In the words of The Four Seasons: Oh what a night… and last night’s Expo indeed was an experience that highlighted students’ caring, critical and creative thinking.

Starting with three wonderful guest speakers - Joyce Taylor (BCITO), Margaret Paiti (Principal Advisor - Secondary Transitions, Ministry of Education) and Professor Neil Quigley (Vice Chancellor, University of Waikato) - who all focussed on what success looks like beyond just NCEA credits. They talked about the benefits of ensuring students are exposed to and develop skills such as reliability, a positive attitude, problem solving, collaboration and the ability to not simply regurgitate knowledge but to manipulate and use it in creative ways.

Following this, whānau and guests were exposed to a myriad of student presentations and workshops, ranging from creating poetry from a page in a book, to decorating cupcakes, learning about adulting skills, participating in a Model United Nations, trying new food to help support local business, learning about plans to develop the nearby bike track, live performances, making material with flowers pressed into it, future artworks and so much more, which highlighted the design thinking learning journey our students are on every Wednesday.

Thank you to all our students who participated and truly demonstrated how they are walking strong in the world to better and build community; and to our community and whānau, thank you for coming to see the amazing projects our learners can and are being involved in.