From the Acting Principal
Kia ora koutou,
As we pause to reflect and pray on this Holy Thursday, I’m reminded of the words of Fr. Herbert McCabe regarding the humanity of Christ and the fulfilment of his capacity for love. He is: “the human being we dare not be. He takes the risks of love which we recognise as risks and so for the most part do not take.”
Love, of course, makes us vulnerable. It is also the greatest commandment. As we remember the death and celebrate the resurrection of Christ this Easter, let us reflect on that greatest act of love for all of us. What will your heart response be and how will others see that?
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Kia ora koutou,
As we pause to reflect and pray on this Holy Thursday, I’m reminded of the words of Fr. Herbert McCabe regarding the humanity of Christ and the fulfilment of his capacity for love. He is: “the human being we dare not be. He takes the risks of love which we recognise as risks and so for the most part do not take.”
Love, of course, makes us vulnerable. It is also the greatest commandment. As we remember the death and celebrate the resurrection of Christ this Easter, let us reflect on that greatest act of love for all of us. What will your heart response be and how will others see that?
I wish you all a safe and restful break; to our students, my challenge is: “how will you make the world a better place in the next two weeks?"
Kia tau ki a tātou katoa
Te atawhai o tō tātou Ariki, a Ihu Karaiti
Me te aroha o te Atua
Me te whiwhingatahitanga
Ki te wairua tapu
Ake, ake, ake
Amine
Summer Tournament Week
What a week for Sacred Heart sport. Our girls competed the length and breadth of Aotearoa, and the results speak for themselves.
Canoe Slalom What a performance! Emily Nagel capped off the 2026 New Zealand Secondary Schools Canoe Slalom Championships in style, claiming the Intermediate Women’s title and the Swindells Cup — plus four more medals across the 3 days. Congratulations Emily!
K1 - Intermediate Women – Silver Medal
C1 – Intermediate Women – Gold Medal and Winner of the Swindells Cup
C2 - Senior Women with Elise Goudswaard from Hamilton Girls – Silver Medal
Down River Sprint – Silver Medal
Kayak Cross – Silver Medal
Waka Ama Thirteen girls made the trip to Rotorua, with the U19 Sprint 250 team returning home with a well-earned Bronze medal. A fantastic effort on the water.
Triathlon Josephine Mumby represented Sacred Heart at the NZ Triathlon Championships, finishing 9th in the U19 Aquathon Female category — a great result in a strong and competitive field.
Equestrian The Pegasus Cup brought two standout individual performances, with Lila Devoy and Hollie Fulton finishing 5th and 6th, respectively, in a class of 42 riders. Outstanding riding from both.
Futsal Our Futsal teams made the trip to Wellington for Nationals and gave everything they had. Some tough battles along the way, with the Juniors finishing 13th and the Seniors 22nd.
Rowing — Maadi Regatta We’ve saved the best for last. This year’s Maadi Regatta was our most successful campaign in recent years, with our rowers bringing home two Gold medals.
- Gold – Girls U18 Novice Coxed Quad Sculls: J Paki, C Paki, M Moore, T Smith + H Gera
- Gold - Girls U18 Novice Double Sculls: J Paki, C Paki
Some more great results worth mentioning!
- U18 Novice Coxed Eight – Narrowly missing out on a Bronze
J Paki, C Paki, M Moore, A Crouch, I Coley, S Steed, O Shailer, T Smith + H Gera - U18 Coxless Pair Oars – 2nd B Final
E McGivern, L Johnson - U18 Coxed Four – 1st B Final
L Johnson, E McGivern, J Field, T Mace + Z Morris - U18 Coxed Eight – 4th B Final
L Johnson, T Mace, C Gardner, J Field, E McGivern, N Turner, A McGivern, A Sudfeldt + Z Morris
Huge congratulations to all 23 rowers, coaches, and support crew who travelled south. We know the dedication, early mornings, and hard work that go into every session on the water, and it showed. To the parents who supported from the sidelines and beyond, thank you. We are so proud of you all.
The Arts
Shakespeare Stars Head to Wellington
On Tuesday, a number of Drama students travelled to Cambridge to compete in the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival — an annual, nationwide competition involving more than half of New Zealand’s secondary schools. Students perform 5-minute and 15-minute excerpts from Shakespeare’s plays, with regional winners progressing to the National Festival in Wellington.
This year, SHGC won the 15-minute section — a scene from Othello, Act IV Scene iii, performed by Year 10’s Isabella McKenzie-Iakopo and Year 13’s Celeste Tane, directed by Katie Hansen. Competing as a duo against large-group acts, they delivered an outstanding performance that celebrated both Shakespeare and Te Ao Maaori. Congratulations, girls – all the best for the Nationals in Wellington at the end of May!
Relay for Life 2026
On Saturday 28th March, a solid team of Sacred Heart students and staff laced up their shoes and headed to Claudelands for Relay for Life — Cancer New Zealand’s iconic fundraising event.
The atmosphere from the very first lap was positive and energetic, with everyone digging deep to show their support for those touched by cancer. By the end of the day, the team had collectively clocked some impressive distances, with individuals reaching 42km and even 60km of walking and running throughout the event.
But the standout performance of the day? That honour goes to Year 12 student Ava Lipinski, who ran the equivalent of a full marathon, 42km, made up of five 8km runs plus a little extra for good measure. And did she stop there? Absolutely not. Ava continued on, walking further laps with the rest of the team long after most people would have called it a day. An extraordinary effort! The final amount raised by our community was $4079.
A huge shout-out also goes to Mrs Shakeela, who walked an incredible 31km on the day — a phenomenal achievement and a wonderful example to our students of what it looks like to show up wholeheartedly for a cause worth caring about.
The Sacred Heart community should be incredibly proud. Events like Relay for Life remind us that when we come together — step by step, lap by lap — we can make a real difference. The event raised an incredible $190,000 on the day, with that figure likely to have grown since.
Sporting Success
North Island Secondary Schools Athletics Championships
Last week, four Sacred Heart students travelled to Auckland to compete at the North Island Secondary Schools Athletics Championships, having each earned their place through School, Central Zones, and Waikato Bay of Plenty qualifying events. Competing against approximately 750 students from across the North Island, all four represented their district with distinction.
Jasmine Rasmussen Shawyer had a strong two days on the track, finishing 4th in the U17 Girls 2000m Steeplechase (7:32.18 — a personal best) and 5th in the Junior Girls 800m (2:21.98 — also a personal best).
Aleigha Elliott-Brown competed in the Junior Girls Triple Jump, finishing 10th with a mark of 8.53m.
Isla Watkins had an outstanding championship, taking home Gold in the Junior Girls 200m (25.45sec — a personal best), Bronze in the Junior Girls 100m (13.00sec), and Silver as part of the Junior Girls 4x100m Relay team (50.81sec).
Kulaea Falekaono-Seager was equally impressive in the field events, claiming Gold in both the Junior Girls Discus (36.72m — a personal best) and Junior Girls Hammer Throw (43.69m — a personal best), Silver in the Junior Girls Javelin (22.88m), and 4th in the Junior Girls Shot Put (10.86m).
Congratulations to all four athletes, and to the coaches and whānau who supported them along the way.
Sports Gear
Wet weather gear has arrived!
We’re excited to share that our long-awaited Wet Weather Gear is now available in-store at NZ Uniform, and it’s arrived just in time for winter!
Designed to keep you warm and dry on the sidelines, the jacket and pants come with some great features:
- Water resistant
- Cosy microfleece lining
- Tuckaway hood
- Zip side pockets on the pants and bottom leg zips for easy on-and-off
Payment Options
A reminder that NZ Uniform offer great payment options as outlined below:
- ‘Uniform Club’ You can set up an account and make automatic payments (weekly, fortnightly or monthly) in advance. When you are ready to make your Schoolwear purchases with NZU, your funds are already available and ready to spend! Call or visit the store today to get started.
- Cash, Eftpos, all major Credit Cards and WINZ payments.
- Afterpay (in-store only) and ZIP (in-store or online)
WANTED
Give them a second life! If your old pair of netball shoes is still clean, tidy, and has some real court time left in them, drop them into our collection box at the Sports Office. One player’s upgrade is another player’s game-changer!
Please only donate shoes you’d be happy to receive yourself — quality donations only, thanks!
Swimming Sports
On Monday, we took to the water for our annual Swimming Sports at Waterworld, and what a day it was! The energy was electric, the competition fierce, and school spirit was out in full force from start to finish.
A highlight of the day was seeing staff step up to the starting blocks for the relay — and not just for show! Congratulations to the winning staff relay team (pictured below).
2026 Swimming Champions
Junior – Ava Chaimontree
Intermediate – Sophie Peters
Senior – Paige Rameka
A huge CONGRATULATIONS to AVILA (again – winners in 2025) for taking out the day!
1st – Avila
2nd – Aubert
3rd – Siena
4th – MacKillop
5th – Lisieux
6th – Barbier
International News
During this final week of term, we waved goodbye to Yuna, one of our short‑term students. We welcomed back our International Director, Collette Tuioti. Collette had a busy fortnight overseas meeting agents, parents, potential students, and alumni across Taiwan, mainland China and Hong Kong. As we head into the holidays, some of our girls are excited to travel around New Zealand to experience more of what our beautiful country has to offer.
Birthday celebrations, first-time feijoa tastings (not everyone was a fan!), and swimming sports added plenty of fun to the last weeks of term. We were also proud to see several of our international students recognised at the school assembly for their achievements.
Host Families Needed!
We are searching for caring host couples and families in Waikato to welcome our international students into their homes in 2025. Hosting an international student can be such a rewarding experience!
- You and your family will get to know a different culture, traditions and perspectives first-hand.
- You’ll get to rediscover our region, taking a student to your favourite places
- As a host family, you will earn extra income.
For more information, contact Lisa Cowen: lcowen@shgcham.school.nz
Notice Board
School Parking
Please use the Cook Street or Firth Street entrances for drop-off and pick-up. As a reminder, parking in the bus bays or on yellow lines is not permitted and creates a safety risk for our students.
Thank you.
Our Vision
Ignite the Passion: inspiring young women to change the world – me aro ki te hā o Hineahuone!