Tēna koutou katoa!

The school year has finally drawn to a close for all our students and we have celebrated their many successes at each of our three prize-givings. It has been a real pleasure celebrating the three prize-givings and the leavers’ dinner, as each underscores what is special about Columba, and that is the grace, poise, and confidence that develop as our students grow and move up the year levels, starting way back at new entrants’. We have also heard three wonderful speeches from Columba students, past and present, at these events, firstly Lydia Joseph at the Senior Prize-Giving, Bridget Scott at the Years 7 – 10  and our 2013 Dux, Katie Mulholland, at the Leavers’ Dinner. Lydia’s speech was published in the November newsletter and Bridget’s and Katie’s are both attached to this message. They are well worth reading and reflecting upon.

The Year 10 trip to Wellington was a great success despite the unseasonably bad weather. I have recommended to the Boards that we add this to our repertoire of camps for the Years 7 – 10 group of students, as it nicely complements our package of two outdoor camps and the ski camp, and gives the girls a chance to develop and exercise responsibility, while exploring the many things that Wellington has to offer. The students walked on average 12 km per day, crisscrossing the harbour walkway, and followed a programme incorporating a mix of historical, physical and bi-cultural activities. We stayed in the YHA, which is just 200m from Te Papa and the girls on the first group, which I attended, were a real pleasure to be with, and this was reiterated by the accompanying teachers for the second group.

Our students have continued to excel right up to the last week of the school year. Millie George (Year 10) won first place at the Otago Junior Speech Contest, Rosie Auchinvole (Year 10) was selected for the New Zealand Secondary Schools Choir, Victoria Williamson (Year 12) and Skyla Murray (Year 8) were both selected for the Second Violin Section of the New Zealand Secondary Schools Orchestra, with Victoria making Principal Second Violinist. Our sports teams have also been performing well over the past few weeks, with special congratulations to the senior touch team winning the National Secondary Schools Touch Championships. Our announcement of the newly appointed Principal, Mrs Pauline Duthie, has been well received by students, staff and our wider community. We look forward to her arrival in week 5 of 2019, although she will be spending an evening with the Year 13 students at the Leadership Camp on 31 January.

We were sorry to farewell two staff members on the last day of term. Mrs Dorothy Hutton, who has taught for ten years in the Junior School, firstly in Year 2 and more recently in Year 6, and was also in charge of Digital technology in Years 0 to 6. She is moving to Wellington to be closer to family and has also accepted a teaching position at Chilton St James. Mr Alan Williams joined the Mathematics Department in 2011 but has also taught Science in his time with us, as well as accompanying Ski Camps and Duke of Edinburgh Tramps. We wish Mrs Hutton all the best for her transition to the North Island and Mr Williams a long and energetic retirement and hope that both of them will take inspiration from the albatross brooches they were given and return, from time to time for a catch-up. 

As the year draws to a close, I want to thank everyone in the Columba community for your support and hard work throughout this challenging year. I wish all of you the peace and joy of Christmas and a very happy and relaxing holiday break, in preparation for another busy year at Columba.