Kia ora koutou!

With this continuing mild Otago weather, it has been a real pleasure to walk around our beautiful grounds, which have been refreshed by the fine teamwork of our Gardener, Mrs Rose Khant Aung and interim Caretaker, Mr Mike Parks. I’ve also been pleased to see that our kauri tree, donated as a young seedling by Mrs Karen Hay (a former Year 2 teacher) when she left Columba in 2002, is thriving and now tall enough to be visible from the second floor of Girton. I’ve included a photo of it; for those who want to check it out, it is planted on the boundary alongside G1 and G5.

We were fortunate that the rain held off last Tuesday for our Cross Country races and activities. A number of old girls, who were now there as parents, recalled their era when most students participated under duress and marvelled at the family atmosphere created initially by Mrs Duthie, who introduced having the whole school from Years 0 to 13 participate in Sports Day and the Cross Country. Congratulations to the PE teachers and Ms Dayna Turnbull for organising the event and supporting activities, as well as the very popular food trucks, which all contributed to making it a fun day for us all. Seeing so many parents and caregivers calling by to support their children was also lovely.

Finally, I would like to thank all of the families who faithfully pay the AVC ($160 per month), which enables the College to offer a rich balance of activities that would otherwise not be possible and which all contribute to maintaining our special character. I can’t help comparing the $24,000.00 per year charged for my granddaughter at an independent school in Wellington with the $2,034.00 annual attendance dues for Columba, which offers a similar, well-rounded education, enhanced further by the monthly Voluntary Contribution.

Ngā mihi nui,

Ms Jenness Riethmaier