Cooper, Sam, Andrew, Leo, Oliver and Jack please come forward to receive the trophy.

Thank you Dr Kristensen and Mr Gaffney.

Rector – Please join me in singing

Hymn: God Defend New Zealand

Rector:

I'd now like to invite Director of Sport, Mr Gaffney forward to present this year's Summer Sports Colours:

Summer Sport Colours – 2026

Good afternoon, school! I'm pleased to present the Summer Sport Colours for 2026.

Summer Sports Colours recognise the achievements of our senior students, Year 11 to Year 13, who have excelled in their chosen sports. To be considered, recipients must exemplify outstanding sportsmanship and serve as role models both on and off the field. Qualifying for this prestigious award demands unwavering dedication and a commitment to excellence. Recipients truly embody the values of our college—demonstrating leadership, commitment, strong character, and outstanding ability in their chosen sport.

Students must showcase a high level of performance and consistently perform at the highest level, setting themselves apart from their teammates or, in individual sports, maintaining a top-tier standard.

In combination this may include holding representative or national honours and if not, tangible evidence of their exceptional performance must be provided. This may take into consideration an individual athletes' performance at regional, North Island or New Zealand Schools level.

For individual non-school sports, the athlete must have competed at a national-level competition and achieved a top 10 finish to be considered. Within a team sport context, you must gain representative honours or have clear evidence of high-level performance.

I'll be announcing the recipients in seven groups and ask that you please reserve our applause until the end of each group.

Athletics & Futsal

All four athletes represented Lindisfarne at the East Coast North Island Secondary Schools Championships with Leo placing second in the Senior Boys Triple Jump event; Kylian placed second in the Intermediate Boys Shot Put, Discus & Javelin events; Jay placed first in the Intermediate Boys 100m and 400m events and third in the High Jump event; Ziggy, competing in the Senior Boys 100m and 200m events placed third and first respectively. Ziggy also represented Lindisfarne College at the Hawkes Bay Futsal Challenge Cup with the team finishing second and at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships the team placed eleventh. Ziggy was also a member of the Senior A Futsal team that were winners of the local Central Football Men's competition.

Receiving colours for Athletics, Leo Marcroft, Kylian Kauvaitupu and Jay Ladette Pinfold Receiving colours for Athletics and Futsal, Ziggy West-Hill

Canoe Polo & Canoe Slalom

Thomas and Ollie represented Lindisfarne College at the Hawkes Bay Regional Qualifier for the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships with the team placing second and qualifying to attend the New Zealand Secondary Schools Canoe Polo Cup where the team finished fifth. They were both selected to represent Hawkes Bay B-Grade team that competed in the Open event.

Ollie also represented Lindisfarne College at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Canoe Slalom Championships winning silver medals in the Intermediate K1 Team, C2 Team and C2 Mixed Team events as well as winning a bronze medal in the C1 Team event.

Receiving colours for Canoe Polo, Thomas Griffiths Receiving colours for Canoe Polo and Canoe Slalom, Ollie Fritchley

Cricket

All three students represented Lindisfarne in the Central Districts U17 cricket team that came third at the National tournament and the Hawkes Bay Year 12 cricket team with Andrew being named as Hawkes Bays Best Batsman and Fergus being named Central Districts U17 player of the year. Andrew also represented Lindisfarne College at the Hawkes Bay Futsal Challenge Cup with the team finishing second and at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships the team placed eleventh. Andrew was also a member of the Senior A Futsal team that were winners of the local Central Football Men's competition.

Receiving colours for Cricket, Fergus Benefield, Presley Kupa Receiving colours for Cricket (Re-Award) and Futsal, Andrew Wakefield

Futsal

Both James and Josh represented Lindisfarne College at the Hawkes Bay Futsal Challenge Cup with the team finishing second and at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships the team placed eleventh. James and Josh were also members of the Senior A Futsal team that were winners of the local Central Football Men's competition

Receiving colours for Futsal, James Ogborn, Josh Vossen-Chong

Mountain Biking & Rowing

Tennyson and Noah represented Lindisfarne College at the North Island Secondary Schools Mountain Biking Championships. Tennyson, competing in the U20 Downhill Event, placed sixth. Noah, competing in the U20 Enduro and Cross-Country events, placed ninth and fifth respectively.

Noah and Charles competed in the North Island Secondary Schools Rowing Championships, placing second in U16 double sculls A-Final, Noah also came second in the U16 single sculls A-Final.

Noah and Angus then competed at the New Zealand Club Championships winning a bronze medal in the Men's Intermediate Coxed Quad Sculls and Men's Intermediate Coxed Quad Four.

Receiving colours for Mountain Biking, Tennyson Wiffin, Noah Hemmingsen Receiving colours for Rowing, Noah Layton, Charles Cropper and Angus Lovell

Skiing & Swimming

Olly competed in a few International FIS ski races in Europe recently where he came third in Zagreb in the Giant Slalom event. He followed up his success in Croatia by winning the British Championships in the Giant Slalom event.

Sam represented the Hawkes Bay at the New Zealand Age Group Swimming Championships winning silver medals in the 50m Freestyle and Butterfly as well as winning silver medals in the 100m and 200m Freestyle. He was selected to represent New Zealand at the Oceania Championships in Fiji that concluded last week.

Liam represented the Hawkes Bay at the New Zealand Age Group Swimming Championships winning a bronze medal in the 200m Backstroke event.

Receiving colours for Skiing, Olly Wilkins Receiving colours for swimming, Sam Skidmore (Re-Award), Liam McEntee

TAG & Waka Ama

Ardie J represented the Hawkes Bay U18 team at the New Zealand TAG Championships as well as the Hawkes Bay Senior Men's Team at the New Zealand Senior TAG Championships.

Leedti, Kiato and Davey represented Lindisfarne College at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Waka Ama Championships. They were a part of a team that included some Year 10 students, who by virtue of their year group don't qualify for an award yet. It would be remiss of us not to acknowledge the contribution of Bobby John-Heta, Julius Raihania and Brody Manual as part of the team, along with Leedti, Kiato and Davey, that placed second in the J16 W6 250m event at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships

Receiving colours for TAG (Re-Award), Ardie J Smith Receiving colours for Waka Ama, Leedti John-Heta, Kiato Buxton, Davey Simutoga.

Rector Comments:

Thank you, Mr Gaffney.

Congratulations to all these students. Some amazing and inspiring achievements.

Reverend Dunnett will now close our assembly in prayer.

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