St Margaret's College 2017 Autumn Evergreen Magazine Evergreen Autumn 2017 online | Page 4

Opening Remarks
Gillian Simpson – Executive Principal
Educating Young Women to Live and Lead in the age of “disruptive” innovation – capturing the moment!
The St Margaret’s Year 13 leaders have chosen ‘Capture the moment’ as their theme for 2017. This takes many
of us to memories of messages around Carpe Diem!
We welcomed new staff and students into the College in an emotional and rousing Pōwhiri with the
whaikōrero from honoured Old Girl and CEO of Ngai Tahu, Arihia Bennet.
We spoke of the theme for 2017 and “capturing” this year as a significant “moment” in the 107 – year history
of our beloved College. Here, now, in this moment, our young leaders will make their mark, weaving their
magic into the lives of the students and staff of the College and leaving their legacy in the young women
who they pull up behind them.
We value the importance of being mindful at all times, of the needs of others and being in the “moment”
rather than always looking to the next best thing. An ability to be mindful of others and mindful of our own
state of being at any time is key to positive growth and mental health. How often do we lose the moment,
lose that opportunity and only realize it, when it has gone?
This theme is appropriate in guiding our strategic planning for the College.
We are a forward focused, nimble and an adaptive organization with the best interests of the girls in all we do.
We are asking ourselves at this time:
• What opportunities and moments will we “seize”
and run with in 2017?
• In the ‘velocity era’ of exponential technological
change there is limited time to adapt and innovate
before we are left behind.
• How will we adapt and embrace the “disruption”
facing education?
• How well are we preparing and equipping our young
women for their futures?
In the end we only regret the chances we didn’t take, the hard
conversations we didn’t have, the relationships we were afraid
to have and the decisions we waited too long to make.
Photograph of a painting on the outside wall of the
Lady Isaac Theatre during the earthquakes.
2. EVERGREEN