Tēnā koutou katoa parents, caregivers and whanau

This week we send thoughts and aroha to the McWhannell family, to Mollie, Meg and Eve in the loss of their loved mother and to their father Andrew. The CGHS community has been wonderful in wrapping around the family. It is at times like these that we really see the sense of family and whanaungatanga in our school community as we support each other when life deals us hard blows.

On a different note, we congratulate Heidi D'Arcy-Slade and Anna Clinch who won the Solo and Duet section for Rockquest Canterbury. They now have to prepare a video of songs and send it in to see whether they will be selected for the national final. This is a very significant achievement. The Clueless, our Year 11 band of Olivia Eady, Maddie Iro, Scarlett Robson and Billie Roberts, performed amazingly well, but did not get through to the regional finals. Both groups were a credit to the school.

Last week at the annual Canterbury Rowing Awards, Emily Bowden was announced the winner of the Jubilee Cup, the top schoolgirl rower in Canterbury. Given the high quality of rowers across Christchurch Girls’ Schools, this is a fantastic achievement, and we are very proud of Emily. We will acknowledge Emily’s achievement at an upcoming assembly.

In hockey three of our students were selected in the Canterbury U18 team, Claudia Rowse, Eve Swan and Sophie Williamson and four in the Canterbury B team, Mila Hastie, Ruby Pedersen, Millie White and Jessie Workman. Both teams will compete in the national tournament. Congratulations to all our sportswomen out there busy training and competing.

Our students are highly involved in many activities as they prepare for their futures. I was reading an article from the Australasian Alliance of Girls’ Schools, which notes the following trends from The Female Futures Report by the London based Future Laboratory:

• Flexible futures: An American survey revealed that almost two-thirds of Gen Z, now aged in their teens and twenties, want to be entrepreneurs who create their own businesses and personal brands, not only using entrepreneurship to make a statement about their personal beliefs, but also creating a work-life balance that works for them. Members of Gen Z are 50% more likely than Millennials (aged in their thirties) to care about making a positive impact on the world. Gen Z is also more interested in family-friendly careers than material success, with a Singaporean study finding that the top concerns of Gen Z are having a happy family life (77%) and a close group of friends (64%).

• E-motional economy: Female traits such as emotional intelligence and empathy will become the drivers of success in the post-artificial intelligence world. Emotional intelligence is fast becoming one of the most sought-after skills, with L’Oreal reporting that sales staff hired for high emotional intelligence sell $91,000 USD more annually than colleagues hired for more traditional skill sets.

• Forever learning: With future generations predicted to live up to 150 years of age, current models of education in which nearly all learning occurs before the age 21 will need to change. Lifelong education for a range of careers will become the norm and writes the Future Laboratory, “will be far more suited to a gender-equal future in which both sexes have flexible jobs and equal childcare duties”.

• Fluid mindsets: The current lack of diversity in the workplace will be swept away as millions of Gen Z women begin work and move into management. In the United States, 47% of Gen Z belongs to an ethnic minority, making it the most ethnically diverse generation in US history. Gen Z also possesses a “fluid, borderless and gender-neutral mindset”, making it far more inclusive and gender-equal than previous generations.

In light of these trends, the Future Laboratory proposes five changes to bring about the most optimistic future for women:

• Transform female education: Girls need to be put on an equal footing with boys in learning the languages of innovation, investment and entrepreneurialism. Being taught how to do business will become a “core life skill for what looks likely to be a radically freelance future”.

• Invest in female talent: Investing in women-owned and women-run businesses is a win-win proposition because research shows that they are often the most competitive, successful and profitable enterprises.

• Open the echo chamber: Women connecting, mentoring and sharing their experiences with other women will remain important, but men must become an integral part of the conversation, working with women to overcome real-word obstacles.

• Go gender-neutral: Talking about ‘diversity’ is seen as an admission that the system is unequal and needs correction, whereas Gen Z teenagers assume gender equality as a starting position, valuing both sexes for the qualities they bring.

• Adopt a new growth agenda: Businesses have traditionally measured growth and performance in terms of hard, economic data, but in order to attract talented female entrepreneurs, businesses must adopt broader measure of success including values related to family support, work-life balance, and environmental responsibility.

Ngā mihi nui

Christine O’Neill