christchurch girls’ high school

Te Kura o Hine Waiora PRINCIPAL – CHRISTINE O'NEILL

As we head into a new year and a new decade, Christchurch Girls’ High School / Te Kura o Hine Waiora is charting a new vision. The time is opportune as we are required to deliver an Education Brief for our rebuild solution about which we expect to receive news this term. The Brief is a blueprint for what teaching and learning will look like in order to equip our students to flourish in a future world.

As the world rapidly changes our vision is to empower and inspire the development of 21st-century lifelong learners by providing a passionate learning environment with diverse opportunities, experiences and authentic relationships to enable learners to flourish, celebrate achievement, contribute to our world and become ‘tomorrow’s inspired leaders today’.

Our values have been developed as touchstones for the future and recognise the dual heritage of New Zealand.

Through manaakitanga students and staff respect each other and are generous towards each other. They support one another and this is reciprocated. The environment is warm and caring and everyone is treated with dignity. In valuing whanaungatanga a strong sense of belonging is developed through students and teachers working together. Students and staff feel connected and positive relationships are fostered. Challenges and successes are shared and personal achievements are celebrated.

By showing aroha students and staff show empathy and concern for others. They have an understanding of the world and people beyond their own circumstances, giving service and acting with decency. In developing rangatiratanga students and staff stand tall and proud. They have courage and strength of character to do what is right, facing challenges and change with confidence. Mana is demonstrated in relationships between and within staff and students.

Christchurch Girls’ High School / Te Kura o Hine Waiora has a strong history and tradition having been founded in 1879 well before women got the vote in New Zealand. In that tradition is a brave counter-cultural stance and we encourage our students to become strong women who can take their place confidently in the future world, have a voice for others less advantaged and contribute back to society.

Millicent Baxter, mother of James K Baxter and daughter of Helen Macmillan Brown, a founding principal, said of growing understanding of conscientious objection to WWI: ‘It moved me right out of my shell into the open, and in the open I have remained, looking into things, and questioning them.’ This is the progressive voice with which the school takes its place in the future of this city as well as having an important place in its history.