What beautiful weather we are having. I am sure we are all enjoying the opportunity to be in the warmth and feel that summer has arrived. It brightens all our moods!

On Saturday night we held a Year 13 Leavers’ dinner at Te Pae convention centre with a massive turnout. It was lovely to see our leavers with their parents and caregivers enjoying the evening together and marking the special transition from school years to the adult world. Thank you to so many families for attending and congratulations to our students on their engagement and conduct during the evening. It was a very successful event and a pleasure for many of us to be in this new civic building for the first time.

On Monday night we held our senior prizegiving and released our senior students on Tuesday for examination preparation. Thank you to the many parents who attended what was a fantastic event with some very special moments. Congratulations to all prizewinners and to all our graduating Year 13 students. In particular congratulations to our Dux recipient Charlotte Cotton

 Proxime Accessit recipient Molly Newman, Ka Hāro te Manu top Māori academic student Kate Koller, Matai Prize top Pasifika academic student Sarah Smith and the Mana Wahine Mana Matauraka recipent for senior Māori leadership Meretitia Roffey.

We also thanked the current student leadership team led by Head Prefect Hawwa Niyaz and were pleased to announce next year’s leaders.This year’s leaders have faced significant difficulty with COVID restrictions on assemblies and events but under Hawwa they have led magnificently, and with grace and passion in a different way, supporting our students to remain engaged in learning and school life throughout the COVID surge and as everything has opened up again. Congratulations to our 2023 Head Prefect Bethany Crossan, Deputy Heads Izzi Leifi, Angela Reupena, Annabelle Kelley, Ngārita Mackenzie, Heads of Acland House Zoe Trolove and Jessica Shearer and the rest of the 2023 prefect team who were announced. They will be strong young leaders and have an exciting year ahead of them as we hopefully return to a normal school year.

Thank you to all staff who helped and contributed to Prizegiving, especially Deputy Principal Maria Lemalie as chief organiser, supported by Deputy Principal Mr Peter Sawyer and Mrs Michelle Pinkney, Whāea Adrienne Huia and Whāea Grace Schreider- Manuera organising the kapahaka, Mr Michael Langdon training and conducting the orchestra, Ms Jenny Morrison training and conducting the choir, Ms Leah McHaffie on gowns, the SLT and administration support crew and all our staff floor organisers. A special mention should be made of the outstanding violin solo from Year 13 student Charlotte Cotton.

Finally, a thank you to Christchurch Boys’ High School for the hire of their auditorium which is a brilliant facility to be able to use.

Life never stops so now we are into gymnasium examination set up, furniture moving and room changes in preparation for NZQA examinations starting on Monday. Our juniors carry on in classes and can now step up to leadership for the next six weeks.

Ngā mihi nui