Zonta Shield Win
We are proud of three Year 12 debaters who successfully defended the Zonta Shield against Botany Downs Secondary College for the third consecutive year. During the Term 2 school holidays, Winnie Zou, Ruiqi Jiang, and Matthew Ye (pictured above) affirmed the moot: “This House believes that girls will be disadvantaged in the future if they only use artificial intelligence and do not help create it.”  Their highly engaging speeches and strong rebuttals made for an exciting debate at the Howick Club. Thank you to their parents and debating coach, Ms Du-Blom, for their support.

Senior Derived Grade Examinations (Years 11-13)
Term 3 is a busy time for seniors with internal assessment still underway and Derived Grade Examinations taking place in Weeks 8 and 9 (10 – 18 September) for Year 11, 12 and 13 students. These examinations are compulsory for all senior students. 

I strongly encourage you to spend time discussing the information outlined below with your child and help them to plan their time and study space effectively. 

Parents, this is likely to be a stressful time for your child. Please monitor their wellbeing and be alert for signs of stress.  Please actively check how they are coping with their studies and see what you can do to assist them.  There is a lot of wellbeing information available on the school website.  Please contact the relevant kaihautū if you have concerns. 

Derived Grade Examination Information
Mrs Leishman, Principal’s Nominee, will provide all students with both a paper and electronic copy of the Derived Grade Examination schedule in coming weeks, which also includes useful information about these exams.  Please read it carefully as students should not be on-site during exams unless they are doing silent study in a specified study space. 

From Week 5, there will be increased access to tutorials for students needing additional assistance. The times for these sessions will be published in conjunction with the examination timetable.  

Study Skills Information
Here is a link to the Study Skills Booklet that senior students will be given so that you have an awareness of what your child’s study programme should look like. Senior Navigation Teachers will be going through study skills in Weeks 5 and 6 with their classes. 

Early Notice of Senior Prizegiving – 3 November 2026
Senior Prizegiving is a major compulsory event on our school calendar.
Please note that it is a compulsory event for all Year 11-13 students. Students can go home at lunchtime on this date and are expected to be back at school by 6.30pm. Please use this advance notice to ensure that students have time to change any work, sporting, or personal commitments for the evening. 

2027 Course Selection Years 11-13 
Course Selection will be taking place following Derived Grade Examinations, in Week 11. You will be emailed information about this closer to the time, and you can check current information online under ‘Academic’. In the interim, please feel free to contact Mrs Rogers (HOD Careers and Transitions) if you have any questions about the pathway your child will need to undertake, or if they are uncertain of their career pathway.

Careers Tertiary and Industry events for 2026

Other tertiary institutions that will have open day throughout the year (these times and dates will be confirmed)