Tēnā koutou katoa. As our Year 13s finish school this year, with a Prizegiving that has to be totally different from any other because of Covid restrictions, I have been thinking about their time at school. There have been so many changes here, nationally and in the world in the years since they started their education and particularly since they started at Wellington Girls' College.

Issues like climate change, terrorism, the protection and elevation of indigenous cultures, the Me Too movement, the BLM movement, mental health and a pandemic have had more prominence internationally and nationally.  They are significant, sobering issues that we all respond to in our own way and they have brought out the best and the worst in people.

As a school, we have also dealt with these issues, along with a multitude of others that are less significant in scale, but of importance to WGC.  The Year 13 leavers’ feedback told us they wanted to have more of a voice in how we do things.  And we want that as well and believe me, we have really tried to include student voice in every aspect of school life.  But consultation does not mean we accept everything we are told.  It means we listen to everyone and we come up with a solution that might work.  In a community of nearly 1,700 on site every day, plus whānau, there will be thousands of opinions.  Trying to balance those is the really hard part and at present trying to balance those while also considering Covid restrictions makes it even harder.

But you need to know that we do listen to our community.  In the last five or so years we have made some significant changes and most of these have been driven by, or influenced by, student, staff and whānau voice.  Often as feedback before a decision was made and also once something has been implemented to make it work better.  Bringing in trousers; changing the jewellery regulations; clarifying non-uniform regulations; developing the leadership committees and selection processes for them; having a Year 13 camp/day at the start of the year; bringing in compulsory Te Reo Māori in Year 9; introducing Te Tohu Raukura; reducing homework; reducing the number of credits we offer; having tutorials; giving students a printer balance at the start of the year; changes to wānanga classes and now the change away from breaking up Year 10 classes; developing new courses like Humanities and Project English and recently moving away from NCEA Level 1 in 2023.  These are all areas where student input has either driven the change or has significantly contributed to it.  Of course whether they all like those changes is a different story …

I know we do not get it right all the time.  But we try our best to make this school reflective of the people in it and their needs and aspirations.

The world is changing. The next five years will see some huge shifts if current directions are maintained.  That will be the same for us. The NCEA changes that start in 2023 are enormous and they will be accompanied by changes in the curriculum and the greater emphasis on Matauranga Māori in that curriculum as well as the implementation of Aotearoa Histories.  These are huge changes that will require significant training and support for all staff.

And the other big change for us, is the property work.  We already know that we will be losing the Tower Block and the Hall, both before the end of 2022.  Work is happening now to change access ways.  Covid means it is problematic sourcing building materials so we are slightly delayed, but are hoping the first set of changes will be in place by April 2022.  And the design process for the new spaces continues.  Until it is fully designed we cannot get funding approval, but I am confident if they demolish something they must be planning to replace it!

We are definitely in for a messy few years – physically and with some of the changes coming at us from outside.  But we are fortunate.  We have smart parents, staff and students who will work together to deal with the issues and help this school go from strength to strength.  I am so grateful to all the parent groups, the staff, the student leaders and our entire community for their involvement this year.  Nothing can happen without effort from so many people and we are very fortunate.

As I write this there is a slightly flat feel around the place.  But things will get better, lockdowns will reduce, the building programme will push ahead and change will be seen.  Significant change takes significant work and thought – in the words of the old cheese advertisement, "good things take time!"

Arohanui

Julia Davidson
Principal