Term 3 has been a very busy one for the Director of Development! Mostly due to two key events – the GPS Symposium and the ‘Celebrate Our Chapel’ Fundraising Appeal.

The GPS Symposium was held over the weekend of August 18/19. This was an event that brought together thought leaders, specialists and academics to speak to parents/caregivers of teenagers on a multitude of relevant topics. We opened the event on the Friday night with the wonderful Stacey Morrison, who spoke about her parenting journey, learning te reo as an adult, and how to connect with our cultural heritage. She was an engaging, thoughtful speaker who had so much to share with the audience. 

On the Saturday morning, the Kapa Haka group welcomed guests with a fantastic performance, and then Katherine Rich spoke very candidly in her keynote about her experiences of being a teenager, raising four teenagers, and juggling parenting with a demanding career. After that, there were several sessions presented by an amazing group of speakers who talked about all sorts of topics such as nutrition, spirituality, sexuality, consent, pornography, cyberbullying, neurodiversity, self harm, alcohol and drug use, employment and much more. We finished with a panel discussion on the topic: ‘A Different World: Understanding the Teenagers of Today’.

Thank you to all those speakers for the wisdom that was shared, and for starting some important conversations: Anna Baker, Dr Melanie Beres, Dee Copland, Kim Gotlieb, Dr Olivia Harrison, Carrie Hobson, Carmel Leslie, Marcelle Nader-Turner, Ange Rathbone, Dr Gillian Townsley, Bex Twemlow and Dr Marc Wilson.

Thank you to our sponsors who made this event happen: Firebrand, Afirmo, Craigs Investment Partners, Forsyth Barr, Dwelling Architectural Design, Race Douglas Burke Lawyers, Property Brokers, Mercy Hospital and Rockburn Wines. A big thank you also to the St Hilda's PFA who supported this event – your help was greatly appreciated.

The ‘Celebrate Our Chapel’ fundraising appeal has now closed and we have raised just over $15k which is a great result. Over 30 families purchased plaques to be displayed in the Chapel, and we are very grateful for their support of this fundraiser. Your donation ensures a lasting connection and legacy to St Hilda’s, and enables future generations to enjoy this very special space which is the heart of our school. If you missed out on this opportunity, please get in touch with me at aburke@shcs.school.nz.

Amanda Burke 
Director of Development