Our Principal Marie Gordon's address at our Senior Prizegiving this year.

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 Arikinui Kuini Ngā wai Hono i te Po 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 ra.  Nō reira, nau mai, whakatau mai.

I extend a very warm welcome to our Chairperson, Carissa McCay, Board trustees, distinguished guests, staff, students, parents, caregivers and extended whānau, and thank you all for your contribution to our place.

2024 has been a stellar year, with many outstanding events to celebrate the achievements of our young wāhine.  Tonight is an opportunity to acknowledge, to recognise, to reflect, to inspire, to aspire and to learn from those around you.  For our Year 13 students, this is possibly the last page of a memorable chapter in your life.

This year I was very privileged to win a sabbatical award for 10 weeks, during which I travelled to visit schools in Melbourne, London, Dublin and Singapore.  It allowed me to gain a snapshot of a variety of schools, but in particular two stood out for me.   

The first, Mulberry School for Girls located in Whitechapel, London is an over-subscribed, highly ambitious school with a commitment to social justice. They serve families whose children experience some of the highest rates of child poverty in the UK. Most families live in over-crowded social housing, yet ... serious social and financial disadvantage does not hold this school back. The rigour of their curriculum and approach to learning and teaching is extremely high, which demands the best from all pupils and staff.

98% of the pupils at Mulberry school are practicing Muslims, most of whom are of British Bangladeshi heritage. Over the past 15 years, the Muslim community has experienced significant turbulence with Islamophobia, extremism and community division since Brexit, combining to make it difficult for inner city London pupils – especially Muslim girls – to traverse. Breaking down external stereotypical attitudes towards their school community is a challenge, but one where staff build strong relationships with their students to bring out the best in them.

The second, Michaela School in Wembley, London also serves an underprivileged community. A charter school, recognised as a trailblazer for schools that walk every word they talk, they are different. To use their words, they make tradition fashionable: they work hard and persevere, they love to celebrate kindness and gratitude, and they take on challenges and jump over obstacles. They make a difference so that one day, they can look back at their lives, and know it was worth it. The teachers in this school describe themselves as “tiger teachers”, giving poor children access to knowledge, rigour, testing and competition. 

At Michaela, the teacher is always teaching and leading from the front, adults don't try to be friends with the students but instead are in charge with a sense of authority insisting on high standards of behaviour. Katherine Birbalsingh, Headmaster, states clearly that they have a culture at Michaela that would have been perfectly normal in 1955, but highly controversial in 2024.  

Bringing this back to HGHS, what were my learnings? A relational culture must be at the core of all we do and should be the primary means of influence. We should teach young people before we teach subjects. We should teach them to be human before we teach them skills and knowledge. We should teach them to have educated hearts as well as educated minds. In Aotearoa-NZ, and overseas, we have seen many examples of well educated leaders with no conscience or compassion.

The nature of that relational culture is reciprocal between students and staff, but young people need the first modelling in a school environment to come from staff in order to understand the importance of whakawhanaungatanga and how we embed this in our pedagogy.

There were many learnings from my sabbatical, but also gratitude -  thank you to Craig Scrimgeour for leading the school in my absence, and a big thank you to Deputy Principals Victoria Trenwith, Suzie Brace, Campbell Wood and Grainne O'Mahoney, and Acting Assistant Principal, Ronja Skandera.  Special thanks to Finance Manager, Paula McKeon; Property Manager, Norm Jordan; Director of Boarding, Toni Solomon; and all teaching and support staff.  

I do want to finish by sharing some words of wisdom to our students from those who have stood where you stand now:  the voices of past head girls and deputy head girls who walked where you have walked, worn our uniform, and like you dreamed about their future. They’ve faced challenges, celebrated successes, and left their mark on our school. And although they have gone on to new chapters in their lives, their messages hold powerful lessons for all of you.

Litara Allan, Head Girl 2017, shared with us that one of the most important lessons she learnt while at Girls’ High is DIVERSITY MATTERS.  What connects Girls’ High girls together is the shared exposure to people from different backgrounds, which is so crucial in the ever globalised society we live in. 

When you’re put in a classroom of people from four different religions, ten ethnicities and several different economic backgrounds, you are forced to think outside yourself. This is a privilege. This forces us to be global citizens. Litara continued to add that this offers our girls a ‘beyond the text’ and ‘beyond yourself’ look at life. Her final words - School is here to equip us for our futures, but it is the people that we grow and learn with that ultimately inspire us.

In September 2024, Litara was named Miss Samoa, and continues to share her messages as a global citizen.

Jazmin Hotham, Deputy Head Girl 2018, gave a piece of inspiring advice to those beginning their sporting journey ... treasure every moment you have playing school sport because it doesn’t last forever. Sing as loud as you can on your bus rides, dance between games and enjoy every match like it's your last because you never know ... it actually might be for a little while. She also shared with us her very heartfelt experience of her life changing injury and the challenge of rising above this. In her words, “When life throws you in the water of adversity ... how can you turn this situation into an opportunity to learn and grow?  Each experience is a building block, and every step forward will bring you closer to discovering who you are."

After a rollercoaster of sporting highs and lows, we were extremely excited and privileged to see Jazmin gain a Gold Medal for Rugby 7s at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Jaedyn Randell, Head Girl 2018, shared in her speech that she leaves HGHS with the experiences that helped shape her thinking, the knowledge of how to work harder and smarter and to finally create her own tomorrow, because your destiny lies in the choices you make and the relationships you create.  

Jaedyn came back to HGHS as a first year teacher in Te Reo and Music in 2023, but created her own tomorrow and chose to follow her dream in Music this year.  We were excited to follow her journey of making the finals for the Voice Australia, which has opened doors for her in Melbourne.

Ruby Moetara, Head Girl 2020, shared in her speech that leadership is an attitude and a choice not a badge and a title. A badge and a title merely acknowledges the qualities that a person exhibits, but everyone has the capabilities of being a leader. Leadership is about seeing people and using your mana to enhance that of others; to raise up other leaders almost like a gardener nurturing their flowers. Leadership mustn’t stop at us, it must continue to grow. She also stated that it's okay to ask for help.

In 2024, Ruby is following her dream of being a primary school teacher, and loves going to school every day, no doubt inspiring those around her. 

Rebecca Yuan, Head Girl 2022, reminds us of our school values of curiosity and courage: curiosity -as learners, we must always ask ourselves, “how can I grow?”. “How can I use these learnings to guide me into a stronger person?” "To always seek new experiences, and continue to flourish?"

Our value of courage allows us to recall why we started in the first place. To remember what initially motivated us to pursue the journeys we are on, as this can give us the courage and fortitude to endure whatever challenges and hardships which may come our way.

In 2024, Rebecca Yuan is a film production student at the University of Southern California and an award winning NZ Filmmaker. Creating captivating films that resonate with her international audience drives her, and she takes pride in her diverse background. 

These head students each left a legacy of courage, resilience, kindness and curiosity at HGHS, and we are very proud of them. 

To our Year 13 leavers, our Covid babies,  over your five years, you will have absorbed not only information, knowledge and skills, but also our school’s values, culture and history. As you walk out our gates for the last time, take that experience and use it to make a difference in the world. 

Ēhara tāku toa i te toa takitahi, 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.