A massive congratulations to Alex Erickson whose art work features on the cover of this year's magazine.

E waka eke noa – this year has truly been about pulling our oars together in the waka and it is hugely exciting to stand in our theatres at Senior and Junior Prizegiving full of whanau and students. To be able to celebrate our students together kanohi te kanohi, face to face, and to feel that we are looking forward to new horizons next year.

As we reflect on the year that was, we see the winds of change have blown across our horizon bringing a new and exciting way forward. We the Board, staff and students alike have navigated these new waters and embraced the tide.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at Avonside Girls' High School

Our Student Leaders for 2022

The Arts Council had a very positive and successful year in 2022, with lots of new events and large amounts of participation, we couldn’t have asked for a better turn out.

This year in Environment Council our aim was to improve sustainability. We focused on increasing the awareness of this issue within our school and wider community by participating in events, and working with larger environment-based organisations.

The International Council has undoubtedly had a successful year with many opportunities to showcase the diversity of students at Avonside.

Kōmiti Māori is our Māori council made up of the students in Te Kura Kōhine o Ōtakaro. This year our kaiako tautoko was Hēni Waipouri and Melanie Mcrandle.

This year being leaders of a Council has been particularly challenging due to the circumstances of Covid, however we have made sure to persevere and encourage those around us to get involved with our Avonside Pasifika community.

This was the inaugural year of the Avonside Pride Council.

From formal, to leavers gear, to leavers breakfast and then finally to graduation.

The Sport Council have organised fewer events than usual due to Covid restrictions at the start of the year but have still put time and effort into making sure people were getting involved in sports while enjoying themselves.

Wow, what an amazing and successful year the Technology Council has had in 2022! Celebrating hard and soft materials, hospitality, DVC and digital technology within the school, our range was wide.

This year the Wellbeing Council took part in lots of fun activities.

Congratulations to our Year 13 Graduates for 2022

This year we held our Whakanui on Tuesday 6 December in Te Paetini, our large theatre. It was wonderful to have so many whānau back on site at a school event and to have so much support for our ākonga. Krystal Edwards from Hawke’s Bay was our MC for the evening.

Whāia te iti kahurangi, ki te tuohu koe, me he maunga teitei - Seek the treasure that you value most dearly, if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain.

Congratulations to the following students who received awards in our Arts Colours Assembly

Congratulations to the following students who were awarded Sports Colours in 2022.

Although we had a difficult start to the year Batten has remained positive. Our outstanding efforts and persistence helped us to win Lipsync and our new chant goes from strength to strength.

Thank you, Miss Failing, for giving us the chance to lead the House and for your unconditional support.

What a roller coaster of a year. Starting with our Pou Chant challenge, ending with our LipSync competition.

We started the year positively by winning the first Pou Challenge. Our Whānau Ako class winning the Pou Challenge. The students participation was really impressive, with just about the whole house creating a family vibe.

What a busy time it has been, Covid continues to deliver suprises, we started the year by having to separate the library into two spaces, one for each school, to keep everyone Covid free.

The Association provides an opportunity for former students, teachers and staff to meet on a regular basis to enjoy the company of contemporaries, older and younger former students.

We continue to value and support our whanaungatanga with Avonside Girls High School which continues to grow each year in our collaborative partnership journey.

Z Club is affiliated to the Zonta Club of Christchurch, Canterbury. Zonta International was originally a women’s service organisation, but is now open to all genders.

After the continued disruption to planned events in 2021 due to Covid-19, the Careers Department started 2022 by hitting the ground running.

It’s about the journey, not the destination.

A big thank you to all the employers and staff who gave our ākonga opportunities and supported them with their career plans this year!

In 2022, Avonside Girls’ High School offered the Police Pathway Programme (PPP333) for the first time. We are the only school in Christchurch to offer this.

Gateway is all about learning on the job, gaining work experience and Unit standard credits towards NCEA, testing a career idea, making workplace connections and learning new skills.

Emma Kennedy worked with the pre-schoolers at Ready Steady Play.

Jaely Barnabe learnt about event management by assisting on several events.

Mya Cawood spent a week with the team at STAR Media using her love of writing to begin a career in journalism. Congratulations to Mya who was published after writing her first story!

Nikita Anderson spent time with the scientists at Canterbury Health Laboratories at Christchurch Public Hospital learning about haematology, biochemistry, specimens, genetics and molecular pathology.

Aurora G will be spending a week at Raymond Donnelly and Co in December, after her exams.

This year for the first time we had five rangatahi do work placements at Christchurch City Libraries.

Lara McConchie and Zarnia de Gouw spent one afternoon a week learning on the job at Domino’s Pizza in New Brighton. They were assessed in the workplace for 20 credits at Level 3 on the Hospo Savvy Programme.

Anna Kokkinakis went to Mood Hair Salon, and Isana Yazdani and Ruby Froggatt went to Jularky’s Hair Studio to learn salon skills and to be assessed on the job by an experience hairdresser.

Lucy McConnell, Maia Paul, Caitlin Leary and Niamh Byrne helped residents with personal care, feeding and mobility at Avon Life Care, alongside the caregivers and registered nurse.

Congratulations to Paige McClure who on the completion of her Gateway placement at New World secured a fulltime job working on the check outs.

Axel Butcher worked at Signtech, a company consulting, designing, crafting and installing signs.

Eight ākonga gained 40 Level 3 credits and a NZ Certificate in Recreation and Sport L3 (Aquatics), whilst swim tutoring afterschool at QE2.

Anna Wildbore spent a week in the school holidays at Estuary Vet. Ruby Merrylees and Alyssa Parris went for one day a week over a four-week period to Canterbury Equine working with unwell horses.

As with all businesses our student run businesses had to try to sell online this year. Marketing is quite different when your customers can’t see your products.

In 1858 Potatau Te Wherowhero spoke these words in the ceremony proclaiming him Aotearoa New Zealand’s first Māori King: “Kotahi te kohao o te ngira e kuhuna ai te miro ma, te miro pango, te miro whero. I muri, kia mau ki te aroha, ki te ture, ki te whakapono.”

This year the Creative Writing Club has continued to meet after school on Fridays for writing, chatting and the occasional biscuit. Much of the writing which the group did also took place in their own time since writing tends to be a solitary activity. We hope that you enjoy this selection of writing: a poem, two stories which were inspired by a photo of a huge pile of carrots and an essay.

At Avonside Girls' High School, learning enrichment happens in class and through co-curricular and extra-curricular activities in many departments. In the second half of this year, with Covid restrictions lifting, we were relieved to be able to once again go out of school and join students from other schools in learning enrichment activities. These events are particularly valuable because they allow our students to meet other students with similar interests and to spend time together working on challenging material.

'Ka tū tahi tātou ki te kohikohi i te mātauranga hei oranga tinana, hei oranga wairua kia tū tāngata ai tātou' - We gather to learn, to nourish, to flourish. Here we stand together

Our Kapa Haka rōpu had a strong start to the year with their tutor Hotumanawa Williams.

The HPE Department have enjoyed another activity packed year, despite the impacts of Covid.

This year has been a rebuilding phase where we have seen all of our established members enter their Year 13 year.

This year saw huge growth in Digital Technology as a subject with courses at Year 9, 10, 11 and 12.

Our students were posed with real life wicked problems and worked through two design sprints to explore the issue, brainstorm possible solutions and then go on to design, develop and iterate their designs before pitching them back to industry people.

Three students attended the Shark Tank competition held in the JIX innovation space at Vodafone, Central Christchurch.

The Bubble Guppies from Semester One 9XT Digital Technology have been named as National semi-finalists.

Following the Design Technology Cycle, Year 11 students were given the opportunity to make streetwear garments to meet identified needs within their wardrobe.

Students in Year 12 Hospitality this year started off the year learning about food safety while making salads and sandwiches.

The Year 13 trades class this year worked in small teams and designed, scale modelled and built sheds with acrylic windows, barn style doors and rustic weather boards.

Product Development students worked on a range of project this year including seating, electric carts and storage units. They spend hours researching, designing and planning their projects.

2022 saw several changes to Media Studies at Avonside Girl’s High School, with the introduction of a new Year 10 English/Media semester course 'Change through the Media' and a new Year 9 English/Media semester course 'Heroes vs Villains'. The Year 10 course was a popular semester choice, attracting three classes in semester 1 and another three classes in semester 2, and is on course to do the same in 2023. My thanks to Ms Cann for taking on board many of these Year 10 semester classes and Ms Sutherland for taking the Year 9 semester course. Once again Term 1 saw a repeat of the previous Covid interruptions with students learning from home via a hybrid learning model. Fortunately, senior media students had become accustomed to online learning and were not adversely disadvantaged this time around.

The Drama Department has worked hard to provide performance opportunities for our ākonga over the last few years, despite the restrictions and limitations imposed by Covid.

As the year draws to close it is time to reflect on the journey taken by the Music department during 2022.

On the 8th and 9th of August I attended Dance NZ MADE, a dance competition followed by workshops.

This year our senior theatre sports team consisted of Year 11 students Georgiana Swift, Bayleigh Taylor and Georgia Stewart, and Year 13 students Lily Bond, Eleisha Friend, Jennifer Haslett, and Jessica Wheeler.

This year, Avonside welcomed a new generation of students willing to perform improvised comedy on stage and encourage an audience to laugh at their own expense. Our new junior team consisted of Rosie Paul, Ruby Low, Pania Howden, Maya Livermore-Lewis and Trinity Akurangi.

The Bard proved to be popular at Avonside this year with sixteen students volunteering to competitively speak in Verse at the University of Otago Shelia Winn Shakespeare Festival.

September is the time of the year when the Level 2 Geographers head off on their annual shopping trip to Hanmer Springs.

How would you like the opportunity to spend a week, away from school, learning about the issues related to securing the future of Lake Waihora/Ellesmere?

Let’s go on a donut hunt! How can this be a Level 3 Geography field trip you ask?

Our goal in Mathematics is to help students develop the ability to problem solve and think logically, but we want to them have fun while they are doing it.

After weeks of practicing past Cantamath questions at lunchtimes, we had three Year 9 groups competing this year.

Earlier this year, four Year 11 students attended the Casio Calculator Competition, which was held at Burnside High School.

Mā te kimi ka kite, Mā te kite ka mōhio, Mā te mōhio ka mārama - Seek and discover, discover and know, know and become enlightened.

Another year of Covid effected sport! Sport at Avonside this year has had its ups and downs!

It was a slow start to climbing this year due to Covid. However, Term Two saw a keen group of climbers take to the Orua Paeroa wall with vigour.

In the past few years the Avonside 1st XI won Division 3 and Division 2.

The end of Term 1 saw an enthusiastic group of students gather for the trials for the school badminton teams.

On August 30th, 4 of our girls, Trinity Edwards-Rea, Te Araroa Hona, Madisyn Dysart and Ava-lea Maxwell-Ogilvy, went up to Rotorua to represent Avonside at the New Zealand Secondary School Rugby League Nationals.

Starting the season we saw a similar sized squad to the previous year with strong numbers within the junior squad. Again the girls achieved countless successes on and off the water, where they continued to strive to only be better than their last.

2022 was another successful year for Avonside football as we yet again fielded three teams who all competed well in their respective divisions. A massive thanks to all the coaches, managers and parents of our players without whom this season would not have been possible.

Congratulations to the following students who won Netball awards in 2022!

The Senior A Netball team had a thrilling season this year.

2022 has been an enjoyable year for our Basketball players at Avonside.

Click, click, click – meet you at the clubhouse! New Brighton library hosted us and their computer room acted as our clubrooms, a place to meet up, hang out and play Esports.

It has been another great year for Rugby at Avonside Girls' High School.

This year we had 5 students that made it through to the finals of the Zonta Canterbury Sports Awards