Here, Principal Nicola Jacobsen shares her thoughts.

Kia ora,

All the very best to the Years 7 and 8 students who are in Dunedin for the Trinity exchange. It has been great to see the senior students supporting the Years 7 and 8 students to trial and prepare for this sports tournament. Congratulations to all students involved in the New Zealand Secondary Schools Winter Tournament week, and in particular the Hockey Team who won their tournament. This week has been a busy week for senior students, and I wish them all the very best for their exam results.

Next week is Māori Language week, and the College’s Cultural Committee has put together a range of activities for students to participate in from Kapa Haka, to making and using poi, weaving, kemu (games) and a mufti day (gold coin donation) on Friday 15 September with the funds raised going towards a project to create a display for our house competitions and points. We are fortunate to have a number of kaiako (teachers) at the College who support our students in Te Reo and Māori Performing Arts, Kapa Haka and Te Ao Māori.

There is a trend on TikTok at present where people create anonymous accounts with the name or tag ‘lala bop’. It is a way of anonymously bullying someone online, often using a photo of the person and hurtful statements about them. If this is something that you or your child is concerned about, it can be reported to the social media provider (TikTok), and to Netsafe (https://netsafe.org.nz/). Netsafe has great resources about how to tackle tricky conversations around cyberbullying and social media.

Toitū te whenua, toitū te tangata.

The land is strong, the people are fulfilled.

Ngā mihi,

Nicola Jacobsen