Understanding one of our key focuses for 2023.

The Wairua behind the Riccarton Way has a Long History!

The spirit behind our Riccarton Way has a long history. In fact, even before the school officially opened in 1958, the Foundation Principal, Alan Gainsford, had expressed the vision for Riccarton High School to be a school in which “ individuals would work together in a safe and healthy atmosphere, where people exercised respect and courtesy towards each other and where there was a focus on students and staff being of good character.”

Fast forward to the early 2000's when the leadership of the school worked with staff, students and the community to formalise and refine a long list of attitudes and behaviours that they saw as ‘desirable’ at Riccarton High School. In 2005, Gary Coburn as Principal (who played a fundamental role in the creation of the Riccarton Way) wrote “the whole basis of the Riccarton Way was to continue to promote a quality learning environment where students had the opportunity to be successful contributing members of the community.”

From 2005 onwards the Riccarton Way as we know it focused on the 4 values of commitment, respect, honesty and excellence; an ethos passionately led by Gary and then his successor Phil Holstein. In 2019 it was Mana Toroa (our Māori student leaders) who consulted with local mana whenua to revise the 4 values from a Te Ao Māori viewpoint. Hence we refer to the 4 values today as Manaakitanga (respect) Ngākaupono (honesty) Kairangi (excellence) Manawanui (commitment).

In 2023 one of our key areas of focus as a school will be to ensure that the wairua behind the Riccarton Way remains at the forefront in terms of the way that we think, act and learn at Riccarton High School. It’s important to remember that every adult and student within our school community has an important role to play in keeping this spirit alive!