Congratulations to Schools and Individuals

• Dame Georgina Kingi, Principal St Joseph’s Maori Girls’ College, Napier, who was made a Dame Companion of the Order of New Zealand for services to Maori and education, in the New Year Honours. The honour recognises her decades of work championing quality education and teaching te reo and tikanga Maori at St Joseph’s Maori Girls’ College
• Tracey O’Brien, Principal of Kavanagh College, Dunedin, who has been elected onto the National Executive of SPANZ, the Secondary Principals’ Association of New Zealand.
• Religious Studies Association of NZ, for the one page article in the 1st May 2017 issue of the Education Gazette describing the newly launched association.
• Sir Br Patrick Lynch KNZM has joined the panel of judges and experts for the Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards.

Congratulations to Principals New to Leadership in a Catholic School

• Grant Stuart, St Peter’s Catholic School, Cambridge, Hamilton.
• Aaron O’Neill, St Joseph’s School, Waipukurau, Palmerston North.
• Alan McInally, St Mary’s School, Kaikorai, Dunedin.

Otago, Southland Regions:

Kavanagh College, Dunedin: Serenity and Sebastian Hook performed the Last Post and Reveille at the ANZAC Day commemoration services. Rose Pickard has been selected to perform in two professional performances – Into the Woods and The Sound of Music.

Sacred Heart School, Dunedin: Won the primary school section for the ‘Keep New Zealand Beautiful’ Wall Worthy Mural Competition.

St Mary’s School, Gore: Sophie Davis has been selected for the dance team that will travel to Paris, France to perform the Highland dance.

Canterbury, South Canterbury and West Coast Regions:

Roncalli College, Timaru: Julia Bennet has been selected for the New Zealand Secondary Schools Symphony Orchestra. Neve O’Connor was awarded Outstanding Composition for her entry ‘My Place’ in the National 2017 Hook, Line and Sing-a-long competition.

Kapiti Coast, Horowhenua, Wairarapa, Wellington, Nelson, Buller and Marlborough Regions:

St Oran’s College, Lower Hutt: Jessica George’s design portfolio has been selected to tour New Zealand in 2017 Top Art, the annual touring exhibition featuring a selection of the NCEA Level 3 portfolios that achieved Excellence in Visual Art in the previous year.

Sacred Heart College, Lower Hutt: Rebecca Falconer has achieved her Queen’s Guide Award, a culmination of three years hard work in Girl Guiding NZ. Ashley Hanaray has been promoted to Warrant Officer, the highest rank a cadet in New Zealand can achieve.

St Patrick’s School, Masterton: Madelyn Paku received an award for top marks in New Zealand for level 3 dancing exams.

St Bernard’s College, Lower Hutt: was the winner of this years O’Shea Shield.

Taranaki, Wanganui, Manawatu, Rangitikei and Hawkes Bay Regions:

Sacred Heart Girls’ College, New Plymouth: Emily Hutching-Gough has been selected to attend a United Nations Aotearoa Youth Conference at Auckland University. Company performance of ‘The Nutcracker’.

Cullinane College, Whanganui: Macy Duxfield has been accepted to take part in the Sir Peter Blake Young Enviro Leaders Forum to be held in Auckland after Easter.

Thames Valley, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Tairawhiti Regions:

Rotorua CoL (Community of Learning): Rotorua CoL (Community of Learning): Lead principal Patrick Walsh described the CoL’s journey to date in an article in the Education Gazette 27 March 2017. Read more.

John Paul College, Rotorua, has been named a finalist in the Excellence in Engaging category for the prestigious Prime Minister’s Excellence Awards. The winners will be announced at a ceremony celebrating the best in education in the Grand Hall at Parliament, on 27 June 2017.

Northland and Auckland Regions:

Baradene College, Remuera: Over 100 students performed at Polyfest 2017 where the Diversity Group – Filipino won 1st place for Continent Award-Asia and 1st place in the Choreography Award, taking out 1st Overall Winner of Diversity.

In a recent article in a regional newspaper, Baradene College was praised by the parents of a student with special needs. “Baradene College is the best school for her, being very inclusive, holistic and promoting an ethos of community service. They really value getting the kids to think about others other than themselves, which I think in this day and age of the selfie (and) the selfie generation is a great thing”.

De La Salle College, Mangere East runs a Health and Sciences Academy in which 48 young men in years 11 and 12 have been given the opportunity to study three science subjects to prepare them to follow a path into health careers. In collaboration with the Oceania Trust, the College has also established a Trades Academy, which will give 22 young men a pathway at year 13 into the building and construction industry.

St Mary’s College, Auckland: Lillian Merrifield’s painting portfolio has been selected to tour New Zealand in 2017 Top Art, the annual touring exhibition featuring a selection of the NCEA Level 3 portfolios that achieved Excellence in Visual Art.

Carmel College, Auckland: Grace Smith and Deborah Peters were runners-up in the nationwide Hookline and Singalong Songwriting Competition. Georgia Dinley won 7 first places and 5 second placings in Ballroom Dance in Australia. Laura Ennor won the Speech NZ Public Speaking Grade 8 Scholarship.

Liston College, Henderson: Zak Devey has been selected as one of the four winners of the New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) Youth Mentorship Programme 2017. He will be working on longer fiction projects and exploring new approaches to developing his writing technique.

Mount Carmel Primary School, Meadowbank: World Water Day this year coincided with some of Mount Carmel’s classes having a special lesson delivered by an educator from Watercare. TV One’s Seven Sharp team ran an item on the school. See more.

St Peter’s College, Grafton: The school’s Outhwaite Building, designed by Architectus, won a prize in the 2017 NZ Local Architecture Awards