Principal's Notes

Thursday, 8 March 2012

Raising awareness of, and developing empathy for others  - their lives, challenges, plights and triumphs, is an integral part of the learning at Woodford House and vital to a successful and caring modern society. As we develop the model of the servant leader through our leadership programme it is critical that our girls appreciate that service to others is a key component of a thriving community - not just the Woodford House community, but our wider Hawke’s Bay, national and international communities.

International Women’s Day on 8 March provides a common day for globally recognising and applauding women’s achievements as well as for observing and highlighting gender inequalities and issues. Not just on this day, but all year round, many organisations and individuals work tirelessly to support gender equality through a multitude of initiatives, causes and actions. 

This week we have frameworked several activities around the 2012 International Women’s Day theme of ‘Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures.’

On Monday, 5 March Lesley Elliot and Linda Kearns spoke to our Year 13 students in a powerful presentation on ‘Sophie – the signs we missed.’ The theme of the presentation was about keeping girls safe and giving them the skills to recognise when a relationship isn’t healthy and how they can empower themselves and their friends. 

Lesley Elliott surrounded by photographs of Sophie from her book

On Tuesday we held a mufti day with everyone wearing purple to commemorate International Women’s Day. All funds raised go towards Lizzie Victara, a Zimbabwean girl who needs support to go to University. Following on from the United Nations edict that to educate a girl is to empower a family, the girls’ awareness was raised by a powerful presentation led by Lucy Crosse, our Service Prefect. By connecting our students to Lizzie’s challenges we hope to support her in her inspiring future.

On Thursday, 8 March our Year 12 students were part of a day long workshop with the Red Cross called ‘Women in War.’ This is the first time the Red Cross has offered the expanded War Law programme to a school in New Zealand. War Law is an interactive day for high school students on issues that affect people in times of conflict. Students hear about the realities of working and living in a conflict-ravaged country. For our Year 12 students the Red Cross team has specifically focused on women and war. 

They also bring with them part of an international photographic exhibition ‘Women and War’ compiled by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that explores the many ways in which woman are affected by war and its aftermath.  A collection of thirty-four images, it represents women from countries such as Timor-Leste, Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Sudan.

Health volunteers from the Ivorian Red Cross run mobile health clinics

The exhibition does not only see women as victims. Rather it celebrates the resilience and accomplishments of women in the face of incredible hardship and disadvantage.

Through all these activities we hope to raise awareness amongst our girls of the challenges many other women and girls face in the world. We want to strengthen the connections within our school family, build links with our communities and develop relationships with service organisations so that our girls may learn how to best support, empower, lead and serve. 

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word. Thessalonians 2:16-17