Kia ora, nau mai haere mai whānau, parents and caregivers,

New Year’s greetings and welcome back to 2020. I hope you have all had a restful break whether at the beach, river or at home just enjoying no routine for a period of time and connecting with family and friends. It is always a chance to get our busy lives in balance and make plans to retain a sense of that throughout the year.

It has been lovely welcoming our new Year 9 students and all our other year levels, looking keen, refreshed and ready for a year of new opportunities. Your young people are a credit to you. They have all arrived looking smart in their uniforms and have been fantastic audiences listening to start up information.

Our Head Prefect Isla Clarkson and Deputy Heads Ruby Lange, Hannah Sherwood and Steffi Burra have been busy meeting with the prefect group developing a plan for the year. They are a pleasure to work with and I am excited to see what they achieve with our students this year.

Staff changes are as follows:

Staff away on Leave for 2020

• Claire McCleary (English), Suzanne Passchier (Science Term 1 and 2), Jolene Bowman (Technology) and Pip Holmes (PE)

New Staff for 2020

• In Science we welcome Keshni Kumar who will be teaching Science and Chemistry for Term 1 and 2.
• Jenny Morrison is permanent in Music and is also joining the Mathematics Faculty
• The English Learning Area is welcoming Anne Spence. Claire Morris and Virginia Collingwood will also be part of the English Faculty for 2020.
• Johanna Lescure is joining the Languages Faculty – part time in French.
• Kashira Mehta-Woledge is now part of the Guidance team permanently and we welcome back Carolyn Heyward-Judd from her year of study leave.
• Mark Norton, Sarah Brophy and Angie Sisifa are all joining the PE and Health Department. Angie will also have responsibility for Pasifika students.
• Jo Clark returns back to us from Cashmere and will be full-time in Social Sciences. Renee Coombes is joining us from Australia as our new Head of Junior Social studies.
• Bronwyn Sullivan will be teaching in the Technology area.
• Julie Ross, who has been an Art reliever, will be part-time in the Art department.
• Jo Andersen is our new Science Technician.
• Our new teaching assistants for 2020 are Sophie Manning and Megan Blair.

As we head into a new year and a new decade, the school is charting a new vision. The time is opportune as we are required to deliver an Education Brief for our rebuild solution about which we expect to receive news this term. The Brief is a blueprint for our future education aspirations here at Christchurch Girls’ High School / Te Kura o Hine Waiora and an outline of what teaching and learning will look like to equip our students to flourish in a future world.

The Board of Trustees and Staff have spent Term 3 and 4 developing a new vision, values and strategic direction for the school and it is important to hear your thoughts and response to it. I have attached the document here – it is two sides only. The front page presents the overall vision and the reverse page outlines our annual plan for 2020 as we begin to deliver on this. You are most welcome to comment on the vision by email to principal@cghs.school.nz by the end of Friday February 15. Some key components are

Our Vision

‘Our vision is to empower and inspire the development of 21st Century lifelong learners by providing a passionate learning environment with diverse opportunities, experiences and authentic relationships to enable learners to flourish, celebrate achievement, contribute to our world and become tomorrow’s inspired leaders today.’

Our Values

Manaakitanga – At CGHS / Te Kura o Hine Waiora students and staff respect each other and are generous towards each other. They support one another and this is reciprocated. The environment is warm and caring and everyone is treated with dignity.

Whanaungatanga – At CGHS / Te Kura o Hine Waiora a strong sense of belonging is developed through students and teachers working together. Students and staff feel connected and positive relationships are fostered. Challenges and successes are shared and personal achievements are celebrated.

Aroha – The CGHS / Te Kura o Hine Waiora whānau show empathy and concern for others. They have an understanding of the world and people beyond their own circumstances, giving service and acting with decency.

Rangatiratanga – At CGHS / Te Kura o Hine Waiora students and staff stand tall and proud. They have courage and strength of character to do what is right, facing challenges and change with confidence. Mana is demonstrated in relationships between and within staff and students.

The 5 key strategic domains are:

1. Inspire 21st century lifelong learners (Transformational leadership culture)
2. Create a passionate learning environment where learners and staff have the power to act (Engagement)
3. Provide diverse opportunities and experiences to empower and inspire learners (Innovation)
4. Build authentic relationships through understanding and trust, culture , language and identity. (Wellbeing and Belonging))
5. Build a culture of organizational renewal (Critical self reflection)

You are able to see what this means and looks like on the document attached.

We look forward to all our students being here together at 9am on Monday to welcome our new students, parents and staff with a full school powhiri.

Ngā mihi nui

Christine O'Neill

Principal