I had the real pleasure of spending the afternoon on Mother’s Day with the boarders, who celebrated with their mothers and grandmothers over a stunning and delicious high tea.

Since I resumed the Acting Principal role in March, I have been impressed at the range of food our cooks prepare for the boarders, and this high tea was no exception, as you can see in the photos. It was lovely to see three generations interacting and the girls embodying our Grace values as they hosted their guests. It was a pity that Mrs Parks, the boarders’ ‘on-site mother’, was not able to attend, but it was totally understandable that she needed to spend the afternoon with her own family after being on duty in the boarding house for most of the weekend. We are very fortunate that, despite the demands of her dual role as Manager of the Boarding House and the School and the long hours she devotes to Columba, she always retains her sense of humour and genuine interest in achieving the best possible outcomes for our students. Mr Parks is continuing in his temporary role as Acting Caretaker, pouring his energy into tidying up our gardens but also using the time to ensure Mrs Parks takes an occasional break from her work.

Another pleasure this week has been meeting up with two former students. Mrs Nicole Snow (formerly Martyn) came to speak to Year 13 and a few Year 12 students as part of their Careers Unit. Nicole joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force after leaving school at the end of 2010 and trained at their Auckland base as an Avionics Technician, then worked at the Woodbourne base as an Avionics Instructor and is now a Senior Instructor, working remotely from Cromwell since 2022. It has been lovely to reconnect with former students whom our Careers Advisor, Ms Evans, is engaging in sharing their career paths as part of the Senior Careers Unit, and following their varied journeys since leaving school. Ms Skye Duncan, a VuW School of Architecture and Columbia University graduate and one of our Distinguished Alumnae, works remotely as the Executive Director for the Global Designing Cities initiative based in New York. Her hours are largely determined by Eastern Standard Time, but we were fortunate that she could spend an afternoon with Mrs Parks and me scoping possible future developments for the main campus.  Skye has been involved in many exciting projects around the world designing people-friendly environments and we look forward to her sharing her ideas for Columba.

Finally, with the current bout of rainy weather, I have been concerned to see many of our students walking about without wet weather protection. Please, Caregivers, would you ensure that your son or daughter has a waterproof jacket or, at the very least, an umbrella so they aren’t sitting in class in damp clothes.

Ngā mihi nui,

Ms Jenness Riethmaier