Important Dates
- Monday 24 November – Board meeting 6.00pm
- Friday 28 November – Year 11 Celebrations 9.30-11am
- Monday 1 December – Year 13 Celebration evening
- Tuesday 9 December – Year 9 Celebration 9.15-10 am and Year 10 Celebration 11am-12.15pm
- Tuesday 9 December – End of Term 4
Important Information
Principal’s message
Dominic’s Principal’s message for mid-term 4 is now online here.
What’s Happening?
Outdoor Education Petition
Two Wellington High School Outdoor Education classes attended Parliament to help present a petition to the government calling for Outdoor Education to remain a University Entrance subject. Despite being battered by wind and rain, the students joined a passionate crowd supporting Education Outdoors New Zealand (EONZ).
The petition gathered more than 50,000 signatures — a clear message about the value of experiential learning in Aotearoa. Year 13 students Arlo Bridgeman and Connie Wiles spoke beautifully about the personal growth, confidence, and teamwork that Outdoor Education fosters.
The event was attended by the Labour Minister of Education and Green MPs, demonstrating strong political and community support for keeping Outdoor Education in the curriculum as a university approved subject. Lets hope the government listens.
A quick bee update
After a long winter, and quite a bit of colony loss due to verroa mites (that also brought in deformed wing virus), we finally have one strong hive which we split to replace the hive that was slowly dying. In this newly established hive, we found – not one but – two queens on Monday this week. Once the weather is a solid 18C and calm, the queens will leave on their mating flight, to return to the hive to start laying eggs. With two queens, they will fight it out. May the stronger queen win and lay many hundreds of thousands of eggs in the months and years to come!
The Wellington Beekeeping club kindly donated a third (empty) hive which the board approved for us to populate (a massive thank you to the board!). With another split made, this hive is now slowly establishing itself, with a busy queen laying many eggs.
Massive shoutout also to Beequip who kindly donated a couple of hive tools as well as queen excluders to us a couple of weeks ago.
Below is a picture of our strongest hive – you can spot the queen with her longer brown abdomen, and some of the pearl-coloured larvae can be spotted, as well as uncapped honey (the glistening stuff). Right next to the queen is a drone, a male bee. They’re naturally quite a bit bigger than female worker bees. Below that, students checking the hives.
Wall of Fame – Mahi Potiki (nee Kahui)
Last week, Wellington High School recognised its second alumnus for 2025 by inducting the late Mahi Potiki (nee Kahui) onto its Wall of Fame.
Born, raised and initially educated in Taranaki, Mahi attended Wellington Technical College between 1942 and 1943 as a commercial student and top athlete, which in her first year saw her become the top girl’s athletic champion by winning in three separate disciplines.
After leaving Tech, Mahi represented both cricket and outdoor basketball (later renamed netball) for Wellington and later administrated on the New Zealand Women’s Cricket Council as the recording Secretary, before becoming Chair between 1970 and 1974.
However it was in broadcasting that she became best known as a radio announcer, sports commentator and reporter for more than 30 years, including 2ZB and the Concert programme. She is thought to be the first Māori wahine to be employed in these positions.
She died in Wellington in 2009 aged 84 and is survived by many nieces and nephews including Peter Jackson, who represented Mahi at the induction by performing a Karakia in her honour. The photo of Mahi can be seen in the top row third from the right.
Achievements
Tournament of Minds International Final
Well done to The Welly HIgh Flies who went to Sydney over the weekend to participate in the TOM Final! This was the third and final round of the competition. It was a great experience getting to stay in a hotel with the NZ contingency and to make friends with people from all over Australia, Hong Kong and the UAE. The team also had the opportunity to explore Sydney between activities at The University of New South Wales campus. This was the first time that WHS has sent students to the International round, an achievement in itself! While our team did not place in the top 3 for High School Social Sciences they produced an impressive high quality presentation – the competition was intense!
Thank you to all the support for making this trip possible.
Sport
Underwater Hockey U18 Interzones
Several Wellington High School students played for the Central Zone in the U18 national tournament, including Eve Shaw, Lily Scott and Stella Fitzpatrick in the Central A Girls team. Their team won silver medals, losing 2-0 to Northern A in the final. The Central A Boys did even better, winning the national title for the first time since 2015. Congratulations to WHS players James Ma, Ollie Thurlow-Rae and Aidan Relph for becoming gold medalists. Aidan, who also played in the Central Zone men’s team in April, was the commentators’ player of the match in the final where he scored a goal, saved a goal, and set up the winning goal. Ollie, who scored the winning goal in the semifinal against Northern A, was selected to trial for the New Zealand U19 team to compete at the world championships in Turkey in 2026. The team was coached by WHS senior open coach Mazen Rabih. Well done to Eve Shaw, who has been selected to trial for the NZ U19 women’s team.
CSW SPOTY Awards
The Wellington High School Sports Person of the Year (SPOTY) Awards celebrated outstanding athletic achievement and commitment across all codes. This year’s Floorball honours went to Eva Baker and Vinnie Coup, recognising their exceptional performances at both national and international levels.
Eva Baker’s 2025 season was remarkable. Selected for the New Zealand Women’s National Floorball Team, she became the youngest player chosen at just sixteen years old. Her selection followed six to seven months of dedicated training, with multiple weekly sessions and regular Sunday social games. In March, she represented New Zealand at the AOFCQ Cup qualifiers in Singapore, where she scored her first two international goals and earned five international caps. During that campaign, Eva attended a national training camp, was interviewed by Singapore Floorball, and was featured on the International Floorball Federation’s social media channels for her standout performance. She also continues to hold a place in the New Zealand U19 Women’s Extended Squad for the second year running.
Vinnie Coup was recognised for his contributions to the New Zealand Men’s Floorball Team and his leadership within the Wellington High School boys’ team, who captured the national title this year. His skill, consistency, and competitive spirit have set a strong benchmark for his future within Sport.
In addition to these individual accolades, Wellington High School also secured honours in Mixed Dragon Boating and the Senior Boys Floorball competitions, earning the College Sport Wellington Pennant for overall achievement in weekly competitions.
We are so proud to have these achievements reflect upon our WHS Sporting culture, and on the dedication of both students and coaches who continue to raise the bar within sport at Wellington High School.
WHS Sports Website
Stay updated with our teams Draws and Results on our WHS Sports website: View Draws & Results!
Achievement Submission: Please submit any external individual or team sporting accomplishments here: Achievement Submission Form. This allows us to keep a record, throughout the year, and ensure appropriate recognition and acknowledgement.
Contact – For any questions or queries: WHS Sport– sport@whs.school.nz
Careers
Bachelor of Communications Scholarships
Massey have a total of $100,000 in Bachelor of Communication scholarships for school leavers entering their top-ranked communication degree in 2026, but applications close on November 15! The BC is a great option for any students currently enjoying English, creative writing, journalism, drama, social studies, or media studies, and all they need is University Entrance.
Students are encouraged to apply for one of the 20 scholarships on offer via this link.
For more information on this degree, visit https://www.massey.ac.nz/bc