Wellington students have achieved amazing things this year, from performances in Hutt Fest to sports achievements and school awards.

Chap Ma and Dakota from Rata Street School performed in Hutt Fest this year. It was the first year their school had entered, and they looked extraordinary on stage. Chap Ma performed a NZSL solo in front of hundreds of people, which brought more than one person to tears. We are super proud of these girls.

Zilon has achieved NCEA level 1! Congratulations Zilon. He also received two awards from Naenae College for resilience and diligence. What a great year!

Te Aio from Whitby Collegiate has been selected for Wellington Under 18s rugby team. Congratulations, Te Aio, on your outstanding skills and application in developing them!

James, 13, is a CI user and Year 8 student at Kapakapanui School in Waikanae. He was selected to play for Wellington in a representative tournament earlier this year, where Wellington was in the finals and came second. From that tournament, James was then selected by the International Softball Academy to represent New Zealand in the U13 Australian competition. Fifteen players throughout New Zealand were chosen to attend the competition, which took place in September of this year. He embarked on this exciting journey to Sydney with the support of his family and team. The tournament was for one week. New Zealand won four of their six games, including James hitting a home run in his last game. This was an amazing achievement for a team that had been together for only a week.