We have been posting a fair bit of rugby stuff lately but it is the season to get muddy! Could not resist the article in the NZ Herald earlier this week talking about Conrad Smith's place in the game and how he might play on for a few more years yet. It was a very positive take on things and we loved the description of Conrad as relentlessly excellent, something for lots of students to aspire to. For all you past latin scholars we think that translates as Implacabile Optimum - not a bad motto.

Click here for the full article.

While on the rugby scene the 1st XV had a very good 17 - 0 win over Fielding High School at FDMC on Wednesday. The team is still in with a shot at winning the inaugural Central North Island 1st XV  Competition. Their game against St John's in Hastings early next term should prove cruical to the overall result.

The latest College Newsletter is out and can be viewed or downloaded on our News and Happenings page.

One item in the newsletter is the leavers results for 2011. This indicates what level of qualification our students have when they leave school. It is a cumulative measure so the leaver may be counted as having achieved at Level 1, 2 and 3.

The graph confirms what we already knew, our students leave pretty well prepared for the world. It is a shame we don't have a measure for just how well they do once they are out there.

Over the years FDMC has produced a large number of students who have gone on to be members of the legal profession. The last decade has seen this area of interest encouraged by having students involved in the Law Mooting competition. The following is a brief report from staff member Robyn Wackrow on this year's efforts.

Law Mooting

The competition run by Waikato University  demands dedication and quick thinking from those who dare participate. A strict adherence to court room protocols is required even whilst under fire from the judges.
We are fortunate that at Francis Douglas we have the services of Russell Wilson who  tutors and challenges our boys for weeks. Russell gives his time generously and his expertise is invaluable. The Taranaki competition was held at the New Plymouth District Court in May.
The students who took part were:

Team 2
Alistair Murray  -  Senior Counsel                           Dermot Frengley  -  Senior Counsel
Joseph Robinson  -  Junior Counsel                           Matthew Poole  -  Junior Counsel
William Aye  -  Solicitor                                    
Scott Murfitt     Solicitor

Team 3
Chaz Jones    Senior Counsel
Cavaan Wild   Junior Counsel

Several weeks later we were delighted to discover that Alistair, Joseph and William had made it into the final eight teams from the North Island. June 20 saw us travel to Hamilton to compete against Tauranga Girls High in the Hamilton District Court. The composure the boys showed despite being grilled by the two judges was impressive. Unfortunately we did not make the final but this will be rectified next year as we now have seven Year 12 students who are well grounded in law mooting skills.

Registrations for the Foundation keep coming in a slow but steady trickle. We would like that to increase to a flow, or even a flood. If you haven't registered yet (it costs nothing) or you have some old mates who need encouraging - "just do it".

Some recent old boys to register include;

Kevin Hickland - 1960
Stephen Iremonger - 1985
Sean Markham - 2001
Geoff Keig - 1980
Michael McGuinn - 1986
Daniel Parker - 1999
Shane Rooyakkers - 2005
Michael Sullivan - 1990
Wayne Coomey - 1975

Why not join them? Click here.

Number 1115 for the All Blacks and number 3 for FDMC, with lots of great numbers to come!

It would seem that by the end of Saturday night we might well have our third All Black old boy.

While it is exciting for us at the college it is an even bigger thrill for the Barrett family and we wish them well for the big night up north.

For those betting men amongst you there is no market in which you can back Beaudy directly but you can get $2.75 for any reserve to score the last try. Would be great wouldn't it? Conrad scored with his first touch of the ball - no pressure Beaudy!

Great news from up north. Andrew Coulton informs us that he has been discharged from hospital and is looking to rehab back in Taranaki.

He has a lot of recovering to do but there is no doubt he is choosing the right place in which to get better.

Thank you for all the prayers and support that Andrew has recieved.

Thanks to Jane Connolly for the following photo and report.

Although we were lacking success on the sports field during last week our cultural dimension came to the fore later in the week. We tried a new approach and joined forces with NPBHS to gain considerable success in the Big Sing choral event on Thursday night, the Chamber Music competitions on Friday night and the Rockquest on Saturday night. Our next couple of posts will celebrate a few of these great results.

First up is a report from Jane Connolly on the Chamber Music event.

We had four students entered in a combined BHS and FDMC group on Friday night at the Chamber Music Contest. This group named 'Gladys and the Pips' (Gladys being Josh Connolly's cello) played David Hamilton's Miniature Concerto: Going for Baroque, Lullaby and Hoedown. David Hamilton had arranged the score specifically for their instrumentation and it was very beneficial for this group to be able to workshop with David Hamilton on this piece. It was fantastic when they gained first placing and also won the prize for playing a New Zealand composition.

The group members were;
Andrew Hockey (violin), Josh Connolly (cello), Bing Bing Wong (viola), Dominic Jacquemard (Clarinet) from FDMC and from NPBHS Thomas Lawley (flute), Satyam Patel (flute) and James Buckland (piano).

As you can see in the photos it was a lovely day, just a shame about the results. The list reads something like this;

1st XV Rugby        FDMC    6        NPBHS    13
1st XI Soccer        FDMC    0        NPBHS     0
1st XI Hockey       FDMC    0        NPBHS     3
Sen A Basketball   FDMC    50      NPBHS    92
2nd XV Rugby       FDMC    23      NPBHS    27
U15 Rugby            FDMC    24      NPBHS    40

We are licking our wounds and planning for the future!