Mālō e lelei,

This week we reached a significant milestone for Green Bay High School with the blessing of our new Science building.

Thank you to Matua Hare Paniora for leading the blessing and Whaea Tia, Whaea Leanne, Te Ahi Kaa and our kapa haka rōpū for helping make the occasion such a special one.

The building has been a long time in the making and reflects the contribution of many people. We are incredibly grateful to the Ministry of Education for funding this major investment in our school, and to successive Boards of Trustees for investing additional funds to future-proof the classrooms and make them more flexible for the future.

And, of course, our Science Faculty. They have been involved in this project for a long time, helping to think through what these spaces needed to look like and how they needed to work. Our science technicians have also put a huge amount of work into the project, and I particularly want to acknowledge Katherine Winson, who spent countless hours helping us get to this point. I also want to acknowledge Head of Faculty Zev Fishman, whose positivity and enthusiasm have been constant throughout.

The team from Watts & Hughes also deserve a particular mention. Finishing a project of this scale months ahead of schedule, on budget and with no defects is impressive in itself, but what I have appreciated most has been the relationship they developed with our school. They showed real care for the students and staff working around the construction site, provided some fantastic work experience opportunities for our construction students, and really became part of school life, even occasionally using their cherry picker to retrieve balls from the canopy!

The building itself is impressive, but ultimately what matters is what happens inside it. Over the coming years, thousands of Green Bay students will learn in this new block. Many will discover a real passion for science, and some may go on to careers they have not even imagined yet. Our Science teachers and technicians will be at the heart of making that happen.

That is what makes the opening of this building such an exciting moment for our school. We are incredibly fortunate to have this facility, and I am looking forward to seeing our students and staff bring it to life over the years ahead.

The annual Dance Showcase on Wednesday night gave us another great opportunity to see our students in action. Students from Years 9 through to 13 performed a huge range of work, including senior assessment pieces, co-curricular dances and performances from some of our cultural groups. It was a fantastic evening and a real reminder of the talent, confidence and creativity of our students, as well as the enormous amount of work that sits behind performances like these. Congratulations to everyone involved.

It has also been Tongan Language Week, and it has been great to see Tongan language and culture celebrated across the school. Weeks like this are an important opportunity for our students to share their language, identity and culture with the wider school community, and for all of us to learn a little more about the languages and cultures that make up Green Bay High School.

Finally, good luck to all of our winter sports teams playing their final games this weekend. It has been a fantastic winter season, and I hope our players, coaches and supporters enjoy these last games together.

Have a great weekend.

Fiona Barker
PRINCIPAL