JUNIOR, MIDDLE & SENIOR SCHOOL
“We love it, you will too!” Book your personal tour today Please contact: Lizzie Dyer, Registrar (03) 353 2563 • enrol@stmargarets.school.nz
Scholarship applications for 2020 close 15 May
stmargarets.school.nz
Contents 6
18 31
8
16
Opening Remarks 2 Current Leaders – Sujean In 3 Out & About 4 Paperchains of Love 6 Looking Forward 7 Empowering Girls – Mya Reid & Grace Horsbrugh 8 Five Minutes With... 9 Foundation 10 Parents & Friends Association 11 The Arts 12 Sport Accelerator Programme 14 Boarding Life 16 Immersion into International Baccalaureate 17 Middle School 18 Junior School 19 Pre-School 20 SMC Old Girls’ Association 21 St Margaret’s Memories 22 Old Girls’ News 24 SMCOGA Upcoming Events 25 Old Girls’ Events 26 Reunion Weekend 28 Alumni Profile – Kaitlyn White 30 Alumni Profile – Faith Mitchell 31 From the Archives 32 In Closing 33
F R E E
S H I P P I N G
N Z
W I D E
S U N DAY 12 M AY
TREAT MUM THIS MOTHER’S DAY...
SPECIAL OFFER EXPIRES SUNDAY 12 MAY
with a beautiful Photobook & get the second copy HALF PRICE! Go to www.caxton.co.nz use the promo code ‘4mum’
PRINT & DESIGN EXCELLENCE
Opening Remarks DIANA PATCHETT
There is a glorious flush of energy that heralds a new school year, and I relish the opportunity to harness that for the benefit of our girls, our school and our community. The Prefect’s theme for the year, ‘Set the Scene 2019’, and its accompanying theatrical metaphor, combined with our whole school strategic focus areas, provide a fabulous road map for the year ahead, ensuring our collective energy realises a common goal. They reinforce our important aspirations to support each girl to star in her own blockbuster, to maintain and improve our position as a high performing school and to strengthen our positive social influence locally, nationally and internationally. Distinguished Professor Emeritus Viviane Robinson (University of Auckland) may not be well known to New Zealanders outside of education; however, she is a remarkable woman who has improved educational outcomes for students across the globe. Her contributions to educational leadership research are compelling and her more recent publication, ‘Reduce Change to Increase Improvement’, is a well-annotated tome in my library. In the book, Ms Robinson asserts that it is time to stop talking about change and to focus on the far more ambitious goal of achieving improvement. The distinction between change and improvement is critical because the merging of these two big ideas contributes to why we have too much change and not enough improvement. To lead change is to exercise influence in ways that move a team, school, network or system from one state to another. The second state could be better, worse, or the same as the first. To lead improvement is to exercise influence in ways that leave the group in a better state than before. St Margaret’s College is a learning institution that holds innovation and excellence as educational imperatives for our girls. So, a willingness to embrace continuous improvement is vital alongside the resilience to embrace failure as a necessary means to realising a solution to new challenges. I look forward to supporting the staff and students in these endeavours so that St Margaret’s College and our girls continue to move from strength to strength. Diana Patchett – Executive Principal
2
Current Leaders
SUJEAN IN
“It’s an honour to be in this role”
As a Year 7 starting out at St Margaret’s College, Sujean In didn’t even dare to dream she would one day become Head Girl. “I had no idea at all, it came to me by surprise, but a really nice one. It’s an honour to be in this role.” The atmosphere and the sense of sisterhood describe how Sujean feels about SMC. “I really like how I always feel like I belong, like I am included.” Feeling included, saying
hello, passing a kind word are all things Sujean is looking forward to this year, “It’s the little positives that each day brings that make you smile.” And, drawing inspiration from the people she surrounds herself with every day, Sujean aims to be an inclusive leader who empowers others to be leaders as well. “I love team work and hopefully what I do this year will make other girls feel like they truly belong here as well.”
3
Out & About OPEN DAY
HOUSE WARMING FAMILY PICNIC
4
Out & About SUMNER
– REGIONAL EVENT
ROWING
– SOUTH ISLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS
5
Paper Chains of Love “The event that unfolded on Friday 15 March was ugly, but we should try to see the beautiful. So much humanity, kindness and love arose from the past few days as we all looked after one another in our community. Because hate and fear can only have power temporarily, in the absence of love. Love is all around us and is indeed stronger than hate. Love can conquer hate. They tried to tear our city down like paper, but what they didn’t realise was that we are all interlinked – strong chains that cannot be broken. Although innocent lives were lost on Friday afternoon, we can still rise up against hate by showing our love. To show our love and support for the victims and the affected Muslim community of New Zealand, the prefect team and I came up with the #paperchainsoflove movement. It challenges students around New Zealand to make paper chains with messages of love for the affected community in Christchurch. It has been taken on by many schools within the One School Network in Christchurch, but also in other parts of New Zealand, Australia and around the world. By making these paper chains, we can actively do something to combat hate with love. During this week, we urge you to make some paper chains at home, or at school during
6
tutor time or lunchtimes. The messages on the chains can be anything that comes to mind; it can be for the Muslim brothers and sisters, the Christchurch or even the NZ community. The prefect team and I would like to thank all of you girls in advance for helping us drive this movement, and would like to say a massive thank you for all the support we have been receiving over the past few days. So girls, go out and love because it is the strongest remedy for hate.” Speech given by Sujean In to the whole school, following Friday 15 March.
Looking Forward While St Margaret’s College is currently enjoying a record roll, some of the highest NCEA and IB results in the country and the school of choice by families from over 20 nations, like all success stories, we cannot rest on our laurels. We must look to the future to ensure students continue to benefit from the best education possible and parents continue to see the value of investing in a private, single-sex education. After gaining perspectives from students, staff and parents, the Trust Board and Leadership Team have worked together during the first part of 2019 to establish a three-year strategy. This not only builds on SMC’s current strengths, but also highlights areas where we see room for growth. Areas that are the backbone of SMC’s culture will continue to be just that, with a focus on continuous improvement: · Customer and stakeholder experience · Holistic education providing a wide number of education choices · Community wellbeing including students, staff and the wider community when in need · Strong traditional values · Commitment to personal excellence In addition, five further themes have been identified as key areas of focus. Each is championed by a member of the Leadership Team with further members of the Team providing support.
Environmental Sustainability
Adopt ways of thinking and patterns of behaviour, by students, staff and the school community as a whole that meet the needs and aspirations of the present generation without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs and aspirations.
Financial Stability To ensure the financial stability of the College, with a view to enhancing the efficiencies of our operations and safeguarding for the future. This includes considering fee structure, the roll, sustainability of assets, treasury management and non-operational income.
Flexible Teaching & Learning To further develop flexible teaching and learning that is responsive, challenging, innovative, coherent and connected, to ensure the learner experiences personal success within our educational framework.
Service Culture & Social Conscience Facilitate and demonstrate within and between generations and ethnic and social groups, inclusive of student, family and staff physical and mental wellbeing. This wellbeing will include physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual and environmental aspects.
Campus Structure Ensure the campus is working to its optimum level to provide facilities required to deliver a world-class education. Communication is always a two-way street and we welcome feedback from our community, especially if you have a professional or personal interest in any of the key areas of focus identified above. This can be done directly to the Executive Principal or through the PFA. We look forward to hearing from you.
7
Empowering Girls The determination and mental toughness to push their bodies to the absolute limit is not something you’ll find in many 17-year-olds. You will however find two at SMC. Mya Reid and Grace Horsbrugh (Y13) found out exactly what it is to push past the pain when they both competed in the 2019 Coast to Coast. From sporting families with a history of competing in the Coast to Coast, Mya completed the two-day team event with a friend and Grace was in the family category of the same two-day event.
MYA REID Running up Deception Valley and over Goat’s Pass, up Dudley’s Knob and down the river to Klondyke Corner – day one of the team event for the Coast to Coast and Mya loved it! When not at SMC, Mya lives on a farm and loves being outside which she says made it a lot easier for her to train. “I learnt that I had the mental game to get up every day, train and prepare myself for the race.” Pushing herself to train, Mya knew she only had herself to answer to as she took on training rides of up to 55 km. And the training paid off when she found herself alone on the 70km cycle leg back into Brighton. “My team mate came in a bit later than expected and the easterly wind had picked up so I was riding into a wind all the way home. I was absolutely shattered and couldn’t catch any bunches so it was definitely challenging.” But there’s no rest for Mya yet. She plans to up the ante next year and compete in a tandem. “That’s two people and you do all of the legs together over two days.”
GRACE HORSBRUGH
8
Your mind gives up before your body, one of the many lessons learned by Grace as she pushed herself to complete the final cycle back into Brighton. “I also learnt that the faster you can get the race done, the faster you can cross the line so you just have to push through the pain and keep up.” Finding the time and hills on our Canterbury Plains were also challenges as Grace prepared for the event. “I was lucky enough to go to Outward Bound just before the Coast to Coast and all of the tramping and hill climbing really helped.” The Coast to Coast is in Grace’s blood, her Mum has done it, as have all of her aunts and uncles and Grace’s Dad has completed the event three times. Finishing the 2019 race in fourth place for the Family category was a true highlight for Grace and her dad. Asked if she would compete again, she is reflective. “I would love to do the individual two-day in the future but we were so happy with our results if we did it next year it would be even more competitive, so I’ll finish on a high for now.”
5 Minutes With...
GILL BLACKLER
What is your role at SMC? I manage the Kamar database – so yes I know every girl and exactly where they are meant to be at any given time! What’s the best part about your job? The very cool people I get to work with, the staff and the students here are amazing. What’s the highlight of the school year for you? Probably the end of the year with all of the prize-giving’s and end of year events. The teachers enter all of the prizes and from that point on I print the certificates and get the trophies engraved. Getting everything in the right place at the right time for the three prize-giving’s is down to me, which is slightly terrifying!! What do you do to relax? Travelling and walking and if I can’t get away to travel I’m baking – lots of cupcakes. My favourite flavour is carrot, ginger and walnut which is a Nigella Lawson recipe with fluffy cream cheese frosting if not that, chocolate Guinness. Do you have any hidden talents that would surprise people? Probably the fact that I can now create props for school productions and make completely mad hats like I got to do for Alice! last year. I didn’t quite know I had it in me but it was great fun and now we are just starting to create some of the decorations for Grimm’s Fairy tales this year’s production.
DAVID THOMPSON How long have you been a teacher at SMC? 6 or 7 years I forget. I think it was 2014 so yes I’m in my sixth year now. What’s the most surprising thing that you’ve learnt from your time here? Definitely the capacity of the girls to work incredibly hard. That always surprises me and the variety of the different activities they take on. Some of them do way more than I would have thought was a possibility for a teenage girl. What is the highlight of the year for you? All of the House activities that we do. Things like athletics day and House day, the different events that we have that makes St Margaret’s – St Margaret’s. And I enjoy traditions like the Carol Service too. What do you do in your spare time? I enjoy music so I play guitar and sing, I do lots of reading, I’m a runner – I go running three or four times a week. I also enjoy hanging out with my family, Sophia is 7 and William is 3, taking them swimming, going to the library or the playground. You mentioned you play the guitar, any other hidden talents? I do play a little bit of the keyboard as well. That’s it, no superman hiding under the cape!!
9
Foundation The last day of March marked a significant day for the St Margaret’s College Foundation, culminating a year and half of restoration work when St Mark’s Chapel was officially consecrated by Bishop Peter Carrell. This project was made possible with the generous donations we received from the St Margaret’s Community. To raise the funds and complete this extensive project in less than two years is a phenomenal feat and one for which we are truly grateful to everyone who donated. Now, there is just the icing on the cake to go – to complete the stained glass in the tryptic windows which we hope to have raised the remaining funds for by the end of the year. The Foundation’s focus for 2019 is to continue to build on the momentum from last year’s Annual Matching Campaign by increasing contributions to the Foundation Scholarship
10
Fund. In line with the Trust Board’s strategic priorities we will continue to explore opportunities to enhance the social conscience and serving culture of the College and community. This year’s main fundraising function is The Foundation Ball which will be held at the Christchurch Art Gallery on Saturday 24 August. This spectacular evening will consist of a three-course dinner with wine, one of Christchurch’s top live bands and a couple of surprises! Tickets will go on sale in June but you can reserve your place now by contacting Nicky Averill in the Foundation office. And to wind up the year in style, we are bringing back last year’s sold out event – the House and Garden Tour and sprinkling it with a Christmas theme. The tour will be on Sunday 10 November so mark it in your diaries now! Nicky Averill – Foundation Manager
Parents & Friends Association The PFA Annual General Meeting in March has given me time to reflect on how many activities the Parents and Friends Association has supported at St Margaret’s College over the past year. So many of you have donated your time and network to support what we do. We have run successful Father Daughter Breakfasts, supported the school’s sports days, and many arts and fundraising events. Particular highlights were last year’s House and Garden Tour and the recent School Open Day. I am really grateful for the time and effort you give to support these activities none of which would be possible without you! In addition to the time donated we were also able to put the PFA funds to fantastic use. It was with great pride that Jean Oliver and I attended the recent consecration of St Mark’s Chapel, last year the PFA was able to donate a large sum towards the restoration of the chapel and I urge you to make some time to take a look at this beautiful building. It has been a magnificent effort from all of those involved, our donation made a real difference and is acknowledged by the school with a plaque on the wall.
In 2019, the Executive Committee of the PFA has also gone through a change, Jean Oliver has stepped down as Secretary after a long tenure. We all thank Jean for her tremendous support over the years. And I am pleased to welcome Rachel Murrell to the role of Secretary. Roger Martin (Treasurer) and I look forward to building on the success of our predecessors. As I look to the end of the first term, my continued aim is to connect more parents into our PFA network and communicate the great work our parent/friend volunteers do to support our girls at school. I do urge you to come along to one of our meetings or alternatively email pfa@stmargarets.school.nz if you are able to help out at any events. For our meeting dates, and more information about what we do, please see the PFA tab under Parent Information on the school website. Flavia Timiani Dean – Parents & Friends Association President
We also continue to support smaller projects around the school, last year there was a variety of donations to support technology and the Junior School. This year one of our major focus areas will be exploring how we can support the renovation of Paterson Lodge to make this a usable facility for our girls in the future. We are really blessed to have access to this gorgeous property right on our back doorstep, so we are embracing the challenge to help bring this wonderful lodge back to some of its former glory across the next 18 months. We will need lots of help so please do come along to our meetings to hear more about this.
11
The Arts
Set the Scene 2019 Whiria te tangata – weave the people together
With our hearts and arts we will set a scene of inclusivity, diversity, and unity, celebrating these values with our community at our end of term Twilight concert, We Are One. We are dedicating this occasion to the victims and families of the recent terror attacks, events which have inspired our girls to compose, to choreograph, to create tribute pieces showing our love and support at this time. We endeavour to offer our girls a wide palette of co-curricular choice in the arts and we aim to support our students with their initiatives and ideas for renovation. While our Centre for Innovation provides students of all ages the chance to create and explore on a weekly basis, our SMC Highland Dancers were recently presented with a national Innovation Award as the only school-based Highland Dance group in the country. Our Highland Dancers are a student-created and student-led group, as are many of our groups. Through this open approach, we sustain our Tuakana-Teina environment, empowering our girls to live and lead. This year SMC Arts Council girls are offering new initiatives for younger students to learn and engage in the arts, with an Arts Mentoring programme aimed at pairing up Senior and Middle School girls, as well as Have-a-Go days and
12
fortnightly performances in the quad, staging a scene we can all enjoy. While these proposals allow girls of all abilities to participate, we often rely on the honed skills of our most gifted students to represent us at events such as the Episcopal Ordination and Installation of The Reverend Dr Peter Carrell as Ninth Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch, where it was not just the dulcet tones of our Chamber Choir on show, but also the girls’ superb qualities as ambassadors for their school. It is in these moments that we are thankful to our talented and generous staff members and itinerant tutors who consistently give of their time and energy, most often outside school hours. Exam results for Speech and Drama from last year show our girls continuing to achieve highly; we have four representatives in the NZ Secondary Schools’ Symphony Orchestra and watch with pride as ex-students make their way successfully onto the national music scene and even go as far as treading the boards at the Globe Theatre in London. This year St Margaret’s arts will continue to “aim high and shoot wide”, with the hope of nurturing and encouraging every girl to set a better scene for 2019. Mary Davison – Arts Facilitator
13
SMC Sport Accelerator Programme The Sport Accelerator Programme aims to provide girls with the tools and information that will help them achieve their potential in sport. We believe it is best to give young people access to the correct information from a young age, so they can keep building on their knowledge as they grow and develop in their sport. We are finding more and more that the information they are learning has relevance to all areas of their lives, not just their sport. Things like good nutrition, resilience, and time management are some of the examples of life long skills that will endure long after their sports careers may have finished. Girls at St Margaret’s College can join the Sports Accelerator programme from Year 10 and we now have three levels running. Level 1 at year 10, Level 2 at year 11 (or girls new to the Senior School) and an Advanced programme for our Year 12 and 13 students.
14
All sessions are held in the lunch hours, with each group having approximately 12 sessions spread across the year. Topics include nutrition, time management, mindfulness, sports psychology, recovery, principles of training, balancing school and sport, dealing with pressure and much more. We are very lucky to have a wide range of experts who have been willing to come in and deliver some amazing sessions with our girls. Some of our regular speakers have included ex Black Sticks players Gemma Flynn and Rachel McCann, Black Caps cricketer Todd Astle, dieticians Katrina Darry and Jess Moulds, and ex Silver Ferns Physio Sharon Kearney to name a few. This year we are initiating parents’ sessions to ensure our parents who support their daughters with their sport are well informed on many of these topics. Helen Belcher – Director of Sport
St Margaret’s College Foundation Ball Saturday 24 August 2019 more details to come...
15
Boarding Life Celebrating the unique bond of our boarders is key for a successful, happy household. We are all individuals with our own ideas and dreams but when mixed together, this eclectic bunch make up the most amazing family. Our boarders set the scene for 2019 with a stunning Big Day In to begin their year together. This began with an action-packed morning at the Botanical Gardens, completing a photo challenge scavenger hunt and team races in their house groups. Our vibrant house colour outfits and joyous laughter drew in crowds of people while they watched our races and tug of war. After we had returned to school and had a barbecue lunch, we went ten pin bowling. A very entertaining afternoon watching some rather unique bowling styles! Our new boarders have settled well into boarding life. The bumps in the road have been few and we are delighted to see these gorgeous girls enjoying the spirit of friendship and belonging as they learn to live in a large shared community. We have also celebrated the 2019 Boarding Leaders and Boarders Council. The Boarders Council comprises of representatives from each year group. These ladies plan the boarders clothing and meet regularly to discuss ideas they would like to see introduced to the boarding houses.
16
Activities this term have been exciting and varied. We had our first dinner swap for the year for our juniors. Our Year 10 girls enjoyed dinner at Christ’s College and the Year 9 boys joined the girls for dinner at St Margaret’s. For our older girls, they had their annual Valentine’s Day breakfast hosted by Christ’s College. The International Club have enjoyed the first of many outings they will have with their Christ’s College contemporaries. A dinner out to meet and greet was a great way to get to know each other in a fun environment. Our weekend boarders have enjoyed some fun outings, such as a soak in the hot pools at Hanmer Springs, movies, and Orana Park. The in-house activities included the production of delicious baking that the Julius girls delivered to the central Police Station and St John to say thank you for all they do for our community. The biggest hit of Term One has got to be the new Kilburn Common Room. Mrs Patchett opened this stunning new space and it has been an instant hit with our community. The girls have enjoyed the new kitchen facilities and love being able to get out into the courtyard to enjoy the evenings. Julius House didn’t miss out on a treat to start the new year with however. They have a lovely big trampoline to enjoy. The whoops and squeals we hear coming from the Julius lawn area prove that this is a welcome addition to our boarding community.
Year 12 Immersion into International Baccalaureate
As one parent writes, “Our daughter has come back stimulated and really excited about the two years to come. She is ‘fizzing’ about IB and talks to anyone who will listen to her about what a cool programme it is.” When we hear that, we know the IB Camp has achieved at least some of its aims! What, then, is IB Camp? After a few weeks of adjusting to new timetables and meeting new teachers, the Year 12 IB girls head away from Christchurch, chilly bins of food, sleeping bags, and wading boots in hand. We have three main goals: 1. To complete a compulsory unit of science work involving collaboration and creative thinking – the Group 4 Project;
2. Familiarisation with the IB Core - Creativity, Activity, Service, the Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge; 3. Taking the initial steps of a learning journey where critical thinking and reflecting on one’s own perspective and assumptions is an integral part of the learning itself. With the advent of technology we have finger-tip access to knowledge at an ever-increasing rate – knowledge in the form of facts, of inference and of opinions. Critical thinking and reflection on one’s learning must therefore be more important than ever before. Our Year 12 IB girls have made a great start in that direction! Beth Rouse – IB Co-ordinator
17
Middle School When I was young I used to dream of the year 2000. I imagined flying cars, personal robots and pretty much automated everything. Now 19 years after that significant date we still don’t quite have flying cars or personal robots but we do appear to be heading that way. We have numerous automated appliances. We can be in contact with everyone, instantly. While it has made our life easier in so many ways it seems to have also complicated things. I remember playing outside until it was dark and the street lights came on. I remember going to school in the morning, saying goodbye to my parents and not having contact with them again until I got home. I remember organising my day so I had all I needed before I left home. I remember leaving home and being out of phone contact until we got home. I even remember checking the letterbox to get mail. Now I am never out of phone contact. I check my phone numerous times a day and the expectation is I am available 24 hours a day. Last night when my son rang me from upstairs at 10pm instead of coming down the stairs I thought this was not what I expected of automation.
18
A recent anecdotal study in a Year 10 classroom showed 135 Snapchat notifications, 65 Instagram notifications, 2 emails, 6 text messages, 1 phone call and 4 other notifications in a 30 minute period. A grand total of 213 notifications! 7.1 notifications a minute. I think the very devices that have been created to help us are now hindering us. Imagine if our girls responded to every notification. That is a lot of distraction and multitasking which is not really multitasking – it has been proven that the ability to truly process two streams of independent information at the same time is nearly impossible; what most people refer to as multitasking is actually considered serial tasking, which is the action of shifting back and forth from one task to another! So this Autumn, I think we should all take the control back from these devices we are so attached to and go back to the days when we left our phone at home so that when we are out and about we are truly in the moment! I will be encouraging our Middle Schoolers to do the same! Kathryn Gray – Head of Middle School
Junior School Ehara tāku toa I te toa takitahi Engai he toa Takitini Success is not the work of one, but the work of many. One of our school’s cornerstone beliefs is the value of the Big Sister Little Sister programme. This can be directly related to the Maori concept of tuakana teina; teaching between older (tuakana) and younger (teina). Our strategy behind this concept is to foster role models, responsibility and most importantly relationships across a variety of experiences and ages. The idea that our students at school grow knowledge, learning and experiences through being together and developing relationships leads itself to a unique atmosphere of community. Whether this be through Buddy Mentoring
in the Junior School years, to our Year 6 leaders learning and gaining knowledge on how to contribute as a leader from our Prefects in Year 13, or our able Senior sportswomen committing to coach our Junior sports teams. We know as adults that big sisters also look to our little sisters for inspiration, guidance, fulfilment and aroha. We know without a doubt that success is found when our sisters work together. Julie Calder – Head of Junior School
19
Pre-School
The Pre-School children are always interested in the variety of people who exist in this, and our wider community.
pretend to be different characters and understand life from a different perspective.
We regularly see our librarians, cooks and other teachers in the school and the children also have their own experience and understanding of the roles of doctors, dentists and emergency workers. Dramatic (or pretend) play allows them to work through their ideas and experiment with the social and emotional roles of life. They take turns, problem solve and build empathy as they
Dramatic play also provides opportunities to experiment with language and become more expressive. They develop their communication skills through conversations, role play and giving and following instructions. It is also a very comfortable way for children who are shy, to participate in a group through a persona other than their own.
20
Sue Gleeson – Director of Pre-School
SMC Old Girls’ Association 2018 ended with us welcoming over 100 new members to our growing alumnae. The annual Leavers’ Dinner Ball is always a wonderful celebration that marks not only the completion of secondary schooling, but the transition from student to Old Girl. Around this time, I pondered the question: what does it mean to be a St Margaret’s Old Girl? My answer: it’s about a shared sense of belonging. As I recalled my own school journey, and the sometimes rocky path through adolescence, I reflected that as a cohort, we literally grew up together, in some cases sharing the majority of our lives up until that point. The joy, the excitement, the frustration, the disappointment – these shared experiences make for strong bonds of friendship and belonging. This year, when I celebrate my 40 years-on reunion, when I reconnect with peers I may not have seen for decades, it will feel like yesterday – so powerful are the memories we shared; so powerful is that shared sense of belonging. If you were in the 3rd Form/Year 9 in 1949, 1954, 1959, 1969, 1979, 1989 or 1999, we would love to see you at this year’s Reunion. Following a fabulous turnout last year, we will again be hosting our 65 years-on Old Girls (1954). The event will be held on 12 November so start planning! Your year group convenors will be in touch soon, but if you think we may be missing your details, please contact us at smcoga@stmargarets.school.nz. As the summer months draw to a close, we’ve been setting the scene for another full calendar of opportunities to reconnect Old Girls, with each other and with SMC. This year we will continue to grow regional events for our younger Old Girls with functions planned for Auckland and Dunedin. Towards the end of last year we welcomed around 50 Margaritas back to school including our graduating Margaritas (class of 2004), who met up earlier to
open the contents of their precious time capsule. If you were in Year 9 in 2005, you will be a Margarita graduate this year. Mark 23 November in your diary and come along to share the special opening of your year group’s time capsule. For our senior Old Girls, we look forward to welcoming you along to our Cranmer Lunch on 11 May. We have much to look forward to. Check out our events on our Facebook page and please contact us at smcoga@stmargarets.school.nz for further details. As always, we are keen to follow your endeavours – to hear of your achievements, your chosen fields of work, your children! So please do stay in touch. You can ‘Tell Us Your News’ on the school website www.stmargarets.school.nz. Look forward to hearing from you soon. And to the Class of ’79, I can’t wait to see you all in November! Samantha MacGibbon – SMCOGA President
21
St Margaret’s Memories When producing the new school prospectus, we put a call out to all Old Girls to send us their memories of their time at St Margaret’s. We were inundated with comments and weren’t able to use all of them in the prospectus so we thought it would be fun to share a few more of them here:
a bag, and put what makes you in a bag, you would always go and pick up your own bag!!” A great life lesson and I have often used this story with my children and friends. I loved Mrs Adam our maths teacher, she explained it all so well. Just a few thoughts.
“In 1964 I entered Julius House. Laden with three large suitcases full of uniform, all brand new and named. It was such a huge change from my isolated home in Marlborough where I attended the local school having 12 pupils and one teacher. My first day at school was stressful, so many girls, and teachers and different classrooms, homesickness was very real. Eventually I settled in and after four years left with school certificate and UE enabling me enter the Christchurch School of Nursing and once registered worked for forty years.”
Sue Talbot (Wright) Rimu 1969 – 1973
Rosemary Ferguson (Wiffen) Kōnini 1964 – 1967 Things I always remember Molly Mullan saying: "Girls can do anything, just put your mind to it" "Fit body, able mind" Molly would also talk to us on a Saturday night boarders meeting in the common room of Kilburn. One of her stories was: "You may like to be as bright as ‘Mary Lou’, but remember if you want to be like ‘Mary Lou’ you have to have all the other things that are ‘Mary Lou’. So if you put them all in
22
“I think in 1946, my two brothers (who were more than 10 years older than me) came to the prize giving held at the Reparatory Theatre, and I couldn’t understand why they were paralytic with laughter when they came out. We of course all wore our cream tussore uniforms for formal occasions, but were strictly instructed to never actually sit on the pleats, but to flick your uniform up at the back so you didn’t crease it and sit on your knickers. They were sitting at the back and for them the sight of hundreds of girls flicking their dresses up every time before they sat down was too much!” Anon – to save her brothers’ dignity!! “Being an old girl who began her secondary education nearly 65 years ago, it is hard to comprehend how far education has extended today and how envious I am of the fact that girls are able to choose so many subject options at a college which has such wonderful facilities and surroundings. The friends I made then in Year 9 are still looked upon as "school
family", we meet socially from time to time and enjoy the annual Cranmer Squares' Luncheon not forgetting our 10 yearly class reunions. To us the years in between do not matter, we are still the same women as we were girls from that bye gone era.” Andrea Iris King (Stokes) Rata 1955 – 1957 “I started SMC as a boarder at Julius House 74 years ago and loved it, as we had so much fun! Clothes rationing was still going and I remember friends and relations giving me their clothes coupons so we could get the uniform. There was much emphasis put on “good manners” particularly at the table. You were never allowed to ask for anything, because you were all expected to look after your neighbour’s needs. If you wanted the butter you would never ask for it, but would very pointedly say to your neighbour “would you like the butter”. She would look rather startled (as she was already eating her toast) and then realise the meaning and say “no, but would YOU like the butter, and then pass it! You were allowed to cut your bread with a knife into four quarters and butter each piece as you ate it, but toast must NEVER be cut with a knife, it must always be broken into four pieces and then each piece buttered as you ate it – never, ever butter the whole piece at once! About forty years later, my daughter Felicity, who grew up and was educated in England, was then married and living in the Haka valley and was on a school camp in Central Otago with her daughter. At breakfast the first morning she ate her toast as normal and another mother happened to see her and leant across the table and said, “Ah a St Margaret’s old girl too, I see.” Felicity replied “No, but my mother was!” Walking in crocodile four times a day from Papanui Rd to Cranmer Square was actually very tiring and having to stop and stand with heads bowed if a funeral cortege went past. When joint head of Julius, the special privilege of being allowed to walk on your own down to Victoria St at Bealey Avenue to get the threepences or sixpences for the whole house for church on Sunday. Maybe this was all too long ago for anyone to be interested in now, but has brought many happy memories for me!” Fran Reed (Walker) Kōnini 1945 – 1952 “Our year was special. Very special. We had a Reunion last year, and had over 70 Old Girls, and some spouses, present. What a wonderful weekend it was reminiscing about our
school days, and missing those who were not able to be there or who had sadly died. They were all remembered with much fondness. Because above everything – a superb education, real belief in ourselves, and confidence to face the world – St Margaret’s gave us friends. Friendships that have endured, for many of us, a lifetime. Our partners now move to another room when we are all together because the chat and laughter is loud, and the joy of seeing each other genuine. Friends are indeed treasures we give ourselves and my friends from St Margaret’s are indeed treasures. What an invaluable gift St Margaret’s facilitated and gave us.” Jill Shearer (Mathews) Rimu 1958 – 1970 “I was actually thinking today about the shine and smell of the prospectus my dad brought home for me to look at when I was 13. I’ll never forget how much I loved it! I have forever felt so incredibly grateful to have been given the chance to move schools in 3rd form, and become a part of St Margaret’s. A lasting first impression was the then head mistress Ms Wysocki standing at the front of the chapel describing to us all the importance of how we present ourselves because people who don’t know us, won’t know our story. In the conversation, Ms Wysocki was able to use examples of the girls in front of her. At random saying a name and the place when a student is from as well as their interests, I immediately knew I was somewhere very special. A head mistress who has a deep interest in the person behind the uniform works to made their own personal traits shine.” Alex Myall (Newell) Kōnini 1995 – 1999 “One of my memories was having to shell enough walnuts to fill a large mason jar with walnuts as a punishment. Took ages!” Susan Dwan (Tobin) Rata 1949 – 1952 “Having left St Margaret’s 14 years ago and seen a glimpse of the outside world of education, I feel very privileged to be back in this special place as a teacher. What a wonderful school it is! The girls still have an obvious sense of pride in their school and the environment, and the staff go out of their way to ensure everyone feels welcomed. I have felt a sense of purpose in all interactions with the girls as we set our minds towards the busy year ahead. I also get a feeling of togetherness as a team. I can most definitely feel the St Margaret’s spirit alive and well and feel truly blessed to be back.” Lucy Mackie (Faull) Matipo 2001 – 2005
23
Old Girls’ News ADELAIDE ‘TIGERLILY’ PERRY After leaving SMC in 2017, Tigerlily travelled to Hong Kong, London and Strafford on Avon as part of the 2018 Young Shakespeare Company. The trip involved workshops, tours, activities and the major highlight – a performance of Shakespeare’s ‘The Winter’s Tale’ on the Globe stage, for a public audience. In London their group were able to see West End shows together as well as strolling around London city in their free time. A particularly fond memory was walking on London Bridge and around St Paul’s Cathedral in the early hours of the morning following a performance at the Globe. They also got to visit many London landmarks, such as Buckingham Palace, Borough Market and Royal Albert Hall. The shows and theatres were stand outs for Tigerlily and she describes visiting The Globe, The National and the RSC is ‘a dream come true’.
EMILY ACLAND At the recent annual Law awards 650 of the countries legal professionals gathered for a gala evening to celebrate the finest of their profession with awards across 28 categories and SMC Old Girl Emily Acland was awarded NZ Young In-House Legal Counsel for 2018. Graduating SMC in 2003, Emily moved to the University of Otago to study law. Leaving with an Honours degree she has worked for large corporate law firm Russell McVeigh, spent two years on super yachts and moved to London to work for Magic Circle firm, Freshfields. Back in Auckland, Emily moved to in-house counsel for Orion Health before taking on her current position as sole general counsel for Vocus NZ, New Zealand’s fourth largest telco with brands such as Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, 2Talk and Switch Utilities. In her role she is accountable for the overall provision of legal support to the New Zealand group. Emily will travel to Harvard University in June to do a leadership corporate counsel course and hopes to develop a team of people to work with her as Vocus Group expands. In future she hopes to move into an independent director role.
PIPPA HAYWARD Pippa left St Margaret's College in 2008 and enrolled at the University of Canterbury. Ten years and a successful Black Sticks career later, she graduated from the University of Auckland and is now a graduate lawyer at Meredith Connell in Auckland where, through her work, she came across fellow Old Girl, Nicola Reeves.
NICOLA REEVES (MCGOVERNE) 24
Senior Sergeant Nicola Reeves graduated SMC in 1992, she now works for the Christchurch Police. Nicola is leading the way for females in the modern police force and is supervisor to thirty constables and sergeants. Pippa and Nicola have recently worked on a High Court case together.
SMCOGA Upcoming Events May
Saturday 11
Cranmer Lunch
Tuesday 28
Bridge Tournament
August
Friday 9
Margaritas’ Event joint with Christ’s College – Christchurch
Tuesday 27
Cranmer Chapel
November
Friday 1 & Saturday 2
Reunion Weekend
(1st weekend in November due to Labour Day on Mon 28 Oct)
2009 Leavers Time Capsule Opening – Christchurch
Friday 22
Deceased Oct 18 – April 19 2098 Judith Todd
2041 Jennifer Peart
1605 Marjorie Latimer (Holmes)
2344 Shirley Brown
2294 Susan Cronshaw
(Jennings)
2228 Heather Stewart
1675 Marjorie Cattell
(Dalzell)
1683 Valerie Hogg
(Franklin)
3424 Frances Barker
(Revell)
815 Betty Wood
(Wanty)
1845 Beryl Mechen
(Rowan)
1896 Daphne Thomas
(Mariott)
543 Kathleen Harris
(Kay)
1509 Yatala Cunningham (Brake) 2010 Gwen Webster
(Kensington)
(Richards)
UPCOMING REGIONAL EVENTS Rangiora
Wednesday 1 May
The Fools of Desire Café 6:00pm
Ashburton
Wednesday 8 May
The Somerset Grocer
6:00pm
Lincoln
Wednesday 29 May
The Laboratory
6:00pm
Amberley
Wednesday 5 June
The Norwester
6:00pm
Auckland Venue – TBA
Wednesday 24 July 6:00pm
www.stmargarets.school.nz
25
Old Girls’ Events GOLF RESULTS
Old Girl’s Combined Golf Tournament Best gross (Old Girl’s Jug) 1. Lorraine Smith 2. Sue Thurston
Best Stableford Parents (Cranmer Cup) 1. Melanie Sanders 2. Jo Tucker
Best Gross Bronze (Nancy Simpson Bowl) 1. Pam Hughes 2. Emma MacFarlane
Best Net (Perkins Scott Trophy) 1. Annabel Shand 2. Sue Cowles
Best Stableford (Partridge Cup) 1. Katie Caseley 2. Sarah Taylor
9 Hole Best Stableford (St Margaret’s Salver) 1. Ruth Crawford
CRANMER ASSEMBLY
26
Old Girls’ Events MARGARITAS – AUCKLAND Brew on Quay
100 Fendalton Road Christchurch (03) 351 7980 jennyburtt.florist@xtra.co.nz www.jennyburtt.co.nz
27
Reunion Weekend
28
29
Alumni Profile
KAITLYN WHITE
A passionate social advocate, Kaitlyn White’s CV is already impressive as she starts her first foray into the ‘real’ world. Kaitlyn graduated SMC in 2013 and went to study for a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce (majoring in Marketing & Management) at the University of Canterbury. She excelled at her studies and was awarded the John Burrows Prize for Media Law in 2018 and jointly awarded the Raymond Donnelly Prize for Criminal Law and Sentencing Theory and Practice in 2016 and 2018. In her spare time Kaitlyn was heavily involved with the Model UN and the Young Labour Party, as well as many UC clubs and events. Including helping to establish the UC Women in Law Society, a network for women with an aim to achieve equality in the legal field. Continuing her fight for women, Kaitlyn gained attention for establishing an initiative she called Thursdays in Black (TIB) a movement to raise awareness about the prevalence of sexual violence against women and to create a consent culture in the community, particularly tertiary settings. As a result she was awarded a New Zealand Youth Award for Leadership by the Ministry of Youth Development in 2018. So how did she react to receiving such a high honour? “Shock, I had horrendous food poisoning and I got a phone call – it really made my day, it was good to be recognised but also for my causes to be recognised.” Kaitlyn’s passion for youth advocacy also extended outside of her University surroundings through her involvement with the Christchurch Youth Council, helping them to increase relations with the Christchurch City Council. Along the way she became a finalist in the Youth Leader Category of the New Zealand Women of Influence Awards. And in 2017 she became a project manager for the Christchurch Youth Action Plan.
30
With such a background in advocacy and social awareness could a political career be on the horizon for Kaitlyn? In her work with Young Labour she is Youth Vice President for 2019 but shies away from campaigning. “I would like to run for a community board one day but I’m more of a background person, not a political figure.” Thriving in the background and gaining lots of experience, Kaitlyn recently spent two months on a US Congressional Internship. “While I was there former President Bush Senior died and we also had the Government shutdown for five weeks. I worked for Congressman Adam Schiff Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee which had a lot to do with the Trump Russia scandal so someone was constantly being indicted. I was getting a lot of phone calls from the public voicing their opinions for and against!” When asked for her personal highlights, Kaitlyn cites something much closer to her heart. “I went to a Freedom of the Press caucus event and Nancy Pelosi walked past me – Speaker of the House and first female Speaker. We were in the same room!!” Inspired by so many strong women in her life and the people she has met who give their time for others, Kaitlyn urges any budding young leaders to find their purpose but don’t overdo it. “Find what you’re passionate about, jump at every opportunity, but be careful not to overwhelm yourselves, if you’re going to do it – do it well.” And as for the foray into the ‘real’ world, Kaitlyn completed a law internship with Buddle Findlay here in Christchurch and has just started in a permanent position with them. “I’m loving getting real work and I plan to be here for the foreseeable future.”
Alumni Profile
FAITH MITCHELL
When asked to come back to inspire the 2018 IB graduates to strive for greatness through hard work, Faith Mitchell knew some of her teachers would be surprised to see her. Although, since graduating SMC in 2012, she has added many accolades to her CV – a BA in Spanish and History, winning the College of Arts award for the highest GPA. An MA in International Relations and Diplomacy with Distinction, winning the Navy League prize for the top student in her degree. Along with a gap year and gaining certificates of language in Russian and German, Faith now has her dream job as a Foreign Policy Officer for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade – Asia Pacific Economic Policy Division. The dream, however, could have had a very different outcome. For years Faith struggled with significant mental health issues as the result of a head injury, making it difficult for her to attend class, study or sometimes to even get out of bed in the morning. She internalised and acted upon feelings of self-defeat and hopelessness before courageously taking steps to overcome her issues by developing and living by three key values – confidence, self-deprecation and balance – and these are the values she shared with our new graduates as they embark on the world outside of school and they are values worth sharing and remembering for us all: “What does confidence have to with hard work? Don’t be scared to ask questions and don’t be scared to ask for help. Needing and asking for help does not make you a failure.
Remember that people want to help you, they want you to succeed. Don’t deny yourself that success out of fear. But be sure to not ask people who will coddle or tell you what they think you want to hear. They will need to be honest but empathetic, critical but helpful, frank but encouraging. These people help you to grow and by teaching you, help you to support yourself. “Cast off the mentality that you have to be brilliant at something straight away or you won’t be brilliant at all. Don’t let challenge cast doubt in your mind, simply change your perspective. The joy of learning doesn’t come from the finished project but the joy of doing the work itself. “Time management is discussed in the context of getting all of your assignments done on time, it is based solely on completing the work. If you manage your time wisely you leave room for fun, you leave room to go out with friends and take a whole day off from assignments. Having a good work ethic doesn’t mean always working, it means being efficient, disciplined and getting everything done but still leaving time for you. Everything should be based around you, your needs and your mental and physical health. Have confidence in yourself and don’t be intimidated by what other people are or aren’t doing. Stay true to your version of success and enjoy the ups and downs of learning. You don’t have to be the best – you just have to be your best.”
31
From The Archives Stepping back in time
Before I start a journey into the past, I need to apologise to Vivienne Burrows for an error in the Spring 2018 Evergreen. Vivienne was not the first SMC old girl to graduate from Oxford but was the first to do so with a PhD in Science. Just this week, via an Old Girl who is now teaching here, I received three double pages from a 1961 NZ Woman’s Weekly. There are some really great photos showing different areas of the school and the style of uniform. The article details SMC’s history, a story most of you know very well, and introduces the new school site and buildings to the wider community. Use the QR code to have a closer look at the full article. An ongoing project involves the various cups and trophies awarded for sport, academic, community spirit and performing arts achievements. The cups and trophies are the ones awarded at a prizegiving at the end of the year or an assembly during the year. In an effort to capture the history of these coveted awards, each year I look at the recipients; when was it first awarded and to whom, who was it donated by and why? There is a significant number of cups and trophies to get through and photographing them is not really an option with reflection issues making any photograph
32
all but useless. So, it is a very manual process to gather the information we are looking for. As we gather this information, we want to share it with the school community and one way we do that is by creating cards that get handed out with the award. The exterior of the card uses images from Old Girl Lucy Brownie’s 2016 photography portfolio with the interior of the card sharing the information gathered so far. Sometimes it might be a few names, other times we have discovered a connection or more information about what one of the recipients has gone on to achieve or some information about the people who donated the award and why they donated it. The girls are then able to keep the card as a reminder of the rich St Margaret’s College history they are part of. With our beautiful campus that has so many new buildings, it is very easy to forget that St Margaret’s College is 109 years old with a history that is rich in the arts, sport and academics. Our cups and trophies are only a small part of that history, but they have lots of stories they can tell. Vickie Ward – Archivist
In Closing The ‘Scene’ of our school movie has been beautifully set at St Margaret’s College this year. Our inspiring student leaders are building on the words and actions of the leaders that have gone before. The photos speak for themselves. From the first message on the chalk wall by the Cafe, we are reminded that we have choices about how we want our lives to play out. And the latest chalk wall to welcome visitors to our Open Day – with the words “Love Lives Here”. Our loving leaders, Sujean In and Maddi Dalgety, have encouraged us to create strong links with each other, #paperchainsoflove. Rosie Foulds has reminded us of our responsibility as global citizens, to support our neighbours in needAnd Emma Taylor, through all the messages we share this year in Chapel services, reminds us about the most enduring qualities humans can create in themselves and are formed in the love of God. And that brings me to the glorious place of God’s love, that was consecrated on Sunday 31 March by Bishop Peter Carrell. He told us it was the first consecration in his episcopal ministry. He also talked about St Mark, after whom the Chapel was named when it was built for Rotherham town. St Mark was the bearer of the good news of God’s love, and so this chapel is dedicated to the presence of God’s love as we gather for before and after-school services, and the ongoing Wednesday lunchtime services. My hope is all students will build a connection to this wee Chapel through these services. It will also be available for community celebrations such as baptisms and weddings. From 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, we know the characteristics of love, love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail. The passage finishes with the assurance that “Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love.” Peg Riley – Chaplain
33
lover your hai
Northlands
Westfield Riccarton
The Palms
Hornby Hub
P 354 4494 P 385 5525
P 348 8837
P 344 3129
@synergyhairnz
/synergyhairnz
www.synergyhair.co.nz
24/7 purchasing online, free freight with orders over $50 CHRISTCHURCH
WELLINGTON
TAURANGA HAMILTON AUCKLAND