Kia ora koutou

Kia Kaha te reo Māori (Let’s make the Māori language strong).

This week is Māori Language Week - Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. Despite only having juniors in classes this week as seniors have been sitting exams, our wonderful Māori prefect, Annelies MacDuff has kept te reo at the forefront for us by posting a word or phrase of the day for staff and students to learn and use. You may like to try these at home!

Rāhina (Monday) - Tau kē! - which means Awesome - just like you!

Rātū (Tuesday - Wehi nā - which you can use for OMG!

Rāapa (Wednesday) - Mahi tika ana - which you can use for Great Work or Absolutely!

Rāpare (Thursday) - Ehara i te tī - which means YOLO!

Rāmere (Friday) - Kua mutu ngā whakamātautau! - exams have finished!

On Monday we made the difficult decision to cancel the Year 12 Formal. We had already postponed it once due to Covid-19 restrictions and with Alert Level 2 still being in place this week we had to again abandon our plans. This has been another disappointment for our Year 12 students who I know were really looking forward to the event. It was lovely to hear that a number of girls went ahead with photographs and gatherings despite there being no formal to go to.

I have been extremely impressed throughout the year at the resilience our students have shown in the face of disappointment. So many things have had to be cancelled and this is naturally upsetting to those who were looking forward to them. In some cases I think the students have dealt with the disappointments better than us adults!

Another event Covid-19 has impacted on has been our 150th Jubilee which was to have been held at Waitangi Weekend 2021. After much discussion the organising committee has decided to postpone this event to Labour Weekend 2021.

Some of the biggest impacts of Alert Level restrictions have been felt by our cultural artists and performers. With Senior Production, Polyfest, Big Sing, Kapa Haka Nationals, Portfolio Art Exhibition and Showcase all casualties of the pandemic, there have been few opportunities to see the wealth of talent among our visual and performing arts students this year. Next Tuesday we will be holding our annual Cultural and Academic Blues evening where we will celebrate the achievements of these students. Alert levels permitting, I encourage you to come and support the recipients of the awards that will be presented on the night and celebrate the achievements and performances of all involved. We are so fortunate to have such richness in the visual and performing arts here at Otago Girls’, which is made possible through the dedication of teachers, the facilities available and the passion and enthusiasm of the students.

Winter sport is drawing to a close and I wish all teams well for the final games of the season. It has been a strange season with limits on spectators meaning that teams have been playing with limited sideline support. Despite this, students have continued to play and compete in a range of winter sports, enjoying the benefits of being active and spending time with friends - things that are particularly important during this pandemic.

If your daughter has not participated in a winter sport I strongly recommend you encourage her to get involved in summer sport. Being busy and active is the best antidote to boredom and antisocial behaviour (online and for real) there is!

Senior students have now completed their parallel examinations and some are in school today working on portfolio based subjects. Next week they will be getting their exams back and teachers will be going over them to support students in identifying where best to direct their attention as they prepare for the NCEA examinations next term. A summary of grades to date will be available through Edge next Friday so you can see their progress and achievement so far.

The reason for the timing of the examinations is to provide students with time before the external examinations to identify what they need to work on to be successful and to put in the further learning and study required. Next term teachers will be organising tutorial support for students.

As we enter the final week of the term we are starting to prepare for some of our end of year events and we will also be holding our annual House haka competition on Wednesday. It seems hard to believe we are at that stage of the year already.

Ngā mihi

Linda Miller

Principal