Kia ora Parents and Caregivers

One of the key messages we are always sharing with students is the importance of being involved in some part of college life. Playing a sport, participating in House events, being involved in a cultural activity, joining a group or club – they all encourage our students to connect with others outside the classroom and become more engaged with college life. I’d like to share a few of the events that have been part of our college life in the last few weeks.

Our Year 10 and 11 student leaders recently organised a hugely successful UHC Bandanna Day(s). Students and staff sported the bandannas (that were mostly red and green!), the food trucks on the last day did a roaring trade, and over $1,000 was raised for CanTeen. It was a great effort to get so many people involved.

Last week, I took a large group of students down to the Upper Hutt City Council, to be part of the consultation process on the Council’s 10 year Long Term Plan. Our students represented the views of young people with passion, thoughtfulness and eloquence to the Mayor and Councillors. They made worthwhile points around sustainability, use of facilities and the need for education on recycling that certainly made the adults listen closely.

On a different note, nearly 30 students from Year 10 – 13 recently completed training to become Student Mediators, working in teams with our Lead Counsellor Sue Mortimer. Student Mediation is about students helping students to sort out a problem between them. It's a restorative, no-blame approach which allows students to maintain their mana / dignity. Teams have already started working with students, and we are confident that this alternative way of sorting issues will prove popular and successful.

Our Multicultural Group had the honour of being invited to be part of the Powhiri to welcome His Honour Judge Michael Mika, an old boy of UHC, to the Hutt Valley District Court this week. They represented the college with pride as they gave a heartfelt and polished performance in front of a large number of dignitaries and members of the Samoan community.

Finally, it was great to welcome Dayna Taramai, former Head Girl (2011), as guest speaker at our recent Academic Assembly. This is one of the only times where the full school gathers, and her messages about life journeys, discovering who we are, and the importance of the people around us resonated with the students, staff and parents/caregivers present. Watching the very long line of students who had gained NCEA Level 1 or 2 in 2020 with a Merit or Excellence endorsement enter the Sports Centre, is one of my favourite moments of the whole year. I’m sure that seeing so many different students recognised for their academic achievement would have been surprising to some, and an incentive and challenge to others. That’s why we do it. It also gives me the opportunity to share our finalised academic successes again – 85% gaining NCEA Level 1, 91% gaining NCEA Level 2 and 74% gaining NCEA Level 3. How good are those results? Compared with other co-ed schools – we are well above the national average pass rates for all NCEA Levels. In the Wellington region, we are in the top 3 co-ed schools, and locally, only HIBS had better results than us at the 3 levels.

It’s been a great month at UHC – productive, energetic and positive. We look forward to the holiday break, and the chance to rest, refresh, and ready ourselves for the winter term.

Judith Taylor

Principal