Hillmorton High School is a school with students from diverse backgrounds – in terms of languages, cultures, nationalities, socio-economic status, prior learning, and talents.  Being educated in a school like this, where our students sit beside others every day, who are different to themselves, is a gift.  This in itself is an education.  Our students learn to be open, to judge less and to value our diversity.

This diversity of backgrounds became even more evident during lockdown, where we as teachers, arrived almost uninvited, via zoom, into many of your homes.  The COVID 19 pandemic, which sent us into lockdown for seven weeks, has changed our world, with borders closed, and many inequities in our societies, our local communities and our country being highlighted.

Through all of this, our students have remained positive, accepting, although somewhat reluctantly, when our usual school activities were curtailed; with sports and arts events often cancelled, or where the formats changed.

I remain incredibly proud of our students and I thank our parents, whānau and our wonderful staff, who have supported our young learners through a tough year.

The challenges ahead are many and so it is critical that we are grateful on a daily basis for what we do have.  I am grateful that I work alongside a dedicated and generous staff who work hard to meet the varying needs of our young people every day.   I am looking forward to 2021 when we will have a new middle school building, Aonga Ake, to enjoy and in which we can all learn from and with each other as we make the most of this new and exciting learning environment.

Given the circumstances of 2020, it is with great pleasure that we celebrate our students, their adaptability, tenacity, and their resilience.

All the best to those who are leaving, and I wish you all a safe and enjoyable summer holiday. 

I offer this, one of my favourite whakatauki to you all:

Kia hora te marino,

Kia whakapapa pounamu te moana,

Kia tere te karohirohi

May the calm be widespread

May the surface of the ocean glisten like greenstone

May the shimmer of summer dance across your path forever

Ann Brokenshire - Tumuaki, Principal