Fees no longer to be charged for participating in NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship.

Kia ora koutou

This week the Government has announced that there will be changes made to NCEA. The most immediate impact is that there will no longer be a fee charged for this qualification. If you have already paid your NCEA fee for this year it will be credited back into your school account. The final implementation plan will be released at the end of the year along with what to expect from 2020 on wards. You can access the NCEA Change Package 2019 Overview here.

Recently the Queen’s PSTA made and sold cheese rolls to raise funds for our school. I would like to thank the PSTA, and the extra helpers on the day, for the work they do to support the girls and our school. The money raised by the PSTA goes towards those extra things that add greatly to the school environment. If you are interested in joining the PSTA, they meet the first Tuesday of each month, 7pm in the staff room.

The opportunities open to students continues to grow. On Friday of last week alone the following activities were on: Geography and Tourism Field Trip; Incubator Programme; Year 9 and 10 Story Building Workshop; Te Reo, Hip Hop and Shakespeare Language Workshop; Collecting for Ronald MacDonald House Charity and Robotics Club. Students across all levels of the school were involved in these further learning opportunities and what they learnt will be shared within their classes.

Many further activities are happening between now and the end of the term that involve students showcasing their talents. We have girls competing in the Big Sing, the Chamber Music Competition, Aerobics Club Champs, Otago Secondary Schools’ Netball Tournament, Ngā Manu Kōrero Speech Competition, Pasifika Voices Otago Speech Competition and the School Musical to name just a few. These activities do not just happen. To all of the students, staff, parents, whanau, ex-girls and community members who are involved in these activities, a very big thank you. Our girls cannot be involved in any activities without your support, so again, thank you for giving your time and for your expertise that you share with the girls.

Barbara Agnew

Principal