Emerging Ethnic Leaders Breakfast.

The Ministry of Education organised the first-ever Christchurch Emerging Ethnic Leaders Breakfast. Designed to recognise students from diverse ethnic backgrounds who have demonstrated leadership and service at the highest levels in their respective schools.

The breakfast took place at Tūranga Library on the 18th of May 2022.  Schools were asked to nominate 2 student leaders (or emerging leaders) from ethnic community backgrounds, preferably in Year 12 or 13. These students needed to have demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities in 2021 and/or 2022, either in their school or the wider community. 

Riccarton High School were delighted to congratulate Huda Mazharuddin, and Elnathan Chung to receive this recognition.

Pasifika Talanoa

On the 12th of May, we had our first Pasifika parents’ talanoa for 2022. 

This was the perfect opportunity to introduce our new Pasifika team to our parents and caregivers. We discussed a range of topics, supported our parents with Student Achievement Interview Day (SAID) bookings, and introduced our Pasifika Student Leaders for 2022. 

On the 3rd of May, we held a Pasifika students’ meeting where Siufofoga Tuu and Christina Belford (our Pasifika Leaders for 2022), were presented with their leadership badges. They ran some enjoyable activities for our Pasifika students.

Eid al-Fitr

The 6th of May 2022 saw our RHS Muslim group celebrating Eid al-Fitr, the festival of breaking fast.

Eid al-Fitr is one of the two official holidays celebrated within Islam. This religious holiday is celebrated by Muslims worldwide and marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-dusk fasting of Ramadan. This year it was held on the 3rd of May 2022. 

Our student group enjoyed a delicious shared lunch on the 6th of May, with many of their non-Muslim friends joining to celebrate Eid al-Fitr with them.

Solar New Year

The end of the last term (13-15 April 2022) was a very special time for many Asian cultures (India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos), who follow the solar calendar.

Many different communities celebrate the Solar New Year, which will be named differently in different regions. For instance, in Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia the Solar New Year is named “Songkran”. It is called “Pohela Boishakh” in Bangladesh and some parts of India. It is called "Puthandu" in Tamil culture and “Aluth Avurudda" in Sinhalese culture. 

Our school’s culture council recognised these important celebrations within their various activities. They constructed a colourful display for our library and made a Rangoli (Rangoli patterns are bright, colourful and beautiful designs, drawn on the floor, thought to bring good luck & prosperity), to celebrate the solar new year. 

Ka pai team, for your good work.