Evergreen Ties 2023

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We invite your daughter to join us at our After School Care Programme designed to offer a vibrant, rich and caring environment for the convenience of our Junior School families.

For more information email clubevergreen@stcuthberts.school.nz

After School Care Programme

PARENTS

EDITOR

Suzanne Joyce

Ella James

Louise May

Sarah Talaic

Judy Watt

Sarah Davies If

Design: Janice O’Kane

Harriet Booth

Featured Stories

Contents

04 — From the Desk of Justine Mahon

06 — Meet your Trust Board

10 — Exciting changes to our Year 11 Programme from 2024

12 — Turning big ideas into reality

16 — Our Apple School comes to life

18 — Full of Grace

20 — Leading the way

22 — Strong foundations to Make Girls Amazing

24 — Gifting Amazing Fund

28 — New Parents and Friends Chair

30 — Connecting our Comunity

30 — Welcoming our new families

32 — Our Annual Principal’s Party

33 — Celebrating Chinese NewYear

34 — P&F Junior School Picnic

36 — Our new Junior School Playground

38 — Supporting unique and developing minds

40 — Students awarded Prime Minister’s Athlete Scholarships

41 — Four St Cuthbert’s Students Gain Entry to Oxbridge

42 — The rise of the Duke of Edinburgh Award

44 — Big Hearts in the Service Committee

46 — Celebrating our House Spirit

48 — Po Fiafia

55 — Making Connections

56 — Shakespeare Success Story

58 — Spotlight on Year 7 Camp

61 — Her Mind, Body, and Spirit

62 — Supergenerous

64 — Old Girls’ Association

P12 — Turning big digital ideas into reality

P64 — Old Girls’ Association

P42 — The rise of the Duke of Edinburgh Award

P20 — Leading the way

P10 — Exciting changes to our Year 11 Programme from 2024

From the Desk of Justine Mahon

The floods at the beginning of the year were yet another reminder of the unpredictability of mother nature, and took us by surprise with their intensity, and the devastation they caused, not just in Auckland, but in other regions around the country.

Several of our staff were impacted personally by the floods, some with significant damage to their homes. I was reminded about the importance of a strong community as we came together to both support those who were unable to return to their homes immediately, and to organise temporary classrooms to ensure our College could reopen for the academic year, with only a minor delay.

I would like to especially thank our property staff who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes, to repair and refurbish the impacted areas. The team behind the reconstruction worked incredibly hard, often outside of school hours, so disruption to the students was minimised. It was well worth the wait, our Junior School has a beautiful new reception area, and many completely renovated classrooms. Several areas of our Senior School were also impacted, and most classrooms and work areas will now be back up and running by the end of the term. I was so impressed with the resilience and positivity of both our staff and students, during yet another challenge to normality!

Last month we were delighted to announce the important change we are making to our Year 11 programme. The introduction of our own bespoke Year 11 St Cuthbert’s Diploma programme to replace the radically modified NZQA changes, to the Level 1 curriculum for 2024, will deliver a world class, conceptually coherent curriculum for our students, ensuring they are well prepared to be successful during their final secondary school years, and for future study. This new qualification is comprehensive as it also includes mandatory attendance, co- curricular and service components.

As we move beyond the pandemic, there is a real sense of momentum at the College, and our new Junior School playground will be ready later in the year – the girls and our staff are really looking forward to seeing this project come to life. Thanks are due once again, to the generosity of our Parents and Friends’ Association for supporting the College, with this exciting new development.

Teaching for the Future is another of the core principles, in delivering our vision, “Making Girls Amazing”. With the generous support of our Parents and Friends Association, and a significant investment from the College, we announced earlier this year that we are scaling up our current digital offering, so more students across the College can access a wider range of digital tools. We have, therefore, created dedicated digital innovation labs, with different innovation zones to encourage greater collaboration, connectivity, and experimentation. This initiative has involved

creating a series of dedicated labs in the Senior School technology area, transforming current classrooms and breakout spaces, and investing in more tools and equipment on a large scale. The possibilities are endless when we contemplate where we can go as a College, with our curriculum in this key area.

At the Annual Principal’s Party held in Term One, Trust Board Chair, Leigh Melville, officially launched the new annual giving programme, “Gifting Amazing.” Over $60,000 was raised on the night and we are delighted to report that the $250,000 target has now been reached, enabling us to fund five key initiatives that will enhance students’ learning and lives. 10% of all monetary gifts raised through the Gifting Amazing Annual Fund, will be donated to our charity partner for 2023 – Communities Feeding Communities. This charity provides food security to those in need, with a longterm focus, including learning how to grow food. Thank you to our community for coming together to support this great initiative – it is truly appreciated and will make such a difference.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome parent and Old Girl, Harriet Booth, to her new role as Chair of our Parents and Friends’ Association. Already this year, our wonderful committee has held a number of successful events. After nearly three years of disruption, it has been so special to connect with College families in person. Our Junior School Picnic was a wonderful evening spent reconnecting with friends and enjoying a sausage sizzle, candy floss, face painting, hair braiding and lots of other treats. We’ve also held a special Dads’ dinner, and have some lovely events planned for our Mums to connect as well!

Thank you also to our Asian Friendship Group, led by Nancy Zhang, and our Old Girls’ Association , President Kirsten Mackenzie, for everything they do for the College. Our connected community is part of our special offering for our students and our parents, and we are deeply appreciative of the hard work and dedication to the College from our volunteers.

On a personal note, you will be aware that I have made the decision to retire as Principal of St Cuthbert’s College, in February 2024. I am excited about the future, and am looking forward to exploring new opportunities in education after nearly five decades full time, in teaching and leadership roles across the tertiary, secondary and primary sectors. I will also enjoy spending more time with my wonderful husband Gregory. However, as an Old Girl, and mother of an Old Girl, I will always be connected to this special community, and I will continue to support the College in any way I can, going forward.

Take care, and I look forward to catching up with as many of you as possible in the months ahead.

With warmest regards.

Ms Justine Mahon — Principal

After a disruptive start to the year, due to the flooding in several areas of the campus, I am delighted to report that as this magazine finds its way to your letterboxes, most of our impacted classrooms and other areas are up and running again.

When I reflect on this past six months, I can’t quite believe what a roller coaster it has been. I never could have imagined that coming out of (hopefully the worst of the pandemic), we would be struck by such a massive weather event, which was then followed by a cyclone.

The College suffered significant damage to many areas with the impact of these events, and I was just so impressed by the resilience of our staff, parents and students. Many of our staff and families were impacted personally, and, in some cases, had significant damage to their homes. I was struck, once again, by our strong sense of community and dedication to our students, with everyone pulling together to get the College ready for our campus to open. Our staff really didn’t miss a beat, with several classes and support staff departments relocated into temporary locations while repairs, and in some cases, completely new fit outs, were carried out.

I joined our Principal, Justine Mahon, for the first day of Term 1, to welcome everyone back to the campus, and to especially welcome our new students and their families with the annual morning tea in the Atrium. It was lovely to see the beautiful new cafeteria, and dedicated coffee cart, and to experience the sense of vibrancy and

Message from our Trust Board Chair,

Leigh Melville

positivity that we all felt as we entered a new academic year, away from the restrictions caused by the pandemic, despite the impact of the floods.

I would like to congratulate our class of 2022 on their exceptional academic achievements; this cohort went through three years of disrupted learning, with lockdowns, and sickness impacting on their attendance and face to face learning opportunities. Their results were simply outstanding, and we are deeply appreciative of all that our staff did to support the girls through online learning, and pastoral support, to ensure they achieved their very best.

It has been fantastic to gather together as a community this year, with events such as the Principals’ Party. It was exciting to launch our new annual giving programme, Gifting Amazing, at that event, welcoming in a new era of fundraising. Our College is 108 years old, and was founded on philanthropy, and moving forward, we are keen to ensure that we continue to enhance our students education and lives through our ethos of giving time, treasure and talent, as volunteers. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the College this year, your support is much appreciated and enables us to provide such a wonderful

environment for our girls.

Strategically, as part of our focus on one of our core principles, Teaching for the Future, we have made a significant investment into the creation of dedicated digital co-labs. Ensuring our students are equipped to be ‘creators’ and innovative critical thinkers, is a key part of this strategy and we are very grateful to our Parents & Friends’ Association, for their generosity in supporting this initiative. We are looking forward to building on our offering in this area moving forward.

Our recent announcement about the move to a Year 11 St Cuthbert’s Diploma, to replace NCEA Level 1, is also a key part of our approach to ensuring we continue to deliver the very best education for our students. There is a real sense of momentum at the College, as we face our future with confidence.

I would like to thank our Principal Justine Mahon for all she does to support the College, and to my fellow Trust Board colleagues; the time you dedicate, and the talent and expertise you bring to our governance are deeply appreciated.

With warmest regards

Leigh Melville Chair, St Cuthbert’s College Trust Board

MEET YOUR TRUST BOARD:

Adarsh Patel

Adarsh Patel has been a successful business owner and property developer for over 18 years and is relishing the opportunity to try something a little different, to assist us as a member of the Trust Board.

Adarsh Patel is no stranger to business challenges, such as conquering market volatility or facing the GFC head-on. Yet he jokes that his biggest hurdle right now is not embarrassing his two girls.

It turns out that his daughters, currently in Years 9 and 11, are a little embarrassed about having a dad in the school spotlight, as he recently joined the governance team. “To make matters worse, my cell phone went off in a formal prize giving recently, which is usually something I’m vigilant about! But that added to the girl’s embarrassment of their dad!” he jokes.

We are sure he will make them proud as one of the newest members of the Trust Board, as he is a great fit to help guide us into our collective future.

Business in the blood

Adarsh has led a successful property finance firm, ASAP Finance, with his brother, for nearly two decades. His father was also in the property business.

Their iconic company now funds over 850 dwellings and other commercial developments across New Zealand annually.

Adarsh also has a genuine passion for hands-on property development, which forms a small but important arm of the business.

“We’ve done niche, terraced town houses, apartments and then large master planned community developments. A little bit of everything – which makes it interesting!” he says.

Adarsh also believes that on-the-ground experience of developing property gives him invaluable insights for his client base. Their development advisory services are a key part of their property finance solution.

“The best way to learn and know how to fund development properties is to do it ourselves. The real-world insights are invaluable for us as lenders and in our ability to assist clients with developments. It also offers a great balance for us, outside of our core business,” says Adarsh.

Recently, the property sector has been under increased pressure with issues like supply chain constraints, inflation, and labour shortages. But Adarsh has witnessed plenty of market twists and turns over the years and believes the business is equipped with the tools and knowledge, to tackle cyclical downturns.

“We were a very young business at the onset of the GFC, and it was remarkable to be at the coal face for that. We have seen a few economic cycles now and to be frank, current market challenges haven’t caused much of an issue for us. The funding arm of our business is in good shape” says Adarsh.

Along with other Trustees with skills in this sector, he hopes his experience can contribute to the Campus Master Plan. “The Board is looking to share the plan with the College community later this year and bringing it to life will be a great step for the future of St Cuthbert’s. In due course, I hope I can assist with this.”

A community focus

Joining any Board can be a big commitment for busy businesspeople and parents, but Adarsh didn’t hesitate to jump into this role.

“The motivation for me was to give back. In my professional career I have always felt it’s important to be community-minded and contribute in whichever way I can.”

Along with other Trust Board members, we are certainly appreciative of his commitment, and it seems that the first couple of months in the new seat have been enjoyable.

“I must say, so far so good. The members have been extremely welcoming, and I’m nothing short of impressed by the breadth of expertise across the table.”

Of course, Adarsh can’t disclose too many details of what goes on in a typical School Board meeting, but he says it’s run just as professionally as any commercial Board.

“We discuss the same governance matters as any other commercial entity… ultimately with a view to act in the best interest of our students. Everyone has a voice and has a lot to offer. Today’s students and future students are in good hands, I believe.”

The St Cuthbert’s point of difference

We asked Adarsh what initially motivated him to choose St Cuthbert’s for his girls.

“My wife and I were initially looking at our local primary school, but my brother influenced me to look at private schools. We did some ‘market research’ shall we say, chatting to Old Girls and visiting a couple of other private Schools, and we were impressed with the passion of students and staff at St Cuthberts. It also offered the cultural diversity that we were looking for in a school.”

The single-sex factor also contributed to the family’s decision.

“Having done research and seen the stats, we felt an ‘all girls’ approach might be better. And it has turned out to be a great decision. The girls love it which is the most important thing.” Then he adds apologetically, “Although … they may cringe at this article on their dad!”

We welcome Adarsh to the Boardroom team.

MEET YOUR TRUST BOARD:

Angela Bull

As part of a series to get to know our talented Board Members a little more, we sat down with Angela Bull to chat about business, the Board, and … boys!

We’re lucky enough to have one of the most successful women in New Zealand property as a St Cuthbert’s Board Member. Not only has Angela Bull had an illustrious legal and corporate career, but she is also an active leader on several New Zealand round tables.

She lights up the most when talking about her two young sons – who keep her busy on the sports field.

Business

Angela’s LinkedIn work history is filled with commercial roles that tell a story of ambition and leadership, but also an openness to change. “I think being open to taking a chance, and always loving what you’re doing, are the key to it all.”

Her positivity is palpable and it’s clear she has always made an impression in each role she has held.

As a law graduate from Auckland University, Angela worked as a property law specialist – focusing on environmental law, across complex commercial property development cases.

Her mum often reminds people that Angela’s dream at school was to become a criminal lawyer, which she dabbled in early on. She jokes that she was heavily influenced by eighties court dramas. But the property space turned out to be her calling, and she spent ten years practising in this area of law instead. Angela attributes much of her later

“Having done research and seen the stats, we felt an ‘all girls’ approach might be better. And it has turned out to be a great decision. The girls love it which is the most important thing.”

corporate business success to her law experience, “I think the ability to mitigate risk and solve problems is an obvious learning – but there were many building blocks I’ve carried with me.”

This skill set was acknowledged in 2006, when Foodstuffs offered her a role in the property development area of their company. It was a dramatic turning point for Angela, but one that has paid off in droves, “I’m so glad I took the leap of faith,” she says.

Soon after, Angela was heading up a team delivering a $150 million-a-year programme to refurbish and expand supermarkets across the upper North Island.

In an interview to the NZ Herald, she reflected on one of her first Foodstuffs roles, to deliver a large North Shore supermarket that had been delayed by many issues.

“It was still an empty building, all wrapped up in the courts, and it was getting ugly. So we went for a new resource consent, publicly notified instead. We knew it had community support because people would phone in and ask about it. It opened two years later. That was one of the biggest highlights of my career because it was looking at a complex problem as a puzzle and solving it,” she told the Herald.

Before long, Angela was a General Manager, making multimillion dollar

planning decisions about property and supermarkets across the North Island.

Angela has most recently been the Chief Executive of Tramco Group, a large New Zealand owned property investment company which specialises in largescale land holdings, including the Viaduct Harbour precinct in Auckland, and Wairakei Estate in the Waikato.

We asked what advice she would give budding female leaders, and she was quick off the mark, “Be confident, but not arrogant. Be self-aware and know your strengths and weaknesses. Always respect other people’s opinions. And at the end of the day, just love what you do!”

Boards

Angela has her fingers in many pies from a business perspective, as an independent director across New Zealand companies including Foodstuffs South Island Ltd, Vital Healthcare Property Trust, Property for Industry (PFI) and realestate.co.nz

When Angela was first approached to apply for the St Cuthbert’s Board, she was initially unsure, only because she didn’t have children at the school.

“I have two boys and was one of the only Board members who didn’t have girls there. But I now realise this offers a different angle”

A passionate Old Girl, Angela attended St Cuthbert’s from Year 7–13. She has relished the opportunity to be involved in governance and to offer her expertise to the community that she believes nurtured her and instilled a sense of loyalty.

“In a way, it’s a sense of duty,” she explains, “I got so much from my time at St Cuth’s. Not just in terms of education, but the way it shaped my worldview, my selfconfidence, and it gave me a wonderful network of lifelong friends. This is a way to give back.”

When it comes to governance, she really enjoys shaping strategy. “I think about risks – but I love flipping these into opportunities”. She also values a collaborative team who each bring different skills to the table.

Helping to develop the Campus Plan strategy also appealed, “Part of a Board’s function is to look beyond the immediate needs of the College and consider the long term. This plan is about futureproofing the College for generations - it’s exciting to be part of that.”

Bowling, batting and boys

With two busy boys, Angela acknowledges that having young children and balancing demanding leadership roles is a challenge at times. “Like many mums and dads, you want to be the best parent you can be - but also feel like you’re doing a good job at work. It’s a fine balance! But everyone is different, and you do what’s right for your family. There are no rules.”

Like many Kiwi parents, weekends are spent watching and supporting Nathan and Wilson, aged 11 and 8 respectively, from the sidelines at sports games. For Angela, going from field-to-field isn’t a chore, as she and her husband love going outdoors to watch their boys, at anything from football to swimming. “Although at the moment, it’s all about cricket” she said.

To get a well-deserved break, Angela manages to play netball – which she describes as just a bit of fun.

Angela poignantly reflects, “St Cuthbert’s taught me that girls can do anythingwhich back then was a bold statement, but I just believed it.” She loves that this message is still the same, “Instilling that confidence in women is just as essential as ever.”

We are honoured to have someone with her experience, insight, enthusiasm and knowledge on our Trust Board!

Exciting Changes to our Year 11 Programme from 2024

St Cuthbert’s is announcing an important change to the Year 11 programme from the start of 2024 – the introduction of our own Year 11 St Cuthbert’s Diploma.

By creating our own in-house Year 11 Diploma programme, St Cuthbert’s will deliver a world class comprehensive curriculum which is intellectually rigorous, well-rounded and more challenging than what is being implemented by NZQA next year. With its deep conceptual focus, the new St Cuthbert’s Diploma will better equip our students for higher learning, both in Year 12 and 13, and also for their future study.

The St Cuthbert’s Year 11 Diploma will replace the change to NCEA Level 1 being introduced by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority for the 2024 academic year.

Over the past 18 months, several of our senior academic staff have taken part in Government advisory panels discussing NZQA’s proposed changes to NCEA, and have become increasingly concerned at what was being proposed.

NZQA has now confirmed its changes to NCEA Level 1 for 2024, and we do not believe that these changes will provide sufficient, in-depth learning for our students, and will leave them under-prepared, and at worst completely unprepared, for the current Levels 2 and 3 of NCEA, the International Baccalaureate Diploma, and NZQA Scholarship.

Our internal NCEA team of senior subject specialists, has thoroughly researched alternative overseas Year 11 qualifications, and has also examined the various programmes being introduced at other New Zealand secondary schools.

Working closely with our Heads of Faculties and Senior School leaders, our NCEA review team has developed a bespoke, rigorous, and future-focused Year 11 St Cuthbert’s Diploma, to replace NCEA Level 1 from 2024. These changes do not impact our 2023 Level 1 students who are well prepared for higher learning within the current programme.

This change is part of our strategic focus on ensuring we teach for the future, and is an exciting step change in our academic offering, and one which we know will support our students to achieve their potential.

Turning big digital ideas into reality

A team of engineers at Columbia University in New York recently used a 3D printer to make an edible cheesecake using food 'ink' as part of printed food project.

Jonathan Blutinger, an engineer at the University's Creative Machines Lab, told the BBC, "We can print chicken, beef, vegetables and cheese. Anything that can be turned into a paste, liquid or powder. The vision is to have a food printer mixed with a laser cooker that can be a one-stop-shop sort of kitchen appliance. It's your own personal digital chef."

To some of us, this entire concept may seem like the premise of a Michael J Fox film, but it turns out the future is very much here.

We are thrilled that we now have the means to empower our girls across technological frontiers, so they can become creators, makers, problem solvers, and entrepreneurs, or, perhaps even chefs!

Our unique Digital Co-Labs programme in flight

Sam Langatuki heads up a faculty that, on paper, works towards delivering and teaching competency using the latest digital tools, software and technologies. However, when you walk through our Technology spaces and see the machinery our girls are interacting with daily, you soon realise that Technology is more aspirational in nature, where design, inspiration, invention and problem solving all unfold before your eyes.

Many parents will have heard about

our new cutting-edge Digital Co-Labs spaces, or, perhaps even seen some of the equipment in the flesh. These unique spaces and supporting programmes aim to make industry-standard digital tools accessible to our girls, as never before, and to create dedicated digital ‘labs’, with different zones to encourage greater collaboration and experimentation.

“I refer to it as an area for ‘Digital Makers’,” says Sam. “A hub that provide stimulus, support, skills, materials and advanced technology to nurture the inventive and innovative spirit of our students.”

The initiative comes after a significant monetary investment from the College, and the generous support of our Parents & Friends’ Association. “The incredible investment meant new tools could be purchased, to support the Junior School STRETCH Programme, and the Technology curriculum from Years 7-13," says Sam.

Our Senior School technology area has since been transformed, where classrooms and breakout spaces have been reimagined, and more tools and

equipment await students, such as 3D printers, robotics and coding machines. It’s laid out as a series of dedicated labs called CoLab spaces – each with a different aim. The zones within the Digital Innovation Lab include: a fabLAB (digital printing and fabrication); roboticsLAB (applying computational thinking to test and show digital capability); and a digitalSTUDIO (supporting our students to become creators and to develop digital outcomes). Since the upgraded initiative started earlier this year, (after a delay due to the Auckland Floods), Sam has seen the benefits unfold already.

"It’s expanding learning beyond the traditional classroom, creating an immersive experience across digital design platforms, and extending use of hardware and software,” explains Sam. She also sees the girls learning to “fail fast” – where student understanding and development thrives in rapidly testing ideas through coding, digital prototyping, surface designs, building worlds, 3D models and AR/VR.

“It’s expanding learning beyond the traditional classroom, creating an immersive experience across digital design platforms, and extending use of hardware and software,” explains Sam.

Head of Technology, Sam Langatuki, talks about our ground-breaking Digital Innovation Labs, where more students than ever can access a wide range of digital tools ... and maybe one day, cheesecake. Let us explain...

“Empowerment in digital use and design comes when we are curious, competent and connected. So just getting on these tools and trying out each space, is a great starting point for our active learners,” she says.

FabLABs – a design revolution

The MIT FabLab concept is the most wellknown example of a ‘digital maker space’. Back in 2001, at the famous tech Mecca, MIT, Professor Neil Gershenfeld, founded the ‘Centre for Bits and Atoms’ (CBA) that explored the boundary between computer science and physical science.

CBA was all about how to turn data into things, and things into data. His popular class 'How to Make (Almost) Anything' was a laboratory full of machinery, tasked with allowing students to do exactly that.

Since then, the concept of FabLabs has grown globally, and spurred a ‘design revolution’, creating a wealth of invention and enabling students or designers to conceive and construct designs that would be very difficult to develop using traditional methods.

In our very own FabLAB, we have extended physical and digital modelling experiences with a range of additional printers, including

those for textiles, and fabric creation, casting of product/ character design for use in animation, and some class sets of 3D printed class prototypes.

“This investment supports skills in surface design, such as wallpapers, carpets and fabrics, and means we can print at a large scale, in-house," says Sam. “Most schools would need to outsource the actual printing of the work, reducing the learning opportunities.”

digitalSTUDIO

Our digital studio lab introduces girls to vinyl cutting, 3D scanners, resin 3D printers and CAD applications, digital animation and editing hardware and software.

A recent example is where girls could make a digital twin in a Kahunui metaverse, so that parents will be able to experience their child’s journey digitally.

0n roboticsLAB

In our roboticsLAB, students apply computational thinking to test and show their digital capability.

The investment will include more class sets of key tools supporting our students to learn programming, logic sequencing, and computer science principles. We will

expand our current VEX Kits for competitions, enabling us to expand the number of students who can compete.

The increased investment will support more Junior School students to compete in the Robocup, and we will be also investing in more of the specific tools that encourage entrepreneurship, and are key for teaching prototyping, and pitching ideas (across both schools).

Teaching for the future

Stakeholders across St Cuthbert’s understand that investing in technology will open pathways that deliver on our Strategic Vision.

As Sam points out, “It helps us to move beyond the traditional delivery of technology courses and instead contribute to our mission to “Make Girls Amazing.”

Sam believes that to be ‘Amazing’ girls will benefit from being informed digital storytellers. “They will be the author of their own digital story through the digital tools and platforms that give greater perspective to their outcomes, either digital or informed by digital manipulation and play.”

Being able to connect to industry standard machines and programmes will see our girls seeing, feeling and interacting in the third and fourth dimensions which digital worlds and thinking demand.

“The creative industries of today and the future require the shift from construction sensibility to more sensory and user informed experience – the ability to craft story. Informing and extending this kind of design thinking requires

“I refer to it as an area for ‘Digital Makers’,” says Sam. “A hub that provide stimulus, support, skills, materials and advanced technology to nurture the inventive and innovative spirit of our students.”

the culture and resources that the Labs offer” emphasises Sam.

Sam gives an example of students being able to capture spatial environments in DVC that go beyond the page, of hand drawings and renderings, to scaled digital modelling and fully immersive digital designs – all rather mind blowing for many of us! However, Sam has seen the technology evolve over her years as an educator, and in fact, as a practising architect before her teaching career.

“Throughout my years teaching and as an architect, I have loved working with the latest tools, and engaging in collaborative and integrated design,” says Sam. “As a teacher, I’ve honed my passion for exploring how spaces support studentled design. Creating and connecting meaningful experiences to assure all students can engage and progress, is at the forefront of my practice.”

Since her arrival at St Cuthbert’s in 2022, Sam believes that it’s the people and culture that stand out for her, as well as the wider vision to Make Girls Amazing. “I see ‘Amazing’ as a call to action. This call has been central to our work in forging the Digital Innovation Lab.”

Women in STEM

The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields are some of the most progressive, innovative and valuable areas of study. However, since the 18th century, these fields have remained predominantly male. Even though we’ve seen some progress, women in STEM are still highly underrepresented across the world. According to the United Nations, women only make up 28% of the current STEM workforce. At university level in New Zealand, men outnumber women in most STEM fields.

The positive impact of digital design and fabrication techniques on STEM and design are already far reaching in areas such as architecture, engineering, industrial/product design and animation. That’s why it’s been exciting for us to see many St Cuthbert’s graduates who have broken the glass ceiling in the STEM and design fields.

In the near future, given programmes like ours, the long-awaited shift change will be just around the corner and if you’re lucky, a delicious 3D printed cheesecake!

Our Apple School comes to life

School

Teacher,

Victoria Mauala, is one of our fantastic Junior School teachers, and a qualified Apple Teacher. She’s currently completing her Apple Coaching accreditation and is passionate about the learning programme. She is accompanied by her Junior School colleague and fellow Old Girl, Bella Ali.

We sat down with them to talk about the Apple School Learning programme, and the benefits for both students and teachers alike.

Thirty years in the making

‘Apple School’ may conjure up images of teachers wearing black turtleneck sweaters and slick headset microphones, with the latest Apple devices in-hand. In reality, this globally acclaimed accreditation provides ground-breaking, practical resources, designed to help students and educators improve their understanding of all-things-digital, and importantly, to help students become the best students they can be.

It all started in 1995, when Apple created the Apple Distinguished Schools (ADS) programme, using Apple tech and applications to assist teachers and children with learning tools in US-based classrooms.

“Since then, the programme has grown exponentially and Apple now has specialists across the world,” explains Victoria.

Apple representatives integrate their educational applications and lessons into local curricula and empower

educators to be digitally proficient. There are currently 728 Apple Schools across 36 countries.

To carry the title of an Apple School, or to be an accredited Apple Teacher, is a formal process.

How accreditation works

Our staff work with an Apple team who are focused on Australian and New Zealand Apple Schools, who have adjusted their programmes to complement our local curriculum. This includes incorporating Te Reo and tikanga concepts into learning modules.

“I love the diversity element, that it connects the girls to the world, fuels their creativity, and has made their learning more personal,” says Victoria.

To become accredited and access the exclusive Apple tools, schools must prove several detailed factors, such as a wellestablished one-to-one programme using Apple devices and using apps effectively, such as Apple books and other digital learning resources.

Our Junior

Apple

Victoria Mauala, along with soon-to-be Apple Teacher, Bella Ali, share with us how Apple Learning is being applied at St Cuthbert’s, and the leaps and bounds that our students are making.

Also, faculties need to prove proficiency with iPad or Mac – with teachers being accredited as individuals, called ‘Apple Teachers’.

Victoria has been an Apple Teacher for six years (and is now becoming an Apple Coach), and Bella is gaining more and more Apple training credits all the time.

“Every St Cuthbert’s teacher is at a different level, but everyone is supporting each other and becoming very proficient,” says Bella. “And it’s a great thing to have on your CV.”

Victoria adds, that for full accreditation, schools also need to show they are actively measuring the progress, success and next steps of the school’s technology program. “Overall, it’s quite a process to get accredited and continue to upskill our teachers. But it’s clearly paying off for the girls.”

Apple integration in our classrooms

At St Cuthbert’s, Junior students start with individual iPads from Year 2, and it’s an incremental process year-on-year using them in school activities.

“It’s far from a passive act of sitting on an App and playing games,” reassures Victoria. "It’s all about complementing our well-established formal learning.”

“As girls get older, lessons might include practical tasks, like interactive videos, writing and math tools, or creative tasks using multiple applications,” adds Bella.

A recent example is a Year 6 nature walk which another teacher has planned, using a lesson plan through the Apple Education Community. Students were asked to take a photo, edit it, then use the Apple design programme ‘Keynote’ to produce a piece of art, then write a poem and record a voice-over.

“Other examples are the helpful spelling programmes, or templates for structured literacy,” says Victoria.

Victoria points out that accessibility is another key benefit for our neurodiverse learners. “Some Apple programmes can help to support students with dyslexia, for example, by using dictation and voice recognition software, and spell check, to help remove any barriers,” she says.

Our Digital Citizenship Programme (outside of Apple) also supports parents and children around the appropriate use of technology, which our teachers acknowledge as critical.

“Safety goes hand-in-hand with device use,” says Victoria. “As the girls become adults, we will lose control over their online behaviour. They must simply learn to monitor and empower themselves.”

Teaching for the future

Victoria and Bella point out that Apple Learning ties into our school Strategic Direction – where one of the five key principles is to ‘teach for the future’.

It’s a clear example of how St Cuthbert's is supporting every girl to fulfil her potential, to unlock her creativity and critical thinking, and setting foundations early for intellectual growth.

In the six years since the Apple School implementation, students are really developing in their digital literacy, thanks to programmes like Apple Learning.

Sam Langatuki, Head of Technology, is impressed with the enthusiasm, creativity, and digital prowess of girls emerging into Senior technology classes.

“It’s heartening to see the growth of students moving through the Junior programmes and initiatives such as this one, which help them develop into confident and engaged Digital Creatives,” says Sam. “It’s such a great foundation for their innovation and design skills.”

At this point of our chat, it’s tempting to bring out an over-used Steve Jobs quote, but we feel that Bella says it best, “We just can’t wait to see more St Cuthbert’s Apple Students emerge into their Senior years... and beyond!”

Full of Grace

We sat down to get to know our new Head Girl, Grace Merrilees, with a light-hearted Q & A session.

What have you enjoyed so far about being in your role as Head Girl?

I’m honestly still buzzing. It’s such a special privilege to be a voice to so many students. It’s been busy of course, but I’m really loving it.

What is your family link to St Cuthbert’s?

My nana, Margaret Merrilees (nee Willoughby) was a student and Head Girl, in 1963. She was in Elgin like me, but she was a boarder.

How does she feel about your appointment?

She’s proud – it’s very special for us both. I can still remember my first day at school and seeing Nana’s name up on the wall and feeling inspired by that.

Nana loved her time at St Cuth’s, and she sings the College song better than me! She’s still got friends from school as well. Although she got up to way more mischief than me. Her boarding stories are wild, and not repeatable here!

What are you most proud of as a St Cuthbert’s student?

The connectedness and community we have here are just incredible. And it doesn’t stop at school either – when you meet an Old Girl you can feel that sense of legacy and pride that everyone seems to carry for life. A bit like my nana.

I also think we’re blessed with the best teachers in New Zealand. The statistics speak for themselves, but they really are wonderful people on so many levels – not just from a formal learning perspective. They love the girls and give so much to us.

Is there an inspirational leader that you look up to?

Absolutely. I would say Isha, our 2022 Head Girl.

She was one of the first leaders I had true admiration for – I think this is because she was present in my everyday life. I was in her L3 Stats class last year, and she was always a kind, positive face, and a leader with an amazing sense of humour. She also had great speech writing abilities.

If you could invite three famous people over for dinner with some friends – who would you choose?

I’m a rugby fan so probably an All Black, like Beauden Barrett. Or Ed Sheeran – I’ve always been a fan of his music.

I would like to make room for an empowering woman at the party too. A name that comes to mind is Emma Watson – a strong feminist advocate. I admire the way that she stood up for herself and had a bold voice, in a discriminatory society.

What message do you have to younger girls about leadership?

I think we should remember that leadership comes in many forms, such as through kindness and the way we conduct ourselves. But I would also say to younger girls to make the most of the opportunities you get at St Cuth’s. Try new things! That helps you to be open to growth and develop your own path to leadership.

Do you have plans for next year?

Next year I am planning to go to uni, perhaps with a Health Science pathway. I’ve had that idea for a while. But right now, I am concentrating on this year and this role, as well as general schoolwork and some sport.

What does academic work and sport look like for you?

I’m a science girl through and through, but still like English and I loooooove rowing which I have just started. It’s awesome to see the rowing programme go from strength to strength and become so popular.

I’ve also played water polo and done orienteering which were fun.

In your Head Girl speech, you made it clear you didn’t like tomatoes. Is there any other food that’s a no-go?

I, unlike most NZ children, do not like chocolate fish. Something about the marshmallow has always seemed off to me.

Online shopping or in-store?

In-store shopping – definitely! I like to make a day of it – making it feel more special. Plus, I’m too indecisive to order anything online without the ability to try it on for size like you can in-store.

About once a year, my mum and I spend a day shopping together. It is lovely to have a day with no set plans, simply deciding where to go on a whim, and stopping for lunch and coffee whenever we feel like it.

What’s the last movie you cried to?

I couldn’t even tell you the name of the last movie I watched in general! Actually, I do distinctly remember re-watching the Lion King a few years ago and crying throughout. It’s a lot sadder than my younger self ever realised.

What do you do to relax?

I enjoy reading and walking our dogs, and spending time with friends.

“The connectedness and community we have here is just incredible. And it doesn’t stop at school either – when you meet an Old Girl you can feel that sense of legacy and pride that everyone seems to carry for life. ”

Leading the way

Getting to know our 2023 Student Leadership Team

Each year, our student leadership team redefine ‘By Love Serve’, and our 2023 Prefects are certainly no exception. These girls set the standard, going above and beyond each day to ensure that St Cuthbert’s is a safe, happy, and inclusive environment for their peers.

Following a successful Prefects’ Luncheon with other local schools, we sat down with the current team, to find out a bit more about what being a Prefect means to them. For Iona House Prefect, Ella Alfaro Campbell, it means ‘most of all, being someone who is willing to put in work and go the extra mile, to make sure every girl feels heard and included’. Similarly, for Grace McCarthy, it means ‘upholding the school’s values and looking after my fellow students and keeping the school spirit alive’. Head Girl, Grace Merrilees surmises that for her, being a Prefect means ‘leading by example whilst serving others’.

Following a disruptive start to their tenures due to the weather events, the girls wasted no time jump starting the year. Melrose House Prefect, Charlotte Greenwood said that the start of the school year had indeed challenged her ‘to be adaptable as a Leader’, but as busy as it may all feel, her time spent as a Prefect had been filled with so many memorable events already’.

For many students, the desire to become a Prefect starts very early on, with many girls referencing admiration for Prefects from the past as their driving force. On what inspired them to become Prefects, Elizabeth

Hardiman shared ‘I have been at St Cuth’s since Year 1, and have always looked up to the Prefects’. Likewise, Head Girl Grace Merrilees noted that, ‘I know I looked up to past Prefects, so I wanted to be someone that others feel inspired by too’.

So, what does a day in the life of a St Cuthbert’s Prefect look like? For Deputy Head Girl, Irina Wong it starts with gate duty ‘where we say hi to everyone coming into the College, which is a lovely way to start the day’. Then, the girls will attend any meetings, carry out bathroom checks and plan events such as the Prefect Dance and the Prefect vs Staff relay. For Head Boarder Maya Stapleton, duties span a little further and include attending Boarding Breakfast, amongst other Boarding specific responsibilities.

Maya has one goal as Head Boarder, and that is to ‘encourage service to be a part of daily life’ at St Cuthbert’s, ‘especially for the Boarders’. For Prefect Rose Aleksich, her goal during her time in the role is to ‘be able to look back on this last year and know I was able to, in some way, make things a little easier for someone’.

Together, our 2023 cohort of student leaders are certainly doing a stellar job, setting a sterling example to those who will follow in their footsteps. So, what advice do they have for younger students who wish to add Prefect to their resume one day? For Grace McCarthy, Grace Merrilees and Charlotte Greenwood their advice is to simply ‘be yourself’. The role of Prefect

These girls set the standard, going above and beyond each day, to ensure that St Cuthbert’s is a safe, happy, and inclusive environment for their peers.

requires balance and dedication, so York House Prefect, Alisa Rao, encourages those hoping to take on the role to ‘really try to be organized and make sure that you are capable of displaying your unique leadership capabilities’.

Being a Prefect is a hugely rewarding role, and when asked what the best thing about being a Prefect was, the responses were varied and plentiful. For House Prefect of Kelso, Felicia Qin, some of the highlights include ‘getting closer with our team, who may come from different friend groups’, whilst for Head Boarder, Maya Stapleton, it’s all about having ‘the opportunity to create change and be the voice of change’ and ‘having a platform to share ideas’.

Finally, we wanted to know what celebrity our girls think would make the perfect addition to the St Cuthbert’s student leadership team, and we certainly wouldn’t mind if some of their nominees were to contact the Admissions team! Isabelle Stewart would like to see actress Michelle Yeoh join the Prefect team, whilst Imogen Weenink thinks that Taylor Swift is the perfect example of ‘By Love Serve’, and would ‘sing during gate duties’, which we know would go down a treat!

Jane Goodall would be Rose Aleksich’, Prefect pick, noting that ‘she always fought for what she believed in, and continues to be an active voice for women in conservation’. Other Prefects would love to see the likes of Emma Watson and Zendaya on campus. However, we think that our current student leadership team are carrying out their duties so well, that there is no need to call in any A-listers!

Head Girl

Deputy Head Girl

Deputy Head Girl

Deputy Head Girl

Head Boarder

House Prefect Dunblane

House Prefect Durham

House Prefect Elgin

House Prefect Iona

House Prefect Kelso

House Prefect Lindisfarne

House Prefect Melrose

House Prefect York

Prefect

Prefect

Prefect

Prefect

Prefect

Prefect

Prefect

Prefect

Prefect

Prefect

Prefect

Grace Merrilees

Natalie Lamb

Grace McCarthy

Irina Wong

Maya Stapleton

Imogen Weenink

Hana Ehsankya

Tiama Bennett

Ella Alfaro Campbell

Felicia Qin

Fiona Chen

Charlotte Greenwood

Alisa Rao

Rose Aleksich

Olivia Greenwood

Rebekah Hall

Elizabeth Hardiman

Katie Lawgun

Isla McCarthy

Isabelle Stewart

Maataua Tanielu-Seve

Gloryah-Grace Ualesi

Emily Whineray

Dian Kun Yin

Strong foundations to Make Girls Amazing

Our passionate Head of Junior School shares her exciting vision for the year ahead, and how she is continuing to develop our leading curriculum

While Felecia Tomich, affectionately known to colleagues as Fe, is now in her second year as Head of Junior School, her involvement with the College goes back decades.

It was inspiring to chat with her about her what she brings to the role and how her experience has contributed to her leadership, and a collective vision for the Junior School curriculum.

Full circle

Rather poignantly, Fe’s very first job after teacher’s training college was here at St Cuthbert’s.

“I had my final teaching placement at St Cuthbert’s as a student teacher and then taught for a few years in a Year 4 class, so coming back felt a little like returning home,” she says.

After these early years, Fe decided to spread her wings. She headed to the UK, where she first worked with young children who required high-needs learning support. This ignited a life-long passion for supporting diverse learning needs.

“I love that there’s so much scope in education,” says Fe. “There are so many ways to spark a child’s interest. And it’s not just about academic learning either.”

Fe has taught various age groups across both Junior and Senior levels and was also a ‘Resource Teacher of Learning and Behaviour’ for the Ministry of Education. She has a Masters Degree in Special Education from Massey University and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Educational Psychology.

Previous to her current position, Fe looked after our Pōhutukawa

Learning Centre for Years 0-9, working closely with our teachers, dedicated to supporting diverse learning needs throughout the College.

As she looks to the year ahead, it’s clear that her background in diverse learning and experience teaching around the world, are great assets.

She is inspired and excited about working with her Junior School Lead team on developing the Junior School version of the whole College strategic vision that focuses on both curriculum and pastoral development.

Exciting plans ahead

There are plenty of people, programmes and activities that delight Fe about leading the Junior School – and a few focus areas for her and the team.

Firstly, she loves that there is a rich culture of interage learning. “Older girls do classroom visits with the younger girls and provide homework support at After School Care, run next to them in cross country, and support our other events,” says Fe. “It’s another layer of positive role modelling that enhances their learning and confidence in a very unique way.”

Strengthening Junior and Senior School ties is a key objective, as well as easing the transition for students as they leave Year 6, and head into their senior years. “I want to take full advantage of being part of a Year 0-13 College - it’s a huge benefit for the girls,” she emphasises.

The Junior School Lead team have relished the opportunity to work with the Head of Subject Faculty members and teachers from the Senior School, to collaborate on our Knowledge Rich Curriculum using the Rata CDC model. Fe is also proud that Senior School teachers are teaching subjects such as French, science, art and performing arts to our Junior School students.

“All of this cross-pollination between the two sites of the College feeds into, and enriches, our curriculum,” says Fe.

Fe is inspired by her Junior School Lead team and teachers, and their passionate investment in students. She uses the example of how they have embraced the work done on the ‘science of reading’ to enhance literacy.

“I’m excited about the Structured Literacy Programme. We’re already seeing the enhanced learning outcomes from all the amazing professional development in which our teachers are involved,” she says.

The ‘STRETCH’ programme is another example of what Fe sees as the ‘St Cuthbert’s difference’, where there’s a focus on science, technology, engineering and maths. “We want to grow creators and innovators. It is critical that we offer opportunities for our girls at a young age, to feel empowered and excited in these realms.”

STRETCH introduces things like the Nano Girl programme, Little Robots, and practical art sessions, weaving maths and science into fun and engaging learning tasks.

Fe believes this is having a hugely positive effect on the girls’ confidence and future direction. She also says that the work being done in the Apple Distinguished School programme, Digital Citizenship, online safety programme, and technical literacy, is also offering tremendous opportunities for students to navigate the digital world safely and confidently.

Fe reinforces that all this great work is reinforced by the insightful research the Lead team is doing, such as looking into the latest science of maths, that is also enriching our classroom practice.

A culture of care at St Cuthbert’s

This fresh approach to the curriculum sits alongside a strong pastoral foundation, that is grounded in the same core value system the College has upheld for generations.

“At the end of the day, care permeates everything we do here at St Cuthbert’s,” Fe says. “I’m just so impressed with the ‘By Love Serve’ philosophy, and the strong sense of community here. The teachers and girls never cease to inspire and amaze me with their caring and attentive approach,” she adds.

Fe believes that to prepare our students best for the future we must focus on every dimension of their growth and development, providing them with incredible opportunities to discover their full potential.

“I think my overarching vision is to continue to provide our girls with the ultimate foundation to springboard into Senior School with confidence, and a zest for learning,” says Fe.

“Everything we do sits within our wider St Cuthbert’s Strategic Vision, of delivering a holistic curriculum that will challenge our students. This is anchored in values, education and pastoral care that will enable them to approach the future with optimism and determination.”

Gifting Amazing Annual Fund Update

Earlier this year we introduced a new annual fund with the aim of raising funds to support five important new initiatives. For 108 years St Cuthbert’s has offered an exceptional education. We have always had incredible aspirations for our students –aspirations that tuition alone does not always cover.

We are delighted to report that, thanks to your support, we have achieved our goal of $250,000 for this year’s inaugural new Gifting Amazing Appeal. The funds so generously donated by our community, will support five key initiatives.

Gifting Amazing will operate each year, with fresh initiatives, to be delivered in the year the funds are raised. We are deeply appreciative to everyone who has contributed to the appeal this year and we are delighted to report that we have raised over three times what has been raised in past appeals. We are excited about the future potential for this annual gifting programme to further support our students.

The five initiatives for 2023:

Staff Scholarship Programme

An enhancement to the programme will enable the outstanding teachers of St Cuthbert’s to stay at the forefront of research and education best practice.

The Principal’s ‘Every Girl’ initiative

Ensures money is provided to students in financial need, so they can attend co-curricular activities when asked to represent the College.

A New Performing Arts Studio

A new sound-proofed audio recording studio will be opened in November 2023 in the Performing Arts Centre.

Sports Recording Equipment

This will arrive in time for winter codes. It will enable our athletes, sports teams and girls on the Athlete Pathway Programme, to analyse their performance.

Digital Innovation Co-Labs and Junior School Technology Equipment

The launch this year of the Digital Innovation Co-Labs will increase access to digital tools and encourage greater collaboration.

mean we can do even more. Please donate today at giving.stcuthbert.school.nz or scan the QR code.

10% Social Good Promise – Delivered

St Cuthbert’s families do the “mahi” when it comes to social good and Service. The College pledged a promise to our community that 10% of all monetary gifts raised this year, through the annual appeal, up to our fundraising target of $250,000, would be donated to a charity as our collective act of ‘By Love Serve’.

Once we were confident we were going to hit our fundraising target in Term 2, we were able to approach the selected charity of Presbyterian Support Northern to offer $25,000 in fundraised charity to support a key project – ‘Communities Feeding Communities’.

The $25,000 raised from the Gifting Amazing is supporting Communities Feeding Communities, by transformational contributions to a Social Food Pantry, which will assist the Mount Roskill community. Together, we are able to create a multi-functional and exciting community space where locals can enjoy the spoils of the garden, learn how to cook in a purpose made kitchen, and join others to learn, share and commune in a friendly and welcoming space. St Cuthbert’s is directly helping to support the purchase of vital goods and services, particularly a Social Food Pantry.

Thanks to your donations to our Gifting Amazing Annual Appeal the creation of the Social Food Pantry in Mount Roskill is truly a place of of belonging where the strengths of the community are valued, children and their families get to eat, grow food and play together.

What is the Gifting Amazing Social Food Pantry?

The Social Food Pantry is a space that provides nourishing food, a nurturing environment, and is a place for understanding and empowerment where children and their families access affordable food and learn to eat, grow food and play together.

The Social Food Pantry will:

• assist the local community to gain food sovereignty and manage their household budget more effectively

• give people the opportunity to choose the food they want to feed their family

• enable people to learn about the benefits of eating nourishing food and have access to gardening and cooking workshops to gain better skills

• become an important community hub

• provide volunteering opportunities for St Cuthbert’s students.

The Social Food Pantry will be a place which promotes the wellbeing of generations providing education to families on the benefits of eating quality fresh produce harvested from the community garden, from seedlings that have been produced in the greenhouse.

Part of the vision of the “Gifting Amazing” Social Food Pantry is to save seeds, and germinate seedlings in the St Cuthbert’s funded greenhouse. These seedlings can be given away.

Service opportunities for St Cuthbert’s College students and their families will include: germinating seedlings, planting the micro food forest and attending garden working bees. We look forward to sharing more information on the project and these opportunities as the year progresses.

Adding creative flare to ‘Parents and Friends’

Introducing Harriet Booth, our enthusiastic and creative new Chair of our Parents and Friends Association.

Our treasured Parents and Friends Association (P&F) is all about connecting with one another and helping to create a thriving College community. This year, we are thrilled to welcome Harriet Booth to the position of Committee Chair – adding yet another string to her bow at St Cuthbert’s.

Harriet has worn several hats here at St Cuthbert’s, such as student, Old Girl, parent, and most recently, a Senior Graphic Designer in our Advancement team.

Harriet has been the talented designer who has worked alongside our Lead Graphic Designer, Janice O’Kane, and has contributed to many projects such as the Gifting Amazing Campaign and the latest Chronicle. Both Harriet and Janice have helped to elevate our brand and reflect our strategic direction with the perfect look and feel of a design, across many marketing channels.

“Being creative is about expressing yourself in a unique way”, says Harriet, “tapping into your imagination, pushing the boundaries, and discovering new possibilities. The beauty of creativity is there is no right or wrong way to do it; it’s a personal journey that brings joy and fulfillment to both the creator and the audience. It’s a career that gives me immense gratification and pride.”

Harriet’s commercial career has seen her work in various areas of graphic design, including corporate branding, packaging, digital retouching, typography, art direction, web design, social media campaigns, photography and print management.

She has worked in-house at design agencies, The Warehouse HQ where she created the brand we are all familiar with, art directed at Webb’s and done contract design work for Watties-Heinz.

One of her long-standing roles was for Annabel Langbein, whose company ‘Annabel Langbein Media’ is one of New Zealand’s most successful publishing houses.

“I was responsible for the planning, art direction, digital retouching, and graphic

design for promotional material, as well as every book and magazine produced from 2012 to 2021,” she says.

We are very impressed with the multiple cookbooks that won numerous national and international awards and, frankly, will make anyone salivate! The pages are full of incredible food photography, and the ‘look’ perfectly on-brand for a celebrated and stylish New Zealand food icon.

Aside from her design work that keeps her busy, Harriet is ecstatic about being involved in the College community in a different role as Chair of the P&F, inside a community for which she has so much genuine adoration – St Cuthbert’s.

“It’s been incredible to step behind the iconic green gates again, as a parent and be working alongside staff in my design work,” she says.

Harriet is a proud mum to Charlotte, currently in Year 5, and her 13-year-old son is at Auckland Grammar.“My husband and I have been blown away by the St Cuth’s community and teachers,” she says. “Things have certainly evolved since I started as a child, but the same values are strong.”Harriet says that her oldest and closest friendships were formed here, “My two younger sisters also attended, and all three of us have a large network of friends which has lasted well into adulthood.”

We ask her about plans for this year at the P&F. “I’m looking forward to bringing the College community together in many ways,” she says. “I still recall the inviting cup of tea that the P&F team served us on the first day of school, and all the super friendly emails we received. Now it’s my turn to pay it forward!”

The P&F team of today and yesteryear always manage to capture and promote our unique College spirit and culture. The team can be found organising quiz nights or class gatherings, providing entertainment at sports days, and lending a hand to fundraising for the benefit of our girls.

The team work hard to facilitate ways for

parents to get to know one another, “I think it can provide a sense of kinship for many parents and help break down barriers, especially when people are new to the College,” says Harriet.

As parents of the College, you are already automatically a member of the Association.

Harriet describes her new role as Chair, as an exciting new challenge and a great way to give back, “I believe we’re in a very privileged position to attend such a special school, and the motto ‘By Love Serve’ has been a something I’ve tried to uphold.”

Harriet is no stranger to being community minded, having also volunteered at Riding for the Disabled, thanks to a love of animals and children. “We even have two dogs and have fostered multiple litters of stray kittens over the years!”

We also believe there will be a creative bent that comes in handy for this new role. “My husband Jamie, is an Industrial designer, so our house is always full of art and crafts!” says Harriet. “I like to think outside the square and do things a little creatively and be open to new things, so that’s a great starting point!”

We can’t wait to see what the year entails for P&F, their new Chair, and all our wonderful parents and friends.

As a current St Cuthbert’s parent, you are automatically a Parents & Friends Association Member. However, if you would like to play a more active role and be part of our Committee, please get in touch at P&F@stcuthberts.school.nz.

“It’s been incredible to step behind the iconic green gates again, as a parent and be working alongside staff in my design work,” she says.

Connecting Our Community

Dad’s Dinner at MoVida

We recently held our second Dads’ dinner at MoVida restaurant, with Hon Steven Joyce as guest speaker. Around 100 of our Dads gathered for incredible food, great conversation and a thought provoking take on politics and the economy. We also held an auction to raise money for bikes for our remote campus, Kahunui, which will enable the girls to include trail biking on the many tracks around the campus, and also for additional equipment for our Digital Co-Labs.

Many thanks to all those who donated items and a special thank you to our sponsors for the evening, St Cuthbert’s parent, John Campbell, and Jane Horton, from Ray White Real Estate.

Welcoming our New Families to the College

Despite the slightly delayed start to the academic year, due to the impact of the floods on areas of the campus, our wonderful Parents & Friends Association didn’t miss a beat, hosting a lovely morning tea for our new families to the College, after drop off, on the first day back. For our P&F volunteers, it was their first look at the newly renovated Atrium Café, and they enjoyed the opportunity to see first-hand the new experience that was created over the summer break for our girls, staff and community!

Inaugural Alumni and Friends Event at the New Zealand Stock Exchange

Chairman of the New Zealand Stock Exchange, and former St Cuthbert’s parent and Trust Board Member, James Miller, kindly offered us the Stock Exchange’s incredible space in Auckland for our inaugural Alumni and Friends event. We plan to hold several of these special events each year around the country,

to enable past parents, current and former staff, and Old Girls, to catch up and connect with one another. Each event will have a different theme, and this first event was held for past Trust Board Members and some of our donors, and was a fantastic success. Over drinks and canapes, we were privileged to hear

from Old Girl, and guest speaker, Antonia Watson, who is the Chief Executive of the ANZ Bank. Both Trust Board Chair, Leigh Melville, and Principal Justine Mahon spoke at the event, with many past parents expressing their delight at maintaining their connection with the College.

Connecting our Community at our Annual Principal’s Party

Each year, our Principal, and Senior Leadership Team, hold a gathering for our community in the Clouston Hall quadrant, to welcome the new academic year. This event enables us to catch up after the summer break, and supports our new parents to get to know one another. For the first time, we included the whole school in this special event, and it was lovely to see so many people turn out, despite the weather gods forecasting rain!

We were very fortunate, with only a light shower, and we all enjoyed delicious

canapes from our new catering company, Chartwells, and heard from both Justine Mahon, and our Trust Board Chair, Leigh Melville.

Leigh officially launched our new annual giving programme, Gifting Amazing, and we were delighted to raise over $60,000 on the night, to enhance our students’ learning. It was wonderful to gather together after the difficult start to the year with the Auckland flood and then the cyclone, and we are delighted to share some of the lovely photos taken by our Advancement Team on the night!

Chinese New Year Celebrations

This year, our Chinese New Year celebrations were postponed due to the extreme weather events at the start of the academic year. However, this magical morning was really worth the wait, and we got to celebrate on Wednesday 8th February.

Our wonderful Asian Friendship Group arrived at the Atrium early in the morning, to greet the girls as they arrived at school. Volunteers handed out traditional Red Envelopes to the lucky girls, each with a gold chocolate coin inside.

The special morning was a lovely way to usher in the Year of the Rabbit!

We want to extend a huge thank you to our Asian Friendship Group, for bringing the festival to life for all of our students and staff.

Fun and Laughter at the P&F Junior School Picnic

In Term One we were delighted to hold our Junior School Picnic, which was a wonderful opportunity to get together as a community. Trust Board members Hamish Firth and Anil Sharma, were joined by Fe Tomich, our Junior School staff, and our wonderful families for an evening of fun, games, and delicious treats! Many thanks to our wonderful Parents &Friends’ volunteers who worked so hard to make this event so special!

Coming Soon: Junior School Playground

We are all looking forward to seeing our new Junior School Playground installed in the middle of the Year. Construction is due to start over the July School holidays, and we are very grateful for the generosity of our wonderful Parents & Friends Association, who have supported the College to make this happen!

We are also appreciative of the commitment of our property team, who have worked tirelessly over the past two terms to manage the remedial

works needed due to the impact of the floods… and they have kept this special project on track for our students!

We have also installed a new, dedicated, playground for our youngest students, along the fenced part of Market Road, in front of the Elizabeth Caughey Building. These play areas are very important to our girls, and we are excited about these new and exciting spaces for them to enjoy with their friends.

Supporting unique and developing minds

We chat to the passionate team running the Pōhutukawa Learning Centre to understand more about diverse learning support across both our Senior and Junior Schools.

The Pōhutukawa Learning Centre (PLC) is a key part of the St Cuthbert’s offering that stands out for many students, parents and teachers, as an incredible point of difference. At its heart, the PLC is where learning specialists and teachers go the extra mile to make sure all students are supported to play, learn, contribute and participate in all aspects of life at school.

We talk with the accomplished PLC leadership team, Rochelle Lawrence and Rachael Busch, to understand more about their roles, and how the PLC supports our diverse learners.

What’s the PLC all about?

At St Cuthbert’s, we recognise that children and young adults learn best when they feel accepted, enjoy positive relationships with their fellow students and teachers, and can access specialised learning content. They also need to feel they are active, visible members of their classes.

Therefore, making sure we are supporting students who might need a little assistance, or who simply process the world in different ways, is extremely important to us. It’s all about maintaining a positive, inclusive learning environment.

The PLC was set up to support both Senior and Junior cohorts and uses ‘enriched learning techniques’ backed up by the latest research, to ensure the learning environment meets the needs of all our students.

Rochelle Lawrence, our new Head of the PLC, explains that ‘diverse learning’ is a formal term used in educational and academic circles. “Essentially it recognises that we all learn and process information in different ways,” she says.

“Once we understand how a student learns best, that is when the magic happens!” says Rochelle.

What can learning support look like?

The PLC can offer a range of support to target students’ learning needs. For example, there are a number of Learning Enrichment programmes in action, which also includes Future Problem Solving and Philosophy classes to stretch critical and creative thinking.

Some students may find themselves falling behind the expected achievement levels of their classmates, so our Specialised Learning Intervention Programme focusses on helping these girls to fill in any learning gaps, recognise their learning differences and how they learn best, as early as possible, so they become more skilled, confident learners.

“We find strategies that help children advocate for themselves and learn to work with their challenges, not against them,” emphasises Rochelle.

“Our goal is to generate an inclusive space and build self-efficacy, so children know they are capable and can contribute,” adds Rochelle.

But she also loves the detail, and the emotional rewards from helping each individual student succeed. “When I see a student finding a new concept or skill challenging, being able to help and be a part of their learning journey is such a pleasure.”

“We want to ensure that students experience success in a way that’s meaningful for them, and to break down barriers to learning.”

Rachael Busch, our new Head of the Junior School PLC, is just as passionate about the various ways the Centre supports younger students, explaining how they take a multi-tiered approach.

“PLC students still spend most of their time within mainstream classes to ensure they always feel socially connected to their peers,” says Rachael. “We can provide targeted intervention led by our experienced specialist teachers, in small group settings both in and out of the classroom,” says Rachael.

“We also work closely with teachers to make small changes to the classroom programme, and provide wraparound support by facilitating collaborative family meetings, which focus on individual learning goals and support.”

Both Rochelle and Rachael emphasise that it’s key to work with parents to help them navigate the next steps for their children. “Parents provide important information to help us get to know their daughter better and understand their child’s areas of need, interests and areas of strength,” says Rachael. “This allows us to use these areas as a foundation for our learning support.”

Working closely with our teachers

Rochelle and Rachael are also working to equip teachers with the skills and confidence to be responsive to diverse learners in the classroom.

“Teachers can make a huge difference. Sometimes all they need is extra layer of knowledge and of course extra capacity –which we can support with” says Rachael. Rochelle aims to maximize the reach of the PLC centre, matching our resources to the scope of the needs of each student, “with the ultimate goal of a child not needing us anymore, in the nicest possible way!” she emphasises.

The team aims to be at the forefront of the latest academic research, and Rochelle believes that their formal training mixed with real world experience, means the PLC team brings a host of expertise.

A large team of learning specialists

Both Rochelle and Rachael are clear that the success of the PLC is very much a team effort.

“We’re lucky to have 11 specialist teachers working in full and part-time roles, supporting girls in literacy, numeracy and all areas of the curriculum, as well as in our gifted and talented programmes across the school” explains Rochelle.

“We also have nine learning support staff working part time as parent and Ministry funded learning assistants,” says Rachael.

“The investment and commitment to employing quality teachers and learning assistants to help our students reach their full potential, are nothing short of amazing!”

Meet Rochelle Lawrence

Head of our Pōhutukawa Learning Centre

Rochelle Lawrence always wanted to work in education. As a child, she would come home from school and teach her younger siblings how to read.

She also has a love of learning and continuous education and is in the final stages of her EdD this year.

One thing is burningly clear – Rochelle embodies ‘By Love Serve’ in her study and vocational work. “I feel strongly that everyone is entitled to access knowledge, and all the opportunities that come with that. That’s what motivates me first and foremost,” says Rochelle.

Although new to the PLC role this year, Rochelle is not new to St Cuthbert’s. She taught Year 7 and 8 from 2016, with maternity leave and more study soon after. Lucky for us, she returned part time as a learning support teacher, which led into this new, full time management position.

Rochelle says she’s very much a big picture person. “I’ve come to understand the importance of systems for creating strategic context, that then sets foundations for our targeted learning support. For example, I’m currently working on a wider strategy to enable and empower teachers cater to specific learning needs.”

But she also loves the detail, and the emotional rewards from helping each individual student succeed. “When I see a student finding a new concept or skill challenging, being able to help and be a part of their learning journey is such a pleasure.”

Rochelle is loving a change in focus to just girls, and feels her role is one of empowerment.

“My first class of Year 7s graduated last year. It was so rewarding to see their growth through school and seeing them set off to change the world. Sometimes we have thirteen years with a student. What an amazing privilege that is!”

Meet Rachael Busch

Head of our Pōhutukawa Learning Centre, Junior School

Rachael originally worked at St Cuthbert’s 20 years ago in after school care, and returned last term to take over from Felecia Tomich, in the PLC role. She is taking great pleasure getting back into the classroom and enjoying facetime with younger students again.

The last few years have been all about academic research and then clinical work for Rachael, as she put primary teaching on hold and completed her Masters in Educational and Developmental Psychology at Massey University.

She completed a thesis on the impact of modern learning environments (MLEs) on students with sensory processing difficulties. This continues to be an area in which she is deeply interested, not only for students in MLEs but also in single cell classrooms.

Rachael pursued an internship and worked for the Ministry of Education in 2021/22 and is now a registered Educational Psychologist. She is currently completing the SPELD assessor training to identify students with specific learning difficulties.

“As a teacher, I always connected and loved working with children who needed a little extra learning support and encouragement, as well as our students who were experiencing behavioral difficulties” says Rachael. “All they really need is for someone to understand them and see them as individuals with their own set of strengths and challenges. So, it was a natural progression for me to explore a new professional journey as an Ed Psych.” she adds.

Rachael also has an avid interest in teaching dance and drama, as she recognises that diverse learners often connect to the arts and more creative ways of learning and expressing themselves.

St Cuthbert’s Students Awarded Prime Minister’s Athlete Scholarships

Two St Cuthbert’s students, Jessie Yan (Year 13) and Zara Stewart (Old Girls, class of 2022) have been awarded prestigious Prime Minister’s Athlete Scholarships. Jessie has been recognised for her achievements in Fencing, whilst Zara has been awarded the Scholarship for her outstanding efforts in Orienteering.

The Prime Minister’s Athlete Scholarships enable recipients to undertake tertiary study and vocational qualifications, as they pursue sport at an elite level. The purpose of the programme is to assist athletes with educational opportunities which will enable them to compete globally, whilst also developing holistically outside sport, with a post-athletic career in mind.

Current Year 13 student, Jessie Yan, says, ‘I feel truly honoured to be awarded the Prime Minister’s Athlete Scholarship and am appreciative of the Government’s support for my aspirations.

“I started fencing as a hobby during the COVID-19 lockdowns, but later began competing nationally and internationally. I am now ranked 1st in U17 Women’s Epee in New Zealand. I strive to improve my fencing and my current goal is to train hard in preparation for the 2023 World Cup Cadet Championships in Bulgaria.’

“We are extremely proud of Jessie’s fencing achievements. She has reached extraordinary heights, in a challenging sport, in a very short time.” says St Cuthbert’s Principal, Justine Mahon, who was a fencer, herself during her years at the College.

Zara Stewart’s High Performance Sport Scholarship was awarded for her outstanding achievements in Orienteering at a National Level. Justine Mahon says, “Zara will go down in our College archives as one of the most exceptional sportswomen to have passed through our gates”.

Zara represented the country in the New Zealand Orienteering team last year, at the Australian Schools’ Southern Cross-Country Challenge, placing 2nd, 3rd and 1st in the three Senior Girls’ challenges.

Zara was one of just four additional athletes and one coach, to receive the award under the code of Orienteering. Zara says, ‘I was thrilled to receive a High-Performance Sport NZ Prime Minister’s

Scholarship for Orienteering, for 2023. It is exciting that the sport of Orienteering is being recognised at a national level. The scholarship enables me to continue to train and focus on my sport whilst I study at the University of Canterbury.’

The girls are in great company, with former Old Girls and talented sportswomen such as Sulu Tone-Fitzpatrick, Teresa Fitzpatrick, Katie Doar and Charlotte Penny also receiving scholarships for 2023.

Both Jessie and Zara have excelled in their chosen sports, and to be recognised by the New Zealand Government for their achievements and talent, is testament to the hard work of both students and their dedicated teachers, coaches and families.

A Phenomenal four St Cuthbert’s Students Gain Entry to Oxbridge

To have just a single New Zealand student accepted into an Oxbridge University, in any given year, is impressive, but a stunning four students from the St Cuthbert’s Yr13 class of 2022 are set to travel to the United Kingdom this year, to take up places at Cambridge and Oxford Universities.

During a morning tea dedicated to the girls before they take on the great adventures ahead of them, Principal Justine Mahon mentioned that ‘the breadth of subjects and range of qualifications are wonderful to see.

Emma Qiu will study the world-famous Philosophy, Politics and Economics course at Oxford University (Lady Margaret Hall). Head of Careers at St Cuthbert’s, Rhonda Vink notes that “gaining a place at Oxford is an incredible achievement and the Philosophy Politics and Economics (PPE) course, originally developed at Oxford, is one of the most prestigious courses Emma can do there. “

Heading to Cambridge, Kate Lin has been accepted onto the impressive Law course at Pembroke College. Julie Li will study Natural Sciences, and Maria Gong will study Medicine at Sydney Sussex College. Whilst we know that the girls will be in great company, meeting new people from the world over, it’s also very special to know that a friend from St Cuthbert’s is never far away.

It was interesting to learn what the girls were most looking forward to, as

they embark on the next step in their education. Emma Qiu is ‘so excited about many things, including all of the new experiences and the opportunities to learn’. Similarly, Julie Li is eager to ‘learn more and explore more’. For Maria Gong, it’s all about ‘travelling overseas and getting to meet everyone there and making new friends’.

From parents to teachers, these four girls have had the most incredible support network, allowing them to succeed in the extensive application process, which entails a great deal of preparation and hard work. When we farewelled these stellar students at their morning tea, the excitement displayed by their teachers was palpable and genuine. They are so incredibly proud of the girls, no one more so that Rhonda Vink, who had the following to say.

“Students applying to Oxbridge universities are risk-takers; they have the courage to put themselves into an extraordinarily competitive environment. The application process is rigorous and even attaining an interview, is a wonderful achievement, if you consider the applicant statistics.

“Emma, Maria, Kate and Julie are all amazing people with a love of learning and enthusiasm for their chosen fields that will ensure they flourish in their respective careers. We look forward to watching them develop and make their mark on the world”.

The rise of the Duke of Edinburgh Award

‘The Duke of Edinburgh award provides a framework for personal discovery and growth through service, skills, physical activity, adventurous expeditions, developing perseverance and responsibility to self and to the community’ – Helen Fraser, Sports Administrator and Duke of Edinburgh facilitator.

There are four components within each level of the award: Physical Recreation, Skill, Voluntary Service and Adventurous Journey. At Gold Level, a Residential Journey must also be completed. As of March 2023, St Cuthbert’s College had an impressive total of 226 students participating in the Duke of Edinburgh. 141 students are working towards their Bronze award, 47 towards their Silver, and 38 girls are working towards their Gold award.

To discover more about the international award and its increased popularity amongst students, we caught up with Sports Administrator and Duke of Edinburgh facilitator, Helen Fraser, and twins Olivia and Charlotte Greenwood (Year 13), who have both successfully achieved their Gold Award.

Helen Fraser understands that the biggest drawcard when it comes to the Duke of Edinburgh is that anyone can get involved, as soon as they turn 14 years of age. Helen notes that ‘the beauty of Duke of Edinburgh is that no pre-existing skills are required, just plenty of motivation and energy. Participants set their own challenges within the individual Award involving their interests, their ambitions.’ Helen also credits the great support from the College community as a driver in the recent rise of popularity in Duke of Edinburgh; ‘We have a lot of our teaching staff, extra curricular club staff and coaches supporting students through their journey.’

Another key factor in the rise in popularity is the range of accessible

activities that can be counted towards different components of the awards. ‘To gain my awards, I completed hockey coaching for service. For the skills component I learnt Spanish in school and learnt to drive, gaining my learner’s license explains Charlotte, demonstrating that every day occurrences can be counted towards the awards.

Garnering new skills comes hand in hand with taking on the Duke of Edinburgh. ‘The Duke of Edinburgh award equips students for promising futures by challenging young people to develop skills and tools to improve themselves and their communities’ says Helen. Charlotte adds ‘I would say it teaches you a fantastic number of life skills. From a practical perspective you will be able to set up a tent, read a map and use a compass. It teaches you leadership skills and how to interact with different people and personalities, which are invaluable for the future in school and beyond, in the workplace.’

Perhaps another reason behind the popularity of the award is the opportunity to embark on once in a lifetime experiences. As mentioned, all participants working towards their gold level award must complete a Residential Journey, and sisters Olivia and Charlotte certainly made the most of this opportunity. Olivia ‘did the Spirit of Adventure 10 day voyage’, a 10 day experience aboard the ‘Spirit of Adventure’ vessel with like-minded explorers, whilst Charlotte attended a Nike running Camp in Eugene, Oregon. Both were fantastic experiences that may never have been embarked upon, were it not for the Duke of Edinburgh award.

‘The best thing about Duke of Edinburgh is that you can complete all of the adventurous journeys with groups of friends, which makes the experiences a lot more fun during the

hard times. You are also constantly meeting other like-minded people who love the outdoors and who are looking forward to a challenge’ declares Olivia, suggesting that another core reason behind the popularity of Duke of Edinburgh, is meeting amazing people along the way, who become friends for life. This notion is backed up entirely by sister Charlotte who says, ‘the best part is all of the different people you meet and connect with from multiple walks of life. It is so nice to make new friends and bond over the good and challenging experiences’.

Of course, nothing worth having comes easy, and the road to the gold award does not come without hurdles, including ‘committing your time to finishing each section of every achievement level, whilst juggling a busy schedule and getting used to using your gear on tramps and kayaks’ says Olivia. Charlotte looks back on tribulations including ‘tramping for hours in the rain, to getting lost in the bush’. But overcoming the challenges presented during the Duke of Edinburgh, are ever empowering, and something that participants look back on fondly. ‘It is not an easy award to obtain and does take years, however the sacrifice is rewarding’ surmises Charlotte. Helen understands the hard work and grit that go into every award and admits that she always loves ‘handing over the certificate and badge when the students have been completed a level. I know they have worked hard to achieve it.’

With all of the above factors considered, it’s little wonder that popularity in the Duke of Edinburgh award is increasing, and long may it continue. We wish all of the students working towards their bronze, silver or gold awards this year, the very best of luck!

At St Cuthbert’s, this international award is rising in popularity with 226 senior students participating.

Big Hearts in the Service Committee

St Cuthbert’s has a unique motto which is ‘By Love Serve’. It is simple in nature but more complex to live by, and is woven through life at St Cuthbert’s from the day a student begins their journey through the College. Our students can often be found helping each other, their teachers and the wider community, with many having a strong sense of social justice and thoughtfulness for others.

Principal Justine Mahon is an advocate for service. “It is a wonderful way to build selfawareness and community spirit. Not only do we know that helping others is a boost for mental health, but we also find it helps our girls perform better academically.”

In addition to annual foodbanks and other charity drives, there is a student-led committee who take charge in the service space.

Our Year 13 Service committee embody these principles and do a wonderful job of helping instil these in their ‘Little Sisters’ through their House projects. Each House has a charity with which they, and the College has built up a relationship, and together they fundraise and assist with meaningful projects.

Year 13 Service Committee co-leader, Monelle Niuhulu, is really enjoying the Committee. “Being a part of the Service Committee is very important because it gives me the opportunity to actively serve those in need and build closer connections,” she says.

“We come up with sustainable ideas which will create a great foundation for the Charity

organisation so the Service Committee, in future years, can continue carrying out the House project. My House project is Communities feeding Communities and we aim to provide a facility where they can feed their own families.”

Creating meaningful, cohesive and sustainable House Charity projects is the domain of Reverend Francois Joubert and Senior PA Lucretia Kemp. For Lucretia, part of the joy of working with the Service Committee is mentoring the members to encourage students to be actively involved when donating to charities. That means rather than just asking students for donations, it’s in encouraging students to help a neighbour, family friend, or their own family with simple at home chores or gardening, to earn a small donation and experience the joy of giving through the help they gave to their community.

Reverend Francois Joubert is a big believer in the continuance and growth of our Service projects throughout the College and that they are not a ‘one-off’, which is then forgotten. He says “With a world that is forever changing, and more and more challengers to face, the responsibility that we have towards one another is ever increasing.

“We can choose to close our hearts and hands, or we can choose to open our hearts and hands to those around us. It is our choice.”

He continues “It is a blessing to know that St Cuthbert’s continues to choose to have an open heart and hand. To serve. To serve with love. In the Senior School, each House

once again took responsibility for a specific project. The variety is amazing. From helping girls in Africa gain an opportunity to be educated, to entertaining the senior citizens across the road from us. “

“We are grateful to our community who continue to support our Service projects through collections in Chapel and other means. I thank you for being part of this beautiful community. I thank you for upholding our motto – By Love Serve.”

HOUSE PROJECTS

The Houses have a wide range of charities to which they are aligned. We are grateful for your support.

Iona – Girls in Need

Focusing on preparing gifts (hygiene bags for girls in need) and any other needs.

Elgin – De Paul House (Emergency Housing)

Blankets on Beds and any items for people that have lost their homes.

Dunblane – Presbyterian Support Services Project

Focusing on preparing the centre.

York – Presbyterian Support Services Project

Environmental projects with a focus on food security.

Melrose – Painga Trust

3300 children through seven schools in Auckland, supporting funding for sports equipment and art products.

Lindisfarne – Manurewa East Primary School

Organising for supplies of paper, pens, and pencils project/sports equipment/art resources.

Durham – So They Can

Currently ‘So They Can’ is empowering 45,000 children and their communities in Kenya and Tanzania through 42 schools, a teachers’ training college (ranked number 1 out of all 79 teachers’ colleges in Tanzania), child wellbeing and women’s microfinance programs.

Kelso – Elizabeth Knox

In the Rest Home there are a variety of opportunities to engage with the residents.

Celebrating our House Spirit

Our Year 13 Prefect team were at the College by 6am one morning, last term, for our annual House Flowers competition. The girls worked in their Houses throughout the morning, bringing some incredible concepts to life around the theme, Myths and Legends.

A big thank you to our competition judges, Diane McKissock-Davis who is our former Head of Art, Harriet Booth, our new P&F Chair, and Jo Mann from The Wild Bunch Florists.

Overall Rank Placings

Joint First place – Durham and Elgin

Second place – Melrose

Third place – Lindisfarne

Category Results

York – Most Effective use of Colour

Kelso – Most original display

Durham – Most visually stunning, wow factor

Iona – Best use of texture

Elgin – Response to theme

Dunblane – Form, balance, and proportion

Melrose – Most skilful use of materials

Lindisfarne – Team presentation

Po Fiafia

Our Po Fiafia evening was a wonderful celebration of a number of cultures. It was so special to see our girls perform with such spirit, displaying all the hard work that has gone in to their practices with their mentors. These photographs perfectly capture the magic of each performance. Thank you to all those who helped with this stunning event, and to the friends and family who came on the night to support.

Fun and Colour at our Year 9–13 House Athletics Day

In addition to our competitive athletics days at which we have a number of students qualify to go on to represent the College regionally and nationally, we also hold fun House days and races, to encourage every student to take part in physical activity in some way.

Our Year 9–13 House Athletics Day was a huge success this year, with every student proudly wearing their house t-shirts, and taking part in a wide range of fun races. This event was held separately from the competitive day at Lloyd Elesmore Stadium.

Across the College, we will also be holding our athletics days for our Junior Secondary Year 7 and 8 students, and for our Junior School girls, later in the year. We hope you enjoy the photos!

College Swimming Sports

Many of our students excel in swimming, and each year we hold swimming sports days across the College which cater for both our competitive swimmers and for those students who just want to have a go and earn points for their House!

The Year 9-13 day always begins with the Prefects’ Dance, which is a fun and colourful dance through the College, ending up at the swimming pool. Our Year 7 and 8, and Junior School Swimming Sports Days were also held in Term 1, and in addition to some fantastic personal bests achieved by a number of our competitive athletes, it was really encouraging to see the number of girls participate and have fun across every age group!

Whole School Cross Country

Early in Term 2 we held our annual cross-country day, at which students from both the Junior and Senior Schools take part. The competitive events are held in the morning, with students keen to qualify for zones and the national competitions. We were really thrilled by the number of students who wanted to participate in the competitive event this year, and it was lovely to see the support and cheers from staff and students who encouraged those running in what are quite long races! In the afternoon we held the House runs/walk, and it was encouraging to note how the students are embracing wearing their House colours!

‘Making Connections’ at a wonderful new lunchtime club

in the courts, have had tons of snacks, and made string-bead bracelets together. What’s great is that we get to choose what we do, so it’s always fun and doesn’t feel forced’. Reyven adds ‘shared lunch and origami’ to the list of activities, so it’s little wonder that this humble club has become so popular since its launch!

not alone, as we have so many amazing girls around us to bond with as a whole. This group makes lunchtimes thrilling, and creates and develops friendships’.

Mrs Waalkens and a superb group of student mentors ensure that Tuesday lunchtimes are never short on fun. We caught up with a mentors Reyven Phillips, Sarah Ekeroma and Grace Thomson, to see what makes this new Year 8 – 13 initiative so special.

So, firstly, why was the group started? Reyven explains that ‘we started this group for girls who feel that they want to make more friendships’. Sarah adds that it’s also a great platform to ‘introduce newcomers to the rest of their year group’. The group offers students time to take a break from the busy school day, to connect with likeminded girls.

During a typical session, the girls will enjoy bonding over a range of activities that are decided by the members themselves, from arts and Crafts and sports, to simply enjoying conversation. ‘During the last few weeks we had a scavenger hunt for chocolate easter eggs, played ball games

This is a very special group for a number of reasons, Grace explains, ‘something that makes the group so special is the diverse group of kind students who are supportive of one another. This really helps all students to get to know each other and establish new connections.’ Sarah seconds that notion in adding that ‘the group is special in the sense that it makes girls realise the sense of community we have in our year-groups, and how it specifically addresses how we’re really

Sarah loves ‘the fact that the more we interact with each other, the more I find out about my peers, their interests, their ideas, and even with the girls who I already know, I feel like I’m getting to know them on another level.’

So, who can join this great new club?

‘Anyone can join the group, it's a safe space for others to meet new friends’, concludes Grace. We think that the Making Connections group is the perfect way to take time out to simply connect and enjoy one another’s company, making friendships that will last a lifetime!

Building on relationships old and new, is such an important part of College life. Providing girls with an opportunity to unwind and have fun with friends, is what the newly formed ‘Making Connections’ group is all about.

Shakespeare Success Story

St Cuthberts College was the most successful school at the Central Auckland Regionals of the SGCNZ University of Otago Sheilah Winn Shakespeare held at Avondale College. It was wonderful to hear our College spoken of with such high regard by the judges. We were competing against 51 groups from different Auckland schools, and came away with 50% of the awards. We were also awarded the coveted NSSP prize for both Natalie Lamb, with Jifei Shao as runner up. This is extraordinary! Well done.

We are so proud of what our students have achieved:

Outstanding Costume Design

King Lear, directed by Ms Louise Bolton

Outstanding Movement or Dance

King Lear, directed by Rosie Lammiman and Natalie Lamb

Outstanding Stage Combat

Hamlet, directed by Cherry Chen and Sylvia Xue. Combat performed by Katherine Qin and Pippa Whinery

Most truthful connection between Two Actors

Othello, Cherry Chen as Othello and Cloris Zhang as Desdemona

Most Insightful Interpretation of a Script

Measure for Measure, directors Eliza Went and Aanya Naidu

Outstanding Actor in a Tragedy or History Role

Mikayla Sieu as Cordelia in King Lear, directed by Ms Louise Bolton

Best Adult Director

King Lear, directed by Ms Louise Bolton

Direct Entry to NSSP (goes to NSSP)

Natalie Lamb as Cordelia in King Lear

Runner Up to NSSP

Jifei Shao as Malvolio in Twelfth Night

A massive congratulations to Ms Bolton’s King Lear, which got three awards! Her directing was applauded by the crowd and judges. This is Ms Bolton’s second win as best adult director at the Regionals Festival.

Spotlight on Year 7 Camp

Our Year 7 Camp was held in Term One and was a wonderful way for our students to really get to know one another and their teachers.

Year 7 sees a large number of new students enter the College, and also our Year 6 girls, ‘stepping up’ from the Junior School.

This year’s camp was held at Totara Springs near Matamata, and was focussed around building the girls’ confidence and resilience. For many girls, the four night camp is often the longest they have been away from their families, and it is a good first step in their Senior School journey as we build them towards their four week Year 10 adventure at our remote campus, Kahunui, in the Bay of Plenty.

Deputy Principal, and Head of Senior School, Suzanne Winthrop is a passionate advocate of outdoor education, saying that the inner confidence girls get from trying new activities, and learning to manage themselves, at this developmental stage, is invaluable.

“Learning in the outdoors, with team building activities, cooking together, tramping, and exploring nature, supports our girls to learn to work with people outside their immediate friendship group. “This is an important life lesson, and it also enables students to find deeper connections with their peers, and to develop new friendships. I travelled down to the Camp for the day, with Senior mentor Judi Paape, and absolutely loved it; the weather was kind, and the parents who supported the girls and the College as volunteers had a lot of fun themselves mentoring and encouraging the girls with their activities! We couldn’t undertake the camps without parental support, and their contribution was very much appreciated. Each parent was placed alongside a teacher or outdoor instructor, to maximise the learning opportunities for our students.”

Year 7 lead Sue Elgar, says that one of the most wonderful and rewarding experiences as an educator, is seeing girls who are facing a new or challenging activity, find the courage to have a go. “The look on a girl’s face when she has pushed her boundaries, and tried something new, is just fantastic.

“The whole philosophy for our students is challenge by choice – we let them

“Learning in the outdoors, with team building activities, cooking together, tramping, and exploring nature, supports our girls to learn to work with people outside their immediate friendship group.”

know that they have a choice to do a new activity, and they can choose to dig deep and try the activity or not. Making it their choice, empowers them and teaches them that they are capable of making decisions, in a safe and age-appropriate way. This then supports them both academically, and emotionally, as they move through the College into higher learning.

The girls experience rafting and canoeing down a river, and they get to sleep outdoors for a night; for many girls (and some of our parent volunteers!), this is the first time they have slept in a tent, outdoors. Shared experiences like this really build such wonderful connections and memoires for the girls, and they come back with new friends and a stronger sense of themselves.

Coming up, as we were going to print with the magazine, our Year 8 students were embarking on their own camp adventure to Finlay Park, Lake Karapiro!

“The look on a girl’s face when she has pushed her boundaries, and tried something new, is just fantastic.”

Dedicated E-Bike Parking

Many of you may have seen the beautiful new branded van transporting our students to their different team co-curricular activities.

Our first van arrived last year, and our second is arriving later this year! Each van seats 14 girls, and we are very grateful to Tristram European who has supported the College to buy the vans.

This term we have introduced a dedicated space for our staff and visitors to the College, to park and charge their e-bikes and scooters. The area is situated outside Black Watch House, and is proving to be very popular. We will be covering the space shortly, and are also planning more dedicated spaces for e-bike parking, as the need grows.

Her Mind, Body, and Spirit

Introducing Chartwells, and our Revitalised Boarding and Retail Food Offering!

The Trust Board announced our 2022-2032 strategic vision and core principles last year, and developing Her Mind, Body, and Spirit is one of these core principles.

Nurturing a student with modern, healthy, and nourishing food while she is at school, is an important part of caring for her wellbeing, supporting her to be happy and to learn at her best.

With that in mind, our management team recently reviewed our catering offering, and, earlier this year, Principal, Justine Mahon, announced that we have appointed leading company, Chartwells, to provide all our catering requirements across the College, including for our Boarding House, Tuckshop, Atrium Café, and functions and events.

Chartwells is a premium catering brand that is well known across both New Zealand and Australia.

While Chartwells provides the catering to a number of boarding schools in New Zealand, St Cuthbert’s will be the only school across Australasia to include its retail Tuck Shop and Atrium Café, in this premium food offering to our students.

The Chartwells’ menu has been developed by its head chef and former MasterChef winner, Brett McGregor, and is an exciting new offering for our students, staff, and parents.

The new food offering also included a renovation of our Tuckshop and Atrium Café, which have been modernised, to reflect a more delicatessen look (Café) and a market focus for the Tuckshop. The spaces are fresh and vibrant, offering wholesome, on-trend food, and outstanding service to our community.

There is now a separate Mojo Coffee cart in the Atrium (in blush pink of course!), with a dedicated barista, complete with sustainable coffee cups available to purchase. Using these keeper cups supports us with our CarbonZero 2030 goals; purchasers are contributing to planting a native tree through the ‘Trees that Count’ sustainability initiative – roughly every 37 hot beverages purchased at The Atrium Café using a reusable cup, plants one Native Tree & removes 0.63 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere.

The food offering is really exciting, with girls able to choose from a range of delicious salads, sandwiches, readymade meals, chia pots, sushi, vegan options, and more. The food offering will be regularly refreshed with seasonal changes, and students will be able to provide feedback.

We encourage our parents and alumni to visit the Atrium after drop-off in the morning, with coffee available from 7.30am each weekday. All the food packaging is sustainable, including the bespoke Black Watch Tartan wrapping you will see on many of the items in the Atrium Café!

Refreshing our Historic Violet Wood Dining Hall

As part of Chartwell’s commitment to St Cuthbert’s, over the summer break, the interior of our historic Violet Wood Dining Hall was refurbished, with beautiful new stained flooring, and a totally new front of house modern servery and tables for our students. The renovated space is really stunning and inviting, while still keeping the important historic look and feel of the building. The addition of the new smoothie bar is proving to be popular with our boarding students!

The innovative, and delicious boarding menu, which will operate on a four-week cycle, is really enhancing our students’ boarding experience.

Consider gifting your donation rebates from previous donations

It’s simple, costs nothing, and will amplify your previous donations by 33%!

St Cuthbert’s has partnered with kiwi social enterprise, Supergenerous. This gives our parents and alumni the ability to gift their donation rebates back to the College.

This will enable your St Cuthbert’s donations, from the last four years, to go further - delivering even more impact on students’ learning and lives.

The additional money the College receives thanks to the donation rebates on your original monetary gift, will benefit students in areas including Academics, Performing Arts, Technology, Sport, Professional Development and Student Wellness.

Our goal is to have everyone who supports St Cuthbert’s to register with Supergenerous. Even if you claimed previous tax credits, or have not yet donated, we still invite you to sign up and enhance your future donations by up to 33%.

Scan this QR Code with your camera phone and follow the simple prompts to register today.

Have you signed up with Supergenerous?

In less than five minutes, you can join thousands of Kiwis who have signed up with Supergenerous. Its online platform makes it easy to gift your donation rebates. And, Supergenerous does all the hard work by collecting your donation receipts (including donations to St Cuthbert’s!) and making the claim with the IRD on your behalf, year after year.

Did you know?

There are over $1B in donation rebates sitting unclaimed with Inland Revenue. So, there’s never been a better time to sign up with Supergenerous!

Globally, New Zealanders are renowned for their generosity. With more than 27,000 registered charities in New Zealand, there are more charitable organisations here (per capita) than most places in the world! Despite the fact that most donations in New Zealand are eligible for a 33% donation rebate from the IRD, a whopping 3 in 5 Kiwis simply don’t do it.

What if the unclaimed $1B in donation rebates were put to good use?

Our generous donations to St Cuthbert’s can go even further!

Leigh Melville has been one of our generous donors. Since registering with Supergenerous the donations Leigh has made, over the last four years, were eligible for donation rebates. With the help of Supergenerous, Leigh’s donation rebates were gifted to St Cuthbert’s –making her original donations go even further for the students and school.

Join Leigh, and other members of the Board and Senior Leadership Team, to register with Supergenerous and gift your donation rebates to St Cuthbert’s.

www.supergenerous.co.nz/st-cuths

Supergenerous donors have already gifted $400,000 in donation rebates to benefit charities, religious organisations and schools across New Zealand and that number is growing every month.

Just imagine the extra impact this could have for organisations like St Cuthbert’s .

Can you take five minutes to register today to help deliver an even greater impact on St Cuthbert’s students’ learning and lives?

CONNECTING WOMEN WORLDWIDE

We are thrilled to share with you all that has been happening in the Old Girls’ Association over the last six months, and we hope you enjoy reading about our exciting events, and developments.

Firstly, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all those who attended the Orsini Ladies’ Lunch. The sense of sisterhood and community was palpable, and it reminded us of why we’re so proud to be Old Girls of St Cuthbert’s College. By coming together, we were able to raise funds towards the development of the Chapel Grounds and contribute to the school motto “By Love Serve.” I want to once again thank all our sponsors, and those who donated items for the luxurious goodie bags. My biggest faux pas on the day was mistaking Old Girl designer, Caitlyn Crisp, for one of her beautiful models.

The coffee and cake evening for Old Girl

New Mums was another lovely event. It was inspiring to see so many new mums reconnect and bond over old editions of the Chronicle, while sharing their nerves about volunteering at the Year 7 camp and laughing over memories of not being allowed to walk up the Robertson Steps. We want to thank everyone who attended and made the evening so special. If only Auckland’s humidity had been as perfect as the evening!

Holding our AGM in person for the first time since 2019 felt like a monumental occasion, and made it a milestone event. Pulling together an AGM, a Chapel Service, and a morning tea, during the College’s annual Open Day, was a testament to the efforts of the Committee, and the College, and it flowed beautifully. Thank you.

We were thrilled to unveil Katherine Throne’s

art at the Old Girls’ Chapel Service. It was a poignant moment, and we felt a deep sense of pride as Reverend Joubert blessed the art. You’ll read more about the Old Girls’ Chapel art in these pages, but we are so proud to have art by Old Girls on the walls of the College.

The inaugural LinkedIn evening for Old Girls and parents was a resounding success. We were blown away by the enthusiasm and curiosity of the attendees, and we’re excited about hosting a similar session for our Year 13 students later in the year. It’s a testament to the strength of our community that we can come together to learn and grow. Thank you to our committee member Kate Bacchus, for leading this initiative.

The Old Girls’ Cocktail Reunion Party was a mammoth event, and a joyous celebration of our shared history and the enduring bonds that connect us as Old Girls of St Cuthbert’s College. We want to thank everyone who came and helped to make the evening such a memorable one. It was the largest cocktail party since the College’s 100th jubilee, and we’re thrilled that we could finally host the reunions which were cancelled due to the pandemic.

I want to acknowledge our departing committee members — Pip Barrett, Kim Williams, and Vianne Avery. Their dedication and commitment to the Old Girls’ Association have been invaluable, and we’re grateful for all that they’ve done. They will be missed. Thank you for your service.

We’re thrilled to welcome two new committee members — Lauren Jeffares and Sarah Vokes. Their passion for the College and their fellow Old Girls is inspiring, and we’re excited about working with them to continue the great work of the Old Girls’

Association. We always have room for more committee members, so if you are interested in being involved, in whatever capacity you have, please let me know.

We were delighted to award Emily Clarke the Violet Wood Studies Grant. Emily’s commitment to improving occupational health is a testament to the College’s ethos of service, and we’re proud to support her. The third annual St Cuthbert’s Literary Evening is on the 10th of August, so mark your diaries now. This event is going from strength to strength, and the hardest part of planning the evening is deciding how to limit our panel to only six incredible Old Girls. We are incredibly excited about the new look Making Their Mark Awards dinner, taking place at the Northern Club in September. The inaugural Awards night replaces the assembly we have held in the past and will encompass the Making Their Mark Award, the Old Girls’ Honours Award, the Marking Service Award, a new Emerging Leader Award, and a staff award. It’s a celebration of the accomplishments and contributions of our fellow Old Girls, and the dedicated staff who do so much to support our future alumnae. Tickets will be available later in the year, but watch your in boxes for the revamped nomination forms. Thanks to committee member Minta Smith, for all her work on this.

There has an additional new initiative we’ve rolled out this year, in conjunction with the Advancement Office, and that is a series of “Amazing Alumniae” posters. These will be displayed in the corridor linking the Robertson Building with the Science Block, and we will profile these “Amazing Alumnae” in the next edition of the Evergreen. It’s an exciting initiative to inspire our current students, and to recognise a larger number of our alumnae.

The Old Girls Association Committee doesn’t operate in isolation, and I want to thank Principal Justine Mahon, the whole Advancement Office team, Reverend Joubert, archivist Sarah Padey, and the Trust Board, specifically the Chair of the Trust Board - Leigh Melville, and Trust member, and former president of the Old Girls Association, Penelope Peebles. Your unwavering support and guidance are a constant source of strength for us, and for me.

Thank you for your ongoing support of the Old Girls Association. We hope to see you at our future events. We are always open to your feedback and ideas for other events.

Kindest regards

Kirsten McKenzie — President, Old Girls’ Association

St Cuthbert’s College Old Girls’ Association Donates Chapel Art

Everyone deserves a birthday gift, especially for a significant birthday, which is why the St Cuthbert's College Old Girls' Association commissioned two pieces of art by our alumnae to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Old Girls’ Chapel.

The first piece of art was unveiled over St Cuthbert’s Weekend at the Annual Old Girls’ Chapel Service, and is a stunning piece entitled "Friends and Family" by Old Girl artist, Katherine Throne (Dickenson, 1992).

The oil on canvas painting measures 1400 x 2000mm and depicts the beauty of wildflowers thriving with the support of the community around them. When we commissioned this piece for the Old Girls’ Chapel, our only guidance to Katherine was that it must encompass the colours of all eight houses, and hope. And with that, we let Katherine’s incredible imagination run riot.

Katherine's Master of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Art at Auckland University and her passion for painting flowers have led her to numerous accolades, including winning the 2014 Kendall College of Art & Design Studio Excellence Award and being a finalist in the 2020 Walker & Hall Waiheke Art Awards. Her most recent exhibition was a solo show titled “Rebels and Romantics” at Sanderson Contemporary Art Gallery.

Katherine’s interest in painting flowers began during her Masters research into the history of design. For Katherine, painting the flower is celebrating and championing all that’s feminine – the beautiful, the emotive, and our connection with the earth.

“The title of the painting ‘Friends and Family’, depicts the community that wild flowers grow in. Each one is unique but

thrives with the support of those around it. It’s a nice correlation with how good school friends become knitted and woven into our lives, supporting, encouraging and offering friendship in a way that make them become part of our own families,” says Katherine.

The Old Girls’ Association will soon unveil the second piece of art, one commissioned from talented Old Girl artist Tai Nimo (2018). This will be unveiled and blessed at the next Lindisfarne House Chapel Service.

Tai is an Auckland-based, multi-disciplinary artist who combines digital creation with her background in traditional illustration to create a signature style that has caught the attention of leading industry professionals. Tai's qualifications include a BFA from Elam School of Fine Arts and an artist residency with Tautai Gallery. Her commissioned work includes the NZ governmental Covid-19 Vaccine Campaign and print illustrations for Fale Press' latest book series. Her work has been featured in Viva Magazine, the Ministry of Education, and University of Auckland's Craccum Magazine. Tai's art is characterised by its youthfulness and primary colours, indicative of her skill, personality, and connection to her cultural heritage.

Tai’s piece of art will be a vibrant addition to the Chapel, and we can’t wait to showcase the piece in the next issue of Evergreen.

Katherine’s and Tai's commissioned pieces will be enjoyed by generations of students and visitors to the Old Girls Chapel, as they showcase the talent and diversity of St Cuthbert's alumni. The artwork enriches the chapel's atmosphere and adds to the legacy of the College's history and traditions.

Student and Volunteer Archivists Family Notices In Memorial

We sadly farewell the following Old Girls:

Emma Castle

Judith Gibbons Higham (Chance)

Shona Hoggins (Malcolm)

Telise Kelly (Martin)

Raewyn Lockington (Beare)

Glenis McCosh (Sanderson)

Shona Robertson Moberly (Rae)

Prof Ann Trotter

Do you have news to share?

Send your news to alumni@stcuthberts.school.nz

We love featuring stories from Old Girls: snapshots of your adventures, any notable achievements, additions to your family, memories of your time at school, mini reunions and more.

Go online to the Old Girls’ Association website to submit your profile. We love hearing all news. oldgirls. stcuthberts.school.nz/submit-your-profile/

Key Dates

Old Girls’ Decade Reunion Cocktail Party

Saturday 10 June 7.00pm, Clouston Hall

Year Groups:

1944, 1954, 1964, 1974, 1984, 1994, 2004, 2014

1945, 1955, 1965, 1975, 1985,1995, 2005, 2015

1946, 1956, 1966, 1976, 1986, 1996, 2006, 2016

1947, 1957, 1967, 1977, 1987, 1997, 2007, 2017

St Cuthbert’s Literary Night

Thursday 10 August 7.00pm, Joan Holland Auditorium

St Cuthbert’s Making Their Mark Awards

Evening

Wednesday 20 September, The Northern Club

Old Girls Chapel 30th Anniversary Chapel Service and Club 50

Wednesday 15 November

Year 13 2023 Graduation Ball

Friday 8 December

This is the first year the College has appointed Student Archivists. It is incredibly exciting, and the first two such Year 13 students are Emily Innes and Dima Kanani. After putting out a call for volunteers to help our College Archivist, the following amazing Old Girls stepping up to offer their assistance are Sarah Stewart (onsite) and Ginette Adams and Angela Eggleton working remotely.

Graduation Pendants for 2021

Quarter page

The 2021 graduates were the one year group which missed out on both a College ball, and a Graduation ball. We know that missing these rites of passage can leave a lasting impact. So as a committee spearheaded by Georgina Gilbert, we commissioned Orsini Fine Jewellery to create a memento specifically for the 2021 graduates. We hope that the message on the sterling silver charm is one that will stay with you. By Love Serve.

EMILY INNES Archivist

DIMA KANANI Archivist

With thanks to the St Cuthbert's College Archives

Graduating Class of 2022

It was a highlight watching the graduating class of 2022 cross the stage at the Graduation Ball, held at Ellerslie Events Centre. This wonderful tradition sees our Year 13s formally become a part of the sisterhood of the Old Girls' Association and our St Cuthbert's global alumni community.

The night was full of photos, laughter, dancing and goodbyes as this wonderful year group moves to the next chapter their lives, in the knowledge that they are supported by the Old Girls’ Association wherever in the world they may end up.

2023 Recipient of the Violet Wood Advanced Studies Grant

We are delighted to announce that Emily Clarke (2012) is the recipient of this year's Violet Wood Advanced Studies Grant. Emily's passion for healthcare and dedication to serving others is truly inspiring, and we are thrilled to support her in achieving her goal of obtaining a Postgraduate Diploma in Health Sciences, with a focus on Occupational Health.

Emily's thirteen-year tenure at St Cuthbert's instilled in her a deep sense of gratitude and a desire to give back to her community. She felt drawn to

the healthcare industry and saw an opportunity to push her skills towards the growing field of Occupational Health in New Zealand. With her commitment to providing high-quality care to her clients and an interest in mental health, Emily is completing four postgraduate-level university papers while working full-time. The grant will significantly support Emily's efforts, covering a portion of the $12,000 course fees. It will enable her to further her learnings towards a career as an Occupational Hygienist, a highly specialised sub-group of Occupational Health. Emily hopes to use her knowledge and skills to develop work plans for companies, ensuring that workers are safe and healthy in their workplaces.

Emily's values of service from St Cuthbert's live with her every day. She believes that love is at the core of nursing and uses empathy, care, and critical thinking to problem-solve and connect with her patients. Emily's passion for primary health led her to the realisation that creating opportunities for people to have healthcare support at work is the future of healthcare.

We are honoured to support Emily in her pursuit of knowledge and her chosen career path. We are impressed with her accomplishments and her dedication to serving others, and we are confident that Emily will continue to make St Cuthbert's proud. Congratulations, Emily, on receiving the Violet Wood Advanced Studies Grant.

Orsini Lunch

On March 9 at Non Solo Pizza, the Old Girls’ Association hosted the Orsini Ladies Lunch for our Old Girls and parents. Guests were delighted with a beautiful Italian inspired lunch and thoroughly enjoyed catching up with friends whom they have not been able to see for some time.

Thank you to our wonderful sponsors who helped make this event an incredible success. A special mention to Old Girls Sarah Hutchings of Orsini Fine Jewellery and designer Caitlin Crisp, who combined collections to raise funds for the St Cuthbert's Old Girls' Chapel grounds.

Engagements

Congratulations to Stephanie Jackson-Young, peer year 2011 on the news of her engagement to Ben Edwards.

Follow Your Heart

Rawinia Buchanan, an alumna of St Cuthbert’s College, has built a successful career in the wellness industry and is now the General Manager at Parohe Island Retreat. Rawinia’s journey to finding her true passion began after completing Year 13 in 2004. During her time at St Cuthbert's she exceled in subjects, achieving excellences across the board. However, upon finishing school, Rawinia felt lost.

"When you have a broad aptitude for learning, it can be overwhelming and difficult to find your true purpose," Rawinia said.

Rawinia decided to take a gap year, during which she worked in hospitality. This experience taught her the art of human connection and helped her realise that her true

passion lay in helping people. Rawinia's deep sense of compassion for people led her to start health sciences at university, with the intention of becoming a doctor, and satisfying her parents. However, a well-timed phone call from a friend inviting her to work in a luxury day spa, changed the course of her life.

Rawinia saw firsthand how people were carrying a great deal of stress and how spa treatments could help them relax and feel rejuvenated, to the point where they were almost levitating when they left the facility. This inspired her to leave university and pursue a career in the wellness space.

Rawinia managed day spas and health clubs, was flown out to private super yachts to deliver treatments, and even worked as a personal therapist to royalty. We weren’t allowed to say who though… Rawinia was involved in the set up and launch of SO/ Auckland, where she managed a team of experts in thalassotherapy, detox, traditional Chinese medicine, naturopathy, and rehabilitation, and has consulted on the development of Auckland’s Mondrian hotel, the sister hotel to SO/ Auckland.

With a Diploma in Yoga from Wellpark College of Natural Therapies and a Diploma in Spa Therapies from Elite International, Rawinia’s success in the wellness industry is a testament to her ability to connect with people and her commitment to finding the best practitioners in the field. “Finding wellbeing practitioners who are better than me,” she says.

She has a specific memory from Year 10, where her Social Studies teacher asked her to come to the front of the class to read the Te Tiriti o Waitangi Treaty of Waitangi aloud. As a shy teenager, with little Te Reo knowledge, she is eternally

grateful to a classmate from Great Barrier Island, who helped her with the pronunciation, and completing the task. As an adult, Rawinia has reconnected with her iwi in Hawkes Bay – Ngāti Kahungunu, and has since studied traditional Māori Healing in Rotorua.

Rawinia's current role as General Manager at Parohe Island Retreat, has been a rewarding experience. She was working on the development of Parohe Island Retreat a year before the first customer stepped foot on the island. The retreat boasts truly organic gardens and fruit trees, using natural permaculture techniques. The retreat has received only five-star reviews since opening, a direct result of Rawinia's hands-on management style and her ability to find and employ the best wellness practitioners.

To date, Parohe has successfully hosted a range of events including weddings and corporate events, with their first Mother and Daughter Retreat scheduled for July — a wholesome escape to inspire deepening connection, learning, and a mental and physical reset. Rawinia is not the only St Cuthbert’s link to Parohe Retreat. The retreat is owned by Kerry Knight and Jacq KnightKlisser, another alumna of St Cuthbert’s. One amusing work memory relates to the third night of a four-night Matariki Retreat, when her chef was called away, leaving Rawinia to make the dinner for the retreat's guests. Fortunately, she'd completed a

Culinary Arts paper at university and managed to produce a dinner worthy of their chef, without their guests realising. One of her most stressful moments in her career, and one she’s not that keen to repeat!

Named after her aunt Rawinia Matthews (the mother of fellow St Cuthbert's Old Girl Te Rere Cleveland), Rawinia Buchanan's journey exemplifies the importance of finding one's passion, following one's heart, and pursuing what one loves. And Rawinia's advice to young women today is to follow their hearts and pursue their passions.

Enriching other people's lives is a noble pursuit and one that is deeply rewarding, and she believes that success can be in any avenue one chooses to pour oneself into.

“The benefit of St Cuthbert's College is that the College teaches that one can be successful in any area one chooses,” Rawinia said.

With so many fabulous opportunities to travel and experience the world behind her, Aotearoa New Zealand is where Rawinia's heart is now, and she is actively engaging with other genuine Kiwi businesses to showcase the whole of New Zealand as a wellness destination.

Rawinia's journey has been shaped by her experiences at St Cuthbert's College, where the College's motto, By Love Serve, instilled in her an authentic sense of human connection, which has been instrumental in her success.

Honouring former St Cuthbert’s College Old Girl Ann Trotter

ONZM 23 January 1932 – 14 July 2022

I extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of former St Cuthbert’s College Head Girl, Ann Trotter ONZM. Ann was a distinguished historian, a much-admired teacher, and the first woman Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Otago. She was also a life member of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs and a senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic Studies. She lived her life abiding by the College motto, By Love Serve.

Ann was born in Hawera. She attended Hawera Main Primary School, and in 1945 she went to St Cuthbert’s College for her secondary education. She did well academically, and in sporting and cultural pursuits. She was appointed Head Girl in 1949. She completed a

Master of Arts with honours Otago University in 1953, followed by a graduate teaching qualification at Auckland Training College.

In 1955 Ann left for London, where she taught for 2 years before taking up a post lecturing for the International Wool Secretariat. She returned to New Zealand to teach at Epsom Girls Grammar in 1959. Curiosity about the world led Ann to take time out from teaching. She was aware of the growing importance of New Zealand’s connections with Asia as the country’s ties with the United Kingdom weakened. She decided to study Asian history at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, taking an MA with papers on China and Japan. This led to

a PhD in international history, on British relations with China and Japan in the 1930s.

At the end of 1973, Ann joined Otago University. Her research flourished and resulted in numerous publications. From 1993-97 Ann was the first women Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Otago, and Head of the Division of Humanities. In 1997, Ann was named an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for service to historical research.

‘Ann was a role model to many young women who saw in her what they might become: leaders in their field and a commitment to excellence.’

In memory of Telise Martin, née Kelly

We were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of St Cuthbert’s Old Girl, Telise Martin. Telise was simply an exceptional young woman, with a very bright future in front of her. She is remembered at the College as being a great listener, encouraging of others, and was always thoughtful in her approach.

Telise spent her final year of her secondary school education boarding at St Cuthbert’s, graduating with the class of 2008. Telise impressed all those who knew her with her wry sense of humour and her ready smile.

Principal, Justine Mahon, personally remembers Telise as being a very optimistic young woman, who showed real ability to adapt and thrive in new

situations. During her time with us, she threw herself into College life, participating in the annual production, tutoring younger students, and was a talented writer.

Telise’s Year 13 testimonial describes her as being quick to understand new concepts and to draw conclusions, and always willing to attempt complex problems which required original and lateral thinking, explaining her rationale in an articulate and clear manner. It is not surprising that she ended up excelling in her chosen career as a lawyer. From speaking to those who knew Telise, she absolutely loved the lifelong friends she made during her time at St Cuthbert’s. She will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing her.

‘From speaking to those who knew Telise, she absolutely loved the lifelong friends she made during her time at St Cuthbert’s.’

ABOVE: Telise, Top row, far right

From Advertising to Mindfulness

Je t'aime Hayr, a St Cuthbert's College alumna, has taken a fascinating journey from being an editor and advertising copywriter to mindfulness teacher and children's book author.

Imagine winning an art prize at five years old and being so overjoyed that you hug the presenter on the big Clouston Hall stage instead of shaking their hand. That's exactly what Je t'aime did, and it was a sign of the imaginative and creative journey she would embark on later in life. The year before, at a year one parent-teacher interview, her teacher told her parents she was "away with the fairies". At the time, it hardly seemed complimentary, but she now laughs about it as a clear indicator of her love for using her imagination.

After studying English and Media Studies at the University of Auckland and completing a Post Graduate Diploma in Creative Advertising at the Auckland University of Technology, Je t'aime started her career as an advertising copywriter. She worked with clients ranging from small businesses to multinational corporations, including Farmers, The Warehouse, Vodafone, and Telstra. During her later years in advertising, she dabbled in meditation using the Headspace app to focus and manage stress in the fastpaced, deadline-driven industry.

After some concerns, she may have left

things too late to have children. at 37, she and her partner tried fertility treatment. After the first round of treatment, she became pregnant, with a hormone test revealing triple normal levels.

Her path then took an unexpected turn when she was diagnosed with prenatal depression and anxiety. Near paralysed with fear of being unable to cope with multiple babies; she recalls her first trimester as a living hell. Whilst postnatal depression, menopause and perimenopause are more commonly discussed now, you rarely hear about prenatal depression because there is a societal expectation that a pregnant woman 'glows' and loves being pregnant. She felt ashamed and judged that she wasn't joyful about her pregnancy. Under the watch of Maternal Mental Health, she revisited mindfulness practice and meditation, which profoundly transformed her life.

She recognised falling into a negative feedback loop, constantly thinking that she couldn't cope and would never be happy, and threw herself into mindfulness and meditation, using it to bring herself into the present and recognise that she was fearing the future rather than being present. Breath meditation helped to calm her mind and body while anchoring her in the present.

"The ability to be truly aware of the present moment instead of ruminating on the past or fearing the future, dramatically improved my emotional wellbeing. I wanted to pass these skills onto my children and others, so I became a certified mindfulness teacher," Je t'aime says.

Then, when her boys were two years old, Je t'aime found herself with a new challengetwin toddlers! She sometimes struggled to manage her own emotions in response to her children's strong feelings, tantrums and meltdowns.

"I'd feel angry or stressed and distract or 'shush' them. Instead of rushing to 'fix' their mood, I also needed to be present with their emotions. If we teach our children that emotions are shameful, we can't expect them to be resilient or calm as they navigate future challenges. Mindfulness reminded me of the importance of validating my children's emotions and helping them feel safe expressing them," she says.

This transformational experience inspired her to write The Little Tiger with the Big Temper, a picture book for children and adults that teaches simple mindfulness techniques to improve emotional literacy and resilience. The book has received many positive reviews, including one on the Mental Health Foundation website and featured on TVNZ Breakfast Television and the 1News website. She told 1News: "I was looking for a tool to help me navigate this and help my children learn to self-regulate because we all have to learn how to be better communicators."

The Little Tiger with the Big Temper aims to help children and adults learn mindfulness techniques that improve emotional regulation and resilience. Je t'aime crafted a picture book that could be read to children, providing opportunities for parents to learn alongside their children. The book is an enjoyable story which can be read anytime, helping children understand the mindfulness tools and reminding parents, teachers and caregivers of prompts to use when little ones are navigating challenging emotions.

Je t'aime's passion for teaching others how to develop mindfulness skills and stay present, anchored and mindful is evident in everything she does. Her book is a testament to her dedication to helping others improve their emotional wellbeing. The Little Tiger with the Big Temper is a valuable tool for anyone who wants to learn how to regulate their emotions and stay present.

Her story reminds us that life is full of surprises; sometimes, unexpected turns lead to our most significant achievements.

In Interview with Claire Choe

OLD GIRL AND MARKETING EXECUTIVE

What was your career trajectory from student to current role?

After finishing up my BA/BCom degree with Honours in Marketing, I spent a few years working in Marketing for brands like Orcon, BP and Wild Bean Cafe.

I then moved over to London and landed an amazing role working for a creative agency called DTV Group which specialised in making fundraising TV ads, films and social content for charities. This was my first client services' role and over the course of 5.5 years, I progressed from Account Executive up to Account Director.

In early 2021, it came time to move home, and since then I’ve been working as an Account Director at Daylight - a creative and digital agency which is part of The Spinoff Group. We have a cool office space in Morningside, complete with dogs!

What are some of your favourite campaigns you’ve worked on?

There have been so many! Here are just a few examples of campaigns I’ve worked on since working at Daylight:

• World Health Organization: we created a tonne of content for the WHO throughout the pandemic, from the early stages of understanding COVID-19, managing risk, vaccine preparedness and then through to addressing the issue of global vaccine inequality. It was crazy creating work that would be viewed on social media by millions of people in just one day. One project that stands out was creating a mixed-media video for the Global Health Summit. Voiced by Gordon Brown, the video appealed to country leaders to invest their fair share towards the global pandemic response and was viewed by some of the world’s most influential leaders.

• NZ Vaccine Facts: we helped the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet address vaccine hesitancy and misinformation during the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine by creating an animated series that covered all sorts of educational topics; things like how does a vaccine work, vaccine safety and side effects. We created a range of diverse Kiwi characters to make the videos super fun and engaging.

• Drawing Science: off the back of the impactful work that Toby Morris and Siouxsie Wiles did together during the pandemic, we organised an awesome workshop called Drawing Science. The event brought together 15 scientists and 15 creatives from around the country to learn how to better work together and strengthen the way that science is communicated. Toby and Siouxsie were there to share their experiences, and it was a great opportunity for people to network and meet people with whom they would go on to work.

• Fred Hollows: had the opportunity to create Fred Hollows’ Christmas campaign, which was about giving the gift of sight. I really loved being able to work with such an amazing charity doing such life-changing work in the Pacific.

Do you have any advice for students interested in working in a creative agency ?

I would say start doing a bit of research into the types of agencies you like the look of and follow their work on social media. Keep an eye out on what’s happening in the industry, the types of creative work that you like and don’t like and think about why that is.

How long did you live in the UK for? Would you like to share more about your life there, where you worked, and your overall experience?

I lived in London for almost six years, and absolutely loved it. It was really fun making such a huge city feel like home. Saw hundreds of shows and concerts (lived out my lifelong dream of seeing The Spice Girls at Wembley Stadium), did loads of travel, and made some awesome friends. They also have a great website called “Borrow My Doggy”, where I made friends with some awesome dogs and people.

As mentioned above, I worked for a creative agency called DTV Group which specialised in making fundraising TV ads, films and social content for charities. We had our offices on boats which sat on Regent’s Canal, and I was really lucky to do a lot of travel for work, as I had clients all over Europe. I even had the chance to go to Ethiopia and Zambia to help film the amazing work of two of my clients for our TV ads.

I also experienced the first year of the pandemic in London, which was a very surreal experience.

It’s wonderful to see your long history of volunteering. Could you please tell us more about your volunteering activities, why it is meaningful for you, and how volunteering makes the world a better place for all?

I’ve always volunteered from a young age - whether that was collecting on the streets, or playing the violin and piano at retirement homes.

One charity I’ve been volunteering with for a long time (15 years now!) is Radio Lollipop, which provides care, comfort and play to children in hospital. I go to Starship Hospital once a week to play games, make crafts and chat with kids on the wards. When I lived in London, I also volunteered at Great Ormond Street Hospital, where Radio Lollipop has a big team. It’s a wonderful charity, and the volunteers are some of the best people. The children and families we meet in hospital are so amazingly resilient and it’s really rewarding to be able to bring some smiles, fun and laughter to their day. Kids often say they’re going to miss Radio Lollipop when they go home, which is really sweet, because why would you miss anything about being in hospital?! I’ve also done a lot of work with Radio Lollipop at the management level and I’m currently a team leader for the Radio Lollipop 2025 project, which is a multi-year project designed to gather knowledge and grow leaders within the organisation. I was also able to fundraise $8k for Radio Lollipop running a half marathon - which was supposed to be in Vancouver, but due to lockdown, I

ended up running around a completely deserted central London.

In London, I volunteered with a group called GoodGym, which is a community of people who run, walk or bike to a spot where we’d volunteer for a community organisationhelping spread woodchip in a park, tidying up a youth centre or making up beds for homeless people in the winter. It was fun doing something physical and helpful, with many hands making light work.

During the pandemic, I also volunteered with our local community group by taking an elderly, vulnerable neighbour’s dog for a walk regularly. Not only did I meet a lovely dog who lived across the road, but it was nice to be able to chat with our neighbour from a distance, who lived alone and I don’t think had much contact with others during that scary time.

I think giving your time to worthwhile causes is one of the greatest gifts you can make. You can never underestimate the difference you can make through your interactions with people, and by giving a helping hand.

Could you please tell us more about your role with Asia New Zealand Foundation? What do you enjoy about participating in the Leadership Network?

I’ve been a part of the Asia New Zealand Leadership Network since 2010. It’s a professional network focused on developing and maintaining links between New Zealand and Asia, and I’ve met many super smart, passionate people through it. Being part of the network has allowed me to learn so much about different aspects of Asia. I’ve had the chance to travel with network members to Vietnam and Taiwan, and have participated in hui closer to home on topics such as wellbeing and social entrepreneurship.

What types of involvement have you had in the world of music? I see you were nominated as the National Young Performer of the Year in 2006, which was great to read!

I started learning the violin and the piano from the age of 3, so music has always

been a big part of my life. I made my way through all the exams and now I just enjoy playing the piano for fun, as well as listening to and going to loads of music concerts.

I loved being part of the St Cuthbert’s music department during my time there - the Blackwatch Orchestra, Sebastian Squad and being in the band for musicals too. We had such a talented group, and performed to such a high quality, so I have really fond memories of that experience.

What does By Love Serve mean to you?

To me, By Love Serve means being kind to people, and caring about others. Whether that’s people with whom you have daily dealings, or reaching out further into the community. I really value people who go out of their way to always try to be kind.

What are some of your favorite St Cuthbert’s memories?

I have so many good memories from my 9 and a bit years at St Cuthbert’s. There was something really magical about spending solitary time in the photography darkroom amongst the weird-smelling chemicals. Studying photography in year 12 and 13, was a bit of a tangent for me, but I absolutely loved being able to engage creatively and learn new skills.

I loved playing in the orchestra for the school musicals, which were such amazing productions! I’ve become a bit of a musical theatre junkie since then. I also appreciate the way school challenged us to try new things - I remember having to train for the duathlon (I was not a sporty kid!) and being one of the most improved students; and of course, all the wonderful teachers who taught us so much, and friendships that were made at the College and have lasted over all these years.

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A fine legacy – Runciman Corner

The bequest of ‘Fine Swimming Baths’

In 1927 we received a significant donation from Miss Runciman, who bequeathed £6000 ($200,000 in today’s money) to St Cuthbert’s College with the instruction that one of the first-ever heated swimming pools be built for the students. This generous donation enabled the Runciman Baths to be constructed on the campus.

The NZ Herald described the project as “The construction of the baths on such a pretentious scale has been made possible through the generosity of Miss Runciman and her niece”. The length of the pool, or swimming baths as it was known, was 65ft and the depth ran between 3ft and 9ft. The NZ Herald goes on to describe the baths further, “The baths will be conducted along the system termed by Americans ‘swimming in the drinking water’”. Radical at the time, was a provision for the electrical cleaning of the bottom and sides of the baths.

Miss Runciman was the first ever publicly acknowledged female donor to the College. To ensure her contribution to St Cuthbert’s continues to be recognised, we have recently dedicated a room in the Robertson Building to her memory: The Runciman Corner.

Connecting with our community across the world

St Cuthbert’s College has a long history of philanthropic giving for the benefit of students’ learning and lives, for which we are truly grateful.

Miss Runciman’s visit to The Runciman Swimming Baths, 1928

St Cuthbert’s students enjoying the Runciman Swimming Baths, 1927

“Fine Bathing pool opened at St Cuthbert’s College”, New Zealand Herald, 5 December 1927

The Runciman Corner, as it is now christened, is situated in the Robertson Building and has been beautifully decorated including a picture of the Runciman Swimming Baths at the opening in 1927. It has been established especially for small discussions and Zoom meetings – allowing us to stay in touch with our Alumni and Friends who live all over the world.

Tristram European, the proud home of Volkswagen, ŠKODA and MG on the North Shore, Volkswagen in West Auckland and MG in Greenlane. We have dedicated Service and Parts departments, offering premium servicing with pick up /drop off and mobile options, as well as genuine parts and accessories.

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