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Principal's Blog: Term 3 Week 9
Friday, 15 September 2023
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Kia ora whānau Welcome to the last newsletter of Term 3. The realisation has hit for our senior students that their time in school this year is rapidly evaporating, with three action-packed weeks at the beginning of Term 4 marking the conclusion of BAU prior to examination leave and the external examination season. The beginning of Term 4 will be punctuated with several iconic Marsden events, including our annual Performing Arts Awards evening, and hot on the heels of that, Sports Awards, followed by the appointment and announcement of the 2024 Head Student Committee, including the Head Girl and Deputy Head Girl positions, at our annual handover assembly. It will be a busy and exciting time. We are also looking forward to hosting Old Girls' Day on Friday 27 October, which will comprise of the Old Girls' Communion Service in the Chapel, followed by the All Saints Day Service at school assembly, tours of the school, their AGM and evening festivities, held in Te Manawa o Te Kura and the Cultural Centre. We look forward to welcoming our Old Girls back to their school, and to inducting three of their own into the Marsden Hall of Fame. No doubt the place will be abuzz with reconnections and joyful reminiscences. We look forward to the vibrancy that comes with opening the doors to our own, and sharing the good news of what a Marsden education looks and feels like today, holding dear to tradition, whilst constantly progressing and being at the leading edge of curriculum design and innovation for the sake of the next generation of trailblazing Marsden wāhine toa. Our Director of International Students, Joanna Burns, will be travelling with the Wellington mayoral delegation to China next week on part of a promotional tour into China, South Korea, and Japan. Marsden will be representing the international student education sector, alongside representatives from Victoria University, and promoting the Marsden School international programme and our boutique international student offering at official engagements. We have enjoyed refreshing our own promotional materials ahead of this tour, including creating a new short film. Thank you to those who have helped make this possible. Other Senior Management Team members Di Smith and Jenny Caldwell will be travelling to Japan over the school holidays with 11 intrepid travellers, reinvigorating the reciprocal exchange relationship we hold with Toin Gakuen, in Yokohama, which had been paused throughout Covid times. We have been thrilled to be hosting two Toin international students throughout this year and look forward to further opportunities to engage in the future, including hosting a Toin group for a short term stay in 2024. We wish you all safe and happy adventures abroad, and an enlightening cultural experience. Change is ahead for some of the staff here at Marsden, with some indicating they will not be returning in 2024. Art and Photography teacher, Kaz Bartsch is retiring at the end of the year, as is Head of Social Sciences, Chris French and our Digital Media Specialist, Juliette Rickman. Additionally, we will be saying Haere Ra to Head of Mathematics, Paul Khouri, who will be returning home to Australia to be closer to family. We will miss our longstanding loyal servants and look forward to sending them off with heartfelt aroha at the end of the year. Term 3 ends with Grandparents and Special Friends day for our Primary School students, House Sports for Middle School, and the conclusion of our school-based practice examinations. A reminder that Term 4 begins on Tuesday 10 October with mihi whakatau following Form Time in the Auditorium, to gather as a whole school community to welcome new students who will be joining the Marsden family at the beginning of Term 4. I wish everyone a happy, safe, and rejuvenating school holiday break. |