Kia ora Parents and Caregivers,
There has been a lot to celebrate over the past couple of weeks with our students representing the school in a variety of different areas. From our choirs’ exceptional successes at the Big Sing Cadenza and National Finale, our winning debaters, student successes in the NZ Economics Competition and our basketball and rugby teams both retaining back-to-back North Harbour Championship titles. That’s just to name a few and you will find further details in the great articles in this edition of the newsletter.
It’s wonderful to have our sports teams at Winter Tournament this week, after Covid lockdowns and gathering restrictions forced the cancelation of this event for the past two years. We’ve been watching the results come in, and I’m certainly proud of the effort, conduct and success of our athletes. We’ll have a lot more tournament results in the next edition of Te Reo o Te Roto.
I know it’s a busy time for our seniors who are preparing for their exams in Weeks 8 and 9. We are very pleased with the way our senior students are tracking towards their NCEA achievement this year and the remaining time will pass very quickly. It’s been a much more settled year for students in the classroom, and we are seeing the benefits of face-to-face engagement, and the wellbeing that comes from connection with friends.
Our Year 12s have been running their House assemblies over the past few weeks, with the aim of becoming Prefects in 2023. The strength and determination of these young women is outstanding and aligns with research out of Australia which shows that an all-girls’ school environment better prepares women for high-level leadership. The research suggested that in a girls’ school, students are intentionally equipped with the knowledge and skills required to overcome social and cultural gender biases, and in doing so, actively break the stereotypical norms that define women in society.
It is certainly our goal to provide students with leadership opportunities during their time with us, and, to equip them to become confident, optimistic, robust young women as they transition to life beyond secondary school as proud citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand, equipped for global success.
Jane Stanley
Principal