19 May 2025

Our student leaders shone this week, hosting head prefects from across Auckland. Over 100 student leaders were here for the day discussing pertinent issues, developing networks, and taking ideas back to their own schools. The entire event was organized and run by our prefect team. My thanks to Ms Garratt for facilitating the frantic hive of activity that were the days leading up, and to also to Te Whare Ahuru for the moving welcome.

I’ve had the privilege of getting round to a few sports this week. Our girl’s hockey team enjoyed themselves in a one sided victory last week. The Rugby Girls Youth 17 showed real promise in a narrow loss to Silverdale – clawing back a significant half time deficit to lead for most of the second half. It was great to see two basketball teams in action back to back on Thursday (U17 Falcons and the girls team), and Saturday morning started well with both of our junior football teams fighting back from going a goal behind (Junior 1st XI drawing 2-2 with Takapuna Grammar, and Junior Yellow beating Green Bay 4-2). Both our Second and First XVs had a tough day at the office against Rosmini. Having said that, the First XV showed spirit and had the ascendancy for large portions of the match – the signs are there. Our U15 Rugby team had a superb win over Waitakere College.

On Thursday night, we hosted our first Pasifika Komiti meeting. A number of families met in our staffroom. On the table was Pasifika success, normalizing striving for excellence, University Entrance, and unpacking NCEA. It served as a valuable forum and opened up a new line of communication as we undertake our consultation for our next strategic plan. It was wonderful to hear the voice of our community in such a productive forum. Thanks to Mrs Kanuta, Mrs Faiva, and Mrs Setchell for the work in organizing this – hopefully, the first of many regular meetings.

Assemblies this week have focused on what students need to do to access support, approach assessments in the right frame of mind, and organize their schedules to increase their chances of success. Underpinning this is the message that students should not fear failure should they experience it, rather they should learn and grow from it. Better to make a best attempt and have feedback on what you did well than to shy away from effort and not submit work.