New Zealand Catholic Education Convention

Our school was represented at the convention by Janet Cummings (principal), Cath Blacklow (Staff and Board Rep), Kathleen Goulter (Board rep) and myself.
With 900 people present from Catholic schools, throughout New Zealand and the Pacific, the convention was an amazing experience for us all, as it focused on ways which will enable Catholic schools to further enhance their educational outcomes.
As well as listening to a number of Keynote speakers from throughout the world, we heard from the Education Minister Hekia Parata  who focused on the special place of Catholic schools in New Zealand, and their success, and the CEO of Catholic Education, Pat Lynch.
We also attended a number of workshops each. These presentations looked at leadership and governance in Catholic schools, as well as teaching strategies, resources and prayer. Several schools also demonstrated best practices in their schools. Overall the messages brought home for the convention constantly reinforced the importance of Special Character and the Catholicity of our schools, how this needs to be the distinguishing feature of our schools and how this can be enhanced.
The theme of the convention was:

Ko te taonga o toku nga kau

                                                                                         Ko toku kura e

     The treasure of my heart is my precious plume of education.

Schools were asked to bring a feather representing their school as a symbol to go with the theme. Thanks to Janelle McMillan for creating a beautiful feather representing our school. It was displayed along with all the other feathers .