Kōrero

As-salaam Alaikum - Peace be unto you.

Welcome to our week seven Newsletter which also marks the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. We’re now over halfway through a very busy first term and I am sure people will be looking forward to a mini break at Easter which is coming up quickly. Despite the quite radical change in temperature over the last few days, it is pleasing to see some rain today, although more is certainly needed.

There will be a significant number of our students involved in activities over the coming days. This weekend two of our students will attend the Canterbury Polyfest at Hagley Park representing South Canterbury. This is the second year that South Canterbury has entered Polyfest and we are thrilled to have two of our students performing in the 50 strong group, Ulukilupetea Langi (Year 12) and Fifita Manuofetoa (Year 11). With 23 entries this year this is a big competition, and we wish the group well; we’re looking forward to hearing how the performance went on Monday!

This weekend also sees the start of Summer Tourney week. We have teams travelling to Ashburton to play 3x3 Basketball, Christchurch to play Touch, Palmerston North and Christchurch to play Volleyball and Twizel to row at Maadi Cup. This will be one of the busiest Summer Tourney weeks Craighead has had and we’re looking forward to watching some of these on live stream, particularly the rowing. We wish everyone safe travels and remember to play hard, play fair and have fun. For those of us remaining behind, we will update results as we receive them on the Craighead Sports Facebook Page and the Craighead Facebook Page also.

On Wednesday this week, we ran our annual Athletics Sports Assembly. This year one of our very newest Old Girls, Niamh Motley (Sports Captain 2023) came back to talk about her journey of pursuing personal excellence in her chosen area of distance running. Niamh is now in the process of determining her next steps and is currently talking with several Universities in the United States before settling on which one she will attend as a Student Athlete. Congratulations Niamh, you have worked incredibly hard to get to this point and we applaud your determination and courage to take on something very different. We continue to talk to our students about pursuing personal excellence and how seeking this will challenge, test and possibly, at times, elude them. But it is in these challenges and tests that we, as people, build determination, resilience and perseverance to overcome these when faced with them again. We would also like to acknowledge all those students who achieved certificates or awards for Athletics this year, and those who participated – anecdotally, I believe that there were more points given out for participating than ever before! and it was fabulous to have Mrs Lizanne van Heerden to present the awards. Congratulations to Charlotte Blake who set a new record in Discus (34.93m) and Sienna Wright who set a new Long Jump Record (5.13m). We had a number of our major award winners away at the Jennian Homes Club National Athletics Meet, so we look forward to presenting them with their awards at the next Assembly. The Welford Family Cup for Overall Champion 2024 went to Ruby Mahuika with Charlotte Blake as Overall Champion Runner up, congratulations to you both!

On the theme of resilience and perseverance I would also like to acknowledge the efforts of Olivia Ewing. Olivia travelled to Cambridge for 29th Feb – 8th March to represent Cycling South Canterbury at the Cycling New Zealand Track Nationals. Olivia started the week well coming fourth in the elimination race but was involved in a very bad high speed crash in the scratch race, where seven riders came down very hard whilst sprinting for the finish line. After a number of medical assessments, Olivia had to sit out a 24 hour stand down from racing, returning two days later bruised and battered, to take part in the points race and the individual pursuit on Wednesday. Olivia’s determination, strength and resilience saw her come back from the crash to take out a silver medal in the Individual Pursuit. This is an outstanding comeback from a crash of this nature for any cyclist, so we congratulate you, Olivia, on your fortitude and determination!

In Curriculum news, last week our Art Department received a significant gift from a school family – a 1999 Wanganui Printing Press. This printing press, which has significant value, was originally designed for and placed at the Whanganui Polytechnic. Dr Anton Van den Bergh, who owned the Press, donated it to Craighead Art Dept and also organised for its delivery – it took many strong men to have it placed and assembled in Mr Rayner's classroom! Both Mrs Kirke and Mr Rayner are really looking forward to using it with both their Junior and Senior art students. We would like to thank Dr Van den Bergh for this amazing donation.

Field trips are also now in full swing with Science, Geography, Biology, PE and History trips all taking place over the last few weeks. These field trips are an important part of the curriculum and allow our students to gather information, work hands-on in the field and gain new skills. Consolidating existing skills that might not be readily accessible in the classroom. Thank you to the staff involved in these, there is considerable planning that goes into ensuring that students get the most out of these trips.

This week I want to finish with the following whakatauki:

“Kei tēnā, kei tēnā, kei tēnā ano.

Tōnā ake ahua,

Tōnā ake mauri,

Tōnā ake mana.

Each and every one has their own uniqueness, life essence and presence”.

Today is the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the Al Noor and Linwood Mosques. Two devastating attacks that have left a lasting impact on the Christchurch community and New Zealand society as a whole. One of the things that came out of this was the need to continue to create environments where everyone feels valued and included, knowing that everyone’s unique background will be accepted and respected; this is underpinned at Craighead by our RISE values. Today we send our thoughts and prayers to the Muslim community, as they mourn for those lost in the attack on two places of worship five years ago.

Ngā manaakitanga

Lara Hearn-Rollo

Principal