"Ka mua, ka muri" is a whakatauki that many will know means "walking backwards into the future" - the idea that we should look to the past to inform the future. It is a fitting whakatauki for marking the end of Term 1.

At Hamilton Girls’ High School, we have a robust and fast-paced environment. On any given day we are leading, participating, working, competing, performing - that's both our students and staff. It is amazing when you see our students and staff working alongside each other and it certainly reflects a community that is highly invested in learning and aspiring to achieve great things together.

What is our point of difference at Hamilton Girls’ High School? Many of our students would say that there is a strong sense of belonging, sisterhood and connection in our kura, and an opportunity to find their place…their turangawaewae. As our students move into the senior school, we start to see the fruits of our labour as teachers just as you do as parents and caregivers. While we have celebrated our academic scholars in a special assembly, this sense of belonging is also obvious in the extracurricular activities in the arts, sport and our clubs.

Over the weekend, I was privileged to attend the inaugural Pasifika Tupaia Tapasa Quest performance and can share that the audience was certainly blown away by the impactful, fun and exciting performance. Hamilton Girls’ High School brought their “A” game to “The Pā’ and emotions were stirred up: happiness, excitement, relief but mostly pride. Every girl who took the stage was a credit to themselves, their family and HGHS. It brought me to tears. Thank you to Whaea Mere, Mrs Hunter and Mrs Tiai for their unwavering love and support of our students. Special thank you to Miss Jellyman for her support of the event.

Congratulations to our Year 11 Drama students who won the regional Sheilah Winn Shakespeare in Schools competition last week through their scene from the Tempest: Sophia Bankers, Frankie Waldron and Ivy Brunskill. Thank you to Mrs Wynne-Jones, our parents and staff who supported the event.

A special congratulations to athletes Zarah Rattray, Losaline Lose and Jamie Fell for their outstanding results at NISS Athletics last weekend.  We are extremely proud of your achievements.

The end of a term is always a rollercoaster ride as we deal with a myriad of things from celebrating achievements, conveying important messages such as keeping yourself safe, managing student behaviour, focusing on up-and-coming events and managing a work-life balance.

We trust that you will have a well-deserved term break.

Marie Gordon

Principal