Kia ora e te whānau
Today we are delighted to celebrate the 147th birthday of our kura. We have seen a lot of change over the years, but our vision remains steadfast: “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.”
In 2027 we will celebrate our 150th anniversary! Please encourage all our alumni to join the Old Girl Association by completing the online membership form so that we can invite you to this prestigious event.
Many of our ākonga are sitting their NCEA practice examinations and common assessments for literacy and numeracy this week and early next week, and we know that parents and whānau will be supporting ākonga to do their best.
The common assessment activities (CAA) in Reading, Writing and Numeracy are
assessments developed and marked by NZQA and administered by schools in a single session. On Thursday our Year 10 and some Year 11 and 12 students sat the Reading CAA, today was the Writing CAA and next week students will sit the Numeracy CAA. These assessments are not English and Maths assessments but literacy and numeracy that students use across all subjects.
The literacy assessment involves reading and understanding language in texts such as articles and books, textbooks with language and pictures, texts and images on websites, or social media messages. The numeracy assessment refers to the understanding of number, measurement and shape that arise in everyday life.
As parents and whānau it is not always easy to understand what our young people are going through, even if they are willing to share their learning or concerns with us. Each student has a different focus on their wellbeing and a different pathway towards success and with this comes diverse challenges. For some it will be attendance, but for others the challenges will be more complex. For many the challenge might be social media, with some students spending too much time online at the expense of sleep.
We all know that mental, physical, social, and emotional development requires quality sleep. In an article from Otago University, Dr Damian Scarf, of the Department of Psychology, says sleep is critically important for the mental health and well-being of adolescents and young adults. Prioritising good sleeping habits will ensure that our ākonga are well rested and ready for upcoming exams.
Next week is the annual celebration of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori across Aotearoa New Zealand with the 2024 theme ‘Ake Ake Ake – A Forever Language’. It represents the resilience, adaptability and endurance of te reo Māori and the commitment to honour and promote the language. Stella Crossan, student leader and 2024 Head of Whānau Committee shared posters with our staff to encourage the use of te reo across our kura.
Kia māhorahora te reo – let’s make it seen, let’s make it heard
The Tūhono Kapa Haka Festival takes place this Sunday. It is an annual event for Ōtautahi Schools dedicated to celebrating te ao haka. Christchurch Girls’ High School | Te Kura o Hine Waiora will perform in the senior bracket from 3pm onwards. Ngā mihi to all the whānau who support their tamariki to prepare for this performance. We were spoiled with a dress rehearsal performance by our Kapa Haka group this week, and they were breathtaking, we wish them the best of luck!
This week we were fortunate enough to launch our brand-new Christchurch Girls’ High School | Te Kura o Hine Waiora Sports Website. This has been a while in the making and we want to thank our staff for their dedicated commitment to getting this set up. We hope you will find it useful and look forward to using it as a platform not only for information, but also for celebration.
Kia pai tō rā whakatā | Have a good weekend.
Helen Armstrong
Principal | Tumuaki