Tēnā koutou, Malo e lelei, Tālofa lava, Bula vinaka, Good afternoon.

The past few weeks have seen us once again at the mercy of Covid-19 and this has provided us with both challenge and opportunity. Level 2 restrictions have meant the postponement of our Academic Excellence assembly twice and many of our students have had to face the disappointment of sports and curriculum trips being postponed or cancelled. However, just as we have experienced challenges, Level 2 has also provided us with opportunity.

We have had the opportunity to practice gratitude; to be thankful that our school is open for instruction and our young women are able to be onsite, in class learning and having breaks with their friends. For us, life has been seemingly normal compared to a few 100kms away in Auckland where they have experienced Level 3 once again.

We have also been given the opportunity to learn and grow from the challenges that we have faced. At assembly last week I told the story of a boy who found a cocoon of a butterfly, which he kept safely in a small cotton-wool lined box. One day the boy noticed a small gap had appeared in the cocoon. He watched as the butterfly struggled, for several hours, to force its body through that little gap, until it suddenly stopped making any progress, and looked like it was stuck. So the boy decided to help the butterfly. He took a penknife and cut the cocoon. The butterfly emerged easily, but its body was weak and feeble, and the wings were barely moving. The boy continued to watch the butterfly, thinking that now its wings would spread and it would fly. However, that did not happen. It was unable to fly because despite the kind heart of the boy, he didn’t understand that the restricting cocoon and the struggle needed by the butterfly to get itself through the small opening was necessary for the butterfly, so that the life-giving fluid would move from the body to the butterfly’s wings and that the butterfly could fly. Life forced the butterfly to make leaving its shell difficult, so that it would become stronger and would be able to grow and develop.

What is the moral of this story? It is our struggles in life that develop our strengths. The Covid level changes over the past few weeks are a timely reminder for our young women that without challenges - including disappointment - they may never grow or get stronger than they already are. Like the butterfly who didn’t have to work hard to get out of it’s cocoon, if our young women don’t face challenges, they may never learn to spread their wings and fly.

Elizabeth Koni

Principal