Greetings to all our school families and welcome back to all returning students, with a special welcome to our Year 9 cohort.

We know you will find your place at Otago Girls’ and will make many happy and fulfilling memories during your time as an OGs girl. You follow in the footsteps of thousands of remarkable young women who have passed through our doors.

I was also particularly pleased to welcome back 21 International students who chose to stay in New Zealand and continue their education rather than return home over the summer. Thank you for your commitment to Otago Girls’ and thanks to the host families for supporting these students for an extended period over the summer. I am also delighted to welcome a number of new staff who you will see profiled in future newsletters.

It is 150 years tomorrow (Waitangi Day) that our school first opened (in 1871) with 78 girls (aged between eight and 19) and we look forward to celebrating this event throughout 2021. It is a big year in the life of our school! Our official 150th Jubilee celebrations for ex-girls will be held at Labour Weekend, but today we started the first official celebrations by marking our special Founders Day. I was delighted to see so many staff and students come along dressed in period costume, adding greatly to the historical significance of today’s events.

This morning began with a special ceremony to open our 150th celebrations. The ceremony got underway with the unveiling and blessing of our new pare, carved by master carver James York. This carving sits across the archway in our foyer and marks the passage into our school and our place of learning. All staff and students passed under the pare and into the hall. This installation reflects our partnership with manawhenua and the value and importance of our bicultural heritage. It also reflects our history, the mana of the school and the achievement of our 150th “birthday”. Along with James York we also welcomed other distinguished guests Kane Holmes-Haweturi, Reverend Canon Maureen Cribb and Whaea Wendi Raumati (also an ex-girl of the school), who assisted us with the blessing of the pare.

The blessing was followed by our special 150th Founders Day assembly which started with an explanation by James York of the significance of the various elements of the pare and we were pleased to have some members of the Dunedin Branch of Ex-Girls present as well as members of the 150th Jubilee Committee and representatives from the Ministry of Education and our Board of Trustees. Our 150th Prefects spoke about some of the celebratory events that will be happening this year at the school, and Head Prefect Jemma Wilson read some recollections from a first day pupil. I gave an address outlining the foundation and history of our school. On leaving the assembly all students were given a 150th badge to mark this historic occasion.This afternoon students will enjoy a Garden Party to continue our celebrations.

One of the highlights of the year so far are our 2020 Scholarship results which were released yesterday. We were delighted with the 19 Scholarships, including six Outstanding Scholarships. These Scholarships were awarded over 12 different subjects and four of them were awarded to Year 12 students. This is a wonderful achievement.

This year we have introduced a new student cell phone policy aimed at improving the learning environment for our students. When students go into class they will be asked to put their phones into our cell phone caddies or towers for the duration of the lesson. This will certainly help students avoid the distraction of their phones and allow them to better focus on their learning. It will also help prepare them for phone use expectations in the workforce. Thank you to all our students for transitioning to this new practise.

We have such an exciting year ahead and I hope all our students and families will take up the offer to participate in celebratory occasions throughout 2021.

With many visitors expected to the school this year, this is an opportune time to remind anyone coming into the school to sign in at the office. This is important from a health and safety perspective.