When we got the heads up that it might be worth our while to attend senior prizegiving this year there was no question this wouldn’t be a full on, iron-the-shirts, lippy-for-the-ladies Union Homestead outing. It was decided we would converge at Chateau Kimberley, it being but a short stroll from the Rec Centre where it was being held. It was also decreed (yep, I told them!) we would be meeting early as there was no way we were observing this triumph from the back-facing-backwards seats of previous years.

Yes, it was a hot night and ,yes, it was quite the wait in a stuffy hall until kick-off but, just quietly, when we were requested to please stand for the entrance of the important folk our view of proceedings was perfection.

This year the school opted to cut the Senior Prizegiving down to the top two years which meant that a bit more fuss could be made of those moving on. Brilliant move! Personally, I love hearing where all the Year 13’s are heading, what their dreams are, what they think their future will look like and this year, along with the projected photo of their younger selves (provided by their family and always good for a chuckle) and an outline of the path they’ll be walking next year, there was also a few words from their families. As I surreptitiously dabbed at my eyes I shot a sidelong glance along our row. I was definitely not alone in the moist eye department and I knew we were all thinking the same thing: next year this will be Farm Girl. How has that happened so fast?!

The Kapa Haka was sublime, the speeches to the point, engaging and not too long, and Artisan, who won the regional finals of the Smokefree Rockquest this year, played well and appropriately for the occasion. Then it was time for the awards.

Okay, she hadn’t got third in any subject…

nor second…

nor first.

Wow…maybe she’d managed to secure one of those multiple triumphs – first in this a couple of seconds and a third…nope.

Seated with her friends, who had all had their moment in the sun, Farm Girl was convinced she was now there under false pretenses and was plotting her skulking escape. Her thinking was that, as the other girl that shares her first name had received an award, they’d somehow got them mixed up and emailed the wrong family. But in those fabulously sited seats, we were collectively holding our breath because all that was left, glittering and blinking on the table, were the premiere awards.

Te Anga Atu Ki Nga Wero Me Te Ngakau Pakari – The Trophy for Facing Challenges with Courage

Oh, we are so proud of our girl who, despite missing the first two weeks of term for eye surgery (which was not successful and has left her with a huge cataract), ended the year consistently in the top five students of each of her subjects. We are also so pleased the school acknowledged her courage.

Farm Girl is now enjoying lazy lie-ins and not doing anything much but she has plans…watch out world!