Kia ora parents, caregivers and whānau

We have finally reached the end of Term 2 and what an exceptional year it has been so far. How many of us would have thought that the world would have faced a global pandemic of the proportions we have seen and gone into lockdown as a country as a result? In true Kiwi fashion we adopted a “team of five million” approach, succeeded in eliminating community transmission and now face the very complex and difficult management of borders for as long as the pandemic runs its course.

Here at school we are looking forward to a very settled (we hope) Term 3 with students and staff in class, sport running again and many of our school events rescheduled. I know the students will be looking forward to Lipsync and their year level formals. School examinations are not until Term 4 which will enable a good continuous stretch of concentrated learning for our students after the earlier disruptions. Having said that, staff and students returned to school post lockdown barely missing a beat and Term 2 has also felt very settled.

This week I had the pleasure of attending the Acland House mid-winter Christmas dinner. The dining room was awash with the light of the chandeliers and white Christmas trees with a great soundtrack running. It was lovely to see the girls so happy singing in full volume and enjoying the superb meal prepared by chef Craig Redmile and kitchen staff. We are very fortunate to have our wonderful Boarding Director Dee Guillemot-Rogerson who runs a great ship supported by all the staff of Acland. As a result we have very happy boarders who see Acland House as their second home.

Yesterday our students led by Lily Holling raised over $7000 in Shave for a Cure, which is an outstanding result. The funds will be donated to blood and leukaemia cancers which affect young people in particular. I congratulate the students who had the courage to have their heads shaved and all those who sponsored and supported. A key platform of a Girls' High education is to give back to others and have a sense of compassion and empathy (aroha) and this was well demonstrated in this event.

It has been a marathon to get to today. Part of me looks back to the surreality of lockdown and I know how hard our staff worked through the Term 1 holidays and Easter to have online learning up and running through Alert Level 3 and 4. What may have seemed seamless at the front end had a great deal of planning, effort and preparation at the back end. We can see students and staff are exhausted. I am sure many of you are too. We encourage our students to have a complete break these holidays and I have encouraged staff to do the same. I wish you every happiness with your families through the next two weeks. We can be very grateful to be where we are as a country at the moment with a relatively normal life but we all know it is a very complex road ahead through this virus. Let’s celebrate what we have now and we will deal with what we have to deal with ahead.

Wishing you a restful time and safe travelling for those going away to see our beautiful country.

Ngā mihi nui

Christine O’Neill