Today is the final day of school for Year 9 and 10 students, who will be free to leave at lunchtime. Letters containing form teacher comments for your daughter's efforts at school this year and the link to the parent portal where you can find her full report, will go out prior to the girls' departure this morning.

We have celebrated two very special events in the calendar of the school this week; Prize-giving and the Graduation Ball. As always, Prize-giving was a wonderful celebration of success and I am grateful to our guest speaker, Lisa Futschek, who made it clear how fortunate our girls are to experience a kiwi education at Otago Girls' High School. Now working in the international education industry, Lisa outlined how Otago Girls' is one of the poster schools used by Education New Zealand in recruiting international students from around the world.

The highest academic accolade presented at Prize-giving, Dux of Otago Girls' High School, this year went to Rejoice Lien. This announcement clearly met with universal approval from the school community, judging by the overwhelming response. Two students, Charlotte Becconsall Ryan and Kelly Stitely were awarded joint Proxime Accessit (runner up to the Dux) and Kelly Stitely was awarded the Anna P Logan Cup for best all round student. The girls have enjoyed some outstanding achievements this year with all but the most recent featuring in our school magazine. If eligible students did not collect their magazine after prize-giving these can be collected from the school office which will be open next week. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has made this year a success, in particular the teaching and support staff who have worked so hard to make possible the many and varied learning opportunities the girls have enjoyed. Equally important has been the willingness of the students themselves to get involved and make the most of these opportunities. Farewell again to our Year 13 students. It was great to see you decked out in your finery at the Graduation Ball. This event is always a reminder of how our students blossom from girls into young women and it was wonderful to share this with the many parents and family members who came along. Next year is shaping up to be another great year in the life of the school and we look forward to welcoming the girls back for the next phase of their educational journey. I wish you all a safe and happy festive season.