Kōrero

Ko te piko o te mahuri, tērā te tupu o te rākau

The way in which the young sapling is nurtured determines how the tree will grow

Last Friday afternoon we welcomed back our Year 9 campers from a wonderfully successful camp at Gunns Bush. Our girls were challenged in activities that they may not have done before, encouraged to step outside their usual comfort zone and supported to start developing independence and resilience when facing different and unexpected situations and uncertainties. Everyone I have spoken to about the camp thoroughly enjoyed the opportunities presented to them and many have spoken about the inclusivity they experienced while on camp. Thank you to the staff: Mrs McLean, Mr Jones, Ms Rush, Ms Shaw, Ms Gilbert, Mrs Riabinkina, Mrs Bradley and Ms Dawson for running this programme offsite for our students. These experiences are invaluable for our girls, and they can’t be done without an amazing team effort.

There has been a lot of sport this week with the Mainland Volleyball Tournament and Quad tournament in Christchurch and our Athletic Sports here at school. Three teams left on Sunday for Quad and joined our Volleyball Team who were already in Christchurch for the Mainland Tournament. Our Volleyball girls did incredibly well, beating Roncalli College 3-1 in the Semi’s and then beating Nayland College 3-2 in the Final. Congratulations girls, and a big thank you to Mr Jones for coaching this team, we look forward to watching your progress next year in Division Two.

Our annual Summer Quad tournament was hosted by St Margaret’s College this year and it was wonderful to catch up with our sister schools Columba College, St Hilda’s Collegiate, Rangi Ruru Girl's School and St Margaret’s College. The atmosphere was supportive and focussed on the girls getting the best out of the sporting experience, and our girls certainly did rise to the challenge! Moving around the four sports, it was fabulous to see the camaraderie both within and between teams and it was exciting to see the quality of play. Congratulations to our cricketers who came second in the tournament, to our volleyballers who came third, and our tennis players and our touch players came fourth. Whilst we came fourth overall in the tournament we were very close to finishing third, an awesome result for our girls and one on which I know we will continue to build and improve! As a team we would like to thank St Margaret’s College for their hospitality and we’re now looking forward to Winter Quad which is being hosted by Columba College in Dunedin.

Yesterday we ran our annual Athletics Day, this year held at the newly resurfaced Aorangi Stadium facilities. The atmosphere was fabulous and it was great to see all the girls getting involved with some aspect of the day. Highlights of my day were watching the highjump, where Sophie Smith, Elodie Gordon and Camryn Porter made jumping some very high bars look very easy, the 200m with some great participation from our Year 13s in their costumes and the Manaaki Chants. Our small panel of staff tasked with judging the Manaaki Chant had a very difficult job! Rev Steph, Mrs McLean, Mrs Bradley and myself found it very hard deciding the winner of this competition, but in the end Te Uru won out over Te Rawhiti, Te Tonga and Te Raki, who came 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively.

Our first student led assembly also took place this week. Led by Head Girl, Camryn Porter and Deputy Head Girl, Sophie Mulder, students heard about the years theme and how the Year 13s saw this being implemented. This year the girls are focussing on a theme of “Just Do It” where they wish to support students to take risks and give the things they are drawn to a go. This term the focus is Jump, with a view to encouraging students to “Jump” into things. For new and existing students, Term One presents lots of new opportunities in sporting, cultural and social areas. Our Year 13s are keen to encourage all students to make the most of the variety of opportunities available to help them find who they are. From what we have seen so far this year our girls are certainly jumping into school life and making a real effort to participate in the events and activities on offer. Also covered in this Assembly were a variety of events that students had been involved in recently, including courses run over the holidays and other more bespoke events. If there is something that you think we should know your daughter has been involved in please let us know, we’d love to hear about her experiences and highlight these either in the newsletter or at an Assembly.

Finally, the start of the year has been pretty fast paced so far and I am enormously grateful to our staff for the smooth start we have had. I feel very privileged to be working with a staff team that is flexible, adaptable and agile, thank you to you all for your support, kindness and desire to do the very best you can for our students and your colleagues.

Have a happy and safe weekend

Ngā Manaakitanga

Ms Lara Hearn-Rollo

Principal