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Words from this morning's mihi whakatau...
Tēnei te mihi ki a koutou.
He rā whakahirahira tēnei mō tātou katoa, he kaupapa nui mā tātou.
Today we welcome our newly joined families and those who have a second child starting... welcome to your school home. This morning is about celebrating community, a concept that has become increasingly difficult to grasp in a more fractured world.
Last year, an old friend of mine came to our school fair. As we stood in amongst my nachos, music, and laughter, she turned to me and said how fortunate I was. She reminded me that for many people today, without a "central hub" like a school, finding a true sense of belonging is exhausting work and doesn’t happen readily.
We provide the structure, the buildings, and the gates. But that is just the architecture—as gorgeous as it may be. The magic—the thing that actually potentially changes your child’s life—only happens when the relationships within those walls are nurtured with intentionality.
Ko mana tōku maunga. You will hear our children sing this line with pride. If Mana is indeed our mountain, our bedrock, we must ensure we never take our eyes off the peak: mutual trust and respect.
Think of the relationship between staff, parents, and children as a triangle. We all have a part to play. If that triangle wobbles—if we lose sight of our shared respect—the centre cannot hold. We owe it to our children to keep that foundation steady.
I ask this of you: please support our staff. Trust in their training, their passion, and their dedication. When the link between home and school is tight, we aren't just building a "connection"—we are building a house of stone. It is solid. It is enduring. We have no time for houses made of sticks or straw.
In recent years, we have all felt the shift. We’ve moved past simple "unpredictability" into what academics who know much, much more than me, call a BANI world: one that is Brittle, Anxious, Non-linear, and Incomprehensible.
In such a world, the word "Adaptability" is written in glitter. It’s the currency of the future. This reality finds its way into our classrooms every single day.
Yes, we provide the solid foundations of the "3 Rs"—that is our promise. But it’s the human-centric side that is the "Major AND."
I am immensely proud of how we:
Promote wellbeing as a necessity, not a nice to
Create "safe-fail" zones where children can fall, pick themselves up, and start again without fear.
Prioritise being present, whether that’s getting elbows-deep in compost, finding the courage to speak at assembly, or the grit required on school camp.
With so much "speed" in the world outside these gates, we want our children to simply be children. We want them to immerse themselves in art, to sing, to investigate, to throw and catch, and to problem-solve with spark.
Who knows what comes after adaptability?
Words create worlds. Today, I invite you to help us speak a world of trust, excellence, and kindness into existence for our kids. We are undeniably stronger together.
This morning our children will have a key part in the mihi whakatau—our desire was for them to step into different roles today for the first time—this includes unpacking that karakia and waiata and giving the background pūrākau to our beautiful pou.
I also want to acknowledge our 20 newly selected Kapa Haka leaders for showing us the way. So a big thank you to them for taking on the challenge.
Nō reira, e mihi ana ki a koutou i roto i ngā manaakitanga o te rā nei, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.
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