Kia ora e te whānau

I would like to take this opportunity to update you, our school community, on where we are currently at in terms of our rebuild. As you might know, our rebuild was put on hold over 2 years ago. I am delighted to advise that we have restarted the next stage of the rebuild programme for Christchurch Girls’ High School | Te Kura o Hine Waiora.

The Ministry of Education have engaged Architectus as architects, and we are excited about working with both parties in order to realise our aspirations for our kura. Architectus are an architecture and urbanism practice, designing places and spaces tuned to their communities, context and culture.

The rebuild will be a staged project with two new 3 storey buildings replacing two of the main buildings. The first building is proposed to go between the current Art block and the Tennis courts and will replace our main teaching block that is currently attached to the Performing Arts Centre.

The second building is proposed to go to the right of the gymnasium. I have included a picture below of the proposed placings from our Masterplan (New buildings in yellow).

Our staff are currently working through what the internal layout of these new buildings could look like. We will continue to update you as we progress.

It was a pleasure to host a group of former Christchurch Girls’ High School | Te Kura o Hine Waiora students on Saturday morning for a tour of the school. These former students were all boarders at Acland House and this year group were in Year 11 when the school moved from Cramner Square to its present sight on Matai Street. They remembered walking over to the new site for the opening in 1986.

As they reminisced, it was interesting to hear snippets about school and boarding life 38 years ago. Back in those days, boarding students returned to Acland House for lunch each day. They acknowledged that it was hard to return to school for afternoon lessons, and it limited interaction time between day girls and boarders, even though they could invite a day girl to join them for lunch, should they wish. One of our Old Girls remembered that if a student was reprimanded it could result in having to run around Hagley Park with the Principal!

As NCEA examinations continue, the younger students continue with lessons. This year students in Year 9 and 10 have been given an opportunity to be involved in a service project – Kiwi Christmas Book - led by the English Department. Please read the article further down to learn more about this wonderful opportunity to get involved.

This service initiative will also give students an opportunity to develop their leadership skills and build teamwork within their AKO groups. We hope that there will be some creative and innovative ideas for fundraising which will enable a significant number of books to be donated. Please discuss ideas to support this initiative within your whānau and support our Junior students to make a difference for those less fortunate.

With a focus on leadership, Christchurch Girls’ High School | Te Kura o Hine Waiora are co- hosting the 2024 State Girls’ School Conference for Principals and Senior Leaders from across the motu alongside our sister school Avonside Girls’ High School | Te Kura Kōhine o Ōtākaro next week. We are looing forward to learning from each other and sharing good practice.

Avonside Girls’ High School | Te Kura Kōhine o Ōtākaro and Christchurch Girls’ High School | Te Kura o Hine Waiora have a long history of connectedness, dating back to the 1900s when Avonside Girls’ High School | Te Kura Kōhine o Ōtākaro was a satellite campus on Avonside Drive of Christchurch Girls’ High School | Te Kura o Hine Waiora. They became a separate school, in their own right, in 1928.

Today we had Teacher Only Day, this is a day where our teachers come together to share experiences and practice. We hosted a number of teachers from across the city at our kura for various professional development opportunities. We want to thank you for supporting us to make this day possible, the time teacher spend together to learn and develop is invaluable, and this knowledge will benefit our ākonga in the long run.

We hope you and you whānau have a lovely and restful long weekend.