From the Principal

Thought for the week

“Each successive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness and love.” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health 66:15)

Welcome back to campus!

While the commencement of Term 4 began with uncertainty around continued lockdown, it has been a joy to see the gradual return of students on campus. 

On Wednesday, 3 November we will see all students returning to school.

As families return to school, I am sure you will be struck by how beautiful our grounds here at Huntingtower are looking. I commend the tireless work of our amazing grounds staff while the students have been away.  We are so privileged to work and learn surrounded by such natural beauty.

As excitement builds and we prepare to all be together once more, we acknowledge that it has been a long time since we have had to manage our relationships with people outside our own family. I would like to remind every member of the community to please let kindness guide you.  Always be kind, in all ways. Please be patient with each other and look for the social or physical clues that may mean someone needs a bit more space. 

The Government has mandated that all school staff, parent volunteers and visitors/contractors who work with children must be fully vaccinated for Covid-19 by November 29. Huntingtower will continue to follow the necessary Government Health Orders and adhere to the vaccination requirements. All staff at school are vaccinated or have provided a medical exemption. I know that ‘vaccination status’ is becoming a topic of conversation between students, and I ask families to remind their children to please be considerate of the personal views and choices of others and respect their privacy.

Independent Schools LEAD Satisfaction Surveys

A big thank you to all members of the Huntingtower community who took time to provide their feedback via our recent LEAD Satisfaction Surveys. The overall results were very pleasing.  Community satisfaction remains very high and above the Independent Schools average. The overall community satisfaction improved from 2018 to 2021. Student surveys have shown improvement in the quality of teaching, teacher rapport and quality of feedback to help students learn. Parent surveys have indicated strong alignment with the values and ethos of the school and high levels of satisfaction in the quality of teaching. The survey feedback will be used to further refine our strategic plan. Given we have all experienced a very different couple of years to what we were expecting, these survey results are very encouraging and demonstrate the strength of the Huntingtower community and evidence that we are living our values of kindness, respect and excellence.

School Captains and Prefects’ Council for 2022

We are very proud of the leadership our 2021 School Captains and Prefects’ Council have displayed this year. Even during lockdown, they have reached out to the community and demonstrated great guidance, strong values, and support for the community. We congratulate the following students who have been appointed as School Captains and members of the Prefects’ Council for 2022:

School Captains

Ella E                             Oscar L

Prefects’ Council

Sofia H                          Seth M

Matthew R                   Anjali S

Emily S                          Dominic T

Alvin T                           Marlo V

Xabier W                       Henry Z

Senior School Gym Refurbishment

We have commenced the refurbishment of the Senior School Gymnasium.  This project will see the reception area enlarged, toilet and change facilities upgraded and the inclusion of a lift to reach the upper level and link to the pool. We will also be replacing the roof and adding staff offices to the second floor. We have placed temporary fencing around the site and alternate access to the gym. We anticipate construction will be completed by late Term 1, 2022.

Huntingtower Excels

We continue to see the Huntingtower values of kindness, respect and excellence shine in all we do.  We have seen great success in chess, debating & public speaking, media, and Tournament of Minds. Please enjoy reading more about these wonderful activities further in this edition of the HT Bulletin. A big thank you to all the staff and students who have worked so hard to prepare to represent Huntingtower and lead by example. You are all amazing.

Andrew Houghton

Principal