Senior Prizegiving

The Principal Reflects on the 2020 Senior Prizegiving

In a year in which COVID-19 has underlined the increasing need for resilience and adaptability in our young people, it was an enormous pleasure to see our students coming up on stage to receive their prizes and scholarships at Senior Prizegiving.  Their sporting, service, cultural and academic talents were showcased at an event that lost none of its shine, despite the world-wide pandemic that continues to threaten us.  My congratulations to our top award winners: Dux - Michelle Young, Runner-Up to Dux - Karen Su, Sander Scholar and recipient of the Chairperson’s Award for Excellence – Jacob Gates and our joint winners of the 2020 Sportsperson of the Year Award – Damien Doyle and Kiri Winiata-Enoka.

I am enormously proud of all our students, who have completed their studies in what has been a very difficult year.  Congratulations to all our leavers - we know that you are ready to take your next steps with confidence and are willing and able to embrace the opportunities that lie ahead.

It is my pleasure to thank Dr Caitlin Northern, who was our guest speaker for the evening.  Dr Northern, Ōtaki College Dux in 2008, spoke about her journey through college, to university and into medical practice.  She said that attending Ōtaki College had given her a bi-cultural grounding that had stood her in good stead in her later working life.  She encouraged students to be true to themselves, even if that meant being “different” from the crowd.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the individuals and businesses in our community who offer their support by providing scholarships for our students.  These scholarships assist students across a wide range of future pathways including trades, polytechnic and university studies and also help to fund training for those students who are stepping up into leadership roles in 2021 or beyond. 

This leads me to congratulate our 2021 Heads of School: Aleisha Blakeley, Shauna-May Jopson, Oriwa Jury, Jayden Kyle, Pairoroku Rikihana, Skye Singer, Quinn Straker, Frankie Vidulich, Kaitlin Vodanovich and Toby West.  The team will be lead by Head Girl, Krisha Modi and Head Boy, Donald Hall. I very much look forward to working on some exciting projects with our student leaders over the course of the coming year.