Kia ora koutou, Warm Term Three Greetings.

I thought I would share with you my speech from assembly this week, which showcases some of the wonderful things that make Otago Girls’ the special place that it is.

I am excited! About Term Three and about Open Night primarily. This is the ONE chance in the year to reflect on the great school that is Otago Girls’ High School.

Why do I think that Otago Girls’ High School is such a wonderful school?

Firstly, we are the OLDEST State Secondary School for Girls in the Southern Hemisphere and the fifth oldest in the world! Do you know what that means? It means we are a regular state school - publicly funded by the government and this usually means ‘nothing special’. However in our case, on a regular basis, people come and say: ‘Really? I thought this was a private school.’ They say - ‘but you have so many great facilities’. They say - ‘but it seems like it is like a private school overseas’.

Secondly, we have an amazing long history - 151 years of it. Otago Girls’ High School was opened on 6 February 1871. It had taken Miss Learmonth White Dalrymple six years of petitions, letter-writing and constant pressure on the Provincial Council to persuade it to establish a public high school for girls in 1870. Miss Dalrymple was determined to establish an education system for girls that offered the same opportunities as boys had. She was convinced that girls deserved more than embroidery lessons and singing tuition designed to help them attract suitors (aka boyfriends!). She commented that “intellect is of no sex”.

The original two-room school was part of the block built for Otago Boys’ High School and a tall fence was constructed to keep the girls and boys hidden from each other. Margaret Burn, the first Principal did some of the teaching while the masters from the boys’ school taught other subjects, under the watchful eyes of ‘lady governess’ chaperones. The School was able to expand when the new school was built for the boys further up the hill in Arthur Street in 1885.

In 1907 the Otago Daily Times declared that the girls’ school was a “shabby ruin” and “a disgrace to Dunedin”. Finance for a new building was raised and in 1910 a new block, still standing today as the Dalrymple Block, was opened.

In the early 1990s the original school buildings underwent a multi-million dollar redevelopment and today it is one of the most superbly appointed schools in the country.

We are currently preparing for the re-development of Siedeberg Science Block and the Learning Support modifications. This is an exciting time to be at Otago Girls’ High School as we journey through and emerge from a pandemic.

Thirdly, students at this school enjoy success. In 2021 90% of Year 11 students gained Level One NCEA, 88% of Year 12 students gained Level 2 NCEA and 91% of Year 13 students gained Level 3 NCEA. 81% of students in Year 13 gained University Entrance. We gained 16 Scholarships and our Scholarship attainment in 2021 is the best-performing in Otago for both girls’ schools and for girls in co-ed schools. Our 16 Scholarships also made us the third top-performing school over all of the 27 secondary schools in Otago. This builds on our wonderful success in 2020 where we had three Top Scholars in New Zealand. As you can see in the slide, our results are well above the national average in all categories.

Currently, 55% of school students in New Zealand are attending school. Our year-to-date attendance is 87%. Mrs Grant, Mrs Porter and the assistant deans and deans do an awesome job to get everyone focused on their learning and in school, every period, every day. This is phenomenal but we can do better and get this above 90%. Let us ALL track our attendance personally on the Edge app. If your attendance is under 80% then some urgent action is needed to get you to where you need to be.

Here teachers care about you. The office staff care about you, The Senior Leadership Team, HODs, deans, assistant deans, counsellors and teacher aides care about you. Go to them if you need help. Go to them if you are struggling, failing, needing support or just want to have a chat. We all have time for you and can help. We have many many students in our senior school achieving wonderful success who were struggling, in trouble or falling through the cracks in the junior school. Raise your head up, be proud of your school, help these wonderful young people here on the stage (the prefects) to help you. Make and keep Otago Girls’ High School the best school in the country.

At Otago Girls’ High School we love our school traditions and culture - the Shelly Draw every week, Celebration, House Haka, Sports Day (coming up on September 12th), The Chambered Nautilus and Library Day. We have unparalleled sporting and cultural success. We are busy people but we cope with this and strangely the busiest students are the most successful as they are forced to plan their time and manage their commitments. We grow strong leaders who give service and encourage others.

Let us make this a great school. Let us make your time at school a great time. Let us share the joy of this school and your journey at this school with prospective students at Open Night. Let us celebrate you and us and this special place together on Tuesday evening.