Principal's Message

Kia ora koutou

Supporting New Zealand’s COVID-19 response

We are getting close to the end of the school year, and what a year it has been. COVID-19 has put a lot of pressure on our community but together, we have risen to the challenge.

I want to thank you once more, for all you have done to keep yourselves, your whānau and our community as safe as possible. Through reinforcing good hand hygiene, cough and sneeze etiquette, staying away if sick and seeking medical advice, we have kept operating safely, and our tamariki and rangatahi have, importantly, continued to learn.

I also extend a specific thank you to all those in our community who have worked in health services and on the frontline to support New Zealand’s defence against COVID-19. They and their families and whānau have sacrificed so much to contribute to our own safety and to support the return home for more than 70,000 New Zealanders.

You may not be aware of the extent of the work our frontline community do to keep us all safe including regularly being tested, constantly monitoring for symptoms, keeping a close track of their movements, maintaining physical distancing and holding off hugging loved ones when they get home until they have had a shower and changed clothes.

COVID-19 remains a tricky virus and on the very rare occasion a frontline worker has become infected, the system has kicked into place. Through this vigilance and the health system response, we get to enjoy the relative freedom of Alert Level 1.

I am sure you will join me in giving a special thank you to those individuals for all they have done for us.

Free Measles, Mumps and Rubella Vaccine

I feel like I am a tad focused on viruses, so my apologies for that. These last two years have highlighted the need to ensure our whānau and communities are safe from infectious diseases. Measles is about eight times more contagious than COVID-19, and last year’s outbreak is a reminder of just how quickly it can spread among unimmunised people. While we cannot vaccinate against COVID-19 yet, we can protect against other infectious diseases like measles by being immunised.

Teenagers and young adults aged 15-30 are at greater risk of catching and spreading measles, as they are less likely to have been immunised as children.

District health boards (DHB) are leading a campaign targeting this age group for their free Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine. Students aged 16 or over can give consent themselves.

Leaders 2021

It seems a lifetime ago that this year 12 group applied for and addressed the school about their capacity to lead the school next year.

I draw particular attention to the fact that each is aware that they could get a role but that there is also a chance that they will not.

When the candidates addressed the school, each spoke to their qualities and skills as a potential leader. The majority acknowledged that those who had applied would be worthy and that if they did not secure a role then they would support those who did. Not one of them gave the impression nor stated ‘If I am not selected as a leader, I will toss my toys’. Of course, nobody enters a race to lose. In an interview you are unlikely to hear this:

Interviewer: So how do you think you will go in the 200m sprint. What are you hoping for?

Runner: Well I am really hoping to come 6th.

The more likely and perhaps what I have come to expect of our girls:

Interviewer: So how do you think you will go in the 200m sprint. What are you hoping for?

Runner: Of course, I would like to be in the top placings, but we have all worked hard for this. Getting this far has been an achievement, so when the race comes, I am wanting to do my best time.

The potential leaders will be interviewed and then they will be told if they have secured a role and what that role will be. Some will miss out.

Despite them saying they will support their peers, those who miss out will be gutted. You as parents and friends will rally and the school will support them. This moment in time is not a defining moment it is a refining moment.

I thank every year 12 who has made themselves available for consideration for leadership.

Ngā mihi

Kiri

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