Tēnā koutou katoa,
Today marks the last Friday of regular school for our senior students this year – and for many of them this will be their last Friday of school for the rest of their lives. Our Year 13s and some of our Year 11 and 12 students will be finishing up next Thursday as we host our annual Senior Prizegiving and graduation ahead of NCEA exams starting the following week. I’d like to acknowledge the parents of our departing seniors and congratulate them on this huge milestone for their tamariki. Naturally, we have all of our aspirations, hopes and dreams for our kids on their journey which drive us to stand by them each day, but this does not minimise the immense effort that it takes to raise a child to the brink of adulthood. This is a milestone moment for many parents, so I hope each of you also take the chance to reflect and enjoy this time as much as our departing students.
It has been an outstanding year for our senior students by every measure and I can’t speak highly enough about the commitment shown by these students in setting new benchmarks for achievement, facilitated by new highs in engagement and attendance.
A huge focus across the school this year has been breaking down the attitude that ‘just enough is good enough’ and encouraging our students to always strive to be the best that they can be. The outstanding improvements in our Merit and Excellence grades show that our students have lived up to what we knew they could achieve and are encouraging in terms of all of the doorways that knowledge and qualifications will open for our school leavers.
It has been a real treat over the past week working through interviews for our 2027 school leaders with our new prefects and head students set to be introduced next week. Our 2026 prefect team, led by our head students, Pippa Venn and Christian Kennedy, have done an outstanding job leading our school this year and are leaving some big shoes to fill. From what we have seen and heard across the interviewing process this week, the school will be in good hands with some outstanding young leaders coming through. The presentation of our 2027 leaders will be a cherry on the top of what is sure to be a memorable night celebrating all of our senior student achievements across 2026 at Prizegiving next week.
Ngā mihi mahana,
Cameron Flude
