Rangi Ruru Girls' School

💙 Celebrating Boarders’ Week 💛

Boarders’ Week was a special opportunity to celebrate the wonderful friendships, connections and sense of belonging that make our boarding community at Rangi Ruru so unique. Throughout the week, our boarders enjoyed a range of activities, including dinners at other boarding kura, decorating their doors, and writing messages on paper hearts to send to a boarding school in the North Island.

Friday was a highlight, with a cookie dough sale at morning tea and an invitation for day students to join the boarders for lunch in the boarding house, Te Whare Aroha o Rangi Ruru. 🍪

As Head of House Ruby Rose shared, “Boarders’ Week is a chance to celebrate the girls, staff and families who make our boarding community what it is. The boarding house makes the school broader, more diverse and more connected.” ✨

Another fantastic Southern Jam Youth Jazz Festival! 🎷🎶

Our Jazz Band had an amazing four days of performing, workshops, masterclasses and learning, entertaining audiences across Marlborough and finishing with the Gala Concert.

👒 A special highlight was reconnecting with Rangi alumna Keren Mitchell (née Gardner) at Summerset, who shared her wonderful school hat from the late 1950s!

Congratulations to the band on being awarded a Silver Award and to the three students who were selected for the All Stars Band - Anya Fang (keys), and Abby Fleming and Serena Min (trumpets).

We would also like to extend a special thank you to Jazz Band Director Lana Law and all the students’ instrumental and vocal tutors for their support! 💙

🎭 WHAT A WEEKEND! 🎭

Our Year 13 Drama students brought incredible energy and precision to Canterbury Regional Theatre Fest with their performance of Breaking News by Angie Farrow.

🏆 Distinction – Ensemble
🏆 Distinction – Overall Design
🏆 Overall Award – Technical Design
🎟️ Nominated for South Island Theatre Fest in September!

Huge congratulations to Emma Allan, Maya Brown, Millie Martin, Lily Partridge, Maia Reedy, Amelea Scott, Olivia Skelton and Millie Vink, with a special shout-out to Carmen Wood for her lighting and Kirsty Bell for her direction!

We are so proud of this talented team! 👏

🌼Join the PTA for a delicious start to the day whilst raising funds and awareness for the Cancer Society this Daffodil Day.

This is a special opportunity for all current Rangi Ruru ākonga to bring the special women in their lives, be it mums, grandmothers, aunties or sisters, to school for a cooked breakfast - and a great cause!

We can't wait to see you at 7.45-8.45am on Friday, August 21 in the Helen Kitson Function Centre.

Get your tickets here: https://events.humanitix.com/rangi-ruru-daffodil-day-breakfast-2026?c=instagram

$5 from every ticket will be donated to the Cancer Society, and there will be further opportunities to support the organisation at the event. 💛💙

🌟 Congratulations to Year 9 ākonga Tiffany Zhang, who has been shortlisted in the Philosophy category of the 2026 John Locke Institute Global Essay Prize!

The competition attracted 100,227 entries from 183 countries, with Tiffany’s essay placing her among the top 17.5% of eligible entries worldwide, an outstanding achievement.

We are incredibly proud of Tiffany’s intellectual curiosity, thoughtful engagement with big ideas, and her passion for learning. We look forward to seeing where her ideas take her next! ✨

As Rangi Ruru student Charlotte Gorman (Year 12) competes for New Zealand at the U19 World Rowing Championships in Bulgaria this weekend, we reflect on a season that saw the evolution of the training, techniques and traditions that define Rangi Ruru rowing. 🚣‍♀️

Read reflections from our management and coaching team, and ākonga athletes here: https://rangiruru.school.nz/news/rangi-ruru-rowing-on-the-world-stage/

Best of luck to Charlotte this weekend, and another big thank you to the generosity of our sponsors who helped make the 2025/26 season possible: PAK’nSAVE – Charlotte & Marcel Gray, Avon City Ford, King Watercraft, Absolute Homes, Cherryland, Thermatech, Chris Jones Bayleys, and Mark Sutton Builders. 💙💛

📸Photo credit: Sharron Bennett Photography

Seven remarkable Rangi Ruru Girls’ School educators, helmed by Assistant Principal – Teaching and Learning, Melissa Campbell, travelled to Auckland to present at the ISNZ Communications For-Teachers-By-Teachers Symposium recently. ✈

Melissa along with, Jemma Cattell, Kirsty Bell, Jeremy Thin, Kistina Wu, Tarn Wright and Sheherazad Bhote, presented on issues facing modern educators including AI, empowers girls’ confidence, human rights and coaching. 💻✨🚀

Read more about these topics and the impact such opportunities can have here: https://lnkd.in/ecPx7xBy

Rangi Ruru looks forward to hosting the ISNZ For-Teachers-By-Teachers Symposium in 2027. ✨

🍯🚜The 2026 school year has seen the introduction of a new Level 3 subject, Primary Industries. No one can deny the importance of this sector to New Zealand and its economy.

Introducing this course helps strengthen connections between students, alumni and the whānau of current students. We know that within our wider school community there are people who can add real value to student learning and help build authentic pathways into future careers.

Read more about our Primary Industries course here: https://rangiruru.school.nz/news/nurturing-futures-in-primary-industries/

Don’t miss our third and final Friends at Five Thirty speaker series for this year, happening on Thursday, September 10.
You’ll hear from three inspiring female trailblazers and Rangi Ruru alumnae:
💼Anna Johnston, founder and chief executive of coaching and consultancy agency, The Female Career;
👩‍💻Lucy Pink, self-taught developer and the co-founder of AI platform Contented; 🚀and Miranda Satterthwaite, chief executive of Aotearoa Aerospace Academy.
Grab your seat in the Merivale Lane Theatre to hear these incredible women share their why, what inspires them, and what makes them tick.
🎟Tickets here: https://tinyurl.com/y5474sye
Thank you to our generous Friends at Five Thirty sponsor, New Zealand Sotheby's International Realty