The biggest event of the school calender graced the Town Hall on Thursday night, with a special performance by old girl, Aivale Cole, who is now an internationally reknowned opera singer.

With an increased focus on academic prizes, the night culminated in the announcement of the top scholars in each senior year level.

• Year 13 - Julia Wells (dux), Maddy Cormack (approxime accessit)
• Year 12 - Catherine Ireland
• Year 11 - Sarah Blackmore, Rebecca Howan, Rowena Woodhams

Julia has been a consistently outstanding scholar, gaining top in the seven subject class in Year 11 and top of Year 12 with over 100 credits at an Excellence level last year.  She is heavily involved in debating, being named in the Wellington team and winning the national title with them, and in Physics, where she was selected to go to Japan after her team won the IYPT NZ finals. 

She was also awarded a service prize for her work with debating coaching and adjudicating and her work with the Active Collective, where she co-organised a nationally televised political protest earlier this year.

See more photos from prizegiving here.

Year 13 swimmer and surf life-saver, Sam Lee, has won the College Sport Young Sportswoman of the Year award for the second year in a row, beating out other top Wellington region athletes.

This is the fifth year in a row WEGC has won the top award, with Kelly Bentley, also a swimmer, winning the award twice in a row and Rene Leota winning it for soccer.

WEGC had eleven nominees and won six prizes in total, keeping up our good record of recent years in this awards ceremony.

• Sam Lee (swimming, surf life-saving, overall prize)
• Adelaide Cox (water-skiing)
• Taelar Samuel (hockey)
• Evie Millynn (soccer)

Sam also won the WEGC Sportswoman of the Year award at our school's recent Sports Prizegiving.  She represented her school, province and country in two sports. She has broken numerous national records and was the first woman in NZ to swim under 1minute for 100m butterfly with a time of 59.78sec. In 2009 she broke nine NZ age group records and one NZ open record and was selected for the NZ U19 Swim Team for the Junior Pan Pacific Champs in Guam. In her other field Surf Life Saving she represented NZ in the NZ Open Team at the World Games in Taiwan this year.

Our successful Year 11 Future Problem Solving team, Anna Rigg, Sophie Gwynne-Robson, Rowena Woodhams and Niamh Hammond (coach: Amy Perkins) went to Auckland last weekend and won the National Finals.

The team has now been invited to represent NZ in the International Future Problem Solving Competition in Wisconsin, June 2010. The topic is 'Green Living'. The families are still discussing this opportunity and are investigating all possible fundraising ventures.

What is Future Problem Solving?

Future Problem Solving involves students working in teams of four to apply a six-step problem solving process to a complex, futuristic scenario which provides them with the tools to tackle problems which they will meet throughout their life. The Future Problem Solving programme encourages students to carry out in-depth research, to think creatively and critically, to apply ethical thinking skills and to work as part of a team.

This year the team had to solve futuristic problems about the nature of the Olympic Games, neurotechnology, cyber conflict and the counterfeit economy.

Shiloh Dobie was presented with her Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award by Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, at a ceremony at St Patrick’s College.

At the ceremony, Shiloh also met and chatted with the Prime Minister, Hon John Key, and the Minister of Youth Affairs, Hon Paula Bennett.

Participants work through three levels: bronze, silver and gold requiring increasing levels of service, skill, physical activity as well as two tramping trips. On top of service, skill and physical activity requirements, Gold participants also undertake an independent tramp and spend a further week volunteering in a residential situation.

Shiloh was asked to provide a highlight of her experience for the organisers and described pitching a tent after midnight in below freezing temperatures in the middle of winter on Mt Holdsworth as something she would never forget.

Two ex-students from East, who completed their award last year, Rebekah Wilson and Kimberley Bryant also received their awards at the ceremony.

Earlier this year, Shiloh and Ms Hutchinson represented the school in a ceremony to formally mark the renaming of the award from the “Duke of Edinburgh Award” to the “Duke of Edinburgh’s Hillary Award” in honour of Sir Edmund Hillary.