On Monday, 1st December we celebrated the achievements of our our students at our prizegiving ceremony. We had an unprecedented number of parents attending and supporting their children. Thank you to those who could attend.
In 2025 we have supported over 750 individual students through our kura with a peak of 404 students at any one time. Every single student had an individual learning plan (ILP) that was developed specifically for them. Each ILP was the result of our teachers collaborating with the student, their whānau, their health team and their school of enrolment.
Our students have come from far and wide, Murchison in the north, Te Anau in the West, Invercargill in the South, and it is fantastic to see all of you who have gathered either in person or on line to be with us today.
We are not like a regular school that is able to watch its students grow and develop over a number of years. We work with you for a relatively short time. We also work with you when things aren’t so good healthwise. Regardless of how long you are with us, I hope that when you leave us you leave with a better sense of self, a greater awareness of your strengths and how you learn best, and an appreciation of your own courage and resilience in the face of adversity. You are doing hard work, and I admire you for that.
Today I would like to acknowledge every single student who has engaged with us this year, and celebrate those who will be receiving awards today.
Congratulations to all of you for your efforts under adversity, for engaging with your learning even when times have been tough, and for connecting with your teachers, your peers, and this school. To those of you receiving awards today, an extra well done. Your teachers have singled you out for a range of reasons. The one that really struck me as I was signing your principal’s award certificates, was courage. It was Winnie the Pooh who said “You are braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” And I believe that of all of you.
Ko te whai mātauraka. Ko te hauora. Seek health and wellbeing through education.
Ngā mihi
Linda Miller and the SHS Team
