Wellington trip 2023: Angus, Molly, Troy and Monica.

On Wednesday the 15th of November, the Head Students were fortunate enough to travel to Wellington as part of their leadership day. We visited Weta Workshop, had a guided tour of the Beehive, went to Te Papa and met with Leanne Otene, the New Zealand Principal's Federation President. It was a very full day with a good mix of fun and learning. 

Highlights:

Weta workshops: Our first stop was Weta workshops which was an amazing experience getting to see all the creations and talents of the workers. We got to find out so many interesting facts about how they created the Te Papa Museums' Gallipoli expedition.

Beehive: Secondly, we went to the Beehive, which was a super fun and educational experience. We learnt some amazing things about leadership. Fun fact (we learnt at the beehive): The current monarch at this time (King Charles) is unable to step into any room in parliament that has green carpet. Such as the parliament meeting room.

Te Papa: lastly we visited the Te Papa museum where we looked at the Gallipoli expedition and the earth,water and blood expedition.

Our final stop was talking with Leanne Otene.

Leanne:

Summary of Leanne's answers to some of the questions:

1. What type of advice would you give to young leaders like us? Answer: “Say yes to any new experiences coming your way, try new things, pick your career off of the things you love, enjoy what you are doing!

2. What other jobs have you had in your career?  Answer; “I have always been in school ever since I was five years old. But for after-school jobs I worked as a checkout chick until I moved up to checkout manager.”

3. What types of things do you get to do in the role of NZPF? Answer: “I get to meet new people, and represent the New Zealand Principals at international events. And tomorrow (Thursday) I get to meet the Duke of Edinburgh

4. What was it like being the first Wahine Maori president of the NZPF? Answer: “It was hard because I had done all this work to make it to where I am and the first heading the press wrote was New Zealand principals' federation elects first wahine Maori president. It's really sad that they did not acknowledge all my hard work. But eventually I learnt to look past it and I have embraced the heading.”

5. Leanne also talked about representing education in New Zealand at the World Climate Change Meeting. She will be speaking in front of Presidents and Prime Ministers from all over the globe.

We would like to acknowledge the amazing board of Lemonwood Grove who enabled us to go on this amazing adventure. We learnt so much about leadership, each other and other things. We made many memories that we will remember forever. 

Sincerely 2023’s Head Students,

Angus Winter and Molly Ford.