Principal's Message

Beginning last Friday evening with a stunning formal dine and dance for the Year 13s, followed by our final full school assembly, a few pranks and water fights along the way and then senior prizegiving to top it off – the Year 13s will be feeling very ‘farewelled’ as they leave school for exam leave after celebrating their final Mass together this morning. Seven years in one school means there have been strong friendships made, much mentoring with favourite, respected teachers, and the security and predictability of school life that they now step away from. We wish them all well – they are a fabulous group of young people.

It was a pleasure to acknowledge our Class Act, Mana Pounamu and Pacific Island Scholarship recipients in front of the whole school on Tuesday afternoon, and senior prizegiving last night was again a wonderful way to celebrate those students who have achieved academic honours this year. We are thrilled for our students who have gained approximately $300 000 worth of scholarships through universities and polytechnics this year – well done!

The chance to announce our Head Students for 2021 in front of their peers was a break with tradition but appreciated by all involved. Congratulations to Enrique Garcia (Head Boy), Tobias Devereux (Deputy Head Boy), Erika Fairweather (Head Girl) and Annabelle Ring (Deputy Head Girl) who will lead our student body next year. It was a particularly hard decision to make this year from so many high-quality applicants. With this being the case, I know that our year 13 leadership is going to be very strong next year.

This coming Tuesday is a Teacher Only Day for all Dunedin secondary schools. The Ministry of Education has asked that we spend time learning about changes to NCEA on this day that has been organised for all schools nationally. It may be a good chance for our younger students to catch their breath after junior exams this week and before year 8 and year 10 camps get underway.

As the weather gets warmer and summer holidays feel closer, some students begin to relax our uniform rules. Please encourage your children to take note of the jewellery, hair, and nail polish rules in our uniform policy. If you need to refresh your understanding of this, you can find it on our college website under School Information, Uniform Regulations.

Wishing you all a great week.