Thursday 22 October 2026
One of the highlights of last term, that is important to mention and feedback upon, was the incredible King’s College and Ōtāhuhu College Exchange Day.
On a beautiful spring day, it was a privilege for both schools to re-connect with one another – after a hiatus of some years. Under the leadership of the headmasters from both colleges – Mr Patrick Gale and Mr Neil Watson – the two schools gathered in a spirit of friendship and community-building to continue the neighbourly relationship that has now more than 100 years old.
Living as we do – across the back fence from one another – it is important as good neighbours to take time to stop, to connect and intentionally build a sense of comradery, and that is exactly what happened on the last Wednesday of Term 3. The day began with the entire cohort of Year 12 King’s students welcoming the Year 12 Ōtāhuhu College students into our Chapel for a service of welcome, worship and singing. Tiano Mafielo (Year 12, St John's) offered a sung, solo item accompanying himself on the keyboard, before a group from Ōtāhuhu College sang several beautiful cultural and worship items.
The students were then divided up into two groups – half of the King’s Y12 students paired up with half of the Ōtāhuhu College Y12 students – and they either made their way to Ōtāhuhu College or to the King's Great Hall for teacher and student led activities designed to build relationship and community. At morning tea, the students switched over to experience a swap in activities, and this was followed by a beautiful meal up at Ōtāhuhu College – with an array of Pasifika foods for some and a meal in the King’s Student Dining Room for others. Finally, the day was closed after lunch with a shorter service and everyone then went their separate ways to their afternoon classes.
As you can see from the photos, the students thoroughly enjoyed themselves. This will be something we look forward to Term 2 next year, as we continue to build these mutually uplifting relationships. It was wonderful to hear students talking amongst themselves as they trailed away from class – saying just how much they enjoyed it. Even though they were exhausted from all of the interaction, it proved to be a very rewarding day – in fact, as one student anecdotally shared: "much better than anyone was expecting…"
On another note, a date for your calendar that we want to emphasise and made sure is diarised are the signature Advent Carol Christmas services that are coming up on Sunday 29 November. These Advent Carol services are the highlight of the Chapel year, as our combined choirs come and share the beauty of our favourite Christmas music, we sing carols and hear the story of our Advent and our core Anglican faith.
The important thing to note is, we encourage all Year 9 students and their families to attend the 5.30pm service, and Year 10 students to attend the 7.15pm service. We will be inviting our Old Collegians to come along to one of these services as well. We look forward to you being with us for these special services.
We will also share further details soon about an upcoming fundraiser as we look to give to those less fortunate at Christmas.
Peace and grace,
Reverend Gareth Walters