Our Principal Marie Gordon's speech from the 2022 Senior Prizegiving.

Tihei mauri ora

Ki te whai ao

Ki te ao mārama

He kupu tuatahi māku ki te Atua

Nāna nei ngā mea katoa.

Tuarua, ki te Kīngi Māori a Tuheitia me te whare kāhui ariki whānui tonu. Paimārire. E ngā mate o ia marae, o ia hapū, o ia iwi

Haere, haere, haere atu rā

E ngā iwi, e ngā reo, e ngā mana

Tēnā koutou kua tae mai nei ki te manaaki i te kaupapa o te pō

Nō reira, nau mai, whakatau mai.

BOT Chairperson, members of the board, special guests, staff, students and parents, it is my pleasure and privilege to welcome you to our Senior Prizegiving this evening.

Tonight is an opportunity to celebrate and acknowledge the outstanding achievements of the young people of Hamilton Girls' High School and one of those rare periods when we have time to reflect, to plan and to dream.

I want to take this moment to reflect on the theme of International Women's Day this year; a moment to dream and be hopeful for the future of our akonga, our students:

‘Imagine a gender equal world.

A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.

A world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive.

A world where difference is valued and celebrated.

Together we can forge women’s equality.

Collectively we can all #BreakTheBias.”

Everyone in this room should advocate for a gender equal world. Whether deliberate or unconscious, bias makes it difficult for women to move ahead, and the evidence is there. Knowing that bias exists isn’t enough, action is needed to level the playing field and I challenge each of us to step up to raise awareness against bias, to celebrate women’s achievements and act for equality, and in doing so, we will be empowering a healthier world to live in.’

As I reflect on the year that has been, I want to stretch it out to say that the last two years have been quite honestly the toughest that we have encountered.The impact of Covid on our students and whanau have been immense. We know that 2022 in particular, has been challenging and we feel the impact of Covid on student learning, wellbeing, engagement, relationships and whānau.

I want to acknowledge the resilience and the courage of our students and whānau in our school community, and commend you on getting to this milestone in your academic pathway. It has been no easy feat and I congratulate you: I thank the parents and whānau for your support of our students; thank you for being there through the tough times but most importantly for not giving up on them.

To the Year 13s, five years ago you started a new milestone together. It has been a rollercoaster ride as we navigated the unknown. Over your 5 years, you will have absorbed not only information, knowledge and skills, but also our school's values, culture, sisterhood and history. Take that experience and use it to make a difference in the world.``

Ralph Waldo Emerson stated that:

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us”.

We hope that we have helped develop what lies within you. We hope that we have provided you with opportunities and experiences which have helped you to grow into the young woman that you are today. The challenge is to be brave and take the opportunities laid down before you.

I wish you the very best with whatever you go on to do.

Finally, our students will always remain at the centre of our strategic plan and decision making, and everything we do at Hamilton Girls’ High School, but at this very moment, I want to put our staff at the centre. Covid-19 has had a big impact on teachers and principals. We have had to react quickly and adapt to the way we work, innovating to meet the needs of our students and community. But this has come at a cost to our wellbeing.

At HGHS, Covid-19 disruptions have seen our teaching, support staff and hostel staff go above and beyond to support our students, but this has led to increased workload. We have had to deal with new challenging situations, and provide support to students, whānau, and the community.

It almost seems that we all went 'hard' during lockdown and afterwards to ensure that students didn't fall behind and as a result, we ended up exhausted by the end of the year 2021. Coming into 2022, I was forever the optimist thinking that this was a new year. For many of us in this room, 2022 proved to be even more challenging.

The Senior Leadership Team, Faculty Team and Pastoral Team continue to work tirelessly to implement the Annual Plan and have delivered deliberate and well-considered initiatives, alongside the complex daily logistics required to run a school with the aspirations we have for 1700 students and 160 staff members. My sincere thanks to you all.

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to thank our staff - teaching, support staff and our hostel staff for your ongoing commitment and dedication to our kura through some very tough times. This year has tested us.

We certainly need to take time to pause and reset - to look at how we commit to showing up together to deliver on our aspirations and ambitions for HGHS; how we support each other and how we turn our attention to managing our workload and taking control of our work life balance.

Ēhara tāku toa i te toa takatahi, engari he toa takitini.

Our strength is not made from us alone, but made from many - we're stronger together.

No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā  koutou katoa.