A M E S S AG E F RO M T H E
Executive Principal Hope is the expectation or trust of something to happen – an aspiration and sense of optimism that sees us through the darkness. Our sense of hope has been strengthened over this first half of the year, as we continue to emerge from the restrictions and challenges of the global COVID-19 pandemic. With escalating community transmissions of the virus, it is quite remarkable how well we collectively managed throughout Term 1 and into Term 2. We have not had any campus closures, rotation of students being sent home, year-level movement to home-based learning, or stopping of most of our wider-school opportunities. This was achieved through our collective determination; we knew that having our young people here at school is best for their learning, social development, as well as their mental and physical wellbeing. We maintained all our school classes and usual timetables thanks to our pool of relief teachers as well as other teachers and staff covering classes. My sincere thanks to all our staff for how professionally and selflessly they covered for absent colleagues and ensured school operations continued smoothly. Kristin’s significantly lower number of cases and absences, compared to the rest of Auckland (and New Zealand), were down to our high vaccination rates, strong face mask compliance, enhanced ventilation measures (e.g. air purifiers), good hygiene practices, physical distancing, and the reduction of external people on campus. We were able to proceed with our summer sports offerings, with some wonderful successes including: our Kristin Yachting team placing 3rd in the New Zealand National Schools’ keelboat championships; in Tennis, we won the Auckland Secondary Schools Intermediate Girls’ doubles and placed 2nd in the Senior Boys’ doubles. There was a range of medals won in the Auckland Secondary Schools Athletics meet including Finn Burridge winning the Senior Boys’ javelin title; our boys’ 1st XI Cricket team enjoyed a first-class season with their pre-season Hawke’s Bay tournament and finished in the top of their local competition. Now we are embracing the exciting start of our winter sports season.
shifting down to ‘Orange’ settings, we moved to further opening opportunities with the planning and rehearsing of a combined Middle and Senior School production. Our exceptionally high-quality academic programmes were confirmed in March this year when we hosted the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) for our five-yearly review as an IB World School. The evaluation from our visiting IB Team has been extremely positive and affirmed the school’s self-evaluation in our areas of strength and consideration, and no matters of concern to be addressed. As we continue to navigate through these uncertain times, Kristin is a safe haven for our students. This is a place where they can come and be with trusted adults, foster critical social connections with peers, and grow and prosper within our school structures and extensive opportunities. We can continue to look forward with hope and confidence to a bright future full of possibilities.
Mark Wilson E X E C U T I V E P R I N C I PA L
Left: Foundation Day
service with Kindy students Leo Ingram and Lauren Duck.
In our Performing Arts, the sounds of music were heard across our campus in Term 1 within various groups rehearsing outside. Then with the increasing removal of restrictions, including
Left: Serving up kai from the hāngī on the Year 8 Tikanga Day. Right: With Year 5
students on the annual 'Coast to Coast Walk', from Waitematā to Manukau.
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