Kia ora, ko Jamie toku ingoa, and I am the very proud head student of Te Kura Piihopatanga o Waikato this year. I am privileged to lead alongside my close friend, Petra Pratt-Rink - deputy head student - and a very strong student leadership full of diverse and motivated waahine.

We hope you have all had a lovely start to 2023; it has been wonderful to see everyone's lovely faces again!

Returning students have all settled back into school well, and we have all embraced the events and activities that have been held so far, as well as the opportunities to support outer communities where we can.

Our Vision

We are incredibly excited to be putting our vision of, Empowering Rangatahi, into play this year. This means accepting and recognising that each Dio individual has a unique skill set, characteristics, and background that make them who they are.

Through my personal goal as a leader of embracing diversity in our Kura, we will work to bring a sense of empowerment to all individuals and to create Turangawaewae (a place to stand/sense of belonging) for all.

Petra and I have chosen this vision to further develop our Kura into a place where every student feels a deep sense of connection, and belonging, and feel they are seen. We want them to feel encouraged to take Dio's opportunities and live their lives to their fullest potential. Young people and rangatahi are the future. We believe if we strive to celebrate the differences among our student body, it will promote empowerment and positive change and growth - both as a school and on an individual level (person to person).

Valentine's Day

On Tuesday, the 14 February, we started this year's events with a bang, setting the tone with an amazing Valentine’s Day celebration! The student leadership team, organised valentines activities for the students to enjoy during lunchtime to celebrate the day of love, including karaoke, a photo booth, sausage sizzle, and an amazing performance from the St Paul's Collegiate band, The Bagels. Students could also send chocolates to people from Dio and St Paul's as another act of V-Day celebration. The traditional Dio Valentine's Day shout-out video was played later in the assembly, showcasing students around New Zealand spreading the love and shouting out Dio students they knew. It was a great day; we are so happy and proud of the event.

Pancake Races

We celebrated Shrove Tuesday with our annual Pancake Races run by Lauren, Bre, Heads of Mission, and their amazing Mission Council. It was awesome to have the Year 13s racing to support their houses in their final school year, and we can say that the prefects vs teachers race were an absolute highlight… even if Mr A cheated! I’m proud to report that despite the teacher's controversial efforts to make us lose, the prefect team came out on top! Overall, the event was very enjoyable, fun, and exciting to celebrate Shrove Tuesday.

Cyclone Relief Drive

We decided to start a flood relief drive here at school to support those affected by the recent floods and devastation over Aotearoa. Over the last few weeks, students have bought canned food, sheets, sleeping bags, clothes, sanitary items, etc, to help those who need it most. It has been amazing to see the community come together over this time, to provide relief items for the many facing tough times right now, and we look to deliver these to a couple of Hastings relief centres in two weeks.

International Women’s Day

On Wednesday, the 8 March, we celebrated International Women’s Day, promoting this year's theme of #embracequity. Our Kura celebrated this day with a non-uniform day with gold coin donations going to the Waikato Women’s Refuge.

In the next few weeks, we will kick off our Easter baskets collection, Pi Day run by the Academic Council, House Spirit afternoon, and much more!

We hope you are excited about the year to come!

Ngaa mihi nui,

Jamie (and the Student Leadership Team)