Lisa Williams, our Deputy Head of Middle School, has been recognised by the Independent Schools of New Zealand (ISNZ) Honours Awards, for Services to Teaching – Rite Journey and Health Education. This prestigious award recognises Lisa’s innovation and drive in heading our acclaimed Rite Journey programme for our Year 10 students.
The Rite Journey is the jewel in the crown of our Middle School, which caters for girls in Year 7-10.
Year 10 is always a challenging one in schools. It’s a time when students may lose their focus and engagement and when many other factors play a significant role in girls’ personal development.
SMC’s Rite Journey means students are engaged and challenged throughout the year. The programme has a focus on each student learning about themselves as a learner and challenging their perspective on current values and beliefs. It means the girls go into their senior years with a strong understanding of who they are, how they learn and what they believe in.
The programme has produced remarkable results, adding an important layer of self-awareness and appreciation to the girls at a time in their lives when they may feel awkwardly caught between childhood and young womanhood.
It is said that a teacher affects eternity; you can never tell where their influence stops. Nowhere would that be more evident than with Lisa. Her influence will extend far beyond today, for the gifts she and the SMC Rite Journey team have uncovered with our girls will reap rewards well into their futures.
Lisa was presented with this honour at the ISNZ Conference this morning, by Chris Hipkins, Minister for Education.
Last year our Head of Middle School Kathryn Gray won an ISNZ Honours Award for her Service to Middle School Education, and our Middle School was the only girls’ school in New Zealand to be recognised by the Adolescent Success Middle Years Schools of Excellence Programme earlier this year.
Diana Patchett
Executive Principal
You can learn more about the Rite Journey at SMC here.
