Tangata ako ana i

Te kāenga, te tūranga ki

Te marae, tau ana“

A person nurtured in the community contributes strongly to society”

I have been thinking about all the communities that exist in our school, across so many different areas of school life, and the importance of the connections that students have through those communities. I watched the Pajama Game this week and besides being a wonderful production, it is a pure celebration of the Arts at our kura with at least 115 of our students involved in the performative and production aspects of a big show. Think of all the interdependent relationships that develop in such a context, and the camaraderie and friendships that have formed.

Only a couple of weeks ago, we had our annual Blank Canvas exhibition with over 100 WHS students and staff exhibiting. I viewed the exhibition with a couple of classes who were there celebrating the works on display with a genuine warmth for all the artists. It was a lovely feeling that emanated from the students towards the works, and I relished the joy that this event provides for so many in our community who exhibit or view.

Earlier in the term we had our annual Shakespeare production, student led, as it has been since its inception in the early 90s. What a wonderful institution this is with over 50 cast and crew contributing to the production of the Twelfth Night. A few years ago when we celebrated the Shakespeare Society’s 30th anniversary, it was lovely to see so many from past productions turn up to feel the connection that they have to the Society and revel in the new productions and new members.

Our WERO leaders have been busy this term organising a range of activities to foster community spirit. Firstly, the annual Relay for Life fundraising involved around 60 of our students who managed to raise a really impressive $10,000 for the Cancer Society. Then there was a Wellington City Mission food drive organised along ‘house’ lines with over 600 food items contributed. Next, but possibly not in that order, was Harold the Giraffe, an act of kindness competition which became a junior inter-herengatahi competition with students completing acts of kindness and teachers signing off on the students’ ‘bingo’ style cards which were then entered into a draw for a $50 canteen voucher. The winner of the voucher was a year 9 student and in a lovely, further act of kindness, they spent their voucher in two lunchtimes buying fries for their friends. A bake sale associated with the ‘Harold’ competition raised $200 for the Life Education trust.

This week our senior girls’ football team, who are currently experiencing great success in the top tier competition in Wellington (I hope I haven’t put the mockers on now!) decided to run a mini world cup competition with 8 ‘countries’ populated by WHS students competing in short futsal style 10 minute games. Of course the winner was decided in a very tense penalty shoot out. I must admit I’m not sure who won but what was palpable, was the warmth and joy on the field at lunchtime on Wednesday bringing great crowds, great excitement and great fun to our lunchtime, and it also raised some money for the girls who will go to tournament in term 3.

I managed to get to see our senior underwater hockey teams playing(?) / swimming, perhaps competing, this week. This can be a challenging sport to watch because you can’t really see all that much, but I love the real community sense that exists amongst all the underwater hockey players who all seem to befriend each other and spend time with each other across school lines. That community is helped by it all happening in one place (Wellington Regional Aquatic Centre in Kilbirnie) in short 20 minute ‘games’ so everyone eventually gets to know each other. It is a genuine community and I thank our Science teacher, Murray Chisholm, who chalked up 20 years of service at High this week, for his continued support of our students who compete in this sport.

Our students are also competing in badminton, basketball, football, hockey, netball, and ultimate frisbee this term and next, with over 600 students involved across 58 teams. There are so many positive benefits to playing in team sports and hopefully all of our students can find a level where they feel comfortable and can really enjoy themselves, and the people around them.

I could also mention our concert band who competed in Cambridge recently, or our jazz bands who competed at the Manawatu jazz festival earlier this term, the main point here being the increasing numbers of musicians who are getting involved in these opportunities. And there have been drama productions, Rockquest competitions and regional finals, Japanese trivia competitions, Readers Cup competitions, swimming championships, cross country championships, weekend tramps, staff v students multisport (with a packed gym audience of students) and the list goes on. It’s not about the success in these competitions, and there has been plenty of that, but it is about the relationships that our students form, the joy they experience together with and because of each other, and how that shapes them as a human being.

The final, possibly best example of this was the ‘Family Feud’ lunchtime staff v students game a few weeks back. It seems ironic to mention community and cite an example named ‘Family Feud’. The very talented Alex Brook Conway (year 13) was the magician who put it all together pitting five staff against five students in a fun, funny contest hosted by one of our relieving staff members, ‘Officer’ Karen O’Leary. The students won, and on reflection, perhaps we were generous in our selection of staff for this event, certainly based on some of the answers they gave, but the best part was the 600 or so students who spent their lunch in the hall laughing and enjoying the atmosphere with their friends and a good portion of the rest of the school.

I hope you are able to spend some valuable time with your young person over the break and we look forward to seeing them refreshed and ready for term 3.

Dominic Killalea

Principal