St Catherine’s 2016 O’Shea Shield champions

O'Shea 2016 smaller

St Catherine’s College Wellington has kept its winning streak alive, taking home the grand
prize, the O’Shea Shield, for the fourth year in a row.

St Catherine’s College head girl Kathryn Prince (right), and deputy head girl Elisha Prasad (left), hold the shield.

St Catherine’s College head girl Kathryn Prince (right), and deputy head girl Elisha Prasad (left), hold the shield.

English Department head Kathy Ryan said the college takes “the shield very seriously every year, always aiming for a top three finish”.

“The competition has a high profile at the college, and we build this initially through a junior competition, the Williams Shield, that  all of our years 9 and 10 students are involved in at the end of each year — the junior competition takes much the same format as O’Shea  Shield,” she said.

Ms Ryan said because the college is small, auditions are opened to students from years 11 to Year 13.

“The advantage for us, then, is that some of our students participate in O’Shea for more than one year, and they catch the O’Shea ‘bug’, so to speak — their investment in the competition is as palpable as the staff involved,” she said.

She said the school is also fortunate in having a small and dedicated group of staff who devote many hours to coaching students.

The O’Shea Shield is a speech and drama competition involving 17 Catholic secondary schools in two dioceses — Wellington and Palmerston North. It is dedicated to the memory of Archbishop Thomas O’Shea, whose lifelong commitment to the cause of Catholic education  saw him chair from its inception the Wellington Catholic Education Trust Board, which was able to provide free tuition in many of the city’s Catholic schools.

This year, the event was hosted by Sacred Heart Girls College in New Plymouth.

The winners in different categories include: Sacred Heart College Napier, St Catherine’s Cup, Best Negative Debating Team; St Mary’s College, St Mary’s Cup, best positive debating team; Hato Paora College, Te Kaipānui i te Kupu Cup for Scripture reading in Te Reo Māori, Section A, donated by Bishop Charles Drennan, DD; Sacred Heart Girls’ College New Plymouth, Hibernian Cup for Religious Questions, Section A; St Catherine’s College, Mercy Cup for Religious Questions, Section B; St Patrick’s College Wellington, George
Family Cup for Junior Prepared Speech, Section A; Sacred Heart Girls’ College New Plymouth, Vaughan Family Cup for Junior Prepared Speech, Section B; St Patrick’s College, Wellington, Cardinal McKeefry Cup for Oratory, Section A; St Patrick’s College Silverstream, Bishop Cullinane Cup for Oratory, Section B; St Catherine’s College, Bishop Owen Snedden Memorial Cup for Drama; Hato Paora College, The Society of Mary Cup for Drama; Sacred Heart Girls’ College New Plymouth, The Catherine McAuley Cup for Scripture Reading, Section A; St John’s College, St Peter Chanel Cup for Scripture Reading, Section B; St Patrick’s College Wellington, Sacred Heart Lower Hutt Jubilee Cup for Impromptu Speaking, Section A; St Catherine’s College, The Silverstream Cup for Impromptu Speaking, Section B; St Bernard’s College, the Jubilee Plaque and St Patrick’s College Wellington, Bishop Viard Memorial Trophy for Runner-up.

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Rowena Orejana

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