We have come to that time of the year when we farewell our Year 13s and release senior levels to their NZQA examinations.

Our senior prizegiving is on Monday at 6pm at the Christchurch Boys’ High School Auditorium (entrance off Kahu Road) and we encourage all our Year 11, 12 and 13 students to attend whether receiving awards or not. The event is more than the sum of prizes. It is important we acknowledge individual success but we also gather as a community to celebrate the collective group and all those students who have worked hard and contributed to school life, whether receiving a prize or not.  For Year 13 students, in particular, as they exit five years of secondary schooling and thirteen years of school life, final prizegiving is part of a rite of passage and we look forward to the whole year group attending. For our Year 12 students, we announce their leaders for next year so again, a year level celebration for all to attend.  Parents are most welcome at prizegiving, particularly parents and caregivers of Year 13 students.  All Year 13 students will be acknowledged on stage during the graduation part of the ceremony.

Ahead of Monday, we hold the Year 13 Leavers’ Dinner with parents on Saturday night at Te Pae. This promises to be a fantastic evening and for many of us our first look at the new convention centre. It is a special place for us to farewell our students and also thank our parents for their contribution to the school during the time of their daughters’ education. For some it may be the first daughter leaving schooling, for others the last child exiting school life. Just as these events mark transitions for students, it can also be a transition time for parents. I can remember clearly how I felt when my last daughter finished Year 13 and the phase of life with “kids at school” was at an end. It was both exciting that all my girls were on their way into adult life and a sense of parental freedom, but also emotional as a mother that such an important phase had ended. One of life’s milestones.

Acland House has already farewelled the Year 13 boarders at a function on Wednesday night with parents.

Seniors will be released at staggered times during Tuesday morning.

We do hope our students leave school with a strong sense of their own culture and identity, with confidence in themselves and their future, with a lifelong love of learning and with gratitude for the support of family and those close to them. May they take with them the aspirations of truth and wisdom on our school crest and our values, manaakitanga, rangatiratanga, aroha and whaunangatanga.

Ngā mihi

Christine O’Neill