Mike A Little Blue

Good article in today's Daily News on old boy Mike Sandle who is about to take up the role of Manager of the Auckland Blues rugby team.

Those who know Mike (Roman) Sandle will tell you that he is a great advert for the College as he brings the same level headed but caring approach to whatever he does. We wish him all the best, except for when they play the Hurricanes!

Merry Christmas One And All

May God's peace be with you and your families over the festive season.

Staff Changes

Although staff changes tend to be infrequent at FDMC there will be a few changes in 2011.

• Danielle Manu (sister of old boy Deacon) is off to be the DP at Marfell Primary - not too far away and a position we are sure Danielle will bring her legendary intensity and enthusiasm too.
• Ian McGrath is taking a break from teaching to join the commercial world - he will be missed both in the classroom and on the soccer field.
• After many years of service to teacher aiding and cricket Gaye Bolstead is moving on - she will be missed in both areas and in the staffroom.
• Two new homeroom teachers will be joining the staff in 2011 - Roni Asi and Jenny Sheriff.
• The PE department will gain Ricky Green, an experienced teacher who has done a stint as HOD of PE at De La Salle in Mangere.
• Old Boy and current staff member Tim Stuck has been appointed to the new position of Director of Sport.
  
• Replacing Matt Goodwin as Year 9 Hostel Supervisor will be old boy Thomas Walsh, who will have a good grasp of how things are done at FDMC.

The college is also looking for a new Lasallian Youth Coordinator so if that sounds like something you might be interested in check out the FDMC website for more details.

More Reps

Following on from our posting on Friday comes the news that current students Ryan Watson and GJ Pike have been named in the Central Districts Under 16 cricket team. Well done guys and good luck for the tournament.

Representing

A quick peruse of today's Daily News shows that the FDMC boys, past and present, are out there doing it in the world of sport.

Leading article on the back page (click here to read) was on Kyle Van der Merwe's win in both the Junior Boy's Javelin and Shot Put at the National Sec Schools Champs. Kyle is a very promising athlete who is excelling in a number of sports at the College.

Also contained within the paper was the news that both Beaudan Barrett and Scot Fuglistaller have been named in the Huuricanes wider training squad for this year's Super 15.

On the cricket field Kurt Leuthard has been named in the Central Districts Under 18 side to play the national tournament and we are sure guys like Sam Wells must have also gone close to selection.

Congratulations should also go to all the FDMC old boys who make up a large proportion of the New Plymouth United cricket team that won the Premier One Day title last weekend. Captain Ryan Fleming will be taking his band of merry men north later in the season to contest the national club title.

Proud Shearers

A great photo from the archives of a group of students with their National Shearing Certificates. Br Will certainly has a gleam of pride in his eye over his young charges.

Can you tell us who the students in the photo are and what year this was taken? Leave a comment below if you can help.

Any One For Rugby

We received the following email last week from old boy Cameron Walsh.

I trust this finds you healthy and well, looking forward to summer in the Naki as I am.

The rugby team I AM “physioing” for are on a recruiting drive for next season, in particular younger lads for the under 21’s etc. They have asked me to chase up my contacts in New Plymouth about potential lads who might be keen to play for the club.

The club is Marist St Pats. If you know of any boys coming down to Wellington next year the club would love to get hold of their emails/phone numbers. I’m not sure how this goes with privacy act etc but though I’d check anyway. Cheers for now.

Cam Walsh

If you would like to find out more you can email Cam by clicking here.

Making Contact

We are always happy to try and put old boys in touch with each other. We recently recieved this short email from Hugh Girling-Butcher - if you wish to contact Hugh just click here.

If anyone remembers me from FDMC I was in the second intake after the foundation class. I would be very interested to hear from members of that class or members above or below.

A Special Day

Today is the last day of the 2010 school year. Student's are chomping at the bit to get out of the classroom and into some summer recreation, while staff will be waiving them a tearful farewell (perhaps).

All the best for your summer holidays guys and use them well. Many old boys will be able to tell you that they are a precious time and not something that you can take for granted later in life.

So look out Mum and Dad, here we come!

A Matter Of Science

As you know, we are always pleased to receive emails from old boys. The following is from our most illustrious academic old boy Prof. Michael Kelly. Michael is a great supporter of the college and funds the annual award for top science student. We could not have a better role model for our science students to look up to.

Please send my congratulation to Simon Gray (Dux - ed.) at his success this year, and wish him all the best in the coming years and please send my best regards to Michael Finnegan whom I have just seen giving the prize to Simon. I will be in NZ from 18 December to 3 January but mainly in the north of the NI, Wellington and the South of the SI, so it looks as though I will not get to Taranaki. I am still on for spending 9 months in Wellington from July 2012, so I will make more than one trip north and west from there. Last week I was a the Royal Society in London to celebrate the end of the 350th year of the Society. I have picked up three copies of a catalogue of the scientific exhibits on show at the RS, which I will send out by snail mail. Last year when I turned 60, I had a birthday reception at the RS, and the Library put on a display of the manuscript diaries of Captain James Cook for my guests to look at!

Best regards to any who remember me, and all the best to the School next year. God bless.

Professor Michael J Kelly FRS FREng MAE Hon FRSNZ
Prince Philip Professor of Technology,
Centre for Advanced Photonics and Electronics,
Department of Engineering,
University of Cambridge,

More Cricketers On The Way

Great Weekend Warriors article in today's Daily News on FDMC student Cameron Meads (pictured). Cameron is just one of a number of very promising cricketers that FDMC continues to produce.

All of them are a testament to the enthusiasm and hard work of staff such as Mark Wales and Gaye Bolstad. As cricket coordinator Gaye has done a fantastic job over the last decade in organising and growing the game at FDMC and we are convinced that the next decade will see a lot of first class cricketers (from FDMC) who owe a debt of gratitude to Gaye and her supporters.

All Feedback Welcomed

It is always great to get feedback from old boys on the posts we put up. The following are a couple of responses we have had to recent posts.

I imagine you've had a zillion calls about the photo but...... just in case, the nearest is a Beet, one the twins. The back one is Bro Adrian Watson's nephew - I can't think of his name! The middle one is now a farmer near Stratford and a father of kids at the school. I'm not sure whether its Stratford or one of the other Catholic schools. Maybe they're at Secondary by now. - Kevin Neal (Fr)


Firstly I am sad to hear that Anthony (Tony to all of us at school with him) has passed away. I want to comment about this photo, because I was in same Athletics group as Anthony. I am quite sure I competed in the same high jump event. I kind of recall Anthony won the 200 or 400 meters. I won the 100 meters with Gerard Sheehan coming second. We competed in quite a few event against each other. While I boarded mainly, and Tony came on Stratford bus from Midhurst, because we both lived in that neck of the woods, we were good friends. In my photo collection, back in Australia, somewhere, I think I have couple of school photos of Tony. Since I am presently living and working in Russia, when I go to Australia at Christmas, I will take some time to search and see if I can find anything. If you can pass the message to Michael, I would like to tell him that if he looks in the School Magazine for those years when Anthony was student, he will be able to see the sporting achievements. I am sure there was a Tim Schumacher as well. who was good athlete also. Either one of them or the other, had a sister or cousin, Shona who was also excellent athlete. Always interesting to look at the old photos. -Ken Tocker

Keeping The Milk Cool

This is one of the Daily News archive photos. We don't know who is looking after the milk but judging from the cadet uniforms we think this must have been taken in the early 1980's.

If you have any ideas please leave a comment.

On Line Interaction

Social networking is all about interaction and we bring your attention to the FDMC Old Boys on Facebook (click to visit). There are a small number of old boys using this social forum but we would like to see more involved, so become a friend and maybe met up with some old friends.

The FDMC Foundation web site is under construction and should be released on the world this month. Why not email us any ideas of what you might want out of this site.