2018 HNHS School Magazine HNHS Magazine 2018 | Page 9

With two solid wins of major events under our belt, it finally felt
like we had a shot at winning the Patu. We knew that we still had
a long way to go but we were prepared and ready for it, knowing
that the amazing people in Miro house could stand together as
a team to win. However… our next event was orienteering. We
had some runners in our house, even some that knew how to do
orienteering but there was an underlying feeling that we may be
a little out of our depth. The other houses had world champion
orienteers and knowing that made us all nervous for sure.
Determined not to let this shake us or our house spirit, we went
out and ran as hard as we could. Arriving over the finish line and
realising that people still weren’t in 10 minutes after they were
due in, and that some had dropped their cards along the way,
hope was fading quickly. The end result of orienteering was,
unfortunately, 4th place. Let us tell you it wasn’t close either.
This was a bit of a wake up call, and we knew that we had to put
our best foot forward from now on.
With more determination than ever, we spent the next few
weeks organising house choir, another one of the main events
of the year. This was by far the hardest and most stressful event
that we prepared for. Weeks worth of lunchtime practices and
sleepless nights were what the lead up to the event consisted
of, and we knew that this was going to play a big part in the
final result of the Patu, if we didn’t put ourselves in the best
position to win or at least come second. The actual event was
amazing and every house performed so well, with Rata coming
away with the win. Although it was disappointing, we knew we
had given it our all and we were happy with the way our house
performed our two songs; ‘Over the Rainbow’ and ‘Hooked
on a Feeling.’ I swear anyone who participated in house choir
would have ended up hating those two songs from listening to
them, just like us.
Finally we would like to say a huge thank you to several people
who have supported us along the way and on our journey to
winning the patu. Firstly Mr Lowry, nobody will ever understand
how dedicated he is to Miro house, his enthusiasm and passion
for people doing their best are amazing and we certainly
couldn’t have come anywhere near our big win without his
constant support and guidance. Thank you to Miss Strawbridge
for being our Miro house Mum and for keeping everything in
working order and looking after us throughout the year. To Mr
Kitchin for organising a lot of the events and to our incredible
deputy house leaders, Imke Kitchin and Harrison Fulford. Their
constant support, encouragement and strong leadership were
such a big part of getting to where we are, and the way that we
were able to work as a fantastic four gave us the best chance we
had to win the Patu. We certainly couldn’t have done it without
them. Lastly a huge thank you to everyone in Miro house, we
are so proud of you guys and can’t wait to see what is next in
the future for Miro.
Jemma Kendon and Finlay Keip
Finally, we finished off the year with three smaller house events,
life skills, dodgeball and the fire engine pull. I say they were
smaller… yet they were three of the most important events and
they are certainly the ones to remember. Life skills was split up
into numerous different events (including one when both the
house leaders didn’t recognise a Miro tree), however, in the end
it mainly came down to the last life skills event, debating. With
Miro having the top two debaters in the school, we managed to
take it home, really pushing us towards securing the Patu. After
a tough few days with our seniors in dodgeball we were unsure
of how the rest of the event would play out. We knew that if
we won this event it would give us enough points to secure
the Patu. The tension was high as our juniors launched into
their dodgeball games, and came away with three solid wins.
We knew we had done it. The sense of relief and pride was
overwhelming. After coming second in the final event, tug the
fire engine, it was time for Finlay to live up to his word. Jemma
cut the ponytail and shaved the first few strips of his long and
overgrown hair. It was a crazy sense of achievement, knowing
that we had finally won after 12 long years.
Being house leaders of Miro house presented us with the perfect
challenge. We had a house which was on its way back up after
12 years of coming 3rd or 4th and it was our turn to strive for the
Patu. We were determined to leave our legacy with the school.
It has been an incredible honour to lead Miro House to victory
this year, and we wish the future leaders all the best of luck. It’s
not easy, there are many stressful times and sleepless nights,
but seeing the way that the people of our school are able to
come together is so rewarding. It’s time for us to start another
adventure and challenge of our own now. We will take it with
both hands and make the best of what’s to come.
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Miro House Leaders
Imke Kitchin, Jemma Kendon, Finlay Keip, Harrison Fulford