Nau mai haere mai, talofa lava and warm greetings parents and caregivers

My first week as Principal at Christchurch Girls’ High School / Te Kura o Hine Waiora has ended and it has been lovely meeting staff and your daughters and starting to learn names and customs of the school.

I am aware that there was not enough room in the gymnasium for an open invitation for parents to the pōwhiri last term and I hope the photographs in the last newsletter gave some sense of the occasion. It was a very special event and I felt privileged to be welcomed in such a way and to be presented with a beautiful kahu huruhuru to wear at occasions while Principal of the school. I want to acknowledge the hard work and preparation by Ngāi Tahu representatives and the school to provide this welcome to me and to the support whānau who attended with me. The students were amazing throughout the entire event despite being seated on the floor for a good hour. I am very happy to be back in a school and to be in girls’ education again.

I do look forward to being able to meet parents at various events during this term. I will be aiming to attend a range of sports games and cultural events which are coming up and the sidelines are always a great venue for an informal chat.

This week I have been able to get out of the office around some classrooms and faculty areas, join the Year 12 students in their Love Me Not programme, have breakfast with the prefects and visit Kirkwood Intermediate with the orchestra. Next week I am going to Auckland with Fesuiai Taiulu (Year 9) and Temukisa Fetuao (Year 12) who have been selected from the Canterbury Samoan speech competition to represent the region in the national finals. This is exciting for the school and congratulations to both girls and their families. I am looking forward to travelling to Dunedin next month to watch Cantrices in the national Big Sing finale and then national winter tournament around the country the week after. There are so many opportunities here for the students and they excel in so many ways. I will be looking to create more opportunities for us to celebrate the diversity of achievement and success here both by our students and our staff.

As I walk to my office in the morning past the historic honours boards and the image of Helen Connon (McMillan Brown), I am reminded of the strong and courageous women who founded this school and were the first principals, sixteen years before women in New Zealand had the right to vote. This was one of the first two girls’ schools in the country, second only to Otago Girls’ High School and ahead of Christchurch Boys’ High School. Helen headed the school and had her daughter, Millicent, conveniently in the Christmas holidays! Millicent married Archibald Baxter, a conscientious objector, and went on to become the mother of James K Baxter. These were not women who accepted the status quo but challenged social norms. Helen was the first woman in the British Empire to graduate with an honours degree and Millicent herself gained her degree from Oxford which was not awarded as only men could officially be conferred with their degrees.

What great examples for our young women! The students asked me in my interview process how we can value both tradition and innovation. The answer is in our history – our tradition is one of progressive innovation and we need to deliver an education to suit, which values both.

I have loved my first week.

Wishing you all a restful weekend with family and friends.

Ngā mihi nui

Christine O’Neill

Principal

Christchurch Girls’ High School/ Te Kura o Hine Waiora