Within the WGHS team of prefects and tuākana, the five House Captains and the Head and Deputy Head Prefect work closely together. We meet weekly to discuss, organise, and brainstorm, forming the link between the various prefect teams within our kura.
At our leadership camp in mid-December 2025, we decided our core values for the year were: being approachable, inspirational, passionate, and resilient, while showing integrity, humility, and genuinely connecting with others. We strive to reflect these values, making it clear that all are on a level platform of mutual respect. Leadership, to us, is about supporting and standing alongside the student body, not sitting at the ‘top’.
Over the last term, we have been working towards creating a more inclusive name, reflective of the work we do within school. Historically, we have been referred to within the school based on our prefect positions, and not the characteristics we embody as a team.
Through discussion with Matua Eddie Hudson, we worked together on a number of names which could better fit with our collective kaupapa. Our final choice is ‘Ngā Pou Herenga’, a name which describes how the House Captains, Head Prefect, and Deputy Head Prefect act as a central pillar of connection and support within our kura, helping bind our school community together.
Translating to the ‘binding pillars’, Ngā Pou Herenga reflects our leadership as being grounded in relationships and aligns more closely with our school’s identity and direction. Through this name, we hope to encourage more student engagement, and for our goals and roles to be clearer in our kura.
We thank the school community for supporting us to make this change, and for allowing us to listen, to support, and to work with students as a collaborative team.
Ngā mihi nui,
Ngā Pou Herenga
Dorsa, Charlotte, Zoe, Laura, Amelia, Nicole, and Hannah
