Senior Prizegiving

Ōtaki College Senior Prizegiving - 31st October 2019

Premier Awards:

Brian Van was our 2019 Dux, receiving the Ōtaki Memorial RSA Award and Andrew Phillips Cup for Dux.  Brian will be studying a Bachelor Of Engineering with Honours at Victoria University next year.  He also received the M I Turnbull Award for Top Boy in Year 13 and a Victoria University Scholarship.  Brian was 1st in Calculus, 1st in Chemistry, 1st in Physics and 1st in Statistics.  Brian is an International Student from Vietnam who joined Ōtaki College as a Year 10 student in 2016. 

William Tam was Runner-Up to Dux.  In 2020 William will be commencing a Bachelor of Commerce at Auckland University. William was the inaugural winner of the Wakefield Group Ltd Scholarship for Proxime Accessit and was also awarded an Ōtaki Women’s Community Club Scholarship to assist with his studies.

The 2019 Sander Scholar, who travels to Scotland in January 2020 to visit Robert Gordon’s College in Aberdeen, is Lauren Blakeley, our Head Girl.  On her return from Scotland Lauren intends studying Bachelor of Teaching (Primary Education) at Otago University. Lauren was also the recipient of the Chairperson’s All Round Excellence Cup.  Lauren was awarded Scholarships from the Concrete Doctors, Fun Zone Group Ltd and the XŌtaki Alumni Trust.  

The 2019 Sportsperson of the Year was Damien Doyle.  Damien is a top performer in swimming and surf lifesaving, winning 1 gold and 4 silver medals at national level in swimming and surf lifesaving. Damien was the recipient of a Sports Blue, winner of our Senior Boys Swimming Cup and a member of our Top of Code Basketball Team.  As Sportsperson of the Year, Damien receives a financial award from Marlan Trading.

Top Girl in Year 13 was Emily Int-Veen.  Emily is an International Student who plans to return to Germany next year and commence her university studies.  In Year 12, Karen Su was Top Girl and Jacob Gates was Top Boy.  Hala Graham was Top Girl in Year 11 and Paikea Bai-Te Kira was Top Boy.

Ōtaki College would like to thank the many organisations, businesses and individuals who have sponsored scholarships and awards for our Senior Prizegiving.  These awards provide acknowledgement and support for our students as they step out onto their future pathways.

The other much-anticipated announcement that is made at Senior Prizegiving is the Heads of School Team for 2020.  Next year our Head Girl will be Kahe Nakhla, Head Boy is Jacob Gates, Deputy Head Girl will be Emily Georgetti and Deputy Head Boy is Damien Doyle.  Associate Heads of School are: Claryce Cutler, Morgan Gould, Alex Lundie, Maddy McAlpine, Keegan Ryan, Karen Su, Jacob Walker and Kiri Winiata-Enoka. 

The College would like to congratulate the graduating class of 2019 and wish all students sitting external examinations every success.